Comments from the WEDJ Cruise

From: Devorn Blueitt [mailto:bluenupe@gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2011 12:46 PM
To: denise@hope-haven.net
Subject: Wedj crusie & Diamond Productions Disc Jockey's


Greetings Denise,

I am Devorn Blueitt with Diamond Productions Disc Jockey’s & Karaoke Service from Indianapolis Indiana. It was a pleasure meeting you on the Wedj cruise last week. It's always great to network with other wedding and entertainment professionals. I always value other people’s perspective and appreciate any input and ideas that will better my business. Allow me to thank you for your time and ideas and it was great to get another perspective on my business venture. If there is anything I can help you with in the future don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an e-mail. Also you gave a great seminar keep up the good work. You have a great story to tell.

Thank you


--
Devorn Blueitt
Owner/Operator
Diamond Productions Disc Jockey's
"Where Quality Is Our Priority"
317-258-4445
bluenupe@gmail.com
http://djdiamondproductions.net


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St. Augustine, Florida

Day 1 of our week long photographic journey started in St. Augustine Florida. A place I have wanted to visit for quite a while. I was very thrilled to find it was a great stopping place for our drive to Miami. We rose at dawn and went to our place, we scoped out the night before for shooting. Freezing in the cold we waited for the first glimmers of light. These images will be combined into a HDR image in photoshop later.

We also visited a nearby pond with large white birds, my daughter will help me identify later. :-) They were so tame and would let me approach even with a camera clicking at them. A great start to our trip.

How did you get that shot?!?!

I have been asked that so many times. It is simply not a case of serendipity. It is studying the surroundings before you ever pick up your camera. Can you imagine asking a Quarterback of the winning team how he managed to get the ball to the end zone? It takes planning, and lots of practice.

We almost always will attend a wedding rehearsal. This gives us the opportunity to scout the area and to witness the flow and timing of the ceremony.

The key here is to see things that others do not see. During rehearsals you look for those shoots. Walk around as much as possible and take notes on the angles, lens you might want, and the light you would like to use. Pushing the button on the camera is not nearly as important as composing the shot prior to the snap. No self respecting Quarterback would ever start the play without a plan, neither should we.


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Location:Summerville, South Carolina

Portfolio Review

I have found that an excellent source of feedback for my work is a portfolio review. A portfolio review is conducted by a photographer who is further along in their mastery of the craft than you are. Typically someone who has attained their Masters from PPA. These reviews are offered at larger conventions such as Imaging put on by the PPA in just a few weeks. To get ready for a portfolio review you really need to do your homework.

1. Edit your work. Look critically at each piece, the highlights, shadows, DOF, clarity, what is the subject, does the background enhance or distract?
2. You will not have much time with your reviewer so choose your work carefully. If you are showing more than one theme (weddings, portraits, ect), group each theme together and do not show more than three themes.
3. Set clear goals for your review. Be sure to have given thought to the specific things you are hope to learn from your reviewer.
4. Do prior research on your reviewer. Who do they shoot for? What type of work do they do? What are their credentials?
5. Last but certainly not lease is to show you work to your best advantage. If you are using digital media - do NOT rely on the internet connections. If you are showing prints, steer clear of the plastic sleeves. Print them with the highest possible quality in a bound volume or in a loose box works best.

Be sure to take advantage of these excellent learning opportunities. Look forward to seeing you at PPA's Imaging.


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Location:Summerville,United States

Looking for great wedding traditions from other countries?

http://www.worldweddingtraditions.com/locations/west_europe_traditions/french_traditions.html

This is a great resource.


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First SC Family Portrait Day was Great

We had a whole lot of fun at our first family portrait day here in SC. We utilized the community club house of our apartment complex as a studio. It worked out great.

Vista Sands Apartments

1001 Bear Island Road

Summerville, SC 29483

Right Behind Dicks in the Azalea Shopping Center

We covered the pool table and showed off some of our wedding albums and children's portraits. We served the much coveted Hot Spiced Cider. If you haven't tasted this yet...you are in for a treat. One visitor called it "dessert in a cup". :-)

All in all we received over ten toys in donation for Toys for Tots.

