​The beautiful hotel truly sets the mood for your 18 family and friends and me, to create beautiful images in a small amount of time. #SimpleCleanBeautiful

The old school upscale hotel always gives me many opportunities to capture beautiful images without going very far.  I love a hotel that speaks to me with eye candy from the entrance to the roof top.  This small reception allowed me to capture everyone there from a very candid point of view.  I have always believed that images speak louder than words, so here are a few favs I pulled while looking over my raw files to develop. Who doesn't love a good candid black & white image huh?  :)

A couple of years ago the style of "Crushing the blacks" in your images became popular.  If you don't know what this means to the below images for example.

Today's video will give you the visual explanation and "How To" steps to do this in your images.
Go to my Youtube channel, Subscribe, Hit the notification bell and get ready for more upcoming vids that will help your photography game!
Focused with GK
https://www.youtube.com/focusedwithgk

Well, This was a surprise to see this morning!  PeerSpace rated me #4 of the top 8 best food photographers in New Orleans.  While I'm shocked for the acknowledgement I'm humbled at the same time.  All aspects of photography interests me because of how different each can be.  Food photography is actually way harder then it seems.  I love that!  Understanding why you light glass from behind or romaine lettuce for its veins is awesome to me.  Knowing how light does what it does to different textures and how you should best expose for it, is my true love. Never stop working on your craft and always Stay Focused on Your Dreams!
​https://www.peerspace.com/resources/food-photographers-new-orleans/?fbclid=IwAR1QYixFqdUtAVhhCe1Bb2NBOvJVIsGqhwsJlB9W06m0hqXUOALTfIGn-jU    

I had NO idea this video would be so important to thousands of people.

Apparently we photographers are considering changing brands.  I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject below in the comments.  I have to say, I have realized newer technology in our cameras do help us get the job done, however any camera model is just your tool to use.  The Fuji XT3 for me fit great in my hands.  The focusing on the eyes, zone, sing dot and how you can customize these features to your liking is unbelievable. I have nothing against any one camera name brand so this is my personal experience on the switch from Canon to Fuji XT3.

I wanted to make a video that had some answers to questions I was searching Youtube for.  I wanted to see someone using the camera on a real job.  How is the usability in the field when pressure of the job is breathing down your neck.  Those dials on the top of the Fuji XT3...do they help or hurt your performance?

Feel free to watch the video for my in depth thoughts on only a couple of weeks of ownership.  Now that I have 8 months with the Fuji XT3 I can easily say...goodbye Canon!  I'm just kidding.  I would never say no to any name brand after my experience trying out another brand.  I was a Canon user of 25 years so this was a big deal to me.  The one thing and I do mean ONE THING that helped my decision making is a little lens adapter called the Fringer Pro.  This thing allowed me to keep using my Canon lenses on the Fuji XT3.   Now this is crazy because it really does work. 

I guess you can say I have it made since I don't loose any lenses but the only thing you need to remember is the crop factor of the Fuji XT3 since it's not s full frame camera.  I know what you are thinking..."Not full frame...I'm Out!" I do not miss full frame one bit because with the correct lenses on your camera everything else works the same.

I love change as long as it is for the better not the more difficult.   The Fuji XT3 has been an amazing addition to my creativity and usability on real jobs.  This is what my Youtube channel is all about actually.  I show my subscribers the real deal.  I'll show actual jobs in progress so you'll see my working conditions then I'll show you final results that are delivered to the client.  I may throw a vlog in there to change it up every once in a while but I'm a full time working photographer that loves to motivate and create.

My next video will be a long overdue follow-up to the video above. 
Title: Canon to Fuji XT3-8 months later 

No matter what camera brand you are married to...Stay Focused on Your Dreams.
Dreams become goals once you take that first step in the right direction.  I hope I can motivate you to earn a living doing something creative you love. I see a gazillion photographers everywhere, but not many earning a living solely on photography. This is my well earned career that is shared with you in every video. Create - Motivate - Keep Rockin Forward

​See you in the next vid...P E A C E :)

This blog post is personal.

