Blog | Ryan T. Collier Photography

June 13, 2008

Lots of Wedding Photography!

Ooooooo, Friday the 13th!

I decided to spend some time at Starbucks just down the road to work on some school things and to just change my scenery for a few hours. I spent about 2 hours there transcribing journal entries and just clearing my mind of the chatter from the past week.

I’m not sure what the meditation process is, though I’m excited to learn about it in forth coming chapters from my stress class. I wonder if writing can be a form of meditation, specifically free-form writing where one just writes his or her thoughts down as they flow from his or her mind through the veins, reaching the fingertips as they strike the keys on a keyboard.

I do find that leading up to writing, if it’s something that’s been assigned to me, I am hesitant, I feel pressured much I am at work to produce creative works. I’m much more relaxed writing at my own pace, when I am not congested with racing thoughts or consumed by deadlines. I’m also much more productive as well.

This weekend, I need to work on a wedding photography proposal for a high school friend of mine who sent me an inquiry about shooting her wedding photos in 2010! I also talked to the ex-husband of an old acquaintance of mine; he is getting married in August and is looking for a wedding photographer. I offered him my card and drafted a few different wedding photography package options. I’m also getting ready to sign a contract to do some family portraits in July 5 – it’s gearing up to be a busy but productive summer! 🙂

I’ve also recently implemented my strategy for accepting credit cards and I’m excited to start offering that service to customers! 🙂

June 12, 2008

Relaxing Lunch Retreat.

Seeing as how I had hot dogs for lunch on Tuesday, ham on Wednesday, and today an offering of pork, I was a little bit cashed out on swine. So, I did what most would do if they found themselves in a position similar to mine – leave for lunch. 🙂

My good friend Craig and I decided to go to Wegmans for a very relaxing lunch retreat. The Wegmans in Penfield has picnic tables along the right side of the store, a fact that is very unknown to most – including myself until today. We ate our lunch in the bright sun and afterward laid on the tables while discussing how to solve the world’s problems. I took a picture of myself laying on the table with my iPhone and sent it to my wife so she could partake in my joy too! 🙂

Afterward, I went back to finishing up the web site for Lindsay. The site had been a very slow work in progress for about 2 or 3 months so finishing it felt extremely satisfying; however, it will always be a work in progress as we unveil new upcoming events and list progress reports.

~~Check it out! http://www.LindsayGraygoEmpowermentScholarship.org~~

Afterward, I finished up some lingering yard work left over from the past weekend, including repairing some lattice work and priming it before I get a chance to stain it THIS weekend – sometime after working on my mini-paper for my Stress Management class. 😉

I also spent some time in the evening retouching some wedding photos, and researching some locations in Upstate and Rochester, New York for wedding engagement photography sessions.

June 11, 2008

Duck And Swerve.

I could feel myself starting to fall slightly behind on where I wanted to be in my summer classes. I like to be about 2 or 3 weeks ahead of schedule when I’m taking summer classes so that I do not have to stress about missing a few days here and there to enjoy the weather or just take a breather. Tonight after work, I decided that I would play catch up on my Stress Management class, well I’m not really behind but, I wanted to just invest a few hours reading discussion posts and making my plan of attack for this weekend – determining what I would work on and what I could afford to push off a few days.

After yesterday’s thunderstorms, the temperature cooled off considerably! It was perfect weather for at least one thing – reading in a hammock! My sister in law, Phoebe, bought me a hand-crafted hammock from Costa Rica when her and my 2 other sister in laws were off backpacking in Central America. I’ve made very good use of it so far this summer – when I’m not busy photographing wedding or taking other photos; I try to spend a few hours a week just laying in it and enjoying that time for myself. My stress management class textbook emphasizes the importance of taking time for oneself, to recognize when the body is being overworked and making sure time is given so the body can recoup.

Once I got all situated with my pillows and my iced tea, I carefully positioned myself in the hammock – hey, they can be tricky to execute sometimes! There is truly nothing like a nice “hammocking” on a perfect summer evening. And, there’s something poetic about relaxing in such an idyllic setting while reading a book on relaxing. 🙂

The only fly in my ointment was when I went to plug in my laptop to read the discussion posts there wasn’t any current flowing from the outside outlet. It took me 10 minutes to finally put things together and realize that the ground fault interrupt on the outlet had been tripped somehow – maybe from the storm the night before. Anyhow, that was frustrating because I had to get out of my comfy hammock!!! 🙂

We’re wrapping up the chapters about anger and humour which are great polar opposites! Humour is so subjective, as the text points out, and so is anger. So, you’d think they would be more closely related, though they are quite different from each other! I love that – a little duck and swerve.

