Adventures in Photography

Day 2; life of a Missoula Photographer

2010-08-19T22:52:00.002-06:00

In two days I will be back in Philadelphia, where I spent 10 years teaching photography at Penn and writing my second and third book. Not to mention adopting our first and second child. It has been 4 years since I have been back and I am looking forward to seeing my old friends and show our children a " big city". I know I should be talking about photo shoots, weddings, portraits and commercial shoot to draw attention to my work, after all is that one of the strategies about blogging? Well I can now say I have written on my blog for 2 consecutive days. For those who follow this blog I apologize if I mislead you.

I could talk about the architectural shoot I have in September for a new client, or the call for a senior portrait I will be doing in September or the call I got today to see if I was available to shoot a wedding in two weeks ( sorry out of town_) and I will in my next blog....now it is time for sleep..thanks

Blogspot, Blogspot Blogspot

2010-08-19T05:53:00.003-06:00

A brief update...what a difference a letter can make. I left out the "s" in blogspot and a friend in NYC and in Sweden (?) sorry Arno...I forgot where you were from...made note the change has been made and thank you for caring and sharing :} :)

New Template and Pin Up

2010-08-19T05:21:00.002-06:00

Well I felt it was time for a change and what better way than to mix Buddha and Pin Up Photography. The Buddha is in reference to my new blog layout and my inner self. The Vintage Pin Up photography is about a new genre of photography I am cultivating and exploring.

I plan to journal both inner reflections and outer experience in the following blog. If you are interested in my Photography business in Western Montana than I suggest you subscribe to my monthly newsletter If you want up to date exploits of my Vintage Pin Up photography exploits you may want to become a fan at Vintage Pin Up photography. Two more days and then we take a family trip to my old stomping ground Philadelphia. I am really looking forward to seeing old friends, family and the sites. If you didn't know this already I am a closet Philadelphia Philly fan to the chagrin of my extraordinary wife, Kate. My friend, Michael, manage to score some tickets to a Philly game next week. So I will be taking my two kids to their first professional sports event. This is going to be interesting since my 6 and 8 year will be going to a stadium that could fit half of the population of Missoula in it. Stay posted and no promises but I hope to be more up to date with the blog...Come September I will be more active with my business starting off with a new architectural client and photographing a home in George town lake Montana...

Airstreams & Transitions

2010-04-13T11:21:00.005-06:00

The Airstream Staff..they were great
I knew I was in trouble when I e-mailed my friend and great automobile photographer Michael Furman in Philadelphia and asked him for advice on photographing an Airstream. His response: " I am getting a headache just thinking about it. It has to be one of the hardest things to photograph...good luck". When the Mintage company, aka Rory Baumeister, saw my work of " Shiny Objects of Desire" he thought I was the right photographer, at least in Missoula, to photograph his refurbishing business of Airstreams. So naively but with some thought I went ahead and took on the challenge. Two rolls of seamless, 4 helpers and an very enthusiastic client we spent the day in East Missoula photographing the Airstream. What a blast it was and lighting nightmare...But I learned a lot and most importantly the client was " wowed" by he results..all I can say is wow. "Above and beyond Steve. More than I could imagine. I love it. I'll get a check out begining of the week. Can you do a picture with the three guys outside the trailer with a black background. Talk to you next week
thanks
rory" Pretty nice compliment and better yet is that we get to do it again with another Airstream next month...and perhaps a trip to Yellowstone this summer to photograph one on location....what fun.
Another exciting bit of news is I have a subtenant for the front of my studio which will cut my expenses in half and help me hobble out of this recession..I hope. Frances will be moving in May 1st and will open a high end consignment shop...The name " Frankies Mercantile" It will bring in more foot traffic to the studio and will benefit both of us, I think..I will keep you all posted...The last bit of news until the next post..it is April 13th and it is snowing in Missoula...argghhhh...Spring what Spring.... One last item...I will be more aggressively pursuing the Senior Portrait market in Missoula Montana...with a barrage of mailers, e-mailers and special offers...this will be happening in May so be on the watch....if you like...

big news from the Rockies

2010-04-03T04:36:00.003-06:00

What can I say, I am just too busy to blog..sort of ...but still I must blog..why? well I have been advised that in order for search engines to identify my web I need to blog about Montana Wedding photography, Montana Architectural Photography, Montana Photography and I also need to blog about being a photographer in Missoula. So here I am almost 5 am on a Saturday morning thinking about about blogging rather than counting sheep. Since I am here let's get started.

Lesson number #1 when creating a domain name it is worth spending the extra money to buy multiple names. Case in point. I bought Begleiter.com about 10 year ago..good move, sort of except now there is another Steve Begleiter who got into the World Series of Poker final or the WSOP and won over a million dollars...so when you google Steven Begleiter he takes up the first page with all about him and his poker experience...arggghhhh...I suppose with a million dollars I could also buy the first page ...Poker???? there is sort of dark side to this but I won't go there...

Lesson #2 Never say No and never say Yes...Maybe..I have learned that no job is too small, only the budget and you never know where the initial job may lead...Remember that baseball card I photographed that is worth over a million dollars ( there is that number again) Well the owners came back to have me photograph more cards...More interesting is how they are going to "unload this baseball card" The owners have contact the the Major League Baseball organization and the state of New York and will be raffling off the Honus Wagner baseball card at $5 a ticket. They estimate they may sell up to $200 million tickets for the luck person to win a million dollar ticket..I will buy one at $5 you never know...anyway 75% of the proceeds will go to charity a very good thing and a win win for all...So keep you eyes and hears open for the Honus Wagner Baseball card raffle..just think the main reason why this card is so valuable is because honus wagner hated cigarettes and stop the printing presses after 100 card were printed... baseball historians do say he was one of the greatest players in baseball..sorry Babe...

On the Missoula photography studio front looks like the studio is becoming a "blended business" due to the recession, lack of income and lack of compassion from my landlord, I will be blending my business and subletting the front space to a Consignment store...which I think is a really good thing. Making lemonade out of lemons....What I did realize with the right business up front it would bring foot traffic into my space..plus it will be nice to have someone else share the large space...no man is an island. So the lucky tenant will be Frances and she will be moving in on May 1...splitting the overhead should help me get through this tough recession and professional photography downturn. I am feeling more optimistic and even started to clean up the studio space. I have even believe I have gotten two new clients...RawWise and Raw vegetable client..more on this later. and a guy who refurbishes AirStreams...more later on this to..but all and all I am feeling lucky again...a feeling I sort of lost ever since I had to look hard at the numbers putting my tax material together for 2009...my goal is to stay a professional photographer to at least 2012 so I can say that my photography business has been around for a 30 years a good run in my opinion.... now it time to me to crawl back into bed and really count sheep...btw become a follower of this blog if you like...and let me know about your blogging...

