MudEyes

And so we begin the long journey to Boston, Long Island, NYC, Dallas, back to NY and then the long drive back! It was a very eventful trip so lets start in Boston. We had a 14 hour drive and how else would we entertain ourselves?

We cut through Cana-duh to Buffalo through the land of hockey sticks. So after all the Canadian craziness we decided to rest in Niagara Falls… the town… Sorry no interesting pictures here… just this

When we finally arrived in Boston after a long day of driving, we decided to show how good we looked.

Holly just couldn’t commit so I had to pick up the slack:

That’s so hot.

MAN it’s been a long time since I have wrote anything on here! Never knew how much that long trip would take out of us and how long it would take to get back into the swing of things!

We may have been a little too ambitious to take on all the things we did but hopefully it will all pay off.

We had to pull a lot of favors the last month and I wanted to dedicate a whole post to thank all those people that really saved us this month. We couldn’t have made any of this possible without you guys!

As you might know the Radisson people were putting on a Bridal show for their preferred vendors and we were really upset when they asked us to do it because we had the New York wedding on the same day! Part of having a FREE booth was photographing the event in exchange so I worked it out to hire out someone so that we could set up our booth and be on the preferred vendor list for the year. Diana from Moxie Photography came to mind right away, and thankfully she was willing to come out and shoot the event. She got some great shots and I want to say thank you so much for coming out and doing a great job!!

Just to have the booth ready in time turned out to be a huge undertaking which required a lot of help. Thank you to my good buddy steve who is always willing to help!

He designed and built the main wall out of two sheets of plywood and some 2×4 bracing it looked awesome!

A HUGE thanks to Dave and Lacey who did a ton of work including setting up, painting the wall, staying up till 4am the night before to make a slideshow we forgot to do, and a bunch more you guys are amazing!

Helping them out with a lot of the same stuff was our super friends Andy and Nicole Foster! Unfortunately Nicole got a bad migraine so she didn’t get to help at the actual show but she was still a huge help. And another help to andy for helping Dave bring the couch back home to our apt.!! Thanks sooo much guys, and thanks for being our fans =)

The booth really looked amazing! You guys did such a good job.

And thank you to Justin who let Dave and Andy use his truck to get the couch back! Also for fixing up my civic while we were gone!!

The team Minus Nicole … represent!

Holly and I stopped in Boston to see a Red Sox game in Fenway because I have never been in my whole life and I have been a fan ever since my late step-dad was around when I was a kid. He grew up in Boston and had quite a zeal for the BoSox!

Anyway, our seats ended up being obstructed view seats behind a pole covering up the plate even though they are supposed to tell you that before you buy them. This was our view poking my head around the pole:

I’m not going to lie I was a little disappointed… I don’t really like to complain but Holly insisted she would complain about this “injustice” for me =) The people at Fenway were very nice to her when she told them it was my first time and our situation and they moved us behind the plate midway up! Great seats!!!

So thank you Holly for making sure my first trip to Fenway was an Amazing one!

Now on to New York!

The only reason we even got this wedding was because Megan hooked us up with this couple who has been one of our all time favorite couples! We can’t thank you enough Megan!!!

Thank you Orest and Morriah, you have been up there with the nicest and most accommodating couples we’ve had and I wanted to thank you for everything we love your families and you guys are going to be so happy together!! They definitely got “the love”!

We wanted to hang around NYC for a while since we were there, and without doing as much research as I guess I should have, I booked a Howard Johnson in Newark for a cheap rate and I am sure you heard about the whole bed bug fiasco! We called up my YWAM buddy Emily and she was more then accommodating! Thanks sooo much Em for letting us stay like 3 nights at your house!!

Thanks also goes out to Ben for letting us come play at the abandoned building he knew about! It was a blast!

For the last leg of our trip we were off to Dallas.

