This is why people are afraid of little dogs…

avrilrae — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:58:53 +0000

Ever since we’ve had the new carpet on the second floor of the house we’ve not let the dogs upstairs as freely as we used to. As a result they’ve gotten very lonely being downstairs alone all day and night. I’ve been letting Bentley come up and sleep in my husband’s computer chair next to me. While I was doing my photography work during my lunch break from my day job I heard him making some funny noises and I looked over and saw him biting on his blanket with his little vampire teeth. So I grabbed my camera. The thing is, he isn’t an aggressive dog, at least towards people, he does this thing where he chews on his blanket or rope toy like a puppy and then will randomly look up and all of his little teeth will be hanging out. So these photos are not photos of him baring his teeth or being aggressive, he’s just being funny. He’s such a cute, but crazy, little dog!

It’s funny… You can see the progression from cute, chewing puppy, to crazy little boy, to neurotic, to calmer, to subdued. It’s hilarious.

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

Client Service

avrilrae — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:49:46 +0000

I’ll admit. I debated back and forth as to whether or not I should do this blog post. I’m not sure if anyone will find this helpful or if anyone even cares, but, whateva! Do what I want (in that weird voice that people say that in)! Here goes.

Colby and I were heading home from dinner at Williamson’s the other night and he whips out his phone and says, “I want to read something to you and get your opinion.” He proceeds to read me some blog article from a blog talking about customer service. I call it Client service because I like Client better than customer. Anywho… The article talks about this guy who goes into Starbucks and was waiting in line to get his coffee. The lady in front of him who has already purchased her tea explains to the cashier that she over sugared her tea and wants to know if they’ll give her another one at no charge. The cashier says she needs to get a manager and let the manager decide. Basically the blog article criticizes the cashier for not being able to make a decision to eat the 10 cents and give her another tea bag, cup, and water. Instead she had to get a manger. He claims it should have been a no brainer decision to just do what it takes to make the customer happy. It is a minimal cost to Starbucks and keeps the client happy. While I agree that the best thing to do would just be to give her another tea bag, cup, and water at no charge I don’t think the guy criticizing her for getting a manager realizes that many people who are not on a management level that work in retail do not have the authority to give away a product.

Beside my criticism of his observation this brings up something I wanted to talk about for our industry. How do you decipher when you should just eat a small cost to make a Client happy or when you should say no? It’s a tough question. On one hand if you do eat the cost you could have a Client for life, referrals from that Client, etc, but on the other hand you might just make that person happy and not get any additional benefits of it. Is it enough to just put an extra skip in our Client’s step without getting something in return? I’d have to say it is. Sometimes it’s just about putting a smile on the Client’s face. If that lady ultimately got another tea for free from Starbucks would it generate referrals from her to Starbucks? Probably not. If they wouldn’t do it for free, would she never go to Starbucks again? Probably would go to Starbucks again.

That brings me to another question. How do you decipher if a Client is just complaining because they’ve learned that if they complain about things they get what they want? That’s also a tough question. Last Friday night my husband and I went to Chili’s for dinner. I have an intolerance for corn kernels. I don’t know why corn in things like corn syrup and such don’t bother me, but corn kernels tear me up. I ordered their BBQ chicken salad with no corn. They bring the salad out and it has corn all over in it. I send it back. They bring me another salad that does not appear to have corn in it. I start eating it and look down to find corn hiding throughout the salad. I just picked the corn out of the salad, brought the waitress over and instead of complaining told her that she needed to just let the chef know that he could cause serious harm to people if he isn’t careful. The manager came over, apologized, and took my meal off of our bill. I had every intention of paying for it but it was good customer service that the waitress, instead of just relaying my message to the chef, relayed it to the manager who then came over to “make things right.” It made me happy and I still love Chili’s. In this instance you see that the fault rested on the restaurant for not providing me with what I ordered. With photography it’s more complicated because art is subjective. If you deliver what the Client ordered and they still aren’t happy, do you try to place blame somewhere? Many times a Client will complain just to get something for free and place all of the blame on you. Yes, you might be hurt by it, you might not like what they have to say, and what they’re saying may not even be true, but ultimately the Client is who needs to be happy. That doesn’t mean you need to give anything away for free but I do think we need to get past the blame game. Sometimes it doesn’t matter who’s fault it is. We should want to leave a positive lasting impression on our Client’s. As a society we’ve turned Client services into something where the Client almost feels like they have to apologize when they ask an associate to get something or do something for them. Why is that?

