I can't say I'm a "fan" of anybody in particular. I was a huge "Beatles" fan when I was little. Sick really...
Since then - I like certain things, some of which I love, and others - they change my life and I become forever indebted to return the favor when my time comes...
One day I was doing my job at being mediocre at something I once have been good at and at the same time subconsciously searching for inspiration on the internet. I've been searching for it for quite some time back then, trying to find a steadier ground after it has been swept from under my feet through some interesting awakenings that I won't go into here, not at this time.
And I came across this video:
Here's a perfect example of what the music can do to you. The song is called "One man's dream", and it touched exactly that somewhere deep inside me. A sense of having a dream. I felt a lot of things and among them - a strong voice telling me that there's nothing more important than keep searching for the passion in life. Once not long before that I was really passionate about Oracle databases. Hahah. Geeky really... I had all these books that I studied and played with ideas, came up with my own, had servers installed on every machine I had access to - I was a queen of the databases world! Well, to myself at least. That was IT for me and when I was taken outside of it and noticed something even more fascinating... I got immediately lost.
I've been lost ever since, but what I've learned since that moment is - to keep confidence. Being lost isn't a bad thing - it's awesome! The things you find and experience when your heart is wide open are astounding!
So, keep dreaming, and if you haven't yet - check out Yanni. Being one of the most powerful mentors and inspirations of mine (not that he knows that) - he's also an amazing source that passes universal creativity for the rest of us to notice.
He's coming to New York in April again. Last time I went to the concert all by myself, but my son has been asking to take him to Yanni's concert for more than 3 years already (ever since he first watched his concert in Taj Mahal on DVD and was absolutely taken by it - being only 4!..). So, today I've got us tickets for the show and I can't wait to be swept away again. This time - sharing the experience with the highlight of my current life.
Did a little research recently and there's still a flood of articles online calling Yanni a "new age" artist. Agh... it's their lost I guess.
And the best news is - he's coming back with more instrumentals! Not that I didn't admire musicians he did his previous project with - but I felt that putting lyrics on top of his music was simply too much. Blinding in a way - you know?
Oh, and Merry Xmas to all who celebrated!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
What's your secret?
The idea of success lies in balance. Success in anything, including business. Even relationships are same. They break up when there's too much of some things and lack of the others.
Searching for that balance is what takes the most time at first stages of developing the business. Passing the stage of not wanting to get out of bed in the morning - so much anxiety in your heart that you almost can't get yourself together to deal with it. Passing multiple stages of sheer unexplainable excitement - for no reason whatsoever - that comes and goes. The best times are when you feel comfortable with what you've done yesterday, about to do today and planning for the next month. These are rare at first. Then they come more and more often... am I making sense?
I strongly believe that finding the balance is key. Once you set the intention want to make this business a success - it will occur by itself. If you let it happen. There has to be a room for it to happen. Remove the obstacles (mostly internal - fears, discomforts). Without that air fire won't burn as smoothly.
I once read somewhere that in order to get ideal projects we need to stop accepting jobs that are less than that. Create space for the big fish. Of course, that might not work for everyone I know, but do you get the idea? Balancing is crucial here too. Yes, we need to pay bills and who knows when the big fish is coming, but we need to have space for it, or be prepared to make space when it comes.
Balancing between several things - new aspect of your life (business), old aspects of your money making activities (whether you intend on keeping them or dodging completely, eventually..), family, physical activities, friends, keeping up with networking, new connections, getting enough healthy sleep, maintaining body in great shape, FAMILY again (what's more important?), keeping that spirit happy and balanced - there is a lot to do, if you know what I mean! I'm trying to even balance them all here in text.
To sort this out I find one of my mentors being the most helpful - he is a fashion photographer and he probably didn't realize that he taught me to cope with this whole balancing act of life. As he was teaching us to direct models - "small changes, keep the main pose, but do small changes at a time" - that is exactly how I apply it in my everyday life. Keep the general focus on the balance and make small changes - one day at a time.
Another thing that makes a huge difference is visualization. We have to take time imagining projects we want, try the situations on, taste them and then put a little mark on the imaginary checklist - whether we want to pursue them or not. We need to polish our desires to achieve. It would probably be easy for someone who "just wants a lot of money". Go for it! That's right. With me it's much harder. As I visualize having a lot of money I see that I want to do only certain things and don't come near me with the others. Then I try and visualize those things that I want and love, and weed out the ones that I only think that I want. And sometimes only the experience itself can show what's ours and what's not. But mostly you can get away with your imagination. If it's trained properly.
I have intentionally spent (and continue to spend) a lot of time visualizing the future, trying on different situations, jobs, projects. Initially I wanted to photograph EVERYTHING. Tough...
Some jobs showed me that I wouldn't really enjoy doing them again. Some things you can imagine that you wouldn't want to do, and some you need to do anyway. Just to see what it is - what bothers you about them - is it the lack of interest, or is it some sort of a fear? If it's fear, than it's only beneficial to take those jobs, until the fear dissipates and creates more space for your ambitions to come true.
This post is becoming very long and since I don't see an end to this inner-conversation with myself, and I don't know if anybody got to these lengthy words - I'll wrap it up and wish all of you out there - a happy search of balance. We will probably never completely get there, none of us, that's what evolution is all about... But that's a whole other conversation.
Have an amazing day~
Searching for that balance is what takes the most time at first stages of developing the business. Passing the stage of not wanting to get out of bed in the morning - so much anxiety in your heart that you almost can't get yourself together to deal with it. Passing multiple stages of sheer unexplainable excitement - for no reason whatsoever - that comes and goes. The best times are when you feel comfortable with what you've done yesterday, about to do today and planning for the next month. These are rare at first. Then they come more and more often... am I making sense?
I strongly believe that finding the balance is key. Once you set the intention want to make this business a success - it will occur by itself. If you let it happen. There has to be a room for it to happen. Remove the obstacles (mostly internal - fears, discomforts). Without that air fire won't burn as smoothly.
