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I’m back in the studio now and will share some of my recent work over the next couple of days when I am near the computer (that stores the images not the notebook).

Cheers

Just click on the image above or go HERE to enter. Good Luck.

Oh, Lidia’s actions are a very good investment too, if you are in the market.

Cheers

So, why not take advantage of the warmer weather and book a location session for your toddler.

You may remember a post I wrote a couple of weeks ago about someone questioning why I would choose to enter an industry (photography) that is so saturated. This event reinforced some of what I mentioned in that post.

Hundreds of professional photographers attended, all with the same commitment to improve themselves and the industry. In my mind, that’s what makes the difference between a professional and an enthusiast.

At this event, one student from each state and territory received a bursary to attend. The last session of the conference was a discussion panel, mediated by SBS’ Insight presenter Jenny Brockie. The question related to, what is a professional photographer and, as was expected, there were varying opinions. Overwhelmingly, the answer lay in providing a customer experience. However, at times, the discussion, and questions raised, took off on interesting tangents and one of the most poignant for me came when a young student was talking about digital imagery and printing. She said that through a discussion with her peers, they had come to a collective realisation that few of them had any prints – in albums or on the walls – of themselves. They had drastically diminished, or stopped around the turn of this century. I felt so sad about this.

For this student, it meant no printed images since the age of 8 or 9 years old! As a person that loves to curl up and flip through old albums (and as a mad keen scrapbooker as well) this was unimaginable to me. The fabulous thing though, was that SHE (and her friends) was sad about it too. All those who have been predicting that the printed image is on borrowed time, obviously haven’t spoken to Generation Y and have seemingly under-estimated the experience of viewing imagery passively ie. Not having to turn on a computer or dedicate time to sitting in one place.

I want to glimpse my memories on the wall as I walk in from shopping or work. I want to look up when I am cooking and take a second to remember the beautiful face of my children that look back at me from the wall opposite. I don’t want to trap my memories in a computer. I don’t want to rely on electricity to provide me imagery.

So, inspired I am. Not only by what I learned, but from the fact that, despite all the doom a gloom predictions, children of the technical age have announced their value of what I do. Go Gen Y!!!!!!!!

Did you know that a recent survey by the Australian Institute of Professional Photographers (aipp) shows that of those who participated, a huge 80% of them have to work an unrelated job to make ends meet. My dream, even in these economically difficult times, is to be a photographer full time. Actually, I already devote more hours per week to my photography than I do to my ‘full time’ job but a lot of that is keeping up to date with technology etc, attending seminars, and administration.

Working from a home studio, I don’t have the benefit of a window display and as photography is by nature visual, it makes sense that people like to see finished product when making decisions about the quality of the photography and what they are buying. So, I approached our local, community-minded, real estate agent, Robert Gordon, to see if he might rent me some of his window space. He has a corner shop with a lot of windows and he kindly agreed to my proposal. Next week, my first advertising display will go up. I’ll see how that goes and then delve into the wider world that is marketing and advertising.

If you are in the Wallan, Victoria area, make sure you check out the display at Robert Gordon Real Estate on the corner of High and Watson Streets. The display is in the last window on the Watson St side.