I know this is extremely last minute but anyone considering purchasing a BIG Folio site– today is the day.

We are offering an instant $100 rebate to anyone signing up between now and 11:59pm today, 1.31.07 (Pacific Standard Time).

Please visit BIG Folio to get started.

When you get a moment please be sure to visit Wedshooter to read the recent article written by David Beckstead, 'Flare, Baby Flare'.

Next month, BIG Folio will be helping coordinate and host an informal photography get-together for members of the Open Source Photo forum.

We're going to spend the weekend (Feb 9-11) taking pictures, learning from one another, and just having a fun time. Some seriously rockin' photographers will be on hand.

We setup a wiki for the event–check it out for more information.

If you're not yet a member, definitely join OSP. If you're on the West Coast and have no plans that weekend, consider joining us as well.

This weeks highlighted photographer is Michael Corsentino.

What is your primary camera body?

Canon 5D, Nikon D2X

Two lenses you use the most:

85 1.2, 70-200 2.8

Do you shoot RAW?

Always, I love the film like exposure flexibility, white balance control, Adobe Bridge presets, etc.

How would you describe your photography style?

My style is a blend of photojournalism, editorial, and fashion.

Do you employ second shooters or assistants?

Yes, I have a few talented assistants and 2nd shooters that work with me.

What do you remember about your first (or one of your first) wedding shoot?

How quickly everything happens!

What advice would you give to someone just beginning their career as a photographer?

Concentrate on your business, without it your creativity won't be rewarded.

Create and implement a solid marketing plan; other people need to know you exist.

Approach this creatively and you'll stand out from the crowd.

Concentrate on your technique and strive for measured improvement!

Be a sponge, absorb as much as you can. Ask questions of everyone and anyone who'll listen.

Go to as many seminars and workshops as you can. Find the business and creative leaders that inspire you and study with them.

Connect with your peers! Become part of the community (join DWF! if weddings are your market) and learn from those around you.

Surround yourself with talented and inspiring people.

Look at as much photography as you can. Verbalize what you like, dislike, and why.

Never stop learning and seeing things differently.

As many are aware, one of our servers experienced severe email delays yesterday. The primary issue was the email filter on one of our servers. The filter was checking for spam and viruses. Because spam has gotten so bad, messages simply piled up in the queue of the filter. We turned OFF the virus check on the filter and that helped alleviate the problem somewhat - the filter queue has started catching up overnight.

Spam is still a major problem, however, and we may turn the filter off altogether.

We apologize for the inconveniences this has caused. If you have reported the problem but have not received a response, please trust that we are continuing to work on the problem.

We are currently performing some maintenance on our outgoing email servers.

This weeks highlighted photographer is Jim Garner of Seattle, Washington. Jim owns and operates J. Garner Photography.

What is your primary camera body?

No primary camera body. For our weddings, we like the effect from several different including the Canon 1DS, Canon1DmarkII, the light weight full frame Canon 5D. For commercial work, we enjoy our Contax 645 with the phase One P25, 22MP digital back.

Two lenses you use the most:

We love the low light lenses. 24 1.4, 50, 1.4, 85 1.2. These lenses enable us to take great images with the most beautiful light. The lenses that get the most clicks are 24-70 2.8 and the 70-200 2.8. We switch focal lengths many times during a shooting day to create diversity in the images. We don’t have to limit ourselves because we can easily carry 3-4 lenses in our custom designed lens bags (bodabags.com– launching spring 2007).

Do you shoot RAW?

Our workflow does include RAWprocessing. RAW gives us the latitude to shoot off the cuff in Aperture Priority, or Manual mode. I find that if I can spend less time looking at the functions of my camera, I can be more focused on the events unfolding and at times interacting with my clients. We want our images to have perfect color and density and have invested in additional workstations and an employee to focus entirely on this 1st and most important step in quality control.

How would you describe your photography style?