I have been around life and death all this year.  I'll be 48 this year and I just can't help but wonder where do I fit in this space and time.  They say, "Life is Fast!" - but it isn't for most.  Life can be hard, depressing, uplifting, fascinating, wonderful, mind blowing, confusing, dumbfounded, inspiring, loving, filled with anxiety, and most importantly self fulfilling or self loathed.   So many of these things happened to me just this year.

I'm exhausted.  I'm emotionally drained yet super charged to share this post with you.  
I truly believe that life is either what happens TO you or what you CREATE for yourself.
Both of these options are equally hard to deal with.  When I'm dealing with life happening TO me...I'm confused, angry, hopeless and depressed.  When I create the life I want I find myself working so hard in fear to protect what I created, so I still lose sleep, I'm still anxious and I can never enjoy the moment long enough because I have to create the same if not better every day.

The one common factor of both situations is money.  Life is so depressing when you NEED the money and can't figure out how to fix it. When I have money I love that relaxed feeling of bills are paid and I'm not losing sleep over the next job that may or may not come through the door. When I have money I love helping others.  
Money is the one drug that always needs a fix or has you on such a high for life it feels unstoppable.  

Life and death. Life is for you to DO something amazing in this world for yourself and others to benefit from.  Death is something your loved ones have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Whether you live or die...you affect someone else somehow...some way. 

I choose to create a life my children can become because it's all they know.  They only know love and support from all angles of the family.  My children do not know hate, segregation, white privilege or any other negative thing you see on the news as if we are all rolled into one grouping.  My children know compassion, self awareness, kindness to others, self gratification from hard work ethics and most importantly love.  They see Elizabeth and I love each other.  They see the hurt and the pain of life and how it affects me and Elizabeth, but they also see how we get through it together. 

I'm typing this post as I think of the words, so forgive me if the context or spelling isn't spot on. In a world of everyone wants to be PERFECT...I just wanna be me ya know. You the reader deserve something real from someone who is going through the exact same thing you are.  Life and death.  Both are painful. Live today as if there is no tomorrow.  How would you be remembered from your actions today?

Yesterday morning my daughter Ellie walked outside and said, DAD COME SEE! This image was right before the sun was rising in the distance.  This is the time frame that mimics a sunset because the ball of light isn't in the sky just yet. It's almost like the universe is showing you a preview of what kind of day is to follow.

Naturally I ran to my camera and snapped a quick image showing the beautiful radiant colors the dawn sky had to offer.  You hated to see it go as the sun rose over the horizon, but it was a simple reminder to take in all the beauty around you WHEN IT HAPPENS! 

The one thing I have always cherished with my job as a photographer was having the ability to notice everything around me.  I see the world in many different angles.  I notice a lot of emotion within people, nature and animals.  We all have this crazy place in the world where we need to evolve, thrive and survive. Somedays I just want to enjoy the the colors in the sky ya know.  :)

I truly don't have a better title than "I'm so Angry" right now.  The world lost another wonderful soul today and he was in his early 30s.  Cancer was the demon that stole a young photographer and husband from all of us.  Lee Lopez was a positive force that saw people for who they were and treated you like a best friend when you were the real deal.  I'm blessed to have our recent family portrait created by Lee because his memory will forever be seen in our images.  Our smiles in the portrait are there because we were smiling at Lee.  In our midst of crazy family chaos Lee had a sense of humor that made you smile, relax and smile some more.  Photographers like Lee share a gift that cannot be duplicated. I will NEVER understand why bad things happen to really good people?  I truly thought Lee would prevail in his fight but the good Lord had bigger plans for Lee.  
Lee- you will be missed but NEVER forgotten because I know our smiles in our family portraits were all because of YOU!

Please pray for his lovely wife, Hilary as her world is forever changed.

I was at the beach last weekend and all I could think about was how difficult life can be.  I had an entire vlog I wanted to create but I found myself creating something inspirational.  I figured someone needed this video today.  Please let me know in the comments if you needed it today?  :)