Ya gotta luv this crazy profession & baseball

2010-02-08T14:21:00.006-07:00

I don't usually write mid day but I thought I would add a short story..or least the beginning of one. I got a call last week, " Can you shoot a baseball card?" the man asked...I paused and thought about it for a moment.." sure, what is it you want?" I can't find anyone in this town who can shoot a baseball card and give me a good reproduction" he said frustrated. "Bring it by, I am sure I can help you out." He and his partner arrived on Saturday at my photo studio, in downtown, Missoula. It turned out he had discovered a baseball card from 1909 in shoebox that was given to him as a kid. This baseball card was in pretty good shape and it was of Honus Wagner of Pittsburg. As it turns out Honus had only about 10o cards of himself made before he stopped the print run. There are perhaps 10 in existence, the last one was auctioned off for 1.6 million dollars. So you can imagine how my client felt when he discovered this card in a shoe box that was given to him as a boy. They brought in the card, covered in scratched plexiglass. I had set up my copy light and photographed the front and the back. I brought the card back to my post production room to down load the image. When I brought up the image on my screen and the clients saw how sharp the detail was they got very excited. Their objective was to verify that the card was authentic and with the help of the zoom control in PS4 it was very evident. I did mention to them that I wished I had a high res camera that cost about 30 thousand to get the best resolution and he said when they sell the card they may get me one....I won't hold my breath..but it was an exciting discovery and I wish them the best in its authentication and sale...you never know...strange business...

social networking and the photographer

2010-02-04T02:49:00.002-07:00

Social networking seems to be the buzz and has been the buzz for some time now. When I was teaching at RMSP a couple years ago, I taught a class on the " new media" and spoke about SEO's, Keywording and Twitter and stated the importance in being aware of these tools to be competitive in the market. Unfortunately, which happens..it was an apathetic class and seemed more interested in texting their buddies or working on their other assignments, in class. That experienced soured my joy of sharing information but I still came to realize that social networking was a powerful tool for a photographer to get their name out cost effectively. One thing I did learn after teaching photography for over 14 years is that it forced me to research current trends, historical context and articulate the what I learned in a simple format. Sort of like mining for gold and sharing your wealth. Back to social networking..why bother? Well the media is digital, and a good portion of the market you are targeting will be looking at the web for "talent" in quotes to remind all visual artist they are the ones that provide content, concept and " the goods". Like all technology it has the capacity for " good and evil" take radiation for instance....please....in the " sort of "harmless world of the social media...we ( the artist) have an opportunity to reach a broad audience, whether they like or not. In the " old days" artist, if they were not huddled in their closet, smoking cigarettes, trying to come up with the next big thing, where making phone calls to make appointments to meet with actual people to show them what they were working on. Meeting actual people, now there is a concept. Actually meeting face to face, looking into their eyes, getting nervous while they look at your work and ask how your family is doing...ahhh sort of like Cream of Wheat...comfort...Before I ramble too much, I guess my question is "is all this social media, really social?" Do you ( me) really get work through social media? ( yes, sort of , well I think....) Is Facebook really a place to share all your personal info or to boast about your work life, ( which gets annoying if talked about too much) yes..sort of ... I think so... The truth is , It has arrived, just like the smartphone, e-mail, and marshmallows, it is here to stay and change... but does it really help the photographer create??? not really, but it is a vehicle the photographer can use to show the world what they are up to ....oh well a strange post, no pic...next post I will show you my photo of the Roomba..if you care to take a look...lol

my new photo obsession

2010-02-02T09:47:00.004-07:00

Well in the scheme of things I have decided to act out on my photo obsessions..in the last post it was new Norelco shaver, which I adore. Now it is the Roomba by IRobot. I was over my neighbors house, picking up my kids, when I spotted this round metallic device resting on the floor. I have never seen it, just haven't looked at the Sharper Image catalog in while. It intrigued me so I asked my neighbor, who was going out of town for week, if I could borrow it while she was gone to photograph. Being a product photographer, I have to try the products out to understand the essence of the object. So I turned on the Roomba and watched it mover around my room and vacuum the carpet. That is what this product does, it vacuums in a Jetson like fashion while you watch. I know I can vacuum much faster and more efficiently the the Roomba but a funny thing to watch. Like a TV remote, you only have to push a button the Roomba does the rest. It is quite funny to watch. Of course of I stood watching it the whole time that would defeat the purpose of owning one, it allows you to do other chores while it does it thing. But as a visual artist I needed to watch it to figure out how I was going to light it and photograph it in my style. That is my mission this week. Besides shooting some commercial portraits for a client, doing my taxes, organizing my files, working on my portfolio, talking to my landlord ( who is not returning my calls) and adding more images to my stock site and so on and so on...a light snow is falling in Missoula and I also need to read some poetry by Rimbaud who I believed influenced the Ramones... the founder of Punk music...ok there was also the Stooges, Iggy Pop and MC5 ....Rock on

Montana Photography squeezing the economy

2010-01-30T04:52:00.003-07:00

The last two days in January and off and running in 2010. Although I never want to wish a day away, I am glad, economically, to say goodbye to 2009. This year, economically, seems more promising but I am having to shed some photo business acquisitions to make my overhead leaner to cover my monthly expenses. The question as a photographer is where do I shed the financial burden. The studio is great to have, and ordinary times would pay for itself but these are no ordinary times in the professional photography world, the game has changed. Almost everyone I know in Missoula is hurting financially and discretionary income is becoming less discretionary therefor the retail side of photography assignments ( Weddings and Portraits) are becoming more scarce and consumers want more for less. So, the question is do I reduce my prices to try and pick up the volume of assignments and risk more loss of initial income or perhaps by doing so I would pick up the additional work to make up for some short falls? Do I find a smaller studio for less rent and away from the downtown area to reduce my monthly overhead and risk loosing the visibility I know enjoy? Or do I wait it out another year and build a local reputation of being steady, reliable and there? Or does it even matter. I say January was a good month for my photo studio in downtown Missoula because all the assignments were in studio and therefor paid for the space and a little more. That has been my goal since I envisioned have a studio. The downside is that all the assignments in the studio had to be priced lower than I would have charged a year ago in order to work within my clients budget. So if this pattern continues I will have to modify my business plan to accommodate the "new economy". I am beginning to sound like a bad economist. The other plus side of having my studio is I feel I am producing and creating really good photography and if I were in a bigger city feel my business would grow faster. Missoula is a great small town to raise a family and that is why I moved here, it is not a town to move to advance your career, at least as a photographer. Everyone seems to undervalue their worth and skills but the real estate and cost of living is comparative to a big city. There lies the rub. This conflict is becoming more magnified in these tough economic times. In the last two months Missoula has shed over 600 jobs which will effect thousands of other businesses...so why spend money on a portrait? Afterall you can take a picture with your cell phone...these are challenging times. It is not all that grim, being the eternal optimist I am beginning to see some recovery. I am meeting with an interior designer on Monday to discuss a project of photographing some commercial interior spaces at a new building in downtown Missoula...I hope it works out...that is a good sign since a percentage of income was from Architectural photography which dried up in 2009, everyone putting off jobs till 2010...well 2010 is here and we shall see. I have also really gotten into Maternity Photography and love photographing pregnant women, and the father of the baby...I find them really beautiful and light them accordingly...actually creating a style, a look that is distinctively my look. So throughout all these hard times I am creating a distinctive stlye of photography that I like and apply to all my subjects animate and inanimate. My latest obsession was the Norelco shaver that my wife bought me for Christmas...sounds weird but I found it very sexy visually...and looks a little like E.T... Ok I can see that I am rambling but afterall isn't that what blogs are for? I am not even sure if anyone really reads them except google and the FBI. One other note I need to mention is the Montana Wedding Photography market. I seem to be getting calls and interest but like everyone else brides and grooms are looking for deals. I had one groom, after I told him how we could trim costs, tell me that they invited 200 guests and if they only get 120 responses then they would be able to afford my reasonable photography rates. This was an odd statement and I am thinking you are spending perhaps $20 per person ( low end) about $400o on food something they will not remember and are wondering if you want to spend an additional $300 ( difference in their budget) to pay for professional photographers, a DVD of all the images, proof book and great images that will last life time. It seems the going rate for photography in Missoula and surrounding areas is a about $1,000 or less...so do I lower my prices? work alone?give the client less? to get more work? we shall see... stay tuned

