Status update....

Time flies when you are having a blast and that's exactly what this month has been.....a BLAST! There is so much going on and news I want to share but am crazy busy with Christmas just 2 days away (I still think that I must have time traveled through 2008 because I can't believe it is already over)!
You may be asking yourself.....if Christan is so busy, why is he writing a blog to tell us nothing more than "Hi, I'm busy". WELL....I wanted to share that a few things will be changing around here and wanted to let everyone in on what's about to come.....stay tuned for:

• A website early Jan 2009 (finally)


• New Blog with fancy slide shows, bigger images and all the stuff a geeky photographer dreams of their blog being


• Photo session give-aways


• and.....well, I guess you will have to stay tuned to find out what else :)

Q:How does this effect you?!
A:If you are currently going to "www.christanp.com" to get to this blog you just have to stay tuned for all the goodness to come. If you are getting here through another url, please update your bookmarks and start going to "www.christanp.com"

Q:Will you have a designated portfolio on your new site?
A:Yes, we will have a section that displays 4 different categories (Weddings, Engagements, Portraits and Children)

Q:Will you have pricing for your services?
A:Setting a specific price wouldn't accommodate everyone's needs so we will place a price range to help you get an idea of what a wedding or portrait session would run.

Q:I thought you said you were busy?!
A:I am.....so..BYE and Merry Christmas!

Baby Portraits

Last week Allegra had the opportunity to complete the second of a two part series with baby Penelope. I can't believe that 4 months have passed since the first shoot; she was just a week old when Billy and Melissa brought her over. Here are a few pictures of Penelope's second shoot.

***husband bragging alert***
It's no secret that my wife and I love photography but it is little known that my wife loves photographing babies. I find (at least) an email a week in my inbox of photos she has taken of Ashton (which I LOVE) while at home. Here are a few more photos of various kids/babies she's taken.

***husband bragging over***

Charlie + Danielle Engagement Photos

Last weekend I got to shot an engagement session of Charlie and Danielle (they've got to be the cutest couple ever) with Ely Roberts.
Danielle and Charlie are finishing up at Biola University in May 09 and are getting married in June in my old stomping grounds; Hanford.

During our shoot it was easy to see how in love these two were; every chance they could, they were gazing at each other whispering things and laughing....it made taking picture quit easy :)
Here are a few of my favorite photos from downtown SLO to Tolosa Winery.

Congratulations Charlie and Danielle!

Photography is Art...

Recent conversations have inspired me to write a post unlike the usual.

Recently I was talking with a few people who asked a two intriguing questions; 1. how am I different from my "competitors"? & 2. why is pricing different from one photographer to the next?

There is a short and relatively simple answer to both of these questions that I think surprised those who asked. We feel that when you hire a photographer you are hiring an artist. Like any other industry, a photographer is unique in their own ways: personality, approach, artistic style, pricing, etc. (Like my friend Cameron says: There is only one ChristanP [and you can insert any other photographers name here, too].

When my wife and I were planning our wedding we saw the work of dozens of photographers before we found one we related to. We hired him because his style was like no other photographer's that we had seen. We loved how he photographed non "traditionally" and uniquely. In addition to his style, and more importantly, was how comfortable we felt during our first few meetings with him. He thought our crazy ideas would end up as great shots. Although we interviewed a few photographers that had cheaper rates, we felt that he, as an artist, was right for us.
(our crazy idea, his great shots)

Now that my wife and I are on the other side of the lens, we have a deeper understanding of how important it is to find the right "match" in personality and artistically. When you hire a photographer, you are typically not paying them to point, shoot, and print your images; you are buying their creative edge, the time it takes to shoot, and (commonly over looked) you are buying the time it takes to edit the photos (what sets most artists/photographers apart).

An original photo, while it maintains the creative composition, doesn't often have the final touch that editing provides. It can take hours to edit a photo session and the result is a true, unique piece of art specific to that photographers "style".

Here are a few samples of before and after shots to give you an idea of what I mean by "style" and to highlight the art of editing in itself:

So the next time you are thinking about hiring a photographer to capture a moment in your life, remember, if you give a dozen artists that same scene to paint, all twelve paintings will look completely different in the end. Pick the "painter" who will paint what you're wanting and remember, only you can determine if the art they provide is worth the fee they charge to create it. For us, photography is art – it is what decorates our walls and builds our hearts with stockpiles of irreplaceable memories.