1. New mobile site (check)
2. New full site (planning stages)
3. New personal shoots planned (boo yeah)
4. …and much, much more!

I don’t want to go into too many details, but a lot is changing! Never fear, for it will be even better. The new site will be very easy to get around, but look very awesome at the same time! I seriously can’t wait!!

Also, I’m redoing a whole lot of our branding/packaging/pricing and so on, so you’ll see tons of changes around here soon, within the next month or so. Now, onto the mobile site…

I’ve been trying out many different ways of getting my site “mobile friendly”, since I have more and more people telling me that they’re trying to access my site from their iPhone, and can’t see the full site. If you go now, it should redirect you to the mobile site automatically.

(notice, I say “should“, I haven’t totally figured it all out hehe)

I’ve included as much as I could without making it cluttered, so that mobile users can now get as much info as they possibly can, without being at a computer… The blog has even been transformed to better fit your phone! Here’s a little preview of what’s included:

To view the site:

Go to our site (mhoganphoto.com) on your phone, as you would on your computer. It should automatically forward to the mobile site.

Is it working for you? Do you like it, or hate it? Let me know via email, or in the comments! Or, you can leave hate notes on my door… Either way works.

With that being said, I will have new shots to throw up here pretty soon as well! A lot of that should coincide with the new site launching. We recently wrapped up two websites, for a steel company, and for a radio station, so when I have a little more time, I’ll talk more on that… I’ve been editing weddings like a mad man lately! We’ve had tons of them recently, which rocks! I even had my ThinkTank overtaken by an army of ants at our last one. It was pretty epic, but in the end, Daniel was able to save our new light stick. See? I have new gear again, and I haven’t even dedicated a post to it. I’m sticking to my promise.

I do, just perhaps, have a few more items on the way for our lighting setup. Just maybe.

Stay tuned…

Make sure to test out the mobile site, and thanks, as always, for looking!

My current dilemma: So much editing, so little free time to blog about it.

While I’m waiting for free time to finally get here (one of these days), I decided to make a blog post, previewing a few random upcoming blog posts, that will eventually happen. Blogging to me is more of a “fun thing”, so I don’t allow myself to do it, unless I’m taking a short break, or totally done with my work, hence the scarcity of daily blog posts, or anything like that… hehe

(I do have a few new things, gear wise, but I promised that I wouldn’t post any new pictures of any of it, so I’ll have to stick with that)

For now.

I’ll go gear-blog-posting-crazy soon, so watch out…

Now, onto the following previews:

1) The first is a wedding that I almost have totally done, and it seriously rocked! Weddings are so much fun to shoot (since they are always all over the place, and crazy, so they are quite fitting, hehe).
2) Next, we have a really cool guy, who is a Christian artist that we recently shot, which I will blog about too, eventually…
3) After that, one of my favorite shoots in a while, which was actually one of our Platinum Senior Shoots! Those have limited bookings per year, and usually fill up pretty fast, since we go all out with lighting/locations/zombies/etc on those shoots.
4) After that, we have a bride, who’s wedding we shot last weekend, 5) followed by a band from Houston, 6) and my assistant from not Houston, who is extremely awesome and daring… If you can’t tell, he’s in the water, holding a light, on a bridal shoot.

I’ll say that again:

Daniel, my assistant, jumped in the water, at a bridal shoot, with a power pack, a huge stand, and my light… He seriously rocks.

7) Lastly, a random shot from our land. Might not do a blog on that one. Just liked it.

Speaking of lastly, enjoy!

There is one shoot that I am dying to post. It is probably my favorite shoot of the year so far, and is DEFINITELY the craziest. It even warrants the use of caps lock on the previous use of the word “definitely”. I don’t want to reveal too much, but it involved the following:

1) Fake blood
2) Generator
3) Many, many crazy weapons (including a baseball bat with nails in it that we made)
4) 3 guys, and 2 girls
5) A trailer that looked like a place we’d get killed at, or around, just for being there
6) Smoke, and “fire”

That’s all I can say… It’ll take me a while to finish the shot, since it’s a personal shoot that I’ve wanted to do for a while now, and it’s fun, so I can’t get to it until I finish everything else, but stay tuned!

Oh yeah, I pretty much ruined my phone on this shoot too. A Pelican memory case and a phone don’t play well together.

I wonder how many run-on sentences, and improper use of commas I’ve used in my blog so far…

(If you’re an English teacher, and want to give your class practice, feel free to have them proof read my posts)

Thanks, as always, for looking!

And thanks, Alan, for letting me use your beauty dish.

And thanks, Alex, for the amazingly “epic” quote. (see exhibit 1a below)

And to Brent, for the drawing of me. (see exhibit 1b below)

Is it odd that, randomly enough, this isn’t the first drawing of me that I’ve gotten from somebody on a napkin?

Hmmmm…

Hmmmm indeed.