Our style is all about allowing our subjects to have a great time. Get away from the stress and tension that a wedding day can cause and allow the couple to truly enjoy the day for what it is– being together and enjoying every second of it. A few years ago we began to coordinate the photography portion of the day (typically the few hours leading up to the ceremony)and take our couple away from the wedding site, often with the whole bridal party ? this could be a to a local café, bar, the beach, the local downtown area, amusement park, whatever fits the couple. By going off site and taking them to a really great location really allows the personalities to come out and they all have a blast. This is not photojournalistic photography because the subjects are well aware of the photography taking place. By treating everyone to champagne or lattes, the energy just soars and great moments take place– it’s literally a dream to photograph and everyone involved, including us, is having a great time.

Do you employ second shooters or assistants?

J. Garner Photography consists of four full time employees. Katarina, Jim, Ben and Claire. Katarina Garner runs the office. Jim likes to say that we all answer to her. (especially Jim since Katarina is his lovely wife and mother of our 2 young daughters) Claire runs the RAW processing and assists with both the office and occasional weddings. She also manages the Boda Bag line (bodabags.com). Ben is our digital artist, second shooter and up and coming photographer star! (view his BIG Folio site at www.beckerphoto.net Ben’s role greatly benefits our clients. Since eyes are easily drawn to the primary photographer at a wedding, the second shooter has an awesome opportunity to shoot candidly. Ben is our stealth sniper. Katarina also attends every wedding through the formals. She’s a master at coordinating groupings while making our clients feel special. We want this portion of the day to take 15-20 minutes. Her organization enables Ben and I to shoot candidly while all the groupings are brought together.

What do you remember about your first (or one of your first) wedding shoot?

Our first wedding was such a blessing. A very sweet couple had the faith in our abilities & actually hired us. I was incredibly determined to deliver extraordinary photos to these wonderful people. Katarina and I prepared our minds, coordinated the day, and shot our hearts out. The bride & groom were thrilled with the result, especially since they only spent $500. I think we paid $600 in lab fees but it didn?t matter to us. We were now wedding photographers. The best part is, that very first wedding lead to 20 other weddings over the next two years. Our second year we shot over 50 weddings– all linked one way or another to that first couple.

What advice would you give to someone just beginning their career as a photographer?

If you are just starting out as a photographer, find out if it’s in your soul. If it is, then give it your all and open your heart to your subject. Connect with other photographers & artists & find your community. You will make best of friends and you’ll learn more than you could ever imagine. Keep getting educated, attend awesome workshops, and, continue reinventing yourself. Update your website often using BIG Folio’s brilliant administrative backend. It’s very important to do something unique so your clients have an experience worth telling their friends about. Most importantly, enjoy your work, make it fun. Be driven by the art, not the money. The money will come as a result.

Things are hopping here at the ImagingUSA conference in San Antonio. We're running some show specials through Wednesday.

Use the promotion code HOLDEM (we are in Texas after all) when signing up. You'll receive $250 off a premium site or $80 off a standard site.

Yee haw!

This weeks highlighted photographer is David Johnson.

What is your primary camera body?

Graflex Speed Graphic, Graflex Super D, Canon 1DS Mark2.

Two lenses you use the most:

127mm on Graflex cameras and 24-70mm on Canon

Do you shoot RAW?

All my digital is RAW, but I always know what I want the final image to look like before I shoot it.

How would you describe your photography style?

Intense Portraits, often using the environment as a subject in the shots as well. I also leave the door open to "happy accidents" to allow for one-of-a-kind images to happen. I also really strive to make the person show through in the image, so that people who see my images feel like they know the person in the shot.

Do you employ second shooters or assistants?

yes, I use from 1-4 assistants on my still shoots and more for motion. I may have one of them shoot details on a shoot, but usually I'm the only one to shoot.

What do you remember about your first (or one of your first) commercial shoot?

That I was happy to do it and that I probably shouldn't have been doing it. It was a record cover for a small indy band. I didn't even know that there were things you couldn't do, so I kept trying and trying and successfully turned a 2 hour shoot into a 10 hour shoot. I learned quickly that it's a lot different when the whole shoot is on your shoulders instead. But you learn from things like that, and it has lead to me now being a really fast shooter. I often now will have 5 minutes to shoot someone, and they're often running late.

What advice would you give to someone just beginning their career as a photographer?