As always Don and Karen insisted we stay with them for our stay. They are so much fun and we always have so much fun there! Thanks so much guys!! This was actually the first time I visited them and had just getting my first camera we did some family shots. Cole and Austin are sooo much bigger now =)

Last but not least is the Niederhausers. They took us out to Uncle Julio’s and then we went out for a photo adventure with Cheryl and her daughter Heather. It was great fun.

We are so thankful of all the great people that we know that are willing to help. We seriously couldn’t do it without you! Much love!!

BIG news on the business front!

When Holly and I met she was looking for someone to teach her more about photography and trying to find out if she should go to school again for that instead of sticking with graphic design which is what she graduated with.

At this time, I was looking for someone to design me a logo and website. That’s the premiss of how we met essentially for those of you who didn’t know. So she was looking for a photographer to show her the ropes…We technically have to say we met on-line… Which is kind of embarrassing for us =) She always makes me tell the story when people ask because I can tell it in a way that doesn’t spotlight that fact but doesn’t lie about how we met either!

My point is that at first Holly was with me shooting weddings because I could use a hand being pretty inexperienced, and because she wanted some more practice. We quickly became a great team and have actually been together since my first paying wedding!

So the whole point of this story is that Holly has been more in the background where I got most of the credit for her amazing editing, and a lot of her shots that no-one knew were hers! You can’t say we are just Ryan Richard Photography anymore. It’s not just me, it’s us! She has improved by leaps and bounds and there is no way I could produce what I promise without her. So to celebrate and recognize the goodness she brings to the table, we are now GAUPERPHOTO!

What do ya think? I struggled for a while about changing it to my last name because no one can seem to say it right! If you actually look at it and sound it out, it’s not that hard. Gaw-per. Not Galper, Glopper, Grooper,Goopie,Golper,Gumper,groper or Galapanokis.

GAUPER … I have gone through a lot of frustration, but I am putting my trust into mankind one more so please don’t let me down! Even with Ryan Richard people would always call me Richard for some reason, or say Ryan Richards…So I am counting on you guys to get it right… got it? =)

So anyway, we have a bridal show coming up where we are the only photography vendors. The Radisson is putting on a non-traditional show that is going to be really great! Unfortunately, we have a wedding in Long Island the same day. I have been super pumped to do that wedding but we are bummed to not be able to do the show but we figured a big NY wedding and a big bridal show would be the perfect time to unveil a new logo and name!

Part of the deal of having a free booth and being a preferred vendor all year for the fanciest hotel in town was that I had to shoot the bridal show. Since I obviously couldn’t I asked if I could hire someone out to do that so I could still have the booth. I had someone great in mind and they accepted! My favorite new wedding photographer is Diana Vermeulen of Moxie Photography. I have been referring people to her left and right because she does great work for the price so if we are booked on your date or are a little out of our range, be sure to look her up!

Since we are getting an all new identity, we needed a few fresh new images of us to display at the Bridal show we will be doing a full session soon, with another one of my new favorite photographers we have been hanging out with, Melissa Gregersen

But since we didn’t have time to do a full session we went out for a few shots with my brother in law Dave who we are thinking about hiring on as an intern this summer.

He graduated from Western with a marketing degree and we think he has a lot of potential not only on the business side but possibly behind the camera with some practice! These are a few shots he took for us. Thanks Dave!

Pretty nice for his first time wielding a nice camera right?

We wanted to do a giant overhaul with a new website and blog but that just wasn’t going to happen by the NY trip and we really wanted to do it for the show and the wedding. Be on the lookout for at least a new blog by the beginning of the summer because a nice blog is LONG overdue and we know that. The new one will be much more enjoyable to visit!

But anyways, that’s the big news! I hope you guys like it. I feel like we have more of our own style and the old logo only portrayed our traditional and classic side but had nothing to do with the rustic and industrial side. I think it suits us much better and is much more modern. Let us know what you think!!

