Friday, February 22, 2008

Toga! Toga! Toga!

hehehe. Okay, enough of that silliness. I'm not here. I'm in Portsmouth, at the Virginia Professional Photographers Association and Toga Party. (Yes, there is a theme party, and being something of a geek in college, nee, all my life, I'm perfectly happy to be a big dork now, too.)

I know several of you have left messages and emails this week and I promise to get back to you as soon as I get back. Have a great week!

-e

Thursday, February 14, 2008

So many things going on...

I wish I had time to write about all of them right now! Quick summary - I am booked, completely booked, through the end of April. After that, I'm not taking any appointments until I know what is going to be happening to my house. We're going to be doing an addition on the house, and there will be a giant dumpster parked right in front of the studio door for awhile. Until the timing of that is figured out, I just can't schedule after April yet. I am happy to send out the studio info brochure, and take names to call back when something changes, but for now, I just can't do it.

My big plan, to take fewer clients, isn't going quite as I'd hoped. Apparently, I've become the girl from Oklahoma, the one who caint say no. :) I'm doing better - but I do have a backlog of work and I'm trying to get it finished as quickly as I can before the walls come tumblin' down. If you've called in the last few days and haven't heard back from me, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a ditz. But I am trying to keep some balance in my life with the kids, and sometimes that means that it might take me a day or two to call you back. I want to get to know you when you call, and that takes time. I have very rarely had someone call that after speaking with them, I wasn't excited to work with them. (Wow, were there enough negatives in that sentence? I practically needed to diagram it to make sure I said what I meant!) Seriously - I don't know if I'm just really lucky, or my clients are self-selecting out for fabulousness, but everyone I've worked with in the last several months has been fantastic.

Here's a sample bit of fabulousness. This wee thing was running around the entire time we were shooting. I am pretty sure this was the only moment she stood in one place for more than 3 seconds. It was wild!

Coming up very soon (next week) is the Virginia Professional Photographers Association annual convention and toga party. (I only wish I were joking about that last part. Thank god we have a king-sized bed. Those twin sheets from college would be pretty skimpy on me now!)

All sorts of greatness happens at the convention. My favorite part? Print Competition. It's the first step in the process of getting merits toward degrees (which I'm working toward) and it's a wonderful way to thicken up a thin skin. These judges can be hard on your ego. They are looking for the best, and if you're not up to par, they let you know. I've got a few ribbons to my name, and have never had a print bomb before, but there's always a first time. Even Babe Ruth didn't hit it out of the park every time. I can enter six prints, and I'm still not sure which six of the several I've printed are going to make it in. I'm thinking of entering the sweetie in this post. I love this picture. I'll let y'all know how it goes. If it goes well, you won't be able to shut me up about it. If it doesn't go so well? Well, then I'm going to pretend this conversation never took place. If the government can do it, so can I! :)

Anyway, I'm off to edit. After all, it's only just after midnight. :)

Later, gators!