Stacey P. Letter

Ric,
I can't begin to explain to you how much your pictures mean to me. They are absolutely beautiful! This whole project has been so good for me in so many ways. I really appreciate all your work and extra effort you have put into my pictures (and Bobbi too). This has been a really positive experience that I dearly needed and I thank you for that. You should be very proud of what you do.

Thank you-Thank you-Thank you!

Stacey

P.S. Mark wanted me to tell you how impressed he was with these lovely pictures.

8 Saturday's before Christmas!

Can you believe it? Time flies!
Book your shoot now in time for Christmas delivery.

Remember as well as pinup we do:

• Christmas pictures
• Classic portraits
• Senior portraits
• Glamour
• Maternity
• Family
• On location
• Social network pictures(MySpace, Facebook, etc)
• and more!

Vera Vogue

of the Pinup Angles group. Shot yesterday at the 2 year anniversary celebration of Sunken Ship Tattoo.
Halloween is right around the corner, book now for the best slots.
Remember, although this web site and blog mostly caters to our pin-up and vintage shoots, we also shoot

• Professional head shots


• Maternity


• Seniors


• Portraits


• Families and kids


• Profile pictures


• and more!

Sunken Ship Tattoo today

Come to Everet today to see us!

"Stand back ma'am, we have smoke and know how to use it"

In preparation for Halloween we've acquired a fog machine and have been experimenting with it and dry ice.
We got it down now and can create some very cool effects.

Book now for Halloween, our schedule is filling up.

Don't forget we love doing maternity, professional portfolio head shots and just plain old fun profile pictures for MySpace, Facebook etc.

Long time without a post

Summer time flies in the Northwest. I can't believe it's been over a months since my last post. Oh well, the feel of fall is in the air today.

I went to a screening of the movie "The Taken" last night. My first screening and it was a lot of fun knowing the lead actress, Jessica Von, who I'm shooting commercial head shots for.

New Portfolio

I'm doing beta testing now of a new portfolio system created by Deviant Art.

One of the cool things about it is I can post client images with a password that only they can view. This should prove very handy when sending proofs to a client.

I generally shoot a few hundred images in a session. Out of those about 10% go right in the trash (closed eyes, flash failed to fire, etc). Out of the remaining images 10% or so really rock. I upload those proofs for the client to choose their favorites (usually 10) and then do full processing on the client favorites making them perfect for prints and the web.

Check it out here:

http://ric-merry.daportfolio.com/

Let Freedom Ring

I am very grateful to be free today. I spent the 4th of July 24 years ago when that wasn't so in a country where I had no rights.

I'm grateful I can post a beautiful picture of a lovely young woman like this free from censorship, for 2 years that wasn't the case.

We've got some problems but brother let me tell you, there are many places a lot worse.

God bless America and happy Independence Day to all!

-Ric

Guest post Audrey

I really wanted to do something fun and special for my husband's 30th birthday, and I thought a pin up photo would be just the thing.

Thank goodness for Ric Merry; he really made it all happen! He and Bobbi we so helpful, fun, and flexible.

I had no idea what to expect, and I was super nervous about being in front of the camera, but within three minutes of meeting Ric and Bobbi I was totally at ease and excited to get started! The clothes Bobbi had available were so cute, and she did such a great job on my hair and makeup. She is very creative person. Ric was very friendly and professional, as well as patient and helpful. He has a great eye.

All my pictures came out ten times better than I expected, and my husband was blown away.

I would recommend the pin up experience to anyone, to EVERYONE! I would really like to do it again soon!

Thanks again!

Rose City Roundup report

Great show!

We had weather to suit every taste, give it 15 minutes and it would change. I'm a northwesterner, we like it that way dammit!

Jubitz is an interesting place with some colorful guests. The chicken fried steak is to die for, one of the best I've ever had.

The Driven Dead car club and Jasmin, the coordinator of the pinup show? These people rock!

Very nice group of people, well organized and a lot of fun. I had a room to set my stuff up in and meet all the contestants, they talked Jubitz into getting a few of us photographers up on the roof to shoot the show (see panoramic here). Awesome cars, people, food and music plus lots of pretty girls.

I shot about 400 frames and haven't had the opportunity to do anything but preview them briefly. If you are looking for a particular image, stay tuned, I'll get several edited and posted soon.

The attached image is the lovely (inside & out) Lucy Stone, winner of the food drive. She literally brought a mini van full of food items she solicited for the show that benefited the Portland Food bank.

