Get Off Your Ass!

Archive for May, 2010

Get Off Your Ass!

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Get up, stand up, sit up, speak up! Get going and keep going. There’s a lot to be said about the unexpected. There’s a lot of harm that can happen if you expose yourself. Although exposing yourself to the world can also lead to a lot of good. I may not be making any sense. Let me clarify. Being active in whatever job you’ve got is an important function. This last Thursday’s Roundup was a pretty great example of that. It really got me thinking about some of the previous opportunities that I’ve come across and it hit me. ”I was just kind of lucky.” Honestly, I’d love to say that I’m just a great photographer but the truth is pure and simple luck has a good deal to do with my success… or does it?

See I’ve been fairly active. A lot of us are so I’m not accusing or pointing fingers. But I would like to emphasize exactly how important it can be to simply be active. What do I mean by active? Maybe I should start there. What I mean is going out and taking shots, saying hello to strangers, making new friends, showing your work, and over all networking. Consider the following:

- You’re a coffee drinker. You’d like to have your coffee at home in the morning on a morning that you’re in no particular hurry. While even though I’m not a coffee drinker I have to admit this sounds like a pleasant way to start the day, I can also say with absolute certainty that the odds of you making a connection with someone that can land you a potentially big gig are zero. On the other hand, if you went out to a coffee shop that morning instead… your odds of something extraordinary happening are ever so slightly greater than zero. While it may be 1 in 10,000,000 that’s still infinitely great than zero! INFINITELY!! Just by leaving your house you have greatly improved the chances you might have a business card fall out of your wallet onto the counter in that coffee shop as you’re paying you bill while your change falls on the floor at the same time, forcing you to bend down and pick up your change while the advertising exec on the phone behind you notices your card on the counter during a conversation he’s having with his colleagues about needing a photographer for a small (for him) job ASAP. Bam! you’re in the door.

OK, this is not too likely. But it’s just one of thousands of possible situations that could be real. All because you’ve left your house and were active. This last Roundup was a smaller turnout but Courtney, Gray and I were all very happy to attend a press conference we were invited to by Jill from Scotts. They were promoting a new product at Casa Loma and she saw us with our cammies and asked if we’d like to attend. She didn’t ask us to give her any shots, just asked for our info and maybe she’d talk to us later. We got to go inside Casa Loma, watch a new commercial, eat some goodies, drink some drinks, play with a medieval knight and meet some new people. Pretty random but it happened because we were at Casa Loma to begin with.

You never know what you’re going to come across in photography, life, or any other business by being active. It’s a simple thing but you’re bound to land at least one job through just being out and about. I guarantee it. How can I promise this you ask? Isn’t it just luck? Well only sort of. I mean in the long run, if you play the odds and they’re above zero, you’re eventually going to land a job. I know I’ve landed several to date already and will likely land more soon. So don’t be lazy. Go out and do your thing. You’ll quickly realize the power of being active. It’s an amazing thing when something completely random happens and A leads to B leads to… J and you’re suddenly somewhere you could only have dreamt of if you stayed in bed and slept in that morning.

Happy travels,

David Dvir

Posted in My two cents, Updates | 1 Comment »

Round Ups Going Well – Take Your “Pic” for Photo of the Week

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

I’m happy to say that the Thursday Roundups are going pretty darned well. Last week we had our biggest turnout with some unexpected company, and depending on how you count it I’d say we either had 9 or 11 photographers come out. It’s starting to get really fun to get to know knew people and I’m still eager to see how this all develops. We can check out the facebook group and feel free to join in order to get more info on dates etc. Tomorrow morning we’ll be heading to Casa Loma and I’m pretty excited for that. Bring your macro lens!! Here are some pics from last week’s Roundup.

You can always see more pictures, as well as from all the other talented photographs by checking out the facebook group. All interested potential member for the Roundup are encourages to come out, or if you have any questions, send them my way!

Until next Thursday

David Dvir

Posted in Photo of the week, Thursday Roundups | No Comments »

Rolling the Dice?

