Google Wave a Wipeout?

Well, it has been about four months since Google started sending out invitations to try out their newest communication platform, Google Wave. Google created a huge demand by releasing this motion picture length demo before Wave was released. I fully expected Wave to be a game-changing tool (and it still may be), but as of yet, it does not seem like people are adopting the technology very well. After sitting back and thinking about it, here are my opinions on why Google Wave has not caught on:

1. Exclusivity – I fully understand why companies like Google build a user base using “by-invitation-only” release. It allows them to scale up the load the software places on their servers by not having everyone sign up at once and also gives them a chance to make bug fixes before too many people are involved. This strategy worked great with services like Gmail and Google Voice, but it seems to have hindered Google Wave. Why? Well, with Voice and Gmail there are alternatives that could be used while users wait on invitations to the new service. With Wave, it was like a user gets an invitation…and now what? If their contacts were not also already Wave users, it seemed pretty pointless to use the service. This is the biggest hindrance to Wave, in my opinion, and could change as more and more people begin to sign up.
2. Slow – Google Wave has also been slow as Christmas to use…at least for me. Performance improvements would definitely make Wave a more attractive communications and collaboration platform.
3. Another inbox to bring to zero – Honestly, people already have enough services and websites to check and get their unread counts to zero. What I think might be nice for Wave moving forward is for the functionality to be integrated into part of Gmail and the stand-alone Wave site to be phased out.

If you haven’t had the chance to surf Google Wave, leave me a comment and I will hook you up – I still have plenty of invitations to give out.

Black Perle Label for RJ Rockers

For this project, I teamed up with Spartanburg, SC based brewery RJ Rockers to design a label for their latest seasonal beer release, Black Perle Dark IPA. The Black Perle is the first in the “Ales from the Dark Side” line, and we wanted the label to carry a mysterious and ominous theme. The story behind the beer tells of a lost 17th century trading company ship, the Harvester, that was carrying a “strange and wondrous cargo,” the Black Perle. To go along with this theme, I chose a rough old-style serif font to set both the logo and the main copy in. The setting on the label is a deep blue underwater scene with rays of light coming down from the top and bubbles floating up from the ocean floor. Front and center, there is a treasure chest with a large hop in it (Perle refers to a type of hop). If you look closely on the right-hand side of the label, you’ll see the shipwreck of the Harvester.

They topped off the bottle by dipping the neck in a blue wax to compliment the deep blue label. For a review of the beer itself, I’ll leave it to the experts. I’m currently working through conceptual artwork for the next RJ Rockers release, so be on the lookout!

A Couple Holiday-Themed Images

This first shot was created for Joe, one of the partners at Drum Creative, for their family Christmas card. We went out to a really cool, authentic log cabin for the shoot (meaning no electricity, no plumbing, complete with an outhouse and fully outfitted with early American decor). I knew that Joe wanted the image to be heavily stylized in post-processing and below is the final result.

The next image was created for The Blood Connection’s winter Bruster’s Blood Drive campaign materials. For these campaigns, they like to feature a child eating a pint of Bruster’s ice cream. We chose a girl from church to be our model this time around and she did a great job. I’m sure the fact that we provided her with a pint her favorite kind of ice cream helped put her in a good mood. The shot below was an outtake from the session – we decided to go with a picture of her with reindeer antlers on for the actual ad, but I think the shot below captures her personality well.

Plans for 2010

We won’t call these “resolutions” for the upcoming new year, but here are some things that I would like to personally strive towards in 2010:

• An improved and consistent web presence: Do you ever have something that you feel just isn’t quite the way you want it to be? That’s where I’m currently at with my presence online. Included here are another round of website upgrades, hopefully in the first part of the year, that will improve the functionality and look of this site. Also, I would like to rejuvenate the blog – to post more in-depth and thought-out entries instead of using this as just a place to share links (we have Twitter for that, right?). I’ve been posting online in some way or another for 6+ years now, but I’d like to tie it all together now and make everything consistent. I plan on getting more involved with online conversations and not just be an observer/reader.
• Shoot more: I’m sure I’m not alone on this one. I’m really excited to already have several shoots lined up for the coming year. I would also like to continue to get out and shoot anything and everything – always learning, always meeting new people and trying new things, always getting better.
• Put ideas into action: I have a couple of personal/side projects that I have been thinking about for a while now. I’d like to get some of these rolling this year.

What about you? Do you have any plans or goals for 2010?

Caleb

Caleb was born November 30th, shortly after midnight. Aside from some sleep deprivation, everyone is doing well.

Downtown Greenville Engagement Portraits: Bryan & Angela

I was in Graphic Communications at Clemson with both Bryan and Angela, but we have been able to get to know them much better since they have started coming to LifePoint Church. We took a walk with them through downtown Greenville a few weeks ago for their engagement portraits. There are a lot of really cool places that make our downtown unique – you can see here the fountain in front of the Westin-Poinsett hotel, the open air area at Larkin’s on the River, various scenes at Falls Park and further down through the West End.

Isle of Palms Beach Wedding: Rebekah & Miller

Rebekah and Miller were married on the beach at the Isle of Palms over the Labor Day weekend. We had already planned to be staying at Wild Dunes with my wife’s family this weekend, so I was really just a short walk down the beach to the spot where they were getting married. There was a light mist falling as we were wrapping up her bridal portraits, which will be displayed at a reception for extended family and friends back in Greenville, but the rain held off during the ceremony and family shots. The ceremony was in an intimate family setting, with a light breeze coming up off of the ocean and with other vacationers looking on.

Augusta Road Business Associaiton Website

Client: Augusta Road Business Association (via Drum Creative)
Web Address: http://www.onlyonaugusta.com

For the relaunch of the Augusta Road Business Association (ARBA) website, I took the approved design and wrote the CSS/HTML and placed the site on a WordPress build. I used some jQuery to fade and rotate through the main images on the front page. I was also able to go out and shoot some photography for this site (separate post on that to come). One additional feature of this site is a business directory for ARBA members, which carries the same look, feel and navigation as the front end of the site.

Johnson City, TN Wedding: Emily & Eric

Emily and Eric were married last month in Johnson City, Tennessee. I had never been to that part of Tennessee before but it was a really pretty part of the country, with grassy rolling hills leading up into the mountains. The wedding was at Boone Trail Baptist Church and the reception was held at the Storytelling Center. We were all happy to have beautiful weather the day of the wedding, since the day of their engagement portraits ended up being the coldest day of the year and there was the threat of thunderstorms the day I shot Emily’s bridal portraits.

Spartanburg, SC Wedding: Ellice & Charlie

Ellice and Charlie were married at Westminster Presbyterian Church and the reception was held at the Piedmont Club in Spartanburg, SC in June. Southern Panache Events did a nice job planning the rehearsal dinner and the reception, keeping things running smoothly and on time. The reception was especially entertaining, with a rockin’ band, a caricature artist on the patio, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Chick-fil-a nuggets brought in.