Gauper out =)

Our last wedding was a last weekend and it was a ton of fun! We met with Clive and Jamie a while ago and since Clive lives in Dubai, we couldn’t do any engagement photos until this weekend before the wedding! But better late then never! =) Jamie works.. or worked (now that she is moving to Dubai) at the radisson here in Kalamazoo and we scored a little time in the sweetest suite they had!! Check it out!

Tell me thats not suite! This place ran $2,200 a night and came with a huge staircase and dozens of windows overlooking downtown kalamazoo nine stories high. It even came with a grand Piano which they seemed to like 😉

Then off to a location I used the day before but hey it’s still new =) They looked like a couple celebrities here!

Then I wanted to try a shot I had done before with a little twist since he had some sweet shades!

Then came the wedding weekend were I shot a bit of the rehearsal at Stetson Chapel and found a couple cute kids that I would be following around all weekend =)

And then the next Day we started out getting a couple shots of Jamie and the girls finishing up their hair at the willow salon.

This dress turned out to be high maintenance! but it was a great dress so I guess it was worth it!

Our beautiful Bride!

We did a wedding here before and again it didn’t disappoint!

After some waiting to get the bussel right since we didn’t have the directions… no seriously…we did some bride and groom shots! Good thing I had entertainment to tide me over!

We saw this glorious ally while walking back to the hotel from the salon and knew it would be perfect for the money shot.

The reception was held at the highly regarded Rose Street Market downtown and it was a great venue!

They have the best best food in Michigan (so I’m told) Luckily the vendors got the same meal as the guests!

They even came equipped with a spotlight which made things interesting!

This family broke it DOWN all night!

Great couple, Great venues and Great weather make for an exceptional day. Thanks so much Jamie and Clive for trusting us with your day. We had so much fun and I hope you guys love the photos. =)

To see more of the 75 photo preview go to the main site and click the client proofing button to see the whole album!

Well we had our first workshop in Kalamazoo this weekend and after all that planning and scouting and hard work we got to have some fun!! We found some excellent locations and even more excellent models to be our subjects!

I started out the Day cramming their brains full of technical knowledge while trying to only melt their brains a little bit! I think it went pretty well but there’s only so much you can take in at once!

Then came the shooting. We started out at this cool loaction by some train tracks, only these train tracks had extra rail material! It worked out even better then I had hoped.

Jessie’s head isn’t this big in real life =) I am using the Amazing Canon 14mm f/2.8L II Ultra wide angle lens to get this effect as you can tell later I have a lot of fun with it!! Our second model Alli was awesome as well. Thank you ladies for trashing the dress for us. I think it was worth it =)

Our next location was behind the building we used on Sunday. I found some kind of washing machine graveyard!

And behind THAT was a bunch of old trailers and onother cool yard that made for lots of great variety.

I was pretty proud of everyone for really getting in there and not standing back at eye level I thought I would really have to get on people to get close and use angles but they were great!

You may recognize Noah and Alex since we haven’t updated our website’s front page in a while but they were one of our favorite engagement session and wedding so we thought that would be pros by now, and they proved to be just as comfortable with 12 people snapping away!! You just can’t go wrong with them. Thanks guys!

Holly really stepped it up this weekend and may have gotten better shots then me! Seems like that’s what our models think since they keep using her shots for their facebook profile pictures! =) Good thing she’s not competition is all I have to say.

I think I still held my own though 😉

The next day it was nasty snowing rain so I have to thank Mark Kieser for giving me a key to his building downtown so that we could still get a lot of good indoor natural light shots. Our Models Holly and Lauren really did great!

A big thanks to Brandon who helped us with a little bit of male subject matter when he wasn’t shooting with us! =)

We Had soooo much fun and I met some great people that I think have a ton of potential. We didn’t get to edit as much as I would’t have liked but we are thinking about doing some editing focused workshops soon. I can’t wait to do another one! Huge thanks to our future Bride Gillian for doing hair and make up!! We can’t wait to do a tour and meet even more great photographers and models!!!