-Ric

Magazine shoots, Rose City Roundup, The latest

We've been shooting and editing images of hot rods and a vintage starlet for a large magazine that should be published around August. All the images are hush hush at this point but we hope to be on the cover at a newsstands near you soon. We will spill the beans when they're safe to spill.

We hope to have arrangements solidified to shoot with some exclusive cars and pin-up contestants June 20th in Portland at the Rose City Roundup (see previous blog) free from the hordes with their cell phone cameras that always get in to the frame somehow. We may have some extra time to shoot others as well that weekend, drop us a line if you're interested.

Summer is a busy busy time. We have one weekend opening in June, one possibly in July and at this writing 3 possibly in August but that will not last.

-Ric

Rose City Roundup

We will be at the Rose City Roundup in Portland OR June 20th.

They are having a pinup contest this year.

Summer, glorious summer

Although the gallery seems to be down and I just found that out...Summer!
Magazine shoots, car shows, pinup contests, BBQ's, vacations, alpine wildflowers, reunions, family, friends and sunscreen.
Being a true northwesterner I pack 8 months of activities into the next 3-4 months. I can sleep when the rains return.
I hope your summer is spectacular and perhaps our services can be part of that.
-Ric

We're off!

To the car show, rockabilly event and pinup contests in Silverdale for the weekend.

Forecast is 70 degrees and dry! Yea!

Hope to see you there. We are sponsoring prizes for the pinup contest winners and have an entire trunk full of photo gear to document the event and maybe shoot some mobile studio sessions.

Happy Mother's Day

I really like shooting Maternity. I know it's not pinup but I wouldn't feel right shooting it in that genre' any more than I would want to shoot it with graphic nudity...it just ain't right.

As a  husband, father and grandfather I really respect maternity and think women are absolutely at the peek of natural beauty. Hurrah for all the mothers out there today!

-Ric

The Big Screen

D.A. Sebasstian of Go-Kustom has asked us to shoot cast members for his upcoming film “Rat Rod Rockers”
The movie is to debut in 2010 will feature Hot Rod Heidi and Asia DeVinyl among others.
We also plan to be shoot for him at the Hot Rod Monsters Film Festival July 18th & 19th in Seattle.
We hope to ride on one of his articles in Car Kulture Deluxe to have some pictures published there.

I’m excited to see my name on the silver screen (so is my mom!)

-Ric

Visit The Pinup Lifestyle Network

Guest Post: Lauren

"Ric Merry and Bobbi make the best team! I had nothing short of a wonderful day shooting with them! When the end of the day came, I almost didn't want to stop! The mixture of their personalities and specific talents are what creates the perfect experience; Bobbi is very up beat, knowledgeable of era, and passionate about her work, while Ric's passion is his technique, equipment, and making sure every single photo turns out amazing! And they do! They are both complete professionals, and put so much into their work, not only during the shoot, but after as well. I would recommend them to anyone who would like to have high quality photos taken! I would shoot with them again in a heartbeat!!"

Thanks Lauren! You were an absolute doll to shoot with. I know you'll do well in the contest! (see previous post for links). Thanks Motor City for the awesome cars to shoot with!

-Ric & Bobbi

Lauren's shoot

We had a fantastic time with Lauren today. She'll be a serious contender at the Silverdale Beach Hotel Annual Pinup Contest & Rockabilly Festival May 16th sponsored by The RockIt Roost.

We've made our reservation for what should prove to be a great weekend and you know we'll be dragging our cameras and gear with us. Stay tuned!

-Ric

Guest post

I'm in Florida this week a the Sawgrass Resort outside of Jacksonville. I'll have no new pictures for this post (maybe a palm tree later in the week or something). Here's a guest blog from a recent shoot.

I really enjoyed working with Ric and Bobby. Ric is very professional which made me feel comfortable. I left the studio feeling pampered. I was very happy with the pictures and so was my fiance. Everyone else that has seen pictures loves them! You'll be amazed with Ric's work!
DeAnna R.

Kautia's "Make it a double" shoot

Kautia chose a popular option of first shooting in our studio and then traveling the short distance over to Motor City to shoot there. Here are a few snapshots.

-Ric

Guest Post: Talia

"Working with Ric was a great experience. I never had done any type of photo shoots before and didn't even really know what to expect, but from the very beginning Ric made me feel very comfortable and was really fun to work with! I didn't realize what hard work modeling actually is, but the whole shoot was absolutely amazing and I would definitely do it again in a heartbeat! The pin-up pictures were really fun to do and Bobbi was a wonder with my hair and make-up! I loved how everything turned out and would recommend any girl who likes to get dolled up and take pictures to do it! Not only is Ric an amazing photographer, he is incredibly kind and I really enjoyed working with both him and Bobbi.. The whole experience was a blast!"