Pursue your love and the money will follow. Pursue the money and the Love will rarely follow. Always grow and experiment. Take workshops like Santa Fe, especially if someone that you respect and like is teaching it. You will learn a lot and make great friends. Don't be afraid to always want to learn.

Our team is currently scattered abroad over the next 7 days. Consequently, emails and support tickets may not be answered with our usual expediency. Thank you for your patience in this matter.

Requesting Support

As always, the best way to request support is through our ticket system. All support tickets will receive a response within 24 hours.

For those customers who email Jeff directly, you may receive an auto-response as Jeff and his wife welcomed their new baby on Wednesday. I will also be monitoring Jeff's email during this time.

Urgent Requests

For any urgent requests, please feel free to call me (Erik) directly at 805-202-1151. I will be flying to ImagingUSA on Friday and will be checking my voicemail throughout the weekend.

Thanks again for your valued support and patience.

Well, 2007 hasn't started off any slower than how 2006 ended. We are putting the final touches on the AfterCapture website (Rangefinder Magazines new publication), getting ready to go to London for SWPP (1.9- 1.16) and Texas for PPA (1.12- 1.17), and patiently awaiting the birth of Jeff's third daughter (due any day).

We appreciate your patience if there is a bit more of a delay in response over the next couple weeks as we try to meet all our obligations, grow business, and properly support our current clients.

Thanks for helping us make this what it is.

Brian Beazley was chosen as this weeks 'Photographer of the Week'. Brian lives and works in Washington state.

What is your primary camera body?

Canon 5D

Two lenses you use the most

I can’t live without my my 70-200 IS, but I also love my 50 1.4.

Do you shoot RAW?

I started shooting everything in RAW last year and can’t get enough of it. I get way better control of my vision through my images.

How would you describe your photography style?

I have always strived to give my photography an editorial look. I don’t care much for the staged shots even thought they are a necessity in many situations. But at heart I love to capture the moment... no posing no cheesy smiles...just life as it happens.

Do you normally employ assistants or 2nd shooters?

I am lucky in this area that I have two great assistants that help me with the big jobs.

What do you remember about your first (or one of your first) wedding?

I’ll never forget...I was in Bend, Oregon shooting a huge wedding. It started to rain during the formals and I was so nervous. The wedding party was running an hour behind schedule...like that doesn’t happen often. But with this being my first I had to learn to adapt to the situation. Fortunately I had my assistant and they coordinated everything so all I had to do was shoot. Thank God!

If you were getting married this year, who would you want to shoot your wedding?

That’s a great question! It would have to be between, David Jay, and Jessica Claire. Both of them had a direct connection with me becoming a photographer. They both have different styles, but it’s there personality’s that takes them even farther then there photography! I think with so many photographers out there since digital became mainstream the only thing left to separate the good from the excellent is your personality and how you put those around you at ease.

What advice would you give to someone just beginning their career as a wedding photographer?

Use the web as much as possible! Look at as much photography as possible. If you want to brand yourself you will have to find a way to be different. It helps to see what others are doing and make it your own. Also, Network, Network, Network! You can never meet enough people in this business. So much of who you meet directly effects your business. Try it and you will see!

With the New Year we have also released two new templates. We are really proud of these two and think you will be excited about them too. Take a look here (Cherry Lane and Silver Shoals).

Happy new year to all. We've introduced some new pricing for 2007. Here's a brief overview of the changes. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

2 Hosting Plans with Increased Capacity

There are now only 2 hosting plans: Standard and Premium. The Professional plan was dropped but both the Standard and Premium plans now include more storage and more bandwidth.

Lower Hosting Fees

Not only have we increased hosting space and bandwidth, but we've also lowered the monthly hosting fees. The Standard hosting plan is now $17 per month and the Premium hosting plan is now $25 per month.

Setup Fees

Setup fees for new sites have been increased slightly. Setup for a standard site is now $250 while setup for a premium site is now $750.

Annual Hosting Discounts

When signing up, you can now pre-pay hosting for a year. We are offering annual hosting for the price of 10 months for both plans.

What Hasn't Changed

• Premium hosting is still required to use a premium template
• A BIG Folio blog is included with Premium hosting.

Our signup page has been updated to reflect these changes and improve the setup process.

Thanks