ho ho ho

2009-12-17T21:22:00.002-07:00

Closing up the photography studio before the end of the year is not much fun. I am exciting about expanding my photography archive into PhotoShelter . It forces me to organize my images and categorize them and with some directed luck sell them. I hope to really have a robust site my the middle of 2010...hard to believe it is almost 2010....short blog tonight but I will be back sooon

TV Fame and back to work

2009-11-11T23:12:00.001-07:00

TV Spot get through the commercial and enjoy the show...

Bill Boards and the new Advertising

2009-11-09T21:25:00.002-07:00

Times have changed in the Advertising world of photography. I got a call from a client who was trying to buy stock photos for a billboard but it was too expensive. Then the client said we can take a still from the TV commercial since they are shooting HD and we can get a pretty good image...No go...could not coordinate it so that is when I get the call. " We want you to shoot two images for this ad campaign her is the layout" Ok what is your budget? well the client didn't want to pay for stock and is limited usage for a billboard in the Northwest for limited time...etc...we a agree on a fee..." Who are the model?" we don't have any, any ideas? How much can you pay them? $75 each for a an hour session..." ok....this is Missoula afterall....No casting calls no hair and make up no stylist no models until the day of the shoot. I call my favorite high school senior ( Ms. Teen Montana 2010) she can do it but has to finished by 10 am so she can head off to Idaho...but still no male model for the other shot...Dakotal comes in for the shoot, I happen to have some Everest hats left over from a catalog photo shoot I did for them, perfect..she is perfect for the shot..I tweak my photographic lighting and start shooting showing the image to the Art Director via my small LCD on the back of the camera...30 minutes later we have the shot...give a hug to Dakota and than her. The Art Director goes to my office and I download the images into Lightroom and we begin to edit while the client go walking around Missoula looking for a male model...while we are editing the client calls and sends a pic from his phone to my e-mail...he found the male model working at Butterfly Herbs...he is almost perfect for the shot ( would have been perfect if he played guitar) he has the right look...He arrives at my studio, I tweek the lights and start shooting and within a 30 minutes we have the shot...he leaves and the AD and I go through the selects and I burn her a CD so she can make comps for the client..the next day she sends the comps and the client loves them.....and within a week the images are being prepared for the bill boards....The client calls me a "hero" and well he is right we pulled it off...

First Friday at Begleiter.com Photography Studio

2009-11-06T22:36:00.002-07:00

Wow, what a great turn out for FauxPink First Friday at the studio...a constant flow of people at times wall to wall...All the bubbly disappeared before the end of the night and more new people to add to my mailing list. At the end Jill, Shelly and I were all interviewed for TV on KPAX which will run Saturday night. I will place a link to interview when I find it. OK it is late and I have been up since 5 am so I am going to crash. What a fun night signing out Begleiter.com photography in the heart of historic downtown Missoula...

Breasts and Cancer prevention and Photography

2009-11-06T04:25:00.002-07:00

About three years ago I was commissioned to photograph Architectural detail of an interior of home in Hamilton Montana. The artist was Jill Meyer of Meyer Design. She had done beautiful work, very classic faux application to a multi-million dollar Italian design home in the middle of the mountains. It was a fun photo assignment, as all architectural photo assignment are for me. I enjoy the lighting challenges, seeing how how other people live and creating visual arresting images of inanimate objects. So how does this connection relate to breast and cancer prevention? Well, as fate would have it, I received an e-mail from Jill about 5 months about entitled " breasts", my wife thought it was another porn solicitor spamming our e-mail. I saw the name Jill Meyer in the subject line and opened it. Since I last met Jill, she had, like many Americans was negatively effected by the economic downturn, her business was on the verge of bankruptcy, she had gone through a divorce, given birth and was diagnosed with cervical cancer. As I had found out Jill is an unsinkable person and an inspirational artist. She took it all in stride and decided to make the most of her financial misfortune and new fortunes, her beautiful son birth had detected early onset of cervical cancer and she was able to fight it because of early detection...Being and altruistic person Jill decided to use her gift as an artist and go on a visual campaign to bring awareness to early testing and detection of breast cancer by painting. Her idea was simple; find breast cancer survivors ask them to dip their breasts into paint, press there breast onto the canvas and paint incorporating the breasts imprints. She and her partner Shelley Bickel joined forces and created their company FauxPink. Since the have exhibited and sold and raised money for their cause. Back to my connection, the e-mail asked if she could barter her services, paint my studio in exchange for photographing her paintings...of course. And now Friday November 6 2009 I will have an opening at my photography studio in downtown Missoula, Montana of her work. To promote the event in a provocative but aesthetic way we gather 8 women who either had breast augmentation or reconstruction due to breast cancer at my studio. I wasn't sure how it would go since I would be the only male photographing 8 women at once naked from the waste up. I set up up my lights, a simple lighting set-up with two Profoto strip lights from about and a white seamless behind. The ladies arrived and I introduced myself to them to make some personal contact. Jill made the announcement of what we were trying to do. I assured them that their face would never be revealed and they could sue me if they were since they did not sign model releases. It was a festive atmosphere, Jill had brought some chocolate and wine and everyone was drinking a glass to ease the tension. Once we all felt comfortable, I was a bit nervous we asked them to take off there tops while Shelly and Jill place paint on their breasts. I went to my office so I didn't appear like a voyeur but when I came out they were all laughing and having fun and my presence was not big deal. In truth I went into artist mode and was really into the creative process of constructing a strong compositional image. I had all the women raise there hands and chins to lift their breasts and shape their torsos and began shooting. They were all in a lineup and my objective was to make sure there breast were all on the same height since we were doing a tight crop and very panoramic image for the poster. The whole session took about 20 minutes to arrange and that was it. I saw that I got the shot and the women were great. They hung around drinking more wine, wiping off the paint and getting dressed while I downloaded the images into Adobe Lightroom began editing and cropping. When I found the shot and cropped I brought them into my office and showed them the results...they were ecstatic. Many of the women told me that it was an empowering experience and thanked me for such a great job. The one women who had the bilateral mastectomy was especially pleased with her willingness to reveal herself, scars and all to strangers. It was a great night and the results were all positive. Tonight is the opening and we will see what the public thinks. The paintings are beautiful and I anticipate a fun party, Jill, Shelly and her mother were all working to transform my studio into a party atmosphere and I am looking forward to seeing what they did...What a great profession I chose....

