Val-isms

Sniffles, coughing & shooting, oh my!

The home office for Etana Creative Photography has been filled with the sounds of productivity... and head/chest colds over the past few days!

Linda came down with it the end of last week and is still coughing and I came down with it on Sunday and am in the full congested, sniff-ly and coughing mess that a summer cold entails!  (Can I just say how much I HATE blowing my nose and how much the sniffling I'm doing is making my wife crazy???!!)

We enjoyed a non-shoot weekend by actually being able to hang by the pool on Sunday and just basically relaxing, but come Monday morning, sniffles or not, we headed off in the morning to the shooting of the 'formal' shots of the Bat Mitzvah family that is happening this upcoming weekend.  It went fine, but we still have to learn to put our feet down in terms of not letting the family 'rush' things along.  Family members needed to leave and the antsy-ness it not really conducive to taking creative pictures.  Linda still managed to get some great shots, but it's crazy that people who are spending some serious money, really don't get that it's not just about pointing the camera and clicking, otherwise, your Uncle Joe could snap the pictures for you.  There is lighting to be setup and ensuring that it's not just posing head on to the camera... sigh.

Anyway... since then I've been home working, as my boss and co-workers basically told me that me and my germs can feel free to NOT come into the office to spread this snotty mess on them!  Today, I'm a little better, but still hacking and sneezing.

Yesterday, I made an excellent noodle kuggel for the pot-luck Shavuot dinner at the Temple and enjoyed some other great dairy dishes in honor of receiving the Ten Commandments... Sophie & I love, love LOVE this holiday as we go into kuggel overload!  SO good, but SO fattening, so it's our annual treat!  There was a great turnout of families for the brief service, too!

Some business news... we received a call regarding a Bar Mitzvah in the 4th quarter of 2012 and we're meeting with the family on Friday at noon.  And we got another call about a Bar Mitzvah for September 2011!!! 

Funny story:

When we started the business, we got a new phone and phone # to be the "business" phone.  Nothing fancy - basic phone.  But it was never really with us - just at home and Linda would check for messages from her phone or work phone to see if anyone had called, a few times a day.  Then, being someone who HATES talking on the phone and me, having the title of "Manager - Client Relations" (in addition to my other business titles:  "Shlepper of all heavy camera accessories" and "2nd shooter of party pictures"!!), she then calls me and instructs me to call the person back!  A great process that has been successful.

Yesterday, Linda & I are working in the 'home office' together (2 desks, bookshelves, a small tv and a file cabinet allow us to be together while working on our respective jobs!) and all of a sudden the Etana phone starts ringing!  Holy crap!  A prospective client!  The first time we're actually hearing the phone ring!  Linda gets up and grabs the phone and hands it to me and the following conversation takes place:

Linda: "YOU answer it!" 

Me:  "Ok - what button do I press?"

Linda:  "I don't know!"

Me:  "What do you mean, you don't know?!!!"

Linda: "I've never answered the phone before!"

Meanwhile, the phone has rung a number of times and now signals that we've missed the call and it's gone to voice-mail!

So we wait to see if a voicemail is left and .... nope.  Nada.

So being the innovative Client Relations Manager that I am, I called the number and told the woman who answered that I was on another call with a client and couldn't switch over to answer her call, but how could I help her?!!!  (Smooth, no??!?!)  The call went well and she actually spoke with Linda about her shooting style and then we e-mailed her our pricing info.  We hope to hear back from her soon.

Meanwhile, I wish we had video footage of the 2 of us bumbling trying to figure out the damn phone!  Really professional! NOT! 

We have practiced and know now how to answer the phone!  We'll be ready next time!

Hoping to return to my 'real' office tomorrow!

Memorial Day weekend 2011

Linda & I shot a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday May 28th - and even attended the actual 2+ hour service at the Conservative Temple (making us very grateful for our hour and fifteen minute service at our Temple!).  The family was lovely and the party Saturday night was down at a local venue near the beach and was jumping thanks to the great DJ company they hired (thinking we might just hire them for Sophie's party!)

Sunday morning we had plans to get up and get on the road by 6am to drive up to my boss' vacation home in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.  HAH!  We we were so exhausted from the night before, we didn't get on the road until 10!  Enjoyed a leisurely ride up, arriving about 4!  Road trips with my wife are the best... nice conversation, good music and comfortable silences as we pass the countryside along the way.

The weather was about 10 degrees cooler in Maine, but sunny and beautiful and NO humidity.  We promptly changed from our shorts into jeans and plopped ourselves on their front porch while enjoying some wine and snacks and the view of the ships in the harbor.

I am fortunate to have boss who I can also call my friend.  I have worked for her over the past 5 years and a better manager I have never had.  She is fun, hard working and allows me the flexibility to be a Mom all the while knowing that I'll work whatever I have to in order to get my work done.  I hope to finish out my career working for her.

So after lounging on the porch for awhile, the 4 of us (my boss, her husband, Linda & I) headed off to dinner in town and then for some ice cream at the local shop afterwards.  A perfect evening.

We were awakened by thunderstorms and lightening about 4:30am on Memorial Day.  The sound of the rain soothed us back to sleep until about 8.

When I called Sophie back home, it had poured all night and they weren't sure if the parade would still happen that morning.

Not needing to see a parade, we  left my boss' husband behind to take a walk around the town exploring some of the shops for a small gift to bring back to Sophie.  Then Linda & I hung out on the porch reading, dozing and just plain relaxing until it was time to leave about 3pm.

We drove down along the coast on Rt 1 until we reached Freeport (yes, home of LL Bean) and had a little nosh.  Got on the highway about 4:30 and arrived home after hitting absolutely NO traffic, about 9pm!  A nice little getaway.

It seems that the humidity of August arrived a few months early here in Connecticut.  sigh.  I'm glad to be going into the office every day.  My unemployed wife is enjoying the temps and the nice cross breeze that goes thru our condo during the day.  Everyone is happy!

I leave you with a picture of Shiloh enjoying her first Memorial Day parade: