As photographers I believe that we should always strive to find better ways of doing things, and by finding ways to be more efficient we can have more time. Wouldn’t that be nice? We all need more time! So here’s something to consider. Change the way you blog. If your’re with Showit you freaking have it made! Let’s get rid of that LONG wait for bloated wordpress blogs to load because you have 5 posts with 20 images each. Embed a gallery from Showit and reduce that load time by 1000%! Let’s give our clients what they need the quickest! Photos!

We have the power to be YOU-nique with Showit and we already have a stellar blogging platform like Wordpress. Let’s leverage the two and change the way we display our images!

Check out this gallery I just put together in Showit. I’m going to blog with this gallery from now on when I have just a few photos to show. It’s literally faster for me to change out photos in Showit, than it is for me to mess with Wordpress image library. When it comes to a wedding or engagement and I want to post my favorites I’m just going to embed their +Site right here on my blog!

SO rad!

I’m so stoked to finally meet all you guys! I’ll be kickin’ it with the Showit crew all entire week so come by and say hi!!! Most of this stuff is going down at the Signature at MGM.

I’m flying into Vegas on Sunday and will have nothing to do that day so hit me up and we’ll connect! Other than Tue night I don’t have any evening plans at all. I’m just a spec in the wind the whole week but these are concrete plans so far.

{Monday} 1-3 PM – DIG Showit – I’ll be hanging out and teaching designers some stuff about Showit.
{Tue} 11-12 AM – How I use Showit to propel my photography business’ forward.
1-3 PM – DIG Showit
5 – ? – Dinner and B’s Party
{Wed} 8-10 AM – Unite!! Worship service!
2-3 PM – Presentation with Becker (also unveiling something VERY special via Spilled Milk Designs)
1-5 PM – Showit Genius Bar – Come by and rack my brain!!!

Can’t wait!! It’s gonna be so awesome!

Awesome! I’m already using Showit for my website and this little gem is the icing on the cake! Check out this wedding website that I built for Nicola and Jason’s wedding coming up in May! It’s cool because it has it’s own URL so it’s basically a separate site all on it’s own. It’s embedded here for you to see but you can check it out at:

http://nicolaandjason.haskinsphotography.com

Photographers – If you have Showit then you can do this too! If you don’t…then go get it! Download it from Spilled Milk and get a special prize.

I hope everyone has a safe and awesome New Year! Here’s a few of my favorites from 2009. It’s been an awesome year and I am really looking forward to 2010!

I don’t post much on my journal anymore. Mostly because I’m on Facebook so much so it’s easier to post stuff there. Plus my Twitter account is linked to it when I upload photos so if you want to know what I’m up to check out my Facebook page! I WILL still post my favorite photos from shoots, but all the in between stuff will be on Facebook. See you there!

I started a charity called Operation Warm Up.  For years I thought that it would be cool to show up in a big box truck with hundreds of blankets and deliver them to the homeless during the winter. I’m blessed that I am finally in a position to just take charge and do something like this. What we need most are blankets, and socks and you can donate any old blanket that you have! Please visit the site to find out how. You can follow Operation Warm Up on Twitter, or be a fan on Operation Warm Up’s Facebook page. This morning we headed out with 100 sack lunches, 40 blankets, 30 something beanies, hand warmers, socks, shirts, pants, and shoes!

Here are a few of my favorites from this morning. Catch the rest here.

Texas weather is so unpredictable. These kids engagement session was set for last weekend but we rescheduled it to yesterday because of the weather. So I wake up in the morning and it’s a beautiful blue sky without a trace of a cloud! Then all of a sudden that Texas winter starts to creep in, and before we know it it’s completely overcast.   Normally this makes me sad; but Nicola and Jason literally turned on the heat last night so we didn’t need the sun! OK so that was a bit cheesy, but I needed something to go along with the whole “sun” thing. Anyhow, so yesterday I finally got a chance to meet up with these kids for their pre-wedding shoot. Their wedding is being held next year at the Majestic Metro and we wanted to hang out before it started getting cold. In fact I think this will be the last warm weekend here in Houston until after the new year. Yay cold!  Anyhow, here are a few of my favorites.

Graffiti wall off of Montrose some where (can’t remember).

The gardens by Hermann Park we’re in FULL bloom!

I love these “fleeting” moments. Other than the VERY last picture on this post, all of this is completely unscripted. No posing. Non-traditional. Completely unobtrusive…

…it’s the moments within the moments that I live for, and love to capture.

This is part of the Japanese Gardens at Hermann Park in Houston, TX.

I am on the ground like 1 ft way. In fact I think Nicola almost stepped on me. Just kidding.

At the very end we’re walking out and I glance over at this spot and this picture flashes in my head. I kept walking, but the picture kept talking and telling me to stop. Normally I do not do these types of “camera aware” shots. I think it makes folks uncomfortable and forcing them to put on a fake smile subdues their true personalities. However, sometimes I like to change things up, and this was one of those times. I…love…this…picture. Completely relaxed and at ease! Nicola and Jason you guys rocked it!

Don’t forget to stop by Nicola and Jason’s Client Site that launches later this week! If your a family or friend of these kids ALL the links to ALL the photos will be on their wedding website so if you want to know where the photos will be then stop on by their website next week! Follow me on Twitter to find out the minute it’s launched!!

I am SO incredibly grateful for SO many things this year! My wife for being so patient, my son for teaching me lessons, my parents for raising me to believe I could do anything, all my couples who have trusted me to document their weddings, DJ for showing me where the door to opportunity was, all of my clients from SMD who trust me with their web presence, and way way more than I could ever possibly put into one blog post.

THANK YOU, and happy Turkey Day!