I have been bugging my new assistant Christina for 3 weeks about her 'interview' I emailed her, and I am super excited that I got it back from her last night! Poor dear, she spend all day slogging away in the Cowbelly office, only to go home and slog some more in answering my interview questions.

Just one of the 10, 297 reasons why I love her.

Let me introduce Christina Ellis, new Cowbelly assistant extraordinaire.



1. Where were you born and raised?

I was born in North Vancouver, BC, Canada as were my brother and sister. We moved when I was eight, which I was very upset about, to Bainbridge Island, WA where my parents are still living.

2. When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Strangely enough, I wanted to be an orthodontist or a teacher, neither of which is on my horizon.

3. What is your favorite color?

I like deep eggplant-y purples and also dark greens.

4. What is your favorite time of day and why?

I like dawn and dusk for many reasons. The light at that time is gorgeous, especially through trees. It smells great in the morning especially if it just finished raining or there was a heavy dew. The birds are usually out and there are not a ton o people around so you can just enjoy a walk listening to your own foot steps.

5. If you could retire to anywhere in the world and money were no object, where would you retire to and why?

I cant really picture myself staying in one place for very long. If I were to retire and money were no object, I would probably end up spending TONS of money on audio recording equipment and setting up a studio in Seattle and maybe one in Chicago as well while at the same time playing music with my band full time and traveling around the country and the world playing music.

6. What is your favorite food?

Currently I love pizza with some sort of crumbly cheese like feta, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, garlic and olive oil. I am also very happy with stir fried veggies and peanut sauce! mmmmmm

7. Why do you want to work for Cowbelly?

I love pets and I think Jamie is super talented. I like to try to work for local businesses because I feel that I am a valued member of the team instead of just a number.

8. If you could win an award for any real or imaginary talent, what would it be for?

What a strange question. It's hard for me to think of winning awards... I think it would be awesome to win a triathlon or a bike race of some kind. I am completely out of shape right now but it would be awesome if it actually happened. :-)

This is Jamie speaking now. I honestly don't know what I ever did without her. Christina is everything I could have ever dreamed of in an assistant and more. She seems to read my mind which is like the coolest thing ever. Plus, unlike mine, her memory rocks. She is also super techy-savvy, AND a longtime mac user, so is pleased as punch on my mac network (we now have 3 macs, including a new macbook pro laptop, whoopee!). Oh, and her email skills? Beyond compare. I am beyond happy that I got over my assistant fear and hired her! Just one more reason to love 2008!

Today we are spending the day hanging new art and photography displays. It should be a blast!

Yay for Christina!!

Labels: chistina, christina's interview, cowbelly assistant

Stumble It!

Remember the weekend recently when it was 80 degrees and sunny on Saturday and 45 degrees, windy and pouring rain on Sunday? Yeah? So do I. I did the following shoot for Scout and Ziggy on Saturday and then did the shots of Fergie that follow on Sunday. Note the contrast between the groups of images.

Hot Scout at the Arboretum.



A dog uses it's tongue to try and cool off. Not sure if it was helping poor Ziggy here.

This helped a little.

It's not that it was super bloody hot, but in comparison to the previous weeks it felt like 100 degrees.



Ok, this is pretty much what we all felt like at that shoot.

Ahh shade, under a pretty pink tree.


My favorite shot from the shoot. Curly tongue! BTW: did you know that when a dog's tongue curls up like this it means he/she is really, really hot? Yep! Kind of like a leaf in the sun.


Now, that was Saturday.

Ready for Sunday? Here ya go.

Fergie, Discovery Park. The intention was to get shots of her catching the disk, which was a gift from Fergie's grandpa. He had been wanting to go to DP with us for months to document her skills. We planned for that Sunday and the weather couldn't have been worse. It doesn't look too awful in the photos, but after 20 minutes of shooting my hands were so cold I couldn't feel them and I said "Ok, let's go!". And we left.


This is funny. It was raining so hard I had to put a plastic bag around my camera. it was a good thing that I did. By the time we got back to the car we were soaked.


