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Costellophotos' Don Parnall wins international Photography award Black and White Spider

professional photographer — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:12:00 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS HONORS PHOTOGRAPHER DON PARNALL (COSTELLOPHOTO) FROM LAS VEGAS NV USA

LONDON Feb 26th 2010 - Professional photographer Don Parnall of Las Vegas NV USA was presented with the 5th Annual Black and White Spider Awards Nominee title in the category of Fashion at a prestigious Nomination & Winners Photo Show attended by 35,000 online viewers who logged on live from 154 countries to see the climax of the industry's most important event for black and white photography.

Thousands of images were received from 68 countries worldwide. The awards international Jury included captains of the industry from Magnum Photos, The Armory Show, Fratelli Alinari, Contrasto to Tate and Hamiltons in London who honored Spider Fellows with 84 coveted title awards in 28 categories. The judges reviewed the entries online for eight weeks before making their final nominations and Don's Through Bambo," an exceptional image entered in the Fashion category, received a high percentage of votes overall.
"The Spider Awards celebrates photographers who operate at the highest levels of their craft," said Basil O'Brien, the awards Creative Director. "Don's work represents black and white photography at its finest, and we're pleased to present him with the title of Nominee."
You can view the 5th Annual Winners Gallery at www.thespiderawards.com/gallery5
BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS is the leading international award honoring excellence in black and white photography. This celebrated event shines a spotlight on the best professional and amateur photographers worldwide and honors the finest images with the highest achievements in black and white photography.
Contact: Don Parnall Costellophoto
Telephone:702 459 3121
Email:donp@costellophoto.com
Website: www.costellophoto.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BLACK AND WHITE SPIDER AWARDS HONORS PHOTOGRAPHER DON PARNALL (COSTELLOPHOTO) FROM LAS VEGAS NV USA

Costellophoto hires big hitter in business world!

professional photographer — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:17:00 GMT

Feb 12 th 2010

Fortune 500 Business Woman Amira Atan joins Costellophoto Las Vegas

Even with the difficulties of business here in Las Vegas Costellophoto is not just surviving but growing!
In our photographic business we believe it is necessary to expand and it is great pride the we announce that Amira Atan is joining our company to head up sales and development.
Amira has the distinction of being one of the worlds most successful business women and brings with her an insight to the world of commerce that is highly sort after even by fortune 500 companies and opens a world up to companies like Costellophoto who would other wise be left in the dark .
Amira retired from the world of Mortgage banking two years ago and found she had a passion and talent for photography, but it is her tenacious business savvy and love of a good business challenge that has bought her to Costellophoto.
" I am truly excited by this challenge to take costellophoto to the next level and far beyond, in turn I am learning so much about photography it's like a flower of knowledge blooming in slow motion! Las Vegas excites me as a market and Costellophoto is certainly one of the greatest group of photographers I have met, I know there is a difference between the analytical mind and the artistic mind , we now have both working together , our photographers are more artistic and need me to deal with the business side, they understand but it's not their passion, I have that passion and love art so it all fits perfectly, Las Vegas and the world watch out ! "
Amira originally from Cambodia , speaks seven languages , also has a backgrounds in Law and medicine and recently resided in Washington State and Florida, and her photography has been excepted by many national and international publishers and most recently the Discovery Channel . "I wonder sometimes if there is any thing Ms Atan can not do or excel at " commented Owner Don Parnall "she seems un-stopable, I've known Amira for about 7 years and in all that time she has over come many obsticles put in her way , be they business or health matters, I don't think she'd mind me telling she has beaten cancer , so trust me there's nothing going to get in her way, we're very lucky to have have her here! ".
So welcome Amira Atan the buzz has started hold on !!

Fortune 500 Business Woman Amira Atan Joins Costellophoto Las Vegas

Photographer back from the Dead !!

professional photographer — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:30:00 GMT

It's nearly 100 degrees out side 6th of May 09 and with that kind of heat you simply can't go sticking your head under a blanket and hoping it will all go away >
I am of course referring to the ECONOMIC CRISIS...Ok it was really tough for a while there, for those of you with Jobs and regular paychecks you really won't know the true effects, for those of you who sadly lost your jobs because of all this you know the hardships and go out and find a new job.But if like me you have been self employed for years and not exactly in the spring of youth any more it's a whole different ball game.
When your phone stops ringing , your client list shrinks like a male appendage in a cold sea, and you look around and all you hear is doom and gloom , doom and gloom it's tough to know what to do, misery loves company , I can call many a college and have a pity party but you just feel like burying your head under that blanket a little longer, and that my friends is not good for business.

Now that like the ground hog I have resurfaced dusted off my cameras and key board , odd thing business has perked up.
When all this started for me back in Sept 08 I did before even the media press and others could see past the end of their noses , figure that by April things should look up and sure enough thats exactly what has happened, yes a good few of our clients have dropped out of sight, or gone with less reliable and cheaper photographers in Las Vegas ( you do get what you pay for folks ) but we at Costellophoto have signed new and exciting companies for a variety of photographic projects !
While thing where really awful I decided to do some charity work, pro bono if you will, and i think it has paid off tremendously, we have been spending time with Neon Venus Theater group here in Las Vegas, I shot some of their antics for publicity , a few head shots, and promo material for plays upcoming, it has been fun and appreciated .
It is nice to get your mind of all the garbage going on in the world, and I believe it is good for business too, my personal mental state is greatly improved, and the product is getting better , not that it was bad, but the creative juices flow and that helps the whole process.

One thing is rather apparent , corporations and meeting planners seem to have the notion that rates have dropped like the stock market, well we're happy to negotiate but please don't be so insulting, particularly when your paying top dollar for your Elvis impersonator and plastic giveaways, but when it comes to photography, 'oh well I'll just get one of my interns they have a camera phone' yes that really happened, you still get what you pay for , experience, creativity and reliability, and in the end it's you who look good when our guys do their jobs, so please don't insult us by trying to squeeze that last dollar out of your budget, I wouldn't do that to you when I buy your product.

Still digging out of this hell hole some one else made, but now I got me a bigger shovel !
Costellophoto is still here and to all intense and purposes better and more productive, we have weather's the storm so far and have every intention of staying afloat .and to quote Elvis Costello 'Don't bury me I'm not dead Yet '

Wells Fargo Bankers..Thanks for nothing... love Las Vegas

professional photographer — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 22:05:00 GMT

Date line Las Vegas Feb 09.

We all know things are in a complete upheaval, and no matter who you blame and I'll go for the banking industry and all those who have been living well beyond their means for the last decade or so, a contract is a contract, this last week I received a call from a client who,was in tears asking me if I had watched the news on local stations, I'm thinking that some one had died or another 9-11 had occurred.
Happily neither was true, it was in fact that Wells Fargo Bank , who I might add has been a direct client of Costellophoto in the past had just canceled their meeting at the Wynn Las Vegas with less than a weeks notice.
Now I'd be the last to come to the defense of any one in that industry right now, as all the news stations bleating on about how they were wasting money on big parties with bail out money. As it turns out Wells Fargo has to pay Wynn Las Vegas 100% for rooms rental and Banqueting costs ,the 'Party' in Question was hardly lavish by any standards and when in an economy such as Las Vegas, were parties and Corporate events are our economy anyway the media's zeal for 30 seconds of news coverage and a "gee aren't we righteous" attitude leaves me rather irritated.
My Company lost money, the three other employee's lost work and money, my client lost money and didn't employ the models and other support staff, products were not bought totaling in the thousands of dollars.
This all puts us in Las Vegas in a rather precarious position, no we don't want the Government to waste our hard earned tax dollars on lavish parties, or banks to do the same, or employees to be thanked for work done with a weekend in Vegas do we?

