12×12 Sample Book is here!

I’ve just received a 12×12″ sample book and I have to tell you that it is very impressive. It opens to 12×24″ spreads which lay totally flat on the table. You can see the design in my previous post from March 7th.

Check it out:

In comparison to 10×10 book:

Here are some details. The engraving:

The distressed brown leather. I like the texture:

 Some more close-ups:

The spine:

 

New online print ordering system for clients

I am very excited to annonce that I have finished installing a new online prints ordering system (http://clients.theoleksandr.com). Now you can purchase your wedding pictures online and pay with a credit card or check. They can select the print size, view cropping and adjust it to see if any important parts of image could be out of picture, select mounting options, pick color options like B&W and Sepia, zoom in to see details, select images for your album. Isn’t it cool? Plus, each gallery can be password protected. I can run promotions, give discounts and print credits. The system also allows me to create different products and sell them online. The payment processing is done on PayPal. You don’t have to own a PayPal account in order to pay. I can see now that more and more online stores offer payments via PayPal, it is secure and convenient. The system is accesable from a front page of my web site by following Clients link.

The art of Ukrainian Easter Eggs

It is already became a tradition in our Church (St. Irene Church in Portland, OR) to have classes before Easter and learn how to paint traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs. Irina Duzha is our artist of painting Ukrainian Easter Eggs. She is always glad to share her knowledge and skills. The process requires to cover the paint on egg with hot bee wax. The has to go through several coats of paint before wax can be melted and the colorful pattern can be revealed. This year we had a few new people who came to learn the art of creating these true masterpieces. The images from this event can be found here: http://alexphotostudio.smugmug.com/gallery/2599596. Feel free to download them or order prints. Also enjoy this slideshow:

*** SLIDESHOW ***

Here is a few images from that day:

 

I like how this boy is focused on his work:

 

Little Beauty

Last Sunday we went to a birthday party to little Sofia – 2 years old daughter of our friends. I never leave an occasion to photograph her when we come to visit our friends. She is so adorable!

*** SLIDESHOW ***

Women’s Day

Today we were celebrating a Women’s Day. This is a holiday we used to have in Ukraine on 8th of March. At that day women were receiving flowers and a lot of attention from men. At that time of year the tulips were the most popular flowers. I have decided to make a surprise for my lovely wife and ordered a bouquet of flowers from Madame de Fleurs (Olga Voronov) – the flower designer I have met not a long ago. She designs and provides flowers for weddings, so if you need a florist for your wedding, give her a call at 503.913.4340. She’s very nice and easy to work with. Olga designed this beautiful bouquet of orchids for me. My wife was very happy!

A new sample book

I have finished and submitted to production a new 12×12 sample book based on Luba and Rostik’s wedding I photographed last year. It should be available in two weeks. Check it out:

*** SLIDESHOW ***

Ukrainian Easter Eggs

Last year, before Easter, I was shooting Ukrainian Easter Eggs painting in our church. One of our parishioners, Irina Duzha was providing instructions how to do it. The whole process is very unique. It requires a lot of patience and time. You have to paint one color at a time using bee wax to cover the color you want to keep. The amazing patterns make the painted eggs an art pieces.

I took the best images and made a big poster and put it in a church’s hall to show it to everyone who comes to our church. Last Sunday I was approached by a woman, Mary Vreeland, who’s writing an article for Highlights for Children magazine. She liked my pictures and was interested to use some of them in her article.

Here is the poster I made:

Ukrainian traditional Easter Eggs: