Adding a Custom Header in Blogger

With the new version of Blogger, I found that it was difficult to insert a custom header image. I searched around on the internet, but didn't find a satisfactory explanation. So I managed to figure out how to do it and thought I would share these easy steps for those of you who might be curious how to do this yourselves.

Step 1) Create a custom header image for your blog. Use Photoshop to create an image that is 650 pixels wide by 79 pixels high and upload it to your webserver. Below is the one I made for LaCour:


Step 2) Log in to Blogger.com and click the "Manage: Layout" button


Step 3) Then click on the "Edit HTML" button


Step 4) Scroll through the HTML and find the section that looks like the following (which is about 1/4 of the way down):

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 1px solid $bordercolor;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
}

Now add in the following url, width and height tags so that it looks like this:

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 1px solid $bordercolor;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
background-image: url('http://www.lacourphoto.net/images/bloghead.jpg');
width:650px;
height:79px;
}

Be sure to add the appropriate url for your banner image and make sure that your width and height numbers are correct for your image. *Note: If you want to remove the border, simply change the border to 0 in the "#header-wrapper" section just above this section.

Step 5) Scroll through the HTML and find the section that looks like the following (which is about 1/2 of the way down):

<h1 class='title'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<data:title/>
<b:else/>
<a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'><data:title/></a>
</b:if>
</h1>

Now make it look like this:

<h1 class='title'>
<!-- <b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<data:title/>
<b:else/>
<a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'><data:title/></a>
</b:if> -->
</h1>

Step 6) Click the 'Save Template Button' and your blog should now have a custom header.

Wedding Adventures in Chicago

This weekend was one of the best wedding-related experiences I've ever had. Yet I wasn't actually photographing a wedding! Instead, I had the wonderful privilege of being the big brother of the bride.

My sister Katie is getting married, so we traveled to Chicago this weekend to search for her gown.

Our friend, Amanda, owns Belle Vie Bridal Couture in the Windy City. We met Amanda this Fall in Southampton, NY and were immediately impressed by her creativity and entrepreneurial energy.

Belle Vie's gracious staff attentively guided Katie through her search for the perfect gown. And she found it! It was the third gown she modeled, and it is absolutely stunning. It's a Christos gown, but I can't reveal any more details...the groom could be eavesdropping! (Hi, Michael!)

Katie is beautiful, inside and out, and I can't wait to watch her walk down the aisle with my father on October 20. Rachel and I are so proud of Katie and Mike!

Here are photos and videos from our weekend in Chicago:
The Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park.

Watch this video of Rachel exploring the The Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park.

Watch this video of us calling my other sister, Sudie, in Ireland, to tell her that we found Katie's gown.

To celebrate, we toasted over crabcakes and cocktails at Shaw's. Rachel ordered an entire lobster, so our server brought her a BIB! Ha!
Our family self-portrait in Cloud Gate in Chicago's Millennium Park.

We return to Chicago in February to photograph an exclusive event at The Peninsula Hotel. Stay tuned for photos.

Arizona Bride magazine

We're thrilled to announce that the wedding Mark and Erin photographed of Cameron and Matt has just been published in Arizona Bride. Their wedding was such a unique celebration. Cameron pulled out all the stops for her art deco themed wedding. Even all their guests dressed in '30s and '40s attire!

Cameron is a talented wedding photographer based in Flagstaff, AZ who will be attending our Business of Storytelling workshop in February.

Lunch with the Girls

The lovely and talented Scarlett of Captivating Studios in Jacksonville, Florida came to Atlanta this weekend to shoot a wedding with our friends Katie and Chris Torres of 6 of Four Creations. We took advantage of the opportunity to get together with Scarlett and Katie for a girls lunch at Highland Bakery downtown. It's always fun to catch up and talk photography!

Value of Photography

Andreas Gursky "99 Cent II Diptychon", 2001, 207 x 337 cm

Pricing one's work seems to be an eternal struggle for many photographers. It's all too easy to look around at what others are charging and simply try to price competitively or similarly.

But never underestimate the value that your work may have to other people.

Andreas Gursky holds the record for the highest price paid for a photograph by a living photographer for his work, "99 Cent," which sold last year for $2.48 million. View the PDN Article about the sale.

Also last year, Edward Steichen's print "The Pond-Moonlight" sold for just under $3 million, which is the highest price paid for any photograph.

Anytime I visit photography galleries, I frequently see photographs selling for tens of thousands of dollars. And if you look at records for what photographs have actually sold for, some of the numbers are incredible!

And this makes me so excited. I love knowing that there are people out there who value photography this much.

