See more on my website at: http://www.outoftheordinary.biz/paige2013.html
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Why I dislike phone calls instead of email
I have a few reasons why I hate phones, calls and calling. Some personal and some business reasons. I realize most people actually have a phone to their hip and head at all times but I don't. Oddly enough, yes a techy like me, does not.
It's simple: I can NEVER understand anyone on the phone. It doesn't matter if you speak the English language as clear as a bell; it sounds like everyone is eating and talking at the same time to me. Street names are weird and if I write your address wrong I won't make it to the photo session. Email is amazing for this instead. I can see it clearly, I can look it up by copy/pasting it right there into mapquest and I can refer back to it if need be for my GPS. Done. Easy. Effective. And with weddings I need all the details typed out because I do so many weddings they can all mix together. So email with your date and info every time. Details written on contracts, info forms and email works so much better for me to review at my own time and pace. At the end of the day the only people I can fully understand on the phone is my family and a message from DJ Andy Pratt... Lol I know it's a strange reference but it's TRUE... so this makes me wonder, is everyone else eating while on the phone?
The never ending phone tag: Now you may dispute that by saying back and forth in email is is bad but so does phone tag. In fact, I think it's worse. Sure, times and dates can go a couple times or change but phones are horrible. I may get a message, then I have to check the voicemail that says nothing except call me back, then I have to call and leave you a voicemail that really says nothing and we just got done doing a bunch of nothingness. At least with email we got somewhere.
And the ever-so-common: I am simply not good on phones. This probably comes from me not understanding what you're saying but I want off it asap. I cannot be myself unless it's in person or at a relaxing place like sitting at my computer (for the most part) where I have time to think. If you catch me off guard on the phone I'm not good at replies, some things I have to look into first. If you ask me availability and I'm not in front of my calendar, it's a worthless wasted phone call. I get easily aggravated on phone calls because of all of those reasons. Some say "well that's a good thing to catch you off guard because then I find out the REAL you." What the hell does that even mean? Sounds like you are an investigator; am I a criminal of sorts? Others say "well you are just like everyone else in this day and age... hiding behind a computer and that's all you can do now in this social media craze" and I say NOPE, I'm fine in person, I just hate phones. And even in person I still have to refer to things and my calendar. I am not a super knower of all things and memorizer.
Losing numbers: Now this is a ramble but try to follow. Lost the number, can't find them and then calling the wrong people. And, no, I don't want to add a stranger's number to my phone. I barely have family on it let alone people I don't really know in which we are only having a quick first-time meeting and then you'll never sign up and I have this person's phone number in my phone... screaming who is that!?... when I'm trying to find my mom's number?! Oh crap I'm accidentally calling it now. Oh that's great, not only did you not end up signing up with me but to them it's that "annoying" photographer keeps calling. haha. Then there are work numbers, home numbers, cell numbers... need I go on? Email. I see the name and reply. Done.
Health reasons: We don't have a landline phone and use only a cell phone but we get terrible reception and I'm ok with that. We keep it off 98% of the time. The reason I keep it off is because of wifi and EMF waves. It has been proven by science that it is unhealthy and cancerous (and yes, I truly believe it is) to have a cordless or cell phone next to your head or body, especially while in rest or sleeping. I have a very close friend who has EMF sensitivities and it is no fun. She can't be around a cell towers or cell phones or many electronics such as refrigerators and air conditioners. I don't want that. I have been so sick at one point from an immune system disorder that I don't want to play with yet another thing that could hurt my body anymore. I have to use a computer for this job and the last thing I want with a weakened immune system is lose that too! Our computers are landlines and we don't use wifi unless we at a Starbucks for a meeting, etc. I get zapped enough at other places I prefer not my home. They have even proven that cordless phones are worse than cell phones. And don't even get me started on the future of all these cellular things; I'm against it all, including cell towers put in exceeding amount of locations popping up everywhere and especially when put up next to schools.
Now onto another topic that even I'm guilty of. Messaging through facebook personal and business pages. It looks like that's a new reality for everyone regardless of how you feel about it. Again, I think it depends on what the topic is. If it's a quick question that you don't mind I don't get to for a couple days, than fine, do it. If it's business related with important times and dates or information that I will need way down the road, months in advance, please for the love of god, email me the details instead. I don't have time to search for messages and archives in all 4 of my emails and facebooks and ahhhhh!
It's a new world. Let's just all try to do it the way that makes common sense as much as possible.
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Kramer Wedding
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: Feeling good by Michael Buble
CRAVING: root beer float
NEEDED A MOMENT: schooled up by a hypocrite ex-bro-in-law
BEST MOMENT: realizing I'm ok with it all and feeling good
It's simple: I can NEVER understand anyone on the phone. It doesn't matter if you speak the English language as clear as a bell; it sounds like everyone is eating and talking at the same time to me. Street names are weird and if I write your address wrong I won't make it to the photo session. Email is amazing for this instead. I can see it clearly, I can look it up by copy/pasting it right there into mapquest and I can refer back to it if need be for my GPS. Done. Easy. Effective. And with weddings I need all the details typed out because I do so many weddings they can all mix together. So email with your date and info every time. Details written on contracts, info forms and email works so much better for me to review at my own time and pace. At the end of the day the only people I can fully understand on the phone is my family and a message from DJ Andy Pratt... Lol I know it's a strange reference but it's TRUE... so this makes me wonder, is everyone else eating while on the phone?
The never ending phone tag: Now you may dispute that by saying back and forth in email is is bad but so does phone tag. In fact, I think it's worse. Sure, times and dates can go a couple times or change but phones are horrible. I may get a message, then I have to check the voicemail that says nothing except call me back, then I have to call and leave you a voicemail that really says nothing and we just got done doing a bunch of nothingness. At least with email we got somewhere.
And the ever-so-common: I am simply not good on phones. This probably comes from me not understanding what you're saying but I want off it asap. I cannot be myself unless it's in person or at a relaxing place like sitting at my computer (for the most part) where I have time to think. If you catch me off guard on the phone I'm not good at replies, some things I have to look into first. If you ask me availability and I'm not in front of my calendar, it's a worthless wasted phone call. I get easily aggravated on phone calls because of all of those reasons. Some say "well that's a good thing to catch you off guard because then I find out the REAL you." What the hell does that even mean? Sounds like you are an investigator; am I a criminal of sorts? Others say "well you are just like everyone else in this day and age... hiding behind a computer and that's all you can do now in this social media craze" and I say NOPE, I'm fine in person, I just hate phones. And even in person I still have to refer to things and my calendar. I am not a super knower of all things and memorizer.
Losing numbers: Now this is a ramble but try to follow. Lost the number, can't find them and then calling the wrong people. And, no, I don't want to add a stranger's number to my phone. I barely have family on it let alone people I don't really know in which we are only having a quick first-time meeting and then you'll never sign up and I have this person's phone number in my phone... screaming who is that!?... when I'm trying to find my mom's number?! Oh crap I'm accidentally calling it now. Oh that's great, not only did you not end up signing up with me but to them it's that "annoying" photographer keeps calling. haha. Then there are work numbers, home numbers, cell numbers... need I go on? Email. I see the name and reply. Done.
Health reasons: We don't have a landline phone and use only a cell phone but we get terrible reception and I'm ok with that. We keep it off 98% of the time. The reason I keep it off is because of wifi and EMF waves. It has been proven by science that it is unhealthy and cancerous (and yes, I truly believe it is) to have a cordless or cell phone next to your head or body, especially while in rest or sleeping. I have a very close friend who has EMF sensitivities and it is no fun. She can't be around a cell towers or cell phones or many electronics such as refrigerators and air conditioners. I don't want that. I have been so sick at one point from an immune system disorder that I don't want to play with yet another thing that could hurt my body anymore. I have to use a computer for this job and the last thing I want with a weakened immune system is lose that too! Our computers are landlines and we don't use wifi unless we at a Starbucks for a meeting, etc. I get zapped enough at other places I prefer not my home. They have even proven that cordless phones are worse than cell phones. And don't even get me started on the future of all these cellular things; I'm against it all, including cell towers put in exceeding amount of locations popping up everywhere and especially when put up next to schools.
Now onto another topic that even I'm guilty of. Messaging through facebook personal and business pages. It looks like that's a new reality for everyone regardless of how you feel about it. Again, I think it depends on what the topic is. If it's a quick question that you don't mind I don't get to for a couple days, than fine, do it. If it's business related with important times and dates or information that I will need way down the road, months in advance, please for the love of god, email me the details instead. I don't have time to search for messages and archives in all 4 of my emails and facebooks and ahhhhh!
It's a new world. Let's just all try to do it the way that makes common sense as much as possible.
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Kramer Wedding
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: Feeling good by Michael Buble
CRAVING: root beer float
NEEDED A MOMENT: schooled up by a hypocrite ex-bro-in-law
BEST MOMENT: realizing I'm ok with it all and feeling good
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Sunset scurry
When I say we have a sunset to catch... I mean that we have a sunset to catch NOW. Not in 5 or 10 minutes, not talk to your smoking friends on the way out of the reception, I mean NOW! Otherwise you miss the opportunity between an OMG once-in-a-lifetime shot and a just ok whatever shot. Got it? Good! It's happened to me one too many times and I can't let it happen again.
