I talk about politics a lot in person; only recently. I promise not to take sides or discuss politics; but this relates to the Impact of Detroit. So make sure you register to vote

Let me say it again; make sure you register! If you’re a michigan resident the last day to vote is Sunday at midnight.

Jay-z has been in the news here in Detroit michigan because hes coming to michigan to throw a free concert to register voters.

How was your summer?

My summer was fantastic!

• I shot 16 weddings this summer. I shot 19 or so last year.
• I went to Philadelphia
• Shot a bikini Fashion shoot
• Which led to heading to sarnia to shoot a full bikini catalog. That was really some hard work. I was so drained afterwards.
• This is  the summer I moved out to Ferndale. I really love the Royal Oak/Ferndale area.
• After this summer my company might be finally out of debt.

With the bars really close i spend a lot of time there.

If you guys want to stalk me i’m on twitter: twitter.com/chrisjlee

I’m looking forward to slowing down and working on more side projects.

So i’m not dead. I’ve been really busy. I’ve been working on a personal blogging project: http://www.weddingphotographyblog.org

Good news.

I’m shooting my 50th wedding tomorrow (Friday). The couple is Kelly & Matt B. It should be a beautiful wedding. It’ll be somewhere near the East side of Detroit (shhh I can’t tell you!).

I’m excited. After that I have one last wedding to shoot for this year. Unless something shotguns. Which happened last year. Once in a while a December wedding comes up. I will be posting all my wedding updates starting next month. Keep posted!

Sorry, this isn’t really related to Wedding Photography but being a Detroiter all your life you have to blog about the car companies that are around town.

Ford salutes GM’s centennial by lighting up the lights at Ford’s Headquarter.

Photo Provided by Ford Motor Company.
Related Links:

Detroit Free Press: GM Centennial

Detroit Free Press: GM Centennial Presentation Coverage

Recently, I had the opportunity to provide headshots at an event for MotorCityConnect at Automation Alley (of Troy, Michigan) July 28th, 2008. I enjoyed the pleasure of meeting various different people with different areas of business that vary from finance to catering to marketing.

Here are some results of the pictures that i’d like to share with you.

I’m in the process of building a commercial portfolio as well. I’m going to name my commercial work as Bureau Photography Group. This body of work will focus on commercial clients only: work that ranges from event, annual reports and headshot photography. Please give me a call if you’re interested in working on a project with me. I can provide you a free custom quote with a phone call: 734.330.2378.

1. Photo Attorney - I’ve heard Carolyn write talk about copyright issues in Las Vegas a couple years ago during a photography conference. You should be lucky if you have the opportunity to listen to her talk. She gives a fresh perspective too since she is a photographer as well. She likes to photograph nature photograph primarily. If you’re in a bind yourself with a copyright issue be sure to call her. Her blog is additionally an awesome resource to keeping up to date with copyright issues in America currently.
2. Copyright.gov - If you’re a photographer this should be your best friend. The federal government website is surprisingly very helpful in outlining in laymens terms what is protected by the copyright.
3. Kodak’s Copyright guide - This one I took from Detroit Photographer, Blake Discher’s website. He provides this useful resource from Kodak which outlines in simple questions about typical concerns about copyright related issues.
4. EditorialPhoto.com - Editorialphoto.com outlines a plethora of links and resources to websites and information related to copyright issues as well for photographers. If you’re looking to do more research yourself this would be the best place to stop after visiting the copyright websites above.
5. FormVA - This should be your favorite pdf. This pdf outlines how to register your works with the Federal copyright office.

Remember all the following are not suggested to be used as legal advice. If you have a serious problem or question about intellectual property rights please contact a lawyer specializing in intellectual property rights law.

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is holding a photography contest in conjuction with its upcoming exhibition: Kenro Izu: Light over Sacred Places of Asia

The Detroit Institute of Arts are starting a contest through the Flickr Pool. Anyone can participate. If you’re not a member of Flickr, of the largest  photosharing communties owned by Yahoo!, you can signup so you can participate in the contest. They are looking for people to submit their photography that is related to Detroit. The subject can be anything related to Detroit.

Here are some rules from the official DIA Contest Blog:

• Photographers are allowed to submit one photograph that captures “Detroit’s Sacred Places.” An artist statement is required as part of the submission. The statement (maximum 100 words) should describe how the submitted image pertains to the contest’s theme, “Detroit’s Sacred Places.” Please include any photography technique(s) you would like to highlight. The artist statement should be included in the description portion of your upload.

• Submitted images must be in .jpg format and no larger than 20MB (3000 x 3000 pixels and 300 dpi) opened. Please make sure your image has a file extension of .jpg prior to uploading.

• Images should be unmodified. Please do not submit photomontages, double exposures, or photos with alterations, such as borders, watermarks, or added text.

• Please submit images that are true photography. Photos of paintings, screenshots, and illustrations will not be accepted.

• Photographs must be submitted electronically via Flickr and tagged with “Detroit’s Sacred Places”.

• Submissions are due September 3, 2008

• By submitting an image to “Detroit’s Sacred Places” contest, you affirm you are the creator and rightful owner of this image. In addition, you agree to allow the DIA to use the image in museum and/or promotional materials.

What do you win?

The prize is a signed copy of Izu’s work, Kenro Izu: Light over Sacred Places of Asia, and 2 front row seats to his lecture September 14th, 2008.

Fiance2wife.com recently posted, on June 29th, 2008, some typical questions that you should ask a photographer. I’ve probably have answered some of these already in my own posts. I’d like to build a dialog; thus i’d like to answer some questions that the blog addressed. Keep in mind their blog is local to the UK so things might be a bit different; Regardless, these are some typical questions a bride would ask.

Questions provided by fiance2wife.com. Many of these are specific to our practices. I just wanted to respond to these questions because they’re commonly asked throughout the internet and you never know who is searching for these answers on the internet.

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Bridget and John Neam got married on June 22nd, 2008. I’m just catching up to their photos right now. I have been busy working on something big. You all will see!

Here Bridget is dancing with John.

I absolutely love this photo. Bridget’s ladies were amazing on the dancefloor. They’re so full of energy  and fun! They were ubiquitous on the dancefloor.

This photo is definately a Kodak moment. There’s so much emotion going around toasts. Here maiden of honor gives a speech right after bridget.

This is Bridget and john walking down eastern market. We were lucky that the rain had stopped that day and we’re lucky to find our way to eastern market with enough time at the end. It was not the most sunniest day but it made for beautiful dramatic wedding photography. As a photographer you have to make good use of unplanned tangents that life throws at you. Another reason why i love my job!

Here they  caught a moment of playing a game that i’ve instructed them to do. They’re pretty good at it. No posing at all! This is actually all natural light shot in front of a metal panel in eastern market. Eastern market is such a great stop for photography. It’s like a playground.

Here Bridget is laughing