What do YOU think?

For a long time, I've done photo restoration for my own use and the use of my family. I would often take a torn, scratched, or folded photo, and by the time I was done, I can make it look pretty pristine. For example:



After working on it:




There was a lot of damage to this nearly-50-year-old photo: Obviously it had lost most of its color tone; there was a lot of lost of surface on the photo, which became very apparent after I corrected and enhanced the colors; I was able to sharpen it up.

Other photos have been far more damaged, although I don't have examples of that right now.

So my question: would YOU be interested in such a service? I'm not asking someone to make a commitment; I'm just testing the waters.

Comments?

Christmas Portraits

Time is getting very short if you'd like a portrait for Christmas. Especially if you'd like to use a portrait for your Christmas cards, please contact me as soon as possible so we can get it done in time for you to mail out.

New Facility in Town

A good friend of mine, Art Smith, has just opened a rental studio in town. Art is a commercial photographer in town, doing product and commercial shooting. A very gifted photographer. His rental studio opens up new possibilities, since it includes sets, special lighting, backgrounds of every type, and large open studio space for shoots. It's probably one of the nicest of its kind in Missouri. His studio is located in downtown Columbia.

I'm excited about this new venue. Previously, the largest indoor studio work I have been able to do is about 20 people at a time, which isn't bad. Nonetheless, I've had some shoots where having a studio like Su Casa would have been a real help.

I wish Art the best, he's a good guy and a good photographer. His new studio will be of real service.

Website name change

Please note the new address for the photography website: http://www.RichardBerryPhotography.com - it's a lot clearer than our old address.

Please feel free to leave comments on this blog, as well as the website itself.

-Richard

Missouri Youth Orchestra

The Missouri Youth Orchestra is a terrific ensemble of young musicians from the mid-Missouri area, playing some pretty impressive pieces. Their conductor, Carrie Turner, is a lady of remarkable energy and drive. Her enthusiasm for her kids just bubbles over, as you can see from the performance.

Last week, they had their first concert of the 2008-2009 season. I was impressed with the scope and challenge of the music they performed. They did a terrific job.

Before the concert, we did some portraits as a fundraiser for the MYO. Everybody looked terrific, and we were privileged to get some images of it. It was so much fun to work with these kids, and they were all willing to try something other than the standard portrait look. I only had a couple of minutes with each one, but I thoroughly enjoyed working with these kids. It's easy to see where Carrie gets her enthusiasm!

Elvis has left the building!

Okay, maybe it wasn't Elvis, and maybe it wasn't a building.

In fact, it was a member of the Black Daggers parachute team, and it was a C130 Hercules Aircraft. We were at about 10,000 feet, and the Black Daggers were jumping over the 2008 Salute to Veterans Airshow.

Still, if you look at the photo, you'll notice that you can't see his feet. What happened? Our friend came to attention, snapped a salute, then took one step back. You can see the results. Yes, he was no longer part of our flight.




The jump was incredibly fun; you can see more from the jump here, as well as photos from the complete Memorial Day Weekend Celebration.

Bruce and Claire

Had a really wonderful portrait shoot with Bruce and Claire. Bruce is just back from Marine Corps basic training, and is returning to complete his training. We decided to get a shoot in while he was in town.

Claire is Bruce's girlfriend, and it was just a hoot with them enjoying themselves and comfortable in front of the camera.

I wanted to play with the light, so I went for several different looks. The dramatic:



The fun:



And the playful:



We did a lot more as well, as you can see here.

Bruce and Claire have been extended family for awhile; we did Bruce's senior photos about a year ago. It's so much fun to work with folks like this. They enjoy it, which comes through clearly in the photos.