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There are so many words that float around in the photography industry that make me smile.

I shall now try to properly define (much thanks to Urban Dictionary) and credit 2 of my favorites — while they may not have been the first to use them, they certainly were the ones who in my opinion, made them what they are today.

EYEGASM – What happens when someone sees a sight so amazing their brain goes on overload. You may have to blink your eyes a few times to even comprehend the awesomeness that’s in front of you.

Many thanks to the many tweets from @imageisfound that solidified this as a term in my vocabulary – and to his images that constantly back up the definition by allowing me to experience the meaning. I can’t wait to know what the next word is that the awesome Nate Kaiser decides to grace our little industry with.

COMMANDIVE – A state of being in which the subject is telling people what to do instead of showing them – often causing a delay in a process and frustration for all involved.

I read the following on Jasmine Star’s Blog yesterday and it firmly placed “commandive” into my mental dictionary: “Of course I could tell her what to do, but this could take forever, become commandive (FYI, just made up that word), and frustrating for the subjects.”

Now, for me, my word of the day is RADITUDE: A rad or tubular state of demeanor or being. (Also the name of Weezer’s new album).

I think the best part about our Fotoworks Pro clients is their Raditude. I couldn’t possibly imagine having more appreciative and kindhearted clients – and their zeal for life, good humor and awesome outlook on situations makes me all the more happy to serve them.

I also liked one of The Urban Dictionary’s alternate definitions for Raditude: Having the right state of mind to be able to efficiently use the word “radical.”

Joe: Radical!!!

Matt: Joe, don’t use that word man. You don’t have the raditude for it.

What are your favorite words? Have a new one to teach me? Bring it on!

And in case you need a good laugh, click here to read The Urban Dictionary’s definition of Photographer.

Dear Wonderful, Fabulous, Amazing PROs,

It’s RUSH week here at Fotoworks Pro. And while we, on occassion, do enjoy getting a little Neil Peart up in us, we’re not talking about the band.

It’s time for you to tell your fellow photographers about the lab you love – for them to enjoy an amazing new client credit – and for you to earn some rewards.

So we’re offering our very own RUSH WEEK special – without the sweaty frat boys, stained futons, midnight streaking and beer pong. Well, maybe we can keep the beer pong. I’ll see what I can do.

Once or twice a year Fotoworks Pro offers a special increased discount to new clients – a $25 free credit for them to sign up and try us out at no cost to them. The credit covers any prints or services they want to try. If their order comes under the $25 there’s no shipping charge – and there’s no minimum. They don’t have to spend $50 to get the $25 … it’s just $25 – no strings attached.

This year, we extended our special discount for 6 MONTHS! But now this credit, like all good things, must come to an end.

But there’s still time for you to either sign up yourself as a new client or tell your friends and let them enjoy this special credit. All New Client sign-ups done before Saturday October 31, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. are eligible to receive the credit.

AND NOW: THE BIG BONUS: If you have a photographer friend sign up with us and on their new client form they choose “Another Photographer” and type your name in the box below – you’ll receive a $5 credit of your own when they use their $25 credit.

We want you to spread the good word about Fotoworks – take a minute and share your love for the lab that loves you back. Call your second shooters, tweet your followers, facebook your friends – there’s no limit to how many $5 credits you can have.

We love our Fotoworks PROs and we’re sure to love your photographer friends too!

Thanks for sending them our way!

Xoxo,

Katie

Thank goodness it’s Fotoworks Pro! ;-D

Okay, okay… Thank goodness it’s Friday! The weekend is here – lots of shooting to do, which means lots of orders for us next week! You’ve all been keeping us really busy over here and we’re loving every second of it.

One of my favorite parts about this job is that I get to see the work of so many fabulous photographers – and I get to watch them get even better over time.

I don’t have much time to blog this morning, but I just wanted to throw this out there: not to dig on her or anything, but I was really disappointed in Annie Leibovitz’ new portrait of the Obama family.

