stina's post

Winter is fighting us to the death this year in Vermont, but we've had a few tiny glimpses of warmer weather to come lately. While I'm back to being a little grumpy today because it's cold and gray again, I had a moment of clarity yesterday. I closed the gallery and walked down to my car and caught a great sunset, one of my favorite times of day. The melatonin kicks in and I start to relax a little. Watching other things wind down has always had a calming effect on me. If a day where it was just warm enough to feel like you could loosen up for a minute were a sentence, then the sunset was a nice dot, dot, dot at the end of it (…)

I've seen some blogs before about artist Chris Jordan, but a friend at work emailed me this link this morning that shows his work as I've never seen it. There's a good collection of images there to look through. I never realized the scale that he was working with.

Last night was the annual cribbage tourney at Joe's house. It was a night of cut-throat card playing…

Robbie has another bad hand…

Abbey playing at the weird board…

Interesting design…

Ladies, this one is mine. I don't know where the plastic glasses came from but Jason rocked the green pair…

Such intensity…

Kevin rocks the pink pair…

Joe, the hostess with the mostest…

Christina getting tips from the hubby…

The tally…

Emily and teammate Peter took the prize for last place and each took home a fabulous Renuzit air freshener (for the stinkiest players)

Team Jason and Kevin blew their lead and fell to Robbie and Scott. Maybe next year boys.

So, I honestly don't know how I would survive without the internet. Really. I used to think I would be pretty good at survival in a mad-max kind of world were that ever to happen, but now I'm thinking that I might have a melt-down without my beloved internet. I have a real life that I enjoy very much, but I've realized that my cyber-life adds such a level of efficiency, personal interaction, education, sharing, opportunity, entrepreneurial advantage, etc., etc., that it really adds a richness to my life.

Take for example the wealth of information available. I'm like a sponge when it comes to learning new things or teaching myself how to do something. Geeky, yes. I've come to learn the value of a good online forum, especially when it comes to photography. There's so many different ways to do things and equipment can be so expensive that it's extremely useful when learning the how-tos and avoiding the mistakes of others.

One of my favorite new forums is the opensourcephoto forum. I only recently joined, but it seems like a really honest and knowledgeable and helpful community. I'll soon be starting a list of good forums to link to in my sidebar, but this one is a great place to start.

Here's a few pics from an engagement shoot I had with Christina and Josh over the weekend. I'm thinking that I probably should ask her if her friends call her "stina" for short so I know to expect personal confusion ahead of time!

Although I'm super sick of winter at this point, yesterday's icestorm was visually stunning. As I played trivial pursuit with Jason in the light of our headlamps (power was out), I was also thinking about all of the photo opps I would probably miss because I knew I wouldn't get my butt out of bed early enough to seek them out. The problem is that my life has become so jam-packed that I don't have time to take photos just for the sake of taking them! I hardly have time to play trivial pursuit!

I didn't get up early this morning and by the time I drove in to open the gallery, most of the ice was gone. I managed a quick shot from the gallery door, but it's not the most inspiring photo I've ever taken. Or is it…

It does inspire me to not take photos like it anymore, to not miss photo opportunities, and to get my priorities straight. It's about something bigger than capturing a pretty picture, it's about taking the time to do things that make me happy. I recently went to a wedding photography seminar with David Jay (posted below) and his ideas and business practices all revolve around that concept. It's freedom! While creating more personal freedom may not be something that happens overnight, I resolve to work towards it!

Dan and Leila are one of the most relaxed couples I've ever worked with. Check out their day!

The camera at left is an instant Polaroid camera and it's about to be sent to the retirement home. Recently Polaroid announced that it's going to end production of its instant film. It had already stopped making the cameras so now it seems the end of an era is really at hand.

I'm a professional photographer and I now work with digital exclusively. But I'm also versed in film, including its use in large format applications which uses instant film for test shots.

While consumer Polaroids were mostly a novelty item, I remember finding one at a thrift store for $2 while on my solo cross-country road trip several years ago. I still have the prints (which cost more than the camera) pasted throughout my journey journal, of the friends I visited from Atlanta to Alaska. The print quality was awful, dark and unreliable. But it was fun.

The digital world has already answered the call for instant gratification with instant digital cameras. We'll buy them for parties and quirky gatherings. So when we mourn the loss of Polaroids, are we lamenting a changing industry or are we yet again just reminded that we're getting older?

I went to see the "dating game" at the Franklin County Rehab Center today in St. Albans and took some photos for the Messenger. The seniors put on a little play in honor of Valentine's Day. It was very cute!

I've procrastinated in more ways than one. First I've neglected this blog while keeping up with the gallery's blog, and second I have meant to write this post for about a week. Give me a break on the second one though…I've got a terrible cold!

I promise from here on out to be a more dedicated blogger and that's thanks to David Jay. I drove out to Concord last weekend to catch his seminar for the NHPPA and it was well worth the drive and sleepless night in the hotel. Larry Asam made the trek from VT too.

David Jay talked through everything from how to best utilize word-of-mouth marketing to the software he's developed to simplifying your workflow. The amount of knowledge/affirmation/inspiration I got out of it was fantastic!

A few of his points summarized: bring a laptop to weddings and wow the guests with a mini-slideshow set up at the bar to pick up new clients; use whatever social networking tools you can get your hands on (I'm a junkie now); sell yourself not your products; and adapt to the digital landscape and the tech- savvier clients. It all made sense.
Larry Asam
His workflow discussion has already shaved time off of my post-production. It's a simple idea of breaking processes down so that they can either be eliminated, automated or outsourced. His whole point here was to reclaim your life!

I will post some of the links and book titles he threw out on Sunday below. There's a lot more that I don't have time to fill in, but anyone who has questions can get in touch. I'm writing all of this because his final message was to be open and honest with each other and to share information. So I'm sharing this with you.


Thanks to the VPP through which I heard about this workshop, thanks to all the friendly people at the NHPPA and thanks to David Jay!

showitfast.com - software designed for wedding photographers to post slideshows on the web
pictage.com - they do everything
pinkpenny.com - wedding album design
albumesque.com - same (I think)

book list
Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
The E Myth by Micheal Gerber
Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders
The Long Tail
Creating Customer Evangelists
Never Eat Alone