Just got a note from Pictage, our online proofing/lab partner, about a planned system outage this weekend:  Commencing at 11pm Pacific time this Friday, January 8, 2010, Pictage websites and systems will go through a major maintenance and upgrade process that will require most sites and systems to be offline for a period of 24-48 hours. The upgrade has been carefully planned by our technology team, so all of your current data and images will be protected. However you and your customers will not be able to access most of our sites and systems for the duration of the upgrade which will be completed at latest by 11pm Pacific time on Sunday January 10th.

Basically, for those of you looking to access your online proofing during that period, it's going to be offline.  I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.

My blog has been relocated to the front page of IanLozada.com... update your links/RSS feed and head there for all the latest news and images from this season!

No, I didn't Photoshop this, and no, I didn't borrow it from someone else. Really.

Declan is the only one in the family willing to photographed with me anymore.

With the New York Rangers' 2-1 Game 4 win over the Washington Capitals last night, the Broadway Blueshirts are guaranteed to survive at least to Game 7, and are pretty good bets to advance to the next round to face the Boston Bruins. As a result, my Pathetic Playoff Beard Fund to benefit Anna House currently stands at $74.

Things I've learned/heard so far through this experience:

1. These things itch.
2. Babies like to grab whiskers.
3. My mother asked me how much she'd have to donate to get me to shave it off.
4. I'm pretty sure my oldest daughter is actively rooting against the Rangers at this point. She likes the fact that this money helps other kids have preschool and infant care, but she's not kissing Daddy anytime soon.
5. Being half-Filipino, I still can't grow enough beard to look like I just haven't washed my face yet. Although it grows more on my neck than on my face.
6. I'm a lot more appreciative of the great child care my own kids get. And I'm grateful that unlike the Anna House kids, I'm not having to drop them off at 5AM.

We're still accepting pledges-- you can pledge either to sponsor my attempt to grow something resembling a playoff beard for each day the Rangers are alive, or you can pledge a set amount if you were told there wouldn't be any math. Contact me at Ian@IanLozada.com for info or check the Anna House website for donation information.

For more information about Anna House and the Belmont Child Care Association, please visit BelmontChildCare.org or click here to see the Anna House video.

As spring begins to appear in bits and pieces, I've been starting to get the e-sessions going again. I recently had a week where I had four of them, two in Lexington, two in New York. Oddly enough, three of them were for Lexington weddings, however.

I started off on a Tuesday with Heather and Vann, who chose Keeneland, before we moved to downtown Lexington.

The next day, Carlyn and Scottie met me at the UK Arboretum, followed by Jacobsen Park.

After a travel day, I was back in New York, and Sunday afternoon, Julia and Vlad (and Julia's daughter Nicole!) met me in the Conservatory Gardens in Central Park, before we moved on to the Harlem Meer in the Northeast corner of the park. (A week later, I did their wedding in Brooklyn, so look for that here on the blog shortly...)

Finally, Neema and Arjun met me on Tuesday. They're getting married in Lexington this June, but he's a resident at New York Hospital, so they asked to do their session in Central Park. We started there, but before long, we were wandering Chinatown and the West Village, before trying to get to the Brooklyn Bridge by sunset. We realized we weren't going to make it when we got out of the subway, but lo and behold, we were at the docks for the Staten Island Ferry, which just happens to A) be a free ride, meaning no lost time getting tickets; and B) it goes past the Statue of Liberty. Which isn't a bad place to find yourself when the sun's setting.

As always, you can see more from each album on my business Facebook page...

From time to time (until we sell the house on Long Island), I still do New York weddings on a subcontract basis, and the firm I work with out there asked me to put together a slideshow of some of my recent stuff. I thought it would fit nicely here as well. Enjoy.

From time to time (until we sell the house on Long Island), I still do New York weddings on a subcontract basis, and the firm I work with out there asked me to put together a slideshow of some of my recent stuff. I thought it would fit nicely here as well. Enjoy.

I'm offering two special collections for February, featuring beautiful photobooks and albums from Zookbinders. Each collection is only available to a limited number of brides, so the first brides to get in a deposit will get their choice! My daughter Caroline got to name the offers, and she's been on a big Disney Princess kick, so here goes:

Offer 1: The Briar Rose (5 available)
Engagement session
Unlimited time on the wedding date from Ian.
9x9 inch Photobook lay-flat coffeetable book (40 sides) with wraparound photo cover
DVD of all finished images with printing rights release

Price: $2850.00 ($1500 due at signing, $675 due at 90 days and at 60 days before the wedding date)

***

Offer 2: The Princess Aurora (3 available)
Engagement session
Unlimited time on the wedding date from Ian and an associate photographer.
10x10 inch Zookbook lay-flat album (40 sides) with Reflectionz photo cover and two matching 6x6 Photobook clone coffeetable books (each additional Photobook is $250 with this offer)
DVD of all finished images with printing rights release

Price: $4500.00 ($1500 due at signing, $1000 due at 90 days and at 60 days before the wedding date, $1000 due upon album design approval)

***

I've never offered the DVD on a basic-level package before, so this is an excellent opportunity, and the upgrade package gives you two photographer coverage, a premium album and parent books as well as the DVD at a discounted rate.

Offers good now through February 28th, 2009.

Just got tired of looking at the old template.

Also, I figured that the design of the Christmas Card was no longer a big secret, so...

Yes, the twins have personalized "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" onesies to go with Caroline's Cat-In-The-Hat chapeau.

Already plotting about the theme for next year's cards. Maybe they'll actually go out before Christmas this year.

It's been a busy October around here. Shot in my eighth different state this year (Connecticut, for those of you scoring at home). Did headshots for a couple of my Lexington friends. Got to go to the PhotoPlus show at the Javits Center in New York as well, and took in seminars by wedding photographer Joe Buissink and commercial portraitist Michael Grecco, as well as all the great talks at the various booths by standouts like Vincent Laforet, Joe McNally, Cliff Mautner and others.

Even more important, however, was getting in some much needed time with my wife Kristina and our three wonderful kids. Caroline has really blossomed since starting preschool-- everyday I'm amazed at how bright she is. Declan and Audrey finally moved out of their bassinets and are now upstairs in our house, finally in cribs. In a related story, Declan slept through the night for the first time last week. The little guys thoroughly enjoyed Halloween... Caroline went as Cinderella, Audrey wore a ladybug costume that Caroline had worn before her, and Declan was a monkey-- and if you know how physical Dec is, then you know it was quite appropriate! One of the best moments was Caroline, with her hair up, and feeling pretty pleased with herself, greeting her grandmother at the door on Halloween, exclaiming, "Grandma! I'm gorgeous!" Can't make this stuff up.