Sorry sorry sorry

We have been not just busy but REALLY busy in the past week. Everyone say hi to Warren!! New editor in to help take up the slack - a real live movie editor !!

I'll feature some of his work next week.


Visit us at the bridal show at the metro convention centre - booth 1818. I'm only there tonight - shooting Saturday and Sunday woohoo. Can't wait.

Here is a baby pic I shot for some friends. Wow. shooting kids is different. Could get the baby to wake up. I seem to remember my kids being the opposite.

First day as an Executive.!!

So as you all know I'm always on a diet. About 8 weeks ago I began the latest fad diet - called the south beach diet.

As of Sunday - I've lost ---

dat dat da da


20 pounts. yeeeyyyyyyeeyeyeyeyeyey yipee

So my reward was to upgrade my gym membership to the executive changerooms.

Wow - when I went in with my new pass card I really felt cool. Took a locker and actually could leave my stuff there. I immediately made plans for a shelf - it felt like a new home and I wanted to redo my locker, improve upon it - make it mine.. Yea I know sounds crazy.

Anyhow, to top it off I walk upstairs to the gym feeling all cool, did my workout (2.5 miles in 30 minutes) then to make my executive washroom day even better I ran into my good friend Haim. Let me tell you - I had to let him in on my day. He took about 12 second to tell my I'm wasting my money, but I didnt care, I was still very impressed with myself.

So we walk down stairs and I can't wait to use their shaving cream (because its included) when I realize I left the pass key in my locker inside the executive change room and I need to go to the front office to beg someone to let me in.

I stopped feeling cool right then.

Work Hard Play Hard :)

Have you ever made a plan then have it actually work exactly as you thought it would? Last March while Marianna and I were laying on the beach in Boca Raton Florida, we planned exactly how our September Bridal show campaign would progress.

The objective was to get ourselves booked for 4 appointments each evening from September 12th until we leave for Florida in mid November. Well the first show is done and we are booked for almost every evening for the next 3 1/2 weeks.

If you are a new customer - still call Marianna. As we book weddings we have to cancel those for the same date that have an appointment later on. First come first serve. Magic Number jumped to 41 today - sorry guys.


Donna and Mike's slide show is finally up!!! Click here to check it out. Click on their engagement video too. Hilarious - had to double check the spelling of hilarious.

hilarious

adj : marked by or causing boisterous merriment or convulsive laughter; "hilarious broad comedy"; "a screaming farce"; "uproarious stories" [syn: screaming(a), uproarious]

Welcome to Irene and Mike!!! Look forward to being a part of your special day!

Famous Quote

Wedding: A ceremony at which two persons undertake to become one, one undertakes to become nothing, and nothing undertakes to become supportable.

Ambrose Bierce (41)

12:10 am still at the office

Yikes.

Ipod had complete domenience in the mp3 world - but that might be over.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5347112.stm

I still won't buy it. I love my ipod video.

My day off on Saturday.

The funny thing about running a successful business( actually businesses) is that your most valuable asset become time. I never truly realized hope important time was until it became a problem.

The past 2 weeks have been insane. But fun. Trying to multi-task work, moving and a bridal show has run me down a bit. Alex actually is sick from it. Hope I dont catch it.

So when I go to a wedding, I like to joke that its my day off. Really.

No email, computers, customers (except the Bride and Groom) just me, my videographer and the wedding. I can be free to concentrate on create incredible images and play.

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Funny how everything goes around in circles. Today I went to my favorite Thai restaurant - Thai Bamboo Steeles and Keele) and ran into Dion Salazar. She worked for me almost 10 years ago. After hugs and kisses she asked me about my brother who lives in North Bay. Then later at the studio out of the blue, my brother shows up at the studio for the first time. -- weird. Saw another girl who worked for me at the bridal show.

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Every night for the past week I've been meeting Brides and Grooms. Selling is a really complicated process. Push too hard and you look desperate, push too little you look snobby. I try sell using a technic I learned from a guy name Bradford Rowley. First I ask a lot of questions. This way I can learn about who I am dealing with and tailor my answers to their needs. There is nothing more annoying to me then when I go check a place out and they try to show me something I'm not interested in. Again I figure if my time is valuable so are my guests.

Then I try to be as honest and straight forward as I can. Even if mean that disqualify myself from their list of people. No point on having someone with a $2000 budget for photography come in a expect a $4000 package. On the other hand, I want everyone to know exactly what they are in for.

One of my biggest pet peaves when booking my wedding was when I would have to drag out all the details from the sales guy. I want a final price and know what I'm getting.

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Every time I turn around LCD prices are dropping . Damn I want this new TV - If you talk to Marianna try to convince her for me - OK!

Some new photos.

One thing I hate about moving is tossing out stuff. Marianna can easily find an old pair of shoes and toss em in the garbage or dontation box.

Me on the other hand can keep a 4th pair of gym shoes that I wore 8 years ago.

Everything has value to me. Probably a socialogical thing from growing up poor. Or more like, a learned behaviour from my Father who really grew up poor. When they moved lastyear we had to rent a bin!

