New Year, lots of new ideas and plans - Time will tell if they pan out

This year is the one I plan to make work out the best of all the years thus far. HTFotography is going to grow into something amazing with the help of some of the plans Henrik and and I have been putting together over the last month or so.
The first aim is twofold, approach big industry, and micro daycare businesses. Both will be given options that will make working with me worthwhile for them in the long run.
We have also added more equipment to our collection to enable us to do the best work possible and provide the most fantastic images to our clients straight out of camera with as little post pocessing needed as possible which in turn will make my workfolow more streamlined and efficient.
We recently made a move away from storing out images on disks and began investing in extra external and internal hard drives. Working out the cost of DVDs for back-ups, it became apparent that it worked out way more expensive and was much more prone to fail than if we kept buying extra hard drives.
I also stopped providing people with disks of images from their shoots, and instead providing password protected online galleries which they can share with others via a link in an email. I find this helps keep control over print quality. Often people used to take their disks to photo print kiosks which didn't read different folders and simply loaded up the lower res images more quickly than the high res versions which meant they often ended up making their enlargements from the wrong images with horrifying results which they would then blame me for.
No I work in partnership with two professinal labs in Durban, and also do prints up to A3 size at home with my own professional photo printer. The result, much better looking prints and much happier clients.

I might look into taking a part time job sometime this year with a photographer where I can learn more and earn a regular salary enabling me to build up some savings to help me realise the dream to build our own warehouse studio/home. That might take some time, but with a bit of hard work and luck, we will get there eventually.

HTFotography has also recieved a new look with a brand new logo designed for us by the fantastically talented Jürgen Henke of Creative Studios(info@creativestudios.co.za).

They grow up too fast

This past weekend I had occasion to do a photo shoot with a difference. It was done as part of a young lady's 12th birthday party.
While studio parties have in the past been quite with older girls this was the youngest group I had done one for. They were wonderful. All between the age of 12 and 13, all girls, and full of fun.  One or two of them took me aside at various times during the afternoon to quiz me on ways to break into the modeling industry, each quite concerned that the others might find out so I was sworn to silence about their inquiries.
The girls dressed up in three outfits, a black outfit, a white outfit and something with lots of "crazy colours" as the invite described it.
They went without make-up (they are only 12 and 13 year olds after all) and they had a blast.

Made me think of what is to come with my own daughter. She is only 2 at the moment, but already a star of the studio strutting and posing like a real little lady when we have here there while we do shoots. But when we actually want her to pose, for a picture with her grandparents, or because we want a new picture of her for family, then she pulls her bottom lip out and sulks and says "No! Stop it!" and runs away.

I cherish this time while she is still little but everyday I see more and more signs of her growing up and I feel quite helpless because it feels like just the other day that she was born and was so little her dummy took up almost her whole face. She still likes the dummy and Henrik is quite worried about it but I assured him that she will most probably not want to take it to her Matric dance one day so we shouldn't waste time worrying about it.

Andrew Parker gets married

Dorothy got a little choked up as she said her vows in front of friends and family.

Today was a momentous occasion. One of my friends finally got married to a lovely girl he had known almost his whole life. He first met her at his mother's wedding to his stepfather on this day many years ago.
Andrew Parker is quite a character. He is the epitome of self-made man having built up business after business venture to achieve his goals one by one despite the curveballs life has sometimes thrown him. He is an increadibly lucky guy, but one that knows how to make the most of his luck and mack the luck happen when it isn't there through determination and grit.
The remarkable thing is that all this hard work hasn't dampened his spirit. He is a fun loving prankster who goes out of his way for a gag. Even in the sermon his pastor regaled the congregation with stories about how he played pranks on him many years ago.

There are some of us who believe that even today he played a prank on all his guests by getting the staff to shake the bottles of celebratory sparking grape juice so that every table's bottle overflowed, showering the poor guy who took on the task of carefully opening the bottles.
I had the privilege of being a guest at this wedding. I attend quite a few weddings as a photographer so it was refreshing to be in the congregation rather than up front taking pictures. But I was asked to take my camera along and get some "funky shots" where possible. I happily obliged.
Congratulations Andrew and Dorothy Parker.
May your marriage be as fun filled and joyous as your wedding day.