Picasso was eating in a cafe when a woman recognized him and asked him to sketch her a quick picture. Picasso said, “Sure!” and began sketching on a napkin. When he finished he handed it to the woman and said, “That’ll be $50,000.” The woman responded, “Why?! That took you 5 minutes!” and Picasso responded, “No, it took me 50 years.”

Love it…read more here

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I’ve seen these floating around the internet, and never realized the were CHALK???!!! Amazing work by Dana Tanamachi. I think Im going to issue a challenge to Josh, our resident drawer (is that a word?) to fill our chalk board with something so cool!

Ace Hotel Room 1021 from Dana Tanamachi on Vimeo.

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Words Every Aspiring Photographer Should Know

Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don’t look outward for your style; look inward.

Know your stuff. Luck is a nice thing, but a terrifying thing to rely on. It’s like money; you only have it when you don’t need it.

Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a consensus.

Say no. Say it often. It may be difficult, but you owe it to yourself and your clients. Turn down jobs that don’t fit you, say no to overbooking yourself. You are no good to anyone when you’re stressed and anxious.

Learn to say “I’m a photographer” out loud with a straight face. If you can’t say it and believe it, you can’t expect anyone else to, either.

You cannot specialize in everything.

Know your style before you hang out your shingle. If you don’t, your clients will dictate your style to you. That makes you nothing more than a picture taker. Changing your style later will force you to start all over again, and that’s tough.

Accept critique, but don’t apply it blindly. Just because someone said it does not make it so. Critiques are opinions, nothing more. Consider the advice, consider the perspective of the advice giver, consider your style and what you want to convey in your work. Implement only what makes sense to implement. That doesn’t not make you ungrateful, it makes you independent.

Leave room for yourself to grow and evolve. It may seem like a good idea to call your business “Precious Chubby Tootsies”….but what happens when you decide you love to photograph seniors? Or boudoir?

Remember that if your work looks like everyone else’s, there’s no reason for a client to book you instead of someone else. Unless you’re cheaper. And nobody wants to be known as “the cheaper photographer”.

Gimmicks and merchandise will come and go, but honest photography is never outdated.

It’s easier to focus on buying that next piece of equipment than it is to accept that you should be able to create great work with what you’ve got. Buying stuff is a convenient and expensive distraction. Spend money on equipment ONLY when you’ve outgrown your current equipment and you’re being limited by it.

Learn that people photography is about people, not about photography. Great portraits are a side effect of a strong human connection.

Never forget why you started taking pictures in the first place. Excellent technique is a great tool, but a terrible end product. The best thing your technique can do is not call attention to itself.

Never compare your journey with someone else’s. It’s a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never “arrive”. No one ever does.

Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacence.

– Cheryl Jacobs Nicolai

Via The Creative Mama

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Im getting really close to my birthday before the BIG birthday. Its got me thinking about life and goals. Ive always been a go getter, very competitive and just pretty stubborn about accomplishing something I want. I spent my 20s and early 30′s working out, lifting weights, I was pretty fit. And now UGH! Im not. Ive spent my 30′s pretty focused on building a business. I really want to celebrate my… Uh Um…”Big” birthday, next year, in great shape. I need to find some motivation.. I saw this today, again on Deb Schwendhelm’s Blog, ( I swear Im not going to link to her every post, but they are just so good) Makes me want to run to the gym now. Do you guys have any tips for getting back in shape, and staying motivated?

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You know I love Lonny, and now their newest venture is TradHome. Its pretty Awesome! And whats better than a brand new magazine…A new online magazine thats FREE. Featured in the issue, is another  of my favorites, Ms. Erika Powell, of Urban Grace, from Santa Rosa Beach, sister of “Fly through Our Window” Blogger Extraordinaire, Darby. (Talent just runs in families doesn’t it!)

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Have you seen ” Master Class” on the OWN Network? Its pretty great. I love to hear what successful people think, and how they think.

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You were born a daughter.
You looked up to your mother.
You looked up to your father.
You looked up at everyone.
You wanted to be a princess.
You thought you were a princess.
You wanted to own a horse.
You wanted to be a horse.
You wanted your brother to be a horse.
You wanted to wear pink.
You never wanted to wear pink.
You wanted to be a Veterinarian.
You wanted to be President.
You wanted to be the President’s Veterinarian.
You were picked last for the team.
You were the best one on the team.
You refused to be on the team.
You wanted to be good in algebra.
You hid during algebra.
You wanted the boys to notice you.
You were afraid the boys would notice you.
You started to get acne.
You started to get breasts.
You started to get acne that was bigger than your breasts.
You wouldn’t wear a bra.
You couldn’t wait to wear a bra.
You couldn’t fit into a bra.
You didn’t like the way you looked.
You didn’t like the way your parents looked.
You didn’t want to grow up.
You had your first best friend.
You had your first date.
You had your second best friend.
You had your second first date.
You spent hours on the telephone.
You got kissed.
You got to kiss back.
You went to the prom.
You didn’t go to the prom.
You went to the prom with the wrong person.
You spent hours on the telephone.
You fell in love.
You fell in love.
You fell in love.
You lost your best friend.
You lost your other best friend.
You really fell in love.
You became a steady girlfriend.
You became a significant other.
YOU BECAME SIGNIFICANT TO YOURSELF.

Sooner or later, you start taking yourself seriously. You know when you need a break. You know when you need a rest. You know what to get worked up about and what to get rid of. And you know when it’s time to take care of yourself, for yourself. To do something that makes you stronger, faster, more complete.

Because you know it’s never too late to have a life. And never too late to change one.

JUST DO IT

- Nike

Via The Real Jenty

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“In order of appearance they were: Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon (with Yoko Ono), Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright and Pablo Picasso. The commercial ends with an image of a young girl (identified as Shaan Sahota) opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.”

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