This shoot was really hard for me. The weather made it tough (notice my bad color and focus issues), but what made it really hard is that I have never watched Fergie catch a disc with anyone else. I was so amazed at her anti-gravity skills I kept forgetting to push the shutter button on my camera. I kept going "wow Fergie, wow!", then would snap the shot after she hit the ground, kind of as an afterthought. This next one I like, and I think speaks volumes about the athletic side of the Fergermeister's personality.



Now, I have been wishing hard for Mother Nature to get back on my (Seattle's) side. Today she was in cooperation which was great for my shoot for D'ogi the puppy, but tomorrow I'd like sun too because we will be going back to Discovery Park for more disc throwing.

If anyone reading this has any effective weather dances or can pull some strings with MN, please help us here in the Northwest!

Thank you.

Labels: arboretum, discovery park, fergie, freezing cold, hot, saturday sunday, scout, sunny, weather in seattle, ziggy

Stumble It!

I just met with Kathryn, a lovely volunteer for a great local organization called Whisker City. She picked up a donation from me for their upcoming Sacred Cat Ball, their annual fundraiser that helps them raise much-needed funds to help them rescue and care for abused, neglected and abandoned cats and kittens.

Here is the blurb from their website:

Whisker City rescues and rehabilitates abused, neglected and abandoned cats and kittens, shelters them, and places them in loving homes.

Help us save lives! Join our auction effort, enjoy a catered vegetarian dinner with special celebrity guests -- see who's coming...
To become a Table Captain where you can invite your friends to join you at your table, or to donate an item.

They contacted me many weeks ago about making a donation, and thankfully have been really great at staying on top of me during this craziness of work with my business.

It's so important to me personally to be able to give back, and although it's something I don't talk about much on this blog, it's not uncommon for me to donate a product or service as often as 8-10 times per year.

I very rarely turn an animal rescue organization down, and have only not donated when I have been so busy I miss the deadline for the procurement form. Oh, FYI: I ONLY donate to animal-related organizations that help rescue and care for needy animals.

Organizations I have donated to in the last 4-5 years include:

PAWS
Seattle/Bellevue Humane Society
Feral Cat Spay and Neuter Society
Northwest Animal Rights Network
Pasado's Safe Haven (this was for last month's bowling fundraiser)
Seattle Animal Shelter
Best Friends Animal Society
Prison Pet Partnership Program
and now
Whisker City

I have a feeling there have been others but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.

SO, what did I donate to the Sacred Cat Ball?

A gift certificate for a 'Feature' photo session: a 90-minute shoot + prints package that includes 4 8x10 prints (or $100 in print credit) a private online gallery and travel up to 40 miles from D/T Seattle. Value: $325.

The GC is going in their live auction, and they will have a powerpoint presentation that includes all of the items in the auction.

I am so excited to find out who wins this certificate! I imagine it will be a kitty since there will be so many cat lovers there. If you are a kitty owner in the Seattle area and have been wishing for a Cowbelly photo session for your furkids, this would be a great opportunity to pick one up while supporting a great organizaton at the same time.

There are some really amazing items in their auction, items I'd really like to win.

If you are a kitty lover and believe in supporting organizations that do very good things for very good (and needy) animals, please consider attending the event.
Details:

Auction Location:

Everett Events Center - Edward D. Hansen Conference Center
2000 Hewitt Avenue - Everett, WA - 98201

June 7, 2008 - 5:00 pm

Whisker City website.

Lastly, my apologies for the total lack of photographs on my blog recently. I am still busy with my commercial project, but anticipate being done by this weekend. Also trying to catch up with regular Cowbelly work. Yesterday between Christina and I we sent over 50 emails! If you have yet to hear from us please don't fear, I anticipate being (mostly) caught up with everyone by the end of the week.

I also have some new images to show, including some from a couple of shoots I did the weekend before the commercial shoot. Remember the week when it was 80 degrees and sunny one day and then 45 degrees, windy and pouring rain the next day? Yeah, that one. Should be an interesting contrast.

