We can now say we are the coolest studio in Long Beach… jokingly of course. Finally got ourselves some fancy air conditioner to cool the studio, aka “The Oven”. Already a huge difference, the studio feels much more comfortable.

We really took our time, but had our reasons. We wanted to try and make the studio as comfortable as possible but also as eco-responsible as possible. We eventually found an Air Conditioner that is energy efficient, uses a environmentally friendly refrigerant, and operates quietly.

A few other things we did: lowered the “heat island effect” of our roof with a reflective roof coating, increased the heat efficiency of our large day light windows with new low-e glass, installed energy efficient ceiling fans to improve cooling of the A/C.

Making sure our clients are comfortable is one of our main concerns. Now we know the next time you visit us, we can take some of the heat off of your back while at our studio.

Relax, not a total, lights out, sky is falling, studio is closing sort of thing.

Today while using our Britek fluorescent lights I heard some very disturbing fizzing and popping sounds from the lights. As you might guess this was not a good sound, basically alerting me to the eminent demise of the light.

Funny thing is, that all the lights quit around the same time? We have 4 untis and each began to fail within the last week. I don’t think its the studio electrics, we just had an electrician in, for other reasons, and he did not notice anything out of the ordinary with the wiring for the studio space.

Our Britek lights are an important part of our studio and very popular with many of the photographers and videographers who rent from us. First thing tomorrow I’ll be taking them in for repair and luckily the Britek offices are just a hop, skip, 2 freeways and a lunch away from our studio.

This does not affect our normal rental operations, and we still have a full set of Hensel studio strobes available.

Below is a poster we put together for High School Senior Christina. Christina’s mom asked us to come up with a poster using one of the images from our Senior photo shoot together. The plans is to have this printed and mounted on foam core board, then the family will hold it up during the graduation ceremonies.

BTW, She is graduating today from North High School in Torrance, CA.
CONGRATULATIONS CHRISTINA!

Christina Graduation Poster

Attention legions of avid followers my 4 blog readers, I have a twitter account. Big whoopie, I know but if you are interested in following the not so exciting world that I call my life then have a look over here - http://twitter.com/itsmrbill.

Most of my tweets are of a personal nature, but occasionally something related to photography, studio, location photography might show up.

As for Shirley, it is very unlikely that you will see her on Twitter anytime soon. She prefers playing her scrabble/word games too much.

Noticed this awhile back, http://tinyurl.com/SmashPhotoStreetView

Hey its me (!), in the brown shorts, talking with a client outside our studio.

Just remembered this funny Google image today while working on new building signage. Thought it would be amusing to share with the 4 all the readers of this blog.

Noticed this awhile back, http://tinyurl.com/SmashPhotoStreetView

Hey its me (!), in the brown shorts, talking with a client outside our studio.

Just remembered this funny Google image today while working on new building signage. Thought it would be amusing to share with the 4 all the readers of this blog.

Just happen to have a couple of HS senior shoots and they were both named Christina/Kristina. Although the names are similar each shoot was definitely unique and fun.

Congratulations girls!

Kind of letting the cat out of the bag early on this one, haven’t even shown the couple these shots yet.

Some selected shots from a great day down in San Pedro with Rashell and Marc. Congratulations you too! See you in September for your wedding… which we are shooting too.

World renowned for our high quality photo retouching service, Smash Photo is dedicated to providing the highest quality of service to all our customers. For a limited time Smash Photo will be offering an exclusive service found no where else.

We have analyzed all the trends in photo retouching currently popular in Hollywood and other large City’s around the globe. After processing all the mountains of data we have discovered an area of photo retouching not being offered anywhere. It is our distinct honor to be the first to bring this unique skill exclusively to the photo retouching world and to all our clients.

Smash Photo is offering this increased level of photo enhancement to all clients FREE of charge for a limited trial period. We are sure you will be amazed at the level of increased attention all your photos will receive after the exclusive Smash Photo retouching service enhancement.

Click the image below to view the latest in image enhancement.
BEFORE | AFTER

Click Here To View Enhanced Image

We are committed to bringing the latest technology and best service possible to all our clients. We think this exclusive photo retouching service highlights this commitment.

Please limit your orders to 1 per customer during the trial period.

*photo credit: David Stoddard

“Go ahead and push the button” digital camera workshop.

This workshop is aimed directly at all the owners of DSLR or high-end prosumer digital cameras. If you just purchased your first DSLR or just looking to get a more in depth look into what all those buttons do on your camera then this is the class for you.

WORKSHOP DETAILS
Date - Thursday, March 19th, 2009
Time 7PM to 9PM
Location: Smash Photo Studio, 2176 Pacific Ave., Long Beach, CA [click for map]
Entry limited to 12 attendees.

Our last workshop sold out quickly, RSVP TODAY!

To reserve your seat today, go to our contact page and send us an email or call us at 310-807-5752.

LOW FEE $10 [entry fee includes a coupon for $10 off Smash Photo studio rental time]
*Fee will be collected at the door, cash only please.

BRING YOUR OWNERS MANUAL to the workshop.

WE WILL DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING TOPICS

Camera Body
- Program mode
- AV
- TV
- M
- Bulb
- Bracketing
- Burst mode
- Exposure Compensation
- Exposure, exposure lock
- ISO
- White Balance

Lenses
- wide angle
- telephoto
- prime
- filters: UV, neutral, gradient

Flash
- on camera
- off camera

Additional topics to be discussed
- sensor sizes, what is a 1.3/1.6/etc.. crop factor?
- file formats: Raw, JPG, TIF
- workflow managment: lightroom
- photo retouching using Photoshop
- Online resources: photo.net, flickr.com, pbase.com, meetup.com, forums
+ a few other useful tips / tricks

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