{ thank you }

I just sent out a survey to my 2009 clients and prospects to help me finalize the details of my 2010 packages. If you didn’t get a survey and want to take it, leave a comment or drop me a line and I’ll send you the link. Although I have no idea why you’d want to, but I hate to leave anyone out of all the fun.

So many photographers have been posting their favorite photos from 2009, but I’m not going to do that. If you read this blog, you’ve already seen my favorites so I’ll spare you the gratuitous recap. What I thought I’d do instead is give you some fun facts and stats about 2009 at 77 Prints.

- I took over 9,000 photos in 2009 and have 13,470 photos on my Flickr page to date.
- my most viewed photo of 2009 is of Oprah throwing the Longhorns gesture out of her car window when she and Gayle visited the State Fair of Texas.
- best marketing move of 2009: putting pictures of Oprah on my blog and Flickr page. apparently she’s popular?
- number of twins I photographed in 2009: 4 sets!
- number of pictures I took of my cat: no comment.
- days I spent at the Arboretum: it’s hard to say, but there was a time when I thought I might sleep in the pumpkin patch.
- number of random people at the Arboretum who would ask me to take their photo (with their own cameras): 5 or 6 at least, and this happens even when I’m working with clients if you can believe it.
- number of random people who wandered into my shots at public places: too many to count
- number of times I dropped my camera: 4 (one of which was actually not me, but someone “holding” my camera for me)
- number of times I lost my remote switch and had to buy another one: 2
- number of times I thought I lost my flash, bought a new one, and then found the old one in my trunk: 1
- number of times I was threatened with expulsion at the House of Blues for having a “professional camera”: 2 that involved direct confrontations, but I got many dirty looks from security in 2009. and for the record, I NEVER take my “professional camera” to music venues. it’s always my point and shoot.  even my Rolling Stone photo was taken with my point and shoot for goodness sake.
- number of hours I typically spend editing a session: 7 or 8 hours is a conservative estimate, sometimes more depending on how good/bad of a job I did on my exposures or on how many “keepers” I found on the first pass. that is number one on my list of resolutions – less time editing!

I could go on, but I think I’ll end the “scientific” stats there.

The last thing I’d like to say is thank you. Thank you for taking a chance on me and trusting me to take your photographs. Thank you for opening your homes, hearts and lives to me, if only for a few hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon so that I could do what I love. Thank you for sharing my photos with your friends, family and coworkers. Thank you for your referrals which are worth more than any ad or Google search return. Thank you for your kind words when you received your photos (and to blog commenters who flattered me with compliments). Thank you to my parents for being my biggest cheerleaders and for being supportive of this very expen$ive hobby of mine, and to my sister for pimping me out to her friends in Birmingham.  Now that the sweet stuff is out of the way…

Thank you for not asking me to photograph your husband bare-chested holding your infant with wedding rings dangling off the baby’s toes. Thank you for not asking me to Photoshop angel wings on your child. Thank you for being patient when I still didn’t have your photos ready. Thank you for singing those silly songs to make your kids smile. Thank you for jumping around like a goofball behind me to keep your child’s eyes pointed in my direction. Thank you for bringing me a Diet Coke when you remembered how cranky I am in the mornings. Thank you for indulging me when I asked you to casually lay down on wet grass/mucky dirt/jagged rocks. Sorry about the ruined clothes, my bad. Thank you for only laughing a little when I almost fell off my step stool… that one time… or twelve. Thank you for offering to carry my bag and/or step stool around – I’ll travel lighter next year, promise.

In all seriousness, I am truly grateful for the opportunities you have afforded me in 2009. It was a year of many ups and downs and lessons learned, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Thank you again for everything and I sincerely hope to see your smiling faces in front of my lens in 2010!

(yes, that is a “Don’t Mess With Texas” keychain. it is attached to my remote switch along with a CF card case. figured it would be harder to lose with a lot of junk tethered to it.)