I once read somewhere that in order to get ideal projects we need to stop accepting jobs that are less than that. Create space for the big fish. Of course, that might not work for everyone I know, but do you get the idea? Balancing is crucial here too. Yes, we need to pay bills and who knows when the big fish is coming, but we need to have space for it, or be prepared to make space when it comes.
Balancing between several things - new aspect of your life (business), old aspects of your money making activities (whether you intend on keeping them or dodging completely, eventually..), family, physical activities, friends, keeping up with networking, new connections, getting enough healthy sleep, maintaining body in great shape, FAMILY again (what's more important?), keeping that spirit happy and balanced - there is a lot to do, if you know what I mean! I'm trying to even balance them all here in text.
To sort this out I find one of my mentors being the most helpful - he is a fashion photographer and he probably didn't realize that he taught me to cope with this whole balancing act of life. As he was teaching us to direct models - "small changes, keep the main pose, but do small changes at a time" - that is exactly how I apply it in my everyday life. Keep the general focus on the balance and make small changes - one day at a time.
Another thing that makes a huge difference is visualization. We have to take time imagining projects we want, try the situations on, taste them and then put a little mark on the imaginary checklist - whether we want to pursue them or not. We need to polish our desires to achieve. It would probably be easy for someone who "just wants a lot of money". Go for it! That's right. With me it's much harder. As I visualize having a lot of money I see that I want to do only certain things and don't come near me with the others. Then I try and visualize those things that I want and love, and weed out the ones that I only think that I want. And sometimes only the experience itself can show what's ours and what's not. But mostly you can get away with your imagination. If it's trained properly.
I have intentionally spent (and continue to spend) a lot of time visualizing the future, trying on different situations, jobs, projects. Initially I wanted to photograph EVERYTHING. Tough...
Some jobs showed me that I wouldn't really enjoy doing them again. Some things you can imagine that you wouldn't want to do, and some you need to do anyway. Just to see what it is - what bothers you about them - is it the lack of interest, or is it some sort of a fear? If it's fear, than it's only beneficial to take those jobs, until the fear dissipates and creates more space for your ambitions to come true.
This post is becoming very long and since I don't see an end to this inner-conversation with myself, and I don't know if anybody got to these lengthy words - I'll wrap it up and wish all of you out there - a happy search of balance. We will probably never completely get there, none of us, that's what evolution is all about... But that's a whole other conversation.
Have an amazing day~
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Our first music video...
When your good client asks you to do something you have never done, but want to do real bad and you know the right people - you go for it. Another reason was - Sami believed in me. He said (and I quote) - you are amazing, you will do a wonderful job. So, naturally, I said I'll try!
By that time I knew this great cinematographer - Piero Basso - and he kindly agreed to help out. I think we worked very well together and I certainly enjoyed the challenge of producing and even directing it a little bit. I also tried to take lots of pictures and have put together this little teaser using some of the material. The whole thing was filmed with my Nikon D300s, which was a pretty cool thing to do, if you know the challenges. So, look out for the post about that... And let me know what you think of this teaser show :)
Some pics from the action...
That steadycam is one thing I want and can't get (yet)! Good thing there are rentals...
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
butterfly effect
A few years ago, when I still worked at my last corp job I was taking a class on the software we were using. There were only 5 or 6 of us together with the instructor, so we all got to know each other a little bit. One of the guys was from Albany and he probably doesn't even remember me, but he left this big ripple effect on my life.
And it's always been like that - when I look all the way back into the past I see how very casual encounters have affected me profoundly. Do you know what I am talking about?
After we spoke briefly I found out that he owns a small airplane with his buddy and all they do with their free time is fly around, and they even get to help people "by bringing donor organs here, or shipping something there". Sounded like a fun lifestyle and even while still there in the classroom I realized that it was a big sign for me to actually do what I have been planning to do for months - stop by a local flight school and get that "check ride" flight. It all got very complicated because I wasn't a citizen, but at the end I flew and I signed up for a private pilot course.
Before we bought a house and moved up north they made me take some ground school lectures, where I met a very good friend of mine. He, in turn, had a profound impact on my life by introducing me to works of some pretty fantastic people - Yanni, for instance. Studying their work inspired me to try and reach for something bigger in my life. That "something" certainly required taking more risks than it was typically necessary.
And here I am, living a life I wasn't even dreaming of - photographing for a living, running my own business, having a schedule that only I create, putting as much effort into projects as I want to or am able to (depends on the level of interest, of course, and /likely/ a compensation, heheh), the list is long. I'm counting my blessings every day. I commute when I want to, instead of every day. I decide whether to say "yes" or "no"... most importantly - I spend more time with my son, and get to take him "to work" as much as necessary.
And I have my ambitions back into place where they belong! I believe that everyone must have a dream. A big dream if not many of them. We shouldn't get stuck in one place for many-many years. That just gets us nowhere personally and as a society. Don't you think?
Don't mean it to sound too big though - this is just a blog...
I enjoy helping people reach for their dreams. It is inspiring to watch someone stretch themselves, take another little step closer, try something more challenging or different.
My new friend Melinda did this make up. In my opinion it isn't too much of a big deal to shoot beauty. The right face, the right light... but the make up is a lot of work. She can spend half a day easily working on something very special. These took shorter time, of course, but it's still a lot of work for the make up artist. And you should have seen ALL of the stuff that she brought with her to the studio. A lot of pounds of stuff...
I'm just so happy I can be there and help her a little bit with her dream!
Way to go girl!
And it's always been like that - when I look all the way back into the past I see how very casual encounters have affected me profoundly. Do you know what I am talking about?
After we spoke briefly I found out that he owns a small airplane with his buddy and all they do with their free time is fly around, and they even get to help people "by bringing donor organs here, or shipping something there". Sounded like a fun lifestyle and even while still there in the classroom I realized that it was a big sign for me to actually do what I have been planning to do for months - stop by a local flight school and get that "check ride" flight. It all got very complicated because I wasn't a citizen, but at the end I flew and I signed up for a private pilot course.
