Friday Fractured Thought | Milwaukee Wedding Photographer

Another installment, brought to you by a rather annoyed gal this week...

* So, remember how we sold our house? Remember how I was all excited but scrambling to pack things up, still take pictures, get things ready...yadda yadda yadda.

Yeah, well....HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, seems we won't be going anywhere just yet. Yep....the sale fell through. Without going into it too much, it involved a buyer who wouldn't prioritize....so..moving on. Anyone need a new house? Now that I have a POD in my driveway and I'm surrounded by boxes?

*Sigh*

* While I'm on a bit of a tirade can I talk a bit about ripping people off? As in, the kind of ripping off Vanilla Ice did when he stole the beat to "Under Pressure" but claimed it was just SLIGHTLY different. Just a TAD different. Not REALLY the same.

Yeah, it's not cool. We're all influenced by so many. I know I have a ton of influences. But, my branding is my own. My name is my own. My business structure is my own. These are things I spent time, effort, money, and studying to craft and build around what I really hold to be important for my brand and business. I encourage people to BE influenced....influence is wonderful. Inspiration is wonderful. But, when it comes to selling yourself and your brand, bring yourself into it. BE yourself, because selling YOU and your personality is what holds you apart from the pack.

Besides, no matter how hard you try...if you rip off someone's ideas you're simply going to be 2nd to the original. Always. No matter what.

For example: I own action sets from several top photographers (Big ups to Sheye Rosemeyer's Eye Candy actions used below)....but I can never turn my work into their work. I can never have their flair with words or their style with blogging. Because I'm not them (if I wanted to be them I would probably shoot Canon and dress better!). I can be influenced by their use of color and composition, but in the end I have to use my own feel and eye to make it my own. There's a lot of folks out there doing the "vintage" thing. Its the aesthetic that I am drawn to, but it makes no good business sense to just do it exactly the same way as someone else.

Standing apart is important, community is important. And no one likes the guy in the community who breaks into people's cars and takes their CDs.

I feel like I'm ranting....so moving on. Just don't steal. Don't knock off. It's not cool. It's bad for your Karma and it makes babies cry.

* As you can probably surmise, this week has been one big stress ball. With the house ups and downs and scrambling to pack only to be told to stop...wait...not just yet, I also got to experience Betty's first official giant public meltdown. The catalyst? Ruby and Max bunny dolls.

I'm a wuss, because I bought her the dolls. I was outnumbered (Betty + her GIANT TANTRUM vs. just little ole me). Plus I'm sure I was getting the stink-eye from the other Barnes and Nobles patrons.

* Last week I had the supreme pleasure of attending a meeting/critique session with Pierre from Pierre's Portrait Art and several talented local photographers (though I think I won the prize for farthest drive!). It was really fun and a great way to get my work looked at and critiqued by professionals. I highly recommend people do this, because you'll end up seeing things you NEVER would have noticed before. It's great.

* WPPI starts this week. I SO wish I was going. I send tons of good thoughts to all the people I know heading off on planes this weekend to Sin City.

* On another business note, I've decided I'm probably taking on 2-3 more weddings for 2010 and then it's on to 2011 bookings. So, if you're getting married this year and you're still sans-photographer give me a ring!

* I am DYING to see Precious, which comes out on DVD this week (I think). If anything, just to see Mariah Carey with her little lip fuzz (which I heard via some trashy magazine is actually REAL lip fuzz).

* I ALSO heard a rumor that Sigma is releasing an 85mm 1.4 lens. I could be very excited about this.

And here we have Miss Betty. I wanted to get one more "shoot" in my bedroom, which if you ask me has the best mid-day light in the whole house. However, I'm sure this probably won't be the last given our lost sale. *sigh again*