New Blog!

We’re switching our blog!

Read our new blog here http://deanorosphoto.bigfolioblog.com/

It was easy to make the switch, and it’s already up and running. This means there will be no more regular email subscriptions available. You can have the blog delivered by RSS which will forward the blog to your newsreader or into your email program, depending on the program you like to use. Apple’s Mail program has a built in RSS reader, for example. Third party RSS newsreaders include Google Newsreader and Newsgator.

You’ll see the RSS symbol in the top right hand corner of the new blog. See you there!

New Server and State of the Art Website!!..and perhaps a New Blog Platform.

After a marathon of a few weeks, I’m excited to announce we’ve successfully migrated to new servers AND have designed and launched a shiny new website. It was a marathon because of increasingly complex technical issues from domain registrars to merging two sites into one, as well as a list of small, but nagging bugs and quirks that had to be addressed before the new site could go live, all the while ensuring the old sites did not go down during the process.

Whew - say that 10x times fast.

You can reach the new site via my usual urls:Dean Oros Photography deanorosphoto.com and Images of a Promise imagesofapromise.com.

Thanks go out to the awesome people at Big Folio and GoDaddy. I’ve worked tirelessly with them to help resolve tech issues with the design and launching the new site. Big Folio: high-fives to you for being communicative and offering great customer support to work out the bugs and quirks, even on weekends. GoDaddy offers 24/7 customer support and I find it’s 95% fantastic. As good as Netfirms had been up to a few months ago, when they showed no effort in resolving a major hosting issue we were experiencing with our Evrium web software, we were forced to switch web hosting companies. And though Evrium were unable to resolve the issue as well, they helped with the migration to GoDaddy at their expense which I thought was decent of them, as the problem could’ve been theirs or Netfirms. Evrium acknowledged their customer service had been lacking as of late as they’re busy working on the new release of their product. Netfirms, unfortunately, were not very helpful.

Why?
Anyway, why the new site? After a lot of thought and speaking with other photographers, I decided to merge deanorosphoto.com and imagesofapromise.com into one site. The reason being is that there was an increasing amount of overlap between the two. I also felt it was time to update the presentation of my work, and well as create more of an experience to visitors of my sites.

When deanorosphoto.com and imagesofapromise.com were initially launched (they were launched separately) it was a decision to keep my wedding photography and my commercial / lifestyle images separate, so as not to cause any confusion to the different markets I wanted to work in. “Experts” advise weddings should be kept separate because couples getting married only want to see wedding images, and aren’t interested in seeing other images. The same for business customers who could be busy photo editors who don’t have time to sift through lots of different image styles looking to see if a potential photographer can deliver what they need.

However, my approach to photography is about life and heritage. It’s about people and family, people and business; the world around us. When couples become newlyweds, whether they define it as such or not, they’ve started a new family. Their wedding day is the first day of their new family. So why not present images of families, children, maternity etc., on the same site? They’re all connected.

The majority of my commercial / corporate work is people, people using products or experiencing services in a lifestyle settings: whether revolving around life at home or life at work (aside from fine-art portraits).

So it was a struggle. Maintaining two sites was a lot of work.

Improvements
There are many improvements. The site loads very quickly; more quickly than the previous sites. There’s now bigger images. More galleries. More info. It has soothing music which you have the option of turning off and on. Tech geeks will love it. It can be viewed full screen. It can be viewed on Apple’s iphone. It has an html version for those with computers that can’t handle flash.

The new site is very well organized, and it isn’t intrusive to either market. I love shooting weddings / lifestyle. I love shooting commercial / corporate. The two compliment each other as I bring things from both to the other. It keeps me challenged and allows me to develop and evolve my photography, which in turn benefits my customers.

It’s amazing to me how important the internet is to my business and career these days. I can’t work without it. I remember back in the mid 90s when I first experienced the net. It was sssllloooowwwww dialup (something like 9600 baud rate), but boy did I get a kick at having immediate access to current info.

Blog
The next issue is switching our blog to Big Folio from Blogger. This would mean no more typical email subscribers. But you can subscribe by RSS feed, which is super easy to do.

Some big changes are coming!

I’m excited about something we’re going to announce in the next few days. That’s all I’m saying.

In a word: Excited!

Barbara and Michael: Wedding Day Celebration

With all the rain we’ve been blessed with this summer, nature is breaking its previous records for rainfall. With the Olympic Games now taking place, records are sure to be broken there as well.

This past weekend I broke a personal record, too, for wedding photography! ☺

Barbara and Michael’s wedding was a full-featured affair, complete with a dove release and a late night amusement park photo session. What an awesome day! As a photographer it was filled with challenges, which I enjoy!