Before we bought a house and moved up north they made me take some ground school lectures, where I met a very good friend of mine. He, in turn, had a profound impact on my life by introducing me to works of some pretty fantastic people - Yanni, for instance. Studying their work inspired me to try and reach for something bigger in my life. That "something" certainly required taking more risks than it was typically necessary.
And here I am, living a life I wasn't even dreaming of - photographing for a living, running my own business, having a schedule that only I create, putting as much effort into projects as I want to or am able to (depends on the level of interest, of course, and /likely/ a compensation, heheh), the list is long. I'm counting my blessings every day. I commute when I want to, instead of every day. I decide whether to say "yes" or "no"... most importantly - I spend more time with my son, and get to take him "to work" as much as necessary.
And I have my ambitions back into place where they belong! I believe that everyone must have a dream. A big dream if not many of them. We shouldn't get stuck in one place for many-many years. That just gets us nowhere personally and as a society. Don't you think?
Don't mean it to sound too big though - this is just a blog...
I enjoy helping people reach for their dreams. It is inspiring to watch someone stretch themselves, take another little step closer, try something more challenging or different.
My new friend Melinda did this make up. In my opinion it isn't too much of a big deal to shoot beauty. The right face, the right light... but the make up is a lot of work. She can spend half a day easily working on something very special. These took shorter time, of course, but it's still a lot of work for the make up artist. And you should have seen ALL of the stuff that she brought with her to the studio. A lot of pounds of stuff...
I'm just so happy I can be there and help her a little bit with her dream!
Way to go girl!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Upstate New York from above...
my pilot friend and I...
...we took off that day with intention to travel up north and catch some of the last glimpses of fall 2010. I was after some aerial photos of colorful foliage and he needed company, so... long story short, we got into an airplane and went up.
The weather seemed perfect. There was very little turbulence and so clear out that I was amazed. The pictures coming out so good - that almost never happens.
Our 1st stop at Glen Falls airport: very cute place.
Wide long runway, no tower, very quiet... You can tell you are in the country... As my friend announces over the radio to whoever is at the front desk that we are staying for breakfast and need fuel - a very energetic man comes out to meet us, shows where to park the airplane and even motion-directs to us, while we are at it. Then we proceed inside the warm building to check out amenities and see what they have in a cafeteria while he is pulling in with the fuel truck.
Two of the visiting airplanes are parked near the entrance - I imagine some business men taking a break on their flight somewhere farther away. They look snazzy and probably smell wonderfully leathery inside.
I have a delicious rhubarb/strawberry pie followed by some toast and egg and hot tea. My friend is on his phone - checking out the weather ahead. And I am writing this, after taking some calls to follow up with clients.
He is worried about the weather. There's lots of ice very low somewhere around the area where we are heading - Prattsburg NY.
We are planning to fly over lake George and lake Champlain. Gorgeous places.
We don't get too far and have to turn around, it's amazing how quickly weather changes in November. But it was a nice and relaxing day. Perfect for a day-off.
This is just a few shots from that day, I hope you enjoy them:
Another airport where you can end up in the water :), heheh, I already have a good collection of those - coming together... :
...we took off that day with intention to travel up north and catch some of the last glimpses of fall 2010. I was after some aerial photos of colorful foliage and he needed company, so... long story short, we got into an airplane and went up.
The weather seemed perfect. There was very little turbulence and so clear out that I was amazed. The pictures coming out so good - that almost never happens.
Our 1st stop at Glen Falls airport: very cute place.
Wide long runway, no tower, very quiet... You can tell you are in the country... As my friend announces over the radio to whoever is at the front desk that we are staying for breakfast and need fuel - a very energetic man comes out to meet us, shows where to park the airplane and even motion-directs to us, while we are at it. Then we proceed inside the warm building to check out amenities and see what they have in a cafeteria while he is pulling in with the fuel truck.
Two of the visiting airplanes are parked near the entrance - I imagine some business men taking a break on their flight somewhere farther away. They look snazzy and probably smell wonderfully leathery inside.
I have a delicious rhubarb/strawberry pie followed by some toast and egg and hot tea. My friend is on his phone - checking out the weather ahead. And I am writing this, after taking some calls to follow up with clients.
He is worried about the weather. There's lots of ice very low somewhere around the area where we are heading - Prattsburg NY.
We are planning to fly over lake George and lake Champlain. Gorgeous places.
We don't get too far and have to turn around, it's amazing how quickly weather changes in November. But it was a nice and relaxing day. Perfect for a day-off.
This is just a few shots from that day, I hope you enjoy them:
Another airport where you can end up in the water :), heheh, I already have a good collection of those - coming together... :
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Coming and going
Can't remember where I read this, but the notion was new then and grasped my attention for a few months straight, now all of a sudden I recall the wisdom of it...
... we shouldn't get attached to any people in our lives no matter how sweet or sour the relationship was. Once they brought us a lesson and taught it - they leave. And mourning over what happened and didn't happen is a silly waste of energy.
Though some people I will never be able to completely let go of. These are who held my hand through happy and rough times. These are whose hand I held as well.
You know who you are :)
Some pics from Coney island a few weeks/days ago... my son so reminds me of me. Fascinated with same things I was when I was little. Sea glass, seagulls, sea sand...
Wishing a wonderful night to all of you out there~
... we shouldn't get attached to any people in our lives no matter how sweet or sour the relationship was. Once they brought us a lesson and taught it - they leave. And mourning over what happened and didn't happen is a silly waste of energy.
Though some people I will never be able to completely let go of. These are who held my hand through happy and rough times. These are whose hand I held as well.
You know who you are :)
Some pics from Coney island a few weeks/days ago... my son so reminds me of me. Fascinated with same things I was when I was little. Sea glass, seagulls, sea sand...
Wishing a wonderful night to all of you out there~
Monday, November 1, 2010
Nobody wants free stuff..
Do you like freebies?
You would think you do, but then imagine, for example, taking a class that you "always kind of" wanted to take. You have a chance to take it for free, or with a very large discount. You receive the information given during it, you are happy to have gotten it practically for free, but when it comes to applying it in the real life, you discount that information as well.
