especially “tweens”, but not these two.

Their dad wanted something special as a surprise gift for their mom for Christmas last year, and they were wonderfully cooperative.

At their ages, some of the younger one’s “I adore my older brother” syndrome, which I often find with younger siblings, and some of the overt sibling rivalry, has begun to wear off. As different as they are in their interests and personalities, they didn’t clash at all when stuffed into a cramped little corner of the stairwell where the light was still relatively good toward the end of our session.

I hope I get the opportunity to work with them again, as they continue to grow into themselves.

Sometimes, somebody comes up with a really good, short, to-the-point, really effective way of saying something.

I started (and then recently re-started) my blog on the advice of several people who spent hours explaining to me why it’s a good idea. I started it, and then I gave up on it, because I was at a loss for anything to write in it that felt really useful. It felt like I was writing for an audience of one, and that that one was … myself.

Turns out, that’s precisely the point. Here’s a short excerpt from an interview with Seth Godin and Tom Peters, that sums up in less than two minutes, what would take me hours to explain:

Big thanks to my buddy Carl Eric Johnson for turning me on to this little gem.

Q: How do you get a Blonde onto the roof?

A: Tell her drinks are on the house …

What is it with ten year old boys and the attitude?

Well, with this one, I quite literally asked for it. I wanted to see a bit of his serious side, because he is also very pensive

and playful

and easily embarrassed by his sister. ;P

All around this whole family is a blast to work with (and I’m not just saying that because their mom is my landlady! ;P). I love working with people like this - Ordinary, everyday, hard-working, hard-playing, “just plain folks”. There’s so much richness and joy to be found in the people around us, which is why I got into this business in the first place.

In a world where good parenting has been defined for us by “the experts” as constant micro-manegerial supervision, it’s refreshing to hear from someone who insists that she’s Not That Kind of Mommy.

This is a great essay on the merits of letting kids learn self-worth, self-reliance, and social skills by … *gasp* … letting them be kids! Thank you, Kathryne.

We can learn about our businesses from the most amazing sources - history, experts, nature. Recently I read a great blurb from Seth Godin about what we can learn from the tiniest of businesses:

Lessons From Very Tiny Businesses

Sometimes, it’s not so much what kids say that’s eye-opening, but how they hear what we say to them …

(This is another one that someone e-mailed me years ago, and has been sitting in my pile of funny bits.)

My niece at the age of three was excited about going to the park. we had told her to hurry and get her shoes. when she came back she had them on the wrong feet and we told her so. she replied “their the only feet I have!!”

I make it a point to continue learning and growing my photographic craft whenever I can. Part of that is, of course, “Practice, Practice, Practice”. Another part is more formal education. Nearly a decade ago, one of the members of the Wasatch Camera Club introduced me to the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops, which brings photographers of all ages and skill levels together with experts and masters of the craft in a wonderful small-group mentoring environment. I have been blessed to participate in a number of workshops there, with some of the most talented and amazing photographers in the world - some as mentors and some as peers.

Last October, I spent a week in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico being mentored alongside six other eager photographers, by Jock Sturges, one of the great masters of the portrait photograph. Among the beautiful sights and engaging people I met there was this young lady:

She and her mother were among the models who made themselves available for us to work with over the course of the week.

Among the reasons that I love working with kids, is that I find their energy and enthusiasm to be contagious. This young lady is no exception. Indeed she is one of the brightest and most energetic people I have ever met (she takes after her mother in that regard). I absolutely adore her playfulness, and it’s a real treat to see her play with her little sister. She prefers to show her more grown-up, serious side to the camera, but when I look into her eyes in this photograph, I can see the boundless wonder waiting to get out and change the world. She’s so wonderfully full of life.

I’m hoping to attend another of these workshops in Mexico this year, and if I’m really, really lucky, I may get to work with her again.

Here’s a list, from OnlineColleges.net, of 100 useful websites for High School students

http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2009/08/12/100-super-useful-sites-for-high-school-students/

Ranging from social sites, to research resources, to finding out how to get financing for their college aspirations, there are a lot of useful resources out there on the web!

Found this interesting little article on little (FREE!) things you can do to be more appealing to prospective clients:
http://moreclientsmoreprofits.com/articles/attract-more-clients.html Thanks Peter!