Canon Camera Choices

2009-10-22T05:30:00.002-06:00

In this digital age of photography every year I am confronted with the dilemma of a new purchase.
Being a Canon camera guy, bought my first Canon in 1972, I have been pretty happy with their product, innovation and commitment to building a better camera. Back in the film days I would buy a camera every 10 years, maybe since there was not much innovation back in the film days. That was a good thing because then I could spend my hard earned dollars on better lenses. Perhaps this discipline of waiting has saved me from purchasing the latest " greatest" new digitall model of cameras. I passed over the 50D since I was quite happy with the performance of 40D and there wasn't much of a jump. Now Canon has come up with a 7D with hi res HD movies capabilities ( not to a replace a real HD video camera) but some of the new functions are very enticing, the new auto focus, 8 fps, leveler ( a very cool device to help level the camera and of course the 18mp cmos sensor...all very enticing...but of course it come with a 1700 price tag...The dilemma, pay off some of my debt or increase it by $ 1700..stay tuned later in the wacky world of Begleiter Photography located in the heart of Missoula Montana...a Full service photo studio serving Senior Portraits, Montana Weddings and Commercial photography

The Opening and then

2009-10-06T21:45:00.003-06:00

The one year celebration was a stressful endeavor albeit worth noting. The turn out was pretty good, around 50 showed up. Pulling it together, the actually art work, food and basic clean up took it's toll. I ended up exhausted and catching an upper respiratory infection that, if I could have rested, laid me out for the next four days. Advil and Nyquil seem to be my medication of choice ..had some weird dreams..but my health is back and just in time to photograph my sons class and all his students tomorrow. It is the second year I will doing this and I have to admit it is fun and rewarding and somewhat financially sound. I really get to know my sons fellow classmates and they get to know me, plus I meet their parents sort, when they place print orders and the morning is pretty low stress and sometime very comical. A far cry from photographing celebrities and billionaires but personally more relevant to my life.

I do plan to photograph my Missoula photography studio and gallery and post them on my blog. So if anyone is reading can see the current show. I did join the Missoula Downtown association in hopes of making new contacts. I am contemplating on do a Santa Claus sitting in December in collaboration of a new friend Stefan who is a great musician and just moved to town. We both agree we can do a better job then what is out there and at a cheaper price...So my career becomes more and more diverse....oy vey....

One Year later

2009-10-03T16:56:00.002-06:00

Well, I celebrating my one year opening of my downtown Missoula Photography studio with an exhibition of personal photographs from Stickeville. Unlike a year ago the weather was decent, cool but sunny and I had a bigger turnout of around 50 people, 4o of them I never met before. There were even three RMSP folks, thanks, Charles, Scott and Jessica. Putting the show together really wiped me out...it is tough having to do everything yourself. I ended up getting a chest cold and not sleeping well. I did manage to have 20 new people to add to my mailing list. A sweet couple from New Jersey visited, they were vacationing in Montana. Real interesting folks and when she finishes her residency is thinking about moving here. There seemed to be a lot of interest in the work, people really took their time to look at the images, which is what it is all about. I am proud of this work and I am seriously considering if any museums my interested in purchasing prints. I am also happy that the show is over and I can get back to the sort of routine of running a studio. As soon as get my health back I will photograph the show and post the images with the "guitar picks and string" frames I painfully put together. Since I could not get the band I wanted for the opening I have to admit I did have fun researching bluegrass greats and downloading their music onto my I-pod for the opening. The show will be up till the end of October when it comes down for another artist to exhibit her work. Which is a relief for me because all I have to do is show up...It is cloudy, cold and windy and I believe fall is moving in .

Wow, Thanks

2009-09-22T10:01:00.002-06:00

Wow, I want to thank all of you who have gave me such inspiring responses to my last post. I literally got choked up with your kind and words and support. I suppose that is what I get when I write a post 4:30 in morning. The truth is photography to me is like breathing and if I can't make a living at photography .... so I push on..do my best and keep creating. Call it an obsession, addiction or just plain crazy. Meeting great people like the ones who commented on my blog makes it all worth it... that all for now...oh yeh I suppose I should say Montana Wedding Photographer, Portrait Photogher in Missoula Montana, Crazy insane photographer in Montana and so on...thanks

Been a While...

2009-09-22T04:04:00.003-06:00

A former student of mine , said " it's been a while since you updated your blog. How is it going."

Well, this is good jumping off point to talk about my photo studio in Missoula Montana. This October will mark my one year anniversary and even with 28 years of professional Photography experience I feel I am experience new business growing pains.

The photo market, since I began has gotten more challenging with easier access to create a photo, aka digital photography. The combination of digital and recession creates even greater challenges to maintain professional price standards to the market. Sadly, I am still hearing stories of new photographers giving "it away" to try and establish themselves. " Giving their services away" not only hurts the entire industry but is a short term disaster for their business. I recently got an e-mail from a groom who wanted to know what I charged for a wedding. He was getting married in three weeks and expected 300 guests at a Missoula, Montana wedding and he wanted 12 hours of coverage. I told him my starting price was $2,500 plus $200 overtime after 10 hours ( very reasonable, I thought). He e-mailed me a couple of days later saying he found a photographer for $800 that would do all 12 hours and asked if I knew of other wedding photographers in Missoula that would be cheaper. My only reply was "Nope", I was livid.." How can a professional photographer spend 12 hours shooting, 6 hours editing and post production and sales and make any money? That is about 20 hours of work at $40 dollars an hour. To a someone who works at McDonalds that my sound like a lot of money but the investment the professional photographer has to put into that one day of shooting turns out to be a wash. Camera and lenses to shoot the wedding are a minimum of $3K, insurance, computer, software..post production etc..$120 an hour around $800, advertising to get that job up to $1k etc...Not to mention the skill level and not a second chance stress...well I think you get the idea. It is skewed when you hear photographers like Annie Leibowitz charges $100K for a portrait..according to the Washington Post...which is hard to believe since even an Avedon icon print will auction around $110K, sorry Annie in not Avedon.

