So here I am sitting at my computer when I should be driving to work posting about something that just happened to me.

I got ready this morning, ate and walked out the door to go to work. I get down to my car (I have to park on the street because I don't have storage room and I have to use my little tiny garage for that). I open the driver side door and everything is wrong. The dash is totally jacked up. Someone took a crowbar to the dash to get the head unit of the stereo out and they broke in the small window in the back. This is the second time my car has been burglarized (not in the same location mind you) this year. I'm just sitting here waiting for the sheriff to show up and make a report. Apparently 2 other cars within a block got hit last night too. I hope it's drivable...

So to date from the Rugby tournament last month I got a picture in the Glenwood Springs Post-Independant newspaper and I'll have around 6 pictures in the next issue of Rugby Magazine. Not a big money making event for me for sure but some good exposure and two publishings.

I'm also still waiting on the little league parents to order prints. I know that two of the kids have parents that said they would definitely buy some.

Really need these things to be profitable to continue doing them. Right now making $75-150 for an event may be icing on the cake but it sure doesn't make it worth going out and spending all this time and effort and the expense of equipment...

Yesterday I went and took pictures of a little league team playing in a tournament. In reality I took pictures of 3 teams, since the team I was 'invited' to take pictures of played the other two teams. I got some good shots I think and it was kind of fun watching the kids playing. Watching little league baseball is infinitely more interesting and exciting than watching pro baseball though (at least to me). The kids try so hard and are so cute and make so many mistakes that it is just fun to watch. Plus the games are short. My hope is that the parents love the pictures and order lots of prints. If they do then I will do it again.

I took pictures at the 2006 All Star Championships this past weekend and things have been hopping in my neighborhood ever since. I handed out around 100 flyers at the games themselves and quite a few business cards too. I also took about 3000 pictures with my new Canon 30d (which I just love). Every night I have been downloading and processing and posting pictures in my rugby gallery on smugmug (http://lineofsight.smugmug.com/rugby). Since then the traffic has on my sites has started to go through the roof (230 visitors in my gallery) and I have gotten one picture in the Glenwood Springs Post Independant newspaper and I'll be getting some in Rugby Magazine.

Well I may have a shot at doing some real sports photography. Not peewee, not high school, not college. Pro! I got tickets to a minor league (CHL) hockey game and took my camera. Even though I was 3 rows from the glass I got some good shots which made someone go wow. That wow is turning into an opportunity to shoot either a Bronco's game or an Avalanche game. I'm pretty excited about it.

Well today I found out that I got my first official sales order off my smugmug gallery. It was really incredibly cool to look and see that I had a sale of prints that was over $200 from a portrait shoot that I did recently. For me this is a first. The shoot was the most profitable for me to date. Not that profits are my number one concern when doing portraits, I love doing portraits. It's so fun on many differnent levels. You get to meet new people and get to know them a bit, you get to make them laugh (hopefully), you can hopefully get them to forget the camera or get comfortable enough to be themselves.

I have started reading a few new books. One is called "A Bride's guide to Wedding Photography". This is an interesting book for people who do wedding photography because it gives perspective from the other side, the bride's side. The next is called "Photoshop for Nature Photographers". This book is a must have for digital photographers. I have only read the first chapter and skimmed the rest and I find it to be very easy to read, easy to understand and the information is top notch. I'll write some more on it on my photography blog as I read more and have the time.

Go to my photography blog for links to the books on Amazon. Should be able to do that by tonight. If you do use my links to buy books you'll be helping me out just a bit.

I've created yet another blog that pertains to my photography business. Mostly about experiences, primarily good ones, that I have when doing shoots or whatever. You'll be able to find it here. Right now there is nothing there but there will be over time. Chances are it will be a weekly post type blog, not a daily one. We shall see.

1. Always, always carry business cards if your photography is a business. Everyone is a potential lifelong client.
2. You must become a networker. Just like a realtor you provide a personal service, people need to like you.
3. Referals are gold.
4. Cultivate friends and associates in service type fields, like realtors and stylists... These people talk to people all day long. If they like you they could pass some business your way.
5. You can do the same for the people you know. Keep business clients and contacts in your daytimer or PDA so if someone asks you can recommend that person.
   

I'm really saddened that a person like 'the Critic' could be so easily scared off. And that the person who wrote what they wrote about him/her did it. I think it was rather chicken. Create an account and post something that negative... nice... I would like to see some critiques out of this indiviual, or some pictures, or something other than one negative post. Of course it doesn't speak to highly of 'the Critic' when he/she gets apparently scared off by one post. People are pretty harsh on critics these days, suck it up and show us what you're made of. This site really needs people like 'the C