Arts & Entertainment | Great Ideas

Over the past 25 years as a wedding photographer I have had the opportunity to speak with well over a thousand engaged couples. I am always surprised by some of the criteria many of them use to choose their wedding photographer. Here are 7 tips I can offer to wedding photographers to help them book a wedding.

1. DON’T CREATE YOUR PORTFOLIO ALBUMS BASED SOLELY ON YOUR “GREATEST HITS.” There is nothing more misleading regarding a photographer’s talent than looking at a sample wedding album that is a compilation of their best shots at 50 different weddings. An album such as this may be useful in understanding just how great an image you are capable of producing, but that’s really all it tells your client. Show albums that display one entire wedding from start to finish. A good wedding photographer should be able to produce a number of complete albums to show the client. Be sure and explain to your client why this is such a better way to assess your skill. Use this to separate yourself from your competitors! Tell your client that virtually anybody with a decent camera can get one great shot per wedding.

2. ASK LOTS OF QUESTIONS DURING THE SALES PITCH. Every photographer can tell their clients great things about themselves and so they should. But in your initial wedding consultation with the couple, show your interest in what they want by asking questions. Ask them the types of photography styles they are interested in and what they are looking for in a wedding photographer. Don’t make the initial meeting just one long boring lecture about how wonderful you are. Turn it into a 2-way conversation. Show them you care!

3. SHOW THEM YOUR SPARKLING PERSONALITY! This is a biggie. Your clients understand that they will spend the entire day with the photographer. If you can’t get along, it can ruin what should be the happiest day of their lives. The bride and groom are looking for someone they can build rapport with. Be that person!

4. AVOID TALKING ABOUT YOUR EQUIPMENT. Want to put the bride and groom to sleep? Start giving them the technical details about how wonderful your equipment is. Keep in mind that your client is ASSUMING you have great equipment. That is a given to them. Focus on why YOU are the best wedding photographer for them, not why Nikon is better than Canon.

5. KEEP THE PRICING SIMPLE. If your clients can’t understand the pricing or packages, they will probably keep looking. Package pricing, if flexible, is the best way to go. It allows your client to have a better idea of what their final bill will be. Ala carte pricing can confuse and be misleading. You don’t want to surprise the couple when presenting the the final bill. Allow your clients to design their own package, be flexible.

6. TELL THE BRIDE AND GROOM YOU WANT TO SHOOT THEIR WEDDING! Don’t assume they know that. Tell them, it will make them feel wanted.

Photographs that displays emotions not just poses!
The 15 Best Venues for Outdoor Weddings in the USA

Any type of temporary event such as a wedding or outdoor party, conference, etc requires an array of rental companies to provide different services. What some people don’t realize is that it’s possible to extend rental options to even less-than-obvious necessities like chairs and furniture. In fact, if your event may have a lack of seating arrangements, the best option is to find seating rentals in Phoenix that cater to everywhere from Scottsdale to Tempe. These companies use large storage vehicles to transport everything needed to outfit a full array of seating arrangements and accessories to any type of event.

Some of the types of equipment provided by seating rentals in Phoenix include chairs designed for practicality as well as luxury atmosphere, as well as plenty of additional accessories that range from fine China to even entire dance floors that can be rented out and used for an occasion. When renting from a supplier like this, it’s important to consider what type of event is being planned and what types of furniture matches. A casual event may not need expensive Chiavari chairs and could be more suited for basic lawn chairs. On the other hand, a wedding should stick with something a bit more upscale.

Other types of seating rentals in Phoenix include barstools, which can also go with on-the-spot outdoor bars that can be placed in both outdoor and indoor locations. Providing a bar at an event not only enhances any party, but it can also help monetize some of the expenses associated with hosting an expensive event when you are able to charge for drinks. Make sure that any rental bar comes equipped with extra features from LED lighting to working tap.