(ends post, on a really random note)

Yes, fear not. We do in fact shoot quite a few weddings, in the midst of all of our other projects and shoots, and I figured, hey, why not blog another, so that people can actually see more than just one wedding that we’ve shot? hehe

I’m so excited about this one! We had a great time, as always. I should stop writing that, because it’ll pretty much be a given. Maybe I should only comment on our enjoyment factor, if we didn’t like it, hmmm…

Hmmm indeed.

I’m also going crazy over the last two weddings we shot, as they were beyond amazing. We aren’t shooting as many Tyler weddings as out of town weddings, weirdly enough, but are getting more people from Dallas/Austin/Houston (and sometimes out of the state) who are searching for their photographer, and don’t have any biases as to who to use, like who their great aunt on their mothers’ sisters’ dog’s twice removed owners’ niece’s side recommends, hehe…

(there are some talented photographers in the area too, so don’t get me wrong there)

I’m not allowing us to have any “system” that we get used to, or shoot the same, lazy shots each time. A new rule I’ve decided to implement, is that I won’t allow us to use a background, or any area twice either for group shots, whether it be anything from an engagement session, to a band, to a free shoot, to anything, for that matter. If a photographer gets lazy, then he/she gets passed up. I’ve actually stopped looking at other’s blogs too, because I don’t want to accidentally copy a shot of theirs, even when I don’t want to, because their framing pops in my head somehow when shooting a similar shot. There are a million great photographers out there these days, so you absolutely have to not fall into a “system”. If my assistant and I aren’t tired by the end of the day, then I haven’t done my job correctly! Ask him, and see… hehe

(having a style is different than a system, but that’s another post, for another day)

By the way, we have an absolutely-crazy-insane-awesome-epic-politically-incorrect shoot planned late this week, involving 2 of my guy friends, and 3 of our other halves as well, but more on that later.

Now, onto the wedding…

And yes, I know that one of the images is on there twice. I just really liked both versions, so call me crazy…

Actually, don’t.

Hehe, enjoy!

The next post will seriously be of a client, and not of me.

I’m sorry.

I hereby promise not to post anything dealing with me, or something I have, for the next 4, or even 5 posts.

I had a few spare minutes today, between editing, so I thought I’d take a quick shot of el shades, as they say. I couldn’t figure out anything outside, for a quick location that wasn’t my apartment, so I drove around, passed the old train station, and saw 3 different groups of people shooting around there.

Crazy, indeed.

Instead of ranting about how certain areas are perhaps not usable anymore, check out this picture montage:

I originally planned on using the wide shot as the main shot, but ended up being fickle (believe it or not), and cropped it in a bit. I used 5 lights here, to get a good “wrapped” look, and did a few other secret things, lighting wise… hehe

Anyways, these are the sunglasses I bought, in case you are curious, or feel like making them look better than I can!

Time for sleep. I wonder if anybody is shooting at the old train station at 3 in the morning?

Now that’s a thought…

*update, the next day*

Hey look, it looks like I’m in a T-Pain music video now!

I’ll go get a life now…

Time to get back to editing!

(…not me this time)

I have been very, very, very busy lately (with a million different projects, from websites, to shoots, to cd albums, to  weddings), so it has been quite tricky finding time to post in the past month or so. Once I get everything a little closer to being finished, I’ll have to apologize in advance, because I will be posting like crazy, why yes! It makes me upset seeing the stuff we’ve shot not being completed yet, not only because of the client, but because I can’t wait to show it all off! hehe…

Now, for the point of this post:

I have a lot of new stuff! I’ll get to the first item, which is my new Pelican Case 1560! It is amazing. It has wheels, which is a very nice addition too! I’ve had 3 or 4 different little bags that we had been using to transport our lights, and we decided to compact it all into one big case, which ended up being one big case that was also waterproof and dustproof! It’s crazy how sturdy the Pelican Cases can be. It came with Pick N’ Pluck foam, which is a neat concept… You basically draw out how you will arrange everything, and then pluck out the little squares of foam, which comes in 3 layers. It was quite a project, but it was definitely worth it… Check it out:

Notice anything new in my kit?

(If you happen to keep up with that, that is)

We’ve added a second Alienbee, this time a B800, to compliment the B1600 we already had… We also added another Nikon SB-28, and plan on getting a few more pretty soon too! (not linking to a place to buy them, since they are an old Nikon film flash)

Now, to the next part of my new gear post:

My ThinkTank Aiport Security International V2.0 bag! It seriously, seriously, seriously rocks. It has allowed me to get rid of 3 other bags that we were using (including the Boda Bag, which we’ll still keep around for weddings). I very much love this bag. I could write a whole post dedicated to just this bag.

It holds a lot… I have 2 camera bodies, 3 lenses in there, gels, lighting modifiers, all of my cables, adapters, my new Hoodman Loupe, which I bought after a recommendation from Joe McNally, and all of my other random accessories, such as cards, batteries, knifes, swords, machine guns, and dresses. By the way, Joe McNally’s latest book, The Hot Shoe Diaries, is pretty much the best book ever.

