Essentials 09

Essentials 09 is on the books and I am REALLY excited about it! We have Jennifer Hudson coming from Olive Avonlea, we have the Antisdels, and Michelle Huesgen from Untamed Heart Photography. This seminar is April 26th-28th and this year it will be located at The Inn at Bay Harbor! Have you ever driven by there? It is SO gorgeous! This is going to be a great retreat! We are planning this event based on the idea that you need some time to learn, renew and relax! I love going to seminars but I always feel afterward that I need some time to recover. I am hoping that this year's Essentials will be a time for recovery and rest. I'm hoping that this will be a time that we can meet new friends and talk about how to improve our businesses.
I'm sure we will all enjoy the gorgeous views from the hotel too! What a gorgeous place...have I said that already?

So, Plan on attending!!! You won't be dissappointed.

"The Last Lecture"

Hey everyone! I don't know if i'm the last one on the boat, but I just read 'The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. What a great book! I highly recommend it! I earmarked every other page, underlined and took notes from this book. That's really amazing for me :) I also read it all in one day...that's more like a miracle.
Anyway, pick it up and then watch the lecture.



Have a great Christmas!

Home safe!

Hey everyone!
I hope you all got home safe last night from the Christmas Party! For those of you who didn't make it...you probably made the right decision in not coming. The party started breaking up around 8 because the roads were getting slick.
But, the weather didn't keep all of us away. For those of us that did come...we had a great time! The food was fantastic, the dessert was devine and the company was terrific. It was a great night to say the least.
May all of you have a wonderful Holiday!
Lots of love
Jackie

The Party is ON!

Hey everyone,
Well as usual, the weather is challenging for our Christmas Party. Well, we are tough! SO THE PARTY IS ON!
Drive careful though...we will see you there!

To get you in the Holiday Spirit

Saw this video on Dave Humphrey's facebook and thought you might enjoy it!
17 days till Christmas!

The Christmas Season

Hi everyone! I hope all is well!
Christmas is on it's way FAST and I don't know about you, but the rush is on! I have been designing Christmas cards everyday for 2 weeks and I am ready for a break! Last night I dreamt that I was designing cards...I can't seem to get away from it.

If you're not doing press printed cards for your clients...it's a must. So many labs are offering this service and I would say it is well worth it. Burrell, WHCC, Allied, JD, ProLan Express and Millers....just to name a few. The hard part is getting those designs done in a quick fashion.

I wanted to give you a few resources for some card templates you can purchase that might help you. These are just a few that I think have great designs and have reasonable pricing.
http://spdesign.blogspot.com/
www.designaglow.com
www.swissmissdesignhaus.com
and http://www.uniquelyyoudesigns.com/uniquely/

Check those out...I know you will like them and maybe help you out!

Don't forget about the Christmas Party at Okemos Studio on Tuesday!
We'll see you there!

Here comes Santa Claus

Well, the Holidays are upon us....is everyone surviving? Late nights working on the computer can be so hard on your body. My back, neck, arms and legs are all sore by the middle of the day, and then I can hardly drag myself out of the bed in the mornings. My mom says I need to get up and stretch every hour...so I'll pass that on to you as well. Take my mother's advice...she's a very SMART woman.

The good news....only a few more weeks of craziness ahead and then we will all get a little Holiday break. Make sure and join us for the Christmas Party at Okemos Studio
on November 9th. We will relax, eat and talk the night away! This is always a great event to catch up with everyone. Also, make sure and bring your significant other. They probably would like to meet all those crazy photographers you talk about all the time :)

A little advice from Santa....set your limits this Christmas! If you are already dealing with more than you can handle, it's time to set your deadlines for Christmas. Put them out on your blog or website and tell people when the last date for sessions are and also when your last order date is. This is an easy way to let your clients know your dealines without having them calling you every 5 minutes. And, you will be less likely to bend the rules. When you have a client begging you over the phone, it's easy to give in and do just one more session. Don't kill yourselves!

May your days of business be blessed and your efforts pay off!
Lots of love
Jackie

Allison Watkins cont.

I promised images for y'all...so here they are! Check out her blog too for the nice words she had to say about us :)

Allison Watkins..WOW

Did you miss it? Man if you did, you REALLY missed it! Not to rub it in to those who didn't attend Allison's SNAP and seminar but you should have been there.
The SNAP on Monday was truly magical! Allison photographed two families, in the rain, and came out with the most gorgeous images! I will post them soon.
It was awesome to see her work her magic with the kids and put them under her spell.
I know that we all learned so much...especially those of us who went to dinner afterwards...mmmmm hot chocolate and cheesecake :)

Tuesday night was just as great! Talk about putting us all in check with our priorities. I know I look at things differently now. If you didn't come, sit down with someone who did and have a little chat about it. You might hear the answer to what you have been searching for.

Thank you Allison!

Listen up!