I think the key is to be able to suck up your pride, set aside who’s fault it is, and service your Client the best way you can. If you feel a Client is just trying to complain to get something for free, then consult a photography community and get their opinion. If generally they agree that your work and products represent what you sold to your Client, chances are they might just be complaining to get more out of it. The question then becomes do you give in? I don’t like to look at it as giving in. I like to look at it as an investment in my Client’s long term satisfaction with the job they hired me to do. Unfortunately there is no one answer to how you should deal with your Client’s but ultimately I think it comes down to one principle. Put yourself in your Client’s shoes. Try to understand, from their perspective, what they are telling you. Set aside pointing fingers or placing blame, and do what is in the best interest of both your Client and your company. Sometimes it’s doing nothing. Sometimes it’s giving something. Ultimately, even if it is the Client’s fault, sometimes sucking up the cost of the tea bag, cup, and water will put that extra skip in your Client’s step.

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

E-Learning Session: Natalie Bartelme

avrilrae — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:13:39 +0000

Tonight I had the pleasure of speaking to Natalie Bartelme for one of my virtual coffee e-learning sessions. We had a FABULOUS time! Natalie was super organized and knew exactly what questions she wanted answers to. Natalie is brand new to starting a photography business. She has a background in journalism from college and tons of experience with studio photography from back when film was the only option. She does not yet have a website but I can’t wait to see what she does with it when she gets it all set up. Natalie lives in Wisconsin with her husband (who gets brownie points in my book for being a pastor!) and her fabulous kids (who I caught peeking their little heads through her closed office door, haha!). We had a blast getting to know each other and talking photography.

As a new photographer, I completely understand how hard it can be to figure out how to get into the business and the most economical way to do that. Start up costs are not cheap but it can be done without breaking the bank. More importantly, it can be done over time. Here are some Q&A’s from tonight’s session. Again, these e-learning sessions are FREE via Skype. If you’re interested in an virtual coffee e-learning session use the contact us form to send us an email with your information. Again, this is all just my opinion so take it or leave it.

#1) What types of equipment and programs are essential when you’re starting out?

Here’s a myth buster for you. You don’t need all sorts of fancy equipment to start a photography business. If you are passionate about being a photographer and you have the drive to do what it takes you will succeed. You don’t need a D700 or that Nikon 2.8 70-200mm lens. I started out with a D80 (which I’m still using) and two Quantarray lenses. You don’t need popular name brand lenses to make good images. I have the 18-55 and the 70-300, all for just under $200 at the time I purchased them. You need solid branding so make sure you have a clear vision before you invest in a designer for your logo. Again, I’m lucky that I have a design background so I can do all of my own work but that doesn’t mean you can do the same thing. Hire a pro! Lastly you should have either Lightroom or Aperture. You don’t need Photoshop to start off with. Lightroom is my preference. It makes life so much easier and will run you about $200. You DON’T need Photoshop actions like Totally Rad Actions or Kubota Actions. Define your style before you buy these then use these to make your life easier. Don’t let these actions define your style like so many other photographers do. Then your images will look like everyone else’s images that have purchased these actions. Instead learn your style then learn to manipulate the actions to suit your style. Also, while a Mac is nice, you don’t NEED a Mac. A PC will work.

True story. Many photographers are under the misconception that they have to have all this fancy gear to be a good photographer but in actuality I can hand my fancy hear to you and your pictures won’t look any different than what you’re used to shooting. It’s the skill behind the lens that makes an image great, not the equipment. I know someone who was under this misconception, went out and racked up over 10,000 in credit card debt for fancy gear, a computer, etc. Now this person is facing working at their full time job for a VERY long time to pay off the debt and won’t be able to be a full time photographer because they’ve been swallowed in that debt. I’m very lucky to have started out with what I had and not racked up any business debt but it’s sad to watch your piers drown in their bad decisions. PLEASE don’t go rack up debt.

#2) What’s in your camera bag?

