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A New year beginning. . . |
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!!!. . . A Lucky "8" Year ahead!!!
A Chinese friend of mine recently told me that in her culture they believethe number "8" is a very lucky number and therefore many couples waituntil years with 8's to get married! How exciting and fun. To add tothis it's an election year. Lots to look forward to.....
I have felt for quite some time that this is going to be an amazing year onso many levels. I love to teach; I love to travel; and I love tocollaborate. This year I have found a way to combine all 3!
The special internship program I have offered the last 10 years has made it very clear to me how many passionate aspiring photographersare out there. From every culture, age and gender, each one dedicated to learning what it takes to have a photography business. As I foundmyself repeating the same information from one intern to the next itsuddenly dawned on me, I am supposed to write a book and share thisinformation with the masses!! Thus the birth of my first How-To,paperback book From Snapshot to Cashbox.Now everyone can get the information it took me 20 years to figure out(check out the SHOPPING section of this website). It also became clearto me that hands-on teaching could be offered to those who cannotpartake in a weekly internship program by offering intensive weekendworkshops both in Hawaii and Los Angeles! How cool is that???? Hawaiiis so awesome!! What an amazing backdrop for photographers!!
I have to give special thanks to so many people who have blessed mylife in so many ways. My dear friend and client Connie Rae Knapp,(whose touching, soul-filling, bluesy-rock music has earned her awardafter award), was the inspiration for my coffee-table book portfolioseries (check out the SHOPPING section of this website). A huge fan ofmy work, she pleaded with me forever to have one of my portfolio samplesfor herself and some of her friends. Finally modern technology has allowedme to print my fine art books at a reasonable cost, andshe was my first customer! She purchased TEN books in her first order!!WOW!!! I was flattered and nervous at the same time since I hadn'tordered from that printing source before, but when the books arrived it humbled me.
I also have to give thanks to my dear friends and photo biz colleaguesClaire Barrett, Wayne Tam, Barbara Smith and Martin Cohen. They'vealways been there to listen to my triumphs and my defeats. Wayne - always willing to pull a college-style "all-night-er" to help me get aportfolio printed for a big celebrity client in time. Claire alwaysavailable to join me for a beer after a 14 hour shoot. Barbara, for sharing her workshop and guest speaking experience and agreeing to team up with me as "The Dream Team" in our first joint workshop Profitable Wedding Photography in 2008 (see the LEARNING CENTER for details). We're SO excited!!! AndMartin, my dear, sweet friend Martin for always stroking my ego andreminding me to keep at it even when I feel like giving up.
How lucky can a girl be? LUCKY... even luckier!! If it weren't forRob Steiner my amazing web designer/e-commerce GURU who dealt with myannoying, controlling need for perfection via e-mails at 4 AM, monthafter month, this incredible site would never have been created! Anintrepid problem-solver this guy can tweak settings here and there,customize pages that can't be customized and make your site work when no oneelse ever could! I never met anyone as intensely dedicated to gettingsomething right as me. I think I've met a fellow crazy person!! (Ha! Ha!).Check him out: www.robsteiner.us
Lastly, my crazy fun-loving group of friends who are forever encouraging me to step away from my obsessive, addictive work load, humbly reminding me who I am. Theyare always ready with a sarcastic joke to make me laugh just when I need it. Without them I wouldmelt away into the emulsion of my film. As I said, how lucky can agirl be?????
 Here's the 2008....... it's gonna be GREAT!!
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