There is so much to celebrate!!! Did you hear? We have NEW members to our family!
First to announce is Jason and Beth Aten's new little one...Madison Ruth.
She was born July 16th and she is a cutie! 8 lbs, 12 oz and 20.5 inches long. I was blessed to be able to witness the process of her coming into this world and she took her time :) 24 hours!

Proud daddy



And our second new member...Kate Lyn Jarmosco...daughter to Juliet and Daryl Jarmosco. She was born August 4th and was 9lbs and 2oz. She came quick...something like 3 hours...don't tell Beth that :) They are now the proud parents of 4 children! Congratulations to you both!




And last but not least our dear president ROSE! She has a great article published in this months The Rainbow by Burrell. Way to go Rose!!!

A few random things

Hey everyone!
First I wanted to double check and make sure we will see you at the picnic...I hope everyone is going to come hungry because the dessert competition is always worth starving yourself for the day. :) We will see who wins this year!

Second, if you are signed up for SNAP with Allison Watkins next month make sure you know that the time is from 2 to 7:30ish and we are meeting at P2 in Old Town Lansing.
So make sure you line up that babysitter for later in the day. You don't want to miss anything Allison has in store for you.

Third and lastly, take a day off or go home early soon...you work too hard!

SNAP with Andrew Jenkins

SNAP #3 with Andrew was great! Thank you to all of you who attended. I have to admit, Andrew was a little nervous about the weather before SNAP started. It was forcast to rain all day. And since we had 13 people here, he was trying to figure out how he was going to entertain all of you crammed inside all day. But, we were blessed, the clouds parted and we fit in our downtown, loft and garden shoot all before the rain came. We had two great models who we would like to thank! They did a great job working in the heat all day! Here are some images and a show of the images we took from that day!

Click on the play button to play a slideshow of the models!

David Jay! What a night!

Thank you to all of you who came out for the first stop on PPM's ON TOUR! We had David Jay as our speaker and he was fantastic! From what I'm hearing from all of you, is that it was a life changing seminar and that you came away inspired and ready to work on your businesses!
A very special thank you to David Jay who continues to help photographers all over the world. Thank you for your amazing heart and devotion to this industry!

Visit DJ at davidjay.com and his forum and his products at showitfast.com

Have you signed up yet? David Jay

If you haven't signed up for the PPM on Tour meeting for July 14th...YOU NEED TO!
The deadline for signing up for dinner or golf is the 7th! The program is free and you can just show up...but if you want to let us know your coming that would be great too :)

Just a little about about our speaker: David Jay
Now, those of you who know me.. know that I really like David Jay. You also know that I'm really excited that he is coming here to speak. But, what you may not know is that he deserves every bit of what he has earned. He is a great speaker, talented photographer, has a great philosophy on life and business, and has influenced a lot of people for the good. He has put himself out there to help photographers get their lives back and create businesses that work for them. (not being enslaved to your business)
We are blessed to have him speak to us and I know that you will leave feeling empowered and lifted up!
I'll see you Monday, July the 14th!
Jackie

Be yourself

"In the end, the only steps that matter are the steps you took all by yourself." -The Weepies

How many of you out there are spend hours looking at photographs each day? Whether it be magazines, commercials, books, or other photographers work...there is so much to look at. I spend a lot of time looking at other work, from peers to photographers I don't know. Like many of you, I love looking at photographs. We should, that's what we do.
I look for inspiration, ideas, to learn lighting and new posing ideas. And although I do get inspired...most of the time it does the opposite....it blocks me creatively.

Why may you ask?
Well, I become less content with my work and actually start to dislike what I do. I wish I could be more like them, do work like them, live like them, have what they have, and be less like me.
Then, I'm not happy with what I have. My studio doesn't have this, I'm not near a beach, no one would do that here, it's too conservative, it's too liberal, it's too hot or too cold! Why am I even doing this? What I am going to do? I'm terrible.
I can't make that work! If only I had this! Blah blah blah!

The thing is, you can't live like that. BE YOURSELF! No matter who you are, there are qualities you possess that other people wish they had. You are the only one that can create like you. The only one that can love like you and you are the only one that can live like you!
Trying to be someone else is basically a waste of time...you will never be them no matter what.

Find the greatness in you and work on making you even better!

One more day!

Hey everyone! I hope you are all as excited as I am to see Dan Broullette's program tomorrow night! Check out his website www.danbrouillette.com
Dinner is at 6 and his program is at 7!
We'll see you there!

SNAP with Denise!

A huge shout out to Denise and David of Boyce Photography for hosting the 2nd SNAP! I have heard only great things from this event and I'm sure you all got great images from their workshop! Here is everyone in action!
Thank you for Jason Aten (our newest member) for the pics!