Did you ever find yourself in that kind of situation? I have definitely been there more than once. See, I need to work on something in order for the results to be valuable to me. If I don't pay for it - it's just an experience. When I do - it's a lesson already..
Why all the story-telling?
Every once in a while I announce a headshot package giveaway. I gave one away last winter season, I gave away another in spring for some holiday, gave them away in bunches at my studio birthday party. Guess what? Not one of the winners actually showed up to claim it. And this season, I don't have a winner at all. Of course, my promotion of the matter was weak also, but... nobody interested? :) That just can't be true... must be bad promotional strategy.
Returning to the idea of a "Freebie": all in all I come to a conclusion that free stuff is not only unnecessary, it's bad for you! It spends your valuable time without you actually realizing whether you need the experience, whether you'd pay for it or not. If you are not willing to pay for it - you don't need it, right?
But I'm not giving away my headshots for free, I'm exchanging them for some word of mouth promotion. See, every time someone posts my link on their page or wall, I get more views. And this is why the whole thing is worthwhile for everyone involved.
And I'm actually serious. Of course, after you win it it's up to you whether to follow through with it.
I'm sticking to trying it though, I want to see the full potential of such marketing strategy, because I believe in it making perfect sense.
Next giveaway will be announced not only on my facebook page, but also by e-mail, here in the blog, on linkedIn, ASW, Twitter and there will be follow ups on it every day too. I promise to myself to actually invest enough time in it to make sure people are aware of it happening. Because this time it simply did not work. My bad...
Any ideas on how to improve the candidate tracking? I figured out how to track responses on Facebook and Twitter, will think on how to track them through e-mail versus other programs (oh, that reminds me, I wanted to write about all kinds of affiliate programs!)
That's it about the business for today. Some photos to accompany the season...
Did you go trick-or-treating this Sunday? Was quite chilly/windy and my son started coughing, so we had to retire quickly, but he still had fun and a bunch of cool candy. I like seeing how people get creative with everyday things. We've got things that I didn't imagine existed, nice little candy toys and candy packages and candy pistol and a lot of other interesting stuff. When we came back I almost felt bad that all we were giving away was just... candy. Interesting lesson, you know? I'd think I'm a creative person, but when it comes to everyday stuff... not so much. That's probably true for a lot of us. We just don't let ourselves be free enough to "play".
Enough talking :) have a miraculously wonderful Monday, and I hope the rest of the week will follow.
You would think you do, but then imagine, for example, taking a class that you "always kind of" wanted to take. You have a chance to take it for free, or with a very large discount. You receive the information given during it, you are happy to have gotten it practically for free, but when it comes to applying it in the real life, you discount that information as well.
Did you ever find yourself in that kind of situation? I have definitely been there more than once. See, I need to work on something in order for the results to be valuable to me. If I don't pay for it - it's just an experience. When I do - it's a lesson already..
Why all the story-telling?
Every once in a while I announce a headshot package giveaway. I gave one away last winter season, I gave away another in spring for some holiday, gave them away in bunches at my studio birthday party. Guess what? Not one of the winners actually showed up to claim it. And this season, I don't have a winner at all. Of course, my promotion of the matter was weak also, but... nobody interested? :) That just can't be true... must be bad promotional strategy.
Returning to the idea of a "Freebie": all in all I come to a conclusion that free stuff is not only unnecessary, it's bad for you! It spends your valuable time without you actually realizing whether you need the experience, whether you'd pay for it or not. If you are not willing to pay for it - you don't need it, right?
But I'm not giving away my headshots for free, I'm exchanging them for some word of mouth promotion. See, every time someone posts my link on their page or wall, I get more views. And this is why the whole thing is worthwhile for everyone involved.
And I'm actually serious. Of course, after you win it it's up to you whether to follow through with it.
I'm sticking to trying it though, I want to see the full potential of such marketing strategy, because I believe in it making perfect sense.
Next giveaway will be announced not only on my facebook page, but also by e-mail, here in the blog, on linkedIn, ASW, Twitter and there will be follow ups on it every day too. I promise to myself to actually invest enough time in it to make sure people are aware of it happening. Because this time it simply did not work. My bad...
Any ideas on how to improve the candidate tracking? I figured out how to track responses on Facebook and Twitter, will think on how to track them through e-mail versus other programs (oh, that reminds me, I wanted to write about all kinds of affiliate programs!)
That's it about the business for today. Some photos to accompany the season...
Did you go trick-or-treating this Sunday? Was quite chilly/windy and my son started coughing, so we had to retire quickly, but he still had fun and a bunch of cool candy. I like seeing how people get creative with everyday things. We've got things that I didn't imagine existed, nice little candy toys and candy packages and candy pistol and a lot of other interesting stuff. When we came back I almost felt bad that all we were giving away was just... candy. Interesting lesson, you know? I'd think I'm a creative person, but when it comes to everyday stuff... not so much. That's probably true for a lot of us. We just don't let ourselves be free enough to "play".
Enough talking :) have a miraculously wonderful Monday, and I hope the rest of the week will follow.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Tilt shift effect for video...
A friend of mine asked this question on his blog a few days ago - is there a real tilt-shift for the video?
I didn't have an answer to that right away, but when I was putting up my PL mount lensbaby on Ebay last night, I realized that it, in fact, is the answer to his question.
PL mount is being used primarily for the video. I couldn't benefit from this lensbaby up until now, because I couldn't find anybody who could sell/make me an adapter for the Nikon camera. But today, I found a thread on some forum that there's an adapter maker in UK, who makes PL mount adapters for Canons! You won't find it if you look for Canon mount, because of the way he advertises it - he says XL1 converter. But XL1 is a Canon video camera (which I lucked out to have in my possession at this point, thanks to a very dear friend), which means that it's simply a Canon mount adapter.
So, there you go, Ed, there IS a tilt shift thing for a video. And I've got it ;).
I'm thinking, may be I should take that lensbaby off the auction. It being a rare thing and all *lol*...
