Tis the Season

I love Christmas!!!!!!!!!

COME ON! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? 

You know you want to :)

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The Other Side of the Lens

It's official.

Everyone should sign up for their own shoot.

It's too crazy how cool it is. After doing so many different photo shoots for other people, I never had one for myself.

1st off, I never felt photogeneic enough. Every now and then I would see pictures that someone took of me at an event and would like OH NOOOOO Delete NOW. (If I can dig up one of those I will gladly share for emphasis).

2ndly I was so self conscious. I didn't want anyone looking at for an extended period of time. You can see how big a problem that can be.

Anyways, in spite of all the reasons why I wouldn' t, shouldn't, or couldn't, there was always a part of me that had that burning desire to have my own shoot. And after watching Top Model, forget it. It's a catwalk up and down this place.

So earlier this week, I had my very first photoshoot. 1st!!! And for the first time I really realized and it clicked to me how powerful photography is.

I will be posting pictures from my shoot on my website, www.VJeannisPhotos.com .

Check it out. Type your comments below. Listen, tell me what you want to see me in - suggest some photo shoot ideas and I just might do it.

"Photos you love and you'll love to show off"

Oh, you know it can be better.

Over the past few weeks and months, I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of different small business owners, from photographers to consultants to paper artists to jewelers to hair stylist and a lot of fashion designers, etc...

One thing we all noticed that we had in common was that when we looked at where we were and where we wanted to be and the patterns that are being established we could ALL be doing a lot better.

The thing is, just because you're a photographer, it doesn't mean that you automatically know how to run a business.Many who have learned the hard way can tell you that 97.3% of the time, if an entrepreneur has a great idea and/or product but does not have an effective business model/structure to deliver the products/services, IT WILL NOT LAST and if it does, there will be a lot of stress, heartache, frustrations, sleepless nights, etc. And the thing is, it doesn't have to be that way.

Can I be a little honest and transparent for a moment? God help me. So when I first started the photography business, I did not have a clue what I was doing.  I had no idea about pricing and marketing and all those other good stuffs.  Now a lot of you are smarter than me and probably figured out the basic for your business quickly but it took me months.!!

I was so afraid to charge people what I was worth. Every time someone would approach me, I would be like I don't know what do you want to pay? (and you know the opportunists realized right away that they just got a sicker, smh)  I would hear stuff like, oh well you know I don't have a lot of money and blah blah. 

The funniest thing was when someone I knew came up to me and asked me for a photo shoot. I was then asked how much is the session and when I answered, she looked at me and said oh I have to pay. Sucked her teeth and walked away.

I tell ya.  When you don't have a structure in place and when you don't understand your value, people will use you....use you....use you.

Anywho, long story short, it was a process for me and when I met these other entrepreneurs and started having conversations with them, want to know what I found out?  HELLO? I said, do you want to know what I found out?

Fine, I'll tell you anyway. I realized that most of us were stumbling our way through the business portion and the few who actually had an effective system established realized that they could be doing so much better.

 Long story short, a few months ago I was sent an email invite to a tele-seminar featuring Brendon Burchard. Ever heard of him? Me neither. 

Even though I didn't know him, I was interested to hear what he had to say, so I tuned in and listened to the while call, right down to the goodbyes. BEST DECISION EVER.

He founded a program called Experts Academy.  Even though his focus is on Authors, Coaches, Online Marketers, Speakers, and Seminars, the value that you get from his program can be applied in any and everything - even photography! go figure. 

So with great enthusiasm, I introduce him to you. One of the most useful and value packed segments I find, is the Online Marketing.

Go to this link and then come back and post a comment letting me know what you think. Trust me. It is worth it.

Ok. Go then let me know.  I am waiting to get your feedback ok.

Talk to you in a bit.

Click on the link and check out the site for updates  - www.VJeannisPhotos.com 

Do you really know your worth?

For the past few weeks, I've been speaking to a lot of different people and entrepeneurs and one thing I was constantly asking them was "Do you really know your worth?"

It was crazy to me that so many extremely talented people didn't get their true value.

Too many times in life, when we have a gift or talent, we allow - our opinions of ourselves or what others say, or what we think others will say, or what "they" are doing - to influence the value we put on ourselves.  And MOST of us are guilty of that. Let's face it, sometimes we just don't feel good enough or that we compare.

I remember when I was first starting out with photography, that I would visit a lot of different sites and when I saw the quality of work that was out there, I was like alright let me take myself and my little camera and go park it.  In my mind, there was no way that I could compare with what was out there. But then something really weird started happening.  People liked my work and were hiring me!!!

Blew my mind!

I was receiving requests for weddings, private shoots, family sessions, individual sessions, parties...it was crazy.

I was fortunate enough that enough people saw the value of my photography that I was encouraged to keep going. But I wonder, how many people with different gifts and talents give up before they give themselves a chance because for some insane reason, they didn't think they were good enough.

If  no one ever told you were good enough or if they told you that you were good enough, but you didn't believe them, can I just tell you that you are probably good enough. Lol. Lol. (Forgive me :) I don't know what you do I can't say for sure whether or not you are. But what I will say is 1.Be honest with yourself 2. Give yourself a chance, and 3. Stop waiting for someone to tell you! Encourage yourself.