I was expecting something so much more – more unique, more vibrant, more…. well, more like the work I see pass through our printers every day here at Fotoworks Pro. I know it was a “formal” portrait and it’s not really like you can easily take the President of the United States and his family into a random field to have them run around or to a rundown industrial area to get edgy portraits (although the political backlash of those would be interesting) – but I just really looked at it and though “Eh, I’ve seen better.”

In other news, I greatly enjoyed the Angels win last night against the Yankees – and I’m looking forward to seeing what my boys do against them this weekend. I’ll definitely be watching the game from my favorite Historic Downtown Fullerton sports bar Heroes – cheering my team on with a pitcher of beer while I dump peanut shells on the ground (I think that’s why I love that place – because they WANT you to make a mess). And because I get WIFI there. So I get to watch the game, eat peanuts, drink beer & follow what ya’ll are up to on Twitter while you’re shooting! WOO HOO! Hm… beer, messy peanuts and my laptop. Maybe I’ll just stick with the twitter following on my CrackBerry.

To all our FABULOUS Fotoworks PROs: this weekend, go out and shoot your weddings and portraits and know that here in beautiful Southern California, your lab loves you – and thinks you’re just a tiny bit better than Annie Leibovitz. ;-D

All the best,

Katie

At some point in the process of packing up my apartment last night I reached a breaking point where I just really wanted to throw it all away. Where did all the cheap accessories, endless stationery and insane amounts of candles come from? Tragically: the number of never used shoes and purses that I packed up almost outnumbered the embarrassing hot pink glitter tchotchkes that filled my drawers.

Luckily, I have an amazing best friend who sat with me while I sorted through the endless clutter and tried to figure out exactly what was important to me – what had value.

While I truly am all about the little things – a hot pink glitter filled bouncy ball, the hot sauce packets at Taco Bell that make me giggle, twinkle lights outside of the holiday season and zebra printed votive candles – I’m recognizing that sometimes it’s all the little stuff that piles up and keeps us from seeing the things that have value. There needs to be a balance between the little and the big – between the urgent and the important. Balance – not the easiest thing to achieve – I know I’m working on it.

I disposed of about 12 trash bags full of stuff last night – passing the goods along to friends, neighbors and the real junk went in the trash. And when I stepped back into my apartment after the last run to the trash chute, I looked around and saw so many things that I was blessed to have – so many things that I hadn’t picked up or touched or used in a long time – but they were the things that I love the most.

As I stacked box after box against my wall trying to get it ready to be u-hauled (verb?) this weekend, I came across an old leather case that my grandparents gave me almost a year ago. At the time they gave it to me, I was rushing out the door and didn’t think twice about it. I brought it home and it got lost in the shuffle of junk.

I opened it last night and was in awe of what I found. Gorgeous, classy old leather lens cases, a tiny leather cylinder with a zipper that holds a roll of film, lenses and filters, cameras and cleaning cloths. All carefully cleaned, stored and protected by my Great Grandpa. My boyfriend Jon was over and he immediately helped me put film in the cameras and we shot a few frames of my dismantled apartment.

Jon reached into the bag to switch lenses and called me over to look. He pulled a ratty old camera strap out of the bag and handed it over to me. I stared at the worn leather and said, “well, it’s cool that it’s kinda old… but it’s not like I’m going to use it or anything. I should pack it away…” and Jon said, “Flip it over.” I turned the camera strap over in the hands and as it switched from the worn leather lining to the outer canvas shell, what I read brought tears to my eyes.

Something about seeing his name embroidered into the strap made it finally hit me that these were my Great Grandpa’s cameras – which he loved and which have been given to me. 3 Generations ago there was a photographer in our family. I’m not much for being sweetly sentimental, but I’ll just say it was a bit of a magic moment for me.

I’m going to try to stay uncluttered and unjunked – in the “stuff” I keep, my relationships, my workflow, everything. Hopefully by not focusing so much on the little things, the big picture will be clearer – and I’ll find remarkable things of value.

I hope you all have an absolutely fabulous weekend! Shoot hard, play harder. ;-D  And be excited for next week! Awesome new product announcement coming your way from Fotoworks Pro!

All the best,

Katie Johnson