shhh....birthday whisper

happy birthday aunt mel - i love you!!!

The Cutest Ambassador

This is Catharine Aboulhouda, the 2008 National Ambassador for the March of Dimes.

 

Every year the March of Dimes chooses a child as their National Ambassador whose life depended on and was saved by the efforts of the March of Dimes (research, programs, campaigns). These ambassadors travel the world for the year and, along with their families, speak on behalf of the March and Dimes and help forward their mission to "improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality".  Today Catharine and her mom were guest speakers at the kick-off breakfast for the March of Dimes 2008 March for Babies at Martin's West, and I had the pleasure of photographing the event. Vic Carter from WJZ was the MC, the place was packed and the overall vibe was energetic and excited. 

 

Missy and I both feel strongly about the March of Dimes mission - we have been blessed so far with healthy pregnancies and healthy babies, but not all families are as blessed. The March of Dimes fights for the health of babies so that more and more families can be as blessed as we have been. The March for Babies is being held at Camden Yards on May 3rd. If you want to sign up go to www.marchforbabies.org. Missy and I will be there - hope to see you there too!!

2008 Business Goals

Once again, we did something this year that photography businesses we have been admiring have suggested: we created a list of business goals for the year. We're going to take it one step further and let everybody see these goals - that way we can be held accountable (i.e. made fun of and ridiculed :) if we don't meet them. Now, Jason isn't that sensitive, so aside from being disappointed himself if we don't meet these goals, he won't be bothered by other people knowing we're FAILURES!!!!! I, on the other hand, am TERRIFIED of failure - it's the reason I don't try so many things, cause if there is a chance I won't succeed I will be crushed (this is very sad, I know...I need therapy :) Anyway - without further ado, here is our 2008 Business Goals (in no particular order...whoops, I mean in alphabetical order - and a couple of these have been met):

1. Attend a Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting monthly

2. Blog at least twice/week

3. Donate services to 2 or more charities/organizations (CHECK!)

4. Get published in a magazine

5. Improve website/blog Google ranking

6. Photograph 30 High school seniors

7. Read 1 business book/month

8. Set aside all funds necessary for both of us to attend WPPI/Pictage Partnercon in 2009

9. Start a blog (CHECK!)

10. Travel out of state for a wedding 

 Well there it is - each time we complete a goal, we'll post it and update our list - woo hoo :) Wish us luck!

Knowledge Sharing

Today Missy and I had lunch with Dave Hoffmann, a talented photographer located in Harford County (my homebase) that freelances for the Examiner in his spare time (he's a software engineer full-time). Missy stumbled upon Dave's blog a couple of weeks ago and shared it with me. His sports photography caught my eye, so I asked him if he would like to meet up sometime so I could pick his brain (I have a lot to learn about sports photography). We decided to meet at my house for lunch - this was good, because whenever we have people over, we always get motivated to do something with the house that is long overdue. Now you might be thinking we vacuumed our basement or mopped the kitchen floor....nope - we took down our Christmas tree (we were sad to see it go, but it was time).  It was a very professional meeting - we met at my house for pizza, the kids were running wild, and little Miss Shy (our 1 and 1/2 yr old) was flirting like crazy. Once the kids went down for their naps, we were able to get to business. We both had a lot of similar views on the hardships of trying to start your own business while raising a family. Dave had a lot of interesting tips to share from lighting concepts to remote-camera usage (this was pretty cool - check out his blog for some details). I'm always looking to meet photographers and do a little knowledge sharing - it's always cool to learn something new and teaching others always helps to reinforce your own knowledge and practices. West Coast photographers are all about sharing knowledge, but for some reason it seems that East Coast photographers like are less willing to share. Personally I like the West Coast philosophy (maybe because I  would really LOVE to live in California :) so any other local photographers looking to network, give me a shout! Dave - thanks for the tips!

Here's a sample of Dave's work:

 

The American Craft Show

So, a couple of days ago I was asked to shoot the American Craft Council's American Craft Show at the Baltimore Convention Center. I typically prefer to shoot people rather than objects, landscapes and other inanimate objects. This is basically because, contrary to me being an introvert, I enjoy engaging my subject, I like feedback, and I love when they see their final images and are thrilled with how they look and feel great about themselves. In addition to this, I am also not typically a fan of crafts - I am more of a processed, manufactured, techie kind of guy. So, it shouldn't be any surprise that this was my first craft show.....but it certainly will NOT be my last - know why? Well, where else could you find......

Baskets and Furniture Made out of Garden Hoses

 

Jewelry Made out of Barbie-doll hands

 

A Nice Hat

 

A Didjeridoo

 

In all seriousness - the show was great - there were loads of crafts - something for everyone. Missy really liked the scarves and the blown glass was probably my favorite (no joking here...for some reason I like blown glass).

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway - next time a craft show is in town, stop by - you never know what you'll find.