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

There’s a lot to be said about rolling the dice in life. Taking a chance is quite often a highly over thought decision. I have my own personal policies on taking chances but let’s hold off on that for now. The important thing to discuss isn’t what I think, but why I think it. Chances are all around us. Everyday we’re face with countless choices to make but it’s the “big” ones that take us a moment to decide on. Perhaps that shouldn’t be the case?

When I started my own photography business – that was a big chance. I mean you can justify it but ultimately you really never know how successful you’ll be. Just that if you work hard enough and never give up you stand a good chance. As of today, I know five other photographers who are currently thinking about making that decision. They’re wondering if it’s going to be a good idea to take the plunge and follow their dream full time. That would mean quitting their 9-5s and banking on earning some dough through photography to pay the rent. That can be a scary choice to make. And as much as I’d like to say otherwise, deciding to pursue it as a career has some element of rolling the dice in it.

So what should they do? Well it’s not my place to tell them what they should do, but it’s clear what choice I made when I was in their shoes. Pick up those dice, blow on them for good luck, and toss ‘em away hoping you don’t see snake eyes. The interesting part about taking big chances is that they tend to go hand in hand with either big success, or big… well… not so success. It’s how bad you want that success that’s going to define whether or not you’re going to take the chance.

My friend Andrew and I tonight met up for a long overdue visit. We caught up with each other and eventually headed over to a nearby Boston Pizza. We had a great time catching up and all the while Andrew was having fun chatting with annoying our waitress. At the end of the meal, on our way out, he decided to ask her for her phone number. Sufficed to say the picture below shows in fine form his outcome. She shot him down like she was manning the guns in the Millennium Falcon and he was a Tie Fighter. BUT he took a chance. I realize this is nothing like starting a business, I just thought it was a humorous comparison. And it is actually relevent. If Andrew ever really wanted to have a date with Dana (the waitress) it probably wasn’t going to happen unless he asked her out at some point, agreed?

A large part of taking chances is knowing how to roll with the failures. It’s going to happen, but you can start by taking smaller chances and working up to the ones that scare you more. I can honestly say that there’s no feeling like closing your eyes, biting down and holding on for dear life until the end. And when it comes out that whatever you were hoping for actually happened, you’ll never regret it. That business isn’t going to start itself, and if you’ve been thinking about it this much perhaps you’re on to something. In my opinion, life’s chances are worth taking. You can never be sure of the outcome, but one thing is guaranteed: you won’t be where you were before taking that chance. Good luck!

David Dvir

Posted in Business of photography, My two cents | 2 Comments »

Just One More Month

Monday, May 10th, 2010

I don’t feel stressed out too often. In fact it’s something of a rarity for me. During my undergrad it would be common place for me to stroll to an exam, not a care in the world. However times change, and today, for a moment, I found myself a bit delirious. It’s hard to describe the feeling. I think it was a combination of excitement and stress, timelines and balances, pressure and well you get the picture. Life today somehow seemed simple and easy yet so complex the thought of even looking at my next task left me petrified.

It started as I wrote a To-Do list. I do this quite a bit. I find it really helps me get focused and I enjoy that feeling of crossing off one of the more challenges items to start my day. Well today’s list was a bit longer than normal. In fact, it was probably the longest list I’d ever had. It’s been about a week since my last list (I don’t usually wait that long after my last one to make another). I guess things got backed up. I filled a page or so with things to do, and moved on to fill another two. That’s breaks the record by about two pages! While writing the list I didn’t really notice the number of things to do. It’s when I was done and began reading it that I felt this stress.

I certainly wasn’t expecting to have so many things to do when I set out to build a studio. However now that I’m knee deep, it’s a whole other ball game. Aside from the whole studio thing, I’ve also got a bunch of things to consider as well. Things like; moving out of my current apartment (3 weeks and I need to be out!), or trying to maintain a client base (studio won’t pay for itself), keeping up practicing photography, maintaining a social life – which is getting harder and harder, expanding my portfolio, staying healthy by eating right and working out, or ordering equipment from Vistek, and updating my website, or blogging!, the lists goes on. I felt a feeling in my gut I didn’t like much and then the bad thought happened “What on Earth am I going to do? This just isn’t possible… not in a month’s time.”. Not a healthy thought to be thinking in the 11th hour.