(Every photographer out there should thank me for all of my amazing links I’m putting in this post too…)

Just kidding.

Back to the bag though… It has locks built into the side (TSA certified), is internationally accepted for a carry-on bag (which is very important if you travel… NEVER check in your camera!). It also comes with a tripod case, to attach to the side. Oh yeah, did I mention it rolled? And, it even rolls too.

Now, we have two bags that roll, yayyyy!

(Not that we are lazy. Only Daniel, my assistant, is lazy)

Just kidding.

Back to the bag though, again. Here it is!

And, ladies and gentlemen… My new camera! I decided to make all of my friends mad, and not join the Canon club, which I’m quite sorry for! Not sorry for quality, but sorry that I can’t bug them now to borrow all of their lenses, and whatnot.

What exactly did I get? I got rid of my Olympus, finally (not that it was a bad camera… Just bad for low light), and picked me up a Nikon D-700, with a Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED. I absolutely love the Nikon. It has amazing colors. It is full frame. It shoots fast. Very fast. It focuses in low light fast. It has an amazing ISO-6400, with little noise. It is very sharp, on a per-pixel level.

I could go on, and on, and on… So, without doing just that, I’ll go ahead and throw the one picture I could get of the camera, that I shot with my old camera…

Man, I’m in photography gear love.

(I apologize to my girlfriend for spending so much time with my new camera…)

And, to top it all off… I’m currently being ripped off by PayPal, for $2400, yay!

Close bank accounts, and open new ones… Check!

Tell everybody I know to now stay away from PayPal… Check!

End this post without a whitty quote, my website link, or something of the like… Check!

The biggest fire I had ever seen.

People, no matter how equipped they are to fight nature, seem to always look so small.

I can still smell the smoke; it was all around us. We were told not to be there, because it was dangerous. I met the cop that took us in his car after we got picked up at the train yard after “The Chase” shoot.

Thank you, firefighters of the world, for what you do.

*Update*… For those who have been asking me about prints, go to http://thelab.mhoganphoto.com/p726073584 , and you can get them from there!

I get to go to cool locations, and shoot even cooler people. I don’t have to be stuck in a cubicle all day, and get to do something I love.

Let me explain now the definition of sarcasm:

My previous sentence.

I’ll keep this one short, to save all of my millions of readers precious time, and get straight to the point of tonight’s post! I am currently saving up for my new Nikon D700, and man, I can’t wait! It was a tough decision, but I’m deciding to go with it, over the 5D-II. Instead of going on about why, every camera is amazing, and it’s all about what you do with it… I, on the other hand, will have it only to impress hundreds and hundreds of people, by how expensive it is, not by how awesome it is.

Maybe I’m being sarcastic again.

Maybe it’s not cool to mention you’re being sarcastic, hmmm…

Anyways, speaking of cool, I had a shoot with a friend of mine, who freakin’ rocks. Krystyn is her name, and being amazing-ly awesome is her game. Sam was there too, her superly cool husband, who I’m sure will be a subject of mine quite soon too, so stay tuned! Anyways, without any further waiting, or rambling, enjoy these two shots from our last shoot!

Again, I have such a hard life.

Mainly, because I have to narrow down my shoots to just a few images. I used to post 8,345,231 images per shoot, with random colorations to each shot, but lately I’m trying to work on quality, over quantity. I’ll end this post off with a shot of my hot girlfriend, shot in my new apartment. Adios all, and thanks, as always, as reading!

Don’t mess with Texas.

http://www.mhoganphoto.com

We slept, woke up, ate with some other local wedding photographers, and then Daniel and I were struck again, with another idea… Why not shoot at the bus station? We figured that Daniel could have an old 50′s/60′s type look, while I’d go for a more modern look. With my jacket. Again. I’m sorry, I love it.

With the end of this post nearing, I figure I’d appologize, yet again, for not being super blog-busy. I have been extremely busy shooting and editing, and haven’t had much spare time for my blog! In about a week or so, after I get totally caught back up (and can finally catch my breath), I will post my latest band shoots, model shoots, drummer shoot, and much, much more! It will be blog-overload. With, or without my jacket, even.

Thanks for looking, like always!

www.mhoganphoto.com

Party time.

Not as in drinking party time (since I don’t), but photography party time.

Mandatory picture of empty apartment:

Stay tuned…

I have an idea: From now on, every couple I shoot gets to look like they’re famous and in a band. How about that? No more boring couple shoots, lets make things “epic-ly” cool! (for more on that misspelled word, and other misspelled words, see my previous post)

Thanks to Miranda for assisting me in exchange for a nice dinner, that I would have bought either way! hehe, without further ado, enjoy!

Thanks, as always, for looking!

www.mhoganphoto.com