Change the Battery Pack

Yesterday morning was absolutely beautiful. I was up and dressed at 6am and by 6:30, I was armed with my camera, my flash and diffuser and on my way to Central Park.

It was the day after we had some snow, so it was absolutely beautiful and the fact that there are no cars and snow plows making black slush, made is that pure crisp white wonder. It was great.  Never mind the fact that I was freezing with no gloves or scarf or socks!! Nevertheless I pressed forward cause I knew if I went back home to get those things, I would not be back out there to take pictures.  It was too cold.

Anywho, so I'm out there and just LOVING IT. If I got a cold, it would have been totally worth it. It was beautiful.

So walk with me a bit. Here is some of the glory that I captured:

It's like a cross between midnight and daylight.

Framed Moonlight.

This I love because I felt like I was no longer in New York. It's kinda like Ice Age.....I said KINDA.

The difference between life and possible death is a few steps. The right side of the picture where you see all those footsteps is the walk way, the left side however, is the snow covered lake!! Could you imagine what would happen if you are not familiar with this passageway!. Horrible that there was no indication put up or warning.

I just like this. It's such a clean surface. Very inviting. 

 So far, things were pretty cool. It was such a rejuvenating time. So I am doing my prayer walk and taking pictures when I look over and see some bare branches, which happened to have a red leaf, which I thought was interesting. I step forward to photograph it, when I notice it move. That's when I realize that it was not a read leaf but a red bird. Great photo opp right...I think so, so I am snapping away but nothing. I press harder and still nothing. Then I look at my LCD screen and see in red letters CHANGE THE BATTERY PACK.

NOOOOOO say it isn't so. No more battery power and of course I didn't bring back up battery, but I still have the flash which I am NOT using in my pocket.

So in a desperate attempt to get this picture, I turn that camera off and back on and caught a few pics of the red bird.  Then as I look down to turn the camera on and off again, I see a midnight blue bird and a SECOND red bird! The Horror.

Who knows when that opp. would present itself again. Anyway, even if it does, this moment was lost to me because of inadequate preparation. So here's a snapshot of the bird.

So I miss the blue bird. Whatever. Turn my camera off and now I am just on my way home cause what's the point.  I look up and then I see this. (Fortunately, when I turned my camera back on, I was able to get a few more shots.)

I hope the beauty of this moment is not lost. To me it is as if the forest is coming to life again...

So at this point my camera is really dead.  It doesnt even say CHANGE THE BATTERY PACK anymore. It is just black. It was if it was saying, "you figure it out".

Helas, I look down up the hill and wouldnt you know it, there were two beautiful wolf dogs playing with each other in the snow...

At that point I was done. I was about to just walk out the park and head home and not look at another thing. and I would have done it to, but instead I kept looking and watching the scene and I just appreciated the moment and the beauty of it.

As nice as that moment was, I tell ya, I o not ever want to make the mistake of leaving without back up battery and enough memory.

Change the Battery Pack.smh. smh. 

The Heart of the Matter

I was blessed with the opportunity to speak to Stephanie Miller, founder and creator of Wisdom in the Kitchen, whose is to bring together women to share resources and build a vibrant, growing, feminine business community. (To Learn more visit http://www.wisdomofthekitchen.com/).

During our conversation she asked me what is my sweet spot in photography.  After giving the laundry list of children, portraits, etc... I realized that she was basically asking me where does my heart lie when it comes to photography.

So thinking back at everything that I've done, my absolute favorite type of photography is conceptual, high fashion editorial. These are pictures from a recent shoot, however go to the following links for more conceptual themes:

I also love shooting motion pictures, so I will definitely be doing more of that in the very near future. These are two of my favorites:

So stay tuned for more pictures from this concentration. 

Excited!  

Thank you Stephanie, because your question allowed me to really look into the Heart of my Photography.

Bloopers

When working with people and the elements...it's not always pretty, but a lot of times it is funny.

Here are some of the LOL....

While rock hopping and getting ready to pose, a crash of the waves against the rock he was standing on, caught him a bit off guard, but I was ready :) Just thought of the irony of this picture - He had a mini crisis when his angles were splashed with a little bit of water....if he only knew then what was going to happen next - TWICE--- LOL

The rise after the first fall.

After falling the first time, he wanted to put the shirt our in the sun to dry, which lead to his second fall.  I told him just leave it on, but he didn't want to so here he is, once again in the cold water protecting a wet shirt/hoody thing.  Look at the horror on his face, lol.

Instead of taking his chances and getting on another rock, he decided he's better off just wading in the water.

Few seconds later, he changes his mind and decides maybe I'm better off on the rocks. 

Momentary relief.

So the first time he fell into the water last week..(even though the sun was shining, that water was freezing), I didn't take a picture and after asking if he was ok and trying my best to hold it back, I bursted out laughing (with him of course).  The second time... I took pictures and laughed so I think with that said, they came out pretty good considering how much I was laughing (again, with him). 

Come back for some more bloopers. 

All done in love...(the love of laughter :D )