Renee Camacho Photography » Just another WordPress weblog

January 1, 2010 Entry:

So here we are a new month and a brand new year! Just wanted to give everyone an update. I am still alive and fighting to get back to my normal self and life 100%…I cannot BELIEVE I have been soo sick since Thanksgiving! My flu ended up upgrading to full blown pneumonia and it seemed like even going to the Dr.s was becoming useless…The Steroids are working good…only thing though I was hoping that by being sick I would loose a couple of pounds and well you know steroids isn’t exactly an aid for loosing weight…I feel like a chipmunk! haha… Today is January 1st! A brand new year! I am super excited about what this year has to offer! I am going to be spending the first day of the new year bundled up in bed catching up on ALLLL of my blogging and taking care of client needs…sooo as the day goes by today you will be seeing a TONNNN of updated photographs on here….I do apologize if you have been waiting! I will be sending all of my clients who have waited SOO patiently a FREE textured and mounted 11×14!

December 9th Entry:

Who can relate to this photograph? I can! I think I am on to my 5th box of tissues….SERIOUSLY! In case you may be wondering…where the heck is Renee? She has been MIA under the covers in bed far far from the world with a 102 fever the past few days w/mounds of tissues, vitamins, fluids, medicines of ALL kinds and my little malti-pooo laying by my side!

Today is Wed. I think….I am finally feeling a tad bit better! Thank goodness because I have ALOT to catch up on! So for anyone who has been trying to contact me by phone, email, or by any other means I will be trying to get back to you today! Thank you for your patience! NObody wants the Flu before client holiday deadlines! eeeek!!

So this is a photo I came across this morning from the late 70’s. Maybe even 1980. This was my mom when she got married…I couldn’t help but notice the oldness of the photo and the reddish tones so I scanned it to my computer and with the latest photography software that I use I was able to bring it back to life and restore it as if someone had just taken it yesterday!

I am going to start offering photo restoration in my business this year. I feel that it is important because I am really trying to promote the value of preserving your memories while you have them. Apart of preserving your memories also entails preserving your past memories too…I think ALLL of us have old photographs like this one that might need some work…. Here are some of the services that I can offer you related to photo restoration:

- Take an old photograph you give me and renew it back to life!

- Put a digital copy of all of your old photographs to DVD so you can have a backup or can use for emailing and social networking

- Restore an entire wedding album

- Restore an old children’s album

- Custom albums of your photo restored images (where you give me a collection of photographs to restore, I restore them, save them as digital files and custom design a brand new album for you with the latest albums in the industry to give your old photos a whole NEW meaning!!

- Any colored photo you may have may be converted into b&w or sepia or retouched for any imperfections!

- You can order new prints with 10 different photo paper styles I offer! Linen and Metallic papers are my favorite!

Why is photo restoration important? It is important because yes, even though your photos or albums you possess or have inherited maybe even from generation to generation are getting older, you still want those treasures to last a lifetime! Once the process of photo restoring is over with, you will get back your old photos and albums of course but you will take with you a whole new treasure that you can put out on display and treasure for 100 more years!

Also, it is important that if you have ANY old photographs to consider getting them digitally put to DVD….Accidents, unfortunately happen! God forbid there is a fire or some natural disaster that wipes away your home at least you can have a DVD of your treasured photos to put away in a bond box or special fire proof or waterproof place. I too will always have ALL digital copies so if something also happened, a DVD would remain in your client folder!

If this is something you would be interested in doing, please email me or give me a call to talk about your project and we will go from there! No photo project is impossible to do…It will be not only fun for me to see your photos come back to life but you will have a blast seeing the process too!!!

Personal:

I was engulfed in reading Kenzie Shore’s Photography’s blog today (http://www.kenzieshores.net) her article where she talks about in her photography business and the changes she will be making with her style and “getting more personal” and I realized that that is something her and I both have in common with one another. I am noticing that the trend in the photography blogging world entails being more personal.. Letting people into your world personally as well as professionally…and well that is not something that I am used to!  Well things are changing as of right now!

The purpose of my blog is to invite you into my life and world to share with you the RAW me. I cannot promise you that my blogs or my life will be exciting or anything that you might relate to but I hope that you follow me on my journey as you will follow my hopes, dreams, goals and accomplishments professionally as well as personally this coming year.Some changes and exciting things that are going to be taking place  this year are: business branding and marketing, relationships with others professionally and personally, technology, travel and overall style. I think that we ALL yearn for a CHANGE…even though some of us HATE change…! Change isn’t easy because its comfortable. Everyone love’s to be comfortable with with they know. Change means being uncomfortable. Who likes to feel uncomfortable or be out of their comfort zone?  Not me! How about you?

The reason why I choose photography as my career was because when I was younger I was amazed that their was a piece of technology that could capture a memory. A moment in someone’s life. I remember being twelve and thinking “there is really a piece of equipment that can capture me and my friends laughing and having a great time so that when I get older I can show my kids or look back at my life and remember every exciting thing that ever happened?” “WOW thats sooooo COOOL” I thought! My father bought me my first camera. It was a film Canon T-50 with a portrait lens and a long 300 mm lens. I remember he found the ad in the newspaper and took me to the guy’s house that was selling it and bought it for me. He loved looking at my photos that I took. He always knew that my gift was to be a photographer and to give other people the gift of what I saw through my lens of their memories. Whenever I had something exciting to show him or tell him I would be sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen while he moved around and put groceries away or was cooking. I loved how he was so inspirational…

Growing up as a late teenager, I used to work for a photographer by the name of Kathleen Hall Photography (kathleenhallphotography.com) and would watch all of the families come in together to have their family portrait done in the studio. It really had me thinking often you know….gosh my family has NEVER had a professional family portrait done before! That is such a shame! I was 17 years old at the time that that thought had come into my mind. In 2004, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer which really shook up our world. It was then  at the age of 20 that I said…”WE NEED A FAMILY PORTRAIT”! “I WANT a family portrait!!! NOW!  Check out some of the photos below:

(Photography by: Kathleen Hall Photography. 727.787.9655)

These portraits were taken a week before his chemo and radiation started…literally at the perfect time because a week after this photo shoot he could no longer get out of bed. Three months after these photos, he passed away.

Upon seeing my father pass away, honestly I felt like I died with him. It was the most devastating loss I had ever experienced! It still feels like a dream some days. I feel as though it has only been recent that I am starting to come around again like the old me when he was alive…Everytime I do a photo shoot of a anything (portrait session, family, weddings) it amazes me to see the final images because it is a constant reminder that I am alive and what I have created for my client is truly a gift. I think whenever I do a photo session I subconsciously  think what if this is their last session with their family? What if something happens to them tomorrow?  What would they want their photographs to look like? Im sorry but the truth is is that life is too short! We all get so wrapped up in our lives with our career, material things, and a bunch of other garbage that we forget what and who is important in our lives.

I want to thank all of my family, friends, clients and business professionals who had the privilege so far of  watching me grow or who trusted me to photograph an important part of their lives or someone special in their lives. Whether you know it or not, you are my teachers and are continuing everyday to inspire me on my journey to accomplishing all of my goals that were once mere dreams! Now that lately I have been feeling VERY alive I have already started making exciting changes this week in the business which you will soon see before the new year! Bring it 2010!