TriCoast Photography

Clyde Sherle

2011-12-21T03:06:00.001-06:00

erotic photo
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=free-two-botlles.in&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffree-two-botlles.in%2F&ei=ta3gTvzSAYnWsgarktjUCA&usg=AFQjCNF73XMh_Z0xHxBsvKepUgZPubY6rQ&sig2=NQ8eaeqyzY-gWxxt2MroVw&cad=rja

Hey! We Moved!

2009-02-18T05:47:00.003-06:00

Coding and web development was never my strong point. And it still isn't. But these last couple days of staying up late and doing research finally got this blog migrated over to a new back end. While I enjoyed Blogger, it's time to move on! Big welcome to the new Wordpress blog!

The url should remain the same.
http://www.tricoastphoto.com/blog

Here is the new RSS for the subscribers.
feed://tricoastphoto.com/blog/?feed=rss

Thank you to all those following our blog. We hope you will enjoy our new format.

- Jordan

WPPI: What's up!

2009-02-16T20:02:00.005-06:00

Day started early for us. At least for me. I stopped by the Radiopopper booth to help out and also sign some a few people up for a free hands on wireless lighting class. Radiopopper will be supplying units the wireless transmitter for the students to test out. One thing I wasn't counting on was the stampede of people at 10:30am today.

Later that day, Mike and Cody got up on stage at the Miller's booth.

Come join us again at the Miller's booth tomorrow at 11am. Definitely stop by and introduce yourself.

Big thanks to Jillian Kay for grabbing these shots for me. If you have a few moments to spare, check out her work on her website :)

- Jordan

WPPI: Getting there...

2009-02-16T02:29:00.003-06:00

After staying up all night working on updating the new blog, it occured to me, 4am is only minutes away. That means we make our drive out to the airport to catch our flight to Las Vegas.

Quick photo before the flight attendant threatened to take the camera away from us.

Flight was only a short 3 hours. I think I was able to catch one or two zz's. Mike, fighting an eye infection, created a rather ingenious eye patch to block out the lights. I have to say I was rather jealous that I didn't think of that earlier. It looks snug too.

Once we landed, we took a quick walk around MGM Grand. Cody tried out a hat inside one of the malls many shops. Jonas Brothers?

A view from our hotel room. I accidentally loaded the fullsized image so it might take a while to load.

Enough with the shenanigans. Off to pick up our passes. We hope to see you out on the WPPI convention floor. If you do see us, please come up and introduce yourself! You can find us at Collages, Denny Mfg, Miller's, or Radiopopper booths. You might also come early to the Radiopopper booth to sign up for a limited seating free wireless flash demo with TriCoast and Radiopopper.

- Jordan

Beef Jerky and The Dirty Water Dog Workshop!

2009-02-14T22:06:00.002-06:00

Yep. That's what I said. Dirty Water Dog.

Click for more.

Stormwatch newsletter subscribers already know about this, but just in case there are some that did not subscribe to it, I'll post it here.

And if anyone figures out who's Beef Jerky and who's the water dog, please let me know...

- Jordan

Death of a blog :(

2009-02-14T18:51:00.004-06:00

What does that mean? Well, we've been blogger users for a long time. Years. It's nice and integrates with all kinds of Google stuff. But it's time to grow up and move on. So, if you're a RSS or Atom subscriber, check back in a day or two to update your feed.

You don't feel like it? How about we make it worth your while. Click to find out more.

Check back, update your feed, and add us to your blogroll. Leave a comment in a specific, yet un-announced, upcoming post. First 20 people to leave a blog on that specific post, will go into a drawing for a set of Radiopopper P1. Which is one of our prized possessions in our camera bag.

The Radiopopper P1 is the previous generation of Radiopppers. The winner will receive the set straight out of our camera bags. Fully tested, and functional, but has no trade-in value.

When you do leave a comment, please be sure to leave a link to your blog, so we could add you to our blogroll. (And to see if we are in your blogroll as well, so you can qualify for your drawing :) We will do a drawing while we are at WPPI and announce the winners then.

Sound fair? Talk to you soon!

- Jordan

Edit 2/14/2009 9:39pm
Just to clarify guys and gals, it's not this blog post but an upcoming one. But that's for the love :)

Studio Photography - The Magazine - We Made the COVER BABY!!!

2009-02-03T17:56:00.003-06:00

TriCoast is so very proud and humbled to have been chosen as the photographer or in this case the photographers to make the cover of Studio Photography's Wedding Issue for 2009. Studio Photography has always been a magazine which we have personally subscribed too and read for their educational aspects and cutting edge in the photography business, but truly NEVER thought we had a chance to be on the cover.

A session which is known for being one of THE images of our amazing buddies at Collages.net, our "Red Wall Bride" is truly one of TriCoast's favorite brides and even now, several years later the image still is one of the strongest TriCoast has ever taken. Check out the Online Issue of Studio Photography and remember the magazine is FREE to all who are interested so while stopping by on their site sign up for your subscription, I promise you wont be sorry!

Thank you again Studio Photography for trusting us and our artwork for this amazing honor, truly it means the world to us!

~Mike

Replace with bottom part of post here.

The Dave Cross - Yeah the Photoshop Guru and TriCoast

2009-02-01T22:21:00.005-06:00

Well hell has frozen over for TriCoast because one of our dreams and passions has come true which we never thought would happen! TriCoast has the honor of being on Dave Cross blog with Photography, Photoshop, tips and tricks and other goodies from the main man of Photoshop!

Mike was honored to be asked by Dave to "Finish the Sentence" for his blog post last week. Roughly Dave asks questions and Mike tried to answer them as truthful and honest as possible without showing just how much of a real dumb-butt Mike is!

Thanks again Dave for asking us, we truly were honored and yes shocked one who even know who we are and two you would have us on your really cool blog. Hopefully in the future, we can do more things together because as Jordan said "that man is amazing"!

Year of the Ox!

2009-01-28T11:13:00.003-06:00

The Chinese New Year rolled around a few days ago. Year of the Ox! What's that mean for us? Not really sure...

But what did happen is that we had a good friend over for dinner, gotten to the final stages of our newsletter, and announced some workshop dates.

Click below for more!

First off, our good friend and photographer out of Tampa/St. Pete, FL Margie Schulz was in town for a conference. I had asked what it was about but promptly lost interest when she said the magic word "financial". Sorry Margie, we love you, but numbers are not my friend. Since it was the Chinese New Year, we took her to a little dive in Chinatown. Here is a group shot from Margie's camera.

So what is the Year of the Ox? Here's something plagiarized from the Chinese Culture Center website.

People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed. They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people.

Anything significant for us? No clue. I'm not really the philosophical kind, while Mike and Cody might be able to come up with something, it's not something we will go into.

What we will go into is the newsletter that is about to launch. Fill with..."stuff".

The newsletter will contain tidbits on how we use wireless flash, along with random tidbits of tips and tricks. Possibly even some processing info and behind the scene images and/or videos. The content will also have up to date appearances of the TriCoast crew in various conventions, speaking engagements, seminars, workshops, as well as circus acts and county fairs. To sign up for this madness, check out TriCoast StormWatch.

On the subject of workshops, several new workshops have been announced and registration is now online.

Dallas
Denver
Seattle
San Francisco
New Jersey

To register, head over to TriCoast Workshops website.

The Following Cities are in the final stages of TriCoast's hands on 2 or 3 day workshops as well:

San Francisco, CA
Portland, OR
Savannah, GA
New Orleans, LA
Houston, TX
Memphis, TN
Twin Cities, MN

Hope to see you at one of those cities!

- Jordan

Mike receives his Craftsman Degree from the PPA

2009-01-18T20:00:00.003-06:00

One of the top awards a photographer can achieve being a member of the Professional Photographer's Association (PPA) Mike was sponsored by THE Godfather of the PPA, Ralph Romaguera. Mike, being truly honored by Ralph, as one of Mike's mentors, placing the Craftsman degree around his neck. Of course Mike being the ONLY photographer dressed in a light colored suit and wearing his traditional dress shoes of Flip Flops stuck out quite a bit during the ceremony. Add to the fact that Mike gave back a little more than Ralph expected by grabbing his backside on stage in front of 100's of PPA members. Needless to say the PPA can be about fun, education, ethics and a whole lot more all wrapped up into one package called "Our PPA"

CLICK TO SEE THE VIDEO

Thank you again Ralph for not only being a great sport, but also being truly one of the leaders in the world of professional photography but also being down to earth, respectful and helpful to EVERYONE that asks or needs it. Truly you are one of the best people I know on this planet and I am truly honored to have you a part of my special day. I will simply never forget it!

Great Wedding - Great Couple - Houston Texas

2009-01-08T01:16:00.005-06:00

Well lets see we meet Ross, our groom several years ago through one of our great forums, Texas Photo Forum. Both him and I were early members and over the years we just became photography nerd friends. TriCoast captured one of Ross' best friends weddings last year around this time in Houston, which at that time Ross sprang the news on us he was getting married and wanted us to shoot his wedding as well. Being a great honor and well excited cause I love his wife Stephy we showed up this last Saturday to shoot our first wedding of 2009. We had a blast shooting, laughing and watching everyone have a great time, plus the dinner at The Forest Club in Houston was AMAZING!!!

The Makeup

Her Shoes

The Wedding Announcement

The Girls

The Boys

The Dress

The Father

The Wedding

The Dance

The Cake

The Exit

Great Wedding in Lake Jackson from an old friend

2009-01-07T14:51:00.002-06:00

I met this bride through an old friend and I must admit I feel in love with her and her family. Her mother seems like my mom and well her sister treats Cody and I like a brother, meaning she talks a lot of trash to us, which I must admit we love. So back in December we had the honor to photograph Lynsey's wedding in Lake Jackson Texas. A fun wedding with a groom who is a musician (a good one I must say) so between Lynsey and her new groom's wonderful personality and a family which treated us so well, I must admit it was truly one of my favorite nights to photograph. With all the Christmas and Holiday decor it made the entire night just perfect.

Here are a few from the evening.

Our Bride getting her final touches placed on her

The beautiful dress and shoes

The flower girl

The boys will be boys

A groomsman putting on his final touches

The boys

The Ring

The First Dance

The Band

Thanks again for an amazing day!!!

Mehndi Party

2008-12-26T19:44:00.004-06:00

Last week I was invited to shoot a Mehendi party. It was not only an honor to participate in this event, but also allowed me to get to know Biju better.

I met Biju several years ago through a mutual friend. That led to a photo shoot with Mahira Dance Company. I was excited for her when she told me she’s getting married. The party took place at her home, surrounded by her closest friends and family members. The Henna art typically last several days.

The Henna art lasts several days and the detail is amazing. Traditionally, the bride has the groom’s name hidden within the intricacy of the design. It took me a while to spot it, but I found it faster than anyone else :)

Here are a few more from that night.

- Jordan

Brazoswood Hosts the Holiday Dance Classic 2008

2008-12-14T10:59:00.004-06:00

Suzy (of the world famous wedding photography - Suzy Min) and of TriCoast Seniors and Jordan Chan TriCoast's Sensai (but mostly Suzy!) had a BLASTY BLAST yesterday photographing the Holiday Dance Classic Portraits at Brazoswood High School.

I spotted these Bwood Belles and corralled them in so I could get a photo. You might recognize our recent senior, Claire in there. I had a great time photographing the co-captains, Nicole and Kara, as well...You can see them jumping in the photo and pretty much making the picture more awesome...I've got some other photos of the captains that didn't quite make the cut...so be on the lookout for the outtakes!

Oh and a little birdy told me that Brazoswood won the entire event as well - Way to go home team.............

Wedding = Baytown Texas

2008-11-20T02:29:00.004-06:00

A while back Cody and I had a WONDERFUL wedding from a young lady which found us almost 3 years before her wedding date. Normally only booking a wedding no more than 1 year in advance we actually accepted this amazing client a little before that and well we are both glad we did.