It may also be a good idea to rent the needed glassware with a bar. A private event host probably doesn’t have access to the full spectrum of glasses that a bartender needs, and this includes everything from martini glasses to shakers and steins. Along with the bar, the entire process of hosting an event—whether in Arizona or anywhere—can be a long and detail oriented process that requires careful consideration of everything that’s needed. Forgetting a major component of an event could hinder the entire process and leave guests with a sub-par experience. For more information about seating rentals in Arizona contact one of the local high quality companies that is ready to assist with the process.

Sports is easily one of the most popular pastimes in America, and many people who are unable or unwilling to attend live sporting events can easily watch anything from football to hockey with their DISH sports packages instead. Sports packages are tiered groups of sports channels, and the packages typically feature a much higher concentration of sports shows than any other genre of shows. This means that instead of having to wade through shows you have no interest in, you can catch up with your favorite team almost any time instead.

Depending on the package you get, many DISH sports packages will feature up two hundred channels of action packed viewing. Each package may have options for the number of sports channels you get, with prices varying accordingly. You can also get local sports channels in addition to nationally televised shows, so you never have to miss out on your local teams in action. You can stack packages to make sure you get your favorite sport in focus, so if you love college basketball, you can enjoy a package that features exclusive viewing for college basketball.

Thanks to the diversity of the available packages, even the more obscure sporting events can be enjoyed in your home, even if the event is around the world. Sports like cricket, horse racing, soccer and hockey are featured with many DISH sports packages. This means that you can see international events no matter what, and if you have the capabilities in your package, you can record a soccer event in Brazil that takes place in a different time zone and instead of watching it at three am, you can record it and watch it on your time. Many people enjoy being able to record their fave sports events, just to watch it later and rehash the game with friends.

According to statistics, the average American household watches over six hours of television a day. This means that your Dish package actually has a great deal of influence in your life. Poor viewing quality or poor package options can ruin an entire family’s television viewing pleasure, so you need to carefully take the time to consider exactly what you want to watch and how much you are willing to pay. There are so many options when it comes to sports packages that you can easily find the best package that will make sure everyone is happy when they sit down in front of the TV.

With celebrity magicians like Criss Angel, David Blaine, Derren Brown & David Copperfield performing magic on television people all around the world are becoming more and more interested in learning The Art of Magic. Even more so in Atlanta Georgia because Atlanta is home to some of the worlds top magicians.

If have you ever watched a magician and said to yourself WOW how are they able to do that I would love to learn some magic so I can show my friends and family a few really cool tricks, then this article will explain steps you can take in order to properly learn the art of magic.

First step is to understand that magic is like any other skill and you must be interested in learning how to do it correctly.

Once you have made the choice that you want to be good then here are the three basic secrets to learning The Art of Magic.

Secret #1 – You must learn from a professional magician that gets paid to perform and performs on a regular basis. All great magicians including the ones mentioned in the beginning of this article have had a magic mentor, someone that has taught them the real secrets to the art of magic and equally important what traps to avoid.
Your magic mentor does not need to be someone you have personal contact with – if you do have personal contact with this person that’s even better but it’s not necessary. They do need to have the skill set to teach you what you need to learn. Here are two easy methods to help you make your choice in locating a professional magician you can learn from. First if you have seen a professional magician perform a LIVE show and enjoyed what you saw just ask this person if they are willing to teach you how to learn the art of magic. If they say yes your on your way to being amazing. Second method do some research online and find a magical arts academy that will teach you how to learn magic. Important – before you commit to learning from any magic instructor make sure you see an uncut video of them performing in front of a LIVE Audience in a venue that looks like they were paid to perform. If you like what you saw explore further but make sure you do your home work first.

Secret #2 – Magic is a three sided triangle.
1. Tricks
2. Technique & Psychology
3. Presentation Skills
Everyone wants to spend all of their time on “the tricks” but the other two sides of the triangle are equally important. Here is a Fantastic tip The Greatest Magicians in the world perform no more then 10 tricks but they have totally mastered those ten. You only need a few really good illusions to blow your audiences minds. Remember you must master each side of the triangle to be really effective.

