the reason

The new brand is live!!!

 

Check it out at www.thereasonilove.com

 

Leave some comments on the new blog and you might win some awesome music from Family Force 5!

 

SWEET

 

Love you all.

 

Chris.

NEW BRAND LAUNCHING TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT…

I Hope!!!

New Brand!!!

Okay, sorry I’ve been gone for so long, but for the next few weeks all my focus is going to be on Theatre shows and Allie and I’s new brand for wedding photography.

This is from Allie’s site.

Chris + I have some seriously awesome news to share with you!  {No, we’re NOT pregnant!  Keep reading!}  If you’ve been following my blog, you might remember this post.  Since then, we’ve been on a whirlwind adventure with photography.  We’re shooting more than ever, networking like crazy, and coming up with more + more ideas about our future with this whole photography business! 
 
One of the ideas we’ve been working on is rebranding our wedding portion of the business.  Right now, you know it as Allie Marie Photo, AMPhoto, or maybe just Allie Bartelski’s photography business.  This brand isn’t going away.  It will still be there for all the beautiful families, models, musicians and other individuals that need portraits!  {http://www.alliemariephoto.com} 

 
But here’s the awesome part.  For our brides and grooms, we’ve created a brand with a whole new look and feel.  We’ve got an amazing new name and logo to go with it {Cailyn is the best!}, a rockin’ new website that will make you get up and dance, and a blog with photos the size of your whole screen!  We’re revealing the whole package in a few days, and because we value your opinion so much we want you to be there when it’s launched!  We’ll be sending out emails to let you know when it’s live.  If you’d like to be notified and haven’t received an email version of this post, leave your email address in the comments or send it to us at bartelskiphoto@gmail.com!  Don’t miss out on all the excitement!

 
much love,
chris + allie

Aperture 2, rockin’ so far

Okay, so Allie and I got our new iMac today and we decided to go ahead and try Aperture.  We made the decision based only on their album design aspect, which was a little much to ask for $200, but it was close enough so we jumped in a got it.

So I had to quickly design an parent album, and it was a breeze.  What can I say.  Apple.

Seeing that I don’t sleep, I stayed up and started importing all our JPEG catalog form every shoot we’ve ever done into the program.  Importing the RAW images would take too much space, and they are backed up and ready to be called into action if needed.  Anyways, the tagging and organization of Aperture is amazing.

So, editing photos.

For one, they look better in Aperture than they do in Lightroom, sharper and with more contrast.  It must have something to way the programs render previews or something like that.
Two.  I’m a Logic Pro user, which is Apple professional audio suite, and the menus and the lay out is very similar.  They look like the same program, another bonus here.
Three.  The UI is not as well laid out as Lightroom and it doesn’t have presets, which is a big negative here.  Still the features are cleaner and process images better in my opinion.
Four.  Working in full screen.  On my laptop and soon our iMac, you can toggle into full screen mode and edit.  It hides all your tools on the top and bottom of the screen, so if you move your mouse to the top, you can switch your brushes and such.  You can also simply hit a hot key and pull up the full adjustment window.
Five.  Highlight clipping and black clipping.  It will show you (with a hot key) where you need to apply Recovery with a red overlay, and where you need to recover and adjust your black clipping with a blue overlay.  Seriously, this is simple, but awesome!

 

Anyone else using it?  We’re really experimenting with everything to find the best possible workflow for us, so we are not set in stone yet by any means.  We love Lightroom, it’s so fast, but Aperture is Apple, and I love me some Apple.  If you are a Apple-fan-atic you’ll know what I mean.

So my verdict from playing with it for one day.  A first it might go a little slower processing images in Aperture than Lightroom, and the learning curve is pretty steep, but once we get over it…  In the long run, I believe that better images and faster workflow are on the horizon.

 

Chris.

Photo Credit in Gwinnett Forum for Corpse!

Aurora Theatre will next present comedic thriller, Corpse!