This weekend I am planning to hang a new (big) Decopaw art display in Seattle. I will give details on that once it's up. This will be the biggest display I have ever hung, and in such a cool space. I'll try and remember to take pictures. Very exciting stuff.

And then, once this week is over, I can focus on finishing my first of two very exciting projects. I am getting really excited to share it with my blog audience but still have a lot of work to do before it's ready to launch. I am still planning on a May (mid-May?) launch date. Stay tuned for that! I will be sure to say "this is project #1" when it launches. Did I mention I was excited? Lots of excitement lately! Yippee. :-)

Happy Thursday!

Labels: cat photography, cowbelly kitty photos, donations, rescue organization, sacred cat ball, whisker city

Stumble It!

Some of you may have already heard about the talented Lisa Wogan's new soon-to-be-released publication: Dog Park Wisdom. For those who haven't, here is the little blurb on the book from the new website of the same name:


Dog Park Wisdom: Real-World Advice on Choosing, Caring For, and Understanding Your Canine Companion is a compendium of practical advice, homespun tips, and stories direct from the dog park for and about living with dogs. It's a grassroots approach to pet care gleaned from everyday dog people. We didn't seek out vets, trainers, behaviorists, or anyone else with advanced degrees or training in canine-ology. Not because they don't provide excellent counsel but because they write their own books and, let's face it, sometimes the best advice comes from a wise friend.

Lisa is a very talented writer and friend in the pet industry, and it will be my pleasure to attend one (or maybe both!) of her book signings. And as if Lisa's great writing style isn't enough, the very talented dog photographer and friend Bev Sparks did the photography for the book and will be joining Lisa in the signings of their book. That's two different books for the gals in 6 months! Please join us for a fun party and what I am sure will be a very informative, eye-opening, interesting, funny read. Oh, and also, myself and Fergie are in the book, just one more reason to pick it up. :-)

Book signing dates + locations:

MUTTINI MIXER, SEATTLE, FRIDAY, MAY 2
A canine schmooze-fest at the Downtown Dog Lounge on Capitol Hill, Friday, May 2, from 7 to 10 p.m. Doga instructor and Dog Park Wisdom contributor Brenda Bryan will help us celebrate with free canine mini-massages in the first hour.

URBAN BEAST BOOK SIGNING, SEATTLE, THURSDAY, MAY 29
Can't make the mixer? Never fear. We'll be signing books and sipping wine at Urban Beast in the South Lake Union neighborhood from 7 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 29.

Hope to see some of you there!

Labels: bev sparks, book signing, dog park wisdom, lisa wogan

Stumble It!

2238 shots taken

428 emails exchanged

23 dog models

26 pet parents

1 creative director

1 marketing director

2 R/T plane tickets

1 soccer game

6 cans of red bull

12 gigs of memory cards

4 Canon camera batteries

2 lenses

1 apple laptop

4 locations

4 hours of off-camera flash held by 3 different people

18 hours on location

6 dogs on standby

2 canine 'observers'

1 tireless mind-reading assistant

1 incredibly generous fan

1 modern condo

5 small world stories

1 30-minute lunch-break

38 saved voicemails

3 dogs recruited on site

2 volunteer model scouts

5 large bags of dog treats

2 cuz squeaky toys

20 doggy goody bags

plus

countless thank-yous

= 9 product packages

Think about that the next time you go to the store to buy your dog's food. :-)

Labels: commercial shoot, cowbelly commercial, cowbelly goes global

Stumble It!

Thank you thank you to all of the folks who responded to my call for models!! I was really worried about getting that many dogs lined up in such a short period of time, but leave it to the canine-lovers of the Seattle area to step up to the plate. I was overwhelmed with responses. Boy do we love our dogs!

I am getting ready to send the last email to the last group of dog owners my clients have hand-picked.

I was moved by every single dog photo I received; some even made me laugh out loud. If it were up to me I would use every single one of the 50-some odd dogs who volunteered to participate!

