June PUG Meeting Details

Hey DC Puggers,
Just a reminder that our next PUG meeting is June 14th at 7pm!

I am excited about this months PUG meeting because not only are we going to share images from our PUG shoot out from last month, we are also bringing back the ever famous - Studio Spotlights!
This month we have the lovely Jessica Del Vecchio presenting her self and her photography business for our listening and viewing pleasure.

I am hoping that this meeting will be a time for us all to reconnect, talk shop and have a good Q&A with each other.
I will be making a list of your discussion topic ideas during Monday's meeting which will be used for future meetings. I have had some great response from the PUG survey (which if you haven't already taken, we'd love your feedback) of ideas for future meetings.
Some of which are:
Pricing
Finding New Business
Advertising
Workflow
Lighting
And much more.
Along with photography business ideas we will also be chatting a bit about things we can do outside our PUG meetings, such as, photo outings, museum trips, volunteering with our local communities etc. So come ready to share you thoughts!

Please mark June 14th - 7pm on your calendars.
We will be meeting at Jessica Del Vecchio's house in DC - 2123 California Street, NW, Apartment A5, Washington, DC 20008
See you then!

Please take our PUG survey!

Hey Folks,
Just in case you didn't get the email I sent out, I have put together a quick 10 question survey to help guide us in the next year of meetings.

If you could please take a peak and leave us your feedback it would be hugely appreciated.
You can find the survey by clicking HERE!

We need to hear from you so that we know how best to move foreword and make the PUG experience the best it can be.

Thanks so much,
Sarah

________

Dane Sanders at next PUG Meeting - Balto/DC Combine Meeting!

Hey Folks,
Just in case you didn't already know, out next meeting will be held at Love Life Images in MD on April 27th - 7pm. If you haven't already RSVPed - please do so in the comment box so that we know how many folks to plan for.
I will be heading up early for dinner at The Rams Head Tavern if anyone would like to join me I will plan to be there by 5:45. Please email me directly if you think you can make dinner - sarah@blinkdc.com

I hope the DC PUG crew will give Dane a big warm welcome - lets represent people!
Dane will be having his work shop the 2 days following the DC Pug, if you don't already know about it, you can get more info here - Fast Track Photographer.

We look forward to seeing everyone on the 27th!
Sarah and Geoff

Jim Collins at Jan PUG - Dinner before at Rock Bottom Brewery

Hey Folks,
As you already know, Jim, our oh-so-fabulous CEO is coming once again to DC to share his wisdom, knowledge and possibly some inside info on the many big things that are happening at Pictage!

It would be great if you all could join us for dinner before hand at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Bethesda, MD.
Jim will be dining with us too, so come on out and lets see if we can't get our CEO to eat a whole basket of RB famous soft pretzels!

We'll be meeting at the Brewery at 5:30. Please contact me directly to let me know if you will able to join us. I will need a head count no later than 12pm on Jan 25th.
sarah@blinkdc.com

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday the 25th!!
Sarah

January PUG - Pictage CEO Jim Collins returns

Date: Monday, January 25, 2010

Time: 7:00pm

Location: Michael Bennett Kress & Associates
7906 Woodmont Avenue
Bethesda, MD 20814

Starting the New Year off right, we'll be visited by Pictage CEO Jim Collins. Jim will be discussing an inspiring topic that was a big part of his keynote at PartnerCon and will talk about some exciting future plans for Pictage.

What does Dream, Create, Inspire Mean to You?
We’re going to take a moment to breathe and dream a little. We’re going to celebrate the incredible work you do and we’ll contemplate creativity. What inspires your creative energy? What drives your vision? What’s your next big thing? Let’s shake a few of the cobwebs lose in your soul. Ultimately, this session is about beginnings. It’s about a mindset. It’s about being open to what’s next. Onward, indeed!

This event and all PUG meetings are open to any photographer who cares about his or her business and enjoys meeting other like-minded professionals. You don't have to be a member of Pictage to attend. And we won't try to convert you. We just want to meet you and play nice. Really.

Hope to see you there!

Justin and Mary's STL tour is only days away!

Just wanted to send out a quick reminder for any of you out there who signed up for J&M's STL tour...
We'll be meeting at Allison Britton's Studio 115 S. Patrick St. Ste 101 Alexandria, VA at 2:30 for registration!
Can't wait to see everyone.

Sarah

Justin and Mary in DC Jan 7th - Spread The Love Tour

Be there!!!

If you haven't already heard, Justin and Mary Marantz are bringing their Spread The Love Tour to DC in January!!! More info Here!
If you haven't seen Justin and Mary speak about how they approach their photography business and also how to balance that
with living your life, you NEED to be there on January 7th!
If you were lucky enough and had the great fortune to see them when they were here in 2008 on their DC Pug tour, then you will get the
opportunity to not only see their lovely faces once again, but gain even more inspiration and knowledge on how to wow
your clients, but also how to retain or create a good work/life balance.