It’s mostly things to do with the studio that’s giving me this stress. Making sure in 3-4 weeks when it’s all completed construction-wise, that I’ve got all the equipment and furniture I’ll need in there is so much more difficult than I initially expected it to be. There’s this intricate web of things that are all interconnected and rely on each other. Equipment, furniture, finishes, placement of cat5 cables, outlets, speakers, ceilings, floors, computers, networks, televisions, internet and cable.. telephones, chairs, tables.. it just never ends. The players in this web are all performing some weird dance and they have to do it flawlessly in order for the studio to work when construction is done. Turns out I’m the choreographer. Someone’s got to take care of the curtains for the windows, or the signage for the building’s face. If I don’t designs a storage locker for my gear, no one will etc.. I don’t imagine many readers are able to follow all the details there are. But that’s alright.

I suppose if I didn’t feel some stress at some point I wouldn’t be on the right track ;). One thing I managed to keep straight was my belief that if you let it get to you, you’ll fail. Stress can suck but mulling over it cannot possibly help your situation. You’ve got to pick yourself up and cross something off your To-Do list. Otherwise you’ll wake up tomorrow with one less day and at least one more To-Do. There’s no real lesson for this blog post. I think I may just be venting. I know that in two month’s time I’ll be looking back and realizing that the worst is over. I will eventually be able to be just a photographer again. I’m looking forward to it. In the mean time.. I’m going to try and avoid making as detailed lists as today’s. I think keeping it simple is the only way I’ll hold on to whatever measure of sanity I’ve got left.

David Dvir

Posted in Updates | No Comments »

Studio Update

Sunday, May 9th, 2010

2DP_3546

So for the past few months, studio construction has been going strong. I’ve been taking photographs of the process the entire time to put into a compilation when it’s all said and done but for the most parts, the images haven’t really been to special. Most of the images so far are a bit empty with reference to showing any sort of structure to the studio. Today however, things seem to be looking like they’re taking shape a bit better so I decided to give a bit of a sneak peak into the look of things. Below is a few shots of the construction, might be hard to make out what you’re looking at but it will all clear up eventually. I don’t think it’s possible to express quite how excited I am about all this. It’s just a few weeks away now!

All major walls are now completed and essentially what’s left to be done is; painting the drywall, the ceiling over the offices, lounge and kitchen, the doors to the loading bay, and the floors. After that it’s just final details like paint and loading in all the furniture! Oh, and of course getting all the gear in there and making sure everything is running smoothly with the computers. Uh oh, I shouldn’t have written this all out, it’s more than I thought… hehe. Oh well – just gotta keep hacking away at it.

Thanks for reading!

David Dvir

Posted in Updates | No Comments »

New Desk!

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

One of the challenges I’ve found with building a new studio is that I have no excuse not to have everything I could possibly want. I’m building this thing from the ground up and so if I finish it and don’t love it 100%, that’s just silly, right? I’ve taken that thought and extended it into the actual usage of the studio. One thing (among many) that is important to me is having the most functional workspace available. I decided I wanted a big table. No two big tables! They’d both be on casters so I can move them about and one would be shorter than the other, the shorter one being able to have someone bring over a computer and work on it while we shoot tethered. The idea here is that now matter what I shoot in my space, I can always have a nearby table to put my gear on, or sketches or light tables or photographs etc…

I looked around and I could quite find what I was looking for, not to mention the cost of anything similar was kind of insane. So I decided to just build the darned things myself. I went out, picked up the supplies and today James and I worked on it and built both of these beauties. They’re both rock solid and can hold up to 800 lbs!!! That’s a lot of camera gear!! They’re pretty gigantic tables but I’m glad to have them. I think anything other than these just wouldn’t have made the cut. Sometimes you just have to do it yourself. I’ll also be building all 6 office desks for the studio shortly (hopefully I get James’ help on those as well), just waiting for the bulk of construction to finish before attacking that project since they’re going to be a bit more delicite and I’m more concerned about the final finish of them then for these utility desks.

So here’s a video of us building the first desk of two, and a shot of each of them. I don’t know if there’s a moral to this post, perhaps just that if you want something, don’t settle. Do what you’ve got to in order to get what you want. It’ll be worth it in the end.