We have been a little quiet the past couple weeks, but it is not because we aren’t busy. We shot a fabulous wedding April 10th and we’re so excited to show you the highlights video soon! Winter and spring are often spent working in our office: putting together the long edits, burning BluRay and DVD, and re-grouping for the upcoming season. It is a time with a lot of behind-the-scenes work and also a time for creativity.
A few nights ago, we met up with some of our photographer friends at the Seattle/Tacoma Pictage User Group (PUG) meeting. Pictage is the amazing company we use for our photo-hosting and they are so supportive of creative businesses. The Seattle/Tacoma PUG is organized by Gerald and Airika of The Popes and was hosted by JFK Studios (in their AMAZING new studio space). It was great to see some familiar faces and meet some new friends!
The topic of this month’s meeting was “Creativity.” We had a lively discussion and it really got us thinking: what is creativity? What inspires us?
Today I spent an hour or so getting caught up on my Google Reader. I subscribe to, well, lots and lots of blogs. Some days I skim through blog content to wake up or unwind. But days like today it has provided endless inspiration. I follow photographers, videographers & cinematographers, creative professionals, wives and mamas. I know some of the blog writers, some I simply admire. And very often these blogs provide just the creative inspiration I need. Today’s inspiration:
City of Lakes: an amazing film/wedding put together by Kevin Shahinian. It brings up interesting questions about truth and fiction in the creative process and pushes the boundaries of wedding cinematography. A definite must-see.
How do I price myself?: This is an interesting FAQ posted by The Youngrens that discusses creative pricing. How do creative professionals balance cost and value for the consumer and also make some kind of profit to keep a business afloat. This is something that we’re working to balance, and in that vein I’ve been looking at several different album and print companies to find the best deals for our clients. We’re inspired to offer some cool new products and offer some new sessions–details coming soon!
Things we love: Our friends at Alante Photography just re-did their blog and added this “things we love” page. I loved reading though and finding we have so much in common! I’ve been “homesick” for Great Britain for a while now, and Kimberly & Loren’s love of Britpop, Radiohead and Aston Martins made me swoon just a bit
Friends in the industry: We are inspired by our friends in the wedding industry–from PUG meetings to Facebook chats to our Twitter connections, we gain so much insight and inspiration from the support of our friends. Come join in the conversations!
Three Cups of Tea: I read this book this weekend cover-to-cover. Many of you know that I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine and I could definitely sympathize with Greg Mortenson’s desire to create change a world away and the difficulties he faced in working with a new culture. I am inspired by his perseverance to help his friends across the world in the face of war, poverty, and public outrage. It is also a great reminder that good things take patience. In a world of multi-tasking, fast communication, and instant gratificiation, it is a good reminder that good things come to those who work hard and are patient. This book is definitely on my bookshelf (next to River Town, which has a story in itself) in the stack of inspiring reads.
Those are some of the thoughts running around in my mind. Now I’m off to a fabulous photo shoot at Hotel 1000 and hopefully I can bring some of this inspiration to my pictures. Happy Weekend!
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