Shoot Your Own Session

As a child, my dream was to become a fighter pilot in the Air Force. That dream died in tenth grade when I got my first pair of glasses. As a photographer, I'd give my right arm, wait, make that my left arm, to go up in a fighter jet and photograph the ride. I'd also love to practice in goal with an NHL team just to see if I could do it, with both arms of course. If I could do someone else's job for day, the list would be long - driving a freight train or 18-wheeler, a stock car, a writer for a car magazine, a fly fishing guide...

A few weeks ago I was brain storming to try and find ways to bring in some income during the slower winter months. One of the ideas was to offer my expertise to those who ever wanted to have my job for an hour. With all the new cameras people receive as Christmas gifts, I thought this was the perfect time to offer a "Shoot Your Own Session" promotion. Here's how it will work. For $75, you get to bring your family/friends to the studio for an hour and use my backgrounds, strobes, props, etc... under my guidance to create your own portrait. I will then walk you through some Photoshop skills where we will print an 8x10 for you to take with you. All the images you create are yours to keep.

We will be offering this for a limited time before the studio starts filling with senior portraits. You can book this for yourself or buy it for someone as a great gift. Call the studio at 585-393-9242 or e-mail info@cheslerphoto.com for more details or to book your session.

Photography Classes

For years I have been toying with the idea of offering photography classes at the studio and now is the time to get it going. I will be doing a wide range of classes, some more basic than others, covering a wide range of topics. I've decided to offer classes on the things people ask me about most from simple camera settings to sports action to Trash the Dress portraits. Below is a list of classes along with the dates, times and price for each class. Contact me directly to reserve your spot at steve@cheslerphoto.com or by calling the studio at 585-393-9242. Class size is limited so call early to get your spot.

Camera Basics - Learn what each button does and how it fits in to real world situations to get the most out of your camera.
Tuesday 1/17 7-9 p.m. $25

Sports Photography - Geared toward those wanting to get the best shots from soccer field to the ice rink. We'll go over camera settings, equipment selection and shooting techniques as well as some after the shoot computer tricks and products.
Tuesday 1/24 7-9 p.m. $25

The Art of Lighting - This is for the photographer wanting to take their photography skills to the next level. Knowing the camera is one thing, being able to see light differently to turn snap shots in to art is another. We will explore natural light, on and off camera flash as well as alternative light sources.
Tuesday 2/7 7-10 p.m. $40

Winter Trash the Dress - Have you ever wanted to shoot a Trash the Dress session but could never find a bride willing to do it. Here is a great opportunity to photograph one of the hottest trends in photography and at the same time getting some spectacular winter scenery. We will start at the studio and then travel to several locations. We will have model brides and touch and several different lighting techniques to create truly dramatic images. We will finish back at the studio sharing some of the images using Photoshop and Lightroom. This class if not for the faint of heart as we will do the class regardless of the weather.
Wednesday 2/15 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. $75

We will also be offering one-on-one classes with topics and dates at your convenience. Classes will be based on an hourly rate of $25 per hour. Call for availability.

Gift Certificate Sale

Back by popular demand, we are once again offering our gift certificate sale for Christmas. Beginning now and continuing through Christmas Day, we will be offering "Buy One, Get One Free" Gift Certificates or "Double Value" on one certificate. The gift certificates are for new sessions only and will be valid from January 1st, 2012 through April 30, 2012. The certificates are good toward sessions and product orders. After April 30, 2012 the certificates are still good, they are just at face value. Call the studio at 585-393-9242 to purchase a certificate which comes tastefully wrapped for immediate giving.

New Blog

I've started a new blog separate from this one devoted specifically to my journey through shoulder surgery. I didn't want to bore everyone here with it, but if you're one of the tens of thousands of people with shoulder surgery in your future, the blog may help, or scare the crap out of you depending on how this journey turns out for me.

http://shoulderjourney.blogspot.com/

Crazy 11x14 Sale is Back

Ten Years

I finished my photo shoot in Rockland County last night just before midnight. I was an hour north of my sister Caren's apartment in Manhattan, so I didn't want to head south for an hour to drive five and a half hours north in the morning. I figured I would head north up Route 17 and see how far I could go before I needed to pull in to a rest area and get some sleep. Surprisingly, I made it as far as a rest area on Interstate 81 25 miles south of Syracuse. After an hour of tossing and turning in the drivers seat using Mushy, my plush bear that I bought Freshman year of college, as a pillow, I decided to get back on the highway. I don't normally travel with a teddy bear but he was accompanying Sarah who took the trip downstate with me to spend time with my little nephew Eddie, who is named after my father. We pulled in to the driveway at 5:52 a.m., so I texted my wife telling her we were home so she didn't freak and smash me over the head with a shovel when I came inside. I climbed in to bed and slept until 1:00.

