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Timothy J. Photography Blog bio picture

Greetings...

Thank you for taking the time to check out my blog. I'm Tim Marman, owner of Timothy J. Photography. I've been photographing weddings for over 5 years. I know way too much about weddings for a guy, but hey, that's ok. My blog is not only here to showcase my current work but to also help you on your wedding day with tips and helpful ideas to make it go as smoothly as possible.

I'd love to talk to you personally as well if you have any questions.

contact me: timmarman@gmail.com

Here at WPPI 2010

I’ve been able to go to WPPI the last 3 years in a row. I’ve enjoyed each year for different reasons.
This year I think the thing I will take away from it most is that Photographers do like meeting one another. In the past I have felt that other professional photographers were too ”huge”, ”popular” to talk to other professionals who weren’t at their same level and stature.
However this year leading up to WPPI and while I’ve been here I’ve been proved totally wrong.

Photography, should be something where people grow together to become a better photographer and person. We should all be open with one another on how we photograph certain things.
Here are the reasons why:
1. You most likely aren’t making new ideas/crazy lighting setups that someone else can figure out by studying your photograph.
2. You should care about other photographers, because in reality we are the only ones who totally “nerd out” together and care about how technical we photograph something. In other words, we get all excited about the little details all leading up the the shot, while our clients just see it as, “WOW! That’s a cool shot of me” Our clients obviously mean much to us, but it’s photographers who actually get excited for weeks months, and want to do something similar with their own style.
3. You are not the only photographer out there. Not only are there some of clients who are interested in photography, but there are others who are just starting in photography and want to learn from others, including you. Why wouldn’t you want to help someone out by teaching them the gift of being a photographer?

So who have I been able to meet at WPPI that I was a little stuned that they would be so aviliable to talk to anyone?
1. Mike Colon- One of the leading wedding photographers in the world. http:www.twitter.com/mikecolon
Granted, I had already meet him previously by him speaking at IEPPV (www.ieppv.com). He is beyond helpful and willing to help photographers out with any questions.

2. Lindsay Adler- Another amazing photographer, who photographs not only weddings but fashion as well. http://twitter.com/lindsayadler I had spoken very breifly on twitter with her in the past month, and went up to her and talked with her yesterday at the trade show.

3. Collages- This was an invite only event that they had in their suite at the MGM. I went with DeeDee Dallas (www.deedeedallas.com) a photographer that I assist very often. She is one of Collages featured photographers, so I got to go up and meet some of Collages staff and CEO. I was blown away that I got to talk with them, but they were beyond helpful and wanted to hear what we thought about thier company. Collages can be found at www.collages.net

4. Colleen Sherman- A local photographer in Temecula. http://twitter.com/csherm
I’ve talked with Collen often via twitter but finally got to meet her in person when we shared a flight out here from Ontario Airport. We talked about our current buisness, weddings photography, and how we got started in photography.

So what am I saying all together? Get out there talk to people in person, email, via social networks. Be available for others as well. As I’ve heard Mike Colon say, you can learn something from anyone at any level of photography.

I have one more full day here at WPPI and looking forward to seeing more photography accessories that are out there as well as learning from and speaking with other professional photographers.

Please if you have any questions about how I do things as well don’t hesitate to ask.
Thanks for reading!
P.S. WPPI 2011 is Feburary 17-24 Be there with me! (www.wppionline.com)

What kind of camera should I buy? Part 1 of 3

I constantly get two questions from people when I’m photographing an event.
They are, “What kind of camera should I buy?”, and, “Have you ever photographed a bridezilla?”.

Today I’d like to answer that first question because it is an important one for you to think about and decide.
(Question #2 No, I haven’t yet)

I usually begin to answer their question with a few questions of my own:
1. What are you planning to use your camera for?
2. What style/type of photography do you want to photograph?
3. Are you a hobbyist or wanting to become a professional photographer down the road?

Depending on how they answer these qusetions, I’ll suggest a few different types of cameras to look at.
FYI I’m a huge canon fan, but I won’t be a hater on the other brands that are out there.

Part 1 of 3 of this blog will answer this question for the hobbyist with a budget under $200.
The normal hobbyist photographer: looking for a simple point and shoot digital camera. Here are a few examples all in the $199.95 range… (these prices are from B&H photography http://www.bhphotovideo.com you might be able to find them cheaper else where, but B&H in my opinion has the best customer service and is a more trustworthy site – I wasn’t paid to say that, I just like them a lot).

1. Nikon Coolpix S4000 Digital Camera. This camera has the lowest Mexapixels of the group (12.0 Megapixels) The biggest sized display screen of the group (3″ screen, very nice). This is so nice compared to what I started with, I believe the point and shoot my parents owned that I got to use had a 1” sized screen. It has a 4x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom (middle rated of the group). The ISO is 3200 (the average for this group of cameras). It can record HD 720p HD movies at 24fps (the lowest for the group).

2. Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FH20 Digital Camera. 14.1 megapixels (winner in the pixel competition). 8x Wide Angle Optical Zoom Lens (winner in this area as well). 2.7” display screen (smallest of the group but still pretty nice). ISO is 6400 (winner winner chicken dinner). With an ISO that high, you can photograph in all kinds of difficult lit areas where the others can’t. I really like this feature about this camera. This camera can record video at 720p HD at 30 fps (tied for the highest with Canon). However, this Panasonic has 3 different options for recording video (it records in other formats other than HD, i.e. standard definition) that the other two didn’t.

3. Canon PowerShot SD780 IS Digital Camera. The canon has the average in Megapixels weighing in at 12.1 (in reality, anything over 8 Megapixels is going to create a great photograph, print wise that is). 3x Optical Zoom (lost in this category). 2.5″ screen (lost in this category as well). ISO is 3200 (tied with the Nikon). Records 720p HD at 30 fps (like I said early it’s in tie for first place in this category).

Each camera has an image stabilization mechanism built in the camera (comes in handy in bad lighting situations). Each camera has something that is equivalent to a face detection technology built in. This basically is that it will focus on people’s faces in a photograph of people and not the background or foreground object that might distract from the auto focus.
All three of these camera’s are slim enough to put into your pocket, which is nice and convenient.

Some cool (nerdy) facts:
1. B&H photography said the following about the Nikon- “The Coolpix S4000 incorporates 16 scene modes that cover some of the more common difficult shooting situations to maximize the image quality”.
2. B&H photography also said this about the Canon- “The PowerShot SD780 has 20 easy-to-use shooting modes including a wide selection of Special Scene modes such as Portrait, Indoor and Night Snapshot, and you can quickly access these modes via the Touch Control Dial”.

I couldn’t find anything on the Panasonic camera on this subject.

So the camera I would purchase would be…
To my very own surprise, I’d choose the Panasonic LUMIX DMC-FH20. It has 14.1 meagapixels (bigger and better print possibilities). A great 6400 ISO, which is remarkable to me for a point and shoot. The camera shoots in HD too and has more options that it’s two competitors (for standard definition video capturing). It had the in-between sized display screen at 2.7”.

So next week I will tackle these same questions for the intermediate hobbyist photographer who want’s to get better images and might like to eventually become a professional photographer.
Those will be in the $1,000 budget range (fyi, start saving up your money if you really like photography, it’s expensive.)

Than the final week ,part 3 of 3 of this series, I will explain what a professional photographer should own camera and equipment wise.

Thanks for reading!
Tim

Kodak’s Brownie Video Camera

These photos were taken for a client of mine, Deo Volente Media. These photos will be used for their upcoming filmmaker festival website soon. Once they announce their website going live I will share the url link.

(I apologize for not creating too many blog posts recently. This new year has been a busy one, getting engaged and planning a wedding has taken quite a bit of my time. I’ve learned so much through the whole process and finally can understand for myself what couples go through and have to decide before getting married. It’s truly a blessing and I’m very excited to be married soon.)

Dirk Dallas - Wow man love the coloring. Good stuff!February 23, 2010 - 1:17 pm

How can you make a change in 2010?

This year I would like to challenge you to give. Give your time, your money, your advice, and your love to others.
Why would you want to do something like this? Well, we live on way too much money and own too much. I personally have so many clothes that much of them collect dust. I want to personally start giving myself in my time, and my finances to people who are in need.
Please reach out and love someone in a unique way in 2010. Don’t do it for me, don’t do it for yourself. Do it for someone else, even if you have not or will not ever meet them.

I don’t have much money”, you might say. Yes you do! Most people around the world live on $1.25 a day (USD). Could you offer something as simple as that to someone next year? You can easily find $1.25 in change on the ground everyday here in the states. I normally have around that much change in my pocket from going out to eat or buying things.
I would like to challenge you in 2010 to help someone out. Help anyone out. Here are some websites that I think are way cool, and are different approaches on helping people out:

One Day Wages: http://www.onedayswages.org/about/what-odw and http://twitter.com/OneDayswages
Here’s what they do, found on their site, “Our vision is to inspire people around the world to simply donate one day’s wages and to renew that pledge monthly, quarterly or yearly on their birthdays to the cause of ending extreme global poverty.”

Kiva: http://www.kiva.org/about and http://twitter.com/KIVA
Kiva is a way to lend money to people across the world who are in need. Usually small business in foreign countries. A very unique way to help someone else out.

Help Portrait: http://www.help-portrait.com/ and http://twitter.com/help_portrait
This is for the photographers out there. Even though the offical date was 12/12/09, there will be more to come. You can always go out shooting and do it now.

Project 7: http://www.project7.com/mission/ and http://twitter.com/Project7
From their site, “Project 7 is a company that is passionate about social change. For every purchase of a Project 7 product, the company donates 50 percent of its profits to seven areas of critical need in the world”.

Thirst Relief: http://thirstrelief.org/ and http://twitter.com/thirstrelief
Help change a life by clean drinking water.

