Mad Mimi, Taking Action, & Feeling Like a Failure

  On a sidenote (as soon as I begin this post), I hate that the Christmas season is over.  I hate the fact that the day after Christmas, the station that I had been listening to with Christmas music 24/7 since the beginning of December, went back to regular programming.  I hate that the anticipation of Christmas morning is gone....Boo Hoo, right?  As I was mulling over these things this morning I had a thought!  Christmas is about Christ, ALL about Him.  After all, if He would not have given Himself as a babe, I wonder would we give gifts today?  Anyway, since Christmas is ALL about Him, why can't we recreate those feelings we have at Christmastime all year round?  The truth is that we SHOULD!  But sadly most of us do not.  Because you know what? It takes work, hard work and hard work is HARD! So, I'm going to attempt to keep that Christmas time feeling alive even though we have a year until next Christmas but I may need some encouragement along the way.

  Alright, now for the reason I began this post.

  A few weeks ago I was reading my assignment from Brand Camp (it's free by the way go over and check it out).  And the assignment was to set up an account for Mad Mimi.  I did but I have been trying to figure out how it works ever since.  Well, to backtrack to this morning before I get back to Mad Mimi, I was in a desolate mood.  One of the moods where I feel like a failure and feel that I'm worthless as a photographer.  To backtrack even farther, the reason I began feeling this way was because I delivered photos to a lady this morning.  Now, as a general rule, that should be joyous and wonderful and it was but her reaction through me for a loop and got me down.  I had packaged the prints in a Christmas bag, carefully protecting them with cardboard and such inside.  Then putting the outer paper in the bag.  Anyway, I gave the lady the bag and she proceeded to take the photos out and ask me, "Are these all mine?" To which I replied, "Yes".  I wondered why she was asking.  In a moment I knew.  She placed all the "wrapping" back into the bag and walked off with the photos in her hand.

  Ok so why do I get all desolate about someone not taking the bag?  Because my packaging is part of what I give my client that some other photographer's dont give.  Granted, the bag was a Christmas bag and it was a little large for the prints but the point is, I took the time to package them nicely (not in the plastic and cardboard envelope they came in- which, I am sad to say, not very long ago, I did).

  So, when the lady walked off with the prints some of my first thoughts were: "she doesn't value what I have created for her because she didn't take the bag" and then, "what kind of clients am I trying to attract?  Those who are just out for the best 'bang for the buck', or those who truely value photography as an Art, a way to capture moments"?  So after those initial thoughts, more desperate(ish) thoughts popped in to visit, like, "I need to revamp my pricing", "I need to take a course on branding/selling to the type clients I want" (which isn't a bad idea, actually), etc.  You get the picture.

  Anyway, I vowed to myself this morning that I was going to start trying to attract more of the clients that I want (not necessarily rich people because I didn't start my business with rich people in mind) but people who value photography, my time and my creativity.  That's where Mad Mimi comes in!

  Back to that.  So I finally (after trial and error and several test sends to my personal email) figured out how to work Mad Mimi.  Basically, it's a site where you can have all your business contacts in one place, group them in different listings and send out mass emails to them.  I'm excited!

  I decided to help make myself and my business stronger that I am going to send out monthly emails with photography tips, hints, and a Q&A from readers (if you want to sign up for it, send your email to: svogtphotographer@yahoo.com).  It will be a challenge but in a good way!

  That was my day, summed up into a blog post.  Leave me some feedback!!!  I'd love to hear your take (and similar stories) about all the stuff that happened today.

Sara <3

*NOTE: I am not saying that this client is someone who doesn't value my work.  The point of this post was how the situation made ME feel!  I value all my clients and am grateful that they have given me the opportunity to work with them and their families.

Bokah, Shaped and Otherwise

  Here are my latest two photos for the 365 Project.  I am trying to get the hang of bokah with Christmas lights so they're both of my tree....

  The first one I set my shutter to 1/6s (I'm not sure if that equals 1/60th or not but I think it does), had my focal length at 32mm, my aperature at f/4.8 and my ISO on 1600.  I like it but I had to go into PSE10 and lighten it so you could see the outline of the tree.  Before it was just really dark and I still think that it could use more lightening up.  I should have done that in camera.

December 21, 2011
                                                              

Also, can you tell that the top strand of lights blew?!  Oh, our tree is such a dysfunctional tree but it is ours so that makes it ok =)

December 22, 2011

  So, I created my own shaped bokah filter.  Here's how!  I am not a good craft person and the heart (can you tell the filter was heart shaped?) was slightly skewed.  I'm going to "perfect" this though. I went online last night and printed out some cute tiny shapes and will try them today or tonight.

  Camera info for this one was:
  Shutter Speed: 0.6s
  Focal Length: 55mm
  Aperature: f/5.6
  ISO: 1600

  I do like Christmas.  Although I'm not really in the Christmas spirit yet (and Christmas is only two days away) and the lights are fantastic to try different photography tricks on.

  I'd love to hear/see your attempts at bokah at Christmastime.  Share some stories with me and if you have pictures, leave a link in the comments!!

Sara