Goal setting for 2013

Okay, I am SO fired up to shift my business into high gear this year , cuz you know, life is too short not to fabulous every day :)
So I went straight to the fountain of information (google) and typed in live photography business seminars and up popped Wedding Photography Course with Jasmine Star | creativeLIVE
I watched just a few minutes of the introductory video and was hooked, this woman is a firecracker and a helluva photographer and I wanted to know more! I have enrolled in several of the seminars... looking forward to hearing what she has to say! In addition to the creativeLIVE seminars, I have been reading/listening to as many pro photographers as I can to get the skinny on just how to do that! It's hard to be honest with myself sometime, and harder still to take a risk and change it ...... (oh and it's harder still to be honest with you, reader!)
But here goes!



Chapter One - Goal Setting

What are your goals?
- book 5 weddings in 2013
- book 20 portraits in 2013
- volunteer for 5 photography related service positions in 2013 (ie greyhound supporters, wiggle waggle walkathon...)
- upgrade to a new canon body and bigger/better monitor
- be ME 100%
- book clients that want to hire ME as their portrait photographer, not just anyone
- ask for and charge appropriately for portraits and weddings
- make a difference in my community ( ie shoots for food bank .... )
- creating the sum of the client experience
- build my confidence
- know the value of my work
- train my assistant for weddings
- be awesome at the wedding detail shots
- get comfortable with turning down jobs that don't suit me
- learn to set expectations
- gift 5x7 cards or blab books to clients or industry colleagues
- shoot like it's for vogue
- create business presence on social media
- network on Equine Photographer Network
- listen longer before speaking
- put something good out into the world
- learn to direct people to the website FAQ

What didn’t work in 2012?
- slacking on blogging consistently
- being caught without business cards
- selective procrastinating
- out of date website
- too much time working while watching tv
- constantly re-branding
- crumbling under pressure
- slacking on building client relationship (cards, emails, newsletters)
- client consults
- studio lighting on the road
- abandoning personal projects
- staying up until 2 am working
- answering emails all hours of the night and day (set false expectations)

What gets me revved up?
- re-designing my website and graphics
- reading business advice / blogs
- mentoring other photographers or being mentored
- photographing styled shoots
- brides and bridal fashion
- equine photography
- lens and equipment upgrades

What are you afraid of?
- incompetence
- embarrassment
- rejection
- asking for money

What is your brand?
aCUBED studio is an Ottawa based portrait photographer. Alissa Albert specializes in pet (dog/equine) photography and family, newborn, maternity, family, engagement, wedding and couple portraits. For parents and couples who want/need a memorable and fun photo session, aCUBED studio is a portrait photographer that provides outstanding images with a creative flair and most importantly exceptional customer service. Unlike other photographers in this space, Alissa's key differentiator is how she uniquely addresses the desire of her clients to have an enjoyable day that meets the requirement of planning, scheduling and communicating before a shoot, professionalism (humor/efficiency) during the project, the timeliness of delivery of the final images, and follow through after the fact.

Your challenge: don't be a creeper!! Leave me a comment or tell me one of your own goals ;)

Bridal Portrait Session at Museum of Nature

While most of my wedding day photo moments are 'photojournalistic' and 'in the moment', I do find and make time with my brides to have a few creative shots that showcase their beautiful dress, flowers and venue. These shots were taken In February 2013 at the Museum of Nature in Ottawa Canada . Her makeup was by MakeupByCaroline. It was a treat to shoot at this gorgeous building and I couldn't resist making use of the perfect light in the new atrium that was recently added to the historic museum. Each bride has her own unique way of envisioning her wedding day and I work to mesh my style with the brides to deliver stunning images from her day that will make it up on to her wall in a place of honour.

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Show some Valentine love for Ottawa families in need

Valentine's Day is a GREAT day to show some love ... for Ottawa families in need. I am giving away a free photoshoot with a minimum $30 donation to the Ottawa Food Bank. Click here to go to the Ottawa Food Bank's website, the link will open in a new window ...
Then email me your receipt to email address: alissa@aCUBEDstudio.com , boom, I email you a gift certificate for a 30 minute photoshoot!

Equine Portraits

One of the many jobs I do as photographer is capture images for clients' websites. In this case I happily volunteered some time to do this for Stubbe Horse Farm, near and dear to my heart of course as that's where I ride. The setup was easy enough, park the horse half in and half out of the barn in the doorway and I stand in the sun, and this created a nice dark background which mimicked almost a studio look.
Then have them pose .... umm YEAH right.

I have to admit, I had a very good chuckle when I read this online "list" of things you must do to get your horse to pose for you. I'm reprinting it here, doesn't mean I think it works though!
1 Start on a 'good' day, (eg. not raining, unless you have a covered area to work in) can't always choose
2 Hold your horse and teach him first to not eat the grass. Every time he goes to eat grass, pull his head up. Eventually he should give up. in 5 years give or take
3 Start off moving his legs/hooves where his legs will make a square. (legs lined up side by side and not too far apart, but not to close together) ??
4 Give him a treat every time his legs are how you want them (You will probably have to move them around still). bring the 5 pound bag of treats
5 After every standing square movement, walk him around and stop at another place and do the same thing as above.
6 As soon as he does it on his own, praise him and give him a treat.

Okay, what REALLY works is this:
The secret to getting a portrait worthy pose from a horse is to raise your camera and focus on the spot where you hope your horse will be and then enlist three people to constantly amuse, entertain and astound the horse by any means necessary, including shaking cans of rocks, tossing ropes or doing jumping jacks. Then, in that brief moment when your horse turns towards whatever is interesting and perks his ears up, you take you shot, as quick as possible, because that shot is gone in 5 seconds. teehee

If you look closely, you'll see Ransom's mugshot on the bottom right :)

Todd and Kim | Ottawa Family Portrait

Winter is here and that means moving some sessions indoors. Not that romping around in the snow isn't fun and always an option with me, but when you have little ones, the cold isn't always the best environment.

This family got in touch with me to ask about studio shots and I actually recommended to them that we shoot in their home. They were surprised, assuming that it wouldn't be feasible, but in fact, it was the perfect space. Let me tell you why: With little ones that are under a year (or really under 3yrs of age frankly), your home is the PERFECT place to do photos. Your children will be relaxed and comfortable. You can control the temperature. Your kids clothes (or change of clothes) and their toys are nearby. You are not worried about them getting dirty or breaking anything so YOU are more relaxed. Not to mention that the commute to the studio and getting everyone bundled up and in/out of a car can be a chore.

These things don't sound very stressful but when you are trying to put your best foot (face) forward and have your kids do the same, well, all the extra factors can contribute to less than perfect results. Soooo :) move it to your place, and I'll take care of the lighting and we'll agree when the best time is to meet up when your kids are fed / rested and happy!

For the photo geeks out there, let me tell you I lit this space with 2 Canon 580s on manual, one directly behind me bouncing off the top corner of the room and set to 24mm zoom, and the second slightly behind me to my left pointed into the top of the wall set to 1/2 power, also zoomed wide. The first was triggered with a Pocket Wizard on my camera and the 2nd flash was a slave. In post-processing I blew out some of the details in the windows with photoshop :P

And these are the fantastic results!