Break Time

From Left to Right: Rachel LaCour Niesen, Melissa Roth, Erin Reed Adams, Jenn Fraser Linke

After spending too much time in front of our computers lately, we decided to take advantage of a weddingless weekend to enjoy some Atlanta nightlife. We headed over to East Side Lounge in East Atlanta, where they play really good '80s music on Friday nights. And because we totally believe in mixing business with pleasure, we were joined by our friends Adam Linke, Pictage Pro Consultant for the Southeast, his wife Jenn Linke, who runs The Decisive Moment Wedding Photojournalism, and the lovely Melissa Roth, who works with LaCour, and her husband Jeremy, who works with CNN.

Click Here to see more fun photos

Dare to be Different

"Somebody doesn't like you? Good!"

That sounds crazy, doesn't it? But Gail Blanke's excellent article in this month's Real Simple magazine proves the point!

Here is a great excerpt:

"No one ever made an impact on the world without standing out from the crowd. So embrace your unique qualities. They're what make you unforgettable.

Most of us are afraid to be controversial, or even to be too intensely who we are. We're like lemonade with too much water in it and too few lemons. We dilute our "flavor" so we won't offend anyone. And, in the process, we give away our power, the essence of who we are that makes us unique and unforgettable.

Truth is, the world belongs not to the one who fits in but to the one that stands out. In music, art, architecture, entertainment, literature, politics, and business, it's the maverick, the one who gets 'carried away,' who wins the day."

Don't try to be all things to all people. Be one thing -- unabashedly yourself!

In my opinion, this truth is the cornerstone of good branding!

To read more of Gail's insights, check out her monthly Column.

What is Greatness?

During my holiday vacation, I was perusing websites and I stumbled across this wonderful quote, thanks to Amanda Kohn. Amanda will be attending our Business of Storytelling workshop in February.

"Great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great." —Mark Twain

Mark Twain's insight is simple but true. The people in my life whom I most admire are those who selflessly challenge me to believe in myself and encourage me to purposefully pursue photography as a calling.

They are:

My parents, who introduced me to the concept of calling.
My professor, who patiently taught me to truly see light.
My friend, who believed in me when I was pursuing an idealistic photo project in the Dominican Republic.
My mentor, who enables me to see the hope inside myself.
My business partners, who allow me to dream big.
My husband, who emboldens me to chase my dreams.

I am indebted to each of these incredible people. Their greatness grows from their humility and they have made my life richer by simply believing in me.

Slow Down, You Move too Fast.

I stood mesmerized.

After staggering through crowded, chattering galleries at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, I was stunned to discover an entire group of patrons standing silently in front of a few diminutive canvases. No one dared interrupt the intimacy portrayed in Jan Vermeer's paintings.

Very few artists have the power to render an entire group of hurried tourists speechless. Jan Vermeer's paintings stop you in your tracks. They inspire contemplation.

Moving toward my favorite of the four paintings, "The Love Letter," I realized that I was looking at a seventeenth-century snapshot.

A scene of domestic intimacy is revealed by a curtain pulled aside. A woman, clothed in yellow, is handed a letter. She glances up questioningly at her maid and pauses her music. The room is brilliantly illuminated by window light; the space in front is darker. A broom and a basket of clothing sit on the graphic tiled floor. The tiles, in turn, lead us straight into the center of the composition — the woman's heart. Vermeer masterfully depicted a quiet, unassuming moment in a spontaneous, sacred manner.

I stood there for nearly 15 minutes, transfixed by the stillness of the moment.

Years ago, my art history professor encouraged me, the lone photojournalist in his class, to attend a colloquium about Jan Vermeer's use of a camera obscura. Since then, I have been hooked on the Dutch master's work.

The term "camera obscura" means "dark room," and the optical device intensifies what is seen with the naked eye. A small hole in a booth or box pulls the image that is directly outside, via light rays, into a darkened space. Then, the image is projected (often upside down) on the booth or box's opposite side. The camera obscura was used as early as the mid-fifteenth century, and could project an image of sunlit objects placed before it with extraordinary realism. A keen sensitivity to the effects of light and color, and an interest in defining spatial relationships, encouraged Vermeer to experiment with a camera obscura.

Vermeer had an uncanny relationship with photography — he was on a quest to discover the way light shapes our view of the world. The manipulation of light and shadow served to intensify his compositions. Light was Vermeer's muse; he experimented with it constantly. Radiant light comes from somewhere beside or behind his canvases. Subtle gradations of reflected light are skillfully depicted on exquisite jewelry, bright eyes, kitchen utensils, musical instruments or a woman's open lips. All objects catch the light, creating a calming, otherworldly atmosphere. Indeed, it is the lens-like quality of Vermeer's paintings that makes them seem a small step away from actual photographs.

If you want to read more about Vermeer and the camera obscura, read Philip Steadman's excellent book Vermeer's Camera: Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces.