Best Visuals

...and thanks for all the fish!

2008-08-02T10:43:00.002-06:00

If you're a "Hitchhiker's Guide through the Galaxy" fan, you'll understand that title.

I'm announcing the end of Best Visuals in 2008. We're closing our doors as I have moved on to gainful employment in the software industry in Colorado Springs. I appreciate the 5 years I was doing wedding and event photography, and it allowed me to be home with my children during their teenage years. The loss of weekends, the 18 hour days and the feast-or-famine schedule of weddings and events eventually drove me to a regular paying job.

Thanks again for all the brides that made my last five years possible, good luck!

This has NOTHING to do with Best Visuals...

2008-07-04T17:55:00.002-06:00

...but we just bought my son his first car. We didn't plan on buying a car today but we went to the "Huge Car Sale" at the World Areana in Colorado Springs and found this [hopefully] beaut of a car. We'll have it checked out at a dealer tomorrow, but barring some unforeseen problem we have him a car. The best thing is that he got to pick it out and it fit our budget.

I won first place!

2008-05-24T23:07:00.004-06:00

I won first place in the Passenger Cars 1979-1985 category today at the Durango, CO car show. I was totally surprised. I'm not at a computer where I can post a lot of my images, but I'll put three from the show today. It was my second car show in my first two weeks of car ownership.

Whew! It's been busy!

2008-05-23T08:08:00.002-06:00

I flew to Houston, TX to pick up a collector's automobile ( http://mydeloreanblog.blogspot.com/ ). I have never seen so much rain as in Denton, TX on my two-day drive home. I used to live in Texas for 10 years so I'm used to summer thunderstorms but Noah has never seen rain like this.

Currently Best Visuals is working on our latest wedding album for Christine & Josh. We anticipate it will be our best ever!

What a great wedding day!

2008-04-28T13:54:00.002-06:00

Christine & Josh had a fantastic day for their wedding! They got married at Sunrise Methodist Church on Briargate Road in Colorado Springs, CO this past Saturday. Their incredible reception was at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. Personally I have *never* had smoked salmon as good as I had at the reception (yes, the family fed me!). What a great way for two families to join up...

Beautiful wedding location

2008-04-23T10:50:00.002-06:00

My latest wedding is taking place at Sunrise Methodist Church in Colorado Springs. I visited the church today for the first time, and found the sanctuary lovely. I took my fisheye lens with me and took this dramatic shot at the altar...

Car Convention Video Project

2008-03-07T09:23:00.005-07:00

I've been approved to coordinate the DCS 2008 Car Show video project in June 2008. This is a car show for Delorean and Bricklin car owners (I think it's the "Gullwing Society") in Gettysburg, PA the second week of June 2008. I will be collecting video from the speakers, taking some myself, accepting photos from the attendees and then selling a convention documentary video. I've done this kind of speculation video before for high school graduations and class reunions so it's old hat to me. The group apparently had some distribution problems in previous years so I will rectify that problem. It will be a nice vacation, my son Reese is planning to go with me as an extra cameraman and assistant.

I'm a professor now!

2008-02-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

I was just accepted as an adjunct professor at Colorado Christian University teaching photography classes. My first class is April 2008, and I look forward to teaching again. I've taught college-level computer science classes as well as photograpic classes for professional photographers.

A Holiday wedding

2007-12-30T20:18:00.000-07:00

Becky & Dave just got married on December 29th. Their reception was at the Embassy Suites, which was decorated for Christmas. Best Visuals was fortunate enough to photograph their wedding event. When I asked Becky what she was going to do for her anniversary (being right between Christmas and New Years), she replied that they would be keeping all three events separate in the future!

A dusting of snow in December...

2007-12-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

We had a light snow (1" - 2") on Dec. 8th, it made the city look great. The snow is dry, so it looks like plastic particles!

T-Day 2007!

2007-11-23T15:09:00.001-07:00

We had a great, if short, Thanksgiving 2007. My parents-in-law and my brother-in-law drove to Colorado Springs from New Mexico. Due to my nephew's basketball schedule, his family could only stay for Thanksgiving day but we were glad to have them. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday!

I'm finally in the 21st century!

2007-11-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

So as a result of FINALLY getting an iPod for my most recent birthday (I'm 25, again!), I decided to be able to convert my videos and photo montages to iPod format. What you see in the photo is my brother's digital camera vid of his son, Ian, learning to walk. It took 3 format conversions to get it correctly moved to my iPod, but it's nice to have it when it was done. One of my favorite brides, Melanie Mauss, is the first recipient of montages-to-iPods conversion. The photo montage of her ceremony and reception are now converted for use on her video iPod. I hope she likes it, and even better, hope she shows it to her friends. Thanks, wife, for giving me a video Nano for my BD!

