2011 New Logo!

Is anyone really “ready” for change. Change is good for the soul but sometimes hard on the heart.

This winter, I was ready for change and this one was good for the soul & the heart!

Time to make the donuts and…..time to change my tagline. Well…I kinda had a tagline before this all started. It went from “Because your pet is worth it” to “Because they’re worth it” and then I tried “Wet kisses. Cold noses”. I was a little lost so I hired a professional.

Here enters Anne Macomber. Anne is a freelance copywriter. She talked to me about my business and customers. She also wanted to know what ”tone” I wanted for the tagline. I told her Contemporary, Whimsical and Fresh. (A little random and I hope that didn’t scare her too much!).

She gave me dozens of word combinations to choose from for my tagline. We started with single words in different categories. I would give  her a thumbs up or down for each word. She then got a better idea what I was looking for. Next, she e-mailed me word combinations with the words that I gave thumbs up to in the previous step.

It was a fun and refreshing process. After several weeks of e-mailing back and forth, I finally made a decision on the tagline “Images From The Barkroom”.

What do you think?

PS As always, comments are welcomed and encouraged!

No. Not a cave. It is too cold in a cave for my chihuahua (Mr. Cha Cha). He has gotten a little “fluffy” this winter and his sweaters do not fit him right now so caves are not on his list of favorites places to visit right now.

photo credit: danphotography

I Goofed.

I sometimes get so wrapped up in an idea that I forget important components of my life. I have only been posting to this blog the past few months with just boring announcements (i.e. articles, cover images and campaigns). I have posted very few DOG IMAGES! That is what this blog is all about! I love that people come to my blog to laugh and smile at the fun and beautiful dog images that bring so much joy to me and my clients. I am sorry. It won’t happen again (my tail is between my legs right now).

I can tell you what I have been working on….

I have been bursting with Fresh + New ideas for my business and also writing, writing and more writing. My first love is photography but I enjoy going on a long run, greating a great idea, racing home, ripping open my “Idea Book” (with sweat pouring down my face), and jutting down the ideas that are stomping around in my head like butterflies with hiking boots on. I love that feeling. The rush of an idea that is bursting to be shared with the world.

I have been completing a lot of long training runs due to my *insane* idea of training for a half marathon (Colfax Marathon – May 15th). I love half-marathons but I always forget the intense pain after the long training runs. Ouch, Ouch, and Ouch! They are good for the soul but not so good for my knees and *toot* muscles.

This is what has been keeping me busy  -

#1 – I have a NEW tagline!
I am super excited about this and I promise to share it in the next few days. I worked for several weeks with a fab copywriter and I think we got it just right!

#2 – I released my NEW Spring Campaign! Bark It Up! Bonus Bag Days are here!
I worked with an amazing graphic designer to create this beautiful 11×17 poster that is being placed in locations around the Denver area.

#3 – I started a NEW website for photographers looking to become certified photographers and pass the Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) Exam! Some of you may know that I recently passed a very difficult industry exam. It was a tough exam but I am so glad that I decided to take it. Unfortunately, I found very few resources to help pass the exam. I would spend hours on forums for just a few pearls of wisdom! I decided that I didn’t want any other photographers to go through hours of FINDING the material when they should be spending that time LEARNING the material. So, I wrote a Study Guide. It is 147 page eBook packed with tips, tricks, charts, quizzes, “Brain Dump” sheet,  Top 10 Test Taking Tips and a practice exam. Each chapter is tied to a type of cake and my website is covered with dessert images. Yum! If it helps one person pass the exam (or try a new cake), then I will have accomplished my goal!

#4 – I am training for a half-marathon! The race is set for May 15th – Colfax Marathon. I am super excited to shed off some winter weight and get back into racing!

Overall, I have been a busy bee but excited for the next step with  my business and ready for an Amazing Dog-Gone Summer!

Cheers!

See the LIVE Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75yIJDp8eBY

We also needed to get a little studio time with my baby. Isn’t he handsome in his little “cha-cha” sweater?

Mr. Cha Cha says, ”Thanks for stopping by! Woof!”

So here is where the LOVE/HATE relationship comes into play when I go on vacation….I don’t “relax” like other people. I ALWAYS think I need to be doing something PRODUCTIVE. I feel like life is so short that I need to constantly be doing something or I might miss something.

This is where I am WRONG.

Let me explain.

