I just want to thank everyone who voted for us in the Fox Cleveland Hot List.

There were some amazing photographers on there, and we ranked #3 in Northeast Ohio!

Next year, we're aiming for #1! :-)

See the results here:
http://myfoxcleveland.cityvoter.com/Winners/PopWinner.aspx?contest=85

Shan

Tomorrow I'm working at a wedding with Steph, and a friend is flying in to work with us and see just how we shoot a wedding.

Yeah, we're that good. :-P

(Actually, she just got back from a workshop in Mexico, and she just couldn't wait to get her hands on a bride and groom! LOL)

Wendi from "Inspired Images By Wendi" (http://www.inspiredimagesbywendi.com) is a good friend of mine from the MPix.com forum. We met in person last year at the WPPI convention, and again in November when we had our Midwest Conference. She's extremely talented, and has goals as high as ours!

You can read her blog here: http://inspiredimagesbywendi.com/blog

Anyway, I'm sitting here doing the "flight of the bumblebee" cleaning, so our house is presentable. (That happens when you have a 4 year old and a 14 month old - clean is a very relative term!)

Tomorrow I'm going to be trying a new lighting technique (well not new, I've done it before, but I just got new flashes that will make it much easier) that makes very dramatic images. Stay tuned!

Ok, I just found this from a friend on some of my forums.

I love people with a sense of humor like this!

Enjoy!

Shan

http://www.glumbert.com/media/weddingfirstdance

Ok, so Steph makes fun of me. (Big surprise!). She keeps saying "We have to make a trip to Mecca".

If you know me, you know that I'm a techie. Not that I have to have everything, but I love to see everything, and learn as much as I can about it.

So, we head off to my favorite store in New York City.

B&H Photo.

Now, if you haven't been, B&H is a full city block long, and at least half a block wide. The place is huge (by NYC standards, especially!) and they have basically an entire floor dedicated to photography.
This is the view of the checkout area - in the distance, is the TVs. What you can see is less than 1/4 of one floor. And yes, it's always this busy!

One of the coolest things (at least for me, I'm a geek! LOL) is the transport system. Since it's so packed, they keep their items on other floors, so when you are at the counter with someone, they put in a "pull order". These little green boxes are flying all over the ceiling, going between floors, transporting items to the different counter areas so customers can see their items.

We went to the counter to look at a few new lenses, and get a few flashes for a new technique I'm working on. Here's a picture of Steph at the giant counter (there's 125 counter locations!)

We were looking at the Sigma 20mm f1.8 (Why doesn't Canon make this?) and the Canon 85mm f1.8 and f1.2 - nice lenses!

So, after a bit of enjoying ourselves, we headed to checkout. Even this is an experience - you take your ticket into this line, wait under this speaker, and this voice from above tells you which checkout area to go to. LOL
We went out, and saw that the Empire State building was lit up for Thanksgiving. Very nice!

Anyway, it was fun, (Steph got to do some shopping too for our cruise to the Bahamas this Christmas!) and I got the tools I need for next week. I'll have some very cool images from this Friday's wedding!

If you ever get a chance to go to B&H, do it - it's an experience just being there!

Shan

Ok, so this isn't so much business related, but it's at least interesting.

We're in NJ right now visiting with Oma & Opa (Steph's parents), and we always take the kids into New York City to visit Santaland.

It's a great display, and the kids have a blast. Last year was Christian's first year, but as he was only 2 months old, he probably doesn't remember much. He was much more interested this year, to say the least!

I decided to pack light, only bringing my camera and my 50mm lens. Here are a few quick shots I thought I'd share:



Of course, after the trip through Santaland, we got to meet Santa! Ian was all ready (he wants a bicycle with 99 rockets so it can go fast. He says Christian can have a bicycle with 2 rockets, since he's a baby.) Christian just thought Santa was SOOOO interesting.

After our visit, we headed back home. This pretty much sums it up:Merry Christmas!

Ok, I mentioned this in my other post, but I am really excited about this.

January 27, 2008 I'll be hosting a workshop in Akron, OH. This workshop will cover using the Vivitar 285 flashes, off camera for dramatic lighting.

If you've never played with these little powerhouses, you're really missing out. They offer manual and automatic control, are practically indestructible, and easy to work with. It's like having studio lights that can go anywhere!

I'll be posting some images later (we have a wedding the end of this month where I really plan on putting everything into it!), so stay tuned!

Shan

It's funny how things work.

A friend of mine recently got back from a lifechanging workshop. She is full of ambition, excitement, and new ideas. I spent some time talking with her on the phone about goals, vision, and how to grow, both personally and in business.

After I got of the phone, I started thinking about my own career, and where I want to be. Funny enough, while I know how many weddings I need to book to be financially stable, and where I'd like to be in the photography world, I never stopped to see if the two paths were the same.

Or even the same direction.

So, I'm going to take a little time and take stock of my goals.

1. Speak at the WPPI conference in 2009.
2. Be one of the top wedding photographers in the nation.
3. Get my images and articles published nationally.
4. Host my own workshops.

So, how to achieve these goals? What steps do I need to take to get there? Are they clearly defined?

#4 is easy, and done. In January, I'll be hosting a workshop focusing on using Vivitar flashes. While it's not an exotic trip to Mexico at $1000 per person, it's a start, and it's something that I'm comfortable with. Over the next several months I plan on focusing my energy into using these flashes to create very dramatic images, something that I've been playing with for years.

#3 is a bit tougher. There are literally thousands of photographers who want to be published (although for many of them, it's more of a dream, since they'll never act on this desire). To do this, I need to do three things:

1. Surround myself with people who have been published, to learn how they did it
2. Study the pictures and articles that are being published, to see what the editors are looking for
3. Submit my work to the publishers, and keep doing so until I achieve my goal.

#1 and #2 are related, yet are probably the most undefined. Who's to say when I've achieved the goal of being one of the top wedding photographers in the nation? That goal is vague at best, but there are some key things in my mind that would tell me that I've achieved this goal. Achieving the #1 is a big step. Going on forums and seeing people say "I would just die to second shoot with Shannon" is another. Having people know who I am, without me being an active member of their forum - another good one. Winning WPPI's "Photographer of the Year" - yeah, that ought to do it. (Why isn't that on my goal list? Hmmm....I need to think bigger.)

#1 is pretty achievable. First, I need to let them know I exist. This year I plan on submitting several photos for the print competition. In Las Vegas (at the WPPI convention) I'm going to go early and watch the judging. I want to know everything - what they judge on, who the judges are, what strikes them about the winners, etc. I'll be making it my passion to learn everything I can.

I also need to surround myself with those who have achieved what I aspire to be. Better to be the worst of the best, than the other way around. I need to get onto new forums, post my images for critique, and go to the workshops the big names go to. I want to learn from the best, in order to be the best.

Finally, I need to have a timeline. Obviously #1 has a deadline (by the time they decide on the speakers for the 2009 WPPI convention) but #2 and #3 could be left open - which gives me an excuse to procrastinate.

So, I declare this - by December 31, 2009 - I will have achieved all of these goals.

Does this leave me open for public failure? You bet. But I know this - by posting this publicly, it will always be in the back of my mind, every day, keeping me on track.

If you are someone that can help me achieve my goals, let me know. I need to talk to you.

Shan