A few years ago I bought it off hands of an indie filmmaker (by mistake!) who never got to use it. I never took time to pass it on to a person who can play with it. And you know what? The more these "accidents" happen to me, the closer I am to accepting the fact that, really, there are NO ACCIDENTS.
How could I have bought a lens with the wrong mount? It was very funny that day, I actually spent hours figuring out what's wrong with that lensbaby.... Uh-Oh... what's this mount for?? No camera store could answer this question after examining it. Of course I didn't ask video guys, I went to the photo guys... (N7VJDT9WAE68)
I didn't have an answer to that right away, but when I was putting up my PL mount lensbaby on Ebay last night, I realized that it, in fact, is the answer to his question.
PL mount is being used primarily for the video. I couldn't benefit from this lensbaby up until now, because I couldn't find anybody who could sell/make me an adapter for the Nikon camera. But today, I found a thread on some forum that there's an adapter maker in UK, who makes PL mount adapters for Canons! You won't find it if you look for Canon mount, because of the way he advertises it - he says XL1 converter. But XL1 is a Canon video camera (which I lucked out to have in my possession at this point, thanks to a very dear friend), which means that it's simply a Canon mount adapter.
So, there you go, Ed, there IS a tilt shift thing for a video. And I've got it ;).
I'm thinking, may be I should take that lensbaby off the auction. It being a rare thing and all *lol*...
A few years ago I bought it off hands of an indie filmmaker (by mistake!) who never got to use it. I never took time to pass it on to a person who can play with it. And you know what? The more these "accidents" happen to me, the closer I am to accepting the fact that, really, there are NO ACCIDENTS.
How could I have bought a lens with the wrong mount? It was very funny that day, I actually spent hours figuring out what's wrong with that lensbaby.... Uh-Oh... what's this mount for?? No camera store could answer this question after examining it. Of course I didn't ask video guys, I went to the photo guys... (N7VJDT9WAE68)
Friday, October 15, 2010
on sales tax for DIGITAL photographers in New Jersey
It's not that easy to find out everything you need to know about running a photography business in a short period of time - sometimes it seems the information never stops pouring in and the way our mind picks out useful things from this generous inflow of bytes is a big mystery.
Here's a link to an article that goes over NJ sales tax as it applies to photographers specifically.
I remember asking my accountant whether or not I should be collecting sales tax or not, and was advised that we don't collect sales tax on services (meaning ANY services). As long as I'm not selling any products, pictures, frames that is. Which I wasn't.
In the following article it says specifically that:
- any equipment that photographer purchases, rents, leases as well as replacement parts with useful life of more than 1 year are sales tax exempt (use form ST-4).
- all other replacement parts and supplies are subject to sales tax.
- sales of photographs for any type of use except advertising are subject to tax.
- sales of photographs for use in advertising is tax exempt and photographer must obtain a form ST-4 from a client.
- sales of a digital photograph, where it is delivered solely by digital means (e-mail, uploads, etc.) is tax exempt.
- all retouching/post-production services are subject to sales tax
- hours worked, travel expenses, everything that computes into a total - is subject to sales tax.
After reading this I was still left with a lot of question marks. Since most of the article seems to be related to film and print photographers - the definition was even more vague to me. So I called the NJ Divistion of Taxation and asked them for a straightforward answer as it would relate to services rendered by a "commercial" photographer like me:
- I don't shoot film and don't do prints. All my services produce digital files which are intangible property, except for situations when I provide the client with a CD. Do I charge tax for those?
- CD's are taxable.
- if I shoot a portrait session, wedding, anything else that's not going to be used for an advertisement?
- charge tax for the services.
- if I shoot business headshot/product/fashion for the website/promos/ads?
- then don't charge tax for the services.
Also they said that yes, all my post-production efforts should be taxable, except for the cases when it's done for advertising... or so I understood.
At the end of the day I still feel that I haven't figured it all out and that I'd like to get all my answers from them in writing, because the article leaves a lot to the imagination.... unless it's written by a programmer, then it all makes sense, but how would we know? :)
Why it all still seems vague to me? Because the 1st thing that person on the help line told me was - I must collect sales tax for ALL PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES. Only after hearing me out and reading through the article with me they started offering more detailed insights. And it turns out that "no" - most of MY (specifically) services are not taxable. I rarely do private portraits...
Not to fret, just in case - I've come up with the following decision. If after my judgment that work is "advertising" I collect an ST-4 form from the client who's doing this work for promo/advertisement - they won't pay tax. If they don't give me the form - I'll collect tax. Simple as that.
Time to go and file those sales taxes by the way. It's quarterly and mine is due Oct-20!
The article is here:
http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/pubs/sales/anj2.pdf
The phone number for Division's customer service: 609-292-6400
Here's a link to an article that goes over NJ sales tax as it applies to photographers specifically.
I remember asking my accountant whether or not I should be collecting sales tax or not, and was advised that we don't collect sales tax on services (meaning ANY services). As long as I'm not selling any products, pictures, frames that is. Which I wasn't.
In the following article it says specifically that:
- any equipment that photographer purchases, rents, leases as well as replacement parts with useful life of more than 1 year are sales tax exempt (use form ST-4).
- all other replacement parts and supplies are subject to sales tax.
- sales of photographs for any type of use except advertising are subject to tax.
- sales of photographs for use in advertising is tax exempt and photographer must obtain a form ST-4 from a client.
- sales of a digital photograph, where it is delivered solely by digital means (e-mail, uploads, etc.) is tax exempt.
- all retouching/post-production services are subject to sales tax
- hours worked, travel expenses, everything that computes into a total - is subject to sales tax.
After reading this I was still left with a lot of question marks. Since most of the article seems to be related to film and print photographers - the definition was even more vague to me. So I called the NJ Divistion of Taxation and asked them for a straightforward answer as it would relate to services rendered by a "commercial" photographer like me:
- I don't shoot film and don't do prints. All my services produce digital files which are intangible property, except for situations when I provide the client with a CD. Do I charge tax for those?
- CD's are taxable.
- if I shoot a portrait session, wedding, anything else that's not going to be used for an advertisement?
- charge tax for the services.
