Archive for the ‘An Image Every Day’ Category

The end of June my husband and I will be married 29 years.

We were struggling college kids and, because of that, we were ecstatic when a family friend offered to photograph the wedding as our wedding gift.  With several cameras, including medium format, and a portfolio that was “good enough” we accepted the offer to photograph our wedding as a way to save some of the money of our meager budget.   Our wedding celebration was in two states so that we could celebrate with both of our families.  We also had another friend that also was reasonably proficient with a camera photograph the second location.

It is almost thirty years later.  We didn’t get any images from the second location.  That photographer had some malfunction with her camera/film/whatever, and we lost the friendship because she was embarrassed and we were so disappointed.   The images we do have are still sitting in a box with the negatives- never an album we could proudly share with family and friends.  There were a few images that were acceptable, none of the two of us together.   What we have is what we have- and why I will be investing a major portion of the wedding budgets for my children’s wedding in a professional, tried and true, experienced, and educated wedding photographer.

This YouTube video is a great explanation of WHY businesses need social media.

To find out how, the book The Thank You Economy is a MUST READ.

I got a real lesson today in perfection.  My lilacs began blooming today.  This is big for me because I’ve tried for at least a decade to grow a lilac bush.  I’ve killed too many to name trying for this moment- and I almost let it go without photographing it because the light wasn’t right.

When I posted the event on Facebook and then the fact I couldn’t photograph them because the light wasn’t right, I read the ridiculousness of the post, so I grabbed my camera and headed outside.  While I was photographing the lilacs I noticed bumblebees- now the thing I love more than lilacs is bumblebees. So I tried to photograph the bumblebees as they flitted and flew around me.  While I was chasing the bumblebees, I saw ladybugs.  Well, the only thing that would have made my life better would have been a hummingbird, I was so excited that I got to photograph ladybugs, then finally, the bumblebees slowed down a bit and I caught them in my camera.

So, there I was- a perfect day because the lilacs were blooming and a more perfect day with bumblebees, ladybugs and a bonus cool spider that I’d have missed if I waited for the perfect light.

To see the whole album, Click Here.

The only constant is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.
— Isaac Asimov

The computer and internet have changed the traditional forms of communication are as fully as those communications changed when the telephone was created, as they did when the written word was formed.

It has been a fun couple of weeks being a tiny participant as a couple of my online friends have been pushing the next level of creating their real lives using the virtual world of the internet.

My first friend, Meetu  decided that she wants to work for Zappos. She chose Zappos because she loves their corporate culture and knows that is the kind of place for which she wants to work. Because the job she was vying for is in social media, Meetu began her campaign on Facebook, in our private networking group. As a group, we supported her as she started her Facebook page (Zappos Hire Me), blog (ZapposHireMe.com) and Twitter (@zapposhireme). In the first few days she got the attention of Zappo’s staff. I will now refer you to her Facebook page and blog so you can see for yourself how she continues toward her goal of working for Zappo’s. Also check out the exciting news story today on Las Vegas Fox 5.

My other friend, Lauren, has decided that she wants to find love on network television, specifically, The Bachelorette.  Lauren also created a private group where the detail of her quest were share, brainstormed and the launched.  Lauren created her blog, The Next Bachelorette, her Facebook page , and her Twitter (@nextbach).  After only a couple of days, Lauren has a bit of attention and it is building.

A quote from the movie, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” seems to fit here:
Sloane: What are we going to do?
Ferris : The question isn’t “what are we going to do,” the question is “what aren’t we going to do?”

And so it is when we move into the next communication venue, it’s not what we are going to do to change the way things are done, it’s all the ways we are going to change the way it is done.

To Meetu and Lauren- continue your adventure and know there are many right behind you.

Are you marketing yourself on Social Networking Sites?  If so, does your profile image show the light and passion in your eyes?  Just like in real life, your clients will trust you more if they can see who you are and why they should trust by looking into your eyes.

For those of us that rely on Networked Blogs to help make our jobs easier, the new Facebook change is not welcome.  Read the announcement by Networked Blogs here and plan for the change.

The Miss Lake County Scholarship Pageant is a very important program in Lake County.  I support it not just because my daughter is participating, I support it because there are a lot of really dynamic girls in the county that are participating this year- and there are many more that need the opportunity to participate.

I understand the perception that this is just a beauty contest and an opportunity to see pretty girls on a stage.  However, this is more.  Participating in the Miss Lake County Scholarship Program is gives our young women the opportunity to be on stage and learn the valuable skills of presenting themselves in a public venue.  It gives them foundational skills to be able to go out into the world and pursue their dreams without the fear of what to do or what to say.  They are practicing those skills.

The program provides scholarships to our young women so that they can further their educational goals and it provides an opportunity for the Miss Lake County and Miss Teen Lake County to meet with and compete with the Miss California/Teen California contestants, a valuable lesson in how the world is bigger than Lake County.

Our contestants have gone on to pursue careers in broadcasting, selling, management, and many other fields.  Our contestants see the world as one big opportunity after their exposure to “what could be”.

For all those reasons and more, I support Miss Lake County Scholarship Program.  And until August 20th, if you purchase an ad for the Miss Lake County Scholarship Program book and request the services of Di Creates, you will get a professionally designed ad for the starting price of $30.  This ad will not only be available for the program book, you may use it in other advertising also, including print and on-line.

Remember- purchase your ad by Friday and get it professionally designed for FREE.

Support our local girls as they reach for their futures.

and have a real business.

Businesses are in business to make a profit.  If your business doesn’t make a profit or you make less than minimum wage working in your business, what is the point of all the stress, worry and time investment?  You could get a job at the local convenience store, work you shift and make more money.  And while money isn’t the end all/be all of a business- it sure helps when people want to get paid for doing the necessary services for you to have your business or you want to eat.

This website has a great calculator to help you get real about what a business cost you to run and to pay you a salary.  It is a worthwhile exercise.  When you have finished that exercise, go one more step and figure out how many sessions a day you’d like to do.  Divide the amount of money you have to make every day by the number of session you want to do per day and that is the average amount you have to make every session.

Now I hear either: 1) I’m not good enough to make that much money for each session OR 2) I want to serve the people that can’t afford those kind of prices.

The answer to 1) is: postpone your business until you get the education and experience you need to charge the kind of prices you need to in order for your business to be profitable.

And the answer to 2) is: Other people’s budgets are not your job.  When you establish a profitable business, you can give a portion of your profits toward projects in which you believe.  Until then, your job is to build a sustainable business that provides a valuable service.  The people that value what you do will find a way to pay for it.  The ones that don’t are not your clients.

I also understand that there is a huge psychological component to charging the prices for your work that your business requires to stay health.  These are issues you need to work on with yourself.  Or you need to keep your photography as a hobby.  Tough Love?  Maybe.  But it is advice from someone that has been there.

In the new century of right-brained necessary tasks required to thrive, are you using strategies that are not support your need for creativity? Watch This and take notes.

You will probably not only not make the sale, you will probably lose friends.  Yes, your product is important, valuable and people want to buy it.  No, they don’t want to hear about only it.

People buy from people they like and people that care about them, so make sure you share yourself , your life, information of wide interest on the social networking sites ten times for every time you post about your business or you may see your group of friends shrinking.