John C Jay wrote 10 Lessons for Young Designers, and I feel like they work well for young photographers, too.

1: Be authentic. The most powerful asset you have is your individuality, what makes you unique. It’s time to stop listening to others on what you should do.

2: Work harder than anyone else and you will always benefit from the effort.

3: Get off the computer and connect with real people and culture. Life is visceral.

4: Constantly improve your craft. Make things with your hands. Innovation in thinking is not enough.

5: Travel as much as you can. It is a humbling and inspiring experience to learn just how much you don’t know.

6: Being original is still king, especially in this tech-driven, group-grope world.

7: Try not to work for stupid people or you’ll soon become one of them.

8: Instinct and intuition are all-powerful. Learn to trust them.

9: The Golden Rule actually works. Do good.

10: If all else fails, No. 2 is the greatest competitive advantage of any career.

It’s nice to hear affirmed what I have always had an inkling of: hard work is really important and can trump being cool, lucky, glamorous, or well-connected.

via Swiss Miss

A whole lot of you weighed in on my survey; there are more of you than I thought there were! Hi! (There’s still time to take it, by the way. It’s going to go until next Monday or 1000 responses, whichever comes first.)

It’s valuable information that will help me make my blog better, so thank you. It’s also, as you may have guessed, the beginning of a few changes around here.

Throughout the years I’ve dabbled in different “professional blogging” adventures, but I’ve never had anything stick because I didn’t know how to do it professionally and learning was never really a priority. I feel differently now, and I think it’s going to be awesome.

The most important thing for me is, as always, to be perceived as an honest, forthright, and a trusted source of information. (Hence I’m talking about this. In the blogging world, it seems talking about the inner business workings of your blog is about as taboo as blogging about sex.) I’ve consulted with a few smart people to bring some unique opportunities to light, and I’m excited.

Rob has worked with me on a redesign of the site. Meanwhile, if you know of a business, large or small, that might be interested working with The Amber Show in some way, please put us in touch.

Finally, I will always appreciate your feedback, either in the comments or via email. Hate something? Love something? What should I be mindful of? Did I totally fuck up? Lemme hear it.

You, after all, make my blog worth writing.

Fun and snarky handlettered artwork by Mike Monteiro, available for purchase on 20×200

My business Amber Marlow Photography, is running a special, and I’m cross-posting my blog post about it here.

***

If you have a blog, use Twitter or Facebook, get hired for speaking engagements, or even if you have a dating profile, you need a good headshot. It should be clear and show both your whole face (no sunglasses!) and your personality. Having a headshot is the easiest way to be recognizable in person when you’re at a conference, give a professional first impression when people visit your blog or research your company, and establish your personal brand across the internet.

This month, I’ve decided to make it really affordable by running a special: $100 for “blogger headshots”.

You will get four large images (1000 px wide) to choose from for use online.

You’ll also have the option to purchase full resolution images (suitable for making prints) for $25 each.

Images will be delivered to you within three days of our session. You have until March 9 to take advantage of this special, so get in touch!

So… the time has come to start advertising. You know, to grow my business. The one where I do the art that I love and meet amazing people and they give me money. That one.

I don’t know who the hell this kick-ass life belongs to either.

It’s… it’s not scary, but it’s close. It’s exhilarating! I’m really excited.

Will you help? I need to pick a banner ad. Rob and I made two, I can’t decide which one is going up, and I need to know before February 1.

Those are the candidates above. Your vote, in the comments… Go!

This weekend I had two photoshoots, including my very first paid one under Amber Marlow Photography (which is so exciting!)

Friday I meet the first couple and their dog at six in Prospect Park. Copper is a rescue adoption, and I wanted an opportunity to say thank you to a family that opted to not go to a breeder or pet shop to get a dog by giving them a free photoshoot. I will be doing this a few times a year, I think, schedule permitting, both to bring attention to this issue and because it makes me really, really happy.

Six was a little late, so we hustled to get shots in in the fading light, and I pushed my camera to it’s limit getting pretty pictures at max brightness. They were great, the dog was great, and I got some wonderful photos even with less than ideal lighting.

Saturday I meet with my paying clients. On the subway ride over, a knot of fear appeared in my stomach. I started to shake, and have these totally unexpected “You are not worthy.” thoughts. This was weird. When it comes to photography, I’m usually all, “Let’s DO this! Hat-cha!” That’s how I was on Friday, aside from some flutters afterward of “did I get something worth saving?!” which I’m told by a few experienced photographers is totally normal.

Along with the knot, I had a thought, totally unexpected, but in a voice all my own. “How can you charge SO MUCH? You really think you’re worth that?” the voice hissed.

(My prices, by the way, are ridiculously low, so low, in fact, that my friend Meg is heckling me to raise them and claims that I haven’t had my “come to Jesus” moment yet. I’m working on it!)

“You are going to suck. You DO suck. Your photos suck. You should just go home.”

