love. LIFE.

Hello Friends!

Over to the left you'll see all of the categories that you can check out.

If you're a photographer make sure to check out the For Photographers page.  I just launched the new Family GTKY kit and the NEW Insight Kits Blogsite!!!  Click here to see the new site!

    LOVE. LIFE. TIPS.  These posts will help anyone who is trying to keep or get back all of the things that they love in their life and/or business. The tips are packed with ways to manage a hectic life, kids, business, meaning, love...and more. Also, make sure you check out the new Women and Business series! (Click here)  Also, see how Day with Davina can come to you. (Click here)

My favorite pricing guide (that I wish I had when I started my business over 8 years ago).  You need this guide!

 

Easy as Pie.  Click here to visit Served Up Fresh. (affiliate link)

Thanks for stopping by...and don't forget to leave a comment...or two...I want to hear from YOU!

And make sure to TELL A FRIEND!

 

Entries from September 1, 2009 - September 30, 2009

Move it Monday.

Posted on Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 06:16AM by Registered CommenterDavina in | Comments27 Comments

10,000 steps.

Here's a little fun from Nancy Sinatra since we're talking about walking:

 

 

Walking is an easy way to get your 20 minutes a day in.  There are recent studies that have shown that walking 10,000 steps a day will greatly improve your health and fitness.

This is from thewalkingsite.com:

"Maybe you have heard the recent guidelines about walking 10,000 steps per day. How far is 10,000 steps anyway? The average person's stride length is approximately 2.5 feet long. That means it takes just over 2,000 steps to walk one mile, and 10,000 steps is close to 5 miles.

A sedentary person may only average 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day. For these people adding steps has many health benefits. I have outlined the basic 10,000 steps program, but also added a commentary below.

A reasonable goal for most people is to increase average daily steps each week by 500 per day until you can easily average 10,000 per day. Example: If you currently average 3000 steps each day, your goal for week one is 3500 each day. Your week 2 goal is 4000 each day. Continue to increase each week and you should be averaging 10,000 steps by the end of 14 weeks.

 

There are many ways to increase your daily steps. Use your imagination and come up with your own list:

  • Take a walk with your spouse, child, or friend
  • Walk the dog
  • Use the stairs instead of the elevator
  • Park farther from the store
  • Better yet, walk to the store
  • Get up to change the channel
  • Window shop
  • Plan a walking meeting
  • Walk over to visit a neighbor
  • Get outside to walk around the garden or do a little weeding
  •  

    If you want to get a walking program startedcheck out the help that you can get here.

    August contest winner:

    Laura C. you're the winner!  What a CLOSE contest this month!  Four people were in the running and within just a couple of days of each other.  Laura went to bed before midnight and got at least 7 hours of sleep for more 28 days this month!  I'd like to know the secret to that streak!  Awesome job, Laura.  I think I know where you want your gift certificate from, email me just so I can be sure though!

    September contest:

    Four winners this month!! Okay...since Nancy's got our boots in the mood for walking, let's have that be our contest this month.  Log in every day to the Move it Monday post and tell us how many miles you walked.  The FOUR people who walk the farthest (most miles) this month will be our winners.  Yes, I said four people.  The top four walkers will win a $30 gift certificate to their favorite healthy place to eat, spa, or place to to shop.  So get out those walking shoes (if you have to...dust them off...) and let's get walking.

    If the physical benefits of walking haven't yet put you over the edge to get out there and pound the pavement, here are some emotional incentives to get you going.  You can find the list below here:

    Walking slows mental decline. A study of 6,000 women, ages 65 and older, performed by researchers at the University of Cali­fornia, San Francisco, found that age-related memory decline was lower in those who walked more. The women walking 2.5 miles per day had a 17-percent decline in memory, as opposed to a 25-percent decline in women who walked less than a half-mile per week.

    Walking lowers Alzheimer’s risk. A study from the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville found that men between the ages of 71 and 93 who walked more than a quarter of a mile per day had half the incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, compared to those who walked less.

    Walking improves sleep. A study from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle found that women, ages 50 to 75, who took one-hour morning walks, were more likely to relieve insomnia than women who didn’t walk.

    Walking lightens mood. Research reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that walking 30 minutes a day boosted the moods in depressed patients faster than antidepressants. Why? Walking releases natural pain­killing end­or­phins to the body – one of the emotional benefits of exercise. A California State Uni­ver­sity, Long Beach, study showed that the more steps people took during the day, the better their moods were.

    Besides these mental benefits of walking, it also serves as a form of meditation. An outdoor stroll can help erase a bad day as you instead start to focus on the surrounding environment. Carolyn S. Kortge began walking in the ’80s and entered her first race-walking competition in the ’90s, eventually becoming a USA Track and Field Association bronze and silver race-walking medalist. Carolyn, who lives in Eugene, Ore., was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in 2004, but continues to keep her mind off the pain in her knees and hands by walking daily.

    “When you’re walking there’s an opportunity for meditative intent.  You can be silent and focus on creating a connection with your body through prayer, breathing or a phrase,” she says. “It’s a wonderful way of changing your focus.”

    walking. LIFE.

    Women and Business: Bambi Cantrell

    Posted on Thursday, September 3, 2009 at 12:19AM by Registered CommenterDavina in | Comments5 Comments | References3 References

    ***All images in this post are copyright Bambi Cantrell.***

     

    NEXT WEEK: Jaclyn Kaiser of The Image is Found

    {To nominate women you'd like to see in this series please list them in the comments-or if you have a question you'd like to see in the interviews--make sure to include your info in the comment fields so that I can get in touch with you- or write to me at: davina at davinafear dot com }

    As always make sure to leave comments for the women who are featured. They like comments as much as I do I'm sure...let them know if you have questions or just to say thanks! for their insight and wisdom...

    Make sure to check out the rest of the series by clicking here. Tell a friend!

    Bambi, I first learned of you when I purchased your book The Art of Wedding Photography.  I was so excited about the possibilites for wedding photography.  It opened my eyes to the wedding photography industry in a completely new way.  Over the years, since then, I've watched as you've continued to stay at the top of the industry, always ahead of the curve.  You've definitely blazed trails for women in the industry which makes me especially excite d to have you on the series today.  It was a pleasure chatting with you.  Thanks so much for being on Women and Business.

    We have a little different format today!  Click on the link below and you can hear the interview that I had with Bambi.  You won't want to miss it!  She says it like it is, with energy and so much zest for her craft and the industry.  You'll love it.  I've also included a few of the highlights from our conversation just to tempt you into listening to the whole interview.  (Let the interview load before clicking play and you'll have a better listening experience.)

     

    Click here to listen to: Women and Business Interview with Bambi Cantrell*

     

    (*thanks to David Perry for the quick audio edit) 

     

    Favorite Bambi quotes from the audio interview:

     “I’m first and foremost a photographer of humanity.”

     "This is a craft.  It’s not just an accident.  It’s a profession…an artistic craft.”

     “You have to know an f-stop from a bus stop. 

     “If you have the burning desire you just do not accept defeat.”

     “I don’t look at failure as a negative thing.  I look on it as a positive experience that shows me what I’m not going to do the next time.”

     “It’s inconceivable to me that I’m not going to win.”

     “I surround myself with people that are smarter than me and better than me.”

     “My motto:  Humility over ability.  You can teach a humble person anything.”

     “There’s no secret sauce.”

     “If you wait until you have confidence you’re never going to do it.”

     “If someone gave me one 4 gig card I could shoot a whole wedding on that one 4 gig card because I know what I’m doing.”

     “I don’t concern myself with what other photographers are doing.”

     

     

    ”After being in the industry for 25 years what ideas/approaches do you see that have lasted?  And what has already come and gone?”

    What has lasted is personalized wedding photography that is exciting.  Photography where the client really looks like they are having a good time.  Something that is really energetic and bold and striking.  What has passed is static posing and using backgrounds, the checklist of poses mentality has gone, it no longer makes sense anymore.

    Photographers who have lasting value are the forward thinkers.  They’re the kind of individual who doesn’t get stuck in a mold or put themselves in a category…I’m first and foremost a photographer of humanity.

     

     

    What are some of the things that you believe women have brought to the table that has changed the industry over the years?

    Women have changed the industry a great deal….women bring a [different] perspective to photography.  Back when I started in the industry… all three of us women…men were very nuts and bolts.  They were very logical.  Women are very intuitive.  Women are feel-ers.  I tailored my style to being very intuitive…being visually observant to who the bride was.  I started collecting brides’ magazines in about 1992 and one of the things I started thinking about was, “how do they get brides to buy bridal gowns?”  This was a completely new way of thing for the men in the industry!

    Men were thinking, “if I give the most 8x10, I’m going to get the business.”  But women don’t necessarily buy logically, we buy quite often because we think emotionally.  So I started tapping into that emotional experience.  And when I did that is what really caused my reinvention and caused me to excel as a wedding photographer.

     

    There’s quite the influx of people coming into the industry thinking having a great camera is going ot get them somewhere and at the same time I hear you saying you need to go with your gut…

    Yes, but you have to have a foundation before you can go with your gut.  You can’t go on blind instinct and shoot your guts out!  I don’t think that’s productive at all.  And it’s not art.  It’s an accident.  There’s no craft in it.  It makes photography look like an accident.  Instincts come after [technique].

     

    How do you know when you’re ‘good enough’?

    I’ve never felt that I’m good enough….

    (this is a question one of you women wrote to me and I love her answer.  I didn’t want to write it here because she answers this so wonderfully on the audio…you must listen to this entire answer on the audio version of the interview…and don’t miss her first job interview story).

     

    What should women do when photography just feels like work and I don’t want to do it anymore?  Can it be fun again?

    Yes!  This is what I do. 

    1. I schedule one day about every 6-8 weeks to fall in love with photography again.  A day to just go have fun.  I plan with Lori at Wild Orchids Salon.  We get together and play dressup and barbies for the day.  She brings the models in and does hair and makeup.  We play around with different weird concepts that I wouldn’t get to do with clients.  We play and enjoy.  It’s so much fun.  It’s so inspiring.

    2.Make sure to listen to the interview for this idea!

    3. Don’t become a sloppy photographer.

    4. Learn to delegate, especially us as mothers.

    5. Write a list of things that steal your joy and get someone else to do them.

    6. Designate time for your family first…and then work your schedule around your family.

     

    Do you have your studio in your home?

    (If you have an in home studio you have to hear on the audio what Bambi says about an in home studio…she had one for 17 years!  She gives all kinds of great tips!)

      

    What should women absolutely NOT do? And what should they absolutely DO

    Here are just a few from her list on the audio interview:

     

    1. Never say never
    2. Never let fear rule your life.
    3. Don’t associate with negative people.
    4. Don’t waste your money on cheap equipment.
    5. Don’t cut corners on your finished product or your marketing materials.

     

    Here are some of the products that Bambi mentioned:

    ProSelect

    ProShow

    Triple Scoop Music

    Big Folio

    WPPI

    MEI500.com

    Skip’s Summer School

    WPPI Roadshow

     

    And make sure to listen all the way to the end of the audio interview…Bambi’s got some excellent business tips.

     

    To see more of Bambi's work:

    Website

    Blog

    Bambi's products


     

    ***All images in this post are copyright Bambi Cantrell .***

    Click here to listen to Women and Business Interview with Bambi Cantrell