Secret #3 – THE BEST Magic tricks are not in a place were everyone can easily find them. Even with the explosion of the internet the real secrets of magic are hidden away and will remain hidden for a very long time.

So there you go 3 basic secrets to learning the Art of Magic. As you continue your research don’t be afraid to explore online and offline resources. Here is a Bonus Secret – Magicians hide there best secrets in books. So make sure you visit your local Library and Bookstore.

Time lapse photography and time lapse footage can help save money and increase profit on both large scale and small scale construction projects. It’s a bold claim, given that timelapse photography seems remote and far removed from the construction world, but let’s think about this together, and see if we can reach any conclusions.

Time-lapse photography is a lengthy and difficult process, but essentially it’s where a series of photographs are taken from a fixed point at prescribed intervals, and then the individual shots or frames are edited together. When this edit is played back at 25 frames per second, it has the effect of condensing the passage of time into manageable chunks, where the viewer can easily see and appreciate large scale changes in only a couple of minutes.

How can this be of benefit to you if you are the construction manager or project manager on a building site? Well, any sufficiently complex construction project will have a well-defined, and rigidly adhered to, schedule of work. This schedule of work will tell the management team everything they need to know in terms of getting materials, plant and labour to the right place at the right time.

But how closely is this plan monitored against actual events? And how reliable is the information you have received? Having time-lapse footage of the entire project can give you an invaluable resource to compare against your schedule of work. You will be able to tell, visually, whether the materials, plant and labour arrived at the correct location, in the right order and at the right time. It will obviously be too late to do anything about it by this point. However, next time you have to write your schedule of work for the next project, you will have better knowledge and will be able to make a more informed choice about when to order what you need. That timelapse footage will enable you to get the equipment, materials and labour on site just-in-time, meaning that you won’t be tying up valuable resources wastefully. That means more profit on the job, or the ability to offer services more cost effectively than your competitors.

One other way in which such services can not only save you money, but are very useful, is in the area of ultra high definition site monitoring. The best time-lapse companies offering time-lapse services also allow you to view your project through on-line viewers from desktops, smartphones and tablets. This means that you, your surveyors, architects, etc can view very clear images (much better than any webcam) to discuss and share etc. You can also offer this service to your clients and stake-holders etc. These images, taken with the correct HD equipment (Again NOT just webcams) can allow you to zoom into particular areas of your site/project to scrutinise particular detail. This makes any monitoring and discussions about the site very convenient, even for those who cannot get to the actual location of the project.

Plus….If all this wasn’t enough – any marketing people can use either the individual ‘still’ frames, or even the live feed to websites in order to communicate to broader publics.

Tom Cruise is an American film star, producer and it is estimated that the Tom Cruise net worth of $250 million dollars including on the top richest celebrities list. He is famous by his featured movie Risky Business, Jerry Maguire and Magnolia. He belongs to a small group of actors who rose to fame during the mid to aid 80s. He also won many awards and also nominated for three Academy Awards. He has also won three Golden Awards for his movies : Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Jerry Maguire (1996), Magnolia (1999).

Tom Cruise net worth comes from his acting and production work. He started his career with his first movie ‘Endless Love and Taps’ and and his first major appearance was in 1981s. Risky Business was his first film in which he played the major leading role that came in 1983. Tom Cruise played a heroic pilot role in his ‘Top Gun’ film that was released in 1986 and in his next movie ‘The Mission Impossible’ in which he played a secret agent’s role. Both the movies were so successful and made the turning point of his acting career.

He has played different types of roles in his many other successful films – Rain Man (1988), Days of Thunder (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), Vanilla Sky (2001), Minority Report (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Collateral (2004), and War of the Worlds (2005) and since 2005 Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner took the charge of United Artist film studio, with Tom as film producer and Paula Wagner as the chief executive of the studio.