I woke up, had a great breakfast of stuffed french toast that Sue made and then watched the Jets game. It wasn't until my sister Ellen called to see if I spoke to Mom yet that it dawned on me that today was the tenth anniversary of my Dad's death. How could I forget such a huge date? For the first 31 years of my life, my existence seemed to revolve around my Father. He was the center of the world. He was as powerful and vital as gravity and air, never faltering, just taking for granted that he would always be there. And then he wasn't. He lost a heartfelt but inevitable battle with esophageal cancer.

It is now ten years later and his gravitational pull is still as strong as ever, binding our family together. We all still feel the loss as if it were yesterday while at peace enough with it I suppose to be able to sleep half the day away before remembering it was December 4th. With the grief of my Grandmother's passing so fresh, it kind of puts some distance back to my Dad's passing. I see him everyday though looking back at me in the mirror. Sometimes the resemblance is so real I just chuckle and say, "Hi Dad."

Small Business Saturday Sale

In honor of Small Business Saturday, we are having a sale on our wicked cool custom holiday cards. Today only, all of our card orders will be discounted 25%. The studio is closed today so send your card orders to Steve@Cheslerphoto.com to receive your discount. We have both folded and flat cards as well as boutique cards with die cut edges. We have an entire PDF of card designs. E-mail Amanda@Cheslerphoto.com to see the PDF.

Check back Monday for a cool Cyber Monday Sale!

Bess the Great

For all of my four decades of existence my Grandparents have always been on top of the family pyramid. Even when their parents were alive when I was just a wee grasshopper, my grandparents were still at the top, caring for their aging parents. When my Grandfather passed away back in January, we knew it was only a matter of time before Grandma would follow, dying from a broken heart. Last Friday, my Grandma Bess was reunited with my Grandpa after a 10 month hiatus in their 74+ year marriage.

Their marriage was one for the record books. They were frequently asked the secret to their longevity and healthy marriage and Grandpa would always reply with a sly grin, "Lots of oral sex." It's hard to grieve for the loss of my Grandmother when it coincides with the reuniting of such an amazing legacy of marriage. It's like peanut butter existing without jelly or macaroni existing without cheese. Sure it can happen, but it's just not complete. When Tom Cruise uttered the words, "You complete me," to Rene Zelweigger in Jerry McGuire, he must have been inspired by my Grandparents, because there was never a more complete couple in human history.

Here is a news story that ran in 2009 on their 73rd Anniversary.

One of the big questions that came up the past few days was where to go from here? Who is at the top of the pyramid now. We realized that we are all at the top of our own pyramids now and that's how it's been throughout civilization. When the top of the pyramid falls off, ten new pyramids are created. Our family is different though. Our Grandparents instilled such strong values of family in to each one of us that even though the top came off the pyramid, we're all throwing ropes to each other to keep the base together.

Grandma, you will be missed terribly. Your chicken soup and apple cake will forever warm my heart.

Project 9-11 Slideshow

On September 11, PPSNYS member photographers captured what they were doing that day to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9-11-2001. Here is the slideshow that PPSNYS put together as a tribute. My embedded videos have not being showing up when viewed on Facebook, so here is the direct link to the blog.
Cheslerphotography.blogspot.com

Trash the Dress, In Diapers?

I was interviewed yesterday for an article on Trash the Dress that ran online today on TheStreet.com. The article was on 5 New and Unusual Wedding Traditions, Trash the Dress being one of them. Here is a direct link:

TheStreet.com

One of the new and more unusual trends in weddings appearing is the use of bridal diapers for brides wearing dresses that are too difficult to go to the bathroom in. I guess forgoing the diaper would bring new meaning to trashing the dress.

My brides don't wear diapers, they just wash their dresses on the cold cycle while they're still wearing them.