Monumental Memories...

I love flipping through old stacks of Polaroids and loose prints, as well as old photo albums. Ah, to be a kid again- when your biggest worry was finding that toy you lost, or having to explain to Dad how you broke the TV...

Photos are like time machines. Staring at the details and soaking in the emotion on the faces of each person in the frame takes you back unlike any mental recollection alone can.

Back in October I had the privilege of shooting Elaine and Michael's Wedding on Lake Conroe. It's hard to believe it's already been 3 months since then! But as they say, Time marches on...
And that's why I feel it's really important to freeze time with photographic documentation.

I was proud to present Elaine and Michael's album to them earlier this month. This piece is a Custom Laminated Photo Hard-Cover album, with Leporello binding, true Photographic Prints on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper, fold-flat seamless goodness in all it's Monumental 30.5 cm. Glory. OK, That's 12-inches to us yanks'. But 30.5-centimeters sounded better. 609 mm. Sounds better still...


You may not think a 12-inch album would be very big, but in person, it's quite astounding. Opening the album instantly doubles the media real estate for a sweeping 12-inch by 24-inch spread. (30.5 cm x 61cm.) You literally have to set the thing down on a table and step back to look at it all.


Just look how it dwarfs the iPhone:


Mighty fine binding...


Stunning lay-flat panoramas...


That's detail baby! Even the "small" inlay photos are huge, they were like 5"x7" in person.



The back cover. A discreet tag is standard on albums. Sometimes it's inside, sometimes on the back cover. It's like signing the piece of work that I invested so much time, thought and energy into. I really like the Cameo Inlay print on this one. It looks like a 3-D window on the back cover.


With this particular album we included a custom fitted dust-cover to protect it from minor scuffs and scrapes when you take it around to show all your friends. It also compels guests to ask "Hey, what's in the pretty case?" at which point you eagerly show off all your fabulous photos...


This is only one of many album options we offer. I highly suggest investing in one for yourself. It's more than just a great way to share your moments with your friends and family. It will be your time machine 10 or 15 years from now.

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First Blog- Breakin' her in...

So here's the first entry into the Slick Pix blog. I've never used a blog and honestly don't really care for them. But I think it would be cool a few years from now, to go back in time and see what was going on in this period of time.

I thought I would start my first blog by posting kind of a review of a new-ish album company that has partnered up with Smug Mug. The album company is called MyCanvas.

The design software was great. It was all done online and the options were mind blowing. The software could use a few updates, such as organized picture pools, and used-photo memos. But the layout designer was really professional looking and feeling. You can pretty much do anything with it.

I designed the first album as an anniversary gift for some friends. I opted for the 8"x11" hard-bound Leather cover, and 25 pages total.

It arrived 15 working days after I submitted the order. Roughly 3 weeks total, which isn't bad, but could be better. They require 10 working days for printing and binding, and 5 days for shipping. It arrived in a media-mail fitted cardboard box via UPS.

The Album itself was shrink-wrapped in plastic.
The leather feels soft to the touch and smells nice.

The front cover has metallic gold letters on them. They're not embossed, they are either printed or screen-printed on. I'm not sure how they get them on there...








The prints were decent, and the paper is kind of thin, but it has a quality look and feel. If you look close enough, you can see the dots from the printer, or the DPI.

I was disappointed by the thinness of the book, as the photos on their website show thicker books. They must be using sample books with at least 100 pages in them. The pages are thin, but have a nice feel and sheen.

If you open the book up wide, you can see the stitch-binding done in the gutter. Not a big deal, but it does look kind of cheap.

Overall, I was pleased with the book, but I would not be happy if I had to sell it to clients.
They do have a "Premium" line, but it costs as much as some other High-Profile wedding-book providers who have much higher quality.
Stay tuned for an update soon. I Just got some new gear I want to blog about.
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P.S. I don't know what's going on with the spacing and stuff on the layout. It's whack. Hopefully the next one will be cleaner.