2022 Year in Review

2022 made with a long exposure of sparklers

By many standards, 2022 was a wonderful year! It finally felt like things were back to normal in many (but not all) ways!

2022 had me creating over 130,000 images. These do not include the freelance images created for photojournalism. I keep them on a separate laptop.

I transitioned all my video delivery to online only. This allowed me to deliver higher quality video that can be seen on more platforms. My videos had over 1600 views from over 700 unique viewers of which 1000 of them were on mobile devices! Total time watched amounted to 63 days, 19 hours, 38 minutes and 13 seconds worth of content!

Notable highlights:

• In 2022 I added two new dance studios and greatly expanded my rain machine offering. I also offered new types of dance portraits sessions and continued with some tried and true.

• It was a year of change as well. I will be dropping an existing dance studio and most likely another.

• I was honored to have one of my images selected as Best of 2022 for Behind the Shutter magazine!

• I attended two professional photography training conferences (Imaging USA and Pas De Deux). I believe in staying up to date and current as much as possible.

• I provided photography services for Fairleigh Dickerson University, a new client

• I expanded my volume sports photography coverage and picked up a new softball league, new field hockey league, and a new soccer league.

• The 2022 Freddy Awards was back to in-person which was great!

• I photographed my first Bat Mitsvah as well as an event photographer for “Make Your Mark” for another temple.

• One of the highlights of the year was the popularity of my expanded rain machine experience! Everyone who participated enjoyed themselves. This will be expanded even further next summer!

• My photo booth was very popular in 2022 as well despite losing one school dance I’ve done for years

• I provided commercial still and video images for an illusionist at the State theatre in Easton, PA

• In late summer I offered my first ever “skirts and scarves” sessions which was a blast to do and another big hit!

• There were plenty of headshot sessions, theatrical performances, dancers, recitals, senior sessions to name a few.

So, what’s ahead for 2023? Plenty!

• Plan on having a dance portrait session in NYC with a group of pre-professional dancers
• As long as mother nature cooperates, we look forward to having some dance portraits created in the snow!
• My rain machine experience will be expanded and offered earlier and more often this summer
• I plan to attend more professional training in Chicago as well as photograph dancers while there from across the US.
• More dance portrait sessions of various types

I would be honored to have you come along for the journey! Let me know what I can do for you or your organization as far as photography or videography is concerned. Contact me for more information. I can’t wait to meet you!

Dave

Rain Machine Photo Sessions Now Available!

Dancers, Gymnasts, Cheerleaders and Athletes!

This is the photo session you all have been waiting for!! The 2022 Rain Machine!

I created a custom-made rain machine that not only does it all but with heated water from a swimming pool! This is the only rain machine in Northwestern New Jersey. So, bring your outfits that are OK to get wet, costumes, swimsuits, uniforms, or anything you want to dance, jump or cheer in and let’s create some amazing images!

The sessions will take place in the evening starting at 8:30 pm. There will be sessions on August 4-7th 2022. You can book an individual session or a group! I expect the slots to get filled up fast!

NOTE: Other sessions will be added based on demand.

August 17th is FULL!!

August 18th Waiting List Started! Fill out form!

If Thursday August 18th is good for you, please fill out the form/email/text me and let me know and perhaps it will be added!

Interested but can’t make those dates? I may have more in the future. Sign up to be notified when I do. Or better yet get your own group of 4-6 together and receive a discount!

Please go here to find out more information and to sign up!

https://app.myphotoapp.com/zjh5/Rain_Machine_2022/

Any questions let me know.

See you in the rain!

Dave

Artist Spotlight in Photoshop User Magazine – February 2022

Pleased to have several of my dance photography images published in this month’s issue of Photoshop User Magazine! #dance #dancephotography #dancephotographer

I would love to create some dance portraits for you or the special dancer in your life. For more examples of my dance photography please visit http://www.dabourphoto.com/dance. Please reach out to me for more information! 908.995.7273 or dave@dabourphoto.com

Three Ideas For Storing Prints

What could be better than a beautiful wood box made with walnut to store your special photos! Topped off with an acrylic lid

Another great choice is a white slide up box with USB holder. Makes for a great way to display those special photos.