You might ask, “ok Tim, what will you be doing this year?” I’ve decided for 2010 to donate a percentage of each wedding that I book next year towards helping World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org and http://twitter.com/WorldVisionUSA) . I’ve patterned up with them, so that children and families might be able to be blessed by the work that I do, by people simply getting married and letting me take their photographs.

So please decide that in 2010, you will want to make a difference in someone’s life. Help by giving something, anything, even just your own time. Please make a change in someone else’s life!

Jeanne Ryan - Tim, Thank you so much for helping to spread the word about Project 7. You have captured the very essence of what we are trying to tell people. We have so much, while others have so little and it doesn't take a lot to make a difference or change someone's life. At Project 7 we came up with a way for people to support positive social change by doing what they already are doing. So, if you drink bottled water (ours is bio), chew gum, eat mints or wear t-shirts, you can make a big difference in the lives of others just simply by choosing our products. What you are doing is wonderful! Be sure to check out our 25 Days of Giving on twitter.com/project7. Every day we are listing something that you can give to better someone's life, some tangible, some not. Thanks again. Jeanne and the rest of the Project 7 team.December 16, 2009 - 1:37 pm

Tim Marman - Thank you Jeanne. I'm glad I can help in someway by just spreading the news. I look forward to seeing how you and your team help change things in the world little by little.December 16, 2009 - 1:45 pm

Joe & Cortney

On Saturday December 12th 2009, I had the plessure of photographing two great friends as they got married.
Thank you Joe and Cortney for letting me part of your great celebration!

Temeku Hill Golf Course http://www.temekuhills.com/

David, Rosy, and Diesel

Here are some recent photos of some great friends of mine. These were photographed for their Christmas Card.

newly engaged

Friends of my girlfriend and I got engaged on monday.
We got to visit them at Disneyland that evening to help celebrate.
A great couple and amazing friends!

New wedding website is up…

As of last night my new wedding website is now up and running. Please go and check it out. (http://www.timothyjphoto.com)
Also don’t forget to look at the “giving back” section, which is brand spanking new!

A few helpful sites for brides to be…

I’m a huge fan of twitter. I find that it’s a great resource for everything about weddings.

These twitter companies help with current trends to DIY.So follow these twitter users or check out their great sites.

@BrideTide     http://www.BrideTide.com/

@weddinic      http://www.weddinic.com/

@TweetMyWedding    http://tweetmywedding.blogspot.com/

@ProjectWedding           http://www.projectwedding.com/

last but not least: one for the guys too (the bide isn’t the only one getting married)

@themanregistry         http://www.themanregistry.com/

Chris & Kellen…the photos that almost disappeared

A recent wedding that I did last month was in Michigan. I’ve flown quite frequently but never by myself. So this was an exciting trip that I had been looking forward to for a few months. I went to photograph a wedding there that was going to be at Millcreek Barns in Watervliet, MI. I found the couple using twitter. The wedding was so much fun and beautiful, they even had a folk band perform live.
On my flight home however, the day after the wedding my trip almost turned into a nightmare. When I had driven to Chicago to get on my flight that morning while on the airlines’ ramp, they instructed me that I could no longer take my carry-on bag with me. This bag had all of my camera equipment and the entire photographed wedding in it. I flew from Chicago to San Fransisco, to my finial destination in Ontario, CA. I went to pick up my bags and all that was there was my other checked bag full of clothing. So my camera bag was completely missing.

After a very stressful seven full days, I knew I needed to call the bride. I told her what happened and she wasn’t too worried to my surprise. Almost twelve hours exactly passed by and I got a call from the airline company telling me that the bag had be found and was going to be delivered to my home that night.
Lessons learned:
1. $3,000 is the limit that most airlines will pay up to, if items are lost/damaged, this also doesn’t include electronics.
2. Don’t give up your bag, what so ever. Make sure to tell them what the total amount is worth in your bag, than they will let you carry it on.
3. Separate your items into separate bags. Such as with my camera equipment I did back up the photos, but kept them all in one bag. I should have separated them into bags and keep one on my person.

If you have any similar stories, or stuff you have learned while traveling please leave a comment. Please learn from my almost tragic lesson.

Tom - Why did they force you to check your carry-on? Did they give you a chance to retrieve anything from the bag before it went below deck? If not, that's wrong. I almost always fly with exclusively carry-on luggage - I bring a regulation-sized bag, and a small backpack that can at least fit my camera and laptop beneath the seat. I learned that lesson after flying from NYC to DC on a small jet without overhead storage. They abruptly took our carry-on luggage right before boarding, and a number of valuables were stolen. I'm glad to hear you had a more positive outcome.November 9, 2009 - 11:01 pm

admin - They forced me to check my carry-on because apparently there wasn't enough over head cargo space for my bag or the other 20 people behind me. Even though the plain was a 767, and my bag was of the proper size. I tried to argue with them that I needed to bring the entire bag on board, but to no avail. I didn't even think of taking anything out of the bag, until it was way too late. The way you fly seems very wise. I've heard of bags getting taken for people and things stolen. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. Thank you Tom for sharing. -TimNovember 10, 2009 - 10:58 am

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