Chancellor's Leadership Class

So I volunteer a lot of my time with the Chancellor's Leadership Class at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Most of my work deals with photography, but I also do a fair about of design work for them. In fact, I just finished a four page newsletter that sums up their previous fall semester. Below are a few images, taken last night, of CLC students. The director of the program wanted some group shots to send out to various donors that sponsor the below students. They are a photogenic bunch, that's for sure. :)

Thanks to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for the awesome black and white conversions. It's such an awesome program that has really enhanced my workflow. I highly recommend it.

The Buck Stops Here

So check out my new coffee cup: "Happy to be a hard working, tax man persecuted, buck stops here, 'what's 9 'til 5?' Self Employed Person" Isn't that the truth? This was actually a gift from a couple of friends. Gotta love'em. :)

New Web Site!

So....... as you may have noticed, ReneTate.com got some major plastic surgery done! Today marks the first official day of the new website! I'm very excited about the new website for many reasons. A.) It's so much more interactive for you. B.) It's much more informative. C.) My assistant has her own space now under the "About Us" section. D.) The design is much more fun. And finally, E.) the addition of this blog will be great for people to see all our latest work as it happens.

Please take your time to look around the site and let me know what you think. Feedback is always welcome. Was it easy for you to navigate? Also, just so you know, you have the ability to comment on each blog and send the blog to friends. If you comment, I just might comment back. :) This is especially great for aspiring photographers or designers who are curious about images and how they were taken/designed. :)

It's a Girl!

Olivia was born on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 8:33 AM. She was 6lbs 8oz and 19 inches long.

Just days ago I shot Jenna and Amon together before the birth of their first child. The setting was incredibly romantic, as you can tell. The shoot took place in their living room in front of the fire place. There's no place like home, that's for sure. What a beautiful couple, and now family.

Congratulations Jenna and Amon!

Be Careful What You Wish For...

Because you just might get it.

My holiday card (photography by my assistant, Jesie) proved to be very successful bringing in revenue that will keep me busy til next holiday season! Not really, but for several months. This was my first marketing move and I'm proud to say it was a success. Luckily I have he ability to work from home as I've been ill with swollen glands and no voice for the past couple of days! I've had more tea and soup than I care to admit... nothing has really helped. :( Oh well.. tis the season, I guess. Hey, check back later for updates on all these cool projects coming up.

A few upcoming projects include...

• many portrait sessions
• a couple of weddings
• Vineyard of Colorado Springs logo design
• Fredrickson and Johnson site updates (and photography)
• Harrison Middle School graphic work
• more graphic work for a consultant at Mars, Inc.
  

The Singing Cab Driver

Wow. Talk about a quality day. Jake and are on day 2 of our Chicago trip. We started off our day by sleeping in (yay! that's a rarity) and then going to a very nice Sunday brunch at one of Chicago's best restaurants: NoMI. We had an awesome view of downtown and the lake. The bread pudding was to die for. If you're ever in Chicago you must dine at NoMI; the service and food were superb. After brunch we ran by the American Girl Place to pick up gift for my niece, Sydney. I can't wait to mail it to her; she'll be totally surprised.

After we dropped off Sydney's gift at our condo, we grabbed a cab and visited the galleries at the Art Institute of Chicago... incredible. I throughly enjoyed myself. We started off at the photography gallery of course. We saw two awesome photog exhibits: the first one called Girls on the Verge, a collection of portraits of young girls going through their adolescent years and all the things they experience. The second was a collection of black and whites called The Other Side of Light that featured objects and the shadows they cast. You can do some really interesting and creative things with shadows if you plan well. I was so inspired. We then grabbed an audio tour guide/headset which was GREAT as it drowned out all the noisy people an kids. We viewed some modern and contemporary art, lots of my favorite artists including Mondrian, Dali, and Picasso. However, my new FAVORITE artist is a man by the name of Jasper Johns. Talk about cool art work. Each painting is so thought out, yet extremely abstract, tho every brush stroke is planned. All his painting are done in series and drafts and they all involve VERY simple concepts (which I love!). He uses a lot of numbers, letters, U.S. states, and American flags. You must check out some of his work. I would kill to have a piece of his art in my home.

The icing on today was our cab ride home. We got THE craziest cab driver. I told him how friendly he was and complimented him on his glasses, to which his response was, "Well, did you know I'm also a singing cab driver?" That introduced the FUNNIEST song I have ever heard. Apparently this guy is very famous. He's been featured on the Today Show (my favorite) and CNN. He offered a variety of song subjects: love, sex, social significance, or dream. At the top of his lungs he sang a song on heterosexuality. Hilarious. I cried. It takes a lot to make René cry. Full on mascara down the face. What a day... He totally made it. I asked him to let me video tape him so I could show my friends and to be P.C. I chose a "social significance" song (hoping it would be funny, yet not too inappropriate). You gotta watch the video and check out his MySpace page.

Anywho, thats it for now. We're off to the gym and then we're going to cook some chicken and asparagus for dinner. Yum!

The First Post

Hi and welcome to my brand new web journal. This is my first post and I'm so glad that you stopped by to check it out. I'm excited to keep you up to date on the recent events going on at René Tate Graphic Design & Photography as well as in my personal life. I've been working like a mad woman to get my new website and blog up before vacationing in Chicago to celebrate the New Year. My family was so cool during my time home for Christmas; they were very supportive as I worked my tail off while keeping one eye Christmas Vacation and one on my MacBook Pro. The image above is a self-family portrait (does that even make sense?) taken on Christmas day. I've also posted a picture of my awesome nieces and nephews: Zachary, Sydney, Luke, Brody, and Molly.

I hope you had a graceful and peaceful Christmas this year. May God richly bless you and your family in 2008!

That's it for now. Check back tomorrow for more photos and rambling. :)

René