Merry Christmas!

The grandkids are here today for their annual Christmas card portraits. Right after Halloween, even before I start thinking about Christmas photographs, we start to get calls for family portraits and children's portraits and most of the callers ask, "Can we have them before Christmas?" The answer, of course is, "Yes!"

Digital imaging has complicated the lives of many of my fellow photographers and I have to say, that it was an interesting transition for me, but I'd never go back to film. Digital is much easier on the environment, and at this point in time, I can honestly say that the images are superior to the images we made on film. Plus, the turn around time in our lab is shorter. During some times of the year, though, it is difficult to get the orders to the lab on time because of the amount of camera room time that I have scheduled. (Not a bad thing, really)

So the kids are here today, and we'll have some fun with them in the camera room and then "the mommy," our daughter, can select her favorite images for Christmas.

It's a good life!

And the Winner is...?

Left, you see a photograph of a hair stylist from Rhinelander (WI) who was selected as the national winner in the glamour category of the Fantastic Sams National Artistic Styling Awards that was recently held in New Orleans. We did the photography for the contest entry, which was subsequently chosen as a national finalist that then became the national winner. Her entry was one of over 750 at the convention.

We feel very honored that the Rhinelander Fantastic Sams would trust us with the photography of their entrants and we are pleased that the entry was so successful. Congratulations!

I get a good feeling when I find out that that the talents that I've been given and acquired help someone else.

Speaking of helping someone else... we are now in the middle of our annual Turkey Daze portrait promotion. For the price of a frozen turkey, we'll photograph our client and then donate the bird to the local food pantry in the client's name. The food pantry can then help people in the community, that are having a tough time, have a happy Thanksgiving.

A Saturday Night Out

This is my first posting on the newly created blog site for Phil Ziesemer Photography, Ltd. I thought that I'd write about my night out at the play with my wife, Mary.

"Get Smart" was the fall play for Merrill High School this year. It was an adaptation of the 70's TV show by the same name that featured actor Don Adams as "86," Maxwell Smart and Barbara Feldon as "99." It was hilarious and I find myself still saying quips from that show today, the most famous being, "Would you believe...?" We went to the show for a few reasons, like "hey, in a small town, this is about as much culture as you're going to find," and "hey, this is fun and retro!" and Let's look at the posters that we created for the kids." The last being the very last because we'd already seen the posters since we made them! It's some of the most fun that I have as a photographer. It's always a pleasure to work with fellow artists. The arts must continue to be offered in our schools! (OK, that's as political as I'm going to get)


The play was great fun and the actors and actresses did a fine job. It was the last night of the play's run so they were all on top of their parts as was the crew. It seemed as though the play went off without a missed line or cue. Great Job Guys! Nancy Arndorfer and Anne Caylor directed the show and they have a great way with the kids.

So, that's it. My first blog post. Talk to ya later!