Here are a few from our special day with our amazing client and her family!

Wendy's Wedding Gown

The Day's events

Wendy walking down the isle not for her wedding but for a first look with her father. You see Wendy's father had not seen his daughter in her wedding gown and well lets just say it was a very special moment of many happy tears when he finally did.

The something blue" aspect of Wendy's wedding day was a piece of her mother's actual wedding dress, a blue wedding dress, cut and placed inside Wendy's dress.

The couple at the alter

The Kiss

On Table goodies from the reception - did I mention I love on table chocolate goodies :)

A couple of the couple on their bubble exit!

Thanks again guys for allowing us to be a part of your special day, you two are amazing people with amazing families!

Baby Fairy Sighting...

2008-11-18T20:48:00.003-06:00

Well tonight we had a great little baby in our studio, and we got to play with our little "Nest Egg" and "Mushroom" props. Truly a fun evening with a great couple and their little fairy angel! Here is one from our session designed as the front of a Christmas Card!

An old friend and his special day

2008-11-17T01:59:00.005-06:00

Many of you know that I (Mike) for approximately 15 years was in law enforcement here in the State of Texas. While most of those police years were spent on Crime Scene Investigation the beginning year or two...well lets just say I payed my dues by working in the jail division. During the time of massive over crowding of State Prisons I found myself guarding murders and rapists and just about every other type of hard core criminal you could think of, which of course were shoved into tiny cells with way too many inmates in them. It was at this time I meet David and over that year or so we gained each others trust and well saved each others lives on several occasions during the events of what goes on in a jailhouse.

Well as time goes on, we both have gotten older, somewhat fatter (especially me) and found new loves in our lives. Jessica was a beautiful bride and well David was a great groom, even though he is still as goofy as he always has been. Married in one of the State of Texas oldest churches still standing and in use (5th I think) in a little town of East Columbia, Suzy and I had the great honor of capturing one of my oldest and closest friends. A simple event, no bells or whistles just a simple couple, confessing their love for one another in front of just a few people, in other words a pretty good day!

Here are a few portraits from the day and once again thank you David and Jessica it was an honor to be a part of it!

Driving and shooting all the way to Mobile, AL

2008-11-16T12:22:00.003-06:00

Well this week was extremely busy, both Jordan and I (Mike) had sessions at the start of the week then drove approximately 10 hours to Denny Mfg in Mobile, AL to capture a few images for their new 2009 catalog coming out very soon. So without making you read usless text I will give you a few new backdrops from Denny's. Yeah these are fresh off the presses, well ok fresh off the Photoshop Darkroom!

Shooting on Denny's SuperCloth backdrops, we really never knew what to expect when the drop... well dropped. Needing just simple headshots we did our best to work with the models, using the new drops and of course using lights we were not quite used too. All in all we had a blast, were VERY tired after three days of shooting only to be thanked by having to drive 10 hours back home, get 2-3 hours of sleep, shoot a Saturday wedding during the morning and afternoon then a family session in the late evening at the studio. Yeah to much photography makes MyKey a tired little boy!

Always look on the bright side of life...

2008-11-11T10:45:00.002-06:00

Late last night I was up working on finishing up a Deanna's Senior session from Sunday which Suzy and I shot together in downtown Houston. (See the below post on our blog for her portraits) Getting done around 5am this morning I finally laid my head down for a good "night's" sleep.

The day had been one of those fall days where it simply rained all day long, sometimes hard and sometimes just barely a sprinkle but yet still rain, so much so our dog, Honey, did not like to go outside and get wet to use the restroom. Of course we tried several times to get her to go but the old stubborn lady in her simply said no way to us.

So this morning bright and early at 8am I get a phone call. Waking me up, I thought to myself, this better be damn good, I have only been to sleep for 3 hours.

Answering the phone, alright good reason, business and it needed to be done pretty quickly. Laying there in bed just hanging up the phone with Cody I thought to myself and realized

THERE IS ALWAYS A BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE and this morning it was a very bright thing indeed.

You see sometime during those three hours Honey our lovely pet, our family member dog, decided enough was enough with her colon and blessed me with a nice little piece of dog poo in our bed. Yep our stubborn old lady just could not hold it anymore and laid out a dirt dragon right beside me in bed. You might be asking yourself about this time, what in the hell could be bright about a dog of any kind or anywhere dropping a piece of poo-poo in bed with you.

Well actually there are two things:

(Click the link for as Paul Harvey would say "and now you know the rest of the story"

1) Cody called to get me up early so I would not be rolling around in bed with it

2) (my favorite) IT WAS HARD!!!

So there is your wonderful thought for the day, I hope your day starts off slightly better than mine, and either way remember to ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE OF LIFE!!!

~ Mike

Deanna - A Senior

2008-11-11T08:55:00.003-06:00

Well as you would know it, Suzy and I (Mike) headed up to our local High School to talk to the yearbook teacher. Suzy had not meet her yet and I wanted to introduce the two ladies together. Two hours later Suzy and I had talked to the almost a 100 kids, got to know the teacher better, and meet some amazing young men and ladies in the process. Deanna was one of the seniors in the yearbook class that day, beautiful with a great smile we had a blast in and around downtown Houston playing in the dirty of dirty places to capture these images.

Deanna's Slideshow

A Bridal Session

2008-11-11T08:44:00.003-06:00

I meet this young bride, Lynsey years ago through a good friend of mine she was dating at the time. Well as the years went by we photographed her older sister's weddings, became good friends with her family, and well now photographing her upcoming wedding, which by the way is not to the old friend of mine :)

Beautiful young lady with an amazing sense of humor which clearly runs in the family since both her older sister and mother are lovable smart a$$es as well. (Love you guys) Captured at Heathers Glen in Conroe Texas we had a great day with beautiful weather playing around the grounds. Here are just a few more from the day since I do not want to ruin the big surprise for the groom in December on their wedding day.

The Learning Circle - A Daycare Session

2008-11-08T21:35:00.004-06:00

For 5 to 6 years my daughter was "raised" by The Learning Circle Daycare here in our little home town of Lake Jackson, so for me to be able to go in and capture the children of this learning center was truly an honor.

Suzy and I captured 50 beautiful children throughout the day from newborns to 5 year old. While some loved us and well some not so much loved us, we enjoyed every second of the event. Here are a few more from the day and once again THANK YOU The Learning Circle for allowing TriCoast to capture the children at your daycare. We captured several portraits of each child and had several set ups for the certain child's age (thanks to Denny's Mfg). All in all the day worked out well!

TriCoast and Miller's Our New Ad

2008-11-07T23:35:00.006-06:00

Today was the day - the first time we (TriCoast) saw the new ad from Miller's in Studio Photography Magazine!

You know over the last year I really have gotten to love Studio Photography Magazine. Its full of educational information, amazing photographs and well the best part it is FREE for anyone wanting to advance their knowledge in this amazing art form. So for our new ad for Miller's Lab to come out in this magazine we are truly excited and honored to say the least.

So check out the add on Miller's Website along with more information on the products we use through them and of course check out Studio Photography "The Business Behind the Image" and get your FREE magazine subscription.

Thank you Both for continuing to educate and help the professional photographers as well as smucks like us...

Claire - A Graveyard Senior...

2008-11-04T12:41:00.005-06:00

Claire came into our studio with one thought on her mind - to have her senior portraits show she is edgy, yet sophisticated city girl that is one of a kind original.
Starting off in our studio and ending up in an old graveyard and a classy hotel we had a blast capturing Claire. Here are a few from the session.

Claire's Slideshow

Football and a Senior - A Great Mixture...

2008-10-31T10:48:00.007-05:00

Travis came into our studio with one thought on his mind - To look athletic in his portraits.

As one of the silent auction winners at Brazoswood High School Booster Club events for their football team TriCoast wanted to make sure they got their money's worth in supporting a great group of kids which love to have fun on the football field. Travis is one of the young men playing Iron Man football in the two roughest spots on the field - Runningback and Linebacker.

A great young man who really was easy for us to photograph, of course we made fun of him but with someone with enough medals to make Michael Phelps look like a punk, well I think he could take it!

And my personal favorite from the session

Travis' 6 sided TriFold Graduation Invitations

So hopefully the nerd of taking Senior Portraits was made cool enough for Travis, and if you take the time to read this blog make sure you leave some love for Travis will ya!

Finally a slideshow of Travis with the portraits above and a few others:

~Mike

Derek & Alaina's e-Session

2008-10-28T15:11:00.003-05:00

Last week I got to to shoot a fun couple on the north east side of Houston. I did get lost getting there, but eventually the search party found me. It was a beautiful day for a our shoot and everything worked out well.

Click below for a few more photos!

Sneak Peek down in Savannah Georiga!

2008-10-19T01:37:00.003-05:00

To make a great wedding you need a fun groom, family and friends who are helpful and polite and a wonderful venue. Sometimes when all of this comes together and you add an amazing young photographer as the stunning bride, well it sure makes our job a lot more fun and a whole lot easier!

Last week Cody and I had the honor to photograph Allison and Rich's wedding in Savannah Georgia and while the weather was wet and rainy all weekend the bride and groom as well as their family could not have been more perfect! Here is a sneak peek of the wedding and the day after event with LOTS more photos to come of the wedding day itself!

Bride and Groom before the wedding hanging out allowing us to capture some images of them.

Day after session at the Savannah Rail Road Museum. Allison and Rich are doing their best "Whooooo whoooooo" impression of a train! Yeah it was stupid fun!

Inside an old street car at the Museum, we were simply escaping the rain and decided to shoot a little inside the car. This one was captured with natural light only.

As with the second image, the couple was hanging out before the wedding. Natural light on Allison's face, with wireless flash as a rim light on Allison and main light on Rich!

Again more coming very soon but I simply could not wait to share some of these fun images with a great couple!

Leave them some love will ya please :)

Heroes of Hurricane Ike - A Photo & Video Shoot...

2008-10-18T21:13:00.005-05:00

Well sometimes out of a natural disaster such as Hurricane Ike good things develop. Amazing people and stories come out of no where to ... well just make you feel good.

Today was one of those days. Besides having to get up at the crack of the day to get everything packed up and ready to go, I had the honor to be the official photographer in capturing a few of these "heroes" of Hurricane Ike.

I showed up at the location and set up my studio gear:

* Alien Bee lights as well as Denny's Mfg. new Zebra Lights which so far I have been VERY pleased with.

* Gels (yep you read that right) the advertising company which is completing this project wanted an overall colorful background to match the shirt or tones of the heroes shirts.

* Medium Toned Gray paper backdrop which I bought two days ago at Houston Camera Exchange (in order to gel a nice color with decent dark tones on)

* Larson 4x6' softbox for main and a small strip with louvers for hairlight, 2 large Larson reflectors for fill.

Now the video crew which were AMAZING guys, out of Austin Texas found themselves short on a few items so I let them borrow some of my items which turned out worked great. Denny's Mfg. makes some new foldable soft boxes and I had a couple with me (since I did not know what size of space we were shooting in) and they used the 3x4' Zebra Box as well as a strip box all which sets up in like 10 seconds.

Below are a few pullbacks of the video guys in order with my gear thrown around in the tiny room of two of the heroes. We changed the background color out a lot, sadly these two heroes both are on red which does not show the changes.

Again nothing major in this post, just wanted to share today was a very refreshing and cool day being a part of an event which I found was very inspiring to say the least!

Light Check with one of the video crew guys. You can also see that new soft box from Denny's I was talking about which they shot video light through to soften up the light.

Another Hero being filmed

Shot from the other side of things to show you the tiny room we worked in but how it worked out pretty well in the end. You can also see one of my Larson Reflectors being used as a fill by the video crew.

Almost going to jail in Vegas....What?!!?

2008-10-07T12:45:00.003-05:00

So two weekends ago I did something I had only done one other time in my 15+ years of shooting weddings, I second shot for another photographer. The first time I shot second for a photographer just happened to be for the same photographer and well it did not go over so well. I mean it was my fault, I just was not used to not being in control of a wedding, and I tried to take over, change shots that were missed and adjust things to suit my style and not the main photographers style.