- if I shoot business headshot/product/fashion for the website/promos/ads?
- then don't charge tax for the services.
Also they said that yes, all my post-production efforts should be taxable, except for the cases when it's done for advertising... or so I understood.
At the end of the day I still feel that I haven't figured it all out and that I'd like to get all my answers from them in writing, because the article leaves a lot to the imagination.... unless it's written by a programmer, then it all makes sense, but how would we know? :)
Why it all still seems vague to me? Because the 1st thing that person on the help line told me was - I must collect sales tax for ALL PHOTOGRAPHY SERVICES. Only after hearing me out and reading through the article with me they started offering more detailed insights. And it turns out that "no" - most of MY (specifically) services are not taxable. I rarely do private portraits...
Not to fret, just in case - I've come up with the following decision. If after my judgment that work is "advertising" I collect an ST-4 form from the client who's doing this work for promo/advertisement - they won't pay tax. If they don't give me the form - I'll collect tax. Simple as that.
Time to go and file those sales taxes by the way. It's quarterly and mine is due Oct-20!
The article is here:
http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/pubs/sales/anj2.pdf
The phone number for Division's customer service: 609-292-6400
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Dr. Masaru Emoto...
I don't know how many of you readers are aware of Dr. Emoto's work, so I'll make a little introduction...
He's done research on water crystals by photographing them frozen after they've been affected by different words, music, thoughts etc.
It's all described in a series of books "Messages in Water" by Dr. Emoto, and is quite fascinating, especially for those unaware of his works.
There's also a very interesting film: "The Mystery of Water" which I highly recommend... and if you liked that, then watch "What the bleep do we know" - wonderful and inspiring film about how our thoughts affect our bodies and life.
Why am I all of a sudden writing about this? This morning my mom happened to mention that her favorite radio show hosts (she listens to every Wednesday on a local station in Latvia) were discussing Emoto's works and his visit to Latvia, him examining the water at various sources and establishments.
Dr. Emoto has checked out the local juice factory where the principles of his work are being observed, researched and put to use.
This peace of news made me giddy with pride and happiness for my home country - great things are being done!
Such efforts to do better for everyone are typically not widely advertised, mainstream news are still focused on bad stuff happening around us and we fall under impression of the world going the wrong way, while in fact - there's a perfect balance of good and bad.
In fact, I ran a google search on just "good news" and found a pretty large number of sources for only positive and inspiring news!
Now it's time to get back to work - a lot to be accomplished today! Stay warm - in and out and have a fantographic day~
Irina
He's done research on water crystals by photographing them frozen after they've been affected by different words, music, thoughts etc.
It's all described in a series of books "Messages in Water" by Dr. Emoto, and is quite fascinating, especially for those unaware of his works.
There's also a very interesting film: "The Mystery of Water" which I highly recommend... and if you liked that, then watch "What the bleep do we know" - wonderful and inspiring film about how our thoughts affect our bodies and life.
Why am I all of a sudden writing about this? This morning my mom happened to mention that her favorite radio show hosts (she listens to every Wednesday on a local station in Latvia) were discussing Emoto's works and his visit to Latvia, him examining the water at various sources and establishments.
Dr. Emoto has checked out the local juice factory where the principles of his work are being observed, researched and put to use.
This peace of news made me giddy with pride and happiness for my home country - great things are being done!
Such efforts to do better for everyone are typically not widely advertised, mainstream news are still focused on bad stuff happening around us and we fall under impression of the world going the wrong way, while in fact - there's a perfect balance of good and bad.
In fact, I ran a google search on just "good news" and found a pretty large number of sources for only positive and inspiring news!
Now it's time to get back to work - a lot to be accomplished today! Stay warm - in and out and have a fantographic day~
Irina
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Location! Location! Location!
I was going over some shots I did with Krista a few weeks ago, and remembered how she said:
- When you look at the pictures, you can never tell if it was done right here!
That's so true...
When I was just "taking pictures" - years back - I'd try to photograph a location first, then a person in it. Like all tourist shots - here I am visiting waterfalls, here I am near the statue of liberty, here I am in the desert... etc. Composition was totally different.
But now that I'm "photographing" portraits, I'm using only one element of the location. A line that leads here, the way the light falls, the way the texture can be used, etc.
So, you can rarely tell which location was used on what photographs, unless the elements are so striking that your eye recognizes them right away. Architecture is that way. But in nature, you can never tell :)
There's a lot of elements that come together here... a lot to think about when you plan a shot like this one:
Of course it doesn't help when you photograph a child, as they are very impatient, so this wasn't exactly a planned shot. It was simply something I saw and jumped up to photograph, even though I was totally busy with photographing someone else :).
But when you have a grownup person to photograph, you can plan pretty much anything, as long as location provides interesting light, textures, structures, lines, depth, etc.
Thank you, Krista, for lending your gorgeous blue eyes to please my lens :)
- When you look at the pictures, you can never tell if it was done right here!
That's so true...
When I was just "taking pictures" - years back - I'd try to photograph a location first, then a person in it. Like all tourist shots - here I am visiting waterfalls, here I am near the statue of liberty, here I am in the desert... etc. Composition was totally different.
But now that I'm "photographing" portraits, I'm using only one element of the location. A line that leads here, the way the light falls, the way the texture can be used, etc.
So, you can rarely tell which location was used on what photographs, unless the elements are so striking that your eye recognizes them right away. Architecture is that way. But in nature, you can never tell :)
There's a lot of elements that come together here... a lot to think about when you plan a shot like this one:
Of course it doesn't help when you photograph a child, as they are very impatient, so this wasn't exactly a planned shot. It was simply something I saw and jumped up to photograph, even though I was totally busy with photographing someone else :).
But when you have a grownup person to photograph, you can plan pretty much anything, as long as location provides interesting light, textures, structures, lines, depth, etc.
Thank you, Krista, for lending your gorgeous blue eyes to please my lens :)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
This past week has been packed with lessons. Big and small, valuable and ... frustrating.
