PLEASE VISIT US AT OUR NEW WEBSITE!!!!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
New Album Line for 2012!!
We are so excited to finally be offering some of the highest quality products in the business!
Exclusively from Still Music, I'd like to introduce our new album line for 2012!!
Below are some of the images of the albums and if you're interested I can forward you the e-brochure with all the pricing and everything.
These albums are all printed and bound in the U.S. by top professional companies and we're excited to be offering them for all of our clientele.
We're always striving for excellence and quality, and our new albums are a big step in growth for us, which we are so happy to be pushing for!
Please let us know what you think!
Thanks to all our fans, much love....
Exclusively from Still Music, I'd like to introduce our new album line for 2012!!
Below are some of the images of the albums and if you're interested I can forward you the e-brochure with all the pricing and everything.
These albums are all printed and bound in the U.S. by top professional companies and we're excited to be offering them for all of our clientele.
We're always striving for excellence and quality, and our new albums are a big step in growth for us, which we are so happy to be pushing for!
Please let us know what you think!
Thanks to all our fans, much love....
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Baker Maternity Shoot 2
Here are the favorites from last weeks maternity shoot!
Actually - these are just a very few of the favorites.
There are too many.
Editorial use only
Copyright Jeremy Hohengarten 2012
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Baker Maternity Shoot
We have some of the greatest people as friends here in Portland.
And they are about to have one of the greatest babies.
Meet Erinne and Travis.
And Charlotte.
We met with them on Travis' birthday and enjoyed an amazing, sunny day with each other.
Charlotte was either really hot, furious, hyper, excited, happy, sad, curious, or something similar cuz she was kicking and making the whole world know her presence.
Here's my favorite shot of the day.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Small Tweet, Big Change
To continue the social media discussion...
I briefly looked thru the new post over at The Frugal Dad about big corporate changes sparked by consumer access to social media. For those Bank of America users, you remember the uproar against their proposed $5 debit fee. That changed quickly as the complaints of BofAers spread like wildfire across the amber waves of the social media plains. We were one of many who changed banks. Instead of going on, please check out the infographic and share on your own site.
Click here to read the entire post over at The Frugal Dad.
Source: http://frugaldad.com
I briefly looked thru the new post over at The Frugal Dad about big corporate changes sparked by consumer access to social media. For those Bank of America users, you remember the uproar against their proposed $5 debit fee. That changed quickly as the complaints of BofAers spread like wildfire across the amber waves of the social media plains. We were one of many who changed banks. Instead of going on, please check out the infographic and share on your own site.
Click here to read the entire post over at The Frugal Dad.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Instagram: #youredoingitwrong
Allow me to be completely and selfishly hypocritical; impossible to not sound pompous and ignorant and plain stupid.
Here I go, I'm 'bout to get stupid, guys:
I feel like I sold out: I recently signed up for Instagram.
Just a few days into it, and I'm into it; I feel like I have catching up to do.
It's not that I love it or am obsessed with it.
You have to understand - I've been doing photography, real photography, for some time now.
I was first developing film by hand when I was probably 12 or 13.
That's not common for "photographers" these days.
So for technology to have gotten to the point where anyone with an iPhone and a filter-equipped app can point their phone at a cup of coffee (too many cups of coffee pics people!) and turn a simple, boring image into an artsy #hashtag-peppered (I'm very guilty of the hashtag overuse) post without an ounce of effort or creative thought...
Well, it makes my heart ache.
It's exhilarating to be a part of this new-age, social network addicted, brainless revolution of art, but it's also
I'll try to explain...
As cynical and skeptical as I can be, especially about photography, you have to trust me when I say that I actually am very happy that people can share with the entire world their day-to-day story with a simple and aesthetically-stimulating type of medium.
It's really cool to see millions of really cool images from a million really cool places.
But it's technology and outlets like this that contribute to this mentality that #everyonesaphotographer.
Before I dive head first into my rants, there's something to be said about using something like Photoshop as your art medium.
But there's a clear difference here between a 12 hour project on Photoshop, and the quick brush of my hyper-sensitive touchscreen.
You can buy an amazing camera for less than $500 now.