So after a promise with threat of taking my life if I did not keep that promise, I tried shooting as a second photographer one more time. The promise, well the promise is I could ONLY SAY the following:

"yes dear"
"whatever you want or need honey"
"Suzy you are always right"

Yep that's right I had the honor to head to Las Vegas to second shoot for my better half - Suzy Min and her amazing couple and wedding.

So covering the boys and not having to worry about anything but shooting a little and having fun with the guys in the process we got started shooting outside, but with the still 100 degree weather we choose to keep it inside for the rest of the shoot. That is when the best man said: "Hey we are in Vegas, lets go shoot INSIDE the Casino"

Of course everyone thought it was a great idea, but knew we might have some problems. So I had to quickly leave my camera gear in the hallway of a busy casino, run in with one camera, one lens, one tiny light stand with a flash on top of it and a Master flash unit on my camera body. Attached were a set of Radio Popper Units as well.

So we got permission from one of the pit boss' there to shoot on dead tables which there was a group of 6 (3 on each side) I got permission to stand and shoot inside the row of dead tables, and received 1 minute to capture the portrait.

Yeah one minute you read that right! So I took a snapshot to make sure my flash units were working, and a general light check and exposure check. Made a very quick adjustment, and took another shot. At this time "rent a cop" security hit me up and ordered me to leave the casino, which I kindly told him we had permission from the pit boss, which the pit boss standing there gave the thumbs up so the uniformed security left us alone. The Pit Boss said 15 more seconds and you guys have to leave. So I adjusted my camera settings, took 2 more quick portraits of the groom throwing up 100 bills and then we had to leave.

On the way out the casino we were met by the Suits of Security and the Gaming Commission of Nevada which clearly were not happy. After saying we had permission from the pit boss and directed the suits in his direction, well I think the best man said it best by "I knew we were in trouble when the pit boss turned and walked away" Needless to say they were calling over a patrol unit to take me to jail for photographing inside the casino. While the groom was talking to the Gaming Commission I was in the process of taking out my memory cards and trying to hide them or give them to one of the groomsmen to get to Suzy while I sat in the "Old Brick House".

Now having worked in Law Enforcement and Corrections for the majority of my life I was not worried about going to jail, in fact I thought it was quite funny to be honest. No disrespect to the Police, but I mean can't you just see what the other Criminals in the holding tank would think when asked what I was in jail for........

So after the groom explained to the Gaming Commission and Suits of Security from the Casino just how much money he was spending to have the wedding at this location, they finally choose not to arrest me and take my camera gear and whatever else.

So all ends well and we got a great story out of it and a pretty cool picture. I mean it is nothing out of this world but with the story and the speed it was captured I was happy at the results.

The "Almost going to jail photo" from Suzy's Wedding

And for more amazing photos from Suzy and her wedding check out her blog. I did have to wait till she posted on her blog before I could post this, so of course I said "Yes dear whatever you want my love" Remember to leave her some love if you do!

SUZY'S BLOG

Rebecca's Bridal at Hermann Park and super secret Pool Hall

2008-10-04T02:45:00.003-05:00

What's a bridal without harsh sun, 30lbs wedding dress, lots of pebbles in your sandals and some guy on a horse. Well, we didn't have the guy with a horse, but we did get a statue of a guy on a horse. Does that count?

Hermann Park was one of the most popular spots for wedding and quinceañera photography. But because of vandalism and un-professionalism, the part now requires a permit to photograph there. You can see the scarred bamboo trees in the background.

The location, however, was beautiful. All you need is a pretty bride. That's were Rebecca comes in. Of course around noon time, it gets hot. So we went indoors for some pool shots and air conditioning. As for the location, it's super secret only because I don't remember where it is and will never be able to find it again.

Two of my favorite shots of Rebecca. I can still remember her mom telling her to put her shoes on. I kinda like it without :)

By the time we got to this area, we had been photographed, You Tube'd, cat called, and I think proposed to. Yep...15 mins into the portrait session. Gotta love it! Unfortunately, I'm taken and had to turn them all down.

This was a super fun day. Rebecca and Dalton's wedding is coming up in 2 weeks, then they are off to Belize. I'm jealous. I want to go to Belize...

Big thanks to Rebecca's Mom and Cousin for coming to help out. We couldn't have done it without you two!!!

- Jordan

TriCoast shenanigans at a Bridal session

2008-10-02T23:23:00.005-05:00

Ok, some pull backs. This is the kind of crazy shenanigans that goes on behind a TriCoast Bridal session. Mike had already put these images together so that makes it easy for me :)

Spot the weirdo!

Outtake #1 - Our little lighting assistant for the day - one of the bride's friends daughter - By the way this is a pullback of Image #5

Outtake #2 - not sure what I was doing here but it looks like I was caught doing something I should not had been doing

Outtake #3 - Jordan tapes everything up when he works and I MEAN EVERYTHING.......

Outtake #4 - Ahhh how cute, Jordan bonds so well with our clients!!!

Outtake #5 - Give me more ALCOHOL DANG IT !!!!

So much fun :)

Til' next time!

- Jordan

Bridal at Heather's Glen - Part II

2008-10-02T21:55:00.002-05:00

Break time! I guess it's time to put up a couple more portraits of Ann from last week. In case you missed it, here's the link.

We had just hand delivered a small portrait to Heather's Glen, so it should be a nice surprise for Ann on Saturday. (In case you're reading Ann, you'll have to wait till Saturday to see which one we picked out.) Here are a few of our favorites.

Which one is your favorite? There's always a witty remark for these images, but I'll save it for some pull back shots of the shoot. Of course, you'll have to wait for those as well. :)

Break time's over!

- Jordan

Bridal at Heather's Glen

2008-09-28T00:07:00.003-05:00

I can honestly say Heather's Glen is going to be one of my favorite wedding venues. Not only because the the place is cool, but the staff rocks! Click below for a little teaser preview of a bridal shot there this past week.

This is Ann. Beautiful dress. Beautiful location. Beautiful Bride. Absolutely fun to hang out with. A+++++ on the eBay scale.

I'll be out all day tomorrow. But I'll post couple more in a day or two.

Enjoy!

- Jordan

TriCoast at Java Jazz

2008-09-26T13:27:00.006-05:00

Couple days ago, I took a 2 hour drive in the mad Houston streets down to Lake Jackson to update some shots of TriCoast. Yep. We got in front of the camera instead of behind it.

I think only loved ones would say these two belong in front of the camera. But who knows, we might get a hit if I submit these to America's Next Top Model. These shots were for something that one of our awesome sponsors, Miller's Lab, needed for something I have no clue about. Mike explained it to me at one point. But post-hurricane Ike stress induced a Rockband marathon. In other words, I didn't hear a word Mike said. Deadline was short only because Lake Jackson still does not have power as of now. Internet access is still sparse. Mosquitoes, however, are in an overwhelming abundance. So no power, means no studio set up. Mosquitoes means no outdoor shots. Well, there goes our favorite elements to shoot in.

This is where Java Jazz comes in for the save. One of the ONLY coffee shops in Lake Jackson, City of Enchantment, that is fully functional WITH internet. Not to mention the Hawaiian Grog as one of their house specials. Nothing wrong with a cup of kona with toasted coconut blended in for that small touch of flavor. Just what I need before a shoot.(All you brides and seniors take note.)

Although we typically travel light, we brought every piece of mobile gear we had. I think I would have been happy shooting with my camera phone by the time we hauled everything in. I will say thought, this is not the norm for us. We travel light. Mainly because we are overweight and camera equipment gets heavy after a while.

I think the owner best summed it up when he said something along the line of"...look like musicians but don't know how to play a thing..." Which sadly, is very true. But we can play Rockband!

Before we packed everything up, the girls jumped in for their 15 mins of fame with the rocktars. (Rockstars on the xBox 360 that is...)

While we packed up, the owners of Java Jazz hopped up on stage to survey the damage. You know how crazy those rock musicians get after all. The banjo is not a show piece. He actually plucked out a tune and sounds awesome. I wonder if they will include the banjo in Rockband 3...

- Jordan

TriCoast Workshop in the Frog Capital of the World

2008-09-11T10:36:00.009-05:00

We spent this past weekend with some awesome photographers in Rayne, LA. Frog Capital of the World. I'm not sure how that title came about since I only saw one frog there the whole time.

No...this isn't the frog...

The workshop was hosted by Colin Burnum Photography. Colin's studio was large enough to have a shooting room, a studio and a reception area. With lots of...er...adult beverages...

This is the studio area. Small section of the studio area. Colin is putting up our brand new backdrop we just received from Denny's. Link to backdrop.

As nice as the studio was, fully equipped with a very, very capable air-conditioning unit, we took the class outside. Who says you don't have to suffer for your art?

As usual, before the class goes out to shoot, Cody does a demo shoot. After that, we break out for the hands on session.

Couldn't ask for a better day to shoot. Full sun and blue skies. Add a bit of some hurricane clouds and everything is perfect. Except for the mosquitoes...

So, this is what we see straight out of the camera. Sun peaking out just behind the clouds :)

And this is after Lightroom. Fun stuff :)

We took a short walk into town where the walls are covered in graffitti. I mean...murals. Again, playing with the spot light/snoot effect.

Jay getting down and dirty in the streets of Rayne. No frogs were harmed.

If you're not sure about coming out to one of our workshops, just ask these two. They fully approve.

And, you might even get to ride an airplane.

I'll post more images later on. Again, super fun group at this workshop. HUGE THANKS to Colin Burnum for everything, from breakfast, lunch, dinner and the after hours reception.

- Jordan

Denny's and TriCoast Photography...We Made Their Catalog

2008-09-05T20:50:00.004-05:00

Well I just found out TriCoast made Denny's Mfg new Fall/Winter Supplement Catalog for their company. If you do not know about Denny's check them out, truly their products have changed our business for the better.

For years TriCoast has believed in the quality and products of Denny's Mfg. We have purchased everything from large props and backdrops for over 10 years now. Their products have simply changed our business for the better, without changing a thing, using their backdrops in our senior business and their props in our baby settings has simply made TriCoast look better. So for us to be in their new Fall/Winter Supplement Catalog has truly humbled us and is a great honor.

CHECK OUT THE SUPPLEMENT

Wedding down home...

2008-08-29T01:16:00.005-05:00

We had the pleasure of having a local wedding in our home town, something that only happens maybe once every year or two.

Tanith and Paul were truly an amazing couple, high school sweethearts. Tanith's best friend is Paul's sister so these two have known each other almost their entire life.

Tanith is from South Africa and has the most amazing family. We truly fell in love with her mother and Aunt and Cousin. Paul is truly a Texan if I ever meet one and loves many of the same things I personally do and between him and his friends they really knew how to drink and well sing. OK so the singing they did was only good if you were drunk but as a sober photographer covering the event they were fun and interesting to cover. Here is a slideshow from the day.

Tanith and Paul - it was truly an honor covering your wedding day!

And if you look closely you might notice Cody of TriCoast and Suzy of SuzyMinPhotography getting down with a couple wedding guest including the bride!!!

Blogging through my email

2008-08-23T02:44:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to see how it works.

--
Jordan Chan
TriCoast Photography

Jorden the Senior

2008-08-23T02:13:00.004-05:00

Not Jordan the photographer. I know you're disappointed. But that's life. You might recalled that I mentioned a bit about her in Aaron's blog post.

One of TriCoast's Senior Rep.

Usually, I would try to put something witty here. But instead, I will plagiarize straight out her MySpace page. And because it's 2am and I'm on allergy meds, so the creative wittiness is just not here.

My names Jorden Shelby

I'm the pimp with a limp. ahahaha.

I'm a senior at sweeny.

I'm the captain of the varsity cheer squad.

I love my family and friends!