I’m a bit embarrassed to say that I still shoot with a D80. That’s right. My camera back has two D80′s, my Quantarray 3.5 18-55 and 3.5 70-200, my Nikkor 5omm 1.4D, my Nikon 3.5 18-200mm, my macro rings, a Lensbaby, and an SB800. When I shoot weddings I rent pocket wizards and a couple of additional SB800′s. I also carry a bunch of spare batteries, sometimes my Lightsphere (though not really necessary for weddings), and my ShootSac! Who can leave home without a ShootSac?

#3) I see a lot of logos that are just a graphic, some that are a graphic with text, and some that are just text. What do you recommend?

In all honesty I don’t have a preference. Either way your logo will be your face to the world and, like every good brand, will be recognized over time. The Nike swoosh is something everyone recognizes but has no text. You have to decide what fits best for you and run with it. Hire a good designer who will understand your business and create an amazing logo for you. PLEASE DO NOT go to Vista Print or Overnight Prints and do one of their logo designers…. You’ll be doing yourself a favor. I recommend Into the Darkroom and Infinet Design.

Featured on the Green Diva Blog!

avrilrae — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:52:22 +0000

Yesterday the Green Diva blog featured some of the photographers from the Willis Tower wedding show, Love at Breathtaking Heights, on their blog. We were featured as one of the photographers on Green Diva. We are happy to offer eco friendly album options for our eco friendly brides. We offer Finao albums that are eco friendly. What does that mean? That means their “pleather” materials are PVC free, they don’t use hides that were tanned in Asia because the working conditions are too poor, they use hand made, eco friendly packaging material such as pineapple paper for wrapping, Mulberry skeleton leaves for decor, natural craft tissue, corn starch peanuts (which are biodegradable), and recyclable cardboard. They also recycle every scrap of paper not used in the album making process. All albums are made in the USA with excellent working conditions which means no slave labor or dirty sweat shops that treat and pay their workers terribly. Check out Green Diva’s blog here. I’ve embedded the video below. Follow Green Diva on Twitter here and check out her website here.

Again, don’t you love the funny look on my face? haha!

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

Happy 6th Birthday to Jayda!

avrilrae — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:26:20 +0000

WARNING: If you aren’t an animal lover, you won’t understand any of what I’m about to say… It’s a hard thing to watch your dog grow older. I’ve done many heart felt posts on Jayda but none are as hard as knowing she’s getting older. As many of you know, Jayda has had a super special place in my heart that no other dog can fill. Yes I love my other dogs very much but Jayda has helped me through some very difficult times. Today was her 6th birthday. I can’t believe she’s already 6. Is her life already half over? I have no idea. I can only hope to have her around for a long time to come. I know birthdays shouldn’t be sad, but to me her birthday reminds me that dogs just don’t live long enough.

On a lighter note though, my spunky little girl had a fabulous day! She laid around like a queen and then I made her a turkey cake. That’s right. It’s turkey, carrots, celery, potatoes, and an egg mixed together then baked for an hour. She LOVED it! She also wore her birthday hat, which she hates and later tore apart! It’s the same birthday hat I wrote a number 5 on last year (because the rest of the hats are packed) I used this year. I turned the 5 to a 6. She’s still as spunky as ever! I love her so much!

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

I should have waited…

avrilrae — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:19:19 +0000

So I know Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but I couldn’t help doing this post today. For those of you who don’t know, Colby is my husband. We were high school sweet hearts and have been together a very long time. I was going through some archived photo discs trying to find our wedding photos (I know, I’m a wedding photographer and I don’t remember where I put my own wedding photos!) and none of them were properly labeled (thanks to my honey, all of them said iPhoto back up disc 1, 2, 3, etc). So as I rummaged through the discs I found all sorts of really old photos that I’d forgotten about that were near and dear to my heart and it just made me remember and realize how awesome God is. When I was a little girl (like 4) my mom started praying with me at night that God would prepare a man for me to marry some day (of course me being 4 at the time had no clue that my husband to be was only 3, maybe even 2 depending what time of year it was). How could I have known that when I met Colby at age 16, he was 15, that he would be my husband some day?

There fairy tail begins… Well, not really, but the story begins….

