But my #1...

Absolute first on my list is this: Nikon SB-800 Speedlight i-TTL Shoe Mount Flash with Quantum Turbo Battery and Charger. May not mean much to you folks who aren't photographers but this thing is a necessity for shooting weddings & portraits, not just something on my Christmas wish list. I NEED it! Ugh... I'm expecting to buy this in the next month or so--but wish I had it now.

Sorry, 3 photo-related posts in one day! I'm in equipment list mode today, I guess!

I want this:

The Nikon V film/slide scanner for my dozens of unscanned, unseen, unprinted & unused work I've got around my house. I used the Nikon Coolscan IV in college & loved it. I scanned all I could at the time while I had access to it, but have so much more now since graduating that needs scanning. Some film of which I've only ever had processed with no prints & have never seen more than the color neg held up to a window. Not so great for being able to tell if I've got a "keeper" or not! I don't want to pay someone else $30 per frame just to get a decent scan when I've got hundreds of frames that need scanning. Yep. This scanner is high on my list.

Art @ Work

I'm entering a local contest called Art @ Work. It's a contest for employees of some bigger KC companies who are artists on the side but enjoy having a steady, decent-paying job, than be starving artists. I love this concept because I'm always feeling like people judge me based on "what I do" for a living, yet my day job does not define who I really am. My whole life I've had my older brother to look up to when it comes to the whole starving artist scenario. I think he actually likes being a starving artist. ;o) But like me, he'll never stop trying and will never stop making art. But, I know how important having benefits are. He's always challenging himself & trying new things with his art and I admire that. Yet, I don't want to starve while I do those same things with my own art. Maybe this is why I don't think he's ever really seen me as a "true" artist.

Anyway, back to the contest. This May there will be a preliminary internal show here in our firm's Downtown office. There are 6 categories: Fiber Art, Photography/2D Digital Media, 3D Art, Painting, Drawing/Etching/Illustration, and Mixed Media. You all can probably guess which category I'll be entering. ;o) I do have some 3D stuff that I'd like to enter but I'm not sure if we can enter more than one category. There are 21 or so people on the list here in my office that will be entering something into these 6 categories. Then, the judging will begin by fellow co-workers (attorneys, paralegals, secretaries, staff) for 1st, 2nd & 3rd in each category.

Then the cool part comes where the 6 1st place "People's Choice" winners will go on to be in a show at Union Station's Grand Hall where a jury of local arts professionals/leaders will select a single "Best of Show" within each category. And even cooler, all 6 of those Best of Show winners will appear in the American Century investments tent at the Plaza Arts Fair in September!

I have it narrowed down in my head to 2 different photos I'm considering entering. And whatever I decide on, I'll blow it up nice & big, mat it & frame it to make a pronounced statement. I'm hoping I'll have an edge w/ the actual gallery aspect of presenting my work since I've done it before in art school. But, I'd like to take a poll from you all of which you think would do the best, artistically & technically speaking. Keep in mind the first judging will be by my co-workers so they'll probably be looking for whatever is the most eye catching, whatever seems the most exotic or basically different to them. People really go for the unusual, the original. They won't look at it the same way the arts professionals/leaders will look at it. My co-workers I doubt will be reading in any deep meanings into my art like another artist would. I also know that viewing something on the computer screen probably won't evoke the same emotion as seeing it in say, poster size, right in front of you in a physical print. So, when looking at any favorites consider these aspects. Try to visualize with me! Which ones jump out at you and which ones "speak" to you (if any)? :o) If I'm not being too artsy fartsy for you...

Ch-ch-ch-changes

So this weekend I don't know what got into me, but I changed the flow of my site. Let me know what you all think of it! I was going for something easier, more direct, & wanted to guide people to the specific areas better to reduce the "bounce rates" of my site--those occasions when someone goes to my site but doesn't go past the "splash page" & just leaves. I don't like it when people do that! And with my new Google Analytics I've been able to see how often that happens. It's not a huge percentage but it's still too much for my liking. So, I thought on the homepage I'd designate the main categories so if someone's just looking for weddings, they can go right there & see the galleries, find my contact info & prices. If they're looking for portraits, the same thing goes, they can see that gallery & there's a link to the portrait prices. And I thought that if someone is looking for just weddings (which is my main target), having that first picture that was on there (the red flower) might deter them since it wasn't a wedding picture. I hope that the changes do make it easier because people are really lazy when it comes to browsing on the web! I don't have a Flash site & I opted not to use frames in order to get the design the way I wanted, so there are some sacrifices I had to make, but maybe next year I will be able to upgrade to a Flash site. In my humble non-objective opinion, I like my site, but others may not agree. If anyone has any suggestions or comments about the restructuring of my site, please let me know and I'll take them into consideration! Or if you find any funky links.... a few always seem to sneak past me.

In other very exciting news, one of my FL friends, Nikki, is in labor today! Little Nicklaus will soon be coming into the world. It was a scheduled induction at 6am ET so I hope that everything is going well & that it's a short labor for her, but I'm afraid, statistically, it's usually longer when it's induced. Either way, I know that she'll just be happy when it's over! She's also getting married in 2 mos, on April 14, in St. Mary's, GA! It's a quaint coastal town just across the border from Jacksonville, FL where she & her fiancee live. They're getting married at a cute little B&B there called Emma's.

What you've been waiting for...

Ok, so I just took some pictures of my new sample album for you all to see and here they are!

The pages are flush mounted so the whole 10x10 page is printed and then affixed to the hard pages of the album. No cut mats in this album.
The cover is leather & you can see the nice fabric on the inside here in the photo.