I wish we could visit a comedy club as one of our lab assignments, actually I might be jumping the shark because I haven’t actually looked at what the lab assignment choices are – maybe I’ll get lucky and that will be one of them!! 🙂

I wonder if I could write that off as a required school expense… Hrrm. 🙂

June 9, 2008

Lindsay Graygo Scholarship Information.

Tonight, after work I had a conference call with the committee that is coordinating a scholarship for a high school friend – the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship. We had a lot to talk about and there is definitely a lot of momentum as we start finalizing plans. 🙂

I’m planning on taking some photographs at the event, and I’ll be sure to post them online for everyone to see!

~~A great source of information on the scholarship can be found here, on the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship web site! 🙂~~

June 7, 2008

A Photography Pause: Ice Cream Break.

I took a break from my wedding photography and decided to focus my energies on wrapping up some lingering projects.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today! Very hot though; I think the temperature got all the way up to 95 today, but I’ll need to check the NOAA web site and confirm. 🙂

The sweltering heat didn’t deter me from working outside ALL day long! I had some woodworking projects from December that had yet to be finished; so, Saturday was a great day spent finishing up those few, last remaining projects. The majority of the work was baseboard trim that I had hand sanded, stained, and finished as well as some window casing that I did the same to. I have much respect for carpenters – good carpenters, who do not take short cuts and who hand-finish most of their work.

With a majority of furniture coming to the United States from China and India that is more or less medium density fiberboard, there is a very rewarding quality about real wood furniture – especially when you have crafted it together yourself. Most rewarding. 🙂

I found out my neighbor would most likely be moving in the next 12 months, as his aunt (who is 93) needs full-time care. Good neighbors are hard to come by, it’s true that most people don’t appreciate the things they have in their life until those things or other people aren’t there anymore!

In the evening, my wife and I made our first trip of the year to the local ice cream shoppe, Lickety Splits, right in the middle of the village. I had caramel flavoured ice cream with pralines and mini peanut butter cups. There was a spiffy name for it, but I can’t remember what it is. 🙂 Keziah had Maine Blueberry Cheesecake which, as the crafty name implies, tasted like cheesecake with Maine blueberries!

Thanks mostly to the heat, my waffle cone had some issues related to excessive melting – I hate when ice cream melts faster than you can eat it. I can’t complain too much though; who can complain after having such a productive, self-fulfilling, and delicious day! 🙂

June 5, 2008

Routine Basics.

I find writing to be relaxing and words easy to come by. In fact, one of the biggest problems I have when I write is trimming back the words. I guess I have a lot to say!

I started writing this blog at the beginning of 2008, and while I was able to maintain writing every single day for the first month, I simply found it impossible to write every day. I should really keep a voice recorder handy and just dictate my thoughts at the end of the day. 🙂

Tomorrow I’m looking forward to catching up on a long-distance project with a group of friends from high school. We’re trying to organize a fund raiser for a fellow student who was murdered back in February. The proceeds from the fund raiser will be used to establish a scholarship in her name – the Lindsay Graygo Empowerment Scholarship!

I’m planning on tomorrow being a good day to hunker down a bit on that project, and a few others. 🙂 For the most part, I’m in a good place with respect to my projects and my tasks that have deadlines approaching.

It’s hot right now – really hot, almost sweltering. In fact, at 12:32am, it’s 73 degrees outside. And, tomorrow is supposed to be 90! Someone kicked it up a notch alright. Bammm! I have a few more things to do before heading off to bed. I’m meeting my friend Craig for breakfast in the morning too, which will be nice as we have fallen out of our usual routine of weekly breakfasts. I’m definitely looking forward to it. 🙂

There is some photographic equipment that I’m looking to buy in the upcoming months, that should really come in handy photographing weddings here in Rochester, New York. Upstate is such a beautiful location to have your wedding photos taken, and the new equipment will surely augment New York’s beauty! 🙂

June 4, 2008

Finger Lakes Wedding Photography – James & Luba

Congratulations to James and Luba Mason on their marriage May 31, 2008!