Another beautiful afternoon in Colorado

2007-10-18T07:36:00.001-06:00

Here's a late afternoon photo of Pikes Peak taken Oct. 17, 2007. Weather was rolling in from the north, but hadn't hit the peak yet. I grabbed this shot from my back deck before I had to shut the windows. It was cooling off quickly and the windows being open was not an option anymore. It's warmed up since then, but clearly winter is on its way...

ANOTHER beautiful sunrise in Colorado!

2007-10-02T09:17:00.000-06:00

I saw this sunrise about 6:30am on Sept. 28th, from my deck in the back of the house. It's currently my desktop wallpaper. I sent it to the television stations that usually accept viewer's photos, but they didn't run it. I think I've had my photos shown so much that they let others have their photos on TV (currently, I've had five different photos on local TV). Ever since my son has started early classes at High School I've been able to see the sunrise (I'm his ride to school for a little bit longer).

Melanie & Doug get hitched!

2007-09-23T16:25:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of photographing and videotaping Melanie & Doug's wedding at Holy Cross Lutheran Church this past Saturday. I've never been to the church before and was pleasantly surprised to find how beautiful the place was. Melanie & Doug were just made for each other...I've rarely had such a fun time at a wedding as I did on Saturday.

Rachel's High School portrait

2007-08-10T21:46:00.000-06:00

Rachel of Pueblo, CO had her senior photograph taken today in the Garden of the Gods. They drove all the way from Pueblo this morning for their session. We look forward to more Senior portraits this year!

Out-of-state visitors wanting a portrait...

2007-07-06T09:49:00.000-06:00

I had the good fortune to get a call from a local B&B that had a visiting family from Missouri needing a group portrait at the Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs. This couple was two of 8 people in total, and we shot various groups at different locations in the park. What a great idea to have a family portrait when all the crew is together!

Erin & Nick get married!

2007-06-19T20:43:00.001-06:00

Erin & Nick got married on June 16, 2007 at one of the prettiest churches in Colorado Springs - St. Mary's. Nestled in the center of town, this beautiful church has construction going on all around it but it remains a fantastic place to wed. Erin & Nick went from the church to the Embassy Suites for a great reception!

Family goes to New York!

2007-06-12T09:06:00.000-06:00

My daughter graduated high school this past month, so we took the family on a trip to New York. I grew up in the East Coast but never made it to New York all the time I was living in Virginia. We had a delightful time eating at a different restaurant every meal and seeing the sights. Here we are taking a carriage ride around Central Park.

Man, I'm getting older...

2007-05-29T07:10:00.000-06:00

My oldest, Elyse, graduated High School this Memorial Day weekend. I won't really feel it until she moves into her apartment for college this Fall. She graduated with highest honors from CSCS (Colorado Springs Christian School), class of 2007. She's attending UCCS here in town for the first year, then probably attending CSU in Ft. Collins, CO next year.

Happy couple ready to get married!

2007-05-21T14:27:00.000-06:00

We just shot the engagement photo for Maggie & Josh who are getting married on June 9 in Colorado Springs. They have a great place on 5 acres in Black Forrest and we look forward to photographing their wedding!

I'm related to the Queen!

2007-05-10T20:58:00.000-06:00

With the Queen of England in Jamestown, VA (where I grew up, it's near Norfolk, VA) this email arrives in my in-box today, sent by a friend, Bob. The subject of the article is my cousin, Robert, and his relation to the Queen also makes me a distant cousin to her!
********************
Hey, Wilson:
Did you know that you are a cousin to the Queen of England? Your cousin, Robert Hitchings, had an article in the paper this week. Follow the link to your royal status (do I have to address you as “Sir Wilson” now?).
Bob
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=124073&ran=27323
********************

On-site printing with green screen!

2007-04-30T15:48:00.000-06:00

I was up at the Denver Hyatt on Sunday doing an on-site printing job for another photographer. I'm including a photo of the setup. Notice the green-screen; we superimposed a background image behind the subjects. The efffect worked out great! Call me if you want on-site printing for proms, corporate events, weddings.

New light box!

2007-04-20T11:33:00.000-06:00

I built a new small-product light box this past week and have been having a blast shooting some small items. This is my favorite so far, just a test photo, not really setup to show the watch correctly. The actual box is very easy to make, inexpensive ($15) and easy to use.

Day after the snow...

2007-04-11T09:08:00.000-06:00

We had an unusual snow storm here in Colorado. Par for the course, the snow was gone 24 hours later. I like taking panoramic images and tried out my stitch software on this 5-image shot from my back deck. This was taken on Tuesday, April 10, 2007. It was chilly so I didn't take the time I needed to line up the shot. I'm really considering getting a panoramic head for my tripod that will ensure perfect panoramic photographs. Please click on the photo to see the full image.