Which, of course, is OMG SO NOT TRUE given that I’d had a totally successful shoot ONE DAY BEFORE and in worse light, but it bummed me out to have these thoughts anyway, and so out of the blue.

It was the fact that my previous shoot had gone so well that I was able to push those nerves aside, at least until the raw adrenaline of shooting took over. (Yeah, I get adrenaline rushes when I’m shooting. I don’t know if this makes me EXTREME or in desperate need of some actual excitement.)

The only difference between these two shoots, aside from the first shoot actually being a little more difficult, is money.

It is amazing how conditioned I am to not making money, to the point that I feel like I shouldn’t be allowed to. I was fine getting a paycheck from someone else way back when, when I had a boss telling me what to do and someone else telling me how much I was worth.

Clearly I have some hurdles to get over, and I will, too, because I’ll be damned if I make myself smaller, or less.

This, by the way, is my favorite shot of Copper’s photoshoot. Michelle was worried that it would look a little awkward to pick up such a big dog, but she did anyway. Christian asked if she wanted him to hold the dog, instead, and she snuggled in more and grinned. “I got her.”

Oh hel-lo!

Back at BlogHer, Laura Boyd did a few photoshoots with some bloggers, including Yvonne from Joy Unexpected. They left me inspired to create some of my own.

I Iove women. You know those girls in college that always said, “I’m one of the dudes.” or “I get along better with guys than girls.”? I’m not them. I like girl power, gal pals, ladies lunch and all of the divine secrets of the traveling vagina monologues. So when I saw Yvonne’s photos, traditionally for a man’s taste but so “girl pretty”, I was excited by how empowering they were, and how empowered she said they made her feel. I wanted to create that, too, and I want this to be part of my business.

Apparently it’s not an especially tapped market, and many of the photographers that offer this have a more – ahem – “unwholesome aesthetic” or don’t have women with actual curves in their portfolios. Thus, anyone who doesn’t have an in-your-face kinky streak or has an extra pound or two is intimidated. You know, most of us.

Then I realized, of course, that I’d need a model to get me started on this, my first of hopefully many boudoir shots.

Thankfully, my friend Nicole is shameless and gorgeous.

So ladies, who’s next?

Ladies and gents, this is a reminder about my portrait photography business, AmberMarlow.com, and some exciting news: you can have a shot at winning one of two portrait sessions with me over at A Practical Wedding! Details are here.

One is reserved specifically for a gay family.

This post from A Practical Wedding, and the comments that followed from gay couples telling about their struggles, made me realize that I should show potential gay clients, “I’m totally fine with you.” Many times homosexual families (especially engaged couples planning their weddings) encounter merchants that wouldn’t be comfortable working with them. (To me, in my little “Brooklyn bubble”, this is something that would have never crossed my mind, as in, “Of course I’m fine with gay families. Like, duh. Why are you even asking?”) Other times, a photographer is fine working with a gay couple but refuses to use those photos in their portfolios, in case they offend certain people (“homophobes” if we’re being frank, aka “people Amber doesn’t want to work with anyhow”.)

So if you are a gay family, with or without kids, with or without pets, in need of engagement photos or already married, go enter!  If you win, you’ll get nice shots of your family and I’ll get an opportunity to let the world know that Amber Marlow Blatt is proud to be an LGBTQ ally.

The second portrait session is open to anyone who needs one: engagement, maternity, boudoir, head shots, Christmas card photos, whatever!

So what are you waiting for?! Go and enter, ye New Yorkers (or anyone coming to NY in the next few months!)

My Mighty Summit roomie is the best ever.  Thank you, Meg.

Lemme just say, a taco truck is one of the raddest things you can have at a party. Truck food is fun, and it’s even more fun to order it and then just wander away without paying. Also, truck light makes pretty photos.

{Allison, Kelly and Roxanna} photo by Zan

{Elizabeth} photo by Zan

{Danielle}

{Senor taco truck guy}

We dined and danced by the light of paper bag luminaries.

photo by Zan

The next morning dawned rainy, so lunch in the redwood forest turned into lunch in a wine cave.

photo by Zan

Cool, right?!

This where we had one of the more moving parts of the weekend. While we were eating, we had to pick five things from our Life List that we wanted to accomplish in the next 365 days and write them down. Then we stood up and shared so that we could ask the group for help and possibly team up to get accomplishy.

{Heather Spohr} photo by Zan

{Maile Wilson} photo by Zan

{Allison Czarnecki} photo by Zan

{Margaret Gould Stewart} photo by Zan

A lot of women expressed a desire to learn how to sew, and Mena, who had been wowing us every day her homemade wardrobe, quickly added “teach 20 women to sew” to her List. There were big goals and little goals; we applauded Heather Armstrong and Heather Spohr’s noble foundation-starting dreams, and chuckled when Laura stated that she really wanted to knit a blue hat (which Danielle taught her mere hours later). I’m pretty sure I agreed to go sit in a hot tub in Alaska and watch the Northern Lights with some people.

