Paul Lender

About Left of Center Photography

Left of Center Photography is simple, relaxed, fun photography that captures clients being themselves. The studio comes to you so that your photos are in the places that are part of your memories.

Archive: ‘personal’



Spice Kitchen+Bar

Saturday, January 21st, 2012

My good friends at Spice of Life Catering Company have opened up a restaurant on Cleveland’s West Side.  You’ll find it right on the corner of Detroit and W 58th Street.   Not only will you find great food and a nice atmosphere, but you also find six huge prints from Left of Center Photography hanging on the walls!

Toward the end of last summer, while I was eating under the trees at Holden Arboretum with Chef Ben and his wife Jackie, they mentioned  that in their search for a new kitchen, they found a whole restaurant.   I asked if they were going to need any art to decorate the place but at that point they weren’t exactly sure since it was all so new.  Fast forward to late this winter and I get a call from Jackie asking if I had anything they could use.  She described the style they had in mind and my heart sank.  I knew I just didn’t have it in my portfolio.  The best way to describe it would be a late fall/early winter harvest type of imagery.  And with Cleveland not exactly having a typical snowy winter I didn’t see much opportunity to go out and capture some pictures that would fit the need.

Then, just two days before Christmas it snowed.  I also just happened to find myself out in eastern Ohio farm country.  Luck was on my side.  A few hours in the car and I had what I hoped they were looking for and it turns out that I did.

Spice

Squash Soup

Apple Tree

Bar Lights

Winter Apples

Menu

Table Art

Winter Farm

Winter Field

Winter Field

Just last Tuesday the restaurant opened up.  The prints made it there that day and are on display until Spring.  Stop down, grab a bite to eat and check them out!

 

Kicking off 2012!

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

Well, another year has come and gone.  2011 was incredibly successful for LoC and I’m hoping that all my past, present and future fantastic clients help make 2012 even better.

I know a lot of photographers post “year in review” blogs right around now, I was tempted to as well, but there were just to many photos to amazing photos to choose from and I didn’t want anybody to be left out.  Instead, I’m going to look forward at what I want 2012 to be like for LoC.

1. More Weddings!  I’ve got a goal to double the number of weddings I shot in 2011!  Are you one of them?  If you’re getting married, or know somebody that is let them know how great LoC is!

Candice + Tom: The Wedding

Tracy & Ben: Girls

2. More Maternity sessions and newborns! Isn’t it time some of my past bride and groom’s started having babies? ;)

Expecting Silhouette Belly Kiss

Pumas

Owen

3. More High School Seniors! This is an area I haven’t spent much time focused on in the past and this year I’m hoping to be a little more aggressive. I’d like to find some senior reps that will help spread the word about LoC at their school in exchange for discounts on their sessions! Let me know if you’re interested or know somebody who could be!

2012: Madison Wall

Rhiannon: Smile

4. Establish Black, White and Boudoir. Boudoir photography continues to grow and gain in popularity and it’s something I’d like to be known for. It’s a great groom’s gift from the bride right around the wedding day. It’s a great anniversary gift for somebody special in your life. The sessions are fun and the pictures are always amazing! Click over to BWB for more info!

Kate on White

You get the idea! LoC is about continuing to make great photographs of the things important to you! Your family, your wedding, your moments! If you are already a client then I can’t wait to see you again in 2012! If you aren’t, well, what are you waiting for?

Christmas Traditions

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

The family I spent yesterday in downtown Cleveland at Tower City.  The kids like to see the decorations and walk the city streets.  It’s become one of our traditions to watch the Toy Soldier show and then grab a bite to eat at some downtown restaurant.  This year was fantastic.  We even had the first serious snow of the Christmas season to help get us in the mood.

Toy Soldier

Tower City Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from LoC

Thursday, December 8th, 2011

Our staff family Christmas card is arriving in mailboxes around the country this week so I thought it was also a good time to share it here.

I wish you a very merry holiday season!

2011 Family Christmas Card

If you’re really geeking out about how I made this don’t worry – a behind the scenes post will follow in a few days! ;)

Slow Down and Look Around

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

Wedding season is over here at LoC and the month of December has been about wrapping up the deliverables from my fall weddings and taking Christmas portraits, cleaning up my office, and thinking about what I want to achieve next year. It’s time to slow down and look around at where I was, where I’ve made it to (thanks to you loyal clients) and where I want to go.

On the Way to the Cascades

This is a picture of my son on Thanksgiving weekend. He took a hike with me, my wife and my father-in-law back into the middle of nowhere at Ohiopyle in PA to see a bunch of rocks and water called “The Cascades”. I took one camera. An big, clunky, 4×5. That meant I also hauled a tripod and a pack full of film holders. Oh, and a light meter. This was about 1/4 of the way to our destination when I stopped to take a shot of the landscape back up into the woods. That shot is on Porta 400 color film that will be sent off to the lab on Monday for processing, but he decided he wanted his picture there as well. He doesn’t ask often so I made sure to take one. He wanted it.

Shooting on film makes me slow down. Shooting with a 4×5 on a tripod with a ground glass focusing screen that composes upside down makes me slow down even more. Composing, metering, setting the film holder…it’s slow. Add in the time sitting in the dark loading the carriers, and 30 minutes in my bathroom…errr..darkroom…hunched over trays developing the negatives and it can be painfully slow. It makes you value each frame. It’s make you take a deep breath.

And it makes me better and what I do for my clients.

Digital frames are throw aways. Take a million. Doesn’t cost you a thing once you buy the card. Film makes you count your pennies. How bad do I want this shot? 35mm gives you 24 chances, 120mm gives you 15, 4×5 gives you one.

Think about that next time your shooting for a client. How bad do I want this shot? Your client wants that shot a lot. Make it the best you can give them. Think about it before snapping the shutter. Is the background right, is the subject right, is the light right, will I have to fix this later? Is it what the client wants?

Slow down…look around…

 

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