Happy Valentine's Day! 

Quick pinterest tutorial-

From my perspective, it's somewhat like clicking "like" on facebook without having to be "friends" or talk a lot.

How to get started-

1- Request an invite. This is much quicker if you know someone who's already using pinterest. Just tell them your email and it's simple to send an invite.

2. Edit your settings and privacy- Use the link provided in your email to sign up. Once you do, it will automatically add people for you to follow. You can change that later. Look to the top right of your screen and you should see your name. Go to settings and you will see edit profile. You can add pinterest to your facebook timeline, which will automatically post things you've pinned there on your facebook wall. Link account to facebook and then your friends  will be able to find you easier on here. There's also an option for twitter. Mine is turned on and at this time I haven't seen it posting tweets for me to let people know what all I've found on pinterest. When facebook and twitter are turned on, people will see links to those accounts directly under your profile picture. You can always choose to turn these off if you do not want to be easily found. However, there are no real privacy settings that I can find. If someone sees a pin, they can choose to follow your boards or comment on them. You can do the same. Keep in mind that all of this, at this time, is viewable to the public. We can't make a list so that only certain people can see our activity on pinterest.

3. Following- Back to the top right of the screen, under your name, you will see "find friends". From what I can tell this will bring up everyone from your facebook friend list (right column)who is on pinterest and has chosen to link their facebook accounts to their pinterest account (see #2). You may also send invites to others on your facebook friend list, in the left column. If you click the red "follow" button, this will automatically follow all of their pins, boards, and comments. You can also click on their name, then choose only certain boards to follow from there. At the bottom of each pin board is a follow button. Or, under their name, click the red follow all button. 

If you're interested in recipes and not books, then you could click follow on their recipe board and choose not to follow the rest. Whatever you choose will show up on your home screen, somewhat like facebook's news feed. That part is up to you!

Click on pinterest in the top middle of the screen to get back to the home page. From there you can hover over pinners you follow (will only show you pin boards or people you have chosen to follow) or you can view everything, videos, popular, and gifts. Everything will give you a lot of random items or you can use the menu under "everything" to choose a topic that interests you. Popular and video, same concept, shows you what's popular and videos. Gifts will show you items that you can purchase. When you click on any pin, pinterest will first take you to the "pin" then when you click on the "pin" (picture) it will open a new tab/window showing the original web page of the item.

4. Like vs repin- If you like the look of something but don't want to "pin" at this time, you can just click on "like". Later, look to the top right of the screen and you'll see an option to view all of your boards, pins, and likes.

5. Boards and how to pin- I have a board called "cook this" of recipes I'd like to try and convert to gluten free. Once I've done this and enjoyed the recipe, I'll move it over to my "GF goodies" board. But you don't have to get that complicated :). Pinterest will start you out with a few boards and you can edit and create new boards as you go along. Click on something you like, click repin, and choose which category it belongs in under the drop down menu. At the end of that menu, you have the option to create a new board for anything you like.

6. Editting boards- At the top right under your name, hover and choose "boards". The next screen will show you all boards you've created. You can click on edit to change the title, description, category, or delete the board. You also have the option to add other contributors.

7. Contributors -If you and friends want to combine your efforts to create a large board of craft ideas (or whatever you choose), you can add people as a "contributors", simply meaning they can pin items to the board as well. From what I've found, you must click "follow all" on each other's profiles to use the same board. I could be wrong on this, but it's how I finally got it to work. See #6

8. Search bar - on the top left of the screen you can perform a search for specific items

Don't forget to install the "pin it" on your toolbar! For a full tutorial, visit pinterest's help section here 

If anyone needs an invite, contact me amymatthews@embarqmail.com with your email address and I'll be more than happy to send you one. I like pinterest a little too much. And it looks like most of you are there too, pinning away everything from recipes to math problems. Who wants to join me and win a free session with 10% off the order from that session?

It's really simple. We need to be "following" each other's pins and I'll add you as a contributor to the board "we like".....found here http://pinterest.com/amytmatthews/we-like/ . Pin at least one photo you like from my portfolio....right here http://amymatthewsphotography.com/?load=html  and then add all the things that make you YOU. Like to cook? Share a recipe. Book nerd like yours truly? Pin a book.

Winner chosen randomly by May 1st. Have fun!

Don't forget, if I get 100 comments on this post I'll give away a free session with either 10 gift prints or a disc with 5 images. It's for a good cause. Spread the word. 

2011- it was the best of times and some days it was the worst of times! Fall brought more business in a few short weeks than I'd had all year put together, and I'm truly thankful for that. But honestly I wasn't prepared and there were many nights I was up at 3am submitting orders or nit picking over the margins on an album. The crickets are chirping right now and it's kinda nice. You won't hear me complaining about not being overbooked at the moment; I desparately needed the down time that January always brings to be with my family, share some things with you, re-focus, and rest.  Part of re-focusing (my priorities, my business, my own personal battles) is to look back on what worked, what didn't, and those light bulb moments in between. Note- January is over. I'll be getting restless soon, can't stand but so much down time. Let's book more sessions soon! ;)  

Here's 5 things that made a huge difference with me last year, that I'll take into this year and beyond as I keep pressing forward to find my way through this crazy maze of life.

