Wow, what fun! The annual Cheyenne Bridal Expo this last Sunday was great! Erin and I had a wonderful time meeting and talking with people. I was pretty nervous before hand, but after things got started and we got to talking, I was feeling pretty good, I think Erin was feeling much the same way. Unfortunately, since it was a last minute decision to attend, I didn't have time to prepare any sample albums or have as many display prints as I would have liked. I was able to get a projected slideshow up and running, which I thought was a lot of fun. It gave me the opportunity to show more of what I do other than just having a few sample prints of my best work. Over the rest of the year, we're going to work at getting more studio samples, partly in preparation for next year's bridal show. Yup, that's right, we enjoyed it so much this year we're going back for more next year. I'll post dates closer to the end of the year, as soon as I get them-.

It was interesting to see the wide range of dates that people were planning for; everything from this March to November of 2009. We also got a better understanding of when the more popular weekends were. Most were August, especially the first two weekends. July seemed to come in second, again, especially the first two weekends. I'm guessing the last two weekends of July are less popular because of how busy everything is in town with Frontier Days; that's definitely one thing for couples to keep in mind for that time of year.

I would like to remind all the couples looking at my services, that in order to reserve the day, I need a signed copy of the agreement as well as the retainer fee. Dates are filling up, so the sooner, the better. For those that I may not have had a chance to speak with on Sunday, if you don't see a package that fits your needs, let me know what you're looking for and I'll customize something for you. That's the hard thing about designing packages, you try to provide what you think everyone may need, but they actually only fulfill the needs of a few (hmmm... reminds me of a line from the first Star Trek movie. Ok, yes, I'm a SciFi dork, I admit it). For everyone that made appointments to talk to me further about my services, I look forward to speaking with you!

On another note, I finally got my photos back from the week long behind the scenes coverage I did for the episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that was filmed here in Cheyenne back in August. I did have a chance to look through them real quick and it still boggles the mind how much they leave out on the actual episode and how little of an emphasis they put into all the work and dedication that goes into it from all the people that donate their time and services. Hopefully, starting next week (after I finish a couple other jobs I have this week) I will be able to start editing the photos and create a gallery for you to view. I'm really looking forward to finally having a chance to work on them. Once I get the gallery up, if you see a photo of yourself, let me know and I'll give you a copy of the image.


Until Next Time...
Stay in Focus,

-Keith

Read More......

Hi! Keith's just invited me, his lovely wife and partner-in-crime, to contribute to The Blog.
Here's me in a nutshell: writer, sci-fi geek, former classical musician, former florist, now a graphic designer/marketing stiff. I'm a Jill-of-all-trades and I know A Little about A Lot.

(If that doesn't sound well-rounded...)

I'm the behind-the-scenes gal at Keith Turbitt's Shutter-Vision; If you see a brochure or a newsletter, chances are I threw it together. I'll also be doing wedding albums and my style mirrors Keith's: we both really focus on telling the story behind your very special day, and creating an extraordinary memory you'll cherish for years to come.

I'm also going to be expanding the design portion of what I do and offering general design services. Wedding invitations, graduation announcements, birth announcements, general invitations, business cards & stationery, etc., etc., etc. You name it, I can probably do it. Just ask!

You can also expect to see some very special posts from me written exclusively for the Neurotic Bride (tm). (You know who you are.) (Yes, you do.) (Yup, I'm talking to you, there.)

So.

Okay, yes?

(Edited to add: Disclaimer-on a scale of 1-10 of Neurotic Brides, I was about a 20)

Read More......

Happy New Year!!

Boy has the last month (actually, the whole year) been crazy, the snowy weather hit a week or two before it did last year, putting a kink in some plans and making getting around ugly at times. I have one or two projects to get caught up with. After that I am turning my sites toward 2008 and hoping to make the best of it.
There's a lot to look forward to.

First event of the year is going to be the Cheyenne Bridal Expo on January 20th. I'm in a mad dash to get things ready for that; display prints, paperwork, website updates. I'm also working on details for a discount I'm going to offer for the brides. I'm actually going to offer this discount to all brides interested in my services for 2008, so keep your eyes here over the next couple of weeks or contact me for more information. I'll also post the details for the bridal expo as soon as I have everything I need to set.

The next event that I'm really excited about is a photography workshop in May. The focus is going to be on Weddings and Bridal photography. I'm really looking forward to this. I attended the workshops this last year under a different instructor, when I returned it really pushed me to do more and better. The images I created were better than what I did the previous year and continued to evolve as I applied different things that I learned. I'm looking forward to learning new techniques and getting that creative spur that helps push me to evolve and improve. It also gives me a chance to mingle and share experiences with other photographers.