Then we came back to the hotel and gussied up for a fancy dinner which we traveled to in pure luxury.

See?  PURE LUXURY people.

{Heather Armstrong} photo by Zan

The table was elegant.

The ladies were elegant.

{Erin Lochner}

{Helen Jane Hearn} photo by Zan

{Nicole Balch}

{Liz Stanley}

And the food was divine.

We started with this amazing tomato salad.  It turns out that California tomatoes kick the ass of all other tomatoes.

Helen Jane is one of the three ladies behind the event.  She picked out the amazing prix fixe menu.

Maggie presented us all with necklaces that have five tiny gold bands around them and explained that they would serve as a reminder of the five things we had picked to accomplish this year.

It takes a fab, fab dresser to pull off a turban.

There was a lot of the good crying and hand squeezing and encouraging talk, and I fell in love a zillion times.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and I flew home, having all been inspired to go forth and kick some ass.  I was sad to leave all of my new friends, but I missed my family more.  When I saw this, I started to cry.

“I can see my house from here!”

This is a pretty good photo to sum up the weekend: wine and technology.

So I land in San Francisco and breeze off the plane and into my brand new on-loan-for-the-weekend 2011 Honda Insight hybrid. Oh, hello, pretty car with new car smell. Off I go to pick up Liz at her house.

“Are you one of those people who lands in San Francisco and immediately wants to go to In-N-Out?” she asked.

“I am, actually!” I said, “but I was too shy to say so.”

She laughed. “Oh no! We have to go now!”

I will love her forever for that.

After our diet busting meal we arrived at Boon hotel + spa and immediately started in with the cocktails, hugging, and mingling. Then the sun went down and there were the s’mores on a campfire and cozy blankets.

photo by Zan

Photo of Liz and Danielle by Zan.

Karen tried her first and declared it her last.

“You’ve never had a s’more before?” We were all incredulous.

“We don’t do this in Trinidad!” she exclaimed, shaking her curls.

We had no idea who our roommates (and bedmates!) were going to be until we got there, but I had my fingers crossed for a few people. One of them was Meg, and I did a happy dance when I found out we were together, since we’d been chatting on Twitter for a while and I really dig her.

Maggie said she paired us up because we have “the same enthusiasm for life”. Meg’s wedding blog bypasses the typical favors-dresses-napkins talk, and focuses on the emotions and stories of getting married and being a wife. It is so, so good, especially for me in my married-and-not-a-mom state.

The next morning we had non-pretentious wine education with sommelier Erin Sullivan, and now I can say things like “nose” and “boquet” without blinking.  Here she is breaking it down for us.

Isn’t she lovely?

Here are Danielle and Kelly giggling at our wine education.  I keep seeing photos of these two and thinking they are me.

Next we had tours of Arista Vineyards and Moshin Vineyards, where we had lunch.

Uh oh, Meg!  Almost out!

MORE PLEASE!  photo by Zan

Cheers, Leah!

Ellen Gerstein, the marketing director for Wiley Publishing, read everyone’s Life List and selected two “For Dummies” books for everyone based on them. I got Digital Portrait Photography and a set of CDs to learn Spanish. This was the first of several times I got teary-eyed over the weekend. So, so thoughtful and well done. Bravo, Ellen, and thank you.

Here’s something you don’t know: I have a sentimental spot for the “For Dummies” line. I have bought one at every single major turn in my life, ever since my family bought 1995′s “Macintosh Performa 630 For Dummies”. It was cool to have a brand I’ve grown up with show us some love.

Babies on tour!

{That’s Nicole Balch from Making it Lovely and Andrea Scher from Superhero Journal}

The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging around and then we had a fiesta dinner, complete with taco truck, where we discovered that Maggie’s husband Bryan makes a mean margarita. The favors were gigantic head flowers in various colors, and we quickly turned into looking like exotic plants having dinner together.

{Cecily, Meg, Liz, Maggie, Laura and Heather}

I picked a red one.

Hey, listen, when you’re taking a self-portrait with a real camera, it’s hard to get the focus right, ok?  Enjoy gazing at the crisply in-focus cinnamon colored freckles on my nose.

Part two tomorrow!

These are our pretty faces.  photo via

Hi!

I’m not almost-but-not-quite back from Mighty Summit 2010 (this is my first blog post from an airplane!) and my brain is BUZZING AND CHURNING with the wonderfulness of it all. Not to mention my CF card is busting with photos of beautiful wine country and beautiful women.

I’d been debating doing one big post or several smaller ones about, and I think I’m going to break it down for you in bits this coming week, because you need to hear about all of the awesome, thoughtful details that Helen Jane, Maggie and Laura stuffed into the weekend.

I haven’t felt this blessed or inspired in a long, long time.