Every wedding I go to, I'm "competing" against Uncle Robert and the "friend with a nice camera" (actual quote from multiple clients) for space and for images and for moments.
There have been weddings where guests have brought more gear and nicer gear than I have; me, the contracted, official, paid and experienced wedding photographer (told you I'd sound pompous).
There have been weddings where I have to watch out for that friend in the background of my shots.
I've missed opportunities because that guy was in my shot.
I've had to be brusk with that guy in telling him to move or to watch out, and I don't like being that way toward people, especially when I'm trying to be fun and professional for my clients.
I've been to weddings where throughout the entire ceremony you are seeing the blinding pop of that guy's flash, or hearing the incessant machine-gun fire of their shutter set to high-speed...
blasting desperately, hoping to capture that image that will send them into the professional world with super star-status.
I'm definitely being a tiny over dramatic, but all of these examples are true experiences of mine.
But I'm being over dramatic because that's just the direction things have been going for a long time, and it makes me bitter.
There are OG's that have always shot film and still shoot film, and they've been shooting longer than I've been alive.
Those dudes would read this, or listen to me whine, and scoff at my naivety and ignorance.
I can accept that.
I respect that.
In a conversation I had last night with my social media-guru house mate Chase Reeves, I was trying to transparently explain to him my conflicting feelings following the admission that I was now on Instagram, a cult-ish movement that I resisted since I first downloaded the app when it was released and no one had it and I didn't understand it or #hashtags.
He doesn't "get it" either.
I defended my hypocritical actions, standing there like a dummy in front of the guru, fiddling with some power cable I was holding for some reason.
"It's hard not to get swept up in the storm of "getting as many followers as you can." As a photographer, the more followers I have, potentially the more people will click on the link to my blog, and visit my website, and see my wedding images. If I wasn't a photographer, I probably wouldn't care about it that much."
[Guru] "For me, it's not about how many people are following me. I'd rather have some good followers, that are really into what you do and benefit from your art."
The conversation was something like that.
The truth is, Guru's right and I'm wrong.
Here's the thing, this is why I'm wrong:
I would TOTALLY care about Instagram if I wasn't a photographer.
I'd be so into it!
I would think I was so cool taking 82 pictures of the sky and clicking on a button that adds a filter to make it look super tight.
I totally get sucked into having a bottomless goal; what I mean is, having a goal that you'll never reach, because you'll always want more.
More money: my goal is to make a million, but after my first million, I have to make more.
Why stop there?
More followers: my goal is to get a thousand people to follow me on my blog/profile/site, but after a thousand, why stop there?
More Legos: my goal is to collect all the vintage Lego sets, but after I have them all, why not get all the new ones too??? (I don't collect Legos).
Instagram is even more addicting that Facebook!
Anyone telling you otherwise is full of #bs.
With the same "checking updates and notifications" and "stalking" capabilities it gives you, IG is a simple photo app full of pics from around the world.
Pictures say a thousand words; conversely, 150 million pictures say a lot more words.
It's captivating looking through electric, over-edited and disgustingly beautiful images of the same things over and over.
Here's the other truth:
it's not about lots of followers, it's about good and devout followers.
If you're passionate about making stories and telling your stories, you'd rather have a smaller number of interested and affected followers rather than a larger number of tweens and bots and spammers (more about telling stories in the near future here at the Still Music blog).
To give credit where it's due,
there are a lot of creative IGers who are good photographers with a good eye, and their work shows it.
Also, a lot of their images look like everyone else's, including my own.
Is that the app doing that to us?
Many of these respectable leaders are way more experienced that I am, and many of them are DEFINITELY better than me, so don't picture me on a high horse; remember, I'm just bitter.
Here's a link to an interesting article about the top Instagram photographers leading this wild movement.
These are very real people who have access to tens of thousands of people globally and have very significant and honest things to say about their lives as IGers.
So I need to keep my head on straight; focus on what I really want, not what my ego wants.
Also, it means I need to use this as a challenge and to find my own obsession that stands out from the crowd (more about finding my challenge in the very near future here at the Still Music blog).