Ok I feel I am venting about the state of professional photography and that is not a healthy. I do feel fortunate to have made my living as a professional photography and do find joy in photographing weddings, senior portraits, family portraits and children. The retail side of the business is new territory for me, after shooting commercial work for so long. It is like the Hare and tortoise analogy..In commercial you make a lot of money in a short time and in the retail photography business you make a moderate amount of money over a period of time. The commercial assignments are few and far between the retail are more and over the long run will be more consistent. My theory...being a Capricorn is probably more in line with my personality.

I am looking forward to my second year of having a photo studio in Missoula Montana and see what happens..my goal is to build clients, strengthen my brand and do more than just break even but actually climb out of debt...a tall order in this recession but worth a try..sorry no photos in this blog..go to my website www.begleiter.com to look at images..I feel better writing this out, thanks to my former student

Montana Wedding Video

2009-05-04T12:39:00.002-06:00

this is a link to a wedding I shot outside of Helena. I wanted to see how it worked. let me know what you think.

Life Happens

2009-05-02T06:57:00.003-06:00

The day after....recovering from my 6th First Friday studio opening...hard to believe I have had my Missoula Photography Studio for 6 months. The photo studio is beginning to take shape and last night's opening gave me hope that I am moving in the right direction.

The Show was entitled " Life Happens" and I exhibited some of my new photographs of Missoula Women who are Pregnant, maternity photos. I had only three photo sessions but I felt they were all successful the last session being my favorite. Strangely I feel with all my expertise on photographic lighting and passion to capture beauty I have found the challenges of photographing pregnant women to be very photographically satisfying. There are many challenges to capture the right mood and feel without being too contrived.

It is great to hear the women respond to the images. They see how beautiful they are and discard the comment I hear often when I am photographing them..." I look fat." So I have decided to pursue this track for the next year and see what happens...If I get enough outstanding work I may try to turn it it into a book.

Let me get back to last night...You never know if any one is ever going to show for First Friday and fortunately the weather was decent. I was able to open my door the whole evening which made it more inviting. I am happy to say it was good turnout. I would say around 50 plus people showed up throughout the night and many were new faces. They seem to take there time to look at all the images and read the material I wrote describing the photographs. Many took my pricing brochure and seemed interested in setting up appointments for a photo session. At the very end of the night my friend Jill Meyer and Shelly and her mom stopped by. Jill and Shelly are working on a great art project to raise money for breast cancer research, which I will talk about in another blog. But Jill is a great Faux artist and we are bartering work. She suggested painting my front door red and she will create some faux art as a trim for the windows...that is what I am going to do this week, paint my front door red...ok that is is for now, it is going to be sunny and warm in Missoula and it is Saturday..hip hip hooray..

Wild Turkeys, Bald Eagles, Snow

2009-03-19T22:00:00.005-06:00

It has been too long since I entered any info on my blog. Since I last wrote I mounted an impressive multi media exhibit of twelve 34" x 42" canvas prints, printed by CanvasonDemand, for the "Every Woman Matters" show. It was a huge success with around 350 people coming to the event. In addition my article came out in PhotoTechniques with a photo of Claire and her daughter Grace on the cover.

I had also had a great assignment from a magazine in CA to photograph the dynamic woman Julie Cajune. My assistant and drove to Arlee to photograph her at the Salish Language school. Julie had the daunting and honored task of taking all the written histories of Montana Native Americans Tribes and create texts for all the public schools in Montana. The state of Montana is the only State in the United States that requires public schools to teach the history of the Native American. I found Julie to be incredibly informative and very cooperative. After photographing her at work, teaching students we went to Hear View Center for the main portrait. The mountains were snow capped and the skies were stormy.

A strange but welcome assignment came this week to photograph the same person I photographed two years ago for the same magazine and same cover shot. That has never happened before but like I said it was a welcome assignment, plus it is a road trip to Helena which is always fun.

Lastly, I will be shooting my first wedding of the year this Saturday just outside of Florence. It will be a pretty big wedding of over 200 guests. It should be fun since the theme is Hawaiian, the couple are fun and it will be very colorful. Nothing like a Wedding in Montana in March, may snow, rain or be hot and sunny...stay tuned.

As Promised Turkeys, Bald Eagles and Snow

Men in Skirts/ Breast Cancer Research

2009-01-29T13:48:00.007-07:00

Been a while since my last posting, apologies. Being a professional photographer is like being a juggler 24/7. If I am not shooting, I am organizing, bookkeeping, promoting, conceiving, and so on. Since my last posting, I had an interesting day of shooting. The morning I decided to test my lighting and photograph my friend Steve Robertson in his Bagpiping outfit. He brought out his uniform, and bagpipes and I shot away. Little did I know that the person I was photographing would also be bringing in his Kilt for the afternoon shoot. Turns out Jim Hamilton know Steve and they have even played together in the Scottish bagpipe band. Not to be outdone Jim also brought his dogs and had borrowed an antique rifle for the shoot....

I am also working a project entitled " Every Woman Matters." I am photographing 12 women who are either disabled and are survivors of breast cancer. They are from all over Montana and I photographed the first four last weekend. My studio will house the multi media installation

the First Friday in March. The women are also being filmed and interview by Jeremy Lurgio of UM and students. This project has many wonderful volunteers from UM MSU and will be funded by the CDC ( Center for Disease Control) and Susan Komen Foudations...I will be completing the shooting this weekend....should be a good show...Between now and then I will be doing a book signing at Fact and Fiction...I have done book signings before but they terrify me....I mean what if no one shows up???? Here is portrait of one of the women I photographed:

I did have my 15 minutes of fame in Missoula...they ran a story and a photo of me at work on the front page of the news...good thing the inauguration wasn't that day... Oh well back to the bookkeeping, maybe I will practice my saxophone for a while or walk the dog...

