News, News, News!
March 8, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | 8 Comments
On Thursday, I received the email I’ve been waiting for - the exciting invitation to be a member of the WPJA - Wedding Photojournalists Association! Oh goodness, ever since I discovered the WPJA last year, I have wanted to be a member. So when I got the news - I was so excited! I think I have told every single person I have talked to since then! What an honor, I can’t even put it into words.
On to the other news:
On Wednesday, after seeing the segment that aired on the Today Show about Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Organization, I knew it was time to put my talents to use and volunteer. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is an organization of over 3000 photographers who volunteer to take the call in the time of need and offer newborn photography sessions for infants who will not live past their birth. This is another organization that I learned of last year, and while I felt the call to sign up for it, I kept holding back from joining - simply out of fear. I realized that fear was no excuse, and while it will be an emotional task if I am called upon to help out a family, it does not compare at all to what those families are going through and I want to be able to do what I can to help.
This is not something I normally like to write about, but I want to help get the word out that this group exists, for anyone who reads this and might need to call on them in the future. If you are a photographer, I strongly encourage you to consider joining.
Photographik!
February 26, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | 5 Comments
I received an email today letting me know that I had received a huge honor — I’ve been accepted to be a member of Photographik! I’m so excited about this, I can’t even explain it! Maybe sharing some of the information from the site will help to put into words what I can’t seem to express.
We are determined to become THE place to find talented, truly elite photographers providing wedding and portrait photography services to clients in the United States and all over the world. We screen every member’s online portfolio and admit only those photographers who possess a high level of artistic and technical aptitude. By offering the consumer a pre-screened directory of photographers sortable by region and area of expertise, we hope to expose the consumer to top notch photographers in their region as well as highlight the differences between cookie cut photography corporations and independent contractors whose work, we feel, is far more artistic and beautiful.
Just go and read a little bit about their criteria for who they list on the site, and you will see even more about why it is such an honor to me. This isn’t your usual site where just anyone can sign up - I actually requested consideration several weeks ago, and only after they reviewed my work for the following, was I accepted:
- Technical proficiency
- Creativity, Originality, Emotion, Art
- Online Presentation
I’m just so excited, I had to share right away with everyone! My listing will be live there in the next day or two. Thank you again to everyone for your support and encouragement — especially to the fantastic couples and their families & friends that I’ve had the opportunity to work with! I wouldn’t be doing what I absolutely love without all of you!
Wedding Portfolio Update!
February 4, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | Leave a Comment
I took advantage of the Superbowl and between watching the commercials and the exciting moments of the game, I updated photos throughout the whole portfolio section of the website! I changed the sections, added, rearranged and replaced photos, and took out the last song that played to try and speed the load time up.
I would love to hear what you think!
Switch, Switch, Switch
January 30, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | Leave a Comment
Back in December, I purchased a MacBookPro. It is a beautiful new laptop, and as much as I wanted to love it, it was hard to adjust to a completely different operating system. I was trying for the first few weeks, but just couldn’t seem to dive right into it.
Then my Dell laptop, which is just over a year old, decided that it was jealous and hurt that I had bought a new Mac. It just locked up one night while I was exporting wedding photos for a client. Fortunately, I do a lot of work on external hard drives, so nothing was lost. The laptop was still under warranty, so we called in to Dell’s support and diagnosed that it was the motherboard that had gone out. They sent a new one.
Meanwhile, I was plunged headfirst into the Mac world. No options, because I had work to do. I’m happy to say that I’m thrilled with the Mac now, and I’ve gotten over most of the hurdles. I’m installing the last of my software, and soon I’ll do a final sweep on the again working Dell to make sure I’ve got everything before we reformat it and pass it along to my son.
While all of this was going on, the number one most important thing - getting images posted online for proofing galleries - was still going on. Nothing in that process was slowed down. It is the “extras” that got caught in the bottleneck.
The only hiccup in all of this was the migration of software and email. None of the latest slideshows have been created because I didn’t have the keys on the Mac until today. New slideshows will be coming soon now! Album design also had to be put on hold during the switch, but that is up next as well! I have a long task list of things to do, but I’m plowing through them pretty fast.
When it came to email, that was where I was most tripped up. I didn’t want to lose anything, so I was using Gmail for awhile as my mail client just to get by. Now, I’m all set up in Mail, so I’m going back through all of my old emails and writing everyone again to make sure they got a response. I’ve recently learned that some of my mail has been getting flagged as spam - probably because I was using Gmail to send it. So if you haven’t heard from me, check there. Meanwhile, I’m going through in Mail now as fast as I can and checking in with everyone to make sure nothing was overlooked. If you haven’t heard from me, please write again — I will be back to my twice a day email response system by tomorrow! (11am and 4pm are my email checkpoints, whenever possible. I always stop, check and respond to email at about the same time each day.)
Looking forward to hearing from you! I’ll be writing from the Mac from now on! I *heart* Apple!
Two Be Wed - Open Studio!
January 23, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | Leave a Comment
Just a quick announcement for those planning a wedding - there is an open studio tonight at Houston’s Two Be Wed! It is this evening from 6-8 pm, and it is a great chance to meet a variety of vendors - including me! There will also be videographers, invitation designers, florists, and cake bakers. I’ve even heard a rumor that there will be cakes there to sample! Yum!
Let me know if you will be coming, and if you have friends that might be interested, be sure to spread the word!
Goal #1 - Done!
January 15, 2008 | Filed Under Administrative | 3 Comments
Mercedes & Tim leaving their wedding reception. I found birdseed in everything for days after this! But what fun!
The site has been changed around, and if you are visiting for the first time you have now landed at the blog right on the index page! The old URL for the blog should redirect to here now, and the RSS feed should remain the same as it was before. I did modify the template to include fewer recent posts instead of 10 like before - now you should be able to access the footer with the other links much easier!
I need to create an entire FAQ section now, an investment information page, modify the about page, and make a few other changes, but it is a good start and I’m happy with it! I’ve even dived into the CSS and changed things around and now there is a lovely background to this page to compliment the logo at the top. Let me know what you think!
