My Empire is Focusing

Aloha,

Since I started out to become a professional photographer i spent most of my time learning how to take good photos. It's a never ending process but the main emphasis of my thinking was tuned towards exposure, composition and trying to deliver something useful.

Over the years I've covered many photographic areas including Models, Weddings, Food, Beach Portraits, Landscapes, Events, Head Shots and Real Estate Interiors. Even though I've produced quality work I really couldn't say what I was expert at. I was a jack of all trades and a master of none. Starting in 2014 I began making a shift in my focus. I started shying away from accepting weddings and Model assignments. This allowed me to concentrate on Food, Portraits, Events, Landscapes and Real Estate. This was still collection was still too many irons in the fire not making me much of an expert yet. So after more trimming I've carved my laundry list of genres to just Portraits and Real Estate photography. Portraits cover Beach and Head Shots but I no longer focus on creating art from Landscapes. To prove my focus I have remodeled my website and have recently added a new site to exemplify my dedication to focus.

If you would like to hire me for Portraits you should check out http://www.Shortini.net (http://www.kirkshorte.com).

If you would like to hire me for Real Estate photography visit my new site http://www.kirkshortephotography.com

That's it!

Future Blog posts will include education and beauty shots from my 2 worlds of interest. As the months and years round on I may continue to drop areas of interest in favor of handling fewer genres. What do you think?

A Big Thank you!

I was contacted by a Real Estate agent who I know asking me to shoot a house that was owned by another photographer. The owner is a career photographer who is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost marine wildlife photographers. His photographs have been reproduced in virtually every major nature magazine in the world, as well as in thousands of books, calendars, greeting cards, posters, etc., including more than 100 covers. His photography has won a number of awards, including the prestigious BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition as the overall winner (2004), and also winner of the animal behavior category and the Nature's Best/Cemex competition in the Professional Marine Wildlife category. He is also the author of seven books on marine life and numerous magazine articles.

To say that I was a little shaken by the prospect of photographing his property knowing how great a shooter he was would have been an understatement. At the end of the project the house was listed and received an offer the first day with a backup offer. I got a thank you email from the owner. I was honored to have delivered a quality set of images for his listing.

"Kirk I Just wanted to thank you for the very professional work you did for Julie on the property I’m selling. I had an offer the first day the listing went live, and now have a back-up offer as the first one is heading into escrow. Needless to say I’m very happy, and want to give due credit for the factor played by the good photos, without which it’s almost impossible to sell anything."

Mahalo,
Doug

Happy New Year

Well we made it, safe and sound into a new year. My photography business was slower than last year primarily due to my taking long vacations in March and September. I'm back and raring to go at least until the end of April when I'm going for a week long photography workshop on the mainland. That should disrupt things too severely.

But in the mean time fest your eyes on my last Project

It's been a Long Time Comin!

Frankly I'm not much of a talker which is the main reason why I don't post more on my Blog. But, I'm hoping to turn a corner on that lack of chattiness and should be adding more useful and fun info to my blog in the coming months.

For this post I wanted to let you know that I have finally reduced some of the chaos in my posted work. For the past 2 year most of my work has been photographing Real Estate listings. So the main focus of my Blog for here on out will be to showcase that work. And hopefully drum up some interest in hiring me to capture your next listing or vacation rental.

Gallery Prints For Sale

Aloha,

Since the gallery I was represented by has since closed down I now have 29 framed and a few mounted prints resting in my spare bedroom. I would love to find new homes for them soon. Finding new homes would allow me to reclaim the precious space in my small second bedroom.

For a brief time I had a Facebook store opened but it didn't seem to attract much traffic even after spending hundreds of dollars advertising that fact. So here goes, using my seldom used Blog to drive traffic to my website so someone will find the print of their dreams.

Click on this link and enjoy browsing through the prints. If you see something that you just have to have send me an email and we can talk turkey:

http://www.shortini.net/Photography/Print-Inventory/n-CShHHp/i-8v2P6Jw

Age Old Questions

I remembered the day I started on my journey to become a pro-Photographer. I was on the phone with one of my future mentors. I asked him a silly question which at the time felt serious and important in my head. I was so impressed at the quality and creativity of his photos compared to what I had been shooting. I asked him "why do professional photographers photos look so good"? After a few seconds of silence he replied "That's just what we do!" I chuckled and realized I had to learn how they did it.

It's been 8 years and I think I've figured some of it out but the best part is the journey never ends.

Here's a great article on that very subject:

http://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/what-makes-some-photographs-better-than-others/

Real Estate Shoot

It has been a slow winter but the spring got off to a bang. I got a call from the referral who needed 3 of his 4 vacation rental properties shoot as soon as possible. I accepted the job and got to work shooting 3 houses in 3 days.

The houses were all different: different styles, different locations and different backdrops. The weather held up so I was able to get the work done in 3 days as promised.

If you need your property photographed feel free to contact me for an estimate.

Enjoy

My Online Store is Open

Well, my Facebook online store is shaping up nicely. Take a leisurely click around, there are over 30 prints available for sale.

Most of the items are one of a kind so they're gone, they're gone. Of course digital copies are available from my site as well as prints but these are already printed, mounted and several are produced using fabulous wooden frames.

Don't see anything that you like then SUBSCRIBE to my shop and you'll be updated as soon as I upload more inventory.

https://www.facebook.com/Kirk.Shorte.Photography/shop/?rt=19

Motherhood is coming

Aloha,

I am very excited with the photos I took of my lovely friends Tiana and her husband Kainoa. They are expecting their first child in April. I have worked with them on many personal photo projects and on their engagement photos 2 years ago. It was funny that I took photos for their engagement announcement and here we are together again documenting their incredible journey to become parents. I am so happy for them both.

Enjoy the next chapter in their life's long journey.

Kirk

Behold, all that was old is now new

Well, I have done it. I have changed the name of my photography business. Gone is Shortini Photography, welcome Kirk Shorte Photography.

I don't feel any different but this is a huge step forward for me and my Fine Art Photography business.

Stay tuned for more exciting photos and prints in the coming months.

Winter Spring - What's going on?

Aloha,

I know that I should post more but this first year of my retirement has been a busy year. But my photography has gotten better and better.

I've had the privilege to document more:
- Roller Derby
- The 20th Annual Kona Brewers Festival
- the 4th Annual Chocolate Festival
- and to top it off the National Geographic sponsored #Bioblitz 2015.

The 2015 Kona Brewers Festival, held on March 12-14, was an amazing success for our 20th anniversary. Not only did we raise a record amount of funds for our beneficiaries, we garnered some great press from craft brew bloggers, local journalists and trade magazines.

The Big Island Chocolate Festival is presented by the Kona Cacao Association, Inc. The mission and goal of this new association is to promote the cacao industry on the Big Island of Hawai‘i by presenting BICF as an educational and outreach opportunity for local cacao farmers, the hospitality industry and cacao enthusiasts. We encourage you to become a member of KCA and support our cause.

A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event in which teams of volunteer scientists, families, students, teachers, and other community members work together to find and identify as many species of plants, animals, microbes, fungi, and other organisms as possible. The 2015 BioBlitz heads to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, May 15-16. Learn more about the park from the National Park Service.

In addition to shooting events I've also created happy family portraits and produced headshots for several local business people.

Enjoy my work.