livebooks blog

Meet Kevin Clark of Kevin Clark Studios. Now a commercial photographer, his training was originally in graphic design. In art school, he picked up a camera for the first time during an elective class and immediately fell in love. After art school, he set up shop in Vancouver. He first began photographing performers and actors, as the film and TV industry was just starting to take off in his area. His wife, Trish, was a makeup artist, and they teamed up to establish a strong niche in the market. The industry exploded in the ’90’s with the development of many Sci-Fi based shows and big budget feature films. Their actors stayed busy, and as a result, so did their studio.

In 1999, they decided to go on an adventure and moved to Cairo, Egypt. There, the Clarks worked with advertising agencies, magazines and NGOs, while seeing parts of Egypt that not many people see. When Trish got pregnant with their first child, they moved back to Vancouver and re-established their business.

While they were in Cairo, Kevin had the opportunity to shoot some food photographs and really enjoyed it. As they continued shooting actors and head shots in Vancouver, Kevin also began establishing himself in the food photography industry. He started pursuing food photography after the crash of 2008 hit the Vancouver film industry, and currently, food photography represents more than half of his business.

See more of Kevin Clark Studios’ work on his liveBooks site at: kevinclarkstudios.com.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

KC: All about pictures.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

KC: Right now, I update it at least once every week or two.

Q: How do you choose the photo that you display on your homepage?

KC: I looked for a simple image that represented our current style and made sure it would work well with the design of our site.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

KC: I like being able to dump a bunch of pictures in a gallery to get a feel for the look right away. From there, I am able to easily adjust image order accordingly.
(Note from liveBooks: learn more about our in-line editing feature here!)

Q: What is one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

KC: We spent a lot of time looking at other photographers’ sites to get a feel of what we wanted. So, I guess my advice would be to research your peers and competition as a starting point.

Have a site you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Laurie Proffitt is a food photographer, located in Chicago, IL. With a simple and elegant style, Laurie uses her expertise to work with high-profile magazines, advertising agencies, restaurants & cookbook producers. This is her story:

Food photography has come a long way since I came up the ranks as an assistant in Chicago. The food was styled laboriously perfect, and the props covered nearly every inch of the background. I enjoy how the look has entirely loosened up since then. Now, it is appetizing to slightly burn cheese, splash sauce, and show a half eaten plate of food. I also love that a distressed baking sheet makes fabulous background, and national ad campaigns will show their product in to-go containers.

It’s my job to find that visually appetizing element. At times, it is very editorial and messy; other clients manage the look of their brand with more restraint. As a food photographer, I need to approach advertising, editorial and packaging with different styles and different teams. Luckily for me, the pool of talented food stylists in Chicago runs deep. With that said, it’s my responsibility to pair the needs of my client with the best stylist and crew for each project. Collaboration between the art directors and my creative team is the key to success at my studio.

Aside from the food being styled well, lighting is instrumental to enhancing the appetite appeal of food. My new studio workspace incorporates an 11×14 ft. opaque glass window. The light from that window is just stunning. I often like to accent the daylight with small grid spots to boost color saturation. The grid spots also create specular-highlights that add to the visual impression that the food is moist, hot, and juicy. Mixed lighting, in conjunction with selective focus, are my favorite tools.

Another competitive piece of the puzzle is to create a welcoming and comfortable environment for the clients. The agency team and their clients are very busy people, and their work doesn’t stop just because they’re attending a photo shoot. Capture Pilot is an incredible tool to keep the clients in the loop while they work. So adjacent to the client table, I have a 50 inch TV, where the progress of our work is on view. Every one of my clients loves this!

See more of Laurie’s food photography on her new liveBooks8 site at: proffittphoto.com.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

LP: Fresh, Crisp, Impactful

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

LP: I typically will update my homepage every few months. Ideally, I like to add finished ads or packaging examples to my “Print & Packaging” page promptly after they are released. A complete refresh of my website images occurs 1-2 times a year

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

LP: I feel it is essential to show diversity of work on my homepage. Additionally, I want to feature current work here, so returning visitors to my website immediately take notice. Another objective of mine, as a food photographer, is to showcase a range of food products. My hope is that each visitor to my homepage sees an image that speaks to their needs, so they’ll want to look deeper into my website.

