News and Information - Photographers Thoughts
03/07/2010
I am forever being searched on the internet for the term "what is the best camera for wedding photography" Well Here is the current one:
01/03/2010
Happy New Year!
This should come as no surprise... May I present the completely new design of colegrovephotography.com for 2010.
09/09/2009
I changed the color and header of the site... I honestly don't know why.
08/15/2009
Weddings...
So I'm going to write an article about divorce...
Why would a wedding photographer write an article about divorce?
Well, I feel compelled.
Every so often word gets back to me that a couple who's wedding I shot "didn't make it" and it leaves me feeling quite disturbed. You see when I photograph a wedding I have literally thousands of images (some of which I am the only witness to) to go back and look through and sometimes I do. I really couldn't tell you why. The thought of writing about it has been rolling around for quite a while and I think I can't keep it in anymore.
I don't know how long it will take me to publish it here and I'm not even sure what it is going to say but the title will be "50% of Weddings"
07/02/2009
It's been a busy month preparing shooting and post production. It seems that many people in tough economic times will turn to things that touch their core values and it seems that one of those things is to preserve memories of special life events like weddings. This fact may be surprising to some but I have seen it before, the tougher the economy the more inquires for wedding photography services.
I have responded the best I can by offering a straight photojournalism budget wedding photography package and this I suppose has kept me rather grounded in work.
I did find time to entertain myself by publishing this: Photographers Composition Guide and re-edit and publish an article I wrote a while back here on the site: The Changing Face of Professional Photography ... Seems to be even more relevant now than when I originally penned it.
All in all life is good.
Wedding Photography a Look at the Past.
06/17/2009
Every so often I will photograph someone and I keep going back again and again to the images. Last year I shot a wedding in Ventura, it happened to be one of the most difficult weddings I have ever photographed (highly restricted by the church's rules for photography).
However the bride was absolutely stunning in a way that eludes description and I have gone back over her images several times creating different versions of the pictures. This has redefined some of the way I shoot since then.
I also wrote a short article about candid wedding photography this month that was in part inspired by a wedding I photographed for a girl who has worked as my photographers assistant (if you are reading this Jessie don't be offended... You know I love you).
Getting Too Big
05/29/2009
Photography is my passion and profession... Not webmaster, and things were just getting too big here.
I have hopefully sorted and simplified all this information, reducing the number of pages and editing out the noise. If you have been an avid visitor you will probably recognize the style and layout. Some images are still in editing and the portfolios will be expanded as this gets finished.
There is no place like home
04/26/2009
I have been gone for a while on assignment, and I can tell you it's good to be home. I'm looking forward to staying here, there is some "glamour" to being a press photographer but very little reality to that statement.
So I'm back to accepting bookings for wedding photography.
The Old is New Again
03/21/2009
I dug out my old website (Santa Barbara Photographer ... which is a strange story in it's self), edited it down a little and republished it here on my site: Professional Wedding Photojournalism in California.
I really loved this design but because of the incredibly competitive nature of the internet it just wouldn't "fly" today to have such a "Zen" simple statement to represent my works.
Changing Focus
03/19/2009
I have been doing a lot of straight photojournalism and commercial editorial work over the past several months. I have actually had to turn down several traditional wedding photography assignments because of this and I kind of miss it.
I'm thinking I should offer a simple wedding photojournalism package like I was doing in the 1990s (as a getting back to my roots kind of thing) something like a budget wedding package... Straight Photojournalism for about half the price of my lowest priced traditional wedding photography package.
Editing Images... Going Slow
09/18/2008
Editing the online portfolio images is going very slow. I am in the middle of a move so the whole place is in pandemonium (couldn't have picked a better time).
I'm hoping that I'll have them done in the next few days however... It may not happen until I'm settled into the new studio.
Redesign New Portfolio and Images
09/06/2008
I am working on a complete new wedding portfolio and many of the other portfolio images on the site along with a new manor of presenting them.
I have been very busy with many projects this year that have taken me away from what I really love. I have met with countless brides and grooms and have let myself become captivated by every one. It’s this intrigue that helps me discover their personalities and display them in my photography.
At the core I am a photojournalist so naturally I take a photojournalistic approach to my wedding photography and artistic and incorporate a unique flair for fashion developed over many years working as an editorial photographer.
I have redesigned my site once again hopefully it reflects this.
My Spanish is Terrible... But I try.
09/06/2008
This is my page in En español I hope I haven't said anything too odd you know... lost in translation:
Fotógrafos en Ventura y Santa Barbara, California. Bodas, Headshots y fotografía del retrato
Taking another look at the site
07/31/2008
It's funny how after a while you notice things... I just noticed that my site here is no longer doing it for me. I am toying with the Idea of a new design including CSS driven photo galleries.
How Strange
06/08/2008
So...I Googled my self and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Colegrove
I must be doing something right
02/24/2008
When your competitors start saying mean things about you...are on to something. It has always been my theory (well not mine but one that I ascribe to) that: Any Press is Good Press.