After box-office success in recent years with wintertime dramas like Dial M for Murder and Wait Until Dark, Aurora Theatre will present the comedic thriller Corpse! by Gerald Moon.

Daniel May plays Evelyn Farrant and Don Finney is Major Powell in Corpse! Photo by Christopher Bartelski.

The play has its Dress Rehearsal January 13, and will be staged Thursdays-Sunday from January 15 until February 8. Tickets are from $16 to $30, and may be purchased by calling 678-226-6222 or on the web atwww.auroratheatre.com.

The year is 1936. The place is London. The story is one of sibling rivalry as one brother plots to murder the other. The brothers are identical twins portrayed by one actor, which makes Corpse! so theatrically brilliant.

Aurora Theatre has tapped one of Atlanta’s top talents to take on the challenge of playing twins, welcoming Daniel May in his Aurora Theatre debut.

Anthony Rodriguez, Aurora Theatre Producing Artistic Director jokes, “We did not plan it this way, but in our current economic state, it is nice to only pay one actor to portray both leading roles. Kidding aside, it is a testament to our success that this powerhouse cast of household names in Atlanta theatre are all making their Aurora debut with Corpse!“

Corpse! and my new Tripod.

Happy New Year!

I got to shoot some promo pics for Aurora Theater’s production of Corpse! (which I am designing sound for).  I got to use my two big presents I got for Christmas.  My Alienbees’ Beauty Dish, and my Manfrotto Tripod.  I got the 055xprob, and I simply love it.  Here is a picture.

 

Christmas Present from the Pollitz's

 Anyways, I did have to go out and buy a head for the tripod, and I hope I made the right decision by going with the Manfrotto 222 Joystick.  I’m liking it so far, but I still need to figure a few things out about it.

Back to the shoot.

So Al Stilo, the marketing director, wanted some moody but comedic pictures, so single directional light and a little photoshop created this.

In the show Daniel May (One of Atlanta’s Best Actors) plays two characters who are twins, with one of them hell bend on killing the other.  It really sounds morid, but trust me, this is a very funny script.  Can’t wait to see the Designer Run tomorrow.

Chris.

I’m the worst blogger ever!

Okay folks,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I’m so sorry that’s it’s been more than 2 weeks since my last post.  It’s been the most wonderful time of the year, but I had been going so hard the last 6 weeks before Christmas that when Christmas came around, I simply crashed.  I’ve been sick since the 22nd and it’s hasn’t been until today that I’ve felt like doing much of anything, let alone post.  Anyways, I took it easy that last few weeks, but I did shoot a little so I’ll post stuff from those shoots over the next few days.  First up is a model session with Chassidy.

We had a great time shooting, I just wish I could have enjoyed it a little more because I wasn’t well yet.  Hopefully we got some more good images for NVR SAY NVR Campaign to use on their website.  Anyways, Happy 2009 and God Bless.

 

Chris.

Before we go any further…. HITLER SUCKED!!!

I found this video on Strobist, and I have to say I agree with the content.

I hope Nikon is listening, $8000….  REALLY???

Love,

Chris.

Britt and Randy’s Engagement Session.

Yeah!!!  This was too much fun.  We shot over in Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown Atlanta.  I really had a great time with them, and I’m totally stoked about the results.  I can’t wait till the wedding.  Anyways, I had another fun experience with the Alienbees!  Below are some of my favorites from the session.  Thanks again Britt and Randy.

Woo Hoo!!!

Y’all enjoy the photos.

Chris.

NVR SAY NVR!

I recently shot a session for a non-profit company.  I got to work with the wonderful Shay, Elly and Michael again…  And they brought some friends and loved ones.  I’m loving the white wall and Alienbees.  I’m real excited how these turned out.  To learn more about the company visit www.nvrsaynvrcampaign.com

HECK YEAH.  NVR SAY NVR!!!

Thanks to all the models and Shay for setting this up…  Oh…  And Elly for showing us where to get the best Margaritas in town.

Chris.