My best friend, Megan, (who if you’re reading this I’m going to sign you up for Facebook dang it!) and I have known each other since the 3rd grade. It was our junior year and luckily we had 2nd period together. We always rode to school together (we’d switch off driving every week) and of course talked about the guys we thought were cute. One day she comes into second period and asks me if I had seen the “guy with the buzzed brown hair and bleach blonde bangs.” I hadn’t so one day she pointed him out to me saying he was hot. I was like, yeah, he’s hot, but I had another interest at the time. Way led to way and turns out his step brother, Cole, was in my home room class and happened to be good friends with Megan. Megan had no idea Colby was his step brother. So after a little while of calling him “bangs” or “cheese” for our code names for him, she mentions to a guy named Erik that she thinks he’s cute. Erik happened to be friends with Colby so he dropped by our second period class before the bell rang to introduce him. He popped his head in, said hi, and that was that. Later that day Cole decided we were going to meet him while we walked out to the parking lot after school. We met him, he was funny and had a little ham fight with one of his buddies (it was the last day before Christmas break in 2000 so they had had a party in one of his classes) and Megan ends up getting his phone number through Cole but was too afraid to say call him. So later I happened to con her into giving me his number and I said, “Ok, if you don’t call him now, I’m going to three way him.” So we three way called him and invited him out to bowl. The rest is pretty much history. We talked all night. We had no interest in each other romantically at the time, but poor shy Megan was too shy to talk much hahaha! Megan ended up finding someone else she liked and Colby and I remained friends for a year and a half before we started dating. During that year and a half we became best friends and hung out all of the time. We’ve been friends for 9 years. I’m so glad that God brought our love story together (all the way from Oklahoma!) the way He did.

So, without further ado, here are some photos of our time together.

Disclaimer: The wedding and engagement photos were taken by Monica Starr Brown.

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

Rock On Photographer #7: [b]ecker

avrilrae — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:17:00 +0000

I know, I know. I’ve been really terrible about being consistent with posting these on Sundays. I’m sorry. But! I’ve been super busy preparing for the wedding show we had last weekend that you can read and see about here, here, and here. It was fabulous! Our set up was the bomb! And I got to meet so many great vendors (and I got to meet Kenny Kim who was one of the photography vendors. How awesome is that?)! We couldn’t have asked for a better show! It was awesome! Aside from that I’ve been working on a couple of things. First I recently started video blogging! That’s right! Video blogging! I know a lot of people come to just see the photos and don’t really read what’s in a blog post so I decided to be more interactive and video blog on my blog. That’s right. Get out from behind the camera and put myself in front of the camera. You can view my video blogs here. The other project I’ve been working on is revamping Jen’s Bistro. I finally revamped it, bought a new URL for it, and have one video up there about how to create a wordpress.org blog and install a theme. The other videos on the old Jen’s Bistro I am retiring so look for new ones at the new Jen’s Bistro site which is http://www.Jens-Bistro.com. Remember it is entirely free! You don’t have to sign up, pay, etc. Just go and learn.

Now a little note about my Rock On Photographer installation. I think it is TOTALLY AWESOME that two of the photographers I’ve featured in ROP have started installations of their own about people that inspire them (not necessarily photographers). It just goes to show you that even me, the little person, can inspire the people who inspire me. That’s just wicked awesome!

Phew! Now that that’s done, I introduce you to my ROP #7! I’m really excited about this one! I introduce to you the one and only Becker! Or [b]ecker! Or my ROP [7].

[b]ecker

My little disclaimer: This photo was NOT taken by me. I have no clue who took this photo. I took it from one of his blog posts. You might be wondering why I decided to use this photo. Well, to me, it represents him really well. Funny, ambitious, and he has the look of success in his goggles! lol!

[b]ecker’s Blog

[b]ecker’s Website

Follow [b]ecker on Twitter

Fan [b]ecker on Facebook

[b]ecker is one of the funniest wedding photographers I’ve come across. I’ve been following his blog for about a year and just love it. I joined the [b] school (which I’ll talk about later) last year (I think November) and have been super happy with it. See below for more info. Also, I just realized, [b]ecker is the first male ROP I’ve done. So congrats for being the first [b]ecker! Maybe you’ll win a ROPy award for that! j/k!

1. What inspires me about his work?

The three C’s. If you follow my ROP series, you know what that is. I also love his ambition. He has clearly taken some huge risks that have paid off in huge ways. More on that to come. His work inspires me because I’ve been able to see how he interacts with his clients (on the [b] school) and through his bubbly personality he’s gotten some amazing portfolio work and that bubbly personality shows in his work. It’s fabulous!

