I love developments

I can't even believe how much things are growing and developing. Here's the bullet list:

-- We had a meeting last night with an established photography couple last night. They mostly shoot weddings and are going to hire us on as associates. We'll get to shadow them for a few events, learn a lot, and then start shooting as a team. And we get to use our images for our own stuff and even put the work up on our blog. SO COOL! I think it's going to give us some great experience. And did I mention that they'll be paying us too?

-- I just got off the phone with Write Around Portland, a local non-profit that we're going to do some pro-bono work for. They're having their big benefit coming up at the NW Art Center and shooting that should be a lot of fun, and give us some great exposure too, especially since we'll be getting credit for the images on their website. We're also working on more stuff for Gus' old school. I love that we now have a way to give back to the community in such a fulfilling way.

-- We are going to the Bay area for Thanksgiving, and we're going to be doing a few shoots while we're there. A friend of mine grew up in the east bay and she's been emailing all of her old connections to see if they want to do a shoot with us. And two have already responded. How cool is that? We might do a shoot with some family friends as well, and possibly one for Gus' dad's in-laws. We're also working on photography weekends to Boise and Seattle. And if you live in Utah and are interested in pics, stay tuned. We're probably coming sometime in late April/early May.

-- Oh, and we're actually getting clients too. We have a family shoot next Thursday, and another that we're trying to find a time for, and a couple of others in the works.

When I was talking to the events coordinator at WAP, she said, "I think it's so cool that you guys just took the leap and are doing this." And I said, "I'm normally someone that mulls things and takes a long time to make a decision. The fact that both of us moved forward with this, with almost no hesitation, tells me how much it was meant to be." And I really think that it is. This is going way to well to not have some purpose behind it.

Check, check, check

-- Chie and I got through our morning, even if it was tumultuous. Shopping with a teething toddler is definitely not on my top ten list. I really, really hope that these canines come through soon!

-- I got through two more tests in Behavior Analysis (it's a self-directed course; you read the material and take a quiz)

-- I got through it quickly enough that I had time to come home and edit some photos before pick-up time at Chie's childcare. It's the fastest editing job I've ever done-- 62 photos through Lightroom in 2 days. I have a bit of minor editing to take some spots off under Lizzie's nose and then they're ready for the viewing session tomorrow.

Whew! Off to pick up my crabby baby!

Edit: Oh! Oh! and we're actually having dinner. And it doesn't involve pre-cooked ingredients. We're having cod roasted with white wine, olives, and lemon zest, sauteed kale, and rice. And it's taking me about ten minutes to prepare. How beautiful is that?

Word of mouth

So, we have our first non-friend client! I think that I mentioned meeting Michelle, the Paper Zone district manager in an earlier entry. Well, when I went in to pick up marketing supplies today, she said that they (she and her husband, who together are EclectiKid, a children's clothing line) want to hire us to do a shoot for them! Woot!

Just a teaser

OK, so I couldn't help myself. I did a round of photo editing this morning. There's still a lot to get through (Gus went hog-wild on this shoot!) but here's one of my favorites:

New to the world

We shot the Ellefsons a few weeks ago on the cusp of having their baby. And now, here she is in all her glory...



This was a really fun shoot despite some difficulties. Dayli was having a hard night and the weather was not cooperating so we ended up doing it just inside of their apartment. Hopefully we'll be able to get together again and do some outside shots. But I'm very pleased with how these turned out, in spite of things.

Post-processing

We're slogging our way through the photos. I understand now why, even when it's your full-time job, getting the proofs out for a wedding takes a few weeks. We started with 1150 photos! Even with the first cull, we're just below 500 to look through/process in Lightroom/upload. It's a LOT of work, and it happens when Chie is napping and/or asleep for the night so that the two of us can actually do it together. We've got the actual ceremony up now, though, so that his family can see that we're doing something. They haven't bugged us at all but if I were them, I'd be like, "Uh, do you have anything yet?" Hopefully, the rest can get processed in the next week or so. It's fun work but oh, is it work.