Tom Cruise net worth increased and he is also known for his support of and contribution to the Church of Scientology. He was born on 3rd July, 1962 in Syracuse, New York, United State of America. His mother’s name was Mary Lee, who was a teacher and his father Thomas Mapother III, was an electrical engineer.

Tom Cruise attended Robert Hopkins Public School in Ottawa, Ontario,and after some time his family moved to Beacon Hill and here he attended Henry Munro Middle School, part of the Carleton Board of education, where he was participating in athletics, showing himself to be a ruthless player, playing floor hockey almost every night, and eventually chipping his front tooth.

He started his acting in Henry Munro, where he participated in a drama under the tutelage of George Steinburg. When he was just twelve years old, his mother left his father and taking Cruise and his sister Lee Anne with her. He was first appeared in a supporting role in 1981 movie Endless Love and Taps. In 1983, his first leading role film Losin’ It was released which was a comedy film. In the same years his other film All the right moves and Risky Business were released and it was the turning point of his acting career. In 1986 his next movie ‘Top Gun’ was released and it made him a superstar.

Actor Tom Cruise net worth of estimated $250 million dollars and he spent his early years moving around the whole country. He was nominated for the Oscar awards and also for three Academy awards. He was also nominated for three Golden awards for his three super hit movies – Endless Love and Taps, Top Gun and The Mission Impossible.

Cold Chisel has been on again, off again, like a troubled serialized drama romance of the “Will They Won’t They” Caliber. But Cold Chisel’s musical quality has been superbly consistent. Though their soft rock sensibilities remain largely constrained to the New Zealand and Australian regions, their popularly in the area has hardly wavered. Fans should be ecstatic to hear Cold Chisel’s release No Plans, due April 6, 2012.

The bulk of the album was recorded in 2010-2011 scattered about varying different sessions. Front man Jimmy Barnes, in interviewing on the album itself said “The last two years have reminded all of us that sometimes life deals up things you don’t expect. You can’t take anything or anyone for granted. Sometimes it’s best to have no plans.”

The record barely came to fruition. The band’s highly touted long-term drummer, Steve Prestwich, passed away early 2011 from a brain tumor. This left the group devastated and considering shelving the entire project. “I don’t think another Cold Chisel album has ever been destined,” says the groups’ keyboardist, Don Walker. Yet the record did come to life and is expected to be a continuation of their craft following the enormous success of their 1998 LP, The Last Wave of Summer. The band managed to replace the drummer, and even used Prestwich’s vocals and contributions on the album.

Surprisingly, the group has few plans outside a few festival dates. According to Walker, “Cold Chisel won’t play for a while afterwards but probably not seven or ten years like last time.”

Following in line with their No Plans aura, the group truly leaves things open to many possibilities in the future.

The track listing of No Plans consists of 13 new tracks, the majority of them being produced by Kevin Shirley.

1. No Plans
2. Everybody
3. All For You
4. HQ454 Monroe
5. Dead And Laid To Rest
6. Missing a Girl
7. Too Late
8. I Gotta Get Back On The Road
9. Our Old Flame
10. This Day
11. Summer Moon
12. The Horizon
13. I Got Things To Do

The group plans a few festival dates, and with no concrete plans for the future, this may very well be the last time you can catch Cold Chisel before a seemingly probable hiatus- again.

April 5 – Bluesfest, Byron Bay
April 7 – Sandalford Estate, Perth
April 12 – Festival Hall, Melbourne
April 18 – Hordern Pavilion, Sydney

Telling funny short stories is an art in itself; just ask stand-up comedians who tell the same jokes over and over again and yet still elicit the loudest laughs from their audience each and every time. Indeed, it’s the delivery of the story from beginning to end that makes it hilarious, the building of anticipation until the climax, and the timing of the punch line that makes it a side-splitting tale.

You may think that only those with natural comedic ability can tell funny news stories, jokes and punch lines like a pro. Well, we must say that even great comedians like Bing Crosby and Bob Hope have to practice their skills in telling funny short stories to small audiences before making it big in television and in theatres. Indeed, practice is the key to making your audience laugh over and over again.

