Posted on January 21, 2012
Robert Brault said it best:
“Most of us don’t need a psychiatric therapist as much as a friend to be silly with.”
And so went the magical week of attending the Digital Wedding Forum’s annual convention. This year, it was in New Orleans – a city that will forever remain in the top of mind as a magical, wonderful, smelly city that leaves it mark deep in your soul. It changes you. You never want to leave.
My personal highlights were shooting for DWF Cares – where we met couples that lost their wedding images in Hurricane Katrina. Bridal businesses provided dresses and tuxes for the guys. With about 50 wedding photographers in tow, we explored the French Quarter and took some great images for these couples. The event was led by John Michael Cooper and Dalisa of Altf in Las Vegas.
We also attended many seminars, taught by industry leaders – that have changed my business.
By the end of the week, I had attended countless seminars, met some amazing people, and literally had one of the best weeks of my life. Is it OK to say I enjoyed some beverages and the company of some wonderful people? All in moderation, of course ; )
Some new “Industry Friends” I am so thankful to have met:
Liana Gonzales
Joseph West
And of course, hanging out with old and wonderful friends:
Jason + Sara Martin
Alex Vazquez
Tara Sproc
Enjoy some shots from the various parties and shoots!!
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Posted on April 1, 2011
Hello Friends!
What an exciting time. I have partnered with HTC to be the first professional wedding photographer to shoot a wedding entirely with their flagship device, the HTC Evo. The plan is that I will shoot in with the standard onboard camera, capture some HD video clips (for fusion) and also use the Vignette app (in the Android Market). NO DSLRs will be used at all.
I am SUPER stoked about this recognition and plan on adding this option to all future wedding packages!
More info to follow.
Scott
Update: This was my lame attempt at an APRIL FOOL’S joke! I guess I got a couple of people. LOL
Posted on March 13, 2011
Nothing says Portland like a grey rain, a good espresso and great friends. I guess today was one of those days where the city lived up to its name. I invited my friends from the wedding photography industry – Gina Emerson, Katie Anderson, Kim + Phil, and Kaarin Swanson. We met in NW and spent some time with my clients Molly + Chris. Although the rain was falling, we all worked and got some wonderful shots (except for the CRAZY old lady security guard at Union Station that kicked us out)! Then, we all came back to my place for some hot cups of Stumptown and Hotlips Pizza!
Special thanks to Francoise Weeks for the amazing bouquet, and Rebekah Emerson for being our on location stylist!
Posted on December 29, 2010
Esther + Chris’ Wedding Fusion from Scott McNamara on Vimeo.
A slideshow from Esther + Chris’ wedding in Nassau, Bahamas November 2010.
Posted on November 17, 2010
Jessica + Jeff from Scott McNamara on Vimeo.
Posted on September 28, 2010
Some people think that a wonderful engagement session needs a lake, a beach, or a park. Then you have the “other” school of thought that believes beauty is one part spontaneity, two parts location, and three parts awesome couple. Add a dash of great weather. Tonight Lindsay, Tim and I braved angry old ladies, goats, ancient Fords and pig manure for an awesome engagement sesh at Plumper Pumpkin Patch. If Michael Jackson was broke, this would be his version of Neverland. I had a FANTASTIC time and I think we got some amazing images of a great couple. Thanks Lindsay and Tim (and the piglets that were so happy to see us)! Head over to Facebook and see a few more!
Posted on September 2, 2010
I could write a whole lot about how fun this shoot was…how I found some great vintage WWII clothing and incorporated it…or how Sallie was so much fun to work with. But I think the photos speak for themselves!
Posted on August 16, 2010
OK, I admit….when a bride gives me “the line” (that little, invisible line on her dress which anything below it goes, but above must remain clean) I take it not as a directive, but as a mission. A mission for her to see the potential in just saying “screw it” and having fun – just what a good trash the dress session is all about. Thankfully, Kristi had this epiphany and we had a great time trashing her beautiful silk dress in Oneonta Gorge. Kristi, Cliff and I braved a massive population of people seeking the slot canyon’s cool air and chilly mountain streams. In the end, we had a wonderful time and I love how these images convey Kristi + Cliff’s love for the outdoors. Enjoy!
Posted on August 5, 2010
I found the PERFECT track for Lisa + Josh’s wedding slideshow! Check it out…
Lisa + Josh from Scott McNamara on Vimeo.
Music licensed through animoto.com.
Posted on July 16, 2010
A Professional Photographer’s Review of a Smartphone
I know my blog is a special place for me to share images from recent shoots and the myriad of cool new things I stumble on around the interwebs. But I really feel compelled to share with my readers the reasons I recently abandoned the iPhone ship – and swam out on my own to join the flotilla of Android users.
How it Started
I was one of the people in a line outside a small AT&T store in Honolulu a couple of years ago, very excited to buy the hottest cell phone on the market. In my opinion, at that moment there was no other phone that held a candle to the capabilities the iPhone platform offered.
A little over two years later, I pondered and researched to see if I wanted to stay married to the iPhone ecosystem – and AT&T – for another LTR. The result of my time and effort? Absolutely NOT.
Pretty early on in my research, my hardware options boiled down to the HTC Evo 4G and the iPhone4. These two phones are very powerful and, I consider them to be the top contenders in the “smartphone” space (save for the Droid family, as I have never even held one). My efforts were now to identify how each of these phones would make my personal and photography lives easier, and more connected.