Hannah Montana IS my idol! haha NOT

Aaron has my heart.. but so does chocolate =] and sweet tea

I love watching lifetime, oxygen, and HGTV

My cat Lily is crazy but she's my hero

Thats about it.

There is a correction. Hannah Montana IS her IDOL! During the shoot she raved all about her. For reals. She also mention that she is a big fan of Kim Possible.

- Jordan
(The Photographer...not the senior)

From the Swamp

2008-08-21T16:43:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the most unexpected things come in the mail. While I was waiting for some spare CF cards to arrive, I got a peculiar package in the mail.

So lets take a look at this package. Simple, card stock envelope with two labels and the third being the postage. From Clute, TX, I might add. The content of this envelope doesn't matter. (But if you're really curious, it's a long lost sex tape belonging to Bea Arthur of the Golden Girls fame.) What's important is the person that sent the envelope. "Pimptress of the Swamp". Of course now I'm thinking it was someone from the Lousiana PPA we had previously attended, but closer inspection shows a Lake Jackson address.

Lake Jackson. Population 4001. Demographically speaking, that's 4000 blue collar workers and 1 misplaced Korean girl. I guess it's official. Suzy had won the Pimptress of the Swamp pageant held locally at the strip mall. Congrats!!!

And for wasting your time, I bring you a photo of my cat. Whom apparently feels it's a waste of time as well to make an effort of making eye contact with the camera.

- Jordan

LSPS Photo Shoot

2008-08-17T13:37:00.002-05:00

Local favorite "LSPS", formerly known as Lonestar Pornstar, is debuting their sophomore album end of August. Just like the first album, this one will be distributed worldwide as well. The new album took a different direction from their original sound. A bit more, attitude, metal, and rock.

The unmastered version of the album sounds awesome. I'm excited to check out the released version at the end of the month. This band is perhaps the most organized and structured that I've ever worked with. I believe this is all thanks to frontman Gregg Stegman. Weeks prior to the shoot, Greg worked with his band in creating the final image ranging from posing, wardrobe, make-up, budget and location. LSPS photo shoot was also sponsored by Juliet and Romeo Couture, providing the wardrobe and fashion styling.

The shoot was in an underground parking lot. Even without the heat of day, temperatures ran up to the stuffy high nineties. We shot five or six different sets which took about 5 mins max! But because of the wardrobe changes in between sets, it took a bit longer. Absolutely no complaints and I had great time.

I will also have to mention that the Radiopopper and wireless e-TTL played a massive role in the shoot. All I had to worry about was light placements. Thanks Kevin!

TriCoast and Rangefinder Magazine - A great new article...

2008-08-11T21:23:00.003-05:00

In the new August Issue of Rangefinder Magazine - Senior POWER - TriCoast has an article called "TriCoast Photos - Super Senior Success"

A couple months ago we were contacted by Alice Miller a great person and writer for Rangefinder and other magazines. We talked a lot via email and well after some time of joking around and laughing and of course talking about our Senior Business a great new article came out in Rangefinder this month.

You can find the entire article on the Rangefinder website or you can just CLICK HERE to download it

TriCoast would also like to thank our wonderful sponsors such as Collages.net and Denny's Mfg and Miller's Lab for without these guys supporting us, creating such amazing products and taking care of us when needed, well I really do not think we could be where we are without their support! So thank you to our fans, our clients, our viewers, our sponsors and even those who dislike us, we truly feel without each and every one of you all we simply could not see our dreams come true.

A Senior - A Mushroom - Some Fairy Dust.....Huh?

2008-07-31T01:55:00.005-05:00

Well today in the studio while shooting one of our AMAZING senior reps, (more coming from her session a little bit later) we all needed a little break so we decided to play with one of our amazing new props from Denny's. and things got a little crazy!!!

We added a new mushroom prop, some old green fake plants and some overhead lighting for a little spot light effect on Denny's Flextex background and flooring....

After a little Photoshop we ended up with Kirby the Fairy Princess sitting on her Mushroom Throne keeping a watchful eye over her peeps!

OK that was stupid to even type out, but hey so is the picture, but it sure was fun to capture and play around with in Photoshop!

Thanks Kirby for an amazing session today!

Photoshoot: Taylor in Super Secret Location

2008-07-30T19:04:00.005-05:00

Taylor had been itching to get together for a shoot again. So ,we shot these in a super secret location. Grass was tall and green. Plenty of shade for a natural light photo session. Downside is that it's outdoors and there were plenty of insects. And Houston summer heat to boot.

Also, check out her new tattoo!

I guess it's not really new...actually it's not real anyways. Here's the real one...

Not as cool as the other one :)

Couple more:

I guess I really should go mow the grass in my backyard...

Summer + Baseball + Senior = Fun Combo

2008-07-29T15:31:00.005-05:00

The first movie I think of when I hear the word "Baseball" is Major League. Not Field of Dreams, Bad News Bears, The Natural, or countless other movies. I'm kinda glad it was Mike and Suzy that that created these images because I don' think Aaron would have been able to handle all the movie references...

Aaron came into the studio with Jorden, one of our Senior Reps. I'll post images of Jorden a bit later :) They are both from Sweeney, which has really amazed us with quality of people out of that tiny little town. Needless to say, Aaron plays baseball for the Sweeney Bulldogs.

Here are a couple of samples.

- Jordan

Earthquake in San Diego

2008-07-29T14:11:00.002-05:00

Just read that there was an earthquake in San Diego. I hope all our friends, family and fellow photographers are OK out there.

CNN

NBC San Diego

edit - Just read it again. Apparently it's from LA to SD, and felt all the way in Las Vegas...

- Jordan

Beer - Bait - Ammo - & EVERYTHING in Between!!!

2008-07-27T13:30:00.013-05:00

Well Cody and I along with Suzy Roberts headed down to The GREAT TEXAS SKEETER FESTIVAL in Clute, Texas to enjoy a little food, fun, drinks and Texas Country Music. Needless to say Suzy was a little, how should I say this, ok SCARED being her first true and honest Texas Redneck event. I mean sure there are Redneck everywhere in the world but if you have ever experienced a Texans Redneck event its just something different about it.

And boy did She experience it....

So we started off having to get seriously the world best Lemonade I have ever had, and it better had been for $5 bucks a cup! The guy hand made it, meaning no machine to squeeze the juice, no machine to shake all the sugarary goodness together, only his hands, and for some reason he had this weird statue outside his stand that Suzy just had to get a photo with.

So thinking I was in heaven already with this amazing goodness of sugar delight in my mouth, I turned around and saw Steak on a Stick and knew yes knew Heaven awaited just a few steps away!

After some tasty goodness of steak and lemonade we had to show Suzy just what Texas is made of so of course that meant getting FREE Smokeless Tobacco just by signing some paperwork, Suzy was quite impressed to say the least - I mean just look at her free gifts, ain't the cancer causing tobacco companies nice in giving away such healthy treats!

Of course I failed to meantion the entire time we are doing all of this, Suzy is admiring all the trashy women walking around in to short skirts and other too tight clothing on women who should never be wearing that sort of thing.

"Picture Removed to spare the eyes of the viewer of this blog, TriCoast loves ya so we simply could not show it" :)

So onward we went, absorbing every ounce of what the Great Texas Skeeter Festival had to offer us Trio of photography artists. Onward and onward until we spotted this amazing sign that simply stopped us in our tracks:

Of course Suzy just had to try it, I mean come on as one young lady said in the line just in front of me, "They sell it right, it has to be gooooood for ya" (say it in your deepest Texas slang to get the full effect of that statement). So Suzy got one and I must admit it was GOOOOOOD GOOOOOOD GOOOOOOOD

I mean just look at my girl go, lovin' every ounce of that amazing treat that only the food Gods of the universe could give such amazing nectar to us Texans as this Mighty fine Festival!!

Suzy enjoying it so much she has the "Deer in the headlight look"

The final result of the Fried P&J

So now that we had our bellies full of Homemade $5 Lemonade, Steak on a Stick (sounds like Jeff Dunham don't it) and Fried P&J it was time to head over to the convert venue for a little Kevin Fowler, Texas Country Rock Star!

Of course there was Cody showing off his Straw trick abilities, actually I am not sure what in the heck Cody was doing but I had to take a picture of it right, I mean that is what we do for a living!

And then there is Cody with his new short hair and no chop look, making him look about 18 and the lead singer for either Panic of the Disco or better yet the heart throb Jonas Brothers (you let me know which one you think since Disney should be calling any day now)

FINALLY after all of this amazing Redneckness (is that a word) we got to enjoy the main reason we came - Kevin Fowler sponsored by Belgium Owned Budweiser Beer (figure that one out)and the best country radio station in Houston Texas KILT

(Professional Photographer Notice) All photos taken with our Canon S70 Point in Shoot since we wanted to enjoy the night and not just photograph it so roughly what I am trying to say these photos are horrible but fun none the less

A few shots from the most redneck show in Suzy's life

And for the final part of the pretty much meanenless blog entry (just my style ain't it) a video, captured with the S70 by Suzy Roberts of well Kevin Fowler, I hope you enjoy it and please let Suzy know what you think by leaving a message.

You Crushed my Cookies.... Say What?

2008-07-25T02:38:00.005-05:00

You know traveling all the time with work can get pretty old, downright crazy sometimes. Living from hotel to hotel never knowing where you are, always living out of your suitcase, well needless to say when I saw this video from TriCoast's good friend and truly one of the most talented videographer in the country, Josh from Cinematic Bride I just had to laugh.

Check out Josh being bored in the middle of the night I promise its worth the 5 or so minutes of your life!

Oh and also check out Josh's website for some AMAZING art, truly he is an artist in every sense of the word!

YOU CRUSHED MY COOKIES

Sexy Light Workshop - Lafayette, LA - Sept 7-9-2008

2008-07-25T02:22:00.007-05:00

JUST ANNOUCED LAST NIGHT at the Lafayette PPA Guild Meeting, TriCoast is proud to announce our 3 day hands on workshop at our great friend and artist Colin Burnum Photography Studio just 15 miles West of Lafayette, LA on I-10 (Exit #87)

Spots are already selling so if your interested in attending please CALL NOW to make sure you get a spot!

We truly hope to see you there and we promise it will be 3 full days of amazing learning, fun and well positive experience for everyone involved!

THIS IS THE LAST WORKSHOP ON THE BOOKS FOR 2008

From Guitar Hero to Rockband...

2008-07-20T23:40:00.003-05:00

This girl could seriously kick some butt! As well as playing a real guitar. Well, several guitars...

Maci was fun AND entertaining. I love it when people bring in their guitars and start playing. Truly talented girl. Especially the ones voted as class clown. I also heard she's offering guitar lessons as well... So those that are interested, leave a comment for her!

Senioritis...is that how you spell it???

2008-07-20T22:43:00.004-05:00

...but I think Cody has it. Below is a rare photo of Cody's senioritis days.

Well, not really...this was taken in a dark night club lit by a flashlight. We can get into some technical lighting data here but, a flashlight is a flashlight...

Speaking of SENIORS...

2008-07-20T22:29:00.004-05:00

TriCoast's Mike Fulton is now a year older. Yep. Not quite time for wheel chair yet, but getting close. On the subject of wheel chair, anyone ever seen that movie Bubba Ho-Tep? Cult hero Bruce Campbell in a wheel chair battling an Egyptian Mummy. Did I also mention Bruce Campbell's character is Elvis?

Anyways, celebrating Mike's birthday, we went down to The Continental Club just outside of downtown Houston. Ian Moore, Mike's old friend. They go back to around the time Rolling Stones got their senior photos done, was putting on a show. And sang Happy Birthday Marilyn Monroe style. Click for more.

You wouldn't have clicked if it weren't for that Marilyn Monroe bit. Admit it!

Here are a couple of photos from the show.

