Renovation Status

Our downstairs is all torn up and gutted. I sit here in my office with dust swirling around me. Evenings after the kids goto bed is about the only time I have some piece and quiet to be able to work. I've been trying to keep things going but I'm constantly interrupted by one contractor or another with a question. I will be so glad when this project is done.

We just realize that original floorplan for the basement had several problems. Most notably were the pipes in the wall that would prevent us from combining the bath room and laundry room into a master bathroom. So we had to stop work while we tried to figure things out. It looks like we have a plan. The entertainment kitchen is out, my office will be moved, the bathroom, becomes a powder room, the shower becomes a closet, the laundry room remains a laundry room and my old office, well it becomes the new master bathroom. Amazing that everything will work out.

At Magical Moments, I shared Kristen and Brad's wedding. I've been so busy with the renovations that I've not had time to post photos from their wedding. I'll see if I can get a minute or two in the next couple of days to post some.

Bride's Guide to Wedding Photography

In the midst of all of the renovations going on about me, I've been busy working on a project to complete a new media piece to give away at bridal shows, provide to venues for thier clients and anybody who may ask. Rather than create more paper for somebody to lug around with them, I wanted to create something unique and provided value to you, my potential client. With that in mind, I was able to negotiate a usage license to distribute on disk an excerpt from "The Bride's Guide to Wedding Photography" by Kathleen Hawkins. Since I was able to pick the chapter, I decided the most relevant portion of the book was Chapter 2, "The Selection". In addition, the publisher was nice enough to provide a $5.00 discount to anybody who purchases the book via the disk!

It turned out getting the book rights was the easy part. Creating the disk took me several days. Every step of the way had a challenge or two which needed to be overcome. But finally the content was ready. But wait, the disk needed artwork. That took another day to create. The hardest part was finding just the right photo to put on the cover of the disk. Anyway, here it is:




To complicate matters, while I was working on the disk, work on the house came to a standstill. We thought we had a design that would work. We were wrong! After a nerve racking weekend, we met with Bill, our designer on Monday and ended up totally reconfiguring the design. The kitchen is out, my office is moving, my old office becomes the bathroom, closets are moved.... I can't keep track of it all! Anyway we have a design we really like and think it will be a vast improvement! All of this means that in a week or two when the new office is finished, I get to move offices!

Certification Matters

Recently on one of the professional forums I follow, another photographer wanted to know what certification was and does it help the photographer. I responded that yes, certification matters and then went onto explain why it matters. To make a long story short, the Commission on Photographic Certification saw my response and asked to use my response as a testimonial.

More and more photographers are realizing how much certification does matter. It protects you, the consumer from somebody who goes into a camera store, buys a camera and then decides to call themselves a professional photographer. Rather than read my words, see what Jen says..

Almost Packed

I'm so sore and achy my aches have pains. We've spent the last three days furiously packing the basement to get ready for the demolition and renovation project to begin. Well all of that starts this week. It amazes me how much junk we've accumulated over the last ten years. We have a big dumpster sitting in our driveway that is more than half filled with our useless junk. There is still some more to go but right now I just can't move another box! So for the next several months we're going to be living in half the space we've become accustomed to.

Another milestone was reached over the last week. My birthday. Let's just say that while I'm not quite old enough to remember when the Dead Sea was only sick, I'm getting old enough to remember when people were still mourning. We had a fairly low key celebration for my birthday. We thought we would try to go out for dinner but the kids did not cooperate. So instead we brought Pizzaria Uno in for a treat. Sheryl went to the store and bought a small cake. All in all a pretty quiet day.

Over that weekend, I shot Laura and Brian's wedding. I'm still working on the photos so when I have a moment, I'll post a few. In the meantime, I did finish the first draft of Jennifer and John's wedding album. As always, you can view current and past albums on my website. Jennifer and John's album can be viewed by clicking the link.