We just moved into first place in the voting for Best Photographer in Detroit in the WDIV Vote 4 the best contest.   There’s only a few days left, so we hope people continue to vote and keep us on top.   Thanks everyone, we would love to win two years in a row!!

http://wdiv.cityvoter.com/standings/2008-4-the-best/1830/weddings/photographer 

Last year it seemed like all of our inquiries and calls were for Senior Pictures were from Troy High School and this year we’re getting tons of business from Troy Athens High School which is where Stephanie goes.   Stephanie was super easy to photograph and did an awesome job!
Here’s some of my favorites:

Stephanie had the most colorful shoes we’ve ever seen…they were awesome!!!

Mark and Christina had an amazing wedding yesterday.  We spent some time at the Troy Historical Museum for their first moment together.  Their wedding was at the always stunning St. George Church of Troy followed by a wild reception at Penna’s in Sterling Heights.
The music and dancing were just non-stop.  Mark and Christina both just had a smile from ear to ear all night. The sweet table was probably the biggest we’ve ever seen and their cake was enormous and ornate and we heard that it was similar to the cake Trump had at his wedding.

The next basic photography class is scheduled for October 2008.

We will cover the basic of photography including the main four subjects - Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, and White Balance.  We will explain the fundamentals of how these four things impact your images along with how, when, and why you want to be able to control them and not leave your camera on automatic.  As part of the class, we will take a field trip where we can get out in a real life situation both indoors and outdoors where you will be challenged to apply these new concepts.  After the field trip, we will do a critique where we will talk about your images, look at the settings used and I will give suggestions of what worked, what didn’t work, and what can be done in Photoshop to take the pics from ordinary to extraordinary.

This class is available to anyone over 16 years old and you can have pretty much any camera that allows for manual adjustments.  The people that typically benefit the most are those with SLR cameras such as a Canon Rebel, Nikon D70, or similar.  By the end of the class, most people that attend with point and shoot cameras realize how limiting their camera actually is and end up upgrading.

The class will be Thursdays from 7-9 pm from Oct 9 - Oct 30 at the Kensington Community Church building room 115 (1825 E. Square Lake Road, Troy, Michigan 48085). There will be a field trip on Sunday Oct 26th at the Detroit Zoo from 1-3 where we will have an opportunity to shoot photos together and practice the new techniques and skills shooting both indoors and outdoors.
The cost is $125 and you will receive a 60 page printed class manual. The field trip to the Detroit Zoo (parking and entry) is not included in the cost.
Please contact us if you are interested in signing up.

In the past, this class has been run through the Kensington Art School which has unfortunately closed down so I will be doing all of the administrative work and marketing for this class.  Please help us spread the word and let anyone interested know about this class.

By the end of the class, hopefully you will not only know how to use your camera more effectively, but also to start seeing ordinary things in a different way.

This afternoon we spent some time with Sam doing some photos of him along with a few with his guitar and car.  We love when we can do photos that incorporate something personal and unique.  It was perfect weather and the perfect sky for some of these photos and Sam did an awesome job!

This afternoon we had a fantastic photo shoot with Louise.  She was comfortable right from the start and had a really easy going smile.  However, she also did a great job when we wanted a serious look or a little attitude.  She also runs track so we had a fun time doing some cool photos to incorporate that into her senior pics.

Since Mayz was born, Cheridy and I have been tip-toeing into his room at night to just look at him before we go to bed. We always found it hilarious that every time we went in there, he was always in a different position. Sometimes his arms or legs would be contorted, sometimes his little butt would be sticking up in the air…it was really funny. So, a few weeks ago we decided to take a photo of him every night and turn it into a little movie. It is long from complete, but too much fun to not share a mini clip.  It’s really low quality so that I could post it on the blog but you get the idea:

This afternoon we had a great engagement shoot with Amy and Felipe in the new downtown Warren area. There was a wicked storm that was rolling through so we did as much as we can while the light was still good and then were really excited about using the moody storm clouds for our photo backdrop.

Today was the second day of the Leadership Summit and once again we got to hear some very inspirational speakers talk about leadership.
From the two days, here’s a summary of the nuggets of wisdom that I took away from it.

-Thank everyone that helps you make good decisions, blame yourself for bad decisions.

-Promote a clash of ideas as opposed to looking for people to agree with YOUR idea.

-Reward best performers and get rid of low performers with no excuses. Low performers can eat tremendous amounts of time and energy that bring everything around them down.

-Vision leaks like a bucket with holes in it and staff and support people need to have the vision renewed and filled up from time to time.

-Facts are your friends. When you have access to facts related to what you are doing, understand them and figure out how to use them to make a difference in your approach. If you don’t have facts, then figure out how to get facts.

-When something feels funky and wrong, engage it immediately and don’t let it fester.