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Finishing up the Kramer wedding and senior portraits
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: Your song by any artist
CRAVING: I don't even know anymore
NEEDED A MOMENT: stop apologizing to me personally for using something you know is bad for you
BEST MOMENT: finding an awesome quote and NBC The Voice!
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Finishing up the Kramer wedding and senior portraits
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: Your song by any artist
CRAVING: I don't even know anymore
NEEDED A MOMENT: stop apologizing to me personally for using something you know is bad for you
BEST MOMENT: finding an awesome quote and NBC The Voice!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Baah!
Am I the only photographer out there that
types the wrong words and replace them with design or photo words? I do
it all the time. Like "image" instead of "imagine" and "photos" instead
of"phone". Baah!
Image a world where you could call me on the photo.
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Kramer Wedding
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: Ho Hey by The Lumineers
CRAVING: A no interruption day for straight editing
NEEDED A MOMENT: Itchy eyes and a dry cracked eyelid; more annoying than you may think.
BEST MOMENT: Organic bagel with cream cheese after 3 years of not having it? I think yes.
Image a world where you could call me on the photo.
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Kramer Wedding
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: Ho Hey by The Lumineers
CRAVING: A no interruption day for straight editing
NEEDED A MOMENT: Itchy eyes and a dry cracked eyelid; more annoying than you may think.
BEST MOMENT: Organic bagel with cream cheese after 3 years of not having it? I think yes.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Kraus {Wedding} ~ Highlights
Look at these evening clouds
As a father gives away his daughter
A meaningful perspective
((hugs))
she's got 'im
An evening reflection
Wedding party
a beautiful bride
love the lighting here
rings in vintage setting
kisses in b&w
artsy
Groomsmen. Look at those clouds!
Lots of beautiful silhouettes
Love the 3 layers of fun here
Details
In love with this image
First dance
mixing up the angles
Love these laughs
Kids never fail at showing their true emotions
First Look
Cake cutting
Lets party!
DJ Vinny gets the whole crowd going!
the cake
even a butterfly
A blue moon composite I did for fun
Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Kraus!
I have something to say...
Posting public websites and public contact
information is not slander but posting fake emails full of personal and
business attacks, is in fact, slander. Not many understand the difference.
Out of over 200 weddings I've done, I will admit, I've had a couple people upset over the past 10 years not liking the end result. There has even been a few other disputes... the common "you didn't make me look skinny" or "you didn't get enough of so n so" (even though they didn't want the photos taken of themselves and I don't push anyone that feels uncomfortable). Or that I took 6 weeks rather than 4 weeks for turn-around time. This will happen in business and no one is perfect. But for the two big ones - I'll explain both.
The first one was upset that I didn't do enough color accents (where the bouquet was in color and the rest is in black and white), she was also upset that I didn't fix her bruise on ALL of the photos and that the photos took 8 months. In my defense her bouquet was fully white with white feathers replacing the leaves so there was not even green or any colors to pop out for color. I also do not edit every single photo so yes I may miss a bruise or acne here and there. I take so many this is understandable. Simply ask, give me the image numbers and I'll fix for you if it's a favorite! So I offered all fixes and even sent a new disc with the additional color accents with the bridesmaids green bouquets standing out. And at the time I was behind in photo processing but have since changed my schedule to accommodate this issue. Live and learn right? It's part of being in business. I've heard some photographers take a year or more and hopefully your marriage is a lifetime so it's really not unrealistic. But of course I ruined her entire life and wedding. Saying that she hated all the photos even though she wanted a free album of them, used them all over facebook and I have emails of her loving the photos I had up on the website. I'll let you be the judge... I personally LOVED her photos: http://www.outoftheordinary.biz/vallejo_hold
The second one was not actually a business relation but a so-called "favor" for another photographer friend. It started as a contract but since this "friend" said she wanted photos taken of her daughters wedding to be raw, unedited photos, as-is at a discounted price, this annulled all contracts and became a friend favor instead. I try to avoid this type of agreement now because it NEVER works for any type of business and you just end up losing a friend in the long run. The daughter ended up with over 2,000 photos and they were gorgeous. I never posted them or made a page because I was so busy at the time and I don't usually take the additional time to edit and process the weddings that ask for them unprocessed; I have better things to do with the ones that paid me for the processing! So I sent out the discs right away being that they were unprocessed and a YEAR AFTER she received them decided to write me saying she hated the photos and that I ruined her wedding. It was completely out of context and in my opinion full of fake and outrageous lies. Everything went smooth at the wedding and I even got a referral from the wedding who loved my work. In the end, it seemed all a way to bring me down. And, hey, once you take photos raw, you better know how to edit them to my standards or they won't look like my standard. There is a reason why photographers edit photos now, the quality has gone up tremendously and it will never look the same as when a professional edits them. For the record, I've covered 4 other professional photographer weddings and 2 of them took them raw and unedited with no complaints and only good things to say... so who has a better record? Here are two photos (one is the same in a color accent bouquet version) from her wedding that I did edited for the videographer (the blurred edges effect was done by videographer). Apparently they liked at least one of the photos, I'm guessing, since they used it for their custom video cover but all the rest were just terrible, huh? I know... confusing, right? I've thought about making a page of all the photos to prove my point, but honestly, I've wasted enough time on it and I have nothing to hide or prove. Ps... all this is public information found on the videographer website.