All the pages & layouts are professionally designed. Natasha, the bride in the photos of this album calls it "picture-in-picture business," which she loves, btw. :o)














Like my placemats? ;o)

Waiting, wishing, hoping...

This is lots of biz talk as there's not really much else going on right now except for a very cranky, teething baby (2nd molars are painful & he's running a low grade fever & won't eat or sleep unless he's held). So that's not very interesting for chatting about!

I have been in the talks with a bride who's getting married on 7/7/07, probably the most popular wedding date EVER. Not only is it repeating numbers, but also lucky number Sevens AND it's on a Saturday for all the weddings. I'm sure I'll book it and I just hope I am able to book a big package for it because I know I'll get more than just a couple inquiries for this date. I've had 2 already. So, this bride is on the verge of making a decision, said I'm a "front-runner" and she's just waiting to hear back from a couple other photographers before she makes a decision. This particular bride was a referral from my BIL and I think sounds very young. She originally "jokingly" asked for a family discount of sorts & I didn't answer, I just sent my prices & was nice, then she "seriously" wrote me back & said "Hey, you never answered me." So I wrote her back & said that I work independently. (Just so we're all caught up on which bride this is) So, then she just wrote me back this afternoon & said that she was really just joking & hoped that she hadn't offended me, but also added that "you don't know until you ask." ??? Which still leaves me confused. I know that she's still shopping around and I'm also flattered that I'm at the top of her list, but sometimes email is just not the best form of communication. I suggested we meet before she makes a final decision so we can really talk & go over things. Personally, I think she should meet with anyone she's seriously considering, especially a photographer, since she will be followed around very closely all day long by that photographer--so she better feel really comfortable with them! AND I just got my NEW sample album today. YAY! I finally have something really nice to show people now! It's kind of hard to upsell a package if they can't see what an album would even look like in person. And this one will make them say "Wow-e-wow-wow!" I will keep you updated on my 7/7 bride & what she decides.

I also have a woman I work with whose daughter is getting married on the same day but I don't think they've thought that far ahead yet to get a photographer... Not that it's all that far away at this point, but photographers are booked up all over the place, some more than a year in advance, for this date & have been turning brides down left & right. I sent her an info packet and told her I've got someone interested already in an effort to at least hear if they've gotten a photographer yet (so I don't waste any energy on a dead-end lead) or if they've even started looking so I can put myself at the forefront for her to see. I also think her wedding is going to be really nice.

I also got a couple other leads yesterday but one had already found someone else by the time I called him back at 7 last night & the other's date isn't until 10/18/2008--over a year & a half away! She's just gathering prices so she'll know how much she needs to save to get what she wants--excellent planning ahead.

Yesterday I also signed up for Google Analytics and love all the info it provides because I'm really obsessed with who goes to my site. Today is the first full day of data gathered and it's only updated every 24 hrs so I'm anxious to look at it tomorrow & see what it says. It provides info such as new & repeat visitors, where they got to my site from on the web, how long they look at each page, what pages they look at, and where they exit the site. I can also see on the map where my visitors are located across the globe. Cool stuff for you paint-by-numbers types.

Can't anybody get any sleep??

It's been a while since I posted and I'm really annoyed with myself that I've been so bad lately about keeping everyone updated on what's going on here in KC. I talk to you all individually, but my blog is looking really sad & lonely these days.

So, here's something to get your morning going. I can't stop laughing. And you all that have heard the stories of my terrible neighbors will cheer for this one:

I would just like to personally thank the person that posted this up in our apt building yesterday. They're good people. And I slightly suspect that our neighbors think that we put it up about them. Which is fine with me and, yes, it's very true that I do not like being woken up at 3 am by moaning & groaning, but alas, I did not think of this first. Maybe I'll start a "comments" section on the sign...

I'm dying here at work today. I've got a major case of "drop-everything-and-grab-the-camera" today. It snowed about 5" last night & the snow is perched on every tree branch & drifted so smoothly across the hills that I very much wanted to call in sick today. But I'm afraid it would have been very obvious, seeing that I've been rather healthy lately (thanks to a kid NOT in daycare anymore) and I only live 10 easy minutes from work. So, no snow day for me...once again I'm left to wistfully daydream the day away wishing I was doing something else. ::sigh::

OK, enough being depressed! Don't want to get my faithful readers down. I'm super excited that my first sample album will be arriving this week. I just got word yesterday that it shipped on Friday. It's coming from Cali so I'm thinking about 5 days, but hoping for 3. I'm so anxious to see it. It's going to be gorgeous! I'll post pics when I get it.

In other business news, since I'm behind in my updates (though most of you who read probably already have heard all this). Here's the run-down: I was stood up for my first meeting with a bride. I wouldn't want someone that inconsiderate as a client anyway. I have 2 other leads but they're for the same date (7/7/07-cute isn't it?) but hopefully one will meet w/ me & book. I'm running a special promo through the end of March to try to get some last minute bookings for this summer. I know people are going to my site (the stats stand at 520 visits so far this month, which is an average of 43 a day-I've already surpassed total visits for last month!). I signed up for Google AdWords at the beginning of Feb & have had 30-something people click my ad, still waiting for some responses though. I updated & adjusted my site last night to correct & improve a few things. I now have a clear Contact page, I cut down my Prices page & added the promo, and fixed a few links. Although...It's dawning on me now that there was one thing I forgot to fix last night--darn it! And, last night I made up a new promo flyer for Unity Village that I'm going to have printed up & send to the wedding coordinator there. I've heard of places ordering more once they see them so I'll keep my fingers crossed. It's geared to advertise for them, but also has my own photo credit on there so it's very stealthy. Well, okay, they will probably see right through it but I hope they like them anyway. ;o)