With that Attitude we here in Las Vegas might as well roll up the sidewalks and say good night Gracie,appreciation and shallow congratulations is how the American business world has kept its ' we're #1' competitive life style going for decades, 30 years of my life spent in servitude in a cubicle is worth a $100 gold watch and a limp handshake, but if you're lucky you'll get that handshake in LAS VEGAS NV , this is what you're whole working life has been for.
On the way Corporate America has fostered that competitive edge with Convention and sales events in places like Las Vegas since the early 60's , and for all intense and purpose it has worked well. I can remember the first really big convention I was working on as a Cameraman in Las Vegas , and the total disbelief that hoards of people worshiped a business to the point of obsession, rather reminiscent of Southern Baptists, the company in question was ...Mac Donald's, I soon learned that most big corporations demanded this cult like following and people were happy to follow and be rewarded with the odd party with free booze and a has been band.
So now that it has become unpopular to celebrate anything (see new years eve in Las Vegas firework disaster) even if you did sell more than anyone else in the world, or you have been a good worker for the last 30+ years at GE or Herbalife, I don't think you're going to get that free drink and live band in Vegas with out that aggravating Tssk Tssk sound from those holier than thou.

So as i figure that nostalgia will be the next big and less expensive thing , i am wondering how to market nostalgic Photography in Las Vegas,pictures of celebrations gone bye, Awards ceremonies in Las Vegas, hey I could sell images and photoshop you in the line up of happy smiling awardees, photographs of virtual conventions in Las vegas, how about a crowd shot with the real Elvis Presley preforming, yes yes i can see it all now, instead of going to Las Vegas , corporations could just sent you pictures of what could have happened,as the old saying goes 'It's the thought that counts'

CES Las Vegas 09

professional photographer — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Over Clocking record falls at Las Vegas CES Show

CES 09 has come and gone from Las Vegas but before it did Costellophoto was hired to watch a world record fall and photographically record the historic event .
Over Clocking is a method of getting a computer to run really really fast, to do this you need to cool down the processor with liquid hydrogen or liquid Helium, and a vast knowledge of computers, and reach temratures of minus 230 degrees or colder.

Being a rather cramped situation with I think a video crew odd five other camera men/ women was rather a challenge photographically speaking, trying to keep out of other photographers shots was practically impossible, but the record did fall to much cheering and I can say I was there to witness.

Being a photographer and not a computer wizard I would be foolhardy to explain or even try to explain what exactly happened and the ramifications of the record, what I did understand was that getting a computer to run so efficiently will help with research in many fields such as Cancer and other medical applications that need an enormouse amounts of

computer time.
So thank you guys for an educating evening and great barbequed chicken!

Las Vegas Honours Costellophoto with 'Best of Las Vegas'

professional photographer — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:00:06 GMT

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Costellophoto Las Vegas Receives 2008 Best of Las Vegas Award

U.S. Local Business Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

WASHINGTON D.C., December 14, 2008 -- Costellophoto Las Vegas has been selected for the 2008 Best of Las Vegas Award in the Photographers category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).

The USLBA "Best of Local Business" Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USLBA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USLBA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA)

U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USLBA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USLBA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

SOURCE: U.S. Local Business Association

CONTACT:
U.S. Local Business Association
Email: PublicRelations@USLBA.net
URL: www.USLBA.net

Photography Click Flash Blog

professional photographer — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 04:48:00 GMT

Costellophoto Las Vegas 702 459 3121 info@costellophoto.com

Having been in this industry (convention photography) for more years than I want to admit to I often think that you the client often could use some help choosing your trade show photographer. My Company 'Costellophoto' www.costellophoto.com is based in Las Vegas, although we do travel all over the US, specializes in Convention and trade show photography, this is an important point, as this type of photography is not just point and shoot, our photographers are all journalistically trained or ex news photographers who are used to thinking on their feet and getting that shot that you, the client will love and just ans importantly your Art Director will use, the shot that makes that sparsely attended breakout meeting look full and the attendees look enthralled and attentive, crowded Isles when there are not as many attendees as you might like. I'm not going to explain how all this is done but it an art and with some practice and a good eye and plenty of experience it is all possible.