Also, I need to complain less, because people will be hurt and then will hurt my feelings back.
The other night I checked Instagram and my buddy tagged me in a quote:
"I am honored that a "real photographer" [quotes inserted by my self-depreciating self] likes my pic.
Instagram is [the] auto-tune of photography!"
That I can also respect, especially coming from a real musican.
Here I go, I'm 'bout to get stupid, guys:
I feel like I sold out: I recently signed up for Instagram.
Just a few days into it, and I'm into it; I feel like I have catching up to do.
It's not that I love it or am obsessed with it.
You have to understand - I've been doing photography, real photography, for some time now.
I was first developing film by hand when I was probably 12 or 13.
That's not common for "photographers" these days.
So for technology to have gotten to the point where anyone with an iPhone and a filter-equipped app can point their phone at a cup of coffee (too many cups of coffee pics people!) and turn a simple, boring image into an artsy #hashtag-peppered (I'm very guilty of the hashtag overuse) post without an ounce of effort or creative thought...
Well, it makes my heart ache.
It's exhilarating to be a part of this new-age, social network addicted, brainless revolution of art, but it's also
just
silly.
I'll try to explain...
As cynical and skeptical as I can be, especially about photography, you have to trust me when I say that I actually am very happy that people can share with the entire world their day-to-day story with a simple and aesthetically-stimulating type of medium.
It's really cool to see millions of really cool images from a million really cool places.
But it's technology and outlets like this that contribute to this mentality that #everyonesaphotographer.
Before I dive head first into my rants, there's something to be said about using something like Photoshop as your art medium.
But there's a clear difference here between a 12 hour project on Photoshop, and the quick brush of my hyper-sensitive touchscreen.
You can buy an amazing camera for less than $500 now.
Every wedding I go to, I'm "competing" against Uncle Robert and the "friend with a nice camera" (actual quote from multiple clients) for space and for images and for moments.
There have been weddings where guests have brought more gear and nicer gear than I have; me, the contracted, official, paid and experienced wedding photographer (told you I'd sound pompous).
There have been weddings where I have to watch out for that friend in the background of my shots.
I've missed opportunities because that guy was in my shot.
I've had to be brusk with that guy in telling him to move or to watch out, and I don't like being that way toward people, especially when I'm trying to be fun and professional for my clients.
I've been to weddings where throughout the entire ceremony you are seeing the blinding pop of that guy's flash, or hearing the incessant machine-gun fire of their shutter set to high-speed...
blasting desperately, hoping to capture that image that will send them into the professional world with super star-status.
I'm definitely being a tiny over dramatic, but all of these examples are true experiences of mine.
But I'm being over dramatic because that's just the direction things have been going for a long time, and it makes me bitter.
There are OG's that have always shot film and still shoot film, and they've been shooting longer than I've been alive.
Those dudes would read this, or listen to me whine, and scoff at my naivety and ignorance.
I can accept that.
I respect that.
In a conversation I had last night with my social media-guru house mate Chase Reeves, I was trying to transparently explain to him my conflicting feelings following the admission that I was now on Instagram, a cult-ish movement that I resisted since I first downloaded the app when it was released and no one had it and I didn't understand it or #hashtags.
He doesn't "get it" either.
I defended my hypocritical actions, standing there like a dummy in front of the guru, fiddling with some power cable I was holding for some reason.
"It's hard not to get swept up in the storm of "getting as many followers as you can." As a photographer, the more followers I have, potentially the more people will click on the link to my blog, and visit my website, and see my wedding images. If I wasn't a photographer, I probably wouldn't care about it that much."
[Guru] "For me, it's not about how many people are following me. I'd rather have some good followers, that are really into what you do and benefit from your art."
The conversation was something like that.
The truth is, Guru's right and I'm wrong.
Here's the thing, this is why I'm wrong:
I would TOTALLY care about Instagram if I wasn't a photographer.
I'd be so into it!
I would think I was so cool taking 82 pictures of the sky and clicking on a button that adds a filter to make it look super tight.
I totally get sucked into having a bottomless goal; what I mean is, having a goal that you'll never reach, because you'll always want more.