TriCoast Seniors 2008 & 2009

2008-07-20T20:54:00.004-05:00

Senior photography season has been good so far. I mean, how hard is it to chase down a couple of 65+ on wheel chair for a couple portraits? Right? Speaking of seniors on wheel chairs, ever watched Bubba Ho-Tep? Cult hero Bruce Campbell in a wheel chair battling an Egyptian Mummy.

How about the other seniors? The younger ones spending one last year in High School? Click below for more.

Right before the start of Summer, we photographed a few Seniors that we never blogged. Why? Just because... :)

So, lets start with Sarah. Very cool girl out of Angleton High School. Sarah also chases wild ducks. But we won't get into details on that.

Kim, another one of our super fun seniors. We're going to get her to carry our bags on a shoot one of these days :)

This is kind of a random bonus for those following the blog. And those hopefully soon to follow the blog, TriCoast will offer two 3x3" accordion books valued over $85, or a pack of Pokemon stickers valued just over $2, with qualifying new senior sessions. If it was my choice, I'd go for the accordion books. These things are cooler than wallets and your friends don't even have them. So tell, your friends, sisters, brothers, cousins, cousin twice removed, neighbors, the neighbors with the three legged dog that you've never met, about this limited time special offer.

So, recap.

1. Tell friends about blog.
2. Tell friends about the super duper special offer on the blog.
3. Tell friends to leave a comment on the blog and give us a call to book a session.
4. Enjoy your new 3x3 accordion album that no one else has. Or the pokemon stickers that no one wants...

Hey, if cell phone companies can have a friends and family plan, so can TriCoast.

- Jordan

So what's new?

2008-07-11T18:33:00.007-05:00

I admit, I've been slacking off on the blogging. Then again, who hasn't? :) I know, bad excuse.

So, what's new then? Well...

1. We are no longer using digital equipment. We all went back to shoot with film. Medium format Holga's to be exact. Implementing Fujinon lenses now. Polaroids are once again used instead of the LCD.

2. Mike had a high colonic. And he liked it.

3. Suzy has the runs. Welcome to Lake Jackson!

4. Cody is now bald and has several piercing through the nose, eyebrow and lips. He can no longer have soup.

5. Cindy is now bald and has several piercing through the nose, eyebrow and lips just like Cody. She can no longer have soup either.

6. Jordan is hospitalized for mistaking desiccant silica gels for Jelly Bellys. Doctors speculating brain damage.

7. Denny's Manufacturing has partnered with TriCoast, not knowing how insane we are. Sample images coming soon. The backgrounds rocked!

8. Some dude named James Karney wrote a book titled "The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow". And TriCoast is in it!!!

9. TriCoast will be speaking at Imaging 2009 on January 11. In 2009. At 7:30am. 7:30am. In Arizona. More details to come later.

10. Later that same day, TriCoast will be photographing dead people* utilizing wireless flash technology at EPIC. (Evidence Photographers International Council). The program will run from 11am to 7pm.

Pre-order your meal for the day.

Basic: 2 donuts, 16oz coffee
Essential: 2 donuts, 20oz coffee, and 1 kolache
Long day: 3 donuts, 20 oz coffee, 1 kolache, 1 breakfast taco
Hardcore: 3 donuts, 20oz coffee, 2 kolaches, 2 breakfast tacos and 1 bacon, cheese and egg burrito.

11. TriCoast is also looking for Senior Reps in your local senior home. I mean High School Senior Reps in your local high school...

12. Numbers 1 through 6 is not true. Not even a little.

13. More updates soon!

- Jordan

* Dead people meaning models pretending to be dead and splattered with a mixture of red dye #42 and karo syrup. What a gig...

July 4th and my girls

2008-07-04T23:18:00.006-05:00

Well July 4th for 2008 has come and gone but not before enjoying the evening in our little home town of Lake Jackson Texas with my 2 girls (daughter and niece) While sitting in the parking lot of Academy Sport Goods Store we watched the fireworks go off in the distance.

Well for six years my sister has sat in this parking lot and for six years she talked about how wonderful the spot is to few the fireworks. We all arrived about an hour before starting time, capturing sunset and a beautiful full rainbow across the fading sky. With the fireworks scheduled to start at 9pm everything was going to plan, then right at 9pm about the time everyone in the parking lot was getting excited about the show to start Academy in their all mighty wisdom decided to turn on the parking lot lights making a nice dark evening watching fireworks into a nice bright day. Approximately 10 mins after the lights turned on the show started and while the parking lot lights did take away from the event overall I had one heck of a good time enjoying the moment with my 2 girls, Dakota and Meghan!

I must admit I had the wrong set up for capturing fireworks, including my cable release was on the West Coast with Suzy capturing Weddings but all in all I got a few decent shots without the parking lot lights messing up the exposures.

I hope you enjoy these and either way I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July and a safe one no matter where you live in the world

Happy 4th of July USA

2008-07-04T15:59:00.003-05:00

On this day of relaxation spending time with your friends and family I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe July 4th from TriCoast Photography.

Enjoy today, tomorrow and the rest of your life - it goes by fast remember to take BIG BITES every step of the way!

And of course July 4th would not be complete without the Muppets!

TriCoast's 3 Day Intense Workshop in Houston!

2008-06-09T18:53:00.003-05:00

How intense? Well, click below to find out!

Yep, our very own Suzy, passed out cold on the table. Well, not really cold. Mainly from heatstroke and a full belly. The building we were in did not have AC turned so after shooting outdoors for several hours during the workshop, well, this happened. I'm sure the Margarita also had a part in it.

We had a very small personal class. Which is nice. More one on one time for everyone.

Today, we went downtown for a 2nd day of shooting. To reinforce and apply the knowledge learned from yesterday. And to make our model lay on some duck poop.

Of course, some of our models are over-achievers. If you take a closer look at the photo below, you'll see our very own, Cody Clinton, scaling the walls to strike a pose.

The studio space where the workshop is also available for rent. Click here to get more info.

Photodex and TriCoast - A New Educational Book!

2008-06-02T02:08:00.004-05:00

Well the cat is finally out of the bag! Another book which TriCoast assisted in creating just hit the book stores for sale.

The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow - Master the art of making great slide shows using ProShow Gold and ProShow Producer.

With the amazing features of ProShow, you can create polished multimedia productions that sizzle! Multimedia presentations are a growing part of every life, from the conference room to the living room and today's viewers want presentations that pop.

The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow is the solution. It serves as a comprehensive guide to ProShow for everyone from graphics professionals and photographers to educators and business professionals. You'll learn how to create multimedia productions that can be seen using everything from digital picture frames, iPods, and DVD players to HDTV and the World Wide Web. Perfect your presentation skills as you cover the basics of design, the fundamentals of ProShow production techniques, and advanced tools.

Click here for the table of Contents

Click here for a small except from the Book

Click here to purchase the book from Amazon.com

So there, TriCoast are now Authors (not bad since I can't spell to save my life) honestly we had very little to do with the content, James, the main author is amazing and really knows his stuff. So if you have been wondering about how to make AMAZING slideshows for your business, your family or just for you, check out this book I really think it will have something for you!!!

Project Graduation at Angelton High School

2008-06-01T18:39:00.008-05:00

Sometime last week, Mike and Suzy ventured into the backroom...(not what you think you pervs!) and dug up some old clothes. As you all know, Mike as a passion for pearl snap shirts. But lets see what else he has in his old closet :)

Amazingly, Mike's very own senior photo looks remarkably the same. Other than the glasses. Suzy, on the other hand, looks like she just graduated that morning with Angleton's HS Class of '08. I, unfortunately, was detained by the Angleton Police and Sheriff's dept because they had mistakened me for a vagrant entering the premises. Twice.

Project Graduation, for the non-Texans, is a school sponsored after graduation party. As long as I've know, most if not all Texas high schools put these on the day of graduation. The students are locked in the school overnight with full access to food, drinks, casino games, pool, swimming pool, big fat sumo suits, crazy velcro suits, obstacle courses, karaoke, henna tattoo artists, caricature artists, and us. With a huge box of dress up clothes.

Congratulations again to the Senior's of '08!!!

And lets see which High School is brave enough to let is in their doors next year :)

- Jordan

Brave

2008-05-28T15:14:00.005-05:00

If you've ever followed the blog, you may recall Eva's story and images from a short while back. Sometime last week, Eva was admitted into the hospital after seizures during lunch. After further arrangements, she was transferred to MD Anderson in Houston. Eva was surrounded by family and friends that came from all over to visit. The staff did their best to make her comfortable. Shortly after 9am on Memorial Day, Eva passed away. Our deepest condolences goes out to Eva's family.

*Update in comments.

Eva is an inspiration to all of us at TriCoast. She is witty, brave, strong and beautiful, even at the most dire of times. She fought through tough situations and kept smiling, if not smirking. At the hospital, she greeted visitors as much as she could. I know she tried to see everyone that stopped by.

I have debated with myself wether or not post this blog. I've had so many emails and comments previously about Eva's story, and how she gave them hope because of how strong and beautiful she is. I was afraid that news of Eva passing on would take that hope away. In the end, I believe Eva would have wanted her story to be told.

Eva, you will be missed, and we will never forget you. Thank you for being who you are.

- Jordan

This slideshow is put together by Mike.

Relay for Life at Cy-Fair

2008-04-29T09:42:00.008-05:00

Last Saturday, I had the honor to photograph an event called Relay for Life. The Relay is a fundraiser for the fight against cancer. My friend, Sheldon, also came out to help me cover the event.

Here is a quick slideshow preview. The rest of the images are hosted at Collages.net

Jetsetting again to Columbia, South Carolina!

2008-04-21T10:13:00.006-05:00

Off again, right after the Denver, we headed out IAH for another workshop in Columbia, SC. Of course, Continental decided that we were not going to make it on time. Good thing we flew out a day early :)

We sat waiting at the crowded terminal. Several other flights had already been delayed, and there were a mad rush of people rushing from one termina to another to make the connection. Of course these two were oblivious to what's going on around them. One of them is checking email. The other is playing Pack Rat on Facebook...

Of course, the thing that grabs their attention, is the announcement that the plane is that we were not boarding because there was a maintenance crew on board. Makes you wonder...

Of course, once onboard almost 2 hours later, the pilot announced his apologies. And added a nice little gem, that he tried to get a different plane but failed to switch over. But flight maintenance took care of the issue... Our seat belts were already securely fastened and cabin doors locked. No way out now...

We did land safely, so that's a good thing. Our awesome host Kim Bradford picked us up from the small municipal airport and drove us to the house. At over 120mph...

TriCoast's Denver Wireless Flash and Processing Workshop

2008-04-15T20:41:00.003-05:00

TriCoast joined the Mile High Club in Denver this week with the three day workshop. It's not what you think you pervs... We've been suffering "Altitute Sickness" since we landed on Sunday. But that's not going to stop us from having fun teaching this workshop. Especially with this great bunch of people. We're now at Day 3 and will be going over the way we work our images and what inspires us to do what we do.

The workshop is located a few minutes outside of downtown Denver. We are in a business community with some seriously amazing creative talents. World class architects, graphic design firms, commercial photographers, and a bunch of other fancy artsy stuff only Denver could provide. And a pretty sweet restaurant named Fuel.

Overcoming the harsh sun light so we can have some fun shots on top of the old taxi cab.

One of our models, Rebecca.

How the shot was done.

Suzy showing some love.

Suzy as our model. Looking at some awesome photographers playing with the Radiopopper.

Night time video light session.

Denver has seriously been fun. We met a lot of talented photographers and friends. Sadly, it is always too short. However, next week, we will be in South Carolina for another workshop! Hope to see you there!

- Jordan

Northern IL PPA - A Great Group of Photographers

2008-04-11T00:08:00.004-05:00

I was lucky enough to spend a Wednesday afternoon with Northern IL PPA group outside Chicago in Elgin, talking about Wireless Flash, Marketing, Radio Poppers and another photography related things.

Wednesday I spent the day a great group of photographers outside of Chicago. In the process of teaching/speaking on Wireless Flash and other aspects which make up TriCoast I found one important thing to still be true in this amazing art form we all call photography............Photographers are Amazing People!