Here is the perfect example, I was walking on the beach with my 4 and 7 year old last week. It was 8:00am and there was a the soft glow of light on the golden beach. Waves gently crashed on my left and a wispy breeze brushed my face with the Altantic Ocean air. Picture Perfect. While this scene would envoke relaxing thoughts in most people’s brains – mine was in the complete OPPOSITE state. 

Here is a sample of my “mental theater” on the beach:
“Don’t forgot to ship books to xyz editors on friday. what if the book doesn’t arrive on friday? is the press release ready to go? what time am I suppose to get together with that awesome social media guru? maybe I should confirm that appt today? what should I blog about when I get back? blah, blah, blah…..”

To make it worst – I am PHYSICALLY showing signs of stress. My fists are clenched at my side, my shoulders are tight and raised, my teeth are grinding as I am stomping my feet along the sand. I must have looked like Frankenstein in a women’s swimsuit!

What was I doing?  I finally shake myself and say my mantra, “LIVE IN THIS MOMENT”. I then consciencely stop myself from “stressing to the max” on this beautiful beach and look over at my 4 year old daughter. She is skipping along the beach and squealing in delight as the cold waves touch her toes. She is nowhere but HERE. Her Soul, her Thoughts, her Body are “IN THIS MOMENT”.

And I was missing it.

WHY do we do this? WHY do we MISS the greatest moments of our life? Our minds move so fast. Sometimes too fast. We need to slow things down and “LIVE IN THIS MOMENT”.

So I did.

I said, “The heck with the future for right now. I want to LIVE IN THIS MOMENT”.

So I chased waves with Alex for the morning.

I hope this helped you and thank you for reading this. I hope you find some waves to chase today.

Somehow I was convinced into camping outside of Aspen instead of staying at a lovely Aspen hotel with a pool and running water!

  I think Sydney is ready for some skiing action this season! LOL!

Look at those BIG, BROWN Chihuahua eyes!

Matt borrowed the camera and decided to take a few pics of me with Sydney after lunch  

Lesson#1 – Chihuahuas do NOT do well camping. Sydney was wrapped up in my fleece 98% of the time (the other 2% was when he jumped out to have a few bites of steak!). Food Motivated – just like his mom! 

I just LOVE ASPEN!

For more information about pet photography services visit www.jaimerowephotography.com

1. Babysitter  – I think everyone can put this on the list if you were a girl under 18 years old in a community. It was nice cash and I got to run around a yard or ride bikes with kids all over town. Sign me up!

2. Ice Cream Scooper – I worked at the local ice cream store called “Whitey’s”. Yes – the name is terrible but I got to eat all the PB, fudge swirl ice cream I wanted after closing! Coming home at 11pm on a summer night with my forearms stuck to my upper arms (like I was going to surgery or something) was not uncommon!

3. Gym Cleaner- Growing up in a family of 4 kids with a mom as a music teacher and a self-employed dad in the Midwest was not easy. There was little to go around. My older brother was VERY BIG into working out. I played tennis in high school so I thought it would be fun to go to his BIG gym and work out with him. This was no ordinary gym – remember MC HAMMER pants? Well – almost every guy in there sported these babies – just terrible. In order to work out at the gym you needed to pay a membership fee or clean the gym on Sunday mornings at the crack of dawn. Guess who woke up with her brother at 5am every Sunday to clean the gym? I was in charge of vacuuming and wiping mirrors so the MC HAMMER guys could see their pants swish when they did pull-ups.

4. Bagel Server- Another early morning job in college. Serving bagels and eating them which (now that I think of it) contributed to my “giantator” butt I had at the end of my freshman year!

5. Secretary -Oh yes – I was probably the WORST secretary in the world! I hung up on SO many people bc I couldn’t figure out the phone system (ever), I always wanted to do things a different way then how the boss specified and I HATED sitting at a desk. Gosh, I think I would have fired myself.

6. Refrigerator plastic-”thingy” line worker- I needed a little cash in the summer between school sessions. This was the loneliest and most boring job in the world! I literally sat down and pushed black “plastic-thingies” into a box and sealed up the box ALL DAY LONG! I also ate lunch alone bc my shift was different from everyone else’s shifts. I also couldn’t talk to anyone (torture) bc the machines were too loud. I decided that this is where serial killers were made.

