Don throws out topics, Rachel fills in the words:
July has few weddings. Big shock there with the heat. Who thought building our national's capital on a swamp was a good idea? Anyway, no bride with half a heart is going to put her relatives through the pea soup these weathermen have the audacity to call humidity. So instead of the usual DxOing and DVD burning it's been alot of winding down and gearing up. Fall begins the next big season but also the wedding show on September 9 (anyone who wants free tickets please leave a comment).
We're also in the midst of redesigning the website. The scroll bars on the photos was not our ide anad was taky. And as, like all summer interns, I will be leaving Don in less than a month for Syracuse, I've been setting up the bride newsletter e-mails. Give the newbie a break. (We're looking for a newbie p.s. Someone "emmersed and obsessed" in/with photography. Leave a comment with your website, etc). Our most recent gifts on the newsletter have been:
For 2008 brides (10 days only free DVD)
&
2007 brides free upgrades on albums
Don says he doesn't want to leave the door open forever. Which reminds me: we need to go put an expiration date on our darkroom edition albums....
so many things to prep!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Where the hell does all the business come from?
Don speaks, Rachel types:
The mother was no spring chicken, but she ran the roost. She and her daughter arrived and were "blown away by the quality" of the albums. They said that our albums "far exceeded" their expectations. My response was: WE TRY HARD. I guess my mind always goes back to my second wedding when I turned in 12 blank pieces of film. No one taught me about the second shutter on the back of a speed graphic. It didn't matter if the first shutter was correct. If the second shutter, a curtain, was closed, you got jack-diddly-bob for an exposure. That means zip, notta, zilch (Rachel: blank film). I have never forgotten that and do everything I can to keep it from happening again. They booked for 2008 and will most likely choose a major upgrade to the album...because it is beautiful.
I told them both how I built the album. I sent 85 pictures to Italy with these instructions: female designer (better color acuity than male), design the album as if it was her sister's and she HAD to please her mother. Italy kept calling for instructions and preferences. I said: give the designer free reign. When the album came back, I was floored. It really looked gorgeous. I guess that was part of "trying hard" to plaase the customer.
The mother was no spring chicken, but she ran the roost. She and her daughter arrived and were "blown away by the quality" of the albums. They said that our albums "far exceeded" their expectations. My response was: WE TRY HARD. I guess my mind always goes back to my second wedding when I turned in 12 blank pieces of film. No one taught me about the second shutter on the back of a speed graphic. It didn't matter if the first shutter was correct. If the second shutter, a curtain, was closed, you got jack-diddly-bob for an exposure. That means zip, notta, zilch (Rachel: blank film). I have never forgotten that and do everything I can to keep it from happening again. They booked for 2008 and will most likely choose a major upgrade to the album...because it is beautiful.
I told them both how I built the album. I sent 85 pictures to Italy with these instructions: female designer (better color acuity than male), design the album as if it was her sister's and she HAD to please her mother. Italy kept calling for instructions and preferences. I said: give the designer free reign. When the album came back, I was floored. It really looked gorgeous. I guess that was part of "trying hard" to plaase the customer.
Booking 2008 and arriving early
Let me first just say that someone should study the couples who married on the omni-lucky day that was 7/7/7. Is it really lucky? Will more of the brides and grooms stay together? Will they stay together longer? Will they be happier? I'm just curious and the results may surprise us all.
Back to business: We had two brides come in this evening. Both arrived early (Don: That's a good thing.) and both were scheduled for 2008. I've heard the spiel probably ten times by now. A lot of it is the same: here are the albums, here is a contract to peruse. But I'm always pleased by the amount of personal attention he gives each bride. Even before he knew he had a sale with our first bride and her mother he was giving names of justices and caterers he thought would fit the couple's budget and style. He doesn't sound like a salesman. He reminds me a lot of a father of the bride only he's uniquely different in that this FoB has been doing this for (Don, how many years have you been shooting weddings? Don: 55, what are you writing?) 55 years.
This style of parenting-photography is also reflected in the monthly newsletters we send out. Don actually commissioned a bride-to-be to write articles detailing ways to make a wedding stress-free. July is Bridesmaids. It's not even about photography! Just helpful hints to make the bride's day go smoothly. Don doesn't send these little informational brochures out to only his contracted brides but all of the brides who visited the bridal show and left an email address. I've found that to be Don's basic underlying mantra: If it makes people happy...DO IT!
Back to business: We had two brides come in this evening. Both arrived early (Don: That's a good thing.) and both were scheduled for 2008. I've heard the spiel probably ten times by now. A lot of it is the same: here are the albums, here is a contract to peruse. But I'm always pleased by the amount of personal attention he gives each bride. Even before he knew he had a sale with our first bride and her mother he was giving names of justices and caterers he thought would fit the couple's budget and style. He doesn't sound like a salesman. He reminds me a lot of a father of the bride only he's uniquely different in that this FoB has been doing this for (Don, how many years have you been shooting weddings? Don: 55, what are you writing?) 55 years.
This style of parenting-photography is also reflected in the monthly newsletters we send out. Don actually commissioned a bride-to-be to write articles detailing ways to make a wedding stress-free. July is Bridesmaids. It's not even about photography! Just helpful hints to make the bride's day go smoothly. Don doesn't send these little informational brochures out to only his contracted brides but all of the brides who visited the bridal show and left an email address. I've found that to be Don's basic underlying mantra: If it makes people happy...DO IT!
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