~Talia

Talia gave her permision to post a few of the many pictures we took that day.

-Ric

Jessica & the '56 Chevy

One of many cars available to shoot with at Motor City is this classic.




1956 Chevy 2 door with a 468 big block, $43,950 (link)
Photo shoot with Ric at Be A Pinup, couple hundred bucks.

Orange Camaro Creamsicle

Jessica with a wide angle lens

Behind the scenes at Motor City

We're very excited about the direction our relationship with Motor City is heading.


Less than 15 minutes from our studio and sporting dozens of very cool cars the guys there are great to work with.


The availability of these cars to shoot with in addition to vintage clothing from Dressed to the 9's Vintage gives us a unique advantage in creating portraits you'll find in few other places.


Stop by and say hi to Tim, Kelley or one of the other guys at Motor City (Google map) and check out the dozens of available "backdrops" available.

Not just pin-ups and web images

We shoot a lot more than just pin-ups. Glamour, fashion, boudoir, maternity, graduation, events, weddings and just plain fun.
Our images don't just look good at 72 dpi in a small web site jpeg, they are crystal clear up to 30x20 prints. We shoot everything intending it to be printed at at least 8x10 and we keep the details for even larger prints.
Just about any picture can look good in a small web thumbnail (even one of me!), how does it look zoomed in?

Hot Rods

We are grateful to Motor City for use of their large collection of awesome cars.

http://www.motorcityusa.net/

Turning points

I've been looking for larger studio space for some time. I'm shooting under an 8' ceiling and would really like to be at 12'. I've posted Craigslist ads off and on and recently received a reply from a well established antique shop in a local tourist based economy town close by with a very tempting offer.
They have lots of seasonal foot traffic and the opportunity for walk in business would be very high. The rent is reasonable, my commute time would be about one large coffee, the building itself and of course the antiques certainly fit into by genre'.
What has suddenly occur to me is that I'm currently shooting people for 2-4 hours. I have a wonderful opportunity to establish relationships with great people in that time. Frankly I rarely shoot people I don't feel good about being around. The product, generally prints and a disk with post production print and web files takes about a week to be readied and mailed out to the client.
My work flow would have to change a lot in order to do walk-ins. There will be little opportunity to screen people, the sessions would be much shorter, I will need to do post production quickly on the spot instead of when I felt most creative and print would need to be done right then and there rather than sent out for professional printing.
Perhaps this is all alright and the next step I need to take, purposefully putting myself under the gun a bit to be able to quickly come up with a quality product. Personally I had envisioned longer sessions of higher end work for more money, being able to really fully be at my very best for a day to one person rather than shooting for an hour and shouting out "Next!".
Desisions, decisions.

Gracie is a vintage clothing model for my excellent hair/make-up/wardrobe Godess Bobbi of Dressed to the 9's Vintage

Mother's Day special

$249- gets you-

The experience:
Pin-up hair, make-up and vintage clothing and accessories.
2 hours of studio time.
300 or so high resolution frames shot with professional equipment.
Your choice of 10 final images.
Full post production and expert touch up.
A lot of fun.

The product:
10 professionally printed 8x10 inch pictures on Fuji Lustre paper (the good stuff, not some home printer)
The same 10 hi-res images print ready on CD along with matching web ready images and copyright releases.

Don't want to do pin-up? You can do your own hair and make-up and wear your own clothes and get the same package at $199

Goodbye Valentines Day

We had a ton of fun doing Valentine's Day sessions this year! Thank you ladies!

After those surprise gift albums are presented to the lucky guys getting them next weekend we should be able to post some samples here, until then they are top secret.

If you didn't get booked in time for V-Day, how about Mother's Day? It' about 3 months away and this would be a good time to start planning your shoot.

Gals, we can take pictures of you that will bring joyful tears to your Mom's eye. Dump that old graduation picture she has on the wall and replace it with something modern and cool.

Guys, if your gal's a mommy this would make a great gift, contact us about gift certificates.

How about a gift certificate for you mom? Maybe she doesn't want to get all gussied up for pin-ups but we can make her look her very best.

-Ric

Busy busy!

1 month and 2 days until Valentine's Day!
We only have a couple slots left and they are $500 each to book. You could split with a friend for $250 each.
A gift certificate for a photo session would make a great Valentine's Day present guys.