Early Impressions of the iPhone4
I’ll admit – I was really put off by the early reports of antenna issues with the new phone. Although it could have simply been media hype, it was certainly something believable with a device that was leading the industry with a new antenna design. I was also growing tired of the same old iPhone interface and the feeling of freedom now being able to do such mundane things like adding wallpaper and folders. Shouldn’t we have been able to do these things all along? Lastly, I was tired of AT&T. Like any long term relationship, after a couple of years sometimes you just need a new start and a chance to see other people.
Early Impressions of the EVO
So, once they were in stock I wandered into my local Sprint store. I held the Evo and sensed its commanding mass – a massive screen, solid density, great screen and some interesting new features (like a kickstand). Android was totally new to me, but after messing with the phone for 3-5 minutes, I had the OS pretty much nailed. I was very impressed. The only potential downside for me was the plastic construction. Although the screen is glass, I wondered how the device would hold up after 2 years of wedding photography road warriordom. I remembered how well my iPhone 3G’s white plastic backside held up and soon dismissed the concern.
As you can tell, I was heavily leaning toward Sprint and the Evo. I went to my local Apple store and fondled an iPhone4 for a bit and left generally unexcited, due to a lack of major improvements. Is $299 worth a nicer display, iBooks, and camera but the same storage and ecosystem?
What sold me on the Evo
From the 30,000 foot view, the phones are pretty close contenders. Both phones have great cameras, shoot 720p video, feature up to 32GB of memory, and place calls.
The following were the features that put the Evo ahead for me:
- Price: The Evo is $199 with an 8GB Micro SDHC card. That will hold me until I upgrade to a 32GB card once the price drops. A hundred bucks is a good bit of savings.
- Plan: Sprint’s plan is far better than AT&T’s with unlimited texts, data (truly, actually unlimited), mobile to mobile (even outside Sprint’s network), and tons of mobile-landline minutes. I am saving between $20-$30 per month and getting more for my money.
- Hardware: The Evo is bigger than the iPhone with a better keyboard and a very snappy processor. I feel like I can truly leave the Macbook Pro at home and survive solely on this device when I need to. The iPhone felt like a suitable device for critical situations, but was not ideal.
- Speed: 3G on Sprint is AMAZING. It blew my mind how much faster this phone’s internet and data really is just on 3G. But, Sprint also offers 4G speed and it was even more awesome! Sites load up like a camera flash in your face.
- Android: I really like having the ability to be free with my device. HTC has layered their OS flavor called HTC Sense on top of Android. It is pretty damn sexy. And, if for people like my wife don’t care to fully mod their device, they can enjoy widgets and tools and have a simple experience like with the iPhone. Those who like to dive deep in and play around with a device can easily do that. There are a million features that you can fit to your lifestyle and business to make things even easier.
There are a few minor cons with Android. While the OS is polished, it seems to lack in a few areas. For starters, the glitches. The first night we had the phone I set my alarm for work the next day. I used the phone’s nightstand setting and propped it open on the kickstand. A dim digital clock appeared and it was really a nice feature. However, in that mode the phone is silent and my alarm did not sound. Wouldn’t you want a bedside clock to NOT be silent!? Audible notifications disrupt any audio (music, games) which is mildly annoying and the audio player app could certainly use some shine and polish.
- User Replaceable Elements: I really like being able to purchase additional batteries and replace them as needed. I also really like having the ability to swap memory cards.
- Multitasking: One of the most striking differences between this and the iPhone is true multitasking. I can easily toggle between music, phone, web and texts with no discernible interruption. Very cool.
- Social Networking Integration: As a small business owner, I like keeping in touch with my clients, friends, and my family. This phone links your contacts’ social networking streams with their on-phone address book entry. All my contacts’ pictures are pulled from their Facebook profile and I can easily see notifications when their content is updated in real time.
- Tethering: If I am going to pay an additional $30 to tether, it better be with 4G.
A bunch of cool, smaller details:
• Flash on my phone kicks ass.
• The camera interface on this phone is stunning.
• Kickstand is a surprisingly awesome feature (initially I thought it was gimmicky).
What Tempted me to consider the iPhone
Aside from departing from the cult-like excitement of holding a new Apple product, some items did make me consider the iPhone longer than I expected:
- Apps and Music: I was afraid all the money I spent on apps and music would be wasted. While I do have iPods and can make use of it all, I am not as worried about this anymore as I have found comparable apps for free on Android Market. We’ll see if I revert to my dumbphone days and carry two devices. Probably not.
- Facetime: It would be cool if I joined the 300 Billion or so other people with iPhones. Many of them would be my friends and we could all use Facetime. However, as it is limited to Wi-Fi, I don’t see any real benefit over using my MacBook Pro and built-in iSight camera over iChat.
- Build: I was very impressed with the Gorilla Glass and Stainless build of the new iPhone. It is a very solid device and I would never question its ability to stand up to many years of life on the road.
- Evo Battery: This is a real bummer. The Evo’s battery is perhaps one of the worst I have used in a phone. But, since batteries are easily swapped I could always buy an extra one for those long flights.
After my first two weeks
I know it is stupid to say you “love” a device. Like a horny 7th grader, I feel like I used to say that about any cool, new toy in my hands. Maybe I am maturing, maybe I am just more aware of the delta between hype and truly solid specs. Bottom line? I love the Evo. I feel like I could run my business off it and never even need to crack a laptop (save, of course for editing wedding images!).
But more importantly, I feel free. Free from a monster network and a bloated phone bill. Free from a tightly controlled and regulated App store (Ok, so the naked lady apps in Android are annoying). Free from an OS that for years would not even let you change a wallpaper.
I have left the flock behind me and will not be turning back.