Yes, we dealt with rain which moved the ceremony from the beautiful outdoor courtyard of the Liberty Grand to the indoors.

But you know the saying: “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction”. While my gear may not be a fan of rainfall, I personally love the rain; it brings out the lushness of colour. So when the rain took a break I photographed formals and the bridal shoot in the courtyard.

Photographing a dove release is a challenge. These beautiful birds are trained homing pigeons. Once they’re released, it takes a blink of an eye for them to take flight in a flurry of action to return home. Then they’re gone. Capturing the best moment of their release is a combination of luck and technical know-how. I’m sure the doves were startled, too, what with over 100 people standing around watching them.



After dinner I snuck out with Barbara and Michael for a late night shoot at the CNE. And yes, they were both wearing their wedding attire. And yes, they attracted a lot of attention! And yes, it was a ton of fun!



Everything turned out exceptionally well.

Thanks to the staff of the Liberty Grand for their beautiful venue. Your staff were great and had the ceremony’s indoor venue set up in record time. And dinner was sumptuous, too.

Also, thanks to Jaye Marsh Graham and Laurie Anne Brennan of It’s Personal Occasions for their organizing the details for the day.

And of course great music makes such an affair even more enjoyable. Thanks to the Whitney Smith Band and DJ / MC Peter Pagliarulo of Dee Dee Jays.

Click here to view Barbara and Michael’s Sneak Peek Gallery of 25 images. Turn up your speakers, and enjoy!

If you’ve been invited to view all of Barbara and Michael’s wedding images on Pictage once they go online, click here. To view more of our photography, visit our main websites: imagesofapromise.com and deanorosphoto.com.

Michael and Barbara: Thank you for choosing me as your photographer. I loved how you really let yourself be in the moment once things got under way. Lots of love and happiness to you!

The Machines of Wonderland

I took a much needed day off yesterday, and decided to visit Canada’s Wonderland, for two reasons. First, because I’m a kid at heart and love roller coasters! Second, I wanted to do a test shoot for an upcoming wedding where the couple have asked that I photograph them at night, in their wedding attire, at the Canadian National Exhibition. It’s going to be so much fun - I can’t wait.
As I was walking around Canada’s Wonderland, my focus changed from the children on the rides, to the rides themselves. I love working with kids, so I was a bit surprised when my attention kept being drawn to these machines. They bring so much enjoyment to kids and adults alike. They’re marvels of technology. And I’m a technology geek.

The g-force generated by these rides is incredible. Large groups of people are being hurtled and swung around, often at speeds over 100km per hour, day after day, week after week. Take into consideration how many rides are set up in a relatively small space, and the safety factor involved. It’s very impressive.

When night started to roll in, the rides began to look ominous. They reminded me of Transformers (the movie is such good fun, by the way). With such long tracks standing hundreds of feet above ground, they reminded me of long, mechanical tentacles. We put a lot of trust into these machines, hardly thinking about the technology behind them as we scream at the top of our lungs, hurtling towards the ground, strapped into the latest, and fastest roller coasters.

The only downside from yesterday, is that I got so caught up shooting, I only went on two rides! That’s okay though. I’ll go back before they’re closed for the season.

Wedfog in the USA takes Notice

When I received an email from Wedfog USA letting me know they wanted to write a little something about the shoot I did for the Canadian Cancer Society / Brides’ Project, I thought it was rather cool of them to take notice.

That was then followed up with a note from the Society advising over $590,000 had been raised from the various Relay for Life events in Toronto. How cool is that!

Click here to read the Wedfog article.

Click here to visit Wedfog.

Cali and Jesse: Wedding Day Celebration

A few weeks ago Cali and Jesse contacted me.

They’d recently had a disappointing experience with another photographer regarding their engagement shoot, but were hopeful they could find a photographer they could trust. The three of us immediately hit it off, and I’m happy to say their wedding this past weekend was simply lovely. It’s weekends like this when I can’t imagine doing anything else for a career. I love being able to create images and memories that people will cherish for a lifetime.

Cali and Jesse, you are too sweet for words! I wish you much happiness in your life together. It was a pleasure being your photographer. Meeting your family and friends was such a treat. They’ve all been captured in images - hundreds of images. They’ll be available on Pictage soon.

In the meantime, I’d like to present you with a teaser gallery of images. I’m so excited that you’ll be able to view these photographs while on your Paris honeymoon, only 48 hours after your wedding in Toronto. Gotta love technology!

Click here to enter Cali and Jesse’s Wedding Celebration Teaser Gallery. Turn up your speakers, and enjoy!

If you’ve been invited to view all of their images on Pictage once they go online, click here.

Also, thank you to the staff of Glenerin Inn for being gracious and accommodating. Your location is beautiful.