I want to write about one of them, as it directly relates to photography as a business, for my own sake and for all of you out there who are trying to make it, but probably not today. Today we have gorgeous weather, therefore I'm in a much lighter mood and have wonderful plans for the future.
So, instead, I'll share some pics from the night flight last week.
Unfortunately I couldn't photograph nightscapes themselves - not enough ISO on any of the cameras... but you can trust me that it was magical. Like winter holidays, only in September. Lights, lights, lights everywhere... cars running on highways... white on the left, red on the right...
Everything and everyone turned into lights. It all seemed so strange and different from up there.
And, of course, there was the sunset. Completely unobstructed, beautiful light show.
Imagine watching all of that for a few hours and then you start developing this feeling of alienation from the reality.. As if nothing else exists but this world of lights, sound of the engine, voices in the headset...
and when we landed and got into our car... we became one of them - lights. Just a light on the road - like everybody else. And it felt very peaceful.
I want to write about one of them, as it directly relates to photography as a business, for my own sake and for all of you out there who are trying to make it, but probably not today. Today we have gorgeous weather, therefore I'm in a much lighter mood and have wonderful plans for the future.
So, instead, I'll share some pics from the night flight last week.
Unfortunately I couldn't photograph nightscapes themselves - not enough ISO on any of the cameras... but you can trust me that it was magical. Like winter holidays, only in September. Lights, lights, lights everywhere... cars running on highways... white on the left, red on the right...
Everything and everyone turned into lights. It all seemed so strange and different from up there.
And, of course, there was the sunset. Completely unobstructed, beautiful light show.
Imagine watching all of that for a few hours and then you start developing this feeling of alienation from the reality.. As if nothing else exists but this world of lights, sound of the engine, voices in the headset...
and when we landed and got into our car... we became one of them - lights. Just a light on the road - like everybody else. And it felt very peaceful.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Look what we found!
While gathering our thoughts around a night flight we were about to embark upon from Solberg airport the other week we noticed a very lonely and completely forgotten airplane...
And gave it a new life in photographs :)
Hope you enjoy it ....
I wonder what will happen to it over time... For some reason I feel like visiting it from time to time...
Aren't people like that as well? If you ignore them, they become old and dingy... We thrive on attention and use, aren't we? I want to make someone a little happier every day... I don't know what would have happened to me if I couldn't do that.
Have a fanta-graphic day!
And gave it a new life in photographs :)
I wonder what will happen to it over time... For some reason I feel like visiting it from time to time...
Aren't people like that as well? If you ignore them, they become old and dingy... We thrive on attention and use, aren't we? I want to make someone a little happier every day... I don't know what would have happened to me if I couldn't do that.
Have a fanta-graphic day!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
a little sneak peek...
Two days ago had what's likely to be the longest shooting day in my history...
Probably sounds normal to more mature fashion photographers, but I left the house that morning around 8am and came back only at 10pm.
All that day I spent shooting beautiful jewelry on beautiful ladies. And then some without the ladies...
Had so much fun that even when my feet got tired and swollen /and even when I was already in bed after a steamy shower/ - I couldn't sleep! So much good energy... ahh
This one I composed while going over the images that are going to be used for designer's editorials... I'll tell you more about her when I post the real work we were after, this is just something I quickly put together while going over all the shots... yes, all 16GB of them.... *yaaaaawn*
I just hope I'll sleep much better tonight :).
And I'm wishing you the same!
Probably sounds normal to more mature fashion photographers, but I left the house that morning around 8am and came back only at 10pm.
All that day I spent shooting beautiful jewelry on beautiful ladies. And then some without the ladies...
Had so much fun that even when my feet got tired and swollen /and even when I was already in bed after a steamy shower/ - I couldn't sleep! So much good energy... ahh
This one I composed while going over the images that are going to be used for designer's editorials... I'll tell you more about her when I post the real work we were after, this is just something I quickly put together while going over all the shots... yes, all 16GB of them.... *yaaaaawn*
I just hope I'll sleep much better tonight :).
And I'm wishing you the same!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Past week has been.... full!
Sometimes I become overwhelmed with all the opportunities and everything that's coming my way...
When I can finally sit down and evaluate what just happened, it's much easier to see that it's all just temporary. That eventually when things are more stable and less unpredictable, I'll have this hired help and that nailed down... and the nerves calm down :)
But until then... I'm left with the fascination at the ideas, projects, time it takes to organize and manage it all.
This past week I had fun time participating in a TV episode for a show I cannot mention. They are based in Toronto, and came over to New Jersey to shoot this episode, where I am participating in a scene as a photographer. Cool, right? :)
Was fun too.
The team showed up in my studio, checked everything out, their DP gave me The Beatles guitar pick as a souvenir (which I'm now taking with me everywhere I go... Don't ask... I am a geek after all), the set was already done, so, I had the sound guy hide a mic on me (probably the funnest part of that night - never had that experience before...) and we started shooting. I was shooting the baby, they were shooting their footage...
Baby was a tough audience, but so cute that it didn't even matter at the end. I got the shots I wanted, apparently the crew got the shots they were after and we all went our own separate ways.
Being out of country and all, they needed help getting poster sized prints on a foam board - SAME WEEK, and the first thing that came into my mind was Costco. Just because they mailed me a coupon with discounts on canvas prints and claimed I can pick it all up the same day.
I went to LinkedIn to ask folks if anybody used Costco for their pro prints, but nobody was too sure whether the quality would be adequate. But the price seemed very adequate for the production crew, and the pics would be seen only on camera anyway, so I decided to give Costco a try. They ended up producing much better results than I anticipated, so I'm giving you a blessing if you want to try their lab near Willowbrook mall.
This morning I dropped the prints off at the "party" location and got on camera one more time. I think I didn't do a very good job, just because it was all so quick and I was NOT prepared in any way, but I just tried to look as natural as I could, and also "hasty" (per director).. hahah.
Yup. That was the first on camera thing for me for somebody else's project and, of course, I feel a little proud, hahah.
Oh, and yes - check out the cute baby, Tyler:
With Mommy...