'your Art Director will use, the shot that makes that sparsely attended breakout meeting look full'

Now the age of digital photography is well and truly upon us new problems arise, you have all seen those blue pictures and dark orange images, well there really is no need for that to happen, good professional equipment is the key,but again experience is definitely a must, a combination of using and understanding your equipment , there are so many computations on todays cameras, aperture, asa (film speed or chip sensitivity) shutter speed, flash settings, it boggles the mind not to mention the speed of the lenses used. I'll explain that just a bit, inside the lens is an adjustable aperture basically it makes a hole bigger or smaller to let more light in smaller less light and so on, well lenses are rated on the most amount of light it will let in, an F4.5 lens will let in less light than an f2.8 lens thats the rating system , practically if you are going to be shoot in the average ballroom or meeting room your not going to have an enormous amount of light, so you need a lens that can operate in low light conditions and still give you sharp color correct images and that would be a lens rated at F2.8 or less, these lenses are of professional quality and not cheap, but they do give you exceptional quality when used correctly. Ok so I'm boring you with techno talk, but my point is this you go for the cheaper individual you will not get the quality of equipment along with the images and the know how you need to have confidence in your choice of photographer.

It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little.
John Ruskin had this to say over 100 years ago on the topic: It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot -- it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better. I think the above says it all.

Hope fully you have viewed our website www.costellophoto.com and enjoyed some of our images of keynote speakers, award ceremonies, Convention booths and trade show floors, and the industrial side of Costellophoto, the catalog shots,and corporate head shots. Our corporate photography has been published world wide and featured on many a front page and glossy magazine cover. We are proud of our quality and continue to upgrade our equipment and learn new techniques in a process that never ends. So in this short blog I hope you have got an idea of what to look for when you next need a good qualified Professional photographer in Las Vegas Nv in the next addition of this blog I will no doubt come up witrh more ways you can argue for the better choise, hopefully it's us Costellophoto, but in the long run it's your satisfaction we want to see, we're always happy to refer you to other companies that offer services that we don't, there aren't many but it does happen occasionally. So if you have got this far in the Blog and would like to speak with Costellophoto please call 702 459 3121, there we can give you a quote, and we can discuss your needs and budgets, Costellophot also accepts visa and mastercards, american express for your convinience or send an E-mail to Info@costellophoto.com and we will get right to back to you and make sure that you get the best possible service, and end product that makes you look like the intelligent and well informed person you are!
Other sites to visit
http://www.lasvegasweddingpics.com
http://www.lasvegascostellophoto.com
http://www.lasvegasweddingpix.com
http://www.lasvegasweddingsite.info
http://www.costellophotos.com
http://www.costellophoto.net

And the winner is...Obama in Las Vegas

professional photographer — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:51:00 GMT

It's election day Nov. 4 th 08, as a photographer I thought it might be fun to hang out with the Obama camp and record their reaction to the results, I figured it was 50/50 so either way I would get some reaction shots.
They say one picture is worth a thousand words here the first chapter.

Watching and hoping

6.30 pm high five over Ohio
Joy
It's official Obama 08
The Result. Obama 08 Las Vegas Rio Hotel

Halloween tip

professional photographer — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:12:00 GMT

Halloween being a uniquely American thing getting bigger every year I guess, a time when you're supposed to be horrified and have the whits scared out of you right?
We here at Costellophoto decided to join in the fun photographically, and rented space at a local haunted house, Monster mayhem .