With that said, I like to work from a master folder that ‘lives’ on my desktop. I actively add my favorite new images to this folder as they are created. Then, when it comes time to update, my new candidates are easily accessed. From there, my aim is to create a visually interesting sequence of images based upon the rhythm of lighter and darker images and related color themes. Once I am pleased with the presentation, I’ll ask my agent and a few other trusted colleagues to weigh in on my choices. Inevitably, adjustments will be made.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

LP: I love the Mosaic Gallery layout. I knew immediately that it would give me a dramatically updated look from my previous website with liveBooks.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

LP: It’s well worth your time to read articles on the subject of SEO. Research the best keywords for your speciality of photography. Be sure to populate all of the SEO info boxes that liveBooks provides. Enter descriptions for every image, submit your sitemaps, update your content regularly and get quality links back to your site….search engines love these things.

I’ve had great results by following liveBooks instructions for SEO. It is all about getting more traffic to your website while generating new business.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Meet Jason Halayko. Originally born in Victoria, B.C., Canada, he has called Japan home for the last 14 years. He currently focuses on shooting action sports for companies like Red Bull, which has him photographing everything from skateboarding to breakdancing. In addition, he can often be found taking portraits and photographing the streets, saying that he really enjoys anything that gets him behind the camera. His introduction to photography was back in high school, when his friend advised him to take a beginner photography course. It was a great class that taught Jason the fundamentals, and has since developed into a dynamic and action-packed photography career.

Check out all of the interesting things Jason has to say about what went into the creation of his new website, and then be sure to head over to jason-halayko.com to see his exciting portfolio.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

JH: Clean, simple, intuitive.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

JH: I typically try to choose the newest photos, with the biggest impact, to show on my homepage. This is to try to hook viewers into checking out more of the website.

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

JH: I typically update my website whenever I get an image I really like and want to show to the world. This could be once a week, or every couple of months. It all depends on what I am shooting.

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8? 

JH: I think my favorite new feature of the site is the ability to quickly and easily change the layout of the photo pages to fit my design preferences.

Q: What’s one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website? 

JH: I would say keep it simple, and more is not better. Only use your best photos that you are most confident in, as viewers will quickly get bored if they have to search through a lot of mediocre images.

Have a website you’d like us to feature? Email us at social@livebooks.com.

Homepage image by David Colvin Photography | http://www.dclvn.com/

Angela has had a love for makeup since her 12th birthday, when her mother took her to get her makeup done. An outing originally intended to find the correct shade for her skin tone and eyes ended up lighting a fire in Angela, causing her to discover an industry that she would later pursue as her career. Upon entering college, she spent two years at Baylor University, and eventually decided to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. She started by getting her esthetician license in Austin, TX and then moved to LA for a Certification at the Makeup Designory. After her education in LA and working there for three years for a leading cosmetic company, she returned home to Texas to be closer to family. You can currently find Angela working the bridal industry in Dallas, Houston and Waco. However, she loves how versatile her job is and can frequently be found on set for magazines, TV and video shoots.

Check out Angela’s beautiful new liveBooks8 site at angelakarr.com.

Q: How would you describe the aesthetic of your website in three words?

AK: Clean, fresh, and simple

Image: Bri Costello Photography | http://www.bricostello.com/

Q: How often do you typically update your website?

AK: I do not update it enough, but I am hoping with the new platform I will update it more often when I have new photos.

Q: How do you choose the photos that you display on your homepage?

AK: I try to select photos for my homepage that showcase my most recent work and a variety of clientele.

Image by David Colvin Photography | http://www.dclvn.com/

Q: What is your favorite new feature of liveBooks8?

AK: I was most excited to add a picture of my clients with their testimonials.

Q: What is one piece of advice you’d offer to someone designing their website?

AK: liveBooks makes the process very simple. I had to redesign my entire website because it was very over do. So, I decided to divide and conquer over a large cup of coffee. I was shocked at how quick and painless the process was. Not to mention, the customer service was always there to answer any questions that I had.

Image: Lindsay Davenport Photography | http://www.lindsaydavenportphotography.com/

Have a site you would like us to feature? Send us an email at social@livebooks.com.