Member of the Month
Marc and Phoebe Aviles:
Two is Company

By Margaret Lane

Marc Aviles is inspired by beautiful sceneries, landscapes, rock formations, skies and clouds. He's always looking for interesting places, odd walls, colorful doorways and abandoned houses to photograph. He considers the landscape and environmental surroundings when shooting portrait and wedding photography. Phoebe Aviles shoots side by side with her husband and derives inspiration from his work, adding some good-natured competition from time to time.

"We are somewhat competitive, but that's just for fun and it's good for business," says Phoebe, co-owner of Memory Station Studio, a new wedding and portrait business based in San Jose, CA. She and Marc have been shooting since their school days, Marc learning through a high school course and Phoebe snapping class photos for the yearbook and school paper with a Yashica SLR.
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Studio of the Month

Dream Catcher Wedding Photography:
A Dream Come True

By Linda L. May

"Outside of my family, wedding photography is my passion and first love. I am so grateful that my job and what I love doing are the same. If I could afford it, I'd shoot weddings for free in a heartbeat--that's how much I enjoy it," says Juan Gonzalez, owner of Dream Catcher Wedding Photography in Harbor City, CA.

Juan overcame many obstacles to reach the pinnacle of success he currently enjoys. Through hard work and determination, a never-give-up attitude, savvy marketing and a friendly, outgoing personality, Juan is now one of the South Bay's best and most popular wedding photographers. However, his path to reaching this level of personal happiness and financial freedom was neither fast nor easy.
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In Studio & On Screen
Bringing Old Photographs Back to Life

By Ctein

One of the things I like best about the new world of digital photography is the way it enhances the conventional photographic experience. Don't get me wrong; I'm still a film-oriented photographer. Even when I make the switch to digital cameras, I'll still have my huge body of film-based photographs. Absent the catastrophic loss of that collection, conventional photographs are never going to stop being part of my life.

It was inevitable that my three decades of interest in photo preservation and digital technology would merge in my career. Digital restoration is safer and faster than physical restoration because all the restorative work takes place in the computer. Most importantly, it's usually better.

At first I did restoration simply for my own enjoyment and then for the pleasure of resurrecting friends' cherished photographs; it engaged my artistic soul. Now it's become part of my business: Digital Photo Restoration by Ctein (photo-repair.com) does not just help pay the bills, it's also immense fun for me.
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Business Landscape
Smart Follow-up After the Show

By Phillip M. Perry

Trade shows are great for discovering new merchandise and making new contacts. All too often, though, attendees return to mountains of backed up work. Faced with the challenge of catching up, they soon forget to follow up with vendors, cultivate personal networks and capitalize on industry trends revealed at the show.

It shouldn't be that way. "What you really go to a trade show for is what takes place after the event is over," says Francis J. Friedman, a trade show specialist and president of the New York City-based consulting firm Time & Place Strategies Inc. Like golfers working on their follow-through, successful trade show attendees are always trying to improve the quality of their after-show swing. That means sharing knowledge with staff, placing follow-up calls with the right exhibitors and organizing business cards and notes so they don't end up collecting dust on a shelf.
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Member News
Important News for WPPI Members

• Thank you to everyone who attended the 2008 WPPI Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas. With over 11,000 registrations, it was our biggest event ever!
  
  WPPI would also like to thank all of the entrants in the 2008 Awards of Excellence 16x20 Print and Album Competitions. This year's competitions featured almost 2700 prints and 200 albums!
  
  That said, we would like to remind you that the deadline for the first half of the 2008 8x10 Print Competition is June 20th. We wish you the best of luck!
  
  
• Pregnancy and birth are miraculous journeys. This amazing time of life is full of mystery, anticipation, joy and wonder. But there is another aspect of pregnancy and birth, an unexpected place in this journey where some families may find themselves. When a baby dies, a world is turned upside down. There is sorrow where there should have been joy.
  
  The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) (www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org), founded by WPPI member Sandy Puc', provides a helping hand and a healing heart for families overcome by grief and pain. Offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization. The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process that allows families to honor and cherish their babies.
  
  
• Two-Views: Seminars by Yervant and Joe Buissink
  Come experience Joe and Yervant's latest work and astonishing new repertoire, as they bring you their individual business acumen and foresight for the marketplace, while also covering technology's influence on professional photography and the future of the industry. Yervant will illustrate the importance of "finishing" to emphasize how professional photography goes beyond the "click." The seminars will also feature live capture and postproduction with some of Joe's work as well as Yervant's own, which should prove awe-inspiring!
  
  
• At WPPI 2008, Chuck Maring of Maring Lifestyle Photographers filmed the annual Harley Davidson ride through the Nevada desert frequented by some of our more adventuresome photographers. Filmed in HDV, the short video is featured on the Maring blog, www.maringphoto.com/bts/btsblog.html, among other interesting posts. Chuck rode backwards on a Harley just to get some of the shots, so be sure to check this one out!
  
  
• This April, Rangefinder brings you the Commercial/Editorial Issue! With everything from photojournalism to fashion, from sports to wildlife, this issue is comprised of stunning images that are all successes within their respective fields. Check out the magazine to discover brilliant images that run the gamut of photographic expression.
  
  
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