A maple wood box with included USB for digitals makes a great way to display your favorite prints.

There are MORE choices as well! Contact me for more information or pricing!

To see what types of photography I specialize in please visit my website at www.dabourphoto.com

Print Labs Are Open For Business!

Our print labs are back in business!

All of the premier print lab partners we use to create your photos are back to running at full capacity. Now’s a great time to order any prints/composites you want! We’re ready to make your print dreams come true!

Past photo events are either at www.dabourphotography.com, www.dabourphoto.com or https://proofs.dabourphoto.com/. If you’re unsure of where they are send me an email or phone call at dave at dabourphotography.com or 908.995.7273.

And don’t forget with have a photo booth too!

How To Improve Your WiFi At Home

Find a central location for your WiFi router

This may seem like a weird post coming from your photographer but I have my reasons. First, with all of us spending more time at home with family, your home WiFi is on overload.

Probably like many of you, my cable modem was located in the basement where my cable connection comes into the house. So naturally, I put my WiFi router down there. And that worked fine for the most part for many years. But now with COVID-19 and my wife working from home, we were having some issues.

So the first thing I did was figure out where the WiFi router should be for the best coverage in my home. Your basement doesn’t work unless everyone spends a lot of their time down there. I have a basement, a first floor, and a second floor. Moving the WiFi router to the first floor seemed like a good plan. I would have it in a central location so it can still be used in the basement and upstairs.

The easiest plan of action for me was to move it to the first floor right above where it was in the basement. For me, this worked out good as my photography studio is right there. Your situation might be different. I needed to drill a hole from the first floor to the basement and put 2 ethernet cables through the hole. One was from my cable modem (which stayed downstairs – I didn’t want to turn my studio into a data center! lol). The other was to go back downstairs and hook into a switch I have down there that feeds other “hard-wired” devices I have at my house (long story but I still do have non-wireless devices).

In the end, I’m so glad I did this. WiFi performance is now great on the first floor. The second-floor performance increased as well. Basement WiFi access is still acceptable. So now that you have some extra time on your hands <grin> give it a go. Just make sure you do it when there’s no one else using the internet 🙂

Thinking about doing the same and have some questions? Shoot me an email. Before going full time as a professional photographer, I spent 32 years in IT so I may be able to help 🙂

Out of This World Photography

Falcon Heavy rocket launch puts Starman driving in space on February 8, 2018

I’ve always been a big fan of space and rockets. As a boy I remember staying up late to watch the astronauts land on the moon and walk on the moon (yes I’m that old – but I was a boy back then 🙂

SpaceX had another test flight yesterday and tested their Falcon Heavy rocket on February 6, 2018. Its a good thing I don’t live down in Florida or else I would never get anything done on launch days ;-).

The CEO of SpaceX thought it would be fun to launch into outer space a $100K Tesla with a “Starman” astronaut driving at the wheel. Hey if you can afford to do it why not? I wish I could see the expression on some creatures face when they find it some day drifting out in space 🙂

Here are some more fascinating photos courtesy of SpaceX

Happy New Year!

2017 Was another busy year!

Happy New Year everyone! 2017 was another busy year for me and Dabour Photography. Just under 75,000 photos were captured and edited on my main computer alone! That doesn’t include my laptop and of course all the videos.

2018 is shaping up to be another busy year. I will be adding a new type of photography during the year you will notice as the year progresses. Of course more weddings, family portraits, head shots, dance, theatre, sports and the photo booth and more!

 

Circus Train Passes Through Town

The “Blue” Circus train passed through town today and you probably didn’t notice. That’s because most of us don’t pay too much attention to trains as they go by. The circus train typically only goes by once a year. This year it’s the “blue” train going west bound on their way to Norfolk, VA.

I’m not an expert on this but I believe this is the last time the circus elephants are on the train and in the circus. They are going to be offloaded and “retired” during this scheduled break

Website Stats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what happens when you post publicity shows from a large theater group and a wedding to your photography web site right around the same time! The sharp down at the end is only because it’s 8 am in the morning and the days stats are not finished yet.