More money: my goal is to make a million, but after my first million, I have to make more.
Why stop there?
More followers: my goal is to get a thousand people to follow me on my blog/profile/site, but after a thousand, why stop there?
More Legos: my goal is to collect all the vintage Lego sets, but after I have them all, why not get all the new ones too??? (I don't collect Legos).
Instagram is even more addicting that Facebook!
Anyone telling you otherwise is full of #bs.
With the same "checking updates and notifications" and "stalking" capabilities it gives you, IG is a simple photo app full of pics from around the world.
Pictures say a thousand words; conversely, 150 million pictures say a lot more words.
It's captivating looking through electric, over-edited and disgustingly beautiful images of the same things over and over.
Here's the other truth:
it's not about lots of followers, it's about good and devout followers.
If you're passionate about making stories and telling your stories, you'd rather have a smaller number of interested and affected followers rather than a larger number of tweens and bots and spammers (more about telling stories in the near future here at the Still Music blog).
To give credit where it's due,
there are a lot of creative IGers who are good photographers with a good eye, and their work shows it.
Also, a lot of their images look like everyone else's, including my own.
Is that the app doing that to us?
Many of these respectable leaders are way more experienced that I am, and many of them are DEFINITELY better than me, so don't picture me on a high horse; remember, I'm just bitter.
Here's a link to an interesting article about the top Instagram photographers leading this wild movement.
These are very real people who have access to tens of thousands of people globally and have very significant and honest things to say about their lives as IGers.
So I need to keep my head on straight; focus on what I really want, not what my ego wants.
Also, it means I need to use this as a challenge and to find my own obsession that stands out from the crowd (more about finding my challenge in the very near future here at the Still Music blog).
Also, I need to complain less, because people will be hurt and then will hurt my feelings back.
The other night I checked Instagram and my buddy tagged me in a quote:
"I am honored that a "real photographer" [quotes inserted by my self-depreciating self] likes my pic.
Instagram is [the] auto-tune of photography!"
That I can also respect, especially coming from a real musican.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
"...it's just not that good."
"For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good."
There's an image of a quote going around on Facebook.
Supposedly it's from Ira Glass, producer and host of This American Life.
I haven't heard it, but I like it.
It's about how those of us that do creative work, we kinda suck at first.
We have the drive, the "potential," but "it's just not that good."
I appreciate this reality.
I've been going back through old posts.
I've had to revamp my entire blog of almost 5 years.
I've looked through my first images from my first weddings and guess what?
It's just not that good.
In this quote, Ira Glass recommends doing a lot of work to push past the mediocrity.
Looking thru my entire blog, I see I've done a lot of work.
In the quote, Ira Glass reminds us that it's going to take a while.
Looking back thru my entire blog, I feel like it's taken a while.
A long while.
And in the quote, Ira Glass encourages us to fight your way through.
Looking back through my entire blog, it's hard not to be discouraged, even with my recent work.
It's not where I want it to be - it's not perfect.
It's hard not to ignore that nibbling sensation known as burnout (which I'll be talking about in the near future).
So I guess I fight my way through discouragement.
To find that place where my work is as good as my ambition.
And Ira Glass reminds us... that I'm not alone; "we all go through this."
"You gotta know that it's normal."
Monday, February 13, 2012
New look to our blog!
Welcome to our new look here at the Still Music blog. It's reader-customizable, which is pretty sweet. Just move your cursor over the top left corner tab where it should say "Classic," and click on multiple looks. I like to keep it on "Classic," because not all of my pictures show up in the other viewing options.
I've been working the last couple days on major improvements to the blog. Adding lots of tags, checking grammer and spelling, trying to get a cohesive look going on, and fixing pictures and links. Picasa deleted all of my previous pictures so it's been pretty tedious fixing everything. I've just deleted like 35 of my oldest posts because it's just so much work to try to get all the images back.
I have big plans for my blog to try to reach more people. I want people to follow us here at Still Music, so add our URL to your reader.
www.jeremyhohengarten.blogspot.com
Soon I hope to add a "Email List" link. PLEASE share with your friends, especially the ones getting married (even if they have a photographer!). DEFINITELY "Like" posts that you enjoyed so I know what people like to see ("Like" and "+1" buttons are at the bottom of each post.