When I started out as a wedding photographer I was given a very hard time because I was a "photojournalist" and shot with miniature (35mm film) rather than medium format.
When I started doing editorial work I was reviewed by an English critic and was pronounced sick and possibly insane.
Today I'm an egomaniac with an eye for the snap shot...
Oh well.
New Baby
02/02/2008
This is our new baby, Liam Michael Colegrove, 01/30/2008 - 7 pounds 4 ounces 19 inches.
He's about 1 hour old here.
Photography and Zen.
01/14/2008
I must be honest... I have been rather non Zen about it all as of late.
I have been buried into several big editorial / commercial shoots and that always wears me down.
On the upside my wife and I are expecting another baby any day now.
And, as always I am in angst over the look of my professional site...I think I want to go back to black.
New Wedding Photography Portfolios
12/02/2007
I have added several recent weddings to my portfolio:
I May add more of this and last years Weddings over the next few months. I have also included some wedding detail images that rarely showed up in my portfolio (I don't know why I just never published them before now).
Also I have added a few Engagement photos
I will publish more of these soon (I want to get specific permission to show these from my couples first).
Colegrove Photography's 2008 Photography Site
11/25/2007
The New look for 2008 has launched ahead of schedule.
Which is good... because I'm behind in every thing else.
A new year is coming.
11/19/2007
I believe 2008 will be an interesting year. This past one seemed to be difficult for most every one, exceptionally so for those in the art's and entertainment industry.
Remember, I said interesting...
If you have been here before and haven't noticed by now...
7/10/2007
Really, I'm not the temperamental artist type... It's just my website. I will continue to redesign it until it suits me. Photography is my passion, image truly is every thing. My professional website, yes, should showcase my talent as a photographer however I also want it to reflect my personality. I liked things that are elegant and simple to use but also emotional and beautiful. Perhaps this is it.
A book about wedding photography?
5/05/2007
I am considering the idea of writing a book about wedding
photography. I have been a professional photographer for many
years, and a lot of what I'm seeing in the industry is
disconcerting at best.
A lot of websites are advertising things like " Make $1000 a
week with your digital camera!" then I see someone who has just
bought a camera and have already put up prices on the net for
wedding photography.
I have done a lot of different types of photography for a
living and I must say that photographing weddings is by far the
venue requiring the highest level of photographic skill. Even
highly skilled photographers decline shooting weddings because
they know that it isn't something you just go and do.
I will ponder this a little longer.
A New Look
4/15/2007
The structure of the site remains (with a few added features),
only the colors have changed. Coming in the near future: New
Flash Image portfolios that will allow the user to choose the
image and alternative non flash portfolio images.
New Equipment: Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 ED Telephoto.
2/27/2007
Another one of the "Big Guns" in the professional photographers
arsenal. The lens I was using for candid shots just wasn't doing
it for me.
(I know no one else could tell but it was driving me nuts)
Problem solved
Yes I did it again.
1/25/2007
This is about the 5th iteration of Colegrove Photography's website transformation. Colegrove Photography also has a "trademark" logo now. Drop me a line and tell me what you think about the web design.
New Equipment: Nikon 16mm f/2.8 fisheye.
12/20/2006
My wife said that if I bought any more lenses this year, I'd be
in BIG Trouble.
So here is my plan: I wrap it up and put it under the Christmas
tree with a tag saying "from: Santa Claus" , the kids will
believe it and they'll back me up.....
P.S. Jennifer, If you are reading this - It was only half the
price of the last one.
New Equipment: Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom
12/03/2006
Professional high-performance standard zoom lens
Holy Mother of Lenses. It is really heavy, however for images
this clear and sharp...I'll get used to it.
List Price $2049
(this is one reason to hire a professional photographer, who
else would spend that much on a lens?)
This is quite the honor.
11/25/2006
Colegrove Photography has been listed on the front page of
oscarwatch.com. The Editor sent me a message to tell that my
photography was amazing. You could have knocked me down with a
feather. I'm impressed even if you're not, a pat on the back
like this goes straight to my head.
(But that's okay I was called a talent-less Hack that same day.
New Equipment: 2 NIKON D200 Camera Bodies
11/04/2006I am shooting with 2 new Nikon D-200s.
I love these cameras.
Raising the camera to my eye was magic. No longer was I gazing down at tunnel at a small rectangle, but seeing the whole shot. The camera is solid and fits my hand...well like a camera.
The image quality is impeccable and the shooting performance is
all I could ever ask for.
Colegrove Photography website - A New Look
10/29/2006
I have Just launched the new site.
It is hopefully easier to navigate and better represents my
work as a photographer.
There is still some work to be done on it, the slide shows are
taking some time to compile and finish.
This is the 3rd major redesign of dcolegrovephotography.com
(Santa Barbara Photographer)