Here are a few snapshots from the day!

Me speaking to Northern IL PPA Group

Some of the tools which TriCoast uses and speak about - including all of our "MacGyver" lighting tips and tricks.

Some of the photographers in the Northern IL PPA group!

Strange videos you find on YouTube...

2008-04-10T13:53:00.002-05:00

Browsing through YouTube on a rainy afternoon could be fun. Often times, turning up funny videos of people running into walls or Sandra Bullock's appearance with Kermit the frog.
But something I wasn't expecting turned up today.

Apparently Mike & Cody did a little hallway session while they were Rhode Island. So, for those that will be at the New Hampshire convention at the end of April, you've been warned.

And now, back to Sandra Bullock and the muppets...

- Jordan

A fighter and survivor

2008-04-09T00:01:00.015-05:00

About a year ago, Mike and Cody got together with Eva and her friends for their Senior photos. Her photo stuck out in my mind, not just because she's a beautiful young woman, but also a three time cancer survivor. I'm not a writer or a journalist, but I wanted to share the day I spent with her.

Eva 2007.

Eva today.

A few weeks ago, the local chapter of American Cancer Society Relay for Life, contacted me to document the upcoming event. It's an event for those that have cancer, know someone with cancer and those that lost someone to cancer. The Relay for Life events are overnight, starting at 7pm and runs to 7am. Different intervals of the night symbolizes phases of the fight against cancer. The organization offered a spot to display TriCoast photos at the event. I immediately thought of Eva.

At the age of 14, Eva Schmidt was diagnosed with Adrenocortical Carcinoma, a rare form of cancer which forms on the adrenal gland. The mass that was detected was so severe, the doctors scheduled for surgery the next day. At the time of surgery, the cancer has been growing for at least a year. The cancer attacks the adrenal glands. Adrenal glands has a list of duties such as controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Eva was one of twelve known cases out of millions of cancer patients. Several of the other cases were reported somewhere in South America. The day after the surgery, the swelling had gone away.

Prior to the diagnosis, Eva lived a happy, healthy lifestyle. She's an avid tennis player and led an athletic lifestyle and diet. Her family has had no prior history of cancer. But even with proper exercise and dieting, Eva was gaining weight around four pounds a week. Her stomach was swelling up, and her face was getting puffy. She grew more fatigue as the days go by, and eventually started to sleep the day away. The doctors ran tests but found nothing conclusive and gave her a clean bill of health. Then one day, while using the bathroom, Eva seized up and fell to the floor. She was unable to get up and crawled for help. This time, her parents took her to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.

I met Eva at Hastings, a bookstore/coffee shop, in Lake Jackson. It was a quiet setting, until later in the afternoon, when patrons came in to order their frozen blended cappuccino. (Essentially, Frappuccino, but that's Starbucks registered trademark). The original plan was to do a phone interview, but I did not find it safe to do so in rush hour traffic and rescheduled. Later on the same evening, Eva sent a text message to see if I wanted to some of her bald pictures. Cody had mentioned to me that Eva got a new tattoo on her head. I wanted to see it for myself. We had conversed briefly the day before but I did not know what to expect. She came strolling down out of the "Art" section of full of life and wearing a big smile, the kind that makes you wonder what she had been reading. Eva Schmidt reminded me of a local pageant queen that just got off her limited edition Captain America Harley Davidson. Her head was freshly shaven and her tattoo, bright and vibrant, was an indication of her spirit.

Since that first operation, the cancer has came back twice. She has gone through over 8 different kinds of chemotherapy. Some are clinical trials which required Eva to document every day of her life. At one point, she has also tried radiation and has the pin point tattoo to show where the laser entered her body. The cancer has spread to her lungs and now to her heart. The doctors are afraid to operate, for fear that it would advance the cancer. The doctor told Eva to love everyone that she loves, prescribed her methadone, and then cried. Any normal person would probably have broken down. Eva shrugged it off and continued to enjoy life. She tells me about skydiving and traveling. At one point, we joked about "The Bucket List", and how we could get a ticket to Italy, Greece and some other remote locales.

I know Eva, not as the you woman with cancer, but rather the adventurous young girl with big dreams and a kick ass attitude. As I'm writing this, I know she's going through another round of chemotherapy. I could imagine in a week or two, she'll either be jumping out of an airplane or sailing out in the gulf. Or speeding through the county lines :)

- Jordan

The Big Easy - was WONDERFUL

2008-04-08T08:38:00.003-05:00

Cody, Cindy and Mike drove over to New Orleans this past weekend to spend some time with a wonderful couple and their friends and family in the Big Easy of New Orleans. Starting in your classic Crawfish and Shrimp boil as only the Cajun's can do and ended up on Bourbon Street the entire event was a blast from start to finish.

Friday evening we drove on the other side of the Mississippi River to Deanna and Steven's family's house for some good ol' crawfish, shimp and of course BEER!

The following morning Cody and Cindy woke up early and went down to the 5th floor of our very nice French Quarter Hotel Room to begin capturing the ladies getting ready, while Mike got to sleep in late waiting for The Boys to begin.

Sorry no picture of me sleeping, but just think about how nice those amazing beds in the hotel room felt and me sleeping while Cody and Cindy were hard at work!!! Yeah if your smiling you understand where I was coming from Saturday Morning :)

So on to the Wedding Venue for a great little New Orleans Style place right on the Mississippi River. A short wedding by all accounts (maybe 5 minutes) but still beautiful and emotional every second of the way.

During the Reception we were able to steal away the clients for about 10 mins and capture some shots upstairs in a little dark red hallway which both Cody and I fell in love with!

Finally, after a full day of wedding fun we ended the day by heading down with the couple in our comfy clothes to Bourbon Street for some fun only which New Orleans can give you!

Look at the PURE REAL TERROR in the face of our wonderful groom. To get a kiss from his buddy on his wedding day I do not think was his idea!!!

All in all it was a GREAT weekend in The Big Easy and Deanna and Steven are JUST the clients TriCoast loves to not only capture the wedding day but become life long friends with in the process. I can't wait to go back and enjoy some more Crawfish and Beer!

Why shoot a wedding in Philadelphia right before Vegas?

2008-04-03T21:53:00.004-05:00

Right before WPPI, literally, the Saturday before the convention, Mike, Cody, Suzy, and Cindy flew up to Philadelphia for Deirdre and Dan's wedding. Why shoot a wedding in Philadelphia right before Vegas?

Read about it in the full post!

Mike and Cody have been excited for this one for quite some time and it turned out to be well worth the wait. Deirdre is the Director of Marketing and Product Development at Collages.net and has gotten to be close friends with the gang over the years that TriCoast has been speaking for Collages.net. The wedding ceremony was held at Old St. Joseph's Church - a small, beautifully lit church and the reception was held at the Union League - the building had tons of opportunities for fun images with all of the elegant and historic spaces. The weather was great so they got to take advantage of a Philadelphia spring day with tons of outdoor images on Broad Street. Mike and Cody reported that they had never seen a crowd that loved to dance as much as Deirdre and Dan's guests - a good time was had by all!

One of my favorite images from the wedding.

Deirdre & Dan

Congrats guys!

- Jordan

Road Trip to Florida and Back... CRAZY TIMES

2008-04-01T22:29:00.002-05:00

This week I went to Florida to pick up and move Suzy Roberts of Suzy Min Photography and Suzy Makes It Hot and of course her doggy Honey to Texas. After breaking down on the side of the road in Florida and a LONG trip back to Texas at 40 miles an hour on I-10 we arrived in one piece (BARELY)

So I started off in Lake Jackson Texas with our Chevy 3500 Diesel Crew Cab Truck and a borrowed Dolly Trailer on Tuesday evening at 9:00pm. 1025 miles roughly one way I drove on through the night napping in a rest stop in Mississippi.

After getting kicked out of the rest stop for, well resting, by the 90 year old security guard I got back on the wonderful road of I-10 (since your reading and can not hear my sarcasm I hate I-10). After 800 miles I stopped off for some fuel and I noticed a TON of clear-slightly red fluid all over the back end of my truck and the dolly trailer. After making phone calls to everyone I know who knows anything about mechanics, ok one person Cody of TriCoast, he informed me these Chevy models have a HUGE DEFECT in their Transfer Case that roughly goes like this:

The transfer case in crewcab will start leaking between 60,000 and 100,000 miles, due to a brass bushing inside that supports a shaft and if the bushing wears enough, the shaft can wear a pinhole in the back half of the case.

So here I am on the side of the road with a leaking Transfer Case which you HAVE to have fluid in to keep the vehicle on the road. So here I am knowing NOTHING about how to fix an engine, remember I am a nerdy photographer not a mechanic, on the side of I-75 adding fluid in the transfer case. To do this you have to climb under the truck, use an 18mm wrench WHICH I DID NOT HAVE, so after a quick trip to Sears to buy an 18mm wrench, and of course a Chevy dealership to buy the fluid, I am under the vehicle and adding fluid several times to just get to Tampa.

FINALLY in Tampa Suzy and I went to several Chevy Dealerships all with the same results: "Sorry we are too busy to look at your vehicle" So FINALLY after much searching we found one Chevy Dealership in Ebor which looked at the vehicle, gave me a quick checkup and found the 2mm hole in the backend of my Transfer Case. Of course not being able to repair the hole due to "official" reasons they marked it with a grease pencil and sent me on my way.

Getting to Suzy's apartment, after a trip to the auto parts store to buy engine cleaner, I once again climbed under the truck, sprayed it all down with cleaner and then applied JB Weld to the hole.

HOWEVER knowing we had another 1025 miles to go till we got back home I was very worried that just the JB Weld would hold up. So in order to give that little pump more to eat on until we got home I stuck a US Dime on top of the JB Weld then applied more JB Weld on top of the Dime until you could not see the Dime. This way giving that little pump a hard metal of the dime to eat through before it leaked again. After all of this work and days of research and searching I ended up with this

The black blob of stuff is the JB Weld "Fix" on the Transfer Case.

Finally loading up and leaving at 1:00am on Friday, Suzy, Honey and myself left Tampa Florida for good and hit I-75 North back to Texas.

Finding out quickly two things on the ride home:

1: The dolly trailer really was too light for this vehicle and well we ended up having to go only 45 miles an hour on I-75 and I-10 all the way home.

2: Many wonderful people let us know how they felt we were #1 in their minds since so many amazing travelers held up their fingers and honked their horns at us as we drove down the road Westbound.

So onward we traveled, looking like some SERIOUS TRASH in the process, stopping every rest stop or so to check the belts on the dolly trailer and tire pressure and of course letting Honey take a break from her big soft comfy air mattress in the back of the truck.

After about 12 hours of driving and the HIGH stress of trying not to die on the roadway, I was completely wiped out and pulled off to a rest stop in the middle of the day and climbed onto Honey's bed and took a nap with my sexy and cute little mask.

Notice Honey only moved over a little bit to give me room to pass out.

Finally back on the road and after almost dying (seriously) in Mobil, Alabama, we ended up day 1 of traveling, in Biloxi Mississippi at some crappy motel but they did allow Honey to come into the room with us. After an order of Domino's Pizza and some Cinnamon Sticks we all went to bed completely worn out.

Sleeping in as late as we possibly could we all hit the road again Westbound on I-10 around 12noon. Ending the second full day of driving at our good friends house in Layette, Louisiana Colin Burnum house.

After hanging out with Colin's wife Leslie and their amazing 3 daughters playing in the water on the sidewalk in front of their house

Leslie cooked Suzy and I some amazing Crawfish Etoufee, and as a great surprise, Colin after shooting a local wedding, brought home some cooked mudbugs all which were OUT OF THIS WORLD.

So having a full belly, a few drinks, good conversation with Colin, Jay (another amazing photographer) and Leslie we all went to bed for a great night sleep.