So the title says it all… We may be a little to ambitious for our own good right about now! We are behind on last weekends 52 so I will start out with that!

What the deuce week are we on again…. ah, [12/52] I shall call it… Don’t bug me, I’m busy!

I finally have my own computer and it only costed me 5 grand to get Holly one! But I guess it is all worth it… At least she won’t pull her hair out editing 25 weddings this summer.

I have Been working on a time lapse video for the move. Once I find the time to edit it nicely its going to be awesome! we have like 14,000 shots from paint prep to moving and some fun stuff in between heres a couple previews of some fun stills, pretty much unedited just so ya know!

All taken with the fisheye and the D700…it is going to RULE!

Lets see… I have also been putting together a Keynote show for the workshop THIS weekend… I love keynote… I love mac… 100 times better then anything I have seen power point produce and it was my first time. Here’s a couple screen shot previews

I am pretty pumped about it, I’m not gonna lie!

Now the weather, I am NOT pumped about, but we will be praying the rain away 😉

Preece preview to come soon!

So Holly seems to have found a niche and I want to show everyone some goodness! We are actually thinking about offering a ring shot session which would consist of going around and “macroizing” someone’s wedding ring in several cool environments in lots of interesting and unique ways. We have only had a few minutes to get these shots on engagement shoots or during downtime at weddings, so I think we could really get some amazing shots if we had like a half hour! so without further adue enjoy some of her ring shots!

We will be doing ring shot sessions for $75 with a $50 print credit. email me for Availability : ryan@ryanrichardphoto.com

So to those of you who don’t know this is our last year in Michigan! We spent the last year researching, and visiting cities. The cities that made the final four was Nashville, TN – Charlotte, NC – Los Angeles, CA and Denver, CO. We were all but set on Denver, CO as most of you know! We have been trying to get Holly’s parents to escape Michigan with us but they want to go to Texas. And I thought, hey! I know a lot of cool people in Dallas! I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before but I wouldn’t mind living there at all! Sooo I made a comparison … I love comparisons =)

So what do you guys think? Should we get a poll going? I would love everyone’s two cents about either city. It’s a big decision, we need some help!!

So I had to buy a pro account for my second flickr account because thats the images I use to plug into this blog. I try and keep my personal flickr more quality then quantity, and we upload some random stuff for this blog that I wouldn’t want on there.

Anyway my point is that when you click on images on this blog it will bring you to that image on my secondary flickr. I just wanted to let you guys know there is a better one with better descriptions, and technical info about each shot. I spend a lot more time making that look good.

Also I just set up a new set, 75 of my favorite photos from the past year. So go HERE and see the one!

This weekend was AWESOME!! Who’s with me? We had to take advantage of it so we took care of 3 engagement sessions and they all went so well I just couldn’t believe how smooth the session was and how well the images turned out!I have a lot to post but I am going to split them up starting with our session today of Dan and Laura. Holly actually edited them mostly, but then I couldn’t sleep tonight so I stayed up tweaking her edits and obsessing over every detail. Needless to say I am pretty excited about them! Lets not save the best for last. Check out Laura’s Serious face. Nailed it!

Holly took this next one, and one of our friends posted on her flickr saying it was better then anything I posted for the weekend. I was like ouch! =) But she is pretty sweet I’m not gonna lie!

It seems to be the weekend of flair this weekend since I have been using the 28mm f/1.8 a LOT this is why.

Here’s another good one with the 28, wide open.

great couple =)

I really tried to perfect this one with all lightroom had!

How do you guys feel about the new wide up-shots?

They knew how to have fun too so we had a good time!

not much you can say about this =)

So if you feel like boosting my editing ego I wouldn’t stop ya =) Holly has always whooped me. Keep in mind that most of those are mostly edited by Holly but I just tried to obsess over the details… So I dunno… just leave a comment will ya?!? More to come very very soon!