Now, having said that, I am still in need of two dogs.

The Golden Retriever puppies!

I will be emailing some breeders tonight, but sadly none of them are anywhere nearby. If anyone knows of anyone who has a litter of GR puppies, or a breeder in Seattle or relatively nearby, please let me know!

Thanks so much and I will pick back up with blogging once the storm of work this week has blown over.

Happy Monday! :-)

Labels: commercial shoot, cowbelly commercial, model call update

Stumble It!

I am in need of dogs for a major commercial dog photo shoot, and I need to get them lined up ASAP!

(I have known about this assignment for the past couple of weeks but it was just confirmed today, otherwise would have posted this earlier I promise.)

The shoot itself is taking place on Thursday 4/17 during the day, most likely at Discovery Park in Seattle, and possibly in a couple of other Seattle locations.

Model parents only need to commit to a minimum of 1 hour but ideally 2. (Great excuse to take off work!). Times are flexible and TBD.

Locations TBD, but most likely all within the City of Seattle.

This is a very exciting opportunity for local pet owners! You will have the chance to not only have your pooch photographed by yours-truly but his/her likeness may also be seen on pet products around the country!

After seeing Fergie's pictures in CityDog Magazine this week I can tell you it's a thrill to see your dog's face where loads of other people will see it and admire it too. Gives a person such pride in their furry beloved! Not to mention serious bragging rights.

Here is what I need:

• All adult dogs, unless otherwise noted.
• 5 years of age or younger.
• Medium sized up to large sized, but not giant breeds.
• All healthy and bright-eyed without any visible skin or teeth issues.
• All healthy weights.
• No dog, human or fear-based aggression. Get along great with both humans and dogs.

*And this is important* they need to have good solid, reliable obedience skills: at least: sit, stay, down, come.

Ideally what I am looking for is happy-go-lucky dogs.

UPDATED TUESDAY 4/15 9:15AM

Breeds:

• several Golden Retriever mixes, or medium-light colored large mixed breeds: young: 2-5 years, female or male. Ideally happy-go-lucky 'Smiley dogs'.
  

• 2 Golden Retriever puppies- ideally different shades of fur (one light, one medium)

Each model's parent will be required to sign a model release both for Cowbelly Pet Photography as well as for my client.

Also, I will need a digital photograph of each model to send to my client for approval before the shoot. Image quality isn't important, we just want to get an idea of what the pooch looks like.

If you have questions, or have a dog (or dogs), who would like to participate in this awesome opportunity, please call me anytime starting tomorrow at 206.335.8096 or send me an email anytime at info@cowbelly.com

Also, if you know anyone who may be interested, please feel free to forward this to them!

This will also go out to my mailing list but I wanted to give my lovely blog readers a shot at it first.

Thanks a million!!

Labels: commercial shoot, cowbelly commercial, models needed

Stumble It!

I really didn't mean them, I was just angry at the time.

But now?

Now I am happy. Because you have given me a tool that will change my life.

So thank you.

Thank you.

really, really......thank you.

(don't have a clue what I am talking about? see the label for this post)

Labels: blogger scheduled posts

Stumble It!

I was beyond delighted today when I went to collect my biz mail and discovered the spring issue of CityDog Magazine had arrived.

Why so delighted, you ask?

Because when I opened up to the contents page, there staring at me was a big, beautiful purple photograph of my very favorite dog!



The photo of Fergie on the contents page is a shot I took for a neighborhood feature article, which for this issue is on my own hood- Queen Anne. For those who don't live around here, Queen Anne is a two-tiered neighborhood that flanks downtown Seattle on the north end, and sits right on Puget Sound. Queen Anne contains the Space Needle, the Seattle Center, and a number of parks and overlooks that you frequently see in photos of Seattle.