Our next Family Portrait Day will be December 5. From noon until 9 p.m. We will again serve the Hot Spiced Cider. We are shooting against a plain backdrop, allowing our clients to choose from over 50 digital backdrops. We will again offer prints for toys (1 Toy = 8x10) and 5 toys (or $50 donation to Toys for Tots) equals a high resolution CD of two images with printing release.

So come out and join us. You can reserve your spot right online. http://hopehaven.bookmonline.com/schedules

Tis the Season

November 20 and December 11 - Hope Haven Photography will be available for Family Christmas Portraits at Vista Sands Apartments in Summerville, SC. BRING YOUR PET!!!

Address: 1001 Bear Island Road, Summerville, SC 29483 - Located behind Target Shopping Center and Dicks. We will be at the community center right as you enter the complex.

From 8:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. we will be photographing families for their Christmas Portraits.

Sitting fee of $10.00. Want free prints???? 1 Gift for Toys for Tots = 1 Free 8x10 or 2 4x6's or 8 Wallets.

Bring 5 Gifts for Toys for Tots and get your high resolution images on disk for creating Christmas cards. Toys for Tots accept only new, unwrapped toys.

High School Senior Ambassadors Needed

Senior Ambassador Program

• Be someone special in your school! Become a Hope Haven Photography Ambassador!

• Look to your friends and family to help you earn a photography session of a lifetime!

· A Referral* is a paid booking for a Family, Child, Senior, Maternity, Engagement, Wedding, Modeling or even Corporate Headshot session.

· The first student to bring in their high school senior mailing list will receive an $100 visa gift card.

All Ambassadors qualify for extraordinary, Ambassador-Only discounts; including the option to purchase at Hope Haven Wholesale cost any new items being added to the product line, while an ambassador.

It is all about getting you and your friends the best possible professional photography for their senior portraits. Every Ambassador qualifies for very special discounts and extra products.

Each Ambassador is eligible to be entered to win a Laptop ($1000 value), iPod touch, iPod nano and even $250 cash!

For every referral you receive the following:

1 entry to win the $250 visa gift card.

• $100 off their discounted Autograph Portfolio, up to the full price of the album

For every 5th referral you receive the following:

1 entry to win the iPod nano

$100 of Hope Haven Photography Prints

For every 10^th referral you receive the following:

1 entry to win the Ipod Touch

$200 of Hope Haven Photography Prints

For every 20^th referral you will receive the following:

1 entry to win the Laptop (Laptop will be customized to the winner’s preferences up to $1000)

$500 of Hope Haven Photography Prints

Ambassadors can earn a free “Autograph Portfolio” with your 10 best portraits and room for all of your friends to sign. ($800 value!) All Ambassadors need to have their pictures taken between January 1st, and May 1st,. As an Ambassador all you need to do is show off your photos from your free session with Hope Haven Photography. All Ambassadors should be representing only Hope Haven Photography during this time, and their Senior year. Remember….you don’t have to be a model to be an ambassador, all you have to be is outgoing and spread the word.

THE SESSIONS

You will be given the opportunity to be photographed twice. The first session needs to be scheduled before April 1st. It is to your advantage to have your session completed early, allowing you to get your photos in your hands before school is out, giving you the opportunity to show off your photographs and generate interest, before everyone scatters for summer. Your second session needs to be scheduled before September 1st, or you will forfeit your second session.

Your first session will be approximately 1-2 hours and will be shot by two professional, award winning photographers. You can bring up to 6 outfits that will be photographed on location (we can explain the locations during your interview).

Your second session will be approximately 1 hour. This one is special. Why? Well we know what to do to make you laugh and have fun, because we have had time to get to know you. Another bonus is…we can schedule this session at a special location like a beach area, waterfall, etc... giving you something no one else can get. Yeah!