2. What inspires me about him?

As I mentioned above, he seems to be a risk taker, specifically with the [b] school which has been open about a year. He saw a need for a photography community that isn’t snarky, that doesn’t pick on the “newbies” and that doesn’t tolerate the “grumpies” (read Fast Track Photographer to familiarize yourself with the grumpies). He also started a series called 10x10x10 which is a series where he talks about what he’s going to be focusing on in 2010. They’ve been really informative and helpful. One of my favorite videos on the [b] school is the Branding 101 video. It helped me to solidify my branding and give me a focus on how to create the logo I’ve created for myself (which I love!) and all thanks the the [b] school/[b]ecker.

3. What is your favorite blog article?

Definitely his post about Jessica Claire’s wedding (she’ll be one of my ROP’s in the coming weeks). For those of you who don’t know, [b]ecker and Jessica dated for awhile. [b]ecker wasn’t the official photographer for Jessica’s wedding but many of her guests were professional photographers who took some great photos. They are definitely my favorite photos he’s done.

Click here to read the article.

4. How did you find [b]ecker?

I believe my friend Monica told me about him (she was my ROP #3). She’s been a member of the [b] school for a long time.

5. If you could ever meet [b]ecker, what would you want to learn from him?

I hate to admit this, but I had the chance to meet [b]ecker when I was in Colorado visiting Monica last April but it just so happened I was spending the day with my in laws who live in Evergreen (a little over an hour outside of Denver). It was a 2 hour drive from Monica’s to my in law’s house and then we spent the day going to Denver, doing some shopping, etc. And by the time we got back to their house I would have had to make the drive to Denver again in rush hour traffic, which just wasn’t happening, not to mention the 2 hour drive back to Monica’s I was going to have to make that same night. So I opted to spend more time with my in laws and have dinner with them (a nice home cooked meal I might add). Sorry [b]… I know, I know.. You see how it is… lol! But Monica had a great time meeting him! It’s hard to pinpoint one thing that I’d like to learn from [b]ecker but I think ultimately I’d like to learn more about networking.

So to [b]ecker, thanks for being such a huge inspiration to me and so many other people! You have found tons of ways to be innovative and spread “photographer love” to other people! Thanks for not being a grumpy! Rock on!

Jen's Bistro-What do you want to see?

avrilrae — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:49:39 +0000

Here’s my second video blog. Check it out and let me know what you want to see on Jen’s Bistro. Leave a comment letting me know what kind of tutorials you’d like to see. You can visit Jen’s Bistro by going to http://www.jenavrilraeshannon.com.

By the way, don’t you just love the weirdo look on my face that’s in the video player before you play the video? Go me…

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

Video Blog 2 from Jen Shannon on Vimeo.

Love at Breathtaking Heights Wedding Show-Green Diva

avrilrae — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 21:44:09 +0000

One of my favorite vendors of the night was Green Diva. Kathy, who founded and owns the first eco friendly bridal jewelry company, was so sweet. She brought a gift of mints around to all of the vendors at the show and introduced herself to every one. Green Diva is an eco friendly jewelry company that just launched their bridal line which is absolutely beautiful. I posted a few pictures from her booth below. I’ve also included a video below of her talking about her company, being eco friendly, and her jewelry. Enjoy!

Green Diva

Follow Green Diva on Twitter here.

Fan Green Diva on Facebook here.

*MY IPHONE VIDEO CAMERA SKILLS ARE TERRIBLE*

Jen Shannon Photography, Chicago Wedding Photographer

Love at Breathtaking Heights-Chicago-Willis Tower Part 3

avrilrae — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:25:26 +0000

Ok, so there are going to be 4 parts. This is the last of the photos I’m going to post but I wanted to finish posting some of the detail photos. The vendors at the wedding show were just fabulous. You can check out a list of vendors below.

Venues

The Metropolitan Club (see Jillian Dodge) 312.876.3200

Jewelers

Green Diva Jewelry (see Kathy! She’s super sweet and is completely eco friendly!) 586.350.0311

Linens

BBj Linen (see Alicia Blumer) 847.933.5212

Florists

Scarlet Petal-773.486.0904

Designers

Botanicals (see Jesse) 773.269.3142 x117

Invitations and Paper

All Things Paper (see Jackie) 847.882.8142