Hello everyone and thanks for being here! We recently added the official Facebook page for the studio. Oh yes I had one for myself but I decided that the studio needed it's very own page for those of you who follow us there and don't want to sort through all the other posts. Please stop by and become a fan, friend, or contributor! I for one would love to see some new faces there and on this blog. As always thanks for being here and here is the link to the new Facebook Page
Getting married? Want to inform friends or family of the events, planning process, and even share your images? Check out our new partnership with weddingwebsite.com
As it has been a while since I last posted I wanted to take the time and let everyone know I am finally back in the studio. I just returned from Minneapolis, where I was able to work with some of the best photographers and marketing personnel in the industry. For those who really know the studio you know about our Memories by Michael Parent company name, our Michael's Artistic Imagery name, and maybe you know about Mike Hucal Commercial Photography. Our look, name and sometimes our vision has changed a few times. I am elated to say we are begging the process of ending all the confusion and are preparing to launch something that I take great pride in putting my name on personally. In the mean time we spiced up the blog to reflect the color theme of our new studio. Oh yes, speaking of changes I gave the blog a temporary new name as well. I would love to hear your thoughts on what you think the new name should be. I am looking for something fresh so lets here it. The person's who name we choose will receive a complimentary family portrait session with a free 8x10 desk print. This impromptu contest ends 5/31/2009 so hurry!
Family portrait session must take place in the studio or within 30 miles of studio location!
We had the honor to photograph a wedding today that left even myself and many others in tears at many points of the day. Eva and Jeffrey share a love many only get to dream about. Something like this makes our job so easy and so very rewarding. I was literally speechless with the events of today so I figured what better way to sum up the day than with some of the fun shots from the day. Thank you guys! You were incredible!
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As some may know today is Earth Day. This is a great time to look at what you can do to help you and your family be more eco-friendly.
While there are numerous ways you can help preserve our natural resources we decided to take a few minutes to let you know what we are doing as a studio.
We started in late 2008 by reducing the amount of paper brochures we send out. We now utilize our e-info site that allows potential clients to view brochures electronically and download as needed, thus reducing the amount of paper wasted. In addition we use a lab that uses recycled papers for the print proof books we produce for our clients weddings. In addition we now offer other products and services, like paperless proofing and digital downloads. While this helps in the printing aspect, it not where we stopped.
Our new studio features lighting that is motion activated and thus only comes on when needed. In addition, some of the lighting in the studio uses energy saving bulbs that have a longer life and use less electricity.
Our computer systems are programmed to shut off in the evenings all by themselves. This feature is great for when we have to leave the office in a hurry and have forgotten to turn them off. The built in feature in the operating system checks to make sure there are no jobs running then silently turns the system off.
While this is just the tip of our efforts we do hope it inspires you or maybe even gives you an idea on how to help preserve our earth today and in the years to come! By each of us making small changes, together we can have a big impact.
If you are looking for more ideas or resources please feel free to contact Melissa, my wife, who heads up many environmental initiatives. She can be reached through our studio email system at info@michaelsartisticimagery.com with Eco-Friendly in the subject line!
Well it is finally done and the move to our new studio suite is complete. Some have asked if we moved again and the answer to that is well sort of! We actually had the opportunity to move into a larger suite in the same building, even on the same floor. We obviously took advantage of it. Below are some images of the new space.
This move will allow us a faster turn around time of many of the operations here in the studio. In addition to the space we have new team members that you will hear about soon but now everyone has a place and we can stay on top of production. Of course the biggest reward we have is our clients, so please come visit us! stop down to the new studio to say hello. If you call in advance I will even make sure to have the coffee ready for you!
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We extend a sincere apology for those of you who stopped by our site yesterday to find it down. Wee were completely caught off guard as our hosting company did not notify us until late yesterday that there were some server issues that required them to immediately take down the site to make the needed repairs. While we still do not know how or why this happened I do want to thank those of you who follow our posts and called in to let us know about the problem.
As of this morning it appears that all functionality has been restored. However we have been advised that a possible outage late tonight make take place to finalize the upgrades and or repairs.