Hitting the road around 11:00am we headed towards the Great State of Texas and home, which we finally arrived around 7:00pm (normally a 3-4 hour drive) all tired, worn out and sheer happy to be there alive and in one piece.

So there you have it, our wild and crazy road trip from Florida to Texas. Almost dying a few times, taking WAY longer than ever expected but home safe and sound.

Champagne Shootout and FlashPalette

2008-03-28T12:29:00.002-05:00

If anyone has a photo rocking out in the T-Shirts thrown out during the Champagne Shootout, check out our sponsor's page at FlashPalette to see if you could win a free T-Shirt.

Or post it the comments :D

- Jordan

Rememberin' Las Vegas

2008-03-26T12:02:00.006-05:00

On the last day of Vegas, we headed out to Red Rock Canyon from with the good folks at Don't Box Us In. We had a lot of fun and met a lot of great photographers. It was nice to get together with everyone and shared knowledge.

Few more photos and a new video from Still Motion after the click!

Suzy hiding out in the luggage compartment of the bus that brought everyone to Red Rock.

Michael's rig from Still Motion. Pretty crazy setup...

Jason Domingues

Hungry model. I thought we weren't suppose to feed them???

Parking lot fun.

Here's the video that he crew from Still Motion put together. Pretty cool stuff. More info in their blog.

Leavin' Las Vegas Shootout from Patrick Moreau on Vimeo.

Couple of friends we met in Red Rock:
Jason Groupp
Still Motion
Suzy Makes it Hot
David Beckstead
delSol Photography
Mark Eric
Jason Domingues
Jason Cohen
Kevin King
Dave Cross
John Michael Cooper
Amorphia Photography

I probably left some people out and I apologize for that. Let me know if I did and I'll update it.

- Jordan

Las Vegas, WPPI 2008

2008-03-24T21:00:00.001-05:00

Vegas was exhilarating. Definetly an experience never to be forgotten. Things are finally calming down now. Jet lag is finally seeping away after multiple hot showers in attempts to stay awake. Well, couple shots of expresso definetly helps.

So, while I'm living the cliché by sipping the all new and experimental Honey Latte at the local Starbucks, I figured I'd share some afterthought and images from the week.

The hotel we stayed in was Bally's. I thought it was a rather nice hotel. I'm more accustomed to the Motel 6 and Best Westerns, so this was definetly a step up for me.

More after the jump.

I roomed with Kevin King, out of Arizona. He pretty much bailed me out because at the time, I still did not have a room as I boarded the plane leaving out of Houston. Of course, he worked all day and night on his little project called "Radiopopper". It's not like these little things are going to revolutionized the future of wireless flash photography or anything like that.

On top of that, he had all these little doo-dads laying around. All I could think of was the cool little arc of static electricty hurtling through the air as I reach towards them. Of course he frowned on that idea.

Ed Pingol, one of my favorite photographers to watch, was running around the convention floor with his cellphone held together by rubber bands.

Now, I'm not a rubber band kinda guy, but rather duct tape or gaffer tape. And I don't leave home without it. I know Ed wants to be cool like us at TriCoast. So I hooked him up with a piece of tape. No more worries about losing that battery Ed. And Your Welcome!

Always hardworking, well, hardly working, Ted from Millers. Ted has always took care of at TriCoast. He was even back behind the curtains with me at the Champagne Shootout cracking the whip and making sure I get the images processed in a timely manner.

While at the Miller's booth, Lori Gragg, a friend and photographer out of Georgia, was going over her segment on re-touching images. I found it interesting, but wish I had the time to watch the whole presentation. I grabbed a quick shot of her doing her thing. Hopefully one day, she could make me look presentable in a photos :D

"OMG, IT'S TIMCO!" and Kori Burkhead Two very fun individual. :)

Over at the WHCC booth, Kevin Jairaj was just getting setup for his presentation. KJ, our neighbour out of Dallas, has an image that graced the cover of the WPPI '08 Show Guide. Very cool photo.

Later on at the WHCC booth, THE JEN HILLENGIA, shows off her photoshop skill. Her assistant Joy is playing security, making sure no one rushes up for an autograph during the presentation.

Our good friend and awesome photographer, Kevin Jordan chillin' at the Larson booth. Kevin bailed us out at the Champagne Shootout. He came out and helped us with the studio lighting portion of the shoot. Anytime I think studio lighting, this is the man I think of.

Calm before the storm. Mike and Cody hanging out with Tom Bagby before taking the stage. If you look in the background, you can see Megan from Collages "Vogue-ing" out for us.

I'm not the center stage kinda person. When this crowd mobbed the booth, I had to get out.

If you don't know us, this is who we are. We don't wear fancy suits and ties. We don't even wear shoes most of the time. We're not rockstars. Just photographers. Enjoying life. If we ever get that way, let us know. And we'll change Mike's wardrobe.

While the guys were going over their presentation, Kevin was stirring up a commotion on the sideline with the Radiopopper. Photoshop guru, Dave Cross (on the right), also came by to check out these toys.

Tom & Company speaking at the Millers booth. They have some seriously cool marketing ideas for senior photography. The ones I managed to stay to listen in on, I will definetly use. I might have to fly out to their next speaking engagement to catch the rest of it.

Forget what I said earlier. Mike is such a rockstar...

Mike rocking out at Collages.

The girls of Collages.net They are awesome!

Just can't get enough of them...

Enough with the convention photos. Lets head outside where Ed is waiting for us. See spot. See spot wave. Yep, that's Ed.

Of course the obligatory photo of you taking a picture of me taking a picture of you...

On down to the little alleyway where we met up with Matt and Sol from Flash Flavor/del Sol Photography, Ed from Ed Pingol Photography, Amina, Patrick and Michael from Still Motion and of course, Kevin from Radiopopper/Kevin King Photography.

It's interesting watching Sol work. She just slides off quietly and no one notices her. While the group was off trying to figure out a game plan to use the RP units, she's already set her sights on the action.

Testing out the Radiopopper in the field. We had asked for permission earlier if we could get a couple shots of the employees spending their break time. The restaurant manager and employees were kind enough to let use them as guinea pigs. I love how Amina and Patrick get right into the middle of the action.

About 15mins before the restaurant opened for business, the manager offered for us to shoot inside. I don't recall any hesitation from any of us in taking up that offer.

Poster child for the Radiopopper.

Couple of random shots inside the restaurant.

Aside from being a ridiculously good photographer and inventor, Kevin is also does the best "I'm a little teapot" song and dance. He's currently looking for a spot on the Vegas dance floors.

So busted!

After the demo, these guys were ready to sit back and relax. I don't blame them. Long day of playing with new toys wears you out.

I decided that these guys were way too serious for me. Their restless minds were planning on taking over the worlds rubber ducky production. I lost interest when they included a hostile Peep takeover.

After leaving the brainstorming section, I met up with Mike, Cody, their parents, their friends, Suzy, Cindy, and a couple other dancers from the laughing ballerina troupe for dinner. Good times, good times...

- Jordan

Dave Cross and TriCoast - "Cross" Paths in Vegas...

2008-03-24T18:12:00.004-05:00

Dave Cross, you know Photoshop Guru of all types of helpful books and such! You know leader of the industry, Adobe loves him, Photographers love him and well all around super guy!!!!

Well TriCoast had the pleasure of meeting Dave at WPPI in Vegas this past week and then got to go on a shootout with him in the Desert the day after WPPI. Needless to say we had a GREAT TIME with him and other amazing people of this wonderful art form!

Read more about Dave's outing with all of us on his blog

Radiopopper @ Leavin Las Vegas

2008-03-23T23:19:00.004-05:00

Our new and super talented friends from Still Motion out of Canada put together a promo video for Radiopopper. Guess who guest stars in the video?

Here's a link to the blog with the super cool video. Link to blog with super cool video.

If you have trouble spotting us, use the image below as a hint.

Suzy of Suzy Makes it Hot.

Again, big thanks to John Edgar, Amina, Patrick and Michael for not editing us out of the video. Seriously, because everyone else did...

- Jordan

Champagne Shootout...

2008-03-18T14:41:00.002-05:00

...was AWESOME!!!

It was pretty intimidating. At least for me. Both Mike and Cody performed flawlessly as expected. Just being themselves. Big thanks to Millers for putting us up there. FlashPalette came through for us and supplied T-Shirts to toss out to the frenzied crowds which was cool.

We also had a guest appearance from Ross of Flowsites and Kevin of Radiopopper with some rather surprising gifts.

Here are a couple of images from the shootout.

Radiopopper at WPPI 2008

2008-03-17T20:08:00.003-05:00

Throughout most of the day, I hung out at the Collages and Millers booth. Catching up with folks I haven't seen in a while and at the same time meeting new ones. Meanwhile, back in the super secret location, aka hotel room on the 11th floor of Ballys, Kevin is busy getting some demo units put together for some lucky folks. I don't know who they are but I better be one of them... :)

Anyways, couple shots of Kevin while Mike and Cody are resting up for tonight's Champagne Shootout.

Radiopoppers are in production! Kevin is typing up the instruction manual for the units.

- Jordan

Leavin Las Vegas

2008-03-16T11:29:00.003-05:00

Thursday after WPPI, we will be heading out with the guys from Trash the Dress and Don't Box Us In for some fun and shoot out in the desert with 40 other photographers. When you get that many photographers together, there's no telling what kind of trouble we'll get into.

To our loved ones: Keep your phones close by, because we'll need you to bail us out.

WPPI 2008, Las Vegas

2008-03-16T11:10:00.002-05:00

We're on our way to Vegas! Who's going to be there? After the Champagne Shootout, we'll be at Miller's or Collages booth. Come up and say Hi if you see us :)

Finding Color Workshop, San Diego

2008-02-27T13:47:00.004-06:00

What a fun 3 days it's been in San Diego. I'm exhausted and waiting for my flight right now. Only 2 more hours... Our host Melissa of Just Hatched Photography and her husband Ed took great care of us and it would not have been possible without their help.

The students were awesome! Seriously a fun crowd and eager to learn and ALWAYS pushing me harder to stay ahead of them.

Also, big thanks to Kevin King of Radiopopper for taking time out of his busy schedule and driving out to San Diego to show us the new toy.

Kevin had asked me if I could do a product shoot for him while he was there. Of course I was more than happy to. But since this was the last day of the SD Workshop, I figured how cool would it be if I turned that honor over to the students.

The image below was shot by James Hays, utilizing e-TTL technology. Basically a 3 light setup. Daniel is holding one light with no diffuser aimed at Kevin. 2nd 580ex was zoomed to 105mm to spot the Radiopopper. 3rd light is the lunchtime sun giving us a backlight

Basically a 3 light setup. Kevin is holding one light with a stofen diffuser aimed at his feet. 2nd 580ex was zoomed to 105mm to spot the Radiopopper. 3rd light is the lunchtime sun giving us a backlight.

Here's a link to our Flickr Radiopopper subset.

Radio Popper and TriCoast - We Will Have One....

2008-02-26T14:11:00.004-06:00

Come check us out speaking and teaching in the coming months at these locations and see the Radio Popper BEFORE THEY GO ON SALE TO THE PUBLIC

March 2nd - Rhode Island PPA - Main Speaker
March 8-12 - Northern Lights Convention at Sioux Falls and Rapid City South Dakota - Main Speaker
March 17th - Champange Shootout at WPPI - YEAH BABY!!!

April 9th at Northern IL PPA
April 14-16 - Finding Color Wireless Flash (Radio Popper) eTTL / iTTL Workshop - Denver CO
April 21-23 - Finding Color Wireless Flash (Radio Popper) eTTL / iTTL Workshop - Columbia, SC
April 29th - New Hampshire PPA - Main Speaker

Again Come out and see us speak or come to one of our workshops (a few spots still open) and see these new AMAZING tools in person and actually shoot them with YOUR camera gear!