Well now the older we get the less we are scared by silly things like coffins, I remember shooting an Undertakers convention at Ballys Las Vegas years ago , and getting a little spooked

A huge Three house affair south end of the Las Vegas Strip, in the parking lot of the new 'Towncenter Mall' I15 and Sunset Blvd should you be in the neighborhood.
So my Idea was to have a tent / Booth with a Coffin ,lit in a spooky (bad) way greens and blues , purple if you're getting adventurous and bingo, a credit card machine and boy you should be in the money ,right?
Well now the older we get the less we are scared by silly things like coffins, I remember shooting an Undertakers convention at Ballys Las Vegas years ago , and getting a little spooked, sitting through some truly bazaar seminars and realizing these guys make a great living out of our fear of funerals.
So opening day comes I have my tent ,camera connected to computer, connected to printer (sony snap lab) credit card machine connected to table, cash box screwed to table, this whole thing has cost a fortune i don't have but hey how can I fail?
some bright spark decided to try and burn the whole thing down, in broad day light no less.

Las Vegas is a, you would not expect a religious town, used to be more churches than bars, a Mormon strong hold, a large influx of Mexican Catholics,and as locals now number in the Millions , two going on Three so as i sit there imagining a crowd of willing coffin models I find most people are not just afraid, but out right religiously opposed to even think about getting in and having a fun shot for $15.00 and a nice 5x7 I might add, beautifully lit !
Some of the Hispanics actually got out their rosaries!
Caskitaphobia I call it, so the lesson we learn is this , have options, creepy clowns, dead people, and maybe a coffin, we're still two weeks from Halloween, don't bother with the first week, maybe just do the weekends,and lastly take and destroy every camera phone you see!

And an update, though all this rather expensive endeavor with worries about Fire inspectors with their hands out and whether or not the Fire dept would let them open or not , attendance and just general fears that it's all been a complete waste of time and money, some bright spark decided to try and burn the whole thing down, in broad day light no less.
So we have a hole in our calender till Thursday...any takers?

Credit crunch stock, market crash, Camera flash

professional photographer — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:20:00 GMT

'Free money at Wedding!' US Banker after Oct 6th 08

If you're like me, wondering what the hell is going to happen next in relation to the way we all make a living, I have and have various theories but I shall not bore you with them here...
I do think that it is imperative that we continue doing business and advertising, here are my reason why:
1. How is any one going to know you're still around.
2. Consider this a battle ground and you're the last one standing, who are they (your customers) going to buy from?
3.When the dust settles you need to show off your new line, thus commercial photography is needed.
4.Survival of the fittest, your competition may have disappeared off the face of the earth so now is the time to show your strength and resilience with a new add campaign.
5. Go to that Expo/ convention in Las Vegas have your Pictures taken by a professional photographer again to show the world you survived!
6.Public Relations is one of the best ways to get the word out that your company or association is reliable and alive, a new brochure with complimentary images showing confidence will increase sales and loyalty.

and I'd love nothing better than giving them a piece of my mind, perhaps with the business end of my heaviest tripod,

My company Costellophoto has like many taken some pretty hard knocks recently,we could have folded , I don't know what else I would do but fight and even turn this man made disaster in to a positive.
What we at Costellophoto have done is widen our scope, revamped our image, reinvested at a time when every one else is tightening up, I think that a positive attitude is every thing, I might add that last Monday 6th Oct 08 was probably one of the most desperate days I have ever witnessed, other than feeling hopeless and angry at the bankers and other financial institutions (Some of which were our clients) and I'd love nothing better than giving them a piece of my mind, perhaps with the business end of my heaviest tripod, I just had a vision of my company being the only one left in Las Vegas because we have the determination and imagination to find other avenues in photography.
Now this of course won't happen but do have the feeling that the market place is going to shrink rapidly, and as in banking that's not a bad thing.

"free your spirit of all material things" might be the way to go reluctantly but positively"

Also think about donating some time or services, we just spent and evening with a local Cancer charity http://www.fromtheheartcharity.org here in Las Vegas, other than making you realize that there are others who really need help way more than those being "Bailed out" it also gives your company exposure at the local level and make you feel just a little bit better.
We hope all of you reading this get energized and maybe not as drastic as on Monday and as the Buddha wrote "free your spirit of all material things" might be the way to go reluctantly but positively.

Free bags to put all your worldly possession in Las Vegas Oct 08