Queen Anne is comprised of two parts: Queen Anne hill and lower Queen Anne. Then, the west side of lower Queen Anne is called 'Uptown'. (I know, gets confusing). Upper QA is mainly families and single-family homes. Many of the houses are modest, mostly crafstman-style houses, but on the upper southwest side of QA you will find a plethora of multi-million dollar homes with million dollar views. Fergie and I often leave our modest home and walk the few blocks to gape at these mansions, imagining ourselves living there and frolicking on their vast lawns overlooking Puget Sound.

I digress.

Lower Queen Anne is more varied- single-family homes and apartments and condos, some with amazing views, from the fancy and expensive to the borderline run-down. Lots of early-1900's brick buildings. Mainly young(er) people. Lots of restaurants, great nightlife, a movie theater, stores, a couple of parks, etc, etc. Oh, and me. And Fergie.

Back to the Spring issue of CityDog Magazine.

I did the editorial photography assignment to get photos to illustrate the article.

For those of you who aren't in this area, and or, don't subscribe to CityDog Magazine so won't be seeing the issue/article, here are the images that ended up in the mag:

Kerry Park, one of my outdoor 'studios'. Sits on Highland Drive, street of the million-dollar homes. A short three-minute walk from my place.


Fergie on the dog tie at Safeway. Queen Anne is VERY dog-friendly. Even the woman in line behind me at the bank today was there with her airedale terrier Victoria.


Poncho at Kinnear Park.


Oslo in his namesake store on Queen Anne Ave.


Oslo has a dog bed made out of men's silk ties. Quite possibly the coolest dog bed ever and totally fitting given that he owns (ok, his dad owns) a men's clothing store.


I dig how you can see the Space Needle in this shot against EMP.


The super friendly Mes Amis shop kitty. I think his name is Max (?).


Yummy food at All The Best. Fergie's favorite store.


A newcomer to Seattle from So Cal. This poor girl was looking for a coat because she was fff-freezing.


You will also see my images in the spring issue article on cancer, but I can't post those images here because they will make me cry. I've cried too many times already I tell ya!

Stay tuned for even more fun surprises for the Summer 2008 issue! Hopefully it will bring on the sun!

Labels: dog photography on queen anne, dogs on queen anne, editorial, fergie is famous, seattle pet photographer, spring 2008 citydog magazine issue

Stumble It!

Some of you may have noticed a change to my homepage on www.cowbelly.com recently.

I have decided to feature a different dog or cat every season, and include their name on their image so you know who they are.

I update the 'feature' gallery on my site far too infrequently, and this is an easier way to both highlight a special dog and display colors, backgrounds and settings that suit the current season.

This season (Spring for those of you who are behind) I feature Skylark.



I also played around with changing the colors of the header and footer to match the image(s), something I can easily do, but found it to be too inconsistent with the other pages (which are all red).

I think I just really wanted pink on the homepage because pink is my favorite color and I am loving it right now. Those of you who receive my newsletter next week will have proof of that, ha!

Labels: cowbelly.com index page, homepage feature, skylark, spring feature

Stumble It!

The first thing you will notice about Blitz is that he is adorable. The second thing you will notice about him is that he looks like a familiar breed but there is something a bit unusual about him.

That's because Blitz is a 4 month old Alaskan Klee Kai puppy. (Bet you've never heard of one of those huh?). Which is essentially a miniature husky, but not quite. Blitz is just 10 pounds right now, and has a teensy-tiny body, and oh did I mention- keeyooote?

Blitz' mom told me she gets asked all the time what kind of dog he is, and now to save time she just says 'mini husky'. This was proven to me about 5 minutes into our shoot when the first puppy-lover stopped to say hi.

What cracked me up the most was an interchange that happened during the shoot after I noticed Blitz shivering. "Hey- I thought you were supposed to be from Alaska?!" I said. "No, actually, he is from California", his mom said. Yeah, I guess he wouldn't have been used to 45 degrees and windy in So Cal. ;-)

Enjoy!

Labels: alaskan klee kai, blitz, mini husky, parson's gardens, queen anne dog photography

Stumble It!

But sadly I'm allergic. Not anaphylactic shock allergic, but stuffy, sneezy, watery, itchy after 24 hours allergic. In other words, mildly allergic. But still doesn't feel good after spending the night with a kitty.