REWARDS FOR TOP AMBASSADOR OF THE YEAR:

• The “Top Ambassador” will receive - A NEW iPod loaded with your photos (based on referrals)

REGULAR AMBASSADORS WILL RECEIVE:

· You get two photos sessions for FREE

· You get to SAVE HUGE on your photos

· You can get free products and/or free gift cards

· Parents can save some serious cash off senior photos

· There is NO cap to the amount of rewards you can receive via referrals

· Free Family Session coupons

· Free student business cards to help them earn rewards

· 5 Free i-photos to post on your Myspace, Facebook, emailing, texting, etc…

· Free Locker buddy designed just for you (12x18 poster)

RULES

· Fill out application completely

· Mail your application to Hope Haven Photography, 1305C N. Main Street Box 9, Summerville, SC 29483

· Hope Haven will select the qualified candidates

· Schedule an interview with Ambassador candidates and his/her parent(s)

· Participate in the Promotional session

· Ambassador promotes the senior style program everywhere.

· Prizes will be awarded at the completion of the Senior Portrait Season, November 1 of each year.

Finding the Good in the Bad

How many times have I been angling to take a photograph, only to have something or someone get into my way? I so often get seriously frustrated and grouch or complain, but then upon reviewing the photographs discover that I captured something amazing.

Someone email this story to me this morning and I felt compelled to share.

"The Ant and the Contact lens: A TRUE STORY

Brenda was almost halfway to the top of the tremendous granite cliff. She was standing on a ledge where she was taking a breather during this, her first rock climb. As she rested there, the safety rope snapped against her eye and knocked out her contact lens.

' Great ' , she thought. ' Here I am on a rock ledge, hundreds of feet from the bottom and hundreds of feet to the top of this cliff, and now my sight is blurry. ' She looked and looked, hoping that somehow it had landed on the ledge. But it just wasn't there.

She felt the panic rising in her, so she began praying. She prayed for calm, and she prayed that she may find her contact lens. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but it was not to be found. Although she was calm now that she was at the top, she was saddened because she could not clearly see across the range of mountains. She thought of the bible verse ' The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth. '

She thought, ' Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me. '

Later, when they had hiked down the trail to the bottom of the cliff they met another party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, ' Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens? '

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across a twig on the face of the rock, carrying it!

The story doesn't end there. Brenda's father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a cartoon of an ant lugging that contact lens with the caption, 'Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You. '

I think it would do all of us some good to say, 'God,I don't know why You want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it ' s awfully heavy. But, if You want me to carry it, I will. '

God doesn ' t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
Yes, I do love GOD. He is my source of existence and my Savior. He keeps me functioning each and every day. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him...I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. (Phil. 4:13) "

PS I have no idea if this is a true story or not, that wasn't the point. The point is we don't always understand why we are chosen to do the things God wants us to do, we are just supposed to do them anyway.

Saddest News

On Monday, I was very very saddened to learn of the suicide death of a former employee. Lindsey came to us fresh out of high school already facing a lot of problems. She had been kicked out of her home, she was pregnant and the father already out of the picture. She wasn't with us long, but she was with us long enough for me to learn how troubled she was.

I feel so guilty and convicted for not doing more to help her. I am sure that God doesn't want us to dwell on the past just as equally as I am sure he would want us to learn from it and move on and grow as people and Christians.

When I spoke to Lindsey's mother this morning, she gave me permission to use her first name and the details of her employment with me to write this letter. So I am asking all who read this to think of the people in their lives, the people who might be more acquaintances than friends, but think of all the people in your life and identify anyone who might be struggling. A kind word, a email, a quick note just to let someone know that you are thinking of them and praying for them might make all the difference in someone's life. I am not suggesting that we can stop all suicide with a note, but it is a start. If you can make your world and the people in it just a little kinder...treat everyone you meet with just a little more care and empathy. What a terrific world we would have.

I typically shy away from preaching, especially my love for God, on such a public forum as my blog, so if anyone seriously objects...I suggest the upper right X....or the red button.

Thank you for listening and may God bless each and every one of you.