Here are a few tips from the pros that you can use to hone your own comedic talents. Keep in mind that you must learn to be flexible in telling funny jokes and short stories since each situation and each audience demands a different approach.

• Get your audience’s attention first instead of competing with other distractions. We suggest changing your voice to suit the characters in your story as well as using hand gestures and facial cues to do so. Your main aim is to let your audience visualize the story as it happens, which is all-too-true with funny news stories where you act as the anchor man and story subjects at the same time.
• Tell your funny short stories according to the mood of your audience. For example, if your audience is relaxed, say, sitting down while enjoying coffee, then your story can be told in a leisurely way. But if your audience is on the move, say, moving through a busy lobby, tell your story in a faster way.
• Change the story to suit your audience. Yes, it can be the same story but told in a different manner, with different characters, or with different endings. This is how great comedians can elicit laughter out of old jokes – by revising old stories to fit the present audience.

Of course, you must tell funny short stories with a straight face until the punch line and then laugh with your audience. Remember that the story is the funny thing here, not you per se.

Long commutes are just another fact of life for some people, but there is no reason why you should not enjoy yourself during this time.

Whether it is just a continuous train ride from one city to another, or a journey that involves several changes, there are options open to you that will push away the boredom and take your mind off what is going on around you. Screaming kids and other annoyances should hopefully fade as your attention is grabbed by the task in hand…

This the key to making a long trip go quickly: distraction. What you need is something entertaining enough to keep you interested and sane even when the bus driver announces a new delay to your journey home. Here are three categories that you can try…

Ears

Earphones are the saviour of many a disheartening commute, allowing you to close your eyes and listen to whatever takes your fancy. Do not stop at mp3s and local radio however – try out an audio book or look into podcasts covering your hobbies. There is a wealth of diversity at your fingertips, so go ahead and enjoy the fruits of the digital age.

Hands

From the height of technology, we revert back to classic crafts. Taking a craft project on to a train or bus generally requires that you have a seat, but aside from this issue, it can be a great way to spend your otherwise-lost time productively. Take your pick of anything from knitting and sewing to origami or drawing.

Eyes

The classic way to while away the hours on a train is to take a newspaper or book; both of which will provide plenty of entertainment for however long you are on the train or bus.

What stops a lot of people from pursuing visual entertainment on their commute is that they will often have spent the whole day using a computer screen or generally reading, so the prospect of reading holds little appeal. If this is the case, try graphics novels or other picture-based literature such as art books.

We’re photographers for a reason. We like or are interested in what we see in the world around us. We’d like to capture an image for ourselves or to show other people.

However, we have a problem. We’ll never be able to store the representation of the image in our minds with all the complexity of the processing of our eyes and brain.

Our eyes look at only a small area of the image and our brain fills in the rest of the surrounding detail. Our eyes have an iris, which adjusts to give us the exact exposure to the intensity of the light so that we can see the maximum detail in any part of the scene. The result of all of this is that we see everything around us as perfectly exposed (except when its too dark to see).

When taking photographs, all areas of the image have the same exposure. We can adjust the exposure but areas, which are darker or lighter than others will be just that, light, or dark in the image.

The aim of the photographer has always been to keep details in the darker and lighter areas. We use tricks like fill in flash, graduated filters, polarising filter etc. to keep important details but often we just accept that our photographs will just have a blow out sky or dark shadows. After a while, we start using shadows and high lights creatively as part of our photographs, creating an image that you would not be able to see directly using your eyes.

We could start taking photos during the night using screen lights and we can go out at dusk to try to balance the intensity of the light left in the sky to the artificial lights in our towns and cities.

As photographers we now have a wide range of additional tools in our tool box that allow us to adjust, enhance and even change the natural picture that we see through the lens. It enables our eyes to see what our brain creatively imagines.