As we approach spring, it is time to say congratulations to the Class of 2007 and welcome the graduates of 2008. To the Class of 2007, we are so pleased to have gotten to know you all! We wish you all the success in the world! For the graduating Class of 2008, welcome and good luck in your senior year! Give us a call or talk to your friends about izzon photography. We are sure they would give us a good grade!

We are very flexible in our time frame so if you would like to visit our studio on Sioux City's west side, please just call and we'll be here. Who needs to have an open house when we have an open house every day? We would love to show you our wonderful backyard studio with its fountains, rock steps, greenery and scenic areas! Our indoor studio has several backdrops and a multitude of colors to change the ones we do have, not to mention digital art we can apply to your portraiture! Bring a friend, dog, car, whatever makes you, well, YOU! You do you better than anyone else so lets have some fun! And leave some money in your pocket for other important things in your life!

Monday I received a call asking if I would be willing to take portraits of groups of contributors with the speaker for the United Way's 7th Annual Women's Power Lunch. Their guest speaker, Naomi Judd, had agreed to have a meeting before she spoke and have group portraits taken. (For those of you who have recently joined civilization, Naomi Judd is the part of the duo the Judd's, a country western duo who won many, many awards in the eighties and nineties. In the mid-nineties, Naomi became ill with Hepatitis C and she retired from singing. Wynonna, the singing Judd, performs and records on her own now with great success. Naomi has another child, Ashley Judd, who is an outstanding actress in her own right.) Of course, I was writing down details and pointing out Naomi’s name to Chris when she realized I was discussing taking portraits with our local citizens with this celebrity. She was bouncing up and down with glee as I agreed to help, saying I thought if I didn’t, I was going to be killed by my intern! Eric and I had both done work for United Way before and are always happy to help. It is truly our belief that when you live in a community, you give back to the community, so to take portraits of volunteers, women volunteers, who give so much is a great HONOR and taking them with Naomi Judd, that is just icing on the cake!

Ms. Judd talked of gratitude and growing old gratefully (gratefully, not gracefully, although she is the essence of the Southern belle). She is sugar and spice, full of “piss and vinegar”, as my mother would say, otherwise known as humor and spirit, but that is a wonderful for a lady who has not always had it so easy. Through her life experiences, she says she has experienced “Aha” moments that made her think about her life choices, making bad ones and figuring out why. As a communicator, she feels the need to tell her story so she can help people find choices, good ones.

Naomi Judd made quite an entrance at the Sioux City Convention Center. I had just taken a shot of her coming into the door when, upon seeing the flash, she stopped, placed her hand on her hip, Ms. Judd looked up and yelled, “Well, good morning!” to me from below. I could not resist the opportunity!

Yesterday several clients stopped by to get announcements ordered for the big day-graduation! This is an exciting time of reflection of high school and the excitement of the future. Eric and I are always so inspired and awestruck by the many ideals and goals "our" seniors embrace. It is great to see ambition, citizenship and courtesy in the upcoming generation. They are a continued source of joy for us and we try hard to capture their spirit although so large, we usually can only catch a glimmer of it.

Markcus stopped by and we created this card for him. Markcus is a charming young man with a smile that lights up a city block and a personality to match. He is headed to the USArmy in July. We wish him success

Aaron's mom stopped by and we made an announcement for him, very similar to that of his brothers announcement. The two brothers are close in age and look very much alike. Janet wanted to keep peace in the house so the card for Aaron is just like Valente's. Valente is finishing his sophmore year in college and Aaron will be going to college in the fall. This mom should be proud of her two sons! We are!!

As yesterday's tragic events at Virginia Tech unfolded, I worked in my studio with Chris and visited with clients, content with my personal and professional life. I enjoyed my day, the warmth of stepping outside, the spring breeze, friendly interactions with clients, family and friends. Oblivious to the tragedy at VT and other events in the world, I went about my day. Today, I begin my work with a renewed sadness of the senseless loss of life and a heartfelt compassion to those of the VT family.

