Paul Francis Photography

Over the years I have found different websites, services as well as techniques that have helped me run a more efficient service for my brides and grooms. For the next few weeks I will be posting additional information to help other photographers who may be interested in improving their photography or workflow. Feel free to ask any questions in the comment are below and I will do my best to respond!

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As I may have mentioned before, I am all about finding tools and tricks that can save me time because saving time = more time spent with my beautiful wife cute kids. The following tip has proved to be extremely useful and time saving. So my wife Carolyn and I use Google Calendar for all our scheduling. It allows us to have multiple different calendars that are each color coded. We have one for Personal Events, Family Events, Business Events, U.S. Holidays, etc. Anything Carolyn add’s to a calendar we share is automatically added to my calendar and vice versa. So how is it useful for Sunset timing?

Since my favorite time to schedule an engagement session is during the beautiful Sunset Golden Hour, I often found myself looking up a couple’s date when picking a start time for an engagement session or checking what kind of available light I would have on a wedding day, then looking up their date at a website that shows Sunset timing. It may not sound like it but there were several steps involved for something I do A LOT! Not only do you have to find the website for Sunset timing, but you had to choose your location and the time of year. I figured there must be a way to have the Sunset timing show up on my google calendar effectively allowing me to go to the date in question and simultaneously see Sunset timing without having to search for it on another website. A few google searches later I found what I was looking for and here is how you can add it to your schedule:

If you have a Gmail account, start by going to your Google Calendar Page. If you do not have a Google account, you need to sign up for one first. Once you are logged in and at your Google Calendar page, click on the boxed arrow next to the “Other Calendar” menu item. Click on “Browse Interesting Calendars” from the dropdown.

You will arrive at the Holidays tab, but go ahead and click on the tab marked “More”. Towards the bottom you will see an option that begins with “Sunrise and Sunset for” with the area you are in listed alongside it. Click on the “Subscribe” link on the right hand side. (As seen below)

Once this is done, head back to your calendar using the “Back to Calendar” link at the top of the page. This will bring you back to your usual calendar view, but now you will see your new Sunrise and Sunset calendar added to your schedule. Pretty sweet huh? You can easily toggle it on and off by simply clicking on the words in the menu under “Other Calendars”. It shows the change in timing for when the clocks change during the Spring and Fall as well. A couple things to keep in mind though; If you are doing a destination wedding out of state, these times can change so double check for non local events. And two, the sunset timing for Winter occurs much more quickly than in Summer so plan accordingly. I hope this was helpful, let me know if you have any questions in the comment area and if you have any specific ideas for this series, feel free to make a request!

Over the years I have found different websites, services as well as techniques that have helped me run a more efficient service for my brides and grooms. For the next few weeks I will be posting additional information to help other photographers who may be interested in improving their photography or workflow. Feel free to ask any questions in the comment are below and I will do my best to respond!

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You may have seen commercials about the Galaxy Gear Smartwatch, or heard rumors that Apple was going to be announcing a Smartwatch of their own. Well from what I have heard the Galaxy Gear is a bit stunted in its functionality and the Apple rumors have been going on for a few years now so who knows what will happen. One of the lesser known Smartwatches is the Pebble Smartwatch, a very successful Kickstarter project. While it may not be the best looking watch and could use a few software tweaks here and there, it is the most supported and updated Smartwatch system. (that I know of) Once linked to your phone via Bluetooth, it will receive notifications from your phone (Android or iPhone) keeping you up to date.

Now my friends and family know I am a bit of a nerd and love any excuse for a new piece of technology, but my reason for getting the Pebble had to do with a few logistical, business related purposes. Working from home, I found myself frustrated with missed phonecalls while cutting the lawn or leaving it another room to charge, but more importantly, I needed to make sure I received messages and updates from my second shooter on a busy wedding day. The Pebble accomplishes this with a short screen message and small vibration to alert you for notifications.

Now you might think that receiving updates on  your watch would be incredibly distracting and take even more of your attention than your smartphone already may take up, however, my own experience is that the Pebble frees me up to leave my phone out of my pocket making it less likely that I will pick it up to read random news or social media updates. In the past I would hear my phone beep or vibrate and while checking the notification find myself reading other emails, none of which may be important, but with my Pebble I know right away if something is important enough to followup on. And if I prefer to not be disturbed at all, watch or smartphone, I can put the watch into a sleep mode of sorts that still allows it to show me the time. If you are as big a nerd as me and own an Android phone, you can even program more functionality using the following apps:

• Glance for Pebble
• Pebble Notifier
• Pebble Tasker
• Ring My Phone

I won’t go into the technical details, but it’s pretty cool what you can down with the available apps. In the picture below you can see the watch face I prefer, along with a photo of the various functions I setup using the Pebble Tasker app. As you can see I can initiate a phonecall to my wife from my phone, great for if I am driving and using a headset. I also set up a function to put my phone into silent mode without evening needed to pick it up. While these other functions take time and some research to setup, the ability to receive notifications on your watch is a very simple process not needing much of a tech understanding. If you are interested in picking one up, you can get it at Best Buy or my favorite store, Amazon.

Here is an example of what the various notifications look like, simple and to the point to let you know whats going on.