hats; holidays; and sub zero temps

2008-12-18T02:24:00.003-07:00

It has been a while since my last post. I have been busy wrapping up an architectural job that started in September, organizing the offfice in my new space and moving lots of beds. I had a photo shoot last Saturday that was a lot of fun. Everest Designs. who create winter hats made in Nepal hired me to shoot some images for their 2009 catalog. I got the call on Thuresday to see if I was available on the weekend. At that time it was around 35 degrees and not a drop of snow. On Friday the artic blast arrived. dropping the temps below O and bring about an inch of snow, perfect for ths shoot but a bit too cold. I woke up the morning of the shoot and my outdoor themometer said minus 15 degrees. I had made sure I was charging all the my batteries the night before to be ready. I got to my studio around 11 am where I met my lovely assistant Cathy Walters. she also modeled that day. The client Matt and Choti arrived with three other models and 4 large cartons of hats and hand warmers. We discussed the days shoot and since the weather was sooooo cold I suggested we stay close to the studio. They laid out the hats all around my studio and sorted the hats and wardrobe. Fortunately there is a great coffee shop next to my studio, where we set up the first shoot. There were three great scenes we set up that were cozy and warm with views of wintery downtown Missoula. I had cleared the site with the owner of the store the day before. It was a lot of fun and my client and I were happy with the results. We decided to regroup at my studio and plot the outdoor shots, the temp was about 10 degrees and dropping....I decided to travel light and have my assistant carry my Canon55o EX flash and an extra light. It was slaved to my Canon 580 EX flash on my camera with a diffuser....It worked really well and created a sunshine look on an very cold and overcast day,,,,we walked around downtown to the Higgins Bridge and I continued to shoot till dusk...the models faces where blush from the cold and their eyes were watering from the cold wind but we were getting great shots....my closing shots when everyone was heading back to my studio were some of my favorite....I will be posting some of the images soon....
Now I am trying to close down my office for the holidays and begin the accounting for 2008, my most dreadful part of the business,,,,,,Happy holidays...ps my book seems to be doing well on Amazon, I have gotten three rave reviews.....

My First Book Review

2008-12-03T21:04:00.003-07:00

I got my first book review and I am happy to say it was very positive. It somewhat rewarding to get positive feedback from a professional peer. Kevin Kitchen was the reviewer and he has a great photography site called photographyvoice.com. The link will take you to my review.

On another note, I just realized I need to decorate my studio for the holidays...oy vey. Although it great to have a studio I forgot about all the day to day work it takes to maintain the studio. I did a family portrait yesterday and it was easy and fun to just move the lighting around, rather than unpack it out of my travel cases and set up the background. I invested in the three roll background pulley system which allows me to raise and lower different shades of seamless like a window shade. I got if from Calumet in LA. in addition I purchase three rolls of seamless, black, gray and white. I was able to set up for the family in about 15 minutes and break down in 5 minutes...It was good shoot, an attractive family and lots of fun. Photos to follow

Book Arrives..hooray!!!!!

2008-12-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Well, my book "50 Lighting Setups for Portrait Photographers," has finally arrived and you should be able to purchase the book at any retail bookstore, Amazon or AmherstMedia, by next week. Or you could e-mail me and I could sell you a signed book for $30 plus shipping....If you are really nice you will write a good review on Amazon, once you looked over the book. Let me know what you think....

Conservation Dogs and Sundance

2008-11-25T04:06:00.005-07:00

Wow, who would thought living in Missoula Montana as a photographer would have it's national appeal. I got a call last week from the a production company in LA who was workng on a film for the Sundance Channel. They wanted to hire me to shoot stills for this show called " Big Ideas for a Small Planet". It was short notice but fortunately I was free that Friday. I met the film crew that Friday morning at a hotel in Missoula and we discussed the weather and what the episode was about. The show was about dogs who sniff out kack ( poop) to monitor wildlife. The weather was a concorn becasue the film crew wanted to shoot in Idaho over Lolo pass but the road leading to the site was blanketed in snow. I suggested shooting the first interview in Pattee Canyon and hopefully by early afternoon the snow covering the pass would be gone. They agreed and filmed an interview with Aimee Hurt in the morning. My job as a still photographer was to document the documentary and try and recreate what they were filming. Which was challenging since I couldn't shoot while they were filming during sound...I had no time to rent a blimp so I had to work around the sound crew.
The afternoon was even more challenging, the weather cleared and we were able to go over Lolo pass into Idaho to the sight where Aimme's dog could scent out some wolf kack. The entire crew ventured into the dense woods trying to about bogs that would litterally take your shoes off, it happened to one of the crew, and thick brush, ice and snow. Without equipment it was bad enough but having to carry a lot of extra weight ...some close calls of falling face first. Of course I had to shoot around the crew, chasing after the dog on a scent, and avoid shooting while they were shooting with sound. In addition the DP Paul Mailman would be chasing and turning with the camera and I had to make sure I was out of his shot. All and all it was a fun day, met some great folks, dedicated to their work and got some great shots...to follow...The odd moment of the day was when we were having lunch and Paul and I realized that we graduated from the same high school, he graduated two years before me. We also had some friends in common from high school. Considering he lived in Seattle and I in Missoula and that we graduating from the same high school over 25 years ago in Cleveland, Ohio, and were working on a documentary together
well made me realize we really do live in a small planet....

Begleiter Studio Update, We've Launched

2008-11-10T16:30:00.004-07:00

We had our grand opening of our new studio at 223 West Front St. Missoula, Montana last Friday. I think it was a success, we had around 40 people stop by and look at some work, drink and chat on a very rainy Friday.

It was a very busy day for me getting ready. I still had to install the sound system, set-up the tables, get the food and wine, thanks Kate, and clean the 1500 square foot space. I started at 8:30 am and finished around 5:30 pm in time for the first guest. It was worth it.

My mom sent yummy chocolates, my sister sent a wonderful bouquet as did my good friends Gay, Michael, Anthony, Cathy, Bob and Dana & Pilot Bob... what a treat.

The evening ended with my friend Steve Robertson playing the Bag Pipes. Here are some photos from the studio and evening... Next getting the post production room together...stay tuned...

Missoula Photo Studio Update

2008-11-05T07:04:00.005-07:00

Photo Tip #1 Lighting a Photographic Portrait

Two days to go till the grand opening of my photo studio at 223 West Front Missoula Montana, for the first Friday November 7th.

Still much to do but it is close. The painting, dry walling, sign are finished. I spent last week cleaning the rug, going to the dump and buying some more stuff for the studio. I even had my first shoot on Monday for a new corporate client, shot it in the morning, processed it in the afternoon and sent the selected image at the end of the day to client.

I still am waiting for a phone line, setting up the stereo, getting a parking space, etc....All and all it is very exciting and feels good to have a studio again. My friend Steve Robertson is helping me move in my office tomorrow and I hope to get the computer up and running by next week. I should be getting 12 new canvas photos by Thursday just in time to hang for the opening. I believe with the new president elect Obama the winds will begin to blow in right direction...all very exciting....time to make some tea.

