Louis Q
SOME NEWS AND UPDATES – FALL 2017
Happy end of summer everyone, and welcome to what hopes to be a wonderful fall here in the
great northeast. It has certainly been an exciting summer here at Louis Q Photography. Despite all the nonsense, fear and hate that is going on in the world today, it is nice to know that most of us are able to put aside our differences and help one another. On a personal note, I have decided to leave my job of the past 8 years at the hospital where I worked nights and finally get back to a Monday through Friday day job with no weekends or holidays !! Nights for me was always a struggle, despite me telling myself I could handle it or get used to it. I don’t think one ever gets used to it. Our circadian rhythm is just not designed for it. I struggled with managing my time. Struggled with never feeling well physically. Struggled with sleep issues, depression and anxiety. But most of all, I was not able to devote the time I needed to for my children, my family, my girlfriend or my creativity. Scheduling photo-shoots was another monster in itself. Nights had a few perks however. If it was slow, which was usually the case, I was able to get some work done on my MacBook Pro. I could research ideas for shoots or check out YouTube channels or other tutorials on photo editing, creating artwork, composites or templates for use in my post work. The new MacBook Pro that I purchased in March was and is amazing for on the go work, travel or everyday use. As stated in a previous post, I never really gave much thought to using, or let alone, ever purchasing a Mac. I do own Apple products such as my iPhone and my iPad and have overall been very happy with their capabilities. I love the ability to sync between other Apple products and the world of pretty cool apps, music, calendar’s, etc. But in terms of RAW processing power, speed and capabilities my PC has always been my workhorse. I am still working on my brand spanking new killer PC that was custom built for me this past April, but granted, it hasn’t had much use since I picked up the Mac.
I also love the fact this MacBook Pro 15″ has two USB 3 ports, two thunderbolt ports, an HDMI port to connect an external monitor if working from my home station and an SDXC slot to import photos directly into the laptop which is a plus at events or concerts. The battery life has proven decent, lasting up to 9 hours with basic use however does suck the juice some with heavy processing. It is very cool also that I can listen to all my Apple Music with the built in speakers or with headphones and edit away while listening to my favorite playlists.
While waiting for my new desktop PC build, this MacBook Pro has proven to be a portable workhorse capable of handling my current workflow with speed and ease and I have found the learning curve both fun and rewarding. I have found some exciting new Mac friendly programs as well that I will discuss later in this blog post. This composite was created entirely on the new MacBook Pro.
Here is a link to the MacBook Pro 15.4″ I ended up purchasing through Best Buy:
MacBook Pro 15.4″
Up until this past March, I have used a PC for my entire creative life when it came to photo editing, creating artwork, composites or templates. I am on the fence at this point, but strongly considering selling this brand new amazing PC and going completely Mac with a 27″ iMac Retina 5K 3.8GHz with 2TB. Right now, I am tossing this idea out there. If anyone is interested, in need of or searching for a KILLER PC, please contact me privately via text or FB messenger.
Until or if it sells, I may get more use out of it now that I will be home nights and have a “normal” schedule again. We shall see. Up to now, this PC probably has maybe 10 hours logged on it. It is fully loaded with all the newest and fastest bells and whistles, Included in the build are Nvidia GTX 1070 video cards, Intel Core i7-7700K 7th Gen Processor, 256 SS Drive, two WD Black 2T hard drives, Aorus Z270X Motherboard, 32G RAM, Corsair Water Cooling system, A killer looking Corsair glass case with bad-ass looking LED’s that change colors and pulsate, along with some other cool ditties.. The drives are in a closed bay dust free design compartment and the thing is mega cooled with 5 fans and a water cooling system. If you’re interested contact me privately. (Serious inquiries only please)
With my new schedule I hope to get back on track with weekend and evening photo-shoots, tutorials, travel and landscape photography. Starting this September, in honor of my oldest daughter being a senior in high school, I am offering $100 off any senior photo-shoot for local high school kids. I will also be offering game coverage of any local athlete for the 2017-2018 sports season for a reduced rate as well. Please give me enough advance notice for any sports shoot. I can and will travel, but I need notice and a deposit to arrange my schedule. Please contact me regarding rates and availability
As always, my main love is creating one of a kind killer artwork rather than just dull, blah, everyday portraits. Having said that, I will make any portrait look amazing. And, I will work with any budget, offer payment plans, travel, shoot on location or in my studio…Really the possibilities are endless.
As you can see, we can get very creative with some amazing digital artwork featuring sports, gaming, outdoor interests such as hunting or fishing, music, drama, theater, etc.
Or if you prefer a more basic elegant look, that is definitely in our wheelhouse as well. The choice is yours !!
As well as portraits and senior photography, I have recently started offering real estate photography services and am currently working with several real estate agencies and staging companies. I have really enjoyed the opportunity to work with these fine folks and love the interior and external shoots on some of these amazing properties. Having photographed many an abandoned building using bracketing and HDR techniques over the past several years, I welcome the opportunity to photograph these lovely homes that are lived in. Please contact me for any questions, inquiries or interest in real estate photography, consulting or staging ideas for real estate photography.
I was happy to have recently hooked up with an old friend that I don’t spend nearly enough time with as I used to due to both our crazy schedules. A.D. Wheeler has been a friend, mentor, co-worker on and off for many years. He is very busy with working for MacPhun, creating his own educational videos and preset packs and recently returned from a two week jaunt to Yellowstone. (Yes, I was a bit envious). Check out his amazing work, tools, and photos at the Explorographer at the link below.
Please check out his page and photo-tools below:
EXPLOROGRAPHER PHOTO TOOLS
Here is a couple shots of an abandoned girls school that we just visited last week. Called the Bennett School for Girls, it is completely abandoned, the inside is totally unsafe and collapsing, but the exterior is where the real beauty is. Check out these shots from this shoot.
Finally, I have been busy with private one on one and online tutorials as well this past summer and am continuing to offer both evening and weekend appointments for basic DSLR tutorials, techniques, composition and post processing instruction as well. I have years of experience with PS, LR, several plugins and am offering private tutorials on my workflow, photoshop, lightroom, creative use of plugins, actions, etc and how to create personal actions and presets as well. I am new to Macphun products having become an affiliate a couple months ago. But I have been super impressed with the functionality and ease of Luminar mostly and its possibilities for future photo editing. I recently spent a few weeks landscape shooting and have processed almost exlusivley using Luminar. Check out Luminar for yourself. It will be available for PC as well VERY SOON. I will link the page below the Luminar banner. Use code lqmacphun for $10 off the product as well !!
Here is a link to this killer Mac software:
MacPhun Software