More Information Check Out These Links:

Workshops - www.TriCoastWorkshops.com
Rhode Island PPA - http://www.ppari.com/convention.htm
Northern Lights Convention in South Dakota - http://www.sdppa.org/
New Hampshire PPA - http://www.nhppa.com/Conference2008/NHPPA_Conference_2008.pdf

RadioPoppers at TriCoast Workshop

2008-02-25T12:37:00.007-06:00

Kevin King finally came out of the closet an unveiled the much anticipated Radio Poppers. These little devices are simply amazing and give us the freedom, range and flexibility that other wireless devices offer, and still able to transmit e-TTL or i-TTL signal from the master to the wireless flash.

Previously with the IR system that Canon and Nikon use has been severely limited by line of sight and operational distance. But the advantage is the ability to retain e-TTL or i-TTL functionality as well as High Speed Sync. Pocket Wizards and 3rd party radio transmitters will only trigger the flash. No TTL communication goes between the two. Without TTL, you're limited to the camera's sync speed which would be anywhere from 1/160th to 1/250th of a sec. In a harsh daylight, you will have to shoot anywhere from f8 all the way down to f22 to maintain the 1/250.

This is where radio poppers comes in. With TTL radio transmission, I can fire the flash from across the hall, around corners, harsh daylights, and 1/8000th aft high speed sync at f2.8. So, all the limitations that I've encountered in the past are gone.

The devices itself are smaller than the pocket wizard. The Radiopopper also has a very simple two button interface indicating power and link. The transmitter antenna is about an inch and half long. The receiver antenna is about the same but this one has a fiber optic caber which transmits the TTL directly into the flash.

Here's Kevin appearing out of the bathroom.

I think this would have been cooler if we had stuck the radiopopper in the toilet instead of the shower.

The radiopoppers are here!

THE MAN himself, Kevin King.

One of the first images using wireless e-TTL via Radio Popper.

Playing on the roof. Shooting into the sun using the radio popper technology.

Bagel, Starbucks, Canon ST-E2 and Radio Popper...

In the past I've had problems triggering the wireless flash via IR that's in the sun. So, pocket wizard or other non-ttl alternative would be used. The problem is that it's completely manual. With the RP, I set the the camera to manual, metered the sky and waited for the plane to fly by.

radiopopper.com
tricoastphoto.com
tricoastworkshops.com
Check out our blog for where TriCoast and Radio Poppers will be. TriCoast will have a pair while on our 12 state tour over the next few months. Come by and lets us show you these amazing new tools for outdoor portrait, wireless flash!!!

Met some new friends...

2008-02-19T22:27:00.002-06:00

Mike met up with Joy and Garret Nudd of Garrett Nudd Photography while vacationing in Orlando at the ProPs convention. Joy and Garret were invited to Orlando to speak about wedding photography. Looks like the attendees also got to see how they work together as well in a live shoot :)

Here's a photo of Garret, Joy, Mike and Suzy.

Weddings in Houston

2008-02-14T12:21:00.002-06:00

Mike Fulton recently appeared in an interview along with several other Houston area photographers within the latest edition of Weddings in Houston. Mike and others touched on the subject of client meetings, styels, and album selections.

Read more about it here.

TriCoast's Wedding in Houston page.

- Jordan

Thirst Relief - A GREAT CAUSE

2008-02-12T11:57:00.001-06:00

TriCoast has been honored with being one of many amazing mentors benefiting Thirst Relief.

Our "Auction" end TONIGHT so make sure you check it out and bid on us or one of many other mentors to get 90 mins one-on-one time with your artist of choice.

Check out this link for more information on Thirst Relief: http://www.thirstrelief.org/

Or check out this link to BID on TRICOAST: http://www.fotoverite.org/auction2/auction_details.php?name=Tricoast-Photography&auction_id=218

Finding Colors Workshop in Dallas

2008-02-03T14:22:00.000-06:00

TriCoast headed up to Dallas for a one day workshop involving, workflow, photoshop, bridge, lightroom, and pickled quail eggs. Our host, Scott Watters was also there to clean up and guard the pickled eggs.

Our day started out around 7:30am. We've just eaten our complimentary continental breatkast at the West End Hotel. Now, the best treat for a full stomach of a complimentary continental breakfast at the West End Hotel, is of course a nice mixture of bleach and hot water...complimentary of Scott Watters.

Our initial attempt at setting up the projector. Of course there were complaints about the display being backwards, but we gave the attendants 3-D glasses, so they were ok with it.

9am rolls around and the zombies rolled in. Cody offers coffee service. Multiple times, in case anyone misses it. And it was damm fine coffee at that. Scott however, sat in a corner and hung on to his de-caf, Macbook and Tiff files.

So, now everyone has had their coffee, with exellent service from Cody. Class begins. Of course, with a wi-fi equipped studio, there will be some slackers. Usually sitting at the back of the class. In the corners. Especially the right corner.

During the afternoon break, Cody gave away one of my favorite camera straps. Here is Cody demonstrating the use of the Black Rapid strap from concealment to taking the shot.

Here's a video shot by Larry McCormick, demonstrating how to shoot, release and relocate. For the faint of heart, please do not watch. Expensive camera equipment being tossed around like a football on Superbowl.

In case you were wondering, that is a Canon 5D with a Canon 70-200 IS L lens attached. And no this is not rehearsed. And hopefully the insurance folks aren't monitoring this...

So, a free strap giveaway. What's the catch? How do we determine who gets one of these Black Rapid straps? If you were paying attention earlier, you'll know what this is.

The strap, my personal Black Rapid strap, will go to the person that could eat the most eggs.

Our buddy Ramblin' Ray ate 5 of these suckers to win the strap. I think we should have raised the egg count...

Congrat's Ray! I'll autograph it for you the next time I see you.

And here's Mike making one more final offer to the class.

Well, thats pretty much it. Special thanks to Rene Kent for the tables and chairs. (FYI, Rene has the funky accent thingy over the last "e" but I haven't figured out how to do that on the keyboard yet) Also thanks to Scott Watters, Greg Daniels and Jeff Medlin for the studio space. Although not advertised, the studio is for rent so give them a call or send them an email if interested.

Warmest Wedding Ever!

2008-01-23T00:15:00.000-06:00

Although set in the coldest part of the US at the coldest part of the year, this wedding is truly one of the most heart warming event we've ever been a part of.
This goes to show you just what big miracles could happen through organ donation.

Here's a news coverage of the event.

A second segment which ran on the following day.

Raw footage if you're interested. Link.

Here are a few out of our cameras :)

To Samantha...Thank you...ALWAYS.

2008-01-20T22:18:00.000-06:00

Our first wedding of the year is perhaps the most emotional wedding we have ever been a part of. Through the miracle of organ donor program, Lindsey walked down the aisle with her father in one arm, her donor's father in the other and some tissue in her hand. While Lindsey and her parent stood at the altar, they took some time to thank the one person that made this day possible and the one person that could not be there for that special day. Samantha.

The last frame of the slideshow reads:

To Samantha,
Because of you, I live on,
Because of choosing life,
YOU will live on.
Forever... in me.
Thank you ALWAYS.

Organizations such as Life Gift allows for second chances. Contact your local organ donor organization to see what you could do. Because the next person you save, could be someone in your family.

Few links:
http://lifegift.org
http://www.organdonor.gov/
http://www.organdonor.org/
http://www.lifepassiton.org/
http://www.livingorgandonor.org/
More here...

The Gift of Life

2008-01-18T20:43:00.000-06:00

Well, about this time, Mike and Cody should be freezing their butts off. But for a good reason. This weekend is the long awaited wedding featured on the Tyra Banks show. Lindsey, a recipent of the organ donor program, is going to walk down the aisle, not only with her parents, but her donor parents as well.

Take a look at this video for the amazing story.

I'll post some images as the become available.

- Jordan

Captivated by The Light

2008-01-15T16:03:00.000-06:00

Ed Pierce is bringing a 4 hour seminar through Houston and several other cities all over the US. Mike Fulton recorded the TriCoast workflow with Ed earlier in the year as part of the PhotoVision DVD set. Mike is also sharing the spotlight with Ed Pierce, Sandy Puc, Parker Pfister, Vicki & Jed Taufer, Jeff & Julia Woods, Brian & Janine Killian, Rod Evans, and Janice Wendt on the DVD.

Check out the link to see if Captivated by The Light will be coming to your city.

Wedding in Hawaii

2008-01-14T23:18:00.000-06:00

Beautiful wedding set in the most beautiful location. Hawaii. Timing couldn't be any better, because the small ceremony ended just in time for the sunset. Here are a couple from that day.

Imaging USA 2008 - Done and over with...

2008-01-14T01:44:00.000-06:00

But not forgotten :D Eventhough ImagingUSA 2008 has been over by a couple days, the experience is still overwhelming. Lots of new friends, lots of old friends, tons of products, and even more shenanigans.

Here's a video of our friends from Miller's Professional Imaging, from the ImagingUSA blog.
Link.

Video interview with Collages.net

Some fun captured by the Collages folks at their party. Couple more here.

Burning in the New Year!

2008-01-13T17:00:00.000-06:00

What is it that will dictate a good New Year celebration?

A. Adult beverages
B. Good friends
C. Good ole Texas Barbeque
D. A fire fueled by a mixture of gasoline and diesel, ignited by a flare gun.
E. All of the above.

Check out the stupid fun caught on video.

TriCoast. Not only can we do the chicken dance better than you do, we'll light your fire...

Anyone out there?

2008-01-11T11:32:00.000-06:00

Just wondering. Leave a comment if you are :)

I was informed at Imaging USA that some of the readers were dissappointed that there is not a way to subscribe to the blog. Well, I dug around the blogger and found the RSS link which has been broken for some time now. So, if you're still interested in subscribing, here's the RSS link!

http://www.tricoastphoto.com/blog/atom.xml

- Jordan

Collages Ad - The Actual Ad...

2008-01-10T22:41:00.000-06:00

Just got an online version of it :) What do you think?

- Jordan

Hello...

2008-01-10T13:18:00.000-06:00

...I'm Johnny Cash.

- Cody

Auctioned Off!!!

2008-01-09T00:21:00.000-06:00

Mike Fulton of TriCoast was recently auctioned off for charity for the Digital Wedding Forum. One of the winning bids came from our friend from across the big pond, Nikki McLeod. Little did she know, she got Cody Clinton and me as well. So, after about 45 mins of inquisition regarding bagpipes, kilts, and Ole Nessy, Nikki got her 15 mins worth of mentoring session. Cody even let Nikki take explicit photos of him as well.

There were also four 30min mentoring sessions earlier in the week that went on as well. But we weren't bribed to talk about it.

Imaging USA 2008 - Day 3 - Kodak's Photographer of the Year to Watch 2008

2008-01-09T00:03:00.000-06:00

Mike and Cody were honored as Kodak's Photographer of the Year to Watch for 2008. They had a 30 min presentation prepared for the crowd. Photo courtesy of Tim from Tim Co!

Imaging USA 2008 - Day 2

2008-01-08T12:10:00.000-06:00

Mike and Cody took the stage again on the Miller's booth. Drawing a larger crowd than the previous day.

Wandering around after the show, I found Suzyand Meghan from Collages.net

I swung back by later in the day at the Miller's booth and caught Jackie Haggerty going through her presentation.

Imaging USA 2008 - Day 1

2008-01-07T02:47:00.000-06:00

We started off the day with a speaking engagement at the Miller's booth. We drew in a nice crowd despite a minor audio setback on the presentation. The next presentation will be Monday the 7th at 12:30pm also. If you missed it the first time, come by and have a seat :)

After that, we headed over to hang out at the collages.net booth.

If you haven't stopped by to say Hello! Come on by :)

Collages full page Ad

2008-01-05T23:47:00.000-06:00

Collages launched a full page ad in the Professional Photographer Jan 2008 magazine. If anyone sees a copy at Imaging USA, flip over to page 67 and let us know what you think. Big thanks to Tracy Hicks Photography for coming through in a pinch for us.

Also, if you see a copy of the ad on another magazine, please leave a comment :)