Cheri Frost

Dear Good Morning America,

I just watched your segment “Bride on a Budget,” during which ABC’s very own Ginger Zee gave listeners money-saving tips courtesy of her very own wedding coordinator.

First of all, a heartfelt congratulations to Ginger. Planning a wedding is very exciting and a bit overwhelming. I’m glad to see she spent money on a wedding planner to help her with her day. It’s alway a good idea to use a professional with experience rather than leave the day in the hands of someone who doesn’t know what he’s doing, which is why I found this money-saving advice from Francesco-the-wedding-planner a little disturbing:

Within a few short days, thousands of photographers will descend en masse upon that neon playground known as Las Vegas for WPPI’s annual conference and expo. The conference is held at the MGM Resort, or The Emerald City as I like to call it.

The MGM is located directly across the street from another resort featuring a fake skyline of New York complete with a fake Statue of Liberty. Across from that is a fake castle, down the road one way is a fake Egyptian Pyramid, and down the road the other way is a fake Eiffel Tower and volcano. Can you think of a better place for a photography convention?

Now, first time attendees of the conference can be a little overwhelmed, not just with the fakeness, but with all the things to do while at WPPI. You want to make the most of your time, and with so many options, you need a guide. So, in the interest of assuring that everyone has the best time possible, I’ve compiled my list of “Tips for Photographers Attending WPPI.”

When I was in middle school, I had a crush on a celebrity.

It was a time when young girls daydreamed with stars in their eyes, imagining every love song was written about them, doodling hearts on their Lisa Frank notebooks and knowing with full certainty that one day their prince charming would whisk them away, like on the cover of a Harlequin Romance novel, or like Fabio in an “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” commercial.

Or in my case, I'd be driven away in the front seat of a bright red Ford Gran Torino, the kind only TV undercover cops would drive.

Tragedies happen. We weep. We grieve. And then, life moves on. I suppose it’s good that it stands still …

Dear Facebook,

I saw a video you posted a short while ago regarding wedding photography. You know the one: a 21-second long video containing a montage of wedding snapshots. At the end of the video, you zoom out to show that all those images were on a Facebook user’s wall and the user was so thrilled that she updated her status with “Thanks everyone! Amazing pics!”

I was okay with it up until that point. After all, everyone attends weddings and we all tend to take snapshots and share them on Facebook. Nothing wrong with that. But then, you included something at the end of the video that surprised me. You wrote the words: “Why have ONE photographer when you can have a hundred?"

And then you added that cute little blue thumbs-up icon, you know, just to “like” it further.

Just when you thought you’d seen it all... Excuse me for a moment while I climb atop my soap box. *Taps Mic* Check? Is this thing on? Okay.

This was sent to me by a friend this morning and, after I opened it, I just sat staring at it. I could see it was a Craigslist ad, that much was evident, but I had to keep reading it over and over because the words just would not register. I knew they were English, and complete sentences were formed, but what it was asking went beyond my means of comprehension.

At first, I thought it was a joke. Then I realized, it wasn’t. Then I said a very very bad word.

What in the world is going on here!?

Dear Photography Thieves,

I’ve always known you were out there, even in the days of film. In a photography world filled with negatives and prints, you crept quietly in the shadows and, let’s face it, it was harder then, wasn’t it? But now, with the digital age and that glorious thing called social media, it’s so much easier. It’s really a boom time for you. It’s like you hit pay dirt. And, after reading a month’s worth of Photo Stealer’s entries, all I can say is: You. Must. Be. Exhausted.

I didn’t want to like this show. Cross my heart, I didn’t.

Zombies? The undead? Not really my thing. I liked to think I was a little more cultured than that. Sure, I’ll eat Nutella straight from the jar but I DO use a spoon and I always heat up my Pop-Tart before eating it, which is a true sign of refinement.  So, I held out for the entire first season. I felt it to be just another apocalyptic zombie show like a gazillion that had come before it.

But then, while editing on a long winter’s night, I clicked on Netflix to occupy myself while I worked and there, in my “Suggestions for Cheri” list was none other than the AMC hit series,“The Walking Dead.”

Editor's Note: After the piece was published, we were made aware of a deal WeSellLikes is running that gives away 1,000 likes to anybody who writes about their website. We wanted to make it clear that we did not know about this deal nor do we have any intention of taking them up on their offer... although the irony did make us chuckle.

I had a really great Christmas.

I asked Santa for several things, among which were pink slippers, pajamas with the bear from the movie “Ted” on them, a new cell phone case made out of big fake pearls, and a mini-vacuum to suck up all the sunflower seeds that accumulate around my desk while I work. Yes, I am a seeder.

I was a reasonably good girl this past year. I suppose it all depends on one’s definition of “good,” but I always did my best and tried to stand up for what was right in the world and only got heavily intoxicated a few times and paid for the person behind me in line at Starbucks as much as possible, so all in all, I figured I was on the “Nice List.”

I grew up without the Internet.

When I was young and starting out in the business, I had no Internet, although I did have a computer. It was an Apple IIe. I felt very fancy with it, kind of like Matthew Broderick in "War Games." To me, it was like a big expensive calculator because I only used it to run reports and for record keeping. When it came to photography and the running of a business, I had to obtain information from classes and teachers, and by doing research via those archaic inventions called "books" -- you might have heard of them.

August 30, 2026
My dear child,

I can't believe that tomorrow at this time my little girl will be a married woman. I look back on the last 24 years and I want to do it all over again. I know that can't happen, but I do have my memories, at least.

I admit that I am an Instagram Junkie. To paraphrase that classic SNL line: "I got a fever and the only prescription is MORE INSTAGRAM." It's not that I really enjoy sharing images of my dog and what I had for dinner, it's more that I love looking at the uploads of those I follow. Following celebrities is a lot of fun, as you get to see a glimpse inside their world. What are they thinking? Where are they going? What are they doing?

BforBel.com knows this and took it a step further...all the way to Disney.

You probably wouldn't know it by looking at me, but I belong to a gym.

It's not the fanciest gym on the planet, but it's reasonably nice and the only gym in town that also has an indoor and outdoor pool. And a big glass water dispenser at the front desk with lemons in it. I'm a sucker for a nice water dispenser. My husband and I joined the gym years ago, stopped for awhile, and then rejoined with our children.

Dove Canada is getting serious about promoting Real Beauty by going after art directors, graphic designers and photo retouchers -- basically anyone who distorts body image in print. In order to fight those who they feel create an unrealistic representation of what the body actually looks like, they created a "Beautify" action that can be downloaded for free from popular editing sites. The action appears to add a "glowing skin" effect when in reality, it reverts the image back to its original, unretouched state, thus driving home Dove's philosophy that "Real Beauty Isn't Retouched."

I don't know about you, but if I downloaded a skin enhancing action only to find it reverted my image back to the unretouched state, I'd be throwing out all my Dove products in protest.

According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, the market is not looking great for digital cameras. The report states that as the popularity of smartphones has increased, sales of digital cameras have decreased.

Warning: This post contains somewhat inappropriate viral images of a well-known American talk show host. Reader discretion is advised. Also, please, please look the other way if you're only interested in reading serious articles.

To: Mr. Geraldo Rivera

From: Cheri Frost speaking on behalf of Everyone

Re: Bathroom Selfies

Thou shalt not steal.

It's one of the first things we learn as kids: don't take something that doesn't belong to you. And it's a hard lesson to learn, for as children, we feel the entire world belongs to us. I learned this lesson the hard way. No, I didn't shoplift...I stole little metal ashtrays from a Burger King in Panama City, Florida. I did it. I admit it.