-A good leader needs to call fouls. If someone says or does something that is inappropriate, it needs to be called out immediately. A good leader will occasionally need to call a foul on himself.

-Dream big and create a plan that seemingly can’t be achieved. Then figure out steps to move in that direction.

-Jesus came to make us brave and bold…not safe.

-We need to ask ourselves, in this land of darkness, why have WE been given so much and what are we supposed to do with those things.

-We need to ask ourselves “What am I doing to develop my gifts and use those gifts to serve others.”

-Leadership is responsibility. It’s not money, fame, and power, but rather empowering others to learn to lead.

-Follow your compass and not your clock. Make sure your life is going in the right direction but don’t worry about how long it takes you to get where you are going.

-Get feedback from your clients and people around you. It makes you vulnerable but you’ll learn where you are failing so you can make a change.

-Be true to your values even when life and business are tough.

-To have the IT factor, you need to have a laser focus and rather than trying to do EVERYTHING, you need to do a few things REALLY well. Pick the things that make the most difference and do them to the best you can.

-Figure out what you are doing that you need to STOP doing that take time and resources without providing benefit. Figure out the tasks that you are best at and most unique at and don’t do everything that everyone else does.

-Figure out what your greatest limitation is that you feel is holding you back from your goals and then think about what God might be trying to show you by keeping you in that situation.

-Failure is the first step into seeking a solution because it forces you to figure out what didn’t work and why.

-When you fail, shake it off, step up, and try again.

-To be successful, you need to see opportunities where others don’t and be willing to fail and try again as many times as necessary.

-For other people to see the IT factor in you, you have to have IT and express IT. If you don’t have the IT factor, then figure out what’s missing and what steps you need to take to get IT.

-As a leader, you need to LEAD, not give into what other people think is the best decision. You need to have advisors to advise you but YOU have to make the final decision and be accountable for it.

-46% of sales sessions end without the salesperson asking for anything. Ultimately the sales persons job is to ask for the sale because quite often people will commit when asked. This applies to fundraising, business, or even asking people to do volunteer work.

-More responsibility for employees leads to empowerment and better results.

Today was the first day of a two day conference I am attending called the Leadership Summit. It is hosted by Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago but broadcast via Satellite to 140 locations in multiple languages around the world. One of those locations is my home church at Kensington. I have been unable to attend for the last few years due to work commitments but am fortunate to be able to go this year.

The purpose of the summit is to empower and encourage leaders from around the world to refine their gifts and talents to improve leadership skills and learn how to use those skills to serve God and others in an effective manner. Leaders from all around the world of different disciplines will be sharing their thoughts and stories. Some are church leaders, founders of organizations, leaders in corporate America, etc. etc

The speaker from today that left the biggest impression was Gary Haugen who left the corporate world to use his experience as a lawyer to save children in third world countries who face significant amounts of abuse, slavery, and forced prostitution. One of the stories he told was of a young boy who was extorted by police officers for money for alcohol and then they didn’t want to get in trouble so they shot him. He was left for dead but picked himself up and dragged himself to a hospital where they had to amputate his arm but he survived. When the police found out that he didn’t die, they arrested him and put him in jail to rot. He was just one of the many stories that we heard about of kids being rescued by the International Justice Mission (IJM). They showed photos and videos of young kids being brought out of slave mills and prostitution rings and… … … it just breaks your heart. One of the young girls they saved was living in a very poor part of India. Her family couldn’t pay their bills and one day she was offered a job in the city that where she could make some money and send it back. While traveling to the city, she was drugged and woke up in a brothel where she was beaten and tortured for days. She was never let out to see the light of day and was forced to service 20-30 men per day. Eventually the IJM was able to rescue her along with many other girls. One of Gary’s biggest challenges is that how do you tell someone that’s living in those situations that God is good and just. However, with the kids that they’ve rescued, they are now living in good homes and many of them are now working to help fight against similar injustices in their home countries. It’s amazing to hear how Gary’s gifts of leadership and courage have helped hundreds of kids. To learn more about IJM and how you can help, go to their website at www.ijm.org

All day we heard inspiring stories of how people are using their gifts and talents of leadership to make a difference in the world.

To learn more about the leadership summit, click here.

And most people collectively said…”what???”
My brother would be able to explain what that means…maybe not in terms that any of us would understand though.

Congrats to my brother Pran who is just finishing his PhD and successfully defended his thesis this afternoon. So I guess I’ll now have to call him Dr. brother.
For a while I thought he was going to be a lifer student, but now the end is near. He is a better man than me because I definitely would not have had the patience or dedication to obtain a PhD.

This is a photo my Dad took of him this afternoon as he prepped for his presentation:

Last night we had a bit of family time together so we took Mayz outside and put some water in his little pool so he could splash all around.
This kid is pretty darn cute!!