So in this move I promised Marianna I would sort through the boxes of stuff and actually through out things I dont need.

GrandParents are a huge problem. I dontated to the my son's school and the jewish shul about 45 3x3x3 ft boxes of toys. As recently as this past Saturday, my mother still brought toys for the kids each and every visit.

I have boxes piled 10 high in the garage and every minute I get at home I've been sorting some for garbage and the rest for basement, donation, or bring inside.

Last night met a very nice couple getting married in the off season nxt spring off season is Nov-Apr).

If you are getting married anytime between Nov-Apr we are usually are more likely to be available.

Back into the routine.

Sometimes I think the biggest reason I'm always dieting is that I can't keep to a routine. I work usually 45 days in a row, then we either go on a vacation or a working vacation. Its when I do the same thing every day, that I seem to control what I eat and the dicipline to goto the gym.

Yea, I'm way behind on slideshows and new stuff. Even writing on the blog has been sporatic. That's changing - finally. Today me and the guys (vitali, Alex and Yuri) set up the studio again. After the bridal show we needed to do a huge cleaning.

Place looks very cool. New shelves, lights and portraits go a long wa to improve the look of the studio.

Bridal Show way incredible. We had soooooo many calls that we are now booking apointments for 2 weeks from now. woo hoo. You may also notice the turn away number has increase to 40.

May 19th - is still available and a few June dates - better hurry. I should point out that we work mostly on refferals so please visit a few other photographers, call your friends, then visit us as a comparison. I am confident that we will impress.

gtg - writing in the middle of the night again.

OOppps - forgot to publish previous post.

If it seems wierd that the last post was published so close to this one its because I forgot to publish it right after.

Today we had the first of 3 huge bridal shows. Wow what a night. Very very busy - most brides for 2007 and 2008.

Hey guys ---- Here is my most wanted date!!!

May 26 2007


If you are getting married that day - give a call you are the last date we hav in May 2007!!

The past 2 weeks I've been all over Ontario, Quebec and New York. I've gain 3 lbs and I'm pissed. Yea I know I sound like a (what is the politally correct way of saying girl without offending girls?) but I've been on the South Beach diet for 6 weeks and have lots almost 20 pounds.

I decided my reward for reaching 217.50. - A 2 litre of Coke - the real stuff. I am looking forward so getting back into a routine. Get up, play with the kids, go to the gym, then go to the studio. I miss it. I will likely be more productive too.

I plan to write more often so check back soon. On Monday I will upload links to several new presentations that are way overdo.

It's almost midnight and I gotta shoot tomorrow so nighty night.

What a week.

We had 4 weddings this past weekend and I had to travel all over Ontario this week to top it off. So much for time off. I can;t wait to get back to the studio so I can relax.

Everyone welcome Yuri#2 to the group. He's taking over some of Vitali's jobs as he is going back for his final year of computer science. So he has to cut his hours down from 100 a week to 50.

yea I ment week.

While I was gone the studio was transformed. Alex and the boys finally got tired of my studio equipment and packed it all away. They purchased a bunch of new desks and even set up a new transfer station. Place looks really cool. I snuck in yesterday with Isaac to pick up another laptop.

Anyhow. We are going to continue to be difficult to meet this coming week as Marianna and I are moving. And since I have 4 big young studs to help me the studio will slow down for a few days. If you really need us ---- email!!!

For those of you that are new to this blog click here to read a post on why I hate the telephone and love email.

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Have you ever had an experience so wonderful you had to tell all your friends about it? Why.

Seriously why do you have to share.

Yesterday I was talking to my lawyer who was trying to persuade me that the school his children go to is so fantastic that we should send our kids there too. Of course, Marianna had met him in Starbucks and asked him about the school( yea yea I was the one who dragged her there - more on starbucks - click here)

Anyhow - I then told him about the place I spent the previous night Great Wolf Lodge.

So freaking cool - I felt like I was 12 years old going down the water slide in a double tube with Sammy. Riding the lazy river on a tube with Isaac.

I had to share it this joy with Henry. The thing is why.


In both cases his school and my waterpark - these are extremely expensive. So quality is not only expected it is assured. But what really sets these places apart from others is exclusivity.

You need a reference, a certain level of income and a refferal for the school. Great Wolf Lodge is booked over a month in advanced and cost $400 a night.

Exclusivity is the key. When something is so exceptional you rave about it, then you want your friends and family to share that great experience that you felt.

That is what we do at Excellence Photography, DGVideo, TorontoHomeMovies and DesignerGeek. It was very nice when one of our clients ( a huge one) was telling me how they ran into another one of our clients (an even bigger one) at Taboo golf course. He explained how after getting such glowing praise about our work he wanted the exact same database site as they have. It's just so fanatastic and amazing that our clients are selling for us.


So - if you are with Excellence and have a friend getting married in 2007 - get them in here - FAST. We only have a few spots left, and have turn 39 couples away so far.