Thanksgiving Photo Tips from Debbie Riggs of Pure Photography

Debbie Riggs, owner of Pure Photography in Abilene, Texas, is a professional photographer specializing in children and family portraits.  We felt her expertise made her the perfect person to turn to for advice regarding family photos.  We asked Debbie for a few tips to make the most of this year’s Thanksgiving gathering.  Here are a few of her favorite quick tips:

If there’s time to coordinate clothing, send out a message for ideas of what to wear.   

“Notify everyone ahead of time and give them three colors to choose from for their outfits such as berry red, brown, gold and jeans. Let each family show their own style/personality in what they choose and yet you're not having to match exactly."   This technique is helpful because it gives members a range of possibilities and keeps everyone from looking exactly the same.

“Plan on taking the family portrait outside about an hour or so before sunset,” she says.  Photographers know that the ‘golden hour’ is ideal for most shooting situations so it’s worth the effort to gather your loved ones outdoors for a quick family photo. 

Her final recommendation?  “Hire a professional photographer!”  In all seriousness, if you have family traveling from a fair distance, having a professional come to shoot a family photo would be a gift to share with all your loved ones.  It can also take the pressure off of the host family, allowing them to simply enjoy capturing the moment.

To learn more about Debbie Riggs, visit http://www.pure-photography.com

Kickstarter 101: What it Takes to Fund a Photography Project

by Laura Oles

When Sarah and Eric were planning their upcoming honeymoon, they decided to mix business and pleasure.  While other newlyweds might jet away to tropical locales to spend time on the beach, Sarah and Eric decided to opt for a road trip, taking Polaroid photos all along Route 66 – a trip that is being funded by a small group of supporters who have been promised photos in return for their micro investment. Sara and Eric love the nostalgia of documenting their road trip with this vintage but still very viable medium.

How did they come to the idea to combine their honeymoon trip with a photography-related business proposition?  It all comes down to Kickstarter.

Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) helps fund creative projects by connecting artists and inventors with investors.  Since the site went live in 2009, over four million people have pledged more than $609 million dollars toward 41,000 creative projects. Each creator remains in charge of all aspects of her project and anyone can launch a project as long as it meets Kickstarter’s basic guidelines.  Funding requests can range from a few hundred dollars to hundreds of thousands.  A select few have even been successfully funded at a million dollars or more.

In the case of Sarah and Eric, their first Kickstarter project is a modest one as they only asked for pledges totaling $1,000, but pledges totaled five times that amount.  Eric is a photography buff with an arsenal of vintage 120 cameras, including a 1914 Kodak and a German-made 1939 Twin Lens Reflex.  Sarah shoots with her Canon T21 DSLR and also likes experimenting with her Diana mini.  Both Sara and Eric enjoy the nostalgia of traditional shooting and the feel of experiencing a printed Polaroid print within minutes of capturing an image. 

Sarah and Eric have followed and backed several other Kickstarter projects over the last year and learned a great deal from the process. When asked what made them choose the idea of traveling on Route 66 with a Polaroid camera in hand, Sarah said, “I think it's a bit of nostalgia and a bit of a tangible result. I can be impatient and I love that I can have my photo in front of me in just a few minutes.” Their backers seem to share their enthusiasm and are looking forward to receiving Polaroid prints in the mail of their travels along Route 66.   For the trip, they will be using a few different Polaroid ColorPack Land Cameras, such as the 100 and the 250.

Even though Sarah and Eric are young in years, they are old school when it comes to photography.  Sarah enjoys shooting digital, but her love for film and the older format cameras remains strong.  It is their love for these vintage shooting experiences that really spurred them into creating this Route 66 Kickstarter project.  Sara says, “We hope that our Kickstarter project inspires others to take up film photography! We want to show people how accessible film cameras still are in today’s environment.”

To learn more about Sara and Eric’s Kickstarter project, visit:  http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/goodstorysarah/route-66-polaroid-project

To learn how to create your own Kickstarter project, visit www.kickstarter.com