Missoula Photo Studio Update

2008-10-25T09:59:00.008-06:00

Well the studio on 223 West Front Street is coming along. Taking longer than I expected but I expected that. The painters, Josh and Tom have finished the front room and only need one more coat on the exterior. The Dry Waller, Ron, needs to patch some of the walls in the middle room so the painters can start that room. I have delegated myself to overhaul the backroom, post production room. It was a commerical Kitchen and smelled like one. I started by stripping the old stained linoleum off the walls, put a a coat of Kilz to block the smell. I just finished " putting mud," on the walls ( joint compound) and today I will go in and sand, hoping to begin painting by Sunday, Monday.
The exciting news was on Friday when the sign maker, Tyler put up the sign. After seeing we both decided the hanging chain needs to be black and the entire signs need to go higher by a couple of links.... I am begining to feel like this is my " Field of Dreams" I am begging to get inquires for some shoots...now the big challenge is coming up with fees...Here are some pics from the Photography Studio...the sort of before pics.

rmsp graduates...ooh nooo

2008-10-14T11:37:00.001-06:00

congratulations to the class of 2008 RMSP

Setting up a Photo Studio in Missoula

2008-10-10T16:51:00.003-06:00

Well I signed the lease and have committed myself to a studio in Downtown Missoula. A precarious time to start a new business, when the economy is slumping but I say there is no better time than now. The painter, framer and sign maker have been hired and my goal is to have the studio up and running by the first of November.

50 Ways to Light a Portrait

2008-09-12T00:26:00.002-06:00

I finally received the final galley of my upcoming book.

I think I finally nailed it...It doesn't come out till December and seems like I wrote it years ago. I did submit the final to my editor at the beginning of this year.
Publishing books is a strange experience. As an author you go through a sort of time warp. It is an experience unlike the world today when we expect immediate gratification from what we create or the immediate answers we find on the web.
The other peculiar reaction I feel when my book finally comes to completion is how small it looks and feels. At the time of writing, photographing, creating, pondering and self debates of what should be included and what should be taken out, I feel that this project is a monster, large and wild. The hours spent and the time taken away from any sort of R&R seems like the book should be as big as a Rhinoceros....Maybe I should reread Rhinoceros by Eugene Ionesco. Or as Spalding Gray called it " A Monster in the Box.
I do feel fortunate to be an author and have my work published but it does come with a price. Or to state a cliche, "Nothing worthwhile is easy." Now that I sent my final corrections to my editor, Michelle Perkins I will forget the book and await till the final copy arrives. In the meantime I am thinking about another book...sort of an addiction.

Moose in Montana

2008-09-02T15:28:00.004-06:00

Well, I have lived here for two years now and I have to admit I have been a bit disappointed by the fact that I have not spotted a moose. Actually I have been coming to Montana for over 17 years, for fun, family and photography, and still have not spotted a moose. I also have to admit that I have not gone out of my way looking for one, nor have I looked for Bears and Mountain Lions.

So when our family went to our Bitterroot cabin labor day weekend and took a brief hike from the Sam Billings trail, I was ecstatic to see a cow moose and it's offspring walking down the road. Like every dedicated and obsessed photographer I had my camera. I pushed my ISO to 320 and photographed them with my 200mm at 2.8. Of course I stayed my distance, while my wife held off our dog, patch. My 4 and 6 year stood by me as I photographed. They ran off into the woods within minutes and never seen again by me or my family. What a thrill. I am looking forward to more wildlife photo adventures in the fall. I have to admit Moose are very odd looking animals and very big. Nothing like Bullwinkle. take care,

Fire in the Montana Montains

2008-07-10T08:10:00.004-06:00

A fire broke out on Mt Sentinal last night. The first fire of the summer here. Sadly it was started by two boys playing with matches. Fortunately no one was hurt but 300 acres were burnt.

I took these two images from my front yard.

I am off to take the kids to camp but I will be back to posting tips and wild adventures in photography in the next post. Congrats to the photographer who received a 4 million dollar copyright infringement case from a real estate company. Beware copyright infringers.

Tiny Deamons

2008-05-07T23:35:00.003-06:00

I know, this is a strange post with an unusual title. Tiny Demons, by Todd Rundgren, is the name of the song on the B-side of a 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record I just digitized and placed in my i-tunes.

So "what does this have to do with photography" you ask? Everything. Music has always been in my bones ever since I was in diapers. I was always creating songs in my head or they were just there, I am not sure. I was always listening to the radio, albums and even played instruments creating sounds that moved me. Tiny Demons is all about the sounds you hear in your mind that no one else hears, which brings me to photography.

I am always trying to discard the noise and get the essence of the moment. The best way I can express that clarity is through photography. The demons get in the way when what I visually communicate what I see in my mind and no one gets it....I begin to doubt my vision but remember it is a process. So I push on and try to keep it authentic. Many failures and few successes but those few that succeed carry me on to keep exploring, experimenting and taking risks.

An odd post and probably , if you got this far, you may be wondering "why am I reading this."

Thanks for taking the time and hope to hear from you soon.

Potrait Photography/Amherst Media

2008-04-28T21:45:00.002-06:00

Well it nice to be written about so I thought I share this exciting news. I was interviewed about a year ago by Lou Jacobs Jr
for a book he was writing about Master Portrait Photographers published by Amherst Media
If you go to Amazon
You can see the except from the book. which happens to be about yours truly.

Great Photo links: Photography Pricing

2008-04-28T21:08:00.006-06:00

These are two very different sites but I feel they both can help photographers navigate the challenges of pricing and web marketing. The Harrington site is unique because John has a price calculator in his site that will help photographers determine a price when a they are bidding on a photography job.
Teaching photography and business at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography in Missoula Montana for the last 4 years the question I hear most from my student are " what should I charge?" By going to John's site you can go to his job calculator and get a ball park figure of what an established big city photographer would charge. Of course a Montana Photographer, like myself works with a different client with smaller budgets so there will be adjustments.
Photography pricing is difficult and the key to coming up with a competitive price is to finde out what rights and usage the clients wants, what the competition might charge, what the clients budget may be, and the value of your work. You mantra should always be never under value your work...no matter how desperate you may be at the time....it will pass.

The other site is a great site about web market strategy. The author Matt Baily talks about the nuts and bolts of creating a website and marketing. It is great info and is a must read for any photographer thinking about increasing the presence on the web...our portal to having clients see our digital portfolio. Even if you have already set up your site this info will give you some good advice on how to draw traffic.

The Wedding photography season in Montana is coming up and I will begin posting about the Montana wedding I will be shooting. I am excited about them since I really like the couples who have hire me and it should be a lot of fun.
In addition here is a photo I had taken of my children Mahkesh and Metika...It was one of those photo sessions where I had some lights set up and I needed to take a few shots of my children to send of to our Nepalese daughter with my Nephew Trevor. Well I shot about 5 frames before they got restless but I think I nailed it... Peace

Boulder Bound

2008-04-14T21:40:00.005-06:00

Sorry no photo for this entry. I was invited by Women's Adventure Magazine to come to Boulder,

Colorado and talk about the business of photography for their Photography conference. I had never been to Boulder so for me it was a win win situation to accept. On a personal note I had two friends from teenage years, that I hadn't seen in about 30 years, living there ( Sheldon and Ellen).

The other conference speakers were Sadie,the photo editor from National Geographic, Amber, the photo editor from Outside, Beth Wald ( a great adventure/travel photographer), Cory from Aurora Stock agency, and other talented folks. In retrospect, it was a great list of peers.