There's lots to look forward to in the future here at our blog. We'll be exploring options like interviews with other photographers, tips and tricks, advice, personal stories, flash back or rewind posts, author's picks and favorites, vendor recommendations, resources, maybe some videos, and we'll hopefully be exploring my own experiences with my own wedding and our wonderful photographers.
2012 is going to be a fun year for us.
We're going to be shooting a lot more hopefully.
We'll be shooting in:
warm and fashionable Southern California,
on top of a ski resort,
in ever-beautiful and sexy Napa Valley,
in Seattle, Washinton (hopefully on a YACHT!),
on a beautiful ranch in the foothills of the Sierras,
and even at Union Hill where my wife and I were married.
Don't worry, I'll be bugging you to stay in touch because I want you to enjoy coming to visit us here. The following screen shots are your different viewing options for the blog. It'd be awesome to hear from you about whether or not you like it. I'm always looking to improve and perfect. And this is far from perfect.
Stay tuned cuz this whole look will probably change real quick.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Still Music: Top 5 Photographers
I hope this post finds everybody well.
It's a cold and dreary morning in Portland.
Which is unusual considering how sunny this winter has been so far!
I want to take the time to plug some of my peeps.
I got peeps that are talented and amazing.
Like, they blow my mind.
And inspire me.
Inspire me to be better.
At least, inspire me to want to be better.
Some of these people I'm really close with, and others I just respect.
They work hard and their hard work shows.
These are the top photographers in my life, cuz they impress me and cuz we have the same good people in our lives.
These are the people I forward my clients to when they want recommendations.
So, please enjoy browsing and reading about...
Top 5 Photographers Close to my Heart:
A List by Still Music
A List by Still Music
(In no particular order of excellency)
Eric Turner Photo
Eric reps the hillbilly woods of Sonora, CA where we were both raised. Turner and I have known each other for a while. And we've been best friends for a while. We've always shot together. We shot together for his first wedding... that we did for free. Of course, now he's so good that he can't afford to shoot weddings for free, so don't get any ideas. Turner was one of my 3 best mans in my wedding; so he's pretty important. He's also about to be a father! There are many obvious reasons I love shooting with my best friend. Who wouldn't want to work with their best friend doing something like wedding photography? But the other reasons I like shooting with Turner is because he makes me a better person. Turner's a people person, even when he doesn't feel like it; and being a people person is one of the most important things about being a good wedding photographer. You have to be extra friendly, you have to be extra goofy, extra outgoing, extra patient, and extra understanding. And Turner is all of these. So if shooting with him makes me able to do these extra things extra, then I'm a better person.
Casey MacKenzie Photography
Casey is a sparkling, bubbly, and energetic-borderline-hyper talent hailing from the East Bay. Her energy can be nushelled (a friend just coined this term last nite in a conversation so I'm using it) into one word: passion. Whether its photos, working in Haiti, relationships, coffee or karaoke, her heart's all in. Casey impressed me initially with her no-bs badass attitude and Holga full of 120mm film. Casey MacKenzie has a unique style; like a dark-sexy-image-of-a-fashionable-model-for-a-cologne-ad style (I picked an image that best represents CMP in my mind). But what I admire about Casey's work is that she adapts to every different type of shoot to capture her interpretation of what she wants felt. So her wedding stuff is way different than her editorial stuff, but still has that MacKenzie style slathered all up on it. I also admire Casey's work because I could never imagine being able to capture that dusky, sexy, fashionable style very well. With her background in fashion design and her ever-changing hairstyle experimentation, Casey has an eye for things that will forever be beyond my artistic grasp. As someone who is trying to find any sort of consistent and unique style, I gotta respect my girl for that.