I had the pleasure of photographing their wedding on Keuka Lake in Upstate New York this past weekend, along with my good friend Craig. It was a beautiful wedding with the ceremony taking place at Garrett Memorial Chapel and reception at the Esperanza Mansion – a truly remarkable setting for a gorgeous wedding couple.

Here are a few of my favourite images. Enjoy!

June 2, 2008

Wedding Photography At Keuka Lake.

I photographed James and Luba’s wedding on Saturday and I’m very pleased with how the wedding photographs turned out.

I spent most of Saturday photographing the wedding, which was right next to Keuka Lake in Upstate, New York. I wrapped up taking photographs by 5:30 and I was able to manage a few hours at home afterward to import the nearly 2,700 wedding photos, select all the good images, kick out the bad, and have them posted online by 12am!

There were some really excellent images that I was able to capture that I hope to post in the coming days. This was the first wedding trying out a new post-production workflow and I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and efficient the new workflow is – it will dramatically cut down on the amount of time I spend post-processing photos.

On Sunday I received confirmation that I would be shooting some family portraits in July at the Webster Arboretum which I’m really excited about! I’ve never shot there before, so I’m looking forward to it!

The weather in Rochester, New York has been gorgeous, perfect wedding photography weather!! 🙂

May 30, 2008

Master Grill Chef Ryan.

Well, last night was an amazing time at the Chase Challenge, where I took some excellent photographs. I actually ended up neither running or walking, but instead I took over 300 photos and grilling for my wife’s company, Lenel, at their tent.

Until last night, I had never really grilled for more than 4 people, but last night I ended up grilling for 30 people! I was slightly apprehensive about grilling for so many people (well, many as far as I’m concerned), but it was a lot of fun – many thanks to the Lenel team!

There was a brief period of time where demand outpaced my supply of burgers, but only for a few minutes. After that passed, I had a moment to relax, enjoy a sampling of my own cooking, and looked around to see many happy, smiling, and satisfied individuals. Now, I don’t claim to know anything about the food service industry (I’m much more in tune with photography :)), but I can’t think of a better reward or compliment than to see every plate clean and folks coming back for seconds. 🙂

Turns out, I’m not only good at eating food, I’m also quite handy in a pinch for a grill-chef. 🙂

Ahhhhhhhhhh. [Big stretch]

I’m all caught up with my accounting class, so I’ll be able to spend some time relaxing on Sunday before moving forward a few clicks to the next stage of my stress management class. I’d like to keep about a week or two ahead of the schedule so I can adequately respond to any “bumps” in the road.

Happy grillin’!

May 29, 2008

Do West-Coasters Get SAD?

Today is the Chase Corporate Challenge at RIT and I’m excited because I’ll be getting out of work a little early to join the other 11,000 participants at this year’s race. Though, I’m on the fence if I’ll run, walk, or just hang back with my wife and help her out at her company’s tent. 🙂

I’m going to bring my camera and see if I can’t pop of a few shots before the race starts. If I end up not running, I’ll take a few pictures of the race start and of the first hundred finishers and my wife’s team’s picture too!

Portrait photography is something that I’m starting to really enjoy, along with wedding photography and fine art photography. There are so many beautiful locations in Rochester, New York and really in Upstate, New York in general. Photographing weddings in Rochester is truly exceptional!

It is beautiful outside! Something that I’ve noticed is that I’m much happier when the weather is very sunny and warm. I started reading forward into my Stress Management text, to get a jump start on things and not fall behind, and in the chapter the text refers to SAD, a phenomenon that occurs when people do not get enough sunshine – such as in the arctic circle. While I definitely do not suffer from SAD, it was interesting to read about the link between weather and personal health altogether.

There’s a consensus that folks on the West coast are a lot happier than us East coast folks, maybe there’s a correlation there. Can sunshine make one warm on the inside too?

Anywho – I’m excited for the weekend, as I’ll be photographing a wedding in Keuka Lake, New York which will kick start the wedding photography season in Rochester, New York. 😉

I’ll post some of the wedding photos later on in the weekend. It’s gorgeous outside – warm, sunny, and 70Âº!