I read the news and watched a telephone video clip as the murders took place and shake my head in wonder about the world but I want to take a moment to reflect the future of mass communications. Everyone could be an amateur photojournalist if he or she are in the "right" time or place, own a cell phone with a camera or can capture video clips. While freedom of speech is the cornerstone of our freedom, and an ideology I have defended stoutly, information should be shared with sensitivity. Imagine what the parents of the students killed would feel should they hear the gunshots that killed their child. Before making your information available to the masses, ask the simple question, "Is this newsworthy?" This is a debate that can be argued in both directions, by myself included, and result in different conclusions, depending on the subject matter.

A shout out to a fellow photographer who has become ill, Eric and I wish this person a speedy and full recovery! If we can help in any way, please let us know.

On a recent trip to Omaha, we found some interesting things to look at and photograph. Eric took an a photograph of a bunch of meters. I did some digital adjustment and liked the results.

Afterwards we stopped by DeSoto Bend and chased some animals. Here is a goose and gander. Look how the goose is decoying for the gander while she sits on a nest.

Friday the 13, a date for the suspicious, it has long been a day of dread. I am not suspicious but the day has started on a sad note. One of our wedding dates has been cancelled. We always look forward to photographing weddings. Some photographers find it too stressful; we find it so much fun! At any rate, we have some dates available for weddings on the weekends in July, two in August and now one in October so if anyone is interested, give us a call at 712-277-3524! On a happier note, I have to run because I have a client coming in and I have to vacuum. Oh, the exciting part of being a home based business. Sunday, it is picking up Duke droppings!

Seniors are ordering wallets and announcements at this time of year. It is wonderful to catch up, hear how their final high school year progressed, and show them how much we can do with their images when it comes to additional artwork. Here are some examples of boarders we can provide and different examples of where you can be creative with one portrait.

I have added a simple boarder to this image,

and then turned it black and white.

Next, I have added text with color for a bit of contrast.

Now, I have taken that same beginning image and adjusted the color to sepia, giving it a timeless feel.

This is a small example of how you can make one photograph into many.

Katie and her mom stopped by to order her graduation announcements. Katie had an idea of what she wanted and we helped her create it. Always great to visit with such nice folks. Here is the end result.

Saturday we had a portrait session off studio in a clients home. Their grown children and grandchildren came together to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary and Easter. They were a nice family and really were accommodating to our invasion! We brought a backdrop and a flash on a stand and went in with no prior knowledge of what to expect for ambient lighting. The family room had a skylight that presented a bit of a problem and a staircase that could have proved dangerous if you didn’t keep your wits about you! Eric took most of the images and I took a few.

Eric took this shot while I took images of an individual family.

Don’t let that frighten you! This was the result after a bit of digital work.

Happy Easter!

The family of the previously mentioned portrait session requested the images be removed. I agreed to do so because the father stated he that was his wishes. Please be aware that when we agree to take photographs, we have the right to use any we take for our marketing purposes. We will remove them if specifically requested. This is specifically stated at the end of our invoice. Most people are pleased to be chosen to be showcased for our marketing but when someone prefers to not have their images used for marketing, we will remove it if possible.

Hello All,

Exciting times here at iZZon Photography. A new photo season has started and the trees are turning green. My favorite time of year is spring, a time of new beginnings. We are cleaning up the yard, building new venues as well as starting some major new projects. This blog is one of our new projects. Others include redesigning izzon.com and creating a new site for stock photography called “iZZon InFocus”. We have taken thousands of photos over the years and this is going to be a great place to show them off. We are also working on a process that will allow clients to have images sent to their iPod or cell phone. Denise and I will both be blogging and keeping all of our friends and family informed of the progress as it unfolds and of course, we look forward to meeting and making new friends and having them join the iZZon family along the way! We both really enjoy photography, it’s our passion and we are excited about starting a new venture. Welcome and watch as we keep our izzon in focus.