Emily Agenjo Photography
(use that link until www.emilyagenjo.com is back online)
Emily is my newest sister, thanks to my beautiful wife. So obviously I have to rep my kid sis. But there are some pertinent reasons why her talent will round-house kick you in the heart with beautiful images. Emily has come a long way fast. She went to school for journalism and discovered her natural talents in photo journalism and consequentially, wedding photography. She's been surrounded by good photographers and has absorbed like a sponge the techniques and knowledge she wants to create her own name in the game. In Southern California Emily was writing for Utterly Engaged, and was working for Bay Bella Publishing until last year. Now sis is working Pro Image Studios as Lead Round-House Kicker of Beautiful Images. She's even shooting a wedding in Sonora, CA at Union Hill where Erin and I were married!! She also took amazingly sexy boudoir pictures of my wife, and for that I am eternally indebted to her. I'm going to look at them now. Em is very much a people person also and is a blast to work with/for and its easy and motivating to feed off of her energy. Props, sis. And gentlemen, Miss Agenjo is gorgeous and temporarily single, so if you resemble Ryan Gosling, she'll be waiting for your call.
i love that glove
i love that glove is comprised of the ever impressive Oralia "Lia" Cecaci and her collection of digital and film cameras. Lia has been in the game for some time and has payed her dues; it shows in her design work and in her images. Lia has one of the most memorable 'creative eye' of any photographer that I've ever come across in my to-date 5/6 years photo. It makes me jealous, she's that good. When your images are making other seasoned photographers think "I wish I thought of that," then you know you're ahead of the rest. Well Lia's ahead, and from where I'm standing, she's a tiny speck on the horizon. She designs and photographs independently and juggles two other photo-related jobs (I have 3 jobs also, but only one is photo-related. In the past I've juggled 3 photo-related jobs, and I was burned out to the point that it was showing in my work. There is no evidence of burn-out in Lia's shining work.) Lia works at ultra-spective photography and at Las Positas Community College in the photo lab. So basically, she's killing it. I believe with her continued dedication and hard work, she can cultivate her talent to be one of the Bay's, state's and/or country's most talented photographers.
Kelly Boitano Photography
I've never had the giddy pleasure of working with Kelly. But I know her. If you hire her, I imagine your wedding day overflowing with giggles, skipping, puppy dogs and rainbows. I'd be surprised if she doesn't offer a wedding package that includes puppy dogs. She's non-stop fun and cuteness. Still, Kelly's an old soul. She's just stuck in a fleshbag of effervescent, warm friendliness. If Kelly had never picked up a camera in her life, she would be a good photographer just for these relational traits. But she has picked up a camera or two in her day, and she's murdering it in the giggle/puppy/beautiful photos department. I respect Kelly for her talent and also because I always get the sense that she really cares about what I'm saying when we get to chat. She's a very good listener and she's very humble. Kelly picked up and left her everything in the East Bay to study at Hallmark Institue of Photography in Mass. I don't know what her background was before school at Hallmark, but I, the "seasoned photographer", skeptically wished her luck before she threw up the peace sign and left for the Right Coast. She came back wayyyyyy better than me, punching my ordinary talent with her extra, humbling me and putting me in my place. And she's blowing up all over the Bay Area, so I'd advise you book soon so she can blow up your wedding.
There you have it, people.
These are the best photographers that I know.
I hope you spend lots of time dreaming of your wedding, past or future, and want them there with their cameras.
You probably understand now why I love the work of these talents.
It's quite obvious they're people to admire.
Hope you admire them also!
Refer them to your friends!
Thanks...
This was fun, I'm gonna do more posts like this.
Stay tuned... big love.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sarah and Mark: October 22, 2011
Much too long of a time to have not blogged about Sarah and Mark's wedding!!
I shot Sara and Mark's special day for Eric Turner, who just happens to be THE MAN.
Sarah had some near death experiences having destroyed an old park table with her bridesmaids and laid in the middle of the road with her new husband.
It was an exciting day, full of basketballs and photo booths.
One we'll never forget.
Because we took pictures and put them on the interwebs.
Sarah had some near death experiences having destroyed an old park table with her bridesmaids and laid in the middle of the road with her new husband.
It was an exciting day, full of basketballs and photo booths.
One we'll never forget.
Because we took pictures and put them on the interwebs.
Copyright: Still Music 2011
Photos by Jeremy Hohengarten for Eric Turner Photography
For editorial use only
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