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I’m gearing up now to go and take formal engagement photos today for this couple, after catching this one just over a week ago down in Galveston. I was at the Tremont taking photos with Shelley when I heard crying/squealing/laughter behind me. I turned around and started shooting. This was the first photo I caught.
He had just proposed. She had just said yes. There were many kisses and hugs after this, and it made Shelley & I a bit misty-eyed. I can’t wait to see them again today!
Thank you to everyone for deblurking! What fun! So many new sites to check out – I can’t wait to read them all. And for those of you reading, there are also some of my personal favorites that stopped to say hello too – so check out the links!
It was a whirlwind weekend, and there has hardly been a moment to slow down. Tara took us up on our invitation to come and visit and headed to Houston on Friday. Meanwhile, I went and took photos of my friend J.’s three kids, spent some time visiting with J., and then headed down to Galveston to meet up with Shelley to take photos for her storytelling website, Spin Me a Yarn. She is an amazing woman, and I had such a great time with her and her husband. Many magical things happened on the rooftop of the Tremont, which I will share with you in the next day or two.
After our photo shoot, Mike, Tara & Jason arrived and we all went to Luigi’s for dinner after spending some time unwinding in the lobby of the Tremont. A fun little break in Galveston, with perfect weather.
Saturday? Saturday was a completely different story when it comes to weather. I normally check the thermometer that hangs outside our back door when I leave. I’ve normally checked the weather online before the Yale Street Market. Not this month. Oops. I knew it was going to rain because Elaine had told me. When Elaine tells me stuff, I listen. (Seriously, Elaine rocks my world.) She told me it was going to be cold too, but we have different views on cold normally – she is cold when I am not – so I figured as long as I had on socks and a sweater, I would be ok. Whoa, was I ever wrong. Seems I missed the memo that the temps were going to be in the 40s! Not the 60s that I was expecting. There were almost no customers, we were freezing, and the rain really wasn’t helping anything. It was a nice treat when Ed came by, as Elaine has not had a chance to meet him in person. I ended up calling Staci for knitted goods reinforcements. She brought me a long sleeve shirt, gloves, a clapotis, and a hat. Then I was fine for the most part – I probably could have lasted the afternoon. We didn’t find out though, as the market ended closing early. We were packed up and gone by 2pm. We sold all of one print by the time we closed.
The perk of closing early was that I got to spend time with Tara, heading to the nail shop for pedicures after I ate some lunch and defrosted. Then we were off to visit with my Mom and discuss decorating ideas for her kitchen, followed by dinner at Lupe Tortilla’s with Mike, Jason & my parents. Mmmm… Lupe’s. Yum! Mike & Jason watched Casino Royale when we got home, but Tara & I did not last.
Tara left early on Sunday, and after I took a nap we headed to my parent’s house for Easter. Delicious food, and it was nice spending time with them.
Now I am making my way through photos. More to come, along with the story of the Tremont rooftop!
It is de-blurker time! I declare it so! So, if you are reading this in your feed reader, or you come by the page but don’t normally write any comments when you do – well, today is the DAY! (It does not have to literally be today. Just whenever you read this – that is your today day.) Don’t be a blurker! Say hello! Even if you have never said anything in the past, I want to hear from you!
Bring out the Blurkers!
Wow, I can’t believe it has been almost 5 years since I wrote the first blurker post! How time flies.
Spread the news – there is a new word on the street! Brought to you by Mike and the letter C:
Blurker (BLUR-kur): n. 1. One who reads many blogs but leaves no evidence of themselves such as comments behind; a silent observer of blogs. 2. One who reads many blogs but has no blog of their own; a blog-watcher or blog voyeur.
Now I know you are thinking that it is scary, that you don’t know me so you have never said anything before. Know what? You’ll never know me if we can’t meet. We can’t meet if you don’t leave a comment. I’ve said “hello” already in this virtual sense – now it is your turn to say hi back!
If the comment doesn’t appear at first, WordPress sometimes decides to moderate them. I do not always understand its ways. I will approve them as soon as I return though, promise.
Now … talk!
In the past 24 hours, it is amazing how much material I have come across about self-branding and self-marketing, in one form or another. From conversations with people, to listening to the Managing the Gray podcast (which totally rocks, in case you didn’t get that impression from my last post), to sitting in on a lesson for photographers and a link to David Jay’s blog.
“a life in marketing confirms the wisdom of to thine own self be true. Ultimately, it will feel more comfortable for you; you don’t have to think about how you want to be seen…you have a brand. Make sure yours is honest.”
That is one thing that I have always believed in. Back when I worked for the web design firms in sales, I never believed in selling something just for the sake of selling it if I knew it was not what the client needed. I always worked hard to determing their needs and to make sure I was honest with them.
And for both companies that I worked for, I rocked the sales. Every single month that I was at ScamaTech (who were far from honest in the end, writing hot checks to most of the employees), I was the top salesperson with the exception of one single month. That month, the project engineer actually sold a site simply because I knew it was too good of a client to pass up, and I knew they needed the engineer in on the deal at the very beginning. I was happy that the company got the sale, and I felt that I did the right thing. But every other month I was there, I outperformed everyone. When they tried to bring in “salespeople”, I outperformed all of them combined.
So many sales positions are not about sales at all. They are about service. About talking to people, knowing what they need, getting to know them on a personal level even. Sharing of yourself, sharing your knowledge. Giving them the best value. Making them HAPPY.
As my photography career takes me on a new adventure, I hope to always remember to stay true to myself. That will get me further than anything else – not only in photography, but in life in general.
Zig Ziglar once said, “The quicker you help other people get what they want, the quicker you’ll get what you want.” So true, so true.
Books I Must Make Time to Read:
Selling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith
You, Inc. by Harry Beckwith
Sites worth noting:
Steve Pavlina – Personal Development for Smart People (His articles on 30 day self trials is very interesting!)
DIY vs. Right-Sourcing
In today’s climate, it is very important to have a personal brand. It will make you memorable to the people that meet you, and networking is very key no matter what you do for a living, and even outside of work.
I came across two items today that can help you define your personal brand, and possibly even rebrand yourself if necessary:
If you don’t know CC Chapman, I suggest that you learn more about him. I’ve had the honor of knowing him for years thanks to my blog, and I regret that we haven’t met in person on my trips to Boston. His Accident Hash podcast is fantastic, he is Vice-President of New Marketing for crayon (which exists in Second Life, something I still need to check out because I don’t conceptually “get it” yet), and he has been making independent films for Random Foo for over 10 years. Like I said, a pretty amazing guy.