This weekend I'm spending with my son - yay to that! Saturday didn't go off as I planned, but we also have a Sunday and I'm very much looking forward to what we've planned.
And how was YOUR week?
When I can finally sit down and evaluate what just happened, it's much easier to see that it's all just temporary. That eventually when things are more stable and less unpredictable, I'll have this hired help and that nailed down... and the nerves calm down :)
But until then... I'm left with the fascination at the ideas, projects, time it takes to organize and manage it all.
This past week I had fun time participating in a TV episode for a show I cannot mention. They are based in Toronto, and came over to New Jersey to shoot this episode, where I am participating in a scene as a photographer. Cool, right? :)
Was fun too.
The team showed up in my studio, checked everything out, their DP gave me The Beatles guitar pick as a souvenir (which I'm now taking with me everywhere I go... Don't ask... I am a geek after all), the set was already done, so, I had the sound guy hide a mic on me (probably the funnest part of that night - never had that experience before...) and we started shooting. I was shooting the baby, they were shooting their footage...
Baby was a tough audience, but so cute that it didn't even matter at the end. I got the shots I wanted, apparently the crew got the shots they were after and we all went our own separate ways.
Being out of country and all, they needed help getting poster sized prints on a foam board - SAME WEEK, and the first thing that came into my mind was Costco. Just because they mailed me a coupon with discounts on canvas prints and claimed I can pick it all up the same day.
I went to LinkedIn to ask folks if anybody used Costco for their pro prints, but nobody was too sure whether the quality would be adequate. But the price seemed very adequate for the production crew, and the pics would be seen only on camera anyway, so I decided to give Costco a try. They ended up producing much better results than I anticipated, so I'm giving you a blessing if you want to try their lab near Willowbrook mall.
This morning I dropped the prints off at the "party" location and got on camera one more time. I think I didn't do a very good job, just because it was all so quick and I was NOT prepared in any way, but I just tried to look as natural as I could, and also "hasty" (per director).. hahah.
Yup. That was the first on camera thing for me for somebody else's project and, of course, I feel a little proud, hahah.
Oh, and yes - check out the cute baby, Tyler:
With Mommy...
This weekend I'm spending with my son - yay to that! Saturday didn't go off as I planned, but we also have a Sunday and I'm very much looking forward to what we've planned.
And how was YOUR week?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
what have I learned today!
A friend sent me a link to wikipage, which I wanted to tell my mom about because we love musing over these kinds of mysteries, and she goes and tells me that she knows all about him and wrote his scientific work and that there's also a documentary about him, which I found on youtube - check this out!
A man from Latvia built one of the most mysterious things on the planet. Aside from being a very original man...
It's obvious that these days his work is being used as a tourist attraction and some information might have been "pulled out of the finger", but one truth remains - how could one man build such a structure?
*Mesmerized*
PS: here's the wiki page if you're interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle
A man from Latvia built one of the most mysterious things on the planet. Aside from being a very original man...
It's obvious that these days his work is being used as a tourist attraction and some information might have been "pulled out of the finger", but one truth remains - how could one man build such a structure?
*Mesmerized*
PS: here's the wiki page if you're interested http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_Castle
Monday, September 6, 2010
On FILMS.... also - Happy Labor Day!
I hope you're having a wonderful time - wherever you are...
We've been blessed with wonderful sunny weather and I've done a lot of work, even though it's a weekend and there's a lot going on around me that attempts at breaking my focus and stealing my scattered attention.
I just had this thought that I can't remember the time when I used the term "movies" in place for any motion picture. And this past year I've clearly defined the difference between a "movie" and a "film".
When I hear my husband watch something where there's a lot of shouting, shooting, engine revving and other noises - it definitely falls into a category of a movie to me, no matter how good the rating is :).
What's FILM to you? What sense defines a good FILM worth watching? What was the last FILM you watched that you'd recommend?
We've been blessed with wonderful sunny weather and I've done a lot of work, even though it's a weekend and there's a lot going on around me that attempts at breaking my focus and stealing my scattered attention.
I just had this thought that I can't remember the time when I used the term "movies" in place for any motion picture. And this past year I've clearly defined the difference between a "movie" and a "film".
When I hear my husband watch something where there's a lot of shouting, shooting, engine revving and other noises - it definitely falls into a category of a movie to me, no matter how good the rating is :).
What's FILM to you? What sense defines a good FILM worth watching? What was the last FILM you watched that you'd recommend?
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
in Williamsburg
A lot of people have walked numerous times over the Brooklyn bridge, but how many New Yorkers can say that about the Williamsburg bridge? Of course, many of those who did - did it either every day, or at least every weekend... that's the beauty of it - you can take a walk, run, bike, go to work, come from work...
Life and death on the bridge..
And what you can do once you're on the Brooklyn side - visit the wood burning oven pizza place
Photograph the bridge and surrounding objects... Brooklyn is a very interesting place to hang out
Did you know that in order to rebuild in place of a historic building city requires to preserve the front of it in one way or another? Check this out....
I thought it says no Bills
Couldn't get away from that car for a while...
I know I know - way too many pictures for one post, but I don't want to forget to get back to this topic, plus I'm hopeful that you're enjoying yourself here..
And that's where the sweet'n'low comes from
Everyone's allowed to express themselves
Have a fantastic Tuesday - I'm going back to doing lots of work. Remember about the Hoboken Film Crew meetup tonight...
Life and death on the bridge..
And what you can do once you're on the Brooklyn side - visit the wood burning oven pizza place
Photograph the bridge and surrounding objects... Brooklyn is a very interesting place to hang out
Did you know that in order to rebuild in place of a historic building city requires to preserve the front of it in one way or another? Check this out....
I thought it says no Bills
Couldn't get away from that car for a while...
I know I know - way too many pictures for one post, but I don't want to forget to get back to this topic, plus I'm hopeful that you're enjoying yourself here..
And that's where the sweet'n'low comes from
Everyone's allowed to express themselves
Have a fantastic Tuesday - I'm going back to doing lots of work. Remember about the Hoboken Film Crew meetup tonight...
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