This past weekend my father-in-law gave me Kristen's starter camera, a Pentax Super ME 35mm film camera with a 49mm 2.0 lens. I've collected about a handful of family cameras over the last three years. I love figuring out their history, how they work, and the impact they had on the photography industry when they debuted. Nerdy. So far, I've determined how this camera works, what was wrong with it, how to fix it! and how to take some exposures. This thing is solid. No plastic, all metal and glass, with this camera Pentax answered the Nikon F series. Now, Pentax definitely lost the pro-sumer camera battle. They still make awesome gear but aren't the industry warhorse that Nikon is.

We are photographers, but we don't just snap pictures, cover events, or sell our time to the public. We preserve memories. Part of our manifesto, " A hidden photograph is not worth taking", tries to communicate that photographs only mean something when viewed and cherished. If the image isn't worthy of display, then it isn't worth taking.

One aspect of creating the visual art of people's lives, is making sure the images are well preserved. We create images that your children and their children will return to time and time again. The images aren't just Facebook fodder, they are heirlooms. And as such, they should be treated with care. 

When we got our first studio sample of these beautiful wedding albums, we loved everything that came in the shipping box. The beautiful 100 year rated papers, inks, binding and leathers all delighted our senses. But, when we were done looking through the album, we had to return it to the cardboard and faux leather box. It didn't suit us and we wanted more for our brides and families. You deserve better. The box that could get scratched, sharpie-ed, chewed, and stained just sat there like a lump hiding our beautiful album. We had to fix this. I collected my tools and went to work.

We needed something durable enough to stand the test of time, something worthy of  passing to future generations. It had to be gorgeous and classic as well. I decided to employ my love of woodworking and developed my own handmade product. I developed an album box reminiscent of an heirloom jewelry cabinet. 

Our recent bride, Natalie, was good enough to come in yesterday to shoot this little promo video with her album. I guess I should mention we have the best clients. Take a minute and view the spread of her album right HERE. 

Great people.

Great Vendors.

Awesome booth.

Fantastic new clients.

All in all a really wonderful experience. Here are the photos to prove it, that part about the awesome booth, at least.

We were so pleased with the vinyl logo that Fast Signs printed for us, and Tim mounted to our background. Exact color match and font, yay! 

And just a small preview of our new product for wedding clients, the wooden album box. Get excited everybody! We look forward to dedicating a whole featured post on this product coming soon!

Isn't it beautiful?!

We'll see you there!

Here at the Faithful Studios we have been scrutinizing over our offerings. The great business owners alway say to know, really know, what your value is to your clients. Do you sell mattresses? No, you give people rest, energy, and a great attitude towards life. Are you just an exercise coach? No, you are helping people invest in themselves. Is it just another computer you're selling? Nope again, this keeps families connected and builds love. 

Well, we've been asking ourselves what is photography and why is it important? The answer smacked us on the face when we had kids. Shepherd loves looking at our cameras to see his image. He loves saying "cheeaazzzee" and hamming it up. But what we find important, what keeps us clicking (pun), is the idea that Shepherd may one day show his kids our pictures. We are in the business of creating heirlooms for the future. We create, out of thin air mind you, a piece of work that holds a celebrated moment. Something as simple as, "this is us a month before our wedding" or "this is our family when you, baby girl, were just one". Or, of course, "this was our wedding day". 

If it is true that these moments are important to you, that these moments need to be honored and cherished, then it is also true that these images need to be handled properly. Let us do that for you.

When we look for products to offer here at Fidelis we look for a couple of specific things:

1) is it beautiful

2) is it timeless

3) is it durable

With these considerations, I introduce the Canvas.

These guys are completely custom. Meaning, every size from 8x10 - all the way up to 40x30 is guaranteed to be precisely what you want and to fit the space you have for it. 

Canvas has been getting a lot of press with the photography community in the last year or so, but has failed to become as mainstream as the simple 4x6 print. The strength and weakness of the custom canvas is that it is too timeless. A 4x6 takes almost zero commitment and if you've just moved into your first apartment that makes sense. However, if you've just bought your first home (an implied minimum of 3yrs) a canvas makes even more sense. Pick that image or tryptich and throw it up on your wall with boldness. The ink, canvas, and frame are all museum rated (100+years) and if it ever gets wrinkled or over stretched our particular canvas maker has free stretching for life on their canvases. A timeless and durable product.

These are a couple of our canvases in the wild. Most of these are already two years old, though they look brand spankin new. In fact, with the exception of just one of the families in these images, all of these have added new members to the family since these images were made! Don't worry, we'll be creating something special for the newbies.