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As with all things, there is always so much more to the stories, there are two sides to everything and everyone has their own perspective. I'm not saying that no one should be allowed to express their dislikes or have any complaints what-so-ever, I'm just saying that it should be within realistic reasoning and dealt with less drama and more with the facts. I'm not perfect and besides, how do you grow without all the challenges of owning a business? I certainly have had some hard times and dealing with an illness at one point but I will say this -- Out of the Ordinary has never missed a wedding, there has always been coverage, everyone got their photos and albums (pending they did their photo choices for me to design)! I always say, in every garden there are always a few bad seeds. In the end, some will not be happy no matter what you do and you cannot please everyone.
Cheerio~
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Kramer Wedding
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: She Wolf by Shakira
CRAVING: more downtime
NEEDED A MOMENT: I'm not a wedding planner; I'm a photographer
BEST MOMENT: A relaxing Sunday
Out of over 200 weddings I've done, I will admit, I've had a couple people upset over the past 10 years not liking the end result. There has even been a few other disputes... the common "you didn't make me look skinny" or "you didn't get enough of so n so" (even though they didn't want the photos taken of themselves and I don't push anyone that feels uncomfortable). Or that I took 6 weeks rather than 4 weeks for turn-around time. This will happen in business and no one is perfect. But for the two big ones - I'll explain both.
The first one was upset that I didn't do enough color accents (where the bouquet was in color and the rest is in black and white), she was also upset that I didn't fix her bruise on ALL of the photos and that the photos took 8 months. In my defense her bouquet was fully white with white feathers replacing the leaves so there was not even green or any colors to pop out for color. I also do not edit every single photo so yes I may miss a bruise or acne here and there. I take so many this is understandable. Simply ask, give me the image numbers and I'll fix for you if it's a favorite! So I offered all fixes and even sent a new disc with the additional color accents with the bridesmaids green bouquets standing out. And at the time I was behind in photo processing but have since changed my schedule to accommodate this issue. Live and learn right? It's part of being in business. I've heard some photographers take a year or more and hopefully your marriage is a lifetime so it's really not unrealistic. But of course I ruined her entire life and wedding. Saying that she hated all the photos even though she wanted a free album of them, used them all over facebook and I have emails of her loving the photos I had up on the website. I'll let you be the judge... I personally LOVED her photos: http://www.outoftheordinary.biz/vallejo_hold
The second one was not actually a business relation but a so-called "favor" for another photographer friend. It started as a contract but since this "friend" said she wanted photos taken of her daughters wedding to be raw, unedited photos, as-is at a discounted price, this annulled all contracts and became a friend favor instead. I try to avoid this type of agreement now because it NEVER works for any type of business and you just end up losing a friend in the long run. The daughter ended up with over 2,000 photos and they were gorgeous. I never posted them or made a page because I was so busy at the time and I don't usually take the additional time to edit and process the weddings that ask for them unprocessed; I have better things to do with the ones that paid me for the processing! So I sent out the discs right away being that they were unprocessed and a YEAR AFTER she received them decided to write me saying she hated the photos and that I ruined her wedding. It was completely out of context and in my opinion full of fake and outrageous lies. Everything went smooth at the wedding and I even got a referral from the wedding who loved my work. In the end, it seemed all a way to bring me down. And, hey, once you take photos raw, you better know how to edit them to my standards or they won't look like my standard. There is a reason why photographers edit photos now, the quality has gone up tremendously and it will never look the same as when a professional edits them. For the record, I've covered 4 other professional photographer weddings and 2 of them took them raw and unedited with no complaints and only good things to say... so who has a better record? Here are two photos (one is the same in a color accent bouquet version) from her wedding that I did edited for the videographer (the blurred edges effect was done by videographer). Apparently they liked at least one of the photos, I'm guessing, since they used it for their custom video cover but all the rest were just terrible, huh? I know... confusing, right? I've thought about making a page of all the photos to prove my point, but honestly, I've wasted enough time on it and I have nothing to hide or prove. Ps... all this is public information found on the videographer website.
.jpg)
Cheerio~
MY CURRENT PROJECT: Kramer Wedding
SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: She Wolf by Shakira
CRAVING: more downtime
NEEDED A MOMENT: I'm not a wedding planner; I'm a photographer
BEST MOMENT: A relaxing Sunday
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