Most portrait/wedding photographers are familiar with "Trash the Dress" sessions. A client, dressed in a gorgeous formal gown is photographed in a location in a less than elegant outdoor location, one usually involving water, and in the process the dress becomes "trashed." It's a fun juxtaposition and it's been popular for some time, but water and mud are one thing...

FIRE is another.

His name is Onafujiri Remet and he is a street photographer from Lagos, Nigeria. His work was just featured in his very first photographic exhibition. He is handsome, he shoots Sony and... he is 3 years old. That's right, 3 years old.

As baby photographers will tell you, there are a lot of props out there on the market for photographing infants. And, as is the nature of portrait photography, many of these props have a life cycle of a couple years and then, it's on to the next Big Thing. Or, since it's babies, Little Thing.

My seventh grade teacher was Mrs. Reynolds. She ran a tight ship and was very particular with whom she decided to grant the blessing of her smile. She wore frosted lipstick and polyester pantsuits and had a habit of swinging the charm on her necklace back and forth when she talked. She had a lot of rules for her classroom, most of which I've forgotten, but the one rule that still sticks in my head is this: "One person can spoil it for everyone."

A new client walked into my studio with her three little children, the eldest of which had a session. The little girl was all dressed-up, but very traditionally, so after conferring with mom, we began the session. And it was one of those sessions where everything went right. Happy child, great expressions, and yet, mom was hovering, straightening an already straight bow, smoothing invisible wrinkles in her daughter's tights, "fixing" tiny details, some of which weren't even in the frame.

Call it female empowerment; call it friendship; call it bonding... Whatever you call it, the newest trend in boudoir photography involves “getting your boudoir on” with your friends. Yes, according to the Today Show, groups of women are now stripping down to next to nothing with their besties for professional group boudoir photos.

When I was a kid, my school had an end of the year event all students were expected to participate in. They called it "Field and Track Day," which was a fancy way of saying, "Okay kids, we've got to kill a mandatory school day, so we're going to ship you all out to a local park, make you run around in the hot May sun for about 6 hours until you feel like passing out or puking, or both, and then send you home. Have fun!"

I feel stupid. I admit I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I have to use my index finger when figuring out clockwise vs. counter-clockwise; it wasn't until recently I found out that capers are the buds of a flower and not teeny tiny olives; and I made it all the way to my sophomore year in high school before discovering the name of the book is "Catcher in the Rye" and not "Catch HER in the Rye."

Once upon a time, in the days of old, when photographers still used those light sensitive plastic strips in the back of their large black cameras -- cameras with funny names like Hasselblad and Mamiya -- there were photography workshops. They are not a new invention. They've been around for a very long time. But, back in the days of film and cameras with odd names, these workshops were a little different.

There is something eerily unsettling about old hospitals, even more so when a portion of that old hospital is abandoned and once housed psychiatric patients.

In his collection entitled "Library of Dust", fine art photographer David Maisel gives us a glimpse into the Oregon State Hospital, formally known as the Oregon State Insane Asylum.

I just read the story of everyone's favorite teen idol, Justin Bieber, and his tangle with the paparazzi at a Miami night spot last week. It appears a photographer found disfavor with The Biebs and, as a result, had his camera (and memory card) confiscated by a Bieb Bodyguard.

A few weeks ago, I was perusing my Facebook newsfeed as I usually do first thing in the morning, a cup of hot coffee in one hand, a computer mouse in the other, when I happened upon a post that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Hey, everyone! I need a photographer to take some professional photos of me. I won't pay you, but I have connections, so I'm a good person to have in your court, if you know what I mean. I could definitely open some doors for you." 

(Today is National Doughnut Day. I am of the opinion it should be a National Holiday, but other people in my studio don't share the belief. They would be wrong.) 

(The DH stands for "darling husband," although in light of the following conversation that took place upon entering the studio this morning, I am doing away with that adjective.)

DH: "Hey, last minute change this afternoon. Got a shoot for two bodybuilders, so I need your help."