7. Resume + Interview Skills Trainer - Another college job I took after my butt got too big at the bagel shop. I would wear my best JC Penney black suit with a scarf (yes – I loved scarfs back then too!). Of course, these scarfs were from thrift stores from the 80′s. Yes…very scary I know.

8. Software Tester - For crying out loud – I still don’t know why I chose this job. Maybe to get more experience with my major – Management Information Systems? It was TORTURE! I sat in a business owner’s basement with the other “captives” and we would whisper, “One, Two, Three, CLICK”. Or test WHAT IF statements. Yuck! It paid well and helped with college rent. I really enjoyed the people I worked with but the work was on the list of “yuck”.

9. IT Consultant -Out of college,  I picked up a stellar job in Denver, Colorado at a BIG 6 accounting firm. My whole family approved (which was very important for me at the time) and the world seemed to be my oyster. The work was OK, the people were Fantastic but the travel was a BIG “Grade F”. I lived in Dallas, TX or Pleasanton, CA most of the time. I missed my new husband at the time and my new puppy, Doctor A LOT. I cried a lot on the airplane rides. One time, a pregnant woman sat next to me and offer a Kleenex. Instead of using just one, I used her whole Kleenex packet! Sad and happy times….

10. Project Manager - My father-in-law purchased an almost bankrupt Sign and Stencil business in Golden, Colorado. This business dove-tailed his very successful nationwide wholesale hardware business in Illinois. I quit my IT Consultant job and started working at the Sign + Stencil business one week after my father-in-law and husband told all of the employees that they would be LAID OFF IN 5 MONTHS and we were MOVING THE OPERATION TO ILLINOIS. Yeah…that was interesting at age 23.

I was in charge of documenting and understanding EVERYTHING in the office/business area of the business and my husband was in charge of learning EVERYTHING in the warehouse area (how to run all presses, screen printing, darkroom, shipping, etc). We also had to motivate 30+ employees to continue to work and help move the business in 5 months. Initially – I would wear my best suit to work and sit with the AP/AR lady and discuss her job, gently take my papers into my office (that I shared with Matt) and document Step-by-Step her process and make a pretty little flowchart that was numbered and coordinated with the Step-By-Step process. On other days, I would be in a jeans and t-shirt loading a semi with a fork truck (and usually knocking over the contents on the floor of the semi!) or working on the “stencil line” with 10 other employees.

I could go on for days with stories from this experience. Some day I might write a book about it but for today I will end it here. We moved the company in 5 months and managed it in Moline, Illinois for several years. I am very grateful for these years as they humbled me and taught me a great deal of respect for a world I was unaware of that even existed. I learned more in those years then any schooling I have ever received.

11. VP Of Project Management -So we hired someone to run the Sign business and I started working at the “Mother Ship” wholesale hardware company (still in Illinois). I did a major IT implementation and then it was time for us to move on. The family business was getting TOO CROWDED and everyone has their own opinions of how to run the business. In addition, my heart wasn’t in it.

I think one of my defining moments was one night I was reading to my five year old at night and I started to cry. (I went through a time of random crying at grocery stores, jogging, washing dishes). I tried to hide it but I failed terribly. He asked why I was crying. I said that, “Mommy is just sad because she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life”. He said a statement so simple in nature yet so elegant. He said,”What do you like to do?” I said, “I like taking pictures.” He then said,”Okay…then do that”. My five year old still amazes me at his wisdom. So I did it.

My husband and I made the “leap of faith”. We decided to move back to where we love – Colorado.

No jobs. No house. Just some great ideas and a truck-load of things. This was July 2008.

12. Pet Photographer – So here I am. We moved back to Colorado and after LOTS of soul-searching, writing down my values with a dry-erase marker on my bathroom mirror and looking at them EVERY DAY, reading a ton of inspirational books and quotes. I came to the conclusion (thanks to my five year old) that I wanted to be a pet photographer. I went to a Cowbelly workshop in Seattle for a weekend, spent countless hours learning about Photoshop, my camera and the business side of photography.

I am NOT special.      I just do what I LOVE.        And I BELIEVE in what I do.

You can do anything you are PASSIONATE about.

Do yourself a favor today. Grab a dry-erase marker and write on your bathroom mirror what is important to you. I kept a journal of all of my ideas with Matt. I still write in it today. I crack open that baby whenever I think of an new idea. It is a Art Sketch Book with BIG, WHITE blank pages.

Here was my list:
Family
Spirituality
Love
Respect
Honesty
