I attended the THREAD show in San Diego and enjoyed the new catwalk area. It felt a lot like the LA fashion week. I was mentioned in SD Gossip Scene and photographed with friends.

Alicia Eschwege (left) from Ali Vega Productions, was sitting in the front row waiting for the THREAD fashion show to start, Sunday, Dec. 6. Alicia was sitting with friends April Walker (middle) and Minet Taylor, co-founder of A Style Concierge.

During Bikini Week San Diego, Alicia Eschwege of Ali Vega Productions smiles for a photographer. (Jeff Dillon / SignOnSanDiego)

Alicia Eschwege photographs a model in Los Angeles

Behind the Scenes Poloroids

Jill Wagner & Alicia Eschwege

Just because someone has a nice camera doesn’t make them a good photographer!

“I own a hammer and nails, but you wouldn’t want me to repair your roof!  Most non-professionals do not understand how their camera’s internal light meter determines exposure for instance.  They don’t understand that what may look good when they are taking the picture translates very differently to the final image.  The way our eyes see light is very different from the camera’s ability to see light.  Have you ever taken a picture of a subject with the sun behind them?  When you’re taking the picture your eyes can see both the subject and the beautiful sun in perfect balance. So you are disappointed and confused when your pictures have a blown out sky and your subject is completely dark.  It’s situations like this and others that make it hard for people with good cameras to necessarily get good pictures.

There are other technical considerations as well.  Does this person with a good camera understand: lighting, posing, composition, exposure, depth of field, subject matter, white balance, or how to choose the best lens or camera angle for a given subject or situation?

A professional should be technically precise, highly creative, organized and know how to properly photograph a wedding and work well with people while keeping the photo flow of the day flowing smoothly”

Excerpt from Inspiration and Design Photography

Have questions about hiring a professional photographer? Click here to learn all you need to know and more from Susan Wilson Photo.

AliVega Productions worked with Kelly and Paul to capture the timeless moment of their engagement showing the versatility in photography style, and that AliVega Production is not limited to just fashion photography. Their engagement shots were done in black and white for save the dates, and a color shot to display for the reception.  The images captured the natural grace and relationship between Kelly and Paul. To view more photos from AliVega Productions click here.

AliVega Productions recently performed a fashion shoot for Level Red Inc.  a designer derived out of Texas producing Contemporary Apparel for Women. Alicia Eschwege shot the line sheet and editorial images.

The Level Red Spring Collection line consists of high fashion shots displaying the intricate flowing fabrics in a brick building.

The Level Red Fall Collection is composed of magazine style photography consisting more of prints with the flowing fabric style of the company.

The Level Red editorial pieces were a combination of both the Fall and Spring Collection shot with an ethereal background which symbolized the combination of flowing and form fitting clothing that Level Red has mastered.

Here one can see the finalized AliVega fashion photography of Level Red.

To view additional photography done by AliVega Productions click here.

AliVega Productions recently performed a fashion shoot for an up and coming Addison Clothing . Thomas Fiss a member of the band Varsity Fan Club, has created a line which is composed of swimwear, t-shirts, dress, and accessories. Now signed with Capitol Records, the photos shot by AliVega display what is sure to be a successful company! To view more photography shot by AliVega Productions click here.

As of January 10, 2009 Alicia Eschwege of AliVega was approved for the National Association of Professional Women!
The NAPW does: highlights the most accomplished and professional women in hundreds of industries and professions.

Earlier this month, the California Employment Development Department reported that the unemployment rate in San Diego rose to 8.6 percent in January. This is above the national average, which was 5.1 percent in the same month. On a daily basis, we hear reports of individuals losing their jobs and organizations losing their shirts due to sudden cutbacks in the volume and spending power of their clients and customers. Many experts actually suggest launching a business during a down economy may actually be a savvy move – customers are choosier, the challenges make you stronger in the long run and creativity abounds during underemployment.

Here are some great rules for getting in the game during a down economy:

1. Choose a low-cost idea. Consider ways that you can reduce start up costs, such as renting equipment instead of buying or purchasing second-hand furniture.

2. Build strategic partnerships. Customers have finally thrown in the towel – they have no choice but to curb their spending habits, meaning there are less opportunities for profiting. Turn to the people that already believe in you and give them the tools to sell you.

3. Do more for less. Now, possibly more than ever, price plays a factor in nearly everything. Figure out how you can be competitive in this arena. Rather than sell yourself short, think of ways you can provide added value.

4. Put customers first, no matter what. Because customers are choosier in a downturn, it is essential to focus on always providing them with the best possible experience.

5. Seek out other entrepreneurs. In this or any other economy, remember that you are not alone. There is a wealth of advice out there for new business owners – you just have to know where to look. Check out online discussion groups or forums that let entrepreneurs chat and offer advice. Additionally, you may want to seek out the local Chamber of Commerce or SCORE, which is an organization that counsels small businesses.

While YouTube’s announcement that they will start including ads in video comes as little surprise, there are already dozens of companies vying for a piece of the video advertising industry, which is expected to grow to $2.9 billion by 2010 according to eMarketer. Here is a look at 10 of the top players in the market, ranging from startups to some of the Web’s biggest companies.

BrightRoll offers both pre-roll (meaning ads before a video plays) and mid-roll (ads that take place between segments of a video) advertising and places ads based on contextual, behavioral and demographic targeting. To determine content, BrightRoll looks at information like tags and keyword profiles, while using data for its publishers from ComScore to create demographic-based campaigns. The company claims to be the fastest growing video advertising company with more than 800 million ads served.

YouTube’s approach to video advertising closely mirrors that of VideoEgg, who powers video uploads for major publishers like Bebo and AOL. VideoEgg uses what they call a “ticker” that shows a promotional banner within the video that can be clicked if a user wants to learn more about the product or service being advertised. In the example below, an ad is shown for the film SuperBad that when clicked shows a trailer for the movie. Ads are sold through the eggnetwork, a collection of VideoEgg’s largest publishers serving more than 15 million videos per day. The format is less-intrusive than pre-roll advertising since it doesn’t delay the actual video from running and is optional for the user.

AOL’s online advertising network, Advertising.com, now offers pre-roll video as well as in-banner video (video ads that display in conventional banner ad sizes such as 728×90). In-banner ads seem to be growing more common on content-heavy sites replacing traditional graphic-based banner ads. Most in-banner ads require a user to click them in order to play, but some more invasive ads start automatically. In the example below, a video ad is displayed in an article on investment site TheStreet.com.

http://video.advertising.com

Roo is a resource for web sites looking for video content, video producers distributing content, and advertisers that want to advertise via video. This works by Roo licensing video content and selling advertising across their network of sites that host it. Unlike several of its competitors, Roo gives web publishers control over the advertising, allowing you to sell your own ads in addition to those sold by Roo. Through its content channels (such as sports, music, etc.), Roo targets pre-roll advertising based on user interests and demographics.

ClipSyndicate is a video network comprising of web publishers, video content producers, and advertisers. Like Roo, ClipSyndicate licenses video content from a variety of sources and distributes it via a network of web sites. Web publishers then have the option to pay a fee to host videos and sell their own ads, or can do opt for a revenue share on the ads that ClipSyndicate sells for them. At this time, ClipSyndicate ads consist primarily of 15-second pre-roll video ads.

The massively funded BrightCove operates the BrightCove Syndication Marketplace which connects video producers, content web sites, and advertisers. The company offers several different advertising formats, including combined video commercial and banner ad, video overlay (a small ad that appears while the video is playing; similar to VideoEgg), or player takeover, where the sponsor’s ad occupies the entire video player and can either be clicked or skipped.

Broadband Enterprises is another online video network consisting of producers, publishers, and advertisers. The company claims more than 450 publishers including Fox News and Warner Brothers that deliver over 400 million monthly video streams. It appears the majority of the ads Broadband Enterprises sell are of the pre-roll variety.

The largest remaining independent ad network, ValueClick’s video ad program is currently in beta. ValueClick’s “In-stream” product displays pre and post-roll video ads, while also offering in-banner ads to place ads in traditional banner slots. In the example below, a post-roll ad for TaxBrain is shown, while the web site also makes use of ValueClick’s traditional banner network by placing a 728×90 TaxBrain ad at the top of the page.

AdBrite, which operates a marketplace for a wide variety of online advertising including text, banners, and in-line ads (those ads that turn words on a page into ads) recently launched InVideo, its own video player and ad network. The ads show up in “split screen” format so you can continue watching your video as the ad is displayed. InVideo also allows you to place your own watermark into the videos, a nice feature for branding your video content.

Adap.tv places a variety of ads through the video watching experience. While allowing you to have pre and post-roll video ads, adap.tv also attempts to analyze the content of the video to provide relevant text ads while the video is playing. In the example below, the video hosts are talking about the movie “The Prestige” and a text ad promoting the DVD is shown. ScanScout offers a similar technology.

The online video space continues to see a huge amount of venture capital pour in as the race is officially on to grab the market. While it’s unlikely anyone will catch the 800 gorilla of Gootube in terms of reach, “win-win” networks like VideoEgg and BrightCove are already attracting the publishers and advertisers necessary to create a viable marketplace and will help keep the industry competitive in the years to come.