1. I learned to say no. Yes, I said no to working with someone. Gulp.

My turning point was when I receieved an inquiry about a session out on the lake. A huge family, all coming together from different states and different countries to document their entire family, together for the 1st time, as a gift to aging parents. Ecstatic can only describe the first couple of emails back and forth. It was just perfect. Until the person started to haggle me over price. I've since raised my prices and looking back I cannot believe this person would even feel the need to complain, but anywho. This wouldn't be an easy job due to the amount of people and special requests involved and I should have been charging at least double what I quoted her. They wanted the world for next to nothing, and I have a distinct feeling this was the type of family who could most certainly afford to spend whatever they wished on what they valued and deemed important. We parted ways with this- "Another photographer is going to do the shoot and give us the disc with copyright for $150. Honestly Amy, I like you better, we are much more impressed with your work, but I can't turn down that kind of deal." I kindly replied that due to overhead, taxes, etc... I am unable to match his prices. Please contact me if anything goes wrong with the other photographer and I will do all I can to help you. Best wishes.

It hurt me and it helped me. I didn't want to turn down this job; I really wanted to meet this family, hear their story, and give them the most beautiful photos I'd ever taken (I say that with everybody and strangely enough I mean it with everybody. I'm a weirdo, don't try to figure it out). But at that moment I learned that my time and my work is worthy of respect. It's worth something that every person wanting the moon and back for free can't nail a rock bottom clearance tag to. It's hard for me to imagine that for $150, someone could get the job done right, give away all rights to the images they created, all prospect of making any sales, and give them a wonderful experience from start to finish. It's possible they lucked up with an amazing photographer who was just starting out and for their sake I hope that's exactly what happened. And for my sake, I'm glad I said no. Working 15 hours for $150 (before costs and taxes mind you) is not smart, and it's a little insulting for people to expect any legitimate business to do so. Maybe people who don't have to pay their dues or constantly re-invest in the never ending learning experience and business of photography can afford to give it all away. I can't. And I'm proud of myself for saying no.

2. Stopped comparing myself. Still I oooh and ahhhh almost every day over other photographer's work. But I don't know how long they've been at this, what their own personal situation is, and I can't use another person's online persona and images to set the bar for my own. So what the photographer an hour away has 500 comments on her facebook wall today- does that really tell me I stink, I need to give up, and x photog is about to take over all business in the state? No. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes. You do your thing and I'll do mine. Jeremy Cowart is amazing, but he's one in a million and my work will never be as amazing as Cowart's. I can only hope to one day hold a candle to those who consistently raise the standards in this industry. I'll never be Ansel Adams because there can never be another Ansel Adems....he was his own man with his own vision. So number 3 is-

3. Honed in on my style...I think. Instead of doing what I think everyone wants or following the latest trends, which are fickle and ever changing, I stomped my feet and planted them firmly in 2011. I've always refused to be a copycat but this one goes a step further. Bouncing back and forth between this and that is no good for me. I know what I like, what inspires me, and what I am best at. It's a disservice to myself and potential clients to offer them a menu of items I don't like cooking up. When I'm shoved in a box and told to reproduce the look of something people, big mart (or whatever they are), I never do a great job with it. Acceptable, yes, something that makes me proud- never. I can't be someone I'm not. It took time to find it, but I know what catches my eye and causes me to take a second look. Every photographer needs their own style, and it can't be bought or taught at a workshop. You can learn many valuable things that way, but you can't learn who you are as a photographer or a person from anyone else or at any price. Does this change over time, with new life experiences, more business, more soul searching....yes, absolutely yes. And that style even when it changes is still who you are. Stick to it. Don't apologize for it. Don't expect everyone to love it, but be sure there are many who will appreciate it and hire you for just that. 

Next time-

Persevered through Murphy's Law

Vowed to never give up

Please note that nowhere on this list is dropping $10k on lenses, ordering 50 knit hats on etsy, or buying the trendiest new actions (although they're always tempting). I finally got it through my thick skull that even though those things can be helpful or fun to play with, they don't make or break you. If I could write a check for 10 grand in lenses right now- I would not do it. I'd re-invest every penny towards the business, not gear wish list. Some of you will understand why I say this, and you'll nod your head in agreement knowing it's a milestone we photographers must reach in our own time. Some of you are where I was 2 years ago, still convinced that the 70-200 2.8 is where your breakthrough lies. It can make your job easier some days, but trust me, that new lens won't give you what you're looking for. I've been there and some days I think I'm still there :) 

I can't believe I didn't have a FAQs section started before. I will work on this as time allows but for now, hopefully this can be of use. Any questions you may have, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll address those ASAP. Have a good weekend all! I'm off to slumber on my new mattress. No more springs poking me in the hip joint. Wooohoo! Look out Warren County!

Hey, read #2 if you get the chance. I know lots of folks are always thinking "what, you bring home over $100 an hour you lazy dog"....um, NO. But Sandi wishes I did so we could buy her more toys to destroy. She says Hi. Or, woof.

Back in November I headed out to Henrico so excited to shoot a family session on Lake Gaston. Halfway there, I realized I had forgotten my lightstands and you know me, I must be over-prepared and hauling a trunk full of stuff wherever I go. Had to turn around and get them. Most would tell me I shouldn't admit this publicly but really, has that ever stopped me before? I was 15 minutes late (first time i've EVER been late to a session) but it's A-okay because I know this family, and it ended up being a blessing in disguise. This time of year, 15 minutes late meant we had to shoot with flash. And lookey here at the images we got with flash! 

First photo I've taken that I absolutely love in a square ratio. Seriously. Those are hard to get right composition wise and still be interesting after the crop. This one works just perfectly!

Beautimous orange skies. And believe it or not, I didn't fake it in post processing. All I did was set the white balance on cloudy....since it was cloudy out that night. I hate sitting around in photoshop if I don't have too. Flash is my friend for that very reason. 

And here's what went on their Christmas card.