So for months now I have been trying to remember to do a google search for 'hypoallergenic cats', and finally just did after returning from one of Fergie's modeling gigs (yes, she is becoming an in-demand model).

Well guess what? I found a kitty!

It's produced by a company called 'Lifestyle Pets', it's called an Ashera, and it's priced at $27,000.


images copyright Lifestyle Pets


They are really beautiful exotic looking cats that look like mini leopards and weigh up to 25 pounds. I'm sure Fergie would just adore having one as a buddy (she loves cats).

If you want the Royal Ashera cat the cost is $125,000. There are a range of varieties and prices from $27,000 to $125,000.

They also have dogs too: the 'Titan' Family Protection Dog- a high-end German Shepherd, and the hypoallergenic 'Jabardi GD' that looks like a Westie. The standard Titan is $85,000, the Protector Ultra Titan is $120,000, and the Jabardi GD is only $15,000.

They claim that they have been able to combine genetic material from divergent genes in dogs who don't produce the allergenic protein with material from dogs who do, to produce the hypoallergenic dog. In other words, a mutated gene that has a human benefit with a normal gene that doesn't, to make the mutated gene dominant, thus, eliminating the protein that causes the allergy.

Dogs and cats can be ordered now and delivered in 12 months. You can even read testimonials on their website.

I'm not making this up folks! Go check it out here:

Lifestyle Pets

Labels: $27, 000 cat, fergie wants a kitty, jamie's allergy

Stumble It!

I was initially going to make this post about a specific new business change that occurred today, but started thinking about all of these other things I wanted to post and realized that I needed to make an entire post of all of the changes, if that makes any sense at all. I have a feeling this may be long so consider yourself forewarned.

First, let me say that I am now 4 years and 9 months into my business (3 years of doing pet photography/dog art full time) and boy are things a' changin. I had always heard that the 5 year mark for most businesses was a time of change and positive growth, a transition out of the start-up phase, but that always seemed intangible to me.

Now I'm starting to get it.

I was thinking tonight about how unreasonably challenging last year was on so many different levels, and realized that last year may be the reason why Karma is now blessing me with her beauty and grace.

So many cool things are happening right now and I just wanted to share them with you my lovely blog audience.

First, the change that happened today.

A new benefit to clients:

The ability to order professional-quality prints, stretched canvases, greeting cards, and other gift products, directly from their private online galleries.

No more sending me print orders in email. No more having to wait for me to process and mail the orders. No more messing around with custom invoices. No more waiting for my busy butt to get stuff back to them. All very good things for all parties involved.

Clients will receive outstanding prints on their choice of matte, glossy or lustre paper, shipped directly to them.

The prices are staying the same on both prints and stretched photographic canvases.

I have yet to decide if I will use their canvases for my Decopaw art. It remains to be seen and is based on a number of different factors.

Now, I have to say that I have always had the option for backend print order fulfillment from my galleries, but was unhappy with the print quality in the past, so decided to do my own printing.

I have been using the Epson R1800 printer, a great printer that makes really fantastic truly archival prints, but in the past 6 months or so it has been getting more finicky by the day, as Epson printers are known to do. After a recent argument between myself and the printer that turned physical, resulting in Fergie hiding in fear in the dark bathroom, I decided it was time for a change.

That change came when this morning I received an email from my online gallery host (smugmug for the curious, which btw is a *fantastic* company) notifying users that they were changing papers to Kodak Super Endura (I won't mention what the old paper was as I have nothing personal against them).

Last week I ordered test prints from another lab that are ironically printed on the exact same Kodak paper, and when I read the email from smugmug today, those prints were sitting right in front of me. I was very pleased with the prints (had actually decided to go with the other lab), and really stunned at the turn of events, but remember what I said about Karma?

After about 2 hours I was up and running with pricing and everything set up in my galleries. (btw: I just counted and I currently have 148 galleries online- I need to do some serious housecleaning!)

Go check it out and play around with it here:

http://cowbellyproofs.smugmug.com/gallery/4635455_ftvjb#273610475

Oh, and if you'd like to purchase a print, by all means go ahead, they really are quite beautiful.

The only thing that users (me) can't customize with css and html coding is the final checkout/shopping cart, but I know those things can be very tricky. Smugmug is growing by leaps and bounds and they have it on their to-do list so it's just a matter of time.

To say I am thrilled with this new development and change to my business would be an understatement. Add this to the new widescreen slideshow and xl image preview and I am a very happy camper.

Side note to my pet photographer friends: if you'd like to set up a pro account with smugmug (not only are they a fantastic company but they all have dogs and love them!), send me an email to info@cowbelly.com and let me know. I believe I can get you a referral discount. Also, are you a flickr user? Smugmug will transfer all of your images over for free!

The next thing is I am in the process of hiring an assistant. I finally got over my bad past experiences and found someone I am really excited to work with, yippee!

She starts next week and I promise at some point to do a little interview with her for this blog so you can get to know her a little. I might even post a picture of her. Her name is Christina, she is a real go-getter and highly organized, two things I desperately need right now (oh yeah, and someone to answer phone calls and emails.)

So for my clients who read this, when you contact me, it's highly likely Christina will be the one you talk to, but if you want to talk to me personally, just let her know. I do know that my clients like to send me personal "how's it going" emails from time to time which I love to receive and reply to. That won't change. This change will only be for the better.

(Side note to Rebecca- after sharing my past horror stories with Christina, she *volunteered* to sign a non-compete contract and I have that and an NDA already lined up. Love this girl).

Let's see, what else.

Oh yes, since there will be little room for Christina and I in my home office, I have been diligently looking for studio space to lease. Online anyway. I mean, I have been looking online; the studio space isn't online. Hmm, that would be weird.

I have my heart set on one specific (very rad) place so please send your positive energy my way, say your prayers, or do your little happy dance that I get it. I need to wait another month or two to make sure I have the funds but if it works out the way I want it to it will be incredible.

BTW: if anyone in the Seattle area has a desk they would like to give away for free (I'd only need it between now and the time we get a studio) let me know. I don't care what it looks like, I just need it to hold a heavy emac!

Auscape update: I heard back from Auscape this weekend and was bowled over to see that they requested 103 of the initial 340 images I sent them. I don't know what the average is, but for someone like me who really doesn't know what they are doing in that area it's huge. That's 30% of the images I sent them.

The files are all prepped and ready to go as TIFFS, I just need to burn the CD and mail it off. I am very excited to officially become part of the Auscape team.

Let's see, what else is there.... oh yes, a couple, actually, few, projects that I can't give details on yet, but have aluded to in past posts.

Two projects have a launch date of May something-or-other. One is a smallish, but very exciting project nevertheless, and the other is a much (much) bigger project I have been working hard on since early January and really hope to launch by May 1st.

Which leads me to my next point.

The months of April and May will be filled with quite a lot of non-client work while I work on these special projects.

I will still be booking clients for shoots (fewer clients for art commissions), but probably won't have the flexibility to do any last-minute bookings, especially in April. If you are a potential new client and would like to do a shoot with me soon, please plan to book it at least 3 weeks out. The projects are taking top priority which means they have first dibs with my schedule.

Total aside: I am currently eating some baby carrots I bought tonight at Safeway and holy cow are they good. Sweet, crunchy, and very fresh.

Lastly, look for some exciting things in the way of my partnership with CityDog Magazine, specifically for the summer issue.

Speaking of summer, does it feel stuffy in here?

It seems like it is so stuffy in our homes, our offices, our cars this time of year.

I don't know about you, but I can't wait for the weather to get warmer, to be able to open the windows, get out into nature and let the breeze blow through my hair. Can't wait for summer!

Thanks for reading this dreadfully long post and I hope you are having a great week!

Labels: changes, client perks, prints, private galleries, updates

Stumble It!