Everything Else (maybe photo-related)

I didn’t receive a pony or any huge birthday bash. I was taken out to dinner with my mom, my stepfather, my sister, my grandmother, and my two best friends. I view my 16th birthday as a game changer. My grandmother gave me my very first Canon SLR. It was the first Rebel model (35mm.) I learned a lot from that camera and used it throughout my remaining high school years. Another 16 years and several upgrades later, it’s still a Canon in my bag.

Now, back to my Sweet 16th. My dinner was at a newly opened restaurant, across the street from the Kenwood Mall (now the Kenwood Towne Centre.) The restaurant was named “Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Grill.” And that evening, as luck would have it, was the night that Dick Clark stopped in for a visit. Now, he wasn’t really “my type” (I was more into The Monkees, Brandon Lee, and my boyfriend,) but I must say that it was pretty awesome to have received a kiss on the cheek from Mr. Dick Clark on my 16th birthday.

(I would be the one sporting the red plaid)

Rest in Peace, Mr. Clark.

Greetings! and Welcome to my blog!

I am not usually one to spend much time typing, writing, etc. So this blogging thing is very new to me. If you didn’t pick it up in the title, THIS is my very first blog post ever. My husband blogs all of the time, but I never had enough wordage in my head to really write about. So now that I’ve been inspired….

The Winter months in Cincinnati are hibernation months for me. Generally, picture taking is a little slow and I’m just not a big fan of cold temperatures, snow and ice. This year, while I do still remain in hibernation mode… I am keeping busy and nicely entertained. I recently set up some business and personal goals and have made many necessary changes to begin those achievements.

Business goal #1: To become more entertaining to my clients, fans, friends and family. I realized that outside of the actual portrait sessions and teaser-posting, I really did not have much interaction with many of my clients. Enter, the “Contests & Events” tab on my EfyP website. Many of my colleagues host several giveaways and contests each year and I somehow steered clear of all of that fun. Until now! In late December, I awoke one morning to so many ideas swimming in my head that my entire day was consumed with non-stop brainstorms. So, as promised, Eclectically for You Photography will be hosting one giveaway each month. And because I am a theme-driven individual, many of them will be theme-based.

Take, for example February. It’s not even February yet and my February giveaway is in full swing. I had to start this one off early to capitalize on it’s theme and provide the winner with a tangible item that would basically be “expiring” a day or two after the Hallmark holiday that is Valentine’s Day. The prize for February is a set of custom-designed, press-printed valentines, featuring my client’s favorite EfyP image. I could’ve made it easy and asked that clients email me their pic picks so that I could just simply upload them onto Facebook for a game of “Like” it to Vote. And that is basically what I did… But I needed more entertainment. They send me their favorite pics and I alter them into valentines BEFORE uploading them for “voting.” I know, not the most groundbreaking twist, however it keeps my creative juices flowing. And that’s what I need while in hibernation mode. Eventually, the ground thaws and you come out of your cave, hopefully with more inspiration than you went in with.

I made a secondary, personal goal with this one… no two templates will be alike. I love holidays and therefore have purchased and downloaded so many cute holiday templates over the past several years, but have never really had a chance to use them. So, now that I’ve laid out my game and harassed my FB fans (I tend to not be the harassing/solicitous type -if you’re a fan, you probably knew that) I wait. I wait for those emails to come pouring in… I counted 90+ sessions from last year alone. That’s a lot of cute babies, children, families, seniors and couples to valentinize. Yep, just waiting for those emails to come trickling in. 😉

And as I await those emails, I look forward to sharing even more of my entertaining contests and giveaways with everyone; past, present, and future EfyP clients, fans, friends, and family.

And as I promise myself to blog often, as if the world is waiting to hear everything that I have to say, I look forward to the Spring shooting season. One that holds some fun Spring/Easter-themed portrait sessions, mild temperatures, and not half as much rain as we endured last year (hello, weekend washouts!)

Last words for my very first blog post EVER: if you’re reading this and you haven’t visited my Facebook fan page to vote on some valentines, please do so! If you’re a client of mine, and this is the first time reading anything about my February Giveaway, first get on my mailing list; then you can visit the “Contests & Events” tab on my website and get to the pickin’ and emailing (you have less than one week left.)