I have to say that seeing Justin and Mary in 2008 was one of the major turning points that year which made me decide to keep my business going.
I was at a tough crossroads in my life and business, I was truly ready to throw my hands up in the air and say, "Forget this crazy business, it's too hard!"
The very night that I was going to make the decision to throw in the towel (which is what I really wanted to do), I drug myself to the PUG meeting where
I got to hear Justin and Mary share some remarkable ways to approach the "selling" of one's self and business... and what I found was it was less about
the "sales pitch"... oh, it was SO much more. It was about connecting!

You mean, we can connect with the people who we get to share in one of their most intimate days with? I mean really connect, form friendships and still
retain a strong sense of business? Well, this was revolutionary to me!
The part of this business that I tend to loath is the "selling", but when I was able to see the whole process in a different light, I felt renewed, I felt like
someone had just given me the tools and permission to really make a connection with my clients which is what I was longing to do.

So, to make a very long story short(ish), Justin and Mary's talk that night rejuvenated me and my desire to move forward.
I urge you all to sign up for this tour, I will be there will bells on! I might even be wearing my I *heart* J&M - if it doesn't make
me seem like a stalker... :D

I hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far and I look forward to seeing you on
January 7th!

Winter GTG - Dec 18th!

If you haven't already heard, a bunch of us will be getting together for a fun winter get together with our dear friend and Pictage photographer Shawn Reeder this Saturday in DC.

Please contact me if you will be able to join us for some or all of Friday's fun events.
sarah@blinkdc.com

Here are the details:
We will be meeting at Teaism on 8th and D St between 11:30 and 12noon for lunch.
From there we will be heading to the National Gallery of Art and possibly the National Portrait Gallery.
We will spend the day touring museums but also having fun shooting around DC.
Most likely we will pick a location for dinner that night and then I know Shawn our rural CA photog would like to do some night shooting around the city as well.

We hope you can join us!

November PUG Meeting - Gary Fong

World-renowned photographer, entrepreneur, and Original Pictage Lab founder Gary Fong will be visiting our PUG in November for another special combined DC/Baltimore event held in Savage, MD at Love Life Studios. We hope to see you there.

Fabulous Fall PUG - Monday October 19th

Fall is Fabulous! Hope you are enjoying the season and staying busy. We'll be discussing fall/winter promotions, especially family portraits and how you can maximize revenue through the end of the year. Bring your ideas to share with the group as well.

As always there are big updates from Pictage and a preview of PartnerCon in New Orleans November 3-5, including Michael Kress' presentation on Bar/Bat-Mitzvah Photography. If you haven't registered yet, there's still space available! http://pro.pictage.com/community/ppc/neworleans/

Joe Buissink coming to town

Don't miss this free opportunity to see Joe Buissink who will come and give a discussion about the psychology involved behind shooting weddings. Who we are when we shoot an event and how it shows in the work! It's another combined DC/Baltimore PUG held next to Love Life Images Studio in Savage, MD. Hope to see you all there!

New Picnic Details Announced!!

RSVP HERE!

Please check the Evite for location information and remember to RSVP! Can't wait to see you all there!

SAVE THE DATE! DC PUG BBQ ~~ July 19, 2009

RSVP HERE!

June PUG - New CEO Jim Collins is Coming!

This month’s meeting will be held on a special day, Thursday, June 11, 2009 at a location to be determined in either Bethesda, or Washington, DC. This will be another combined DC/Baltimore meeting and will feature a visit from the new Pictage CEO, Jim Collins. We’re excited to have Jim back in town after meeting him in April. We are very excited about some of the changes he has already implemented and the promising developments he has in store for Pictage in the months to come. Come meet Jim and pick his brain, or give him some feedback. I hope to see you all there!
- Geoff

Lightroom for Wedding, Event and Portrait Photographers

Here's a great opportunity for anyone interested in getting the most out of Lightroom. Hope to see you there!

Click Here to sign up.

Peter Krogh, Lightroom alpha tester, presents a day-long course on getting the most from Lightroom for the wedding, event, and portrait photographer. The program will focus on safe and efficient workflow, including getting the most from the Develop tools, and streamlining your output and integration with services like Pictage. Make your images look great, faster than you ever thought possible.

The course will cover:
• Shooting for Lightroom - how Lightroom should affect the way you shoot
• Catalog set-up and management
• Efficient Download - we'll look at ways to automate the download process using either Lightroom or ImageIngester Pro

Library Workflow
• Tagging and Grouping Images
• Using Smart Collections to control workflow
• Ratings Workflow - how the built-in keyboard shortcuts were designed to be used

Develop Workflow
• Getting Autoblacks during import
• Work -order for the develop tools
• Finding, Installing and Using Presets
• Use HSL controls to control skin tones
• Use of Negative Clarity for skin smoothing
• Use of Sync and Auto-sync to do batch adjustments
• Use of Snapshots
• Use Virtual Copies to get Color and B&W versions of your images
• Local Adjustments

Batch Output
• Export Controls
• Installing and using Export Plug-ins

Archiving
• What to do with the catalogs and images when you're done

Details
Location:
The seminar will be held in Peter Krogh Studio,
3301 Oberon St.
Kensington, MD

Date:
June 16th - 9am through 5pm

Cost:
Individuals $200
Photographer with assistant $350
Lunch (Baja Fresh) provided

Click Here to sign up.

May PUG Update

I will now be disseminating info in three ways - so I am sure to get everyone's attention. I will be sending out this email following each month's PUG as well as posting the update on our blog: dcpug.blogspot.com, and on our new facebook group page. As soon as dates are announced for upcoming meetings, I will notify everyone, but we've got an exciting summer planned our June meeting featuring Jim Collins, new CEO of Pictage, a summer outing in July, and a visit from Joe Buissink in August.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the May PUG to hear about some of the new product updates from Pictage and the great direction that the company is heading under direction of the new CEO Jim Collins. We also got a chance to hear from our friends at Critical Exposure that some of our photographers have already been volunteering with. From this month's meeting we have decided that Critical Exposure will be our official philanthropic partner.

This means a few things: First, we will be starting our own fundrasing drive to help with the wonderful work that this group does (make a donation here: http://www.criticalexposure.org/support.php).

Second, we will be starting a used digital SLR drive (thank you Nicole Wolf for this great idea) so that the students, who are currently using digital point and shoots, can improve their technique and can better capture images and tell their stories.

Third, we will make announcements about upcoming opportunities for our PUG members to serve as mentors to the young students, training them on the digital SLRs and helping them learn more about photography.

Fourth, this will also provide opportunities for promising students to tag along as assistants to learn more about possible careers in photography.

Here are some links to view some of the work that Critical Exposure has been doing:
From Books to Bottles (focusing on teen pregnancy in Alexandria):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQJJAp8wo2s

Eyes on Education (our Pennsylvania project):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcRWnQZDP8g

In addition, you can search for Critical Exposure on Facebook or go to: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Critical-Exposure/79944774450?ref=mf to see what is going on currently.

Hope to see all of you in June - date to be announced shortly.

Best,
Geoff

I'm back!!.......Again!!

Ok.....go ahead and say it, I'm a slacker. Its OK...I can take it. Yes, I said that I would be blogging about something every day and NO, I haven't blogged about something every day. But the truth is, I have been really, really busy over the past month. Probably the biggest thing going on is that I have moved myself and my business to Ashburn, VA. Getting settled has taken a while and I've been fighting an awful flu. Also, I quietly rebuilt my website and am getting good feedback on the new design. Feel free to stop by and send me feedback. Anyhow, I'm back and busier than I have been in a while. My calendar is filling up with weddings and engagement sessions and I couldn't be more pleased. OK....I could handle a little more business, but I'm not complaining. With all of the stuff thats happening in my life, I'm feeling truly blessed these days.

February PUG - Dinner Before?

Hello Folks,
I hope to see you all on Monday at the PUG meeting in the new MBK studio!
I wanted to see who would be up for dinner before hand?
If you are interested, please send me an email - sarah@blinkdc.com

Tentative plans for Monday night are dinner at Red Tomato Cafe 4910 Saint Elmo Ave in Bethesda
at 5:30.
If we get a large number of folks wanting to come to dinner we may need to change locations, but I will keep you all posted.

Thanks so much and hope to see you Monday!

Sarah

January PUG tonight CANCELLED!

OK, so I just returned from shooting a wedding in Palm Beach, Florida and am greeted with the biggest winter storm of the year! Since it will get worse before it gets better, I have decided to cancel tonight's PUG. I hope this does not inconvenience everyone - I was looking forward to seeing you all and to show off our new studio. We will now have a pre-WPPI PUG on Monday February 9th. Hope you're all staying safe and warm.

Best,

Geoff

January PUG Rescheduled for Tuesday the 27th

Hello all - 

I hope everyone had a great holidays. Ours was busy at Michael Bennett Kress & Associates as we moved to our new location - 7906 Woodmont Avenue - still in Bethesda. While we hoped to be ready today, we're still getting unpacked and settled into our new space. So we have rescheduled for Tuesday, January 27th. I hope this does not inconvenience anyone and hope to see you at the end of the month!

Best,

Geoff