I sat through most of the speakers and found it to be very informative and inspiring. About 50 people signed up for the conference and a casual survey suggested they were happy to be there. Some traveled as far as Alaska and Florida. The first night I arrived I went out with some of the attendees for dinner, a guy (sorry forgot the name) for LA who looked liked Steve McQueen and wanted to run with the bulls in Paploma, a woman from Massachusets who made the last cut for a pro soccer team, and another woman who lived in Boulder but seemed to have traveled to every continent in the world.

Saturday was performance time and went very well, I can tell by how much laughter I can generate from talking about taxes and photo contracts. That evening I went out with my friends Sheldon and Ellen and had a great time.

Sunday morning, Sheldon came by and we went out for breakfast at a hip book store and then went climbing up the Chataqua (sp) mountains. When I got back it was time for "speed dating".

This is where the attendees signed up with the speakers for 10 minutes and asked us question one on one. It was fun to see the diversity of work and desire of the attendees. I had to leave early to catch my flight back to Missoula. I had the pleasure of driving back to the Denver Airport with the NG photo editor, Sadie. She we delightful to talk and I felt fortunate to one hour one on one conversation with the photo editor of National Geographic. All and all it was a great conference, great folks and beautiful scenery....

Obama Mama in Missoula

2008-04-08T20:22:00.003-06:00

Sometimes it is better to be a spectator than a hire photog. Obama came to Missoula on the April 6 and drew around 4,ooo supporter, not bad for a town of 60,000. I traveled to the bus with my family on a cold Saturday morning. We took the free bus to the UM campus and waited in a line that literally snaked a half a mile around campus. It moved smoothly and only took about a half an hour to get into the stadium, that seated 2,500. We got the seat furthest from the stage up in the nose bleed section. But fortunately we were facing the front of the stage. To keep things simple I brought my 200 2.8 lens, changed the white balance to tungsten and pushed my ISO to 400. I was able to shoot the event at 25oth at 2.8. Outside of my sons bumping my arm from time to time I was able to steady the camera and in my opinion came up with some great shots of a great man. He really does capture the positive spirit of how great this country can become with the right leadership.

It was an inspiring speech and it was great to see so many young people excited about politics.

Sunday we sort of rested..did a lot of errands and actually started cleaning out the yard, preparing for the long awaited spring. It was a good thing we rested because Monday was a big photo day. I was hired by the Washington Company to take lifestyle photos at 4 different locations in one day. My day started at the Missoula Food Bank, then off to the YMCA, for a shoot,not a swim, then off to the Missoula Children's Theater and ending the day at 8:30 photographing a scene in front of the Big Dipper (best Ice Cream in town) of Big Brothers, Big Sisters....Long day but a success......photos to be posted later...

History In The Making

2008-04-01T21:54:00.006-06:00

The Milltown Dam was breached and I had the great fortune of being hired to photograph this historic event in Montana. The Milltown Dam is a Super fund site and has been cleaned up. The breaching of the Dam was the result of a lot of hard work by local citizens, State officials and federal aid. the image on the left is of Governor Schweitzer and Senator John Tester who spoke at the event. Senator Baucus was also there.

It's Official Book Talk

2008-03-11T20:35:00.003-06:00

After much deliberation amongst the marketing folks the cover of my fourth photography book has been chosen. The book will be out at the end of 2008 and will be published by Amherst Media.
After my editor, Michelle Perkins, goes through the rough draft I will get the monster back and refine it into a fine diamond. Thank goodness for great editors!!!
I am proud to be publishing my fourth book, it is no small feat. I will talk more about getting your book published in later blogs. For now I just wanted to share the news.

Noteriety

2008-03-07T17:33:00.002-07:00

I got a call from the new editor of Studio Magazine. She has seen my Promo cards I had been sending out and was interested in doing an article about my business strategies over the past 25 years...I was asked to submit around 15 images and was interviewed by one of their writers. The interview lasted around an hour and was a lot of fun, primarily because the writer, Chris, was great. The article appeared in the February issue and in my humble opinion looked great. It pays to market yourself cause you never know who is paying attention.

Shooting in a Helicopter over the Rockies

2008-02-22T13:35:00.006-07:00

One day I am photographing a cosmetic surgeon, the next day I am up in helicopter photograph the majestic Bitterroot Mountains for a client. It was a beautiful day, the sky was blue, the mountains were snowcapped. I strapped myself in the helicopter, sat in the backseat. The pilot had taken the door off so I could get a great view and I did. I am not sure how long we were up in the air. I only knew by the time we landed I had taken about 260 images. I had shot with my Canon 40D and 24-105mm f4 lens. I set my camera to TV and made sure I was shooting at the minimum of 1/1200 to avoid vibration. I would change my ISO up to 400 if I did not have enough light. I would rather have a little noise than camera shake.
It was an awesome ride to hover above the Rockies. I was so absorbed in looking and shooting that only when I would hang out my leg or arm did I realize I was in helicopter. The wind and cold temperatures would shock my limbs and remind me to pull them back in. I also brought some heat packs and put them in my gloves to keep the batteries and my hands warm. It took me a couple of hours to get my land legs back but I was pumped for the rest of the day and really pleased with the images. That night was the lunar eclipse and after giving my kids a bath we ran out to the front yard to watch this magical event...they in their pajamas, around 38 degrees, and boots and robes and me with my camera on a tripod. Kate came home just in time to watch with us. It was a magical day in Montana.

Smokey the Bear

2008-02-22T13:32:00.003-07:00

This was the award I received for my photograph I had taken for the DNRC. It was a really nice surprise and now hangs in the dinning room.
One of many reasons why I love living in Montana.

DNRC Shoot

2008-01-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

I was hired by the Department of Natural Resources in Montana to photograph a poster for their 2008 campaign to prevent forest fires . It was really Steve Robertson, a great guy, who hired me. He runs the Ad Agency Full Moon Concepts in Missoula.
I don't want to give away all my secrets but the image was shot in one afternoon in Helena. I shot it from a cherry picker about 30 feet off the ground and directed the helicopters and firefighters. I may contact some photo mags and see if they are interested in buying the story...I will keep you posted.
This image is copyrighted so please do not download it and try to resell it. The posters will be coming out in March and I think if you contact the DNRC they may send you one...If you want to know more about the shoot contact me and go to my website:
www.begleiter.com

Thinking is the best way to travel

2008-01-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the Moody Blues, Thinking is really the best way to travel, especially when you live in Montana during winter. This is my first post so it will be an introduction to my life in the wacky world of photography. Setting up a blog was inspired my childhood friend James. D Fisher, who kindly mentions me in his blog and even gave me a nice review of my book "The Portrait Book."

My interest in photography began when I was 15. A friend, David Lindsey, showed me how to make a black and white print in the darkroom. It was a magical experience and sparked my obsession with the world of photography. That was 35 years ago and I am still fascinated with the world of photography.