Captivated by the Light

Last night I attended the Ed Pierce Captivated by the Light seminar and I couldn't believe how many people were there....400 photographers! Where does everyone come from! Ed's main focus was teaching about lighting which I thought was great. He talked about all kinds of different lighting techniques and styles of lighting.
I think that is so important these days, and it's hard to find photographers that speak about lighting anymore.
If you have a chance to go to this seminar, I recommend it. It's 4 hours (sitting on really hard chairs) but you also get a DVD of highlights from photographers like Vicki Taufer, the Woods, Parker Pfister, Rod Evans etc. (4 more hours)I watched some of the video last night and I could have stayed up all night to finish it. Can't wait to have more time to watch it!
It was great to see a lot of you there! And hopefully we will see you all for Ben's program as well!

http://www.edpierceseminars.com/ Check out his website for a listing of the seminars!

Notes from the Swamp

Notes From The Swamp
April Edition

Happy Spring to one and all. This is always a time of year that comes with mixed feelings. We are happy that the weather is warming up and we can be outside more; now the Easter is over the wedding season picks up in full force; and we prepare for the blossoming senior season. Ahh yes, let us just briefly mention a negative side to April. Do I really need to mention those three nasty letters, (even though I am currently sitting in Columbus, Ohio I don’t mean OSU) I am referring to the IRS. Let us deal with the bright side of the image today.

Spring brings a new birth to nature and everything around us. The trees come out in blossom, the grass greens up (hopefully without crabgrass) and we feel invigorated. It is also a time to break out of our cocoons, spread our wings and take those first few trail flights with new programs. This year has seen a great growth in membership for MTPPA. Some of our new members new to our profession could use a helping hand on their trail flights, like a mother bird does with her little ones. For the older members; find a new member who could use some advice and lend them a hand. For you new members; find one of our seasoned members and ask them that question that has been just driving you nuts. This is called mentoring today, I called it teaching. This is how we perpetuate our the craft that we love. The act of giving is one that just keeps on giving. For the past few months, I have been currently mentoring one member which has been a truly rewarding experience.

Those of you who attended the Kirk Voclain program for Blitz were will entertained. Although Triangle did gain four new members and had some old ones re-up of the 80+ attendees there were only 28 who were MTPPA members. April will present all of you another great learning opportunity. Ben Chen, our April speaker, will be putting on a program from 1 to 5P.M. entitled “Fast Track Weddings”. Following dinner he will present a program on location. Following an award-winning career as a photographer for the Los Angles Olympics, the Los Angles Dodgers, Lakers and others Ben has shifted his focus to high-end weddings. Here is the great part; BOTH programs are free to Triangle members. If you know a non-members bring them along. The cost for them is only $49.95 plus $19.00 for dinner for a LOW total of $68.95. I just need to have the reservations in ASAP. As an added benefit, Ben called me last night here in Columbus, to inform me that he is bringing door prizes from his sponsors to be raffled off at his program.

In closing, I have to admit that this year has truly flown past although my wife may differ. When it comes to Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, which ever the case may be, be sure to show them how much you appreciate them even though you may work together 24/7. After all without their support where would we be.

Dale
P.S. Don’t take life too seriously. It’s not permanent.

Article from JD Photo Imaging

Here is a great article from our very own Tom Hicks from JD Photo Imaging! Also check out his other article on the website under "In the News."

Thoughts on a $51 dollar 8x10" Print

by Tom Hicks, JD Photo Imaging

I had an opportunity to listen to an outstanding PPA online pricing seminar
recently. The expert computed that at her studio the actual cost for an
8x10" print is $51 dollars after her time and labor is included. In fact,
her lab bill was only 5% of the cost of a print.

It is interesting how many photographers don't price their work that way.
Instead, they consider all the time spent copying, sorting, color
correcting, and uploading digital files as "free", then consider the $2-3
dollars paid to the lab for the actual paper print as the most expensive
part of the order. The pricing expert argued that a photographer's time is
worth so much more than an 8x10" piece of paper.

The expert is right.

I tell photographers that they should spend all their time either taking
photographs, selling them, or marketing their business. While they can do
other things like make CDs of files, the time spent isn't free - it is
taking money out of their pocket. 10 cents for a minute's work here, a
dollar for 10 minutes of work there, and pretty soon the photographer is
feeling so broke, even a $3 dollar print charge looks expensive.

If you only make one resolution this year, I suggest that you make a vow to
consider your time as too valuable to waste on anything that doesn't grow
your business in 2008.

After all, aren't you worth it?

Tom Hicks is a partner in JD Photo Imaging. He can be reached at
tom@jdphotoimaging.com.

Kirk Voclain

Just wanted to share a few images from Kirk's program!






Thank you to everyone that attended the Blitz! We hope to see you at MTPPA's next meeting on April 8th with Ben Chen covering Weddings!
Have a great weekend everyone!

SNAP Event: Children with Style

Our first SNAP event went great! We photographed, we talked, we ate, we photoshopped! Thank you to everyone that came! I hope that everyone learned as much as I did!
Remember to send me one image for each child that you photographed so the parents can have some images!
THanks,
Jackie









LOVE IT!