As far as projects are concerned, the next one I have in mind is what's called a "self-project," images I’m not being hired to create. I'm going to try and focus on Wyoming Outdoor Sports. Since we're in the season for it I'd like to start by focusing on winter sports: skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, etc. I'm also looking for people that like to participate in these events to be models. If you're interested and have your own equipment, please contact me. I'm going to want to do the same with spring and summer sports as well (jogging, hiking, camping, kayaking, biking, 4-wheeling, etc.), so if you're interested in those contact me as well and we can start planning ahead.

I am starting to get a few other ideas but I need to pace myself, see what kind of time I'm going to have after the bridal expo and go from there. Look for more fun stuff after the first quarter of the year.

Finally, Thanks you to everyone that made 2007 such a great year. With your help, I'm hoping to make 2008 even better. Resolutions for 2008:

1. Find the means to streamline the business side of things to help put more focus on the client and create a better experience for them. I'm currently looking for software and organizational techniques that should help this along,

2. Get in shape. While this may seem like a personal goal, I think it will also help with my business and services.

3. Include my wife in more of the business activities. A things continue to grow I'm starting to realize I can't do it all, especially on my own. Only with her help can things continue to grow.

4. Try and do a blog post at least each month if not twice a month. This I think will be one of the toughest, but also one of the tools that will help keep me focused. It'll force me to sit and think about what I have done and what I'm going to do. Help, me create a roadmap. Most of all, it will keep you informed on what's going on.


I'm really looking forward to 2008 and making it even better than 2007.

Read More......

- First, I must apologize, no photos this time around. I'm working on them as I type this so I'll try and post again in the next few days with some.

- It's getting close to Thanksgiving and I wanted to wish everyone a happy one while I had the chance, in between working on photos. Business is picking up and that definitely gives me something to be thankful for, along with the support love from my family.

- Speaking of support from family, I want to thank my wife (because I can't thank her enough) for her help Saturday night. There is no way I could have made it through the night without you.

- Saturday night the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra held their annual fundraising event, the Symphony Ball. It's a black tie event with dinner, dancing and a silent auction filled with donated items. This year I was asked to provide photography services at the event for the guests, and of course I jumped at the opportunity. As a thank you to the Symphony for providing me with the chance, I am giving back and donating 50% of each order total to the Symphony.
- I'm sure that most people felt that it was bit like being at a prom, but I kept it simple with no out-of-place decorations or balloons and used what I felt was a classy background. As such I think it was a very successful evening. The first two hours were constant, it was only once dinner was starting to be served that it slowed down for us to catch our breath. I shot the photos and my lovely wife displayed them for the guests to choose their favorites. I felt everyone was very happy with the ability to see and choose their photo before hand. I would make a few changes on our workflow but I think overall it was a very smooth and pleasurable experience.
- A sincere Thank You to everyone that stopped by to have their photo taken and to make the experience far better than I expected. It's because of your patronage that we are able to donate almost $500 to the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra. I'm spending the next few days working on the photos in hopes to have them submitted to the printer this weekend. Barring any holiday delays and printing issues, they may be available sooner than anticipated (but don't hold me to that).

- Other than that I've been busy with family photos, business portraits, and various other projects. I've even started talking with brides about weddings for 2008 (start booking now to reserve your dates!). Next year is already starting to look busier than this one.

- Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone, and again, Thank You to those who stopped by to have their photos taken at the Symphony Ball.

Read More......

More information about the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on ABC's website:
http://blogs.abc.com/emhe/

Some of the photos there are mine... can you guess which ones?

Read More......

The new website is up!! ....well mostly.
I still have a lot of content to write and images to upload but at least it's a start:

Click to Enter


The Cheyenne,WY episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition airs on Sunday, November 4th:

From the TVGuide.com listing:

ABC Sun, Nov 4
8:00 PM
Episode Detail: Miller Family - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Radon was found to be poisoning the Miller family of Cheyenne, Wyo., which takes in stray and abused animals. While Ty and his crew make their house safe, the Millers head east on vacation. In New York, they take in a soccer game and meet David Beckham, who has a surprise for 10-year-old David. Back in Cheyenne, Wynonna entertains Ty and crew.

Hopefully, by then or soon after I'll have a gallery of images I took for behind-the-scenes. I'm still waiting to get them back from the powers that be. I do have some I cold put up but was really hoping to get a lot more to put up.

Other than that, I'm still pluging away on photos from various sessions and should hopefully have a new gallery or two up at the end of the week.

Read More......

Busy Busy Busy... As usual, but right now I have a few minutes to post while my computer is doing some batch processing and printing.

There are three new portraits sessions posted at my Events and Sessions galleries located at http://shutter-vision.instaproofs.com/. These were the famlies that joined us for the Daycare Portraits and BBQ session a few weeks ago, and despite the winds, I think we had a lot of fun. Look for another one of these sessions to take place in the spring.

I think the fall season has just about had it. The high winds over the last week and last nights snow have made sure about that. I may be one of the few people actually looking forward to winter. If we can get some early enough snowfall, there are Holiday Family Portraits to be taken.

I also currently have a few evenings available and Halloween is just around the corner. We can arrange a session for when you have time, or if enough people express interest, lets line up some sessions for that night to photograph all your little monsters and gouls.

ReDesigns... I just revamped my MySpace page in preparation for my new website revamp as well. The redesigned website, http://www.shutter-vision.com/, should hopefully be up by the end of next weekend. The coding is basically done, I just have the content to write and the galleries to build. I think even if I can't get those done in time I'll get the site up at least in a minimal fashion.

One last thing... as most of you know I worked on Behind-The-Scenes coverage of an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition that was filmed here back in August. My stuff won't see any air time, my job was to cover and document the stuff you don't see on TV. The construction company that was in charge of the project, Carter Brother's Construction, will be putting together a video using photos from another photographer and I, and video from a video crew. This video will be used as a thank you to everyone that put time and money into the project. Anyway... I've been told that the air date for the episode will be Nov. 4th, mark your calendars and check your local listings.

Read More......

Once again I've been slacking off on my blogging duties. No excuse other than too much work and not enough time, as usual.

A week and a half ago we had the special session day with my daughters daycare. We got together for a little BBQ and Family Portraits. Turned out really nice and I think it's something I would like to do again. Only problem, it was the windiest day we've had in a while. Hair was blowing all over, making things a bit difficult, but we worked through it. I'll be sure to post ahead of time when I do it again. You can also send me an e-mail to be added to a mailing list and I can notify you when I do it again. I should have photos to share next week.

This last weekend I grabbed the family and ran for the hills. No other reason other to get out of town for a bit. We met up with my Mom and My sister and her new boyfriend. Actually my mom is staying up there though this weekend. Must be nice. The aspen trees were beautiful, while they lasted. roaring winds each night ripped the leaves from the trees by the hand-fulls. Except for a shoot with the Turbitt women, I left my camera in the bag. I've only had a chance to work on a few of them (I'm still working on the family portraits from Vedauwoo, hopefully I finish those up this weekend)...



I got an e-mail on Thursday from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for some last-minute product shots they needed. I just finished that up this evening, did take as long as I expected. I've been working with them since April, photographing product for their catalog and website store. There are a couple images here and there up on the website store, mixed in with the old ones they are trying to replace, but right now they are trying to concentrate on getting the catalog done. I think it's turned out to be a bigger project than they expected, I know it has been for me. I did see a glimpse of the working proof and I must say it looks far better than what they had before, I can't wait to see the final print.

Now... I'm procrastinating going to bed thinking about the up-coming projects I have....

I do have a couple evenings and some time next weekend (20th and 21st) to photograph some last minute Fall Foliage Portraits. If you're interested give me a ring or drop me a e-mail ASAP. While I think most of the trees outside of town (Vedauwoo) will be bare, there are still a few areas in town with color, but it won't last long, and neither will these time slots.

Read More......

Again... busy busy busy, been hard to take the time to update the blog as often as I would like.

The business trip to Vegas was great, very educational, and had a little time in the evening to mill about like a tourist. I haven't even had a chance o look at the photos I took yet.

We're holding a BBQ and Family Photo Session with some families from my daughter's daycare this Saturday up at Vedauwoo, going to try and work in some fall colors before they're gone. If there is anyone else in the area that would like to get involved, contact me and we'll discuss the details.

-KT-

Read More......

Starting with something different...

I'm going to start things off today with a photo I took on the way home form the Extreme Makeover project. I was at the top of the hill just east of town and saw this, I had to stop. After snapping a few frames I took a few moments and watched the sun sink behind the horizon. I don't get a chance to photograph nature as often as I like, but I think I need to take the time to do it more.




I have the gallery for Azure and Andrew's wedding posted at: http://Shutter-Vision.instaproofs.com Hope you guys enjoy them.




And if you haven't hoticed I've changed the lay-out of my blog recently. I'm working on revamping my website here soon and adjust things here and on my MySpace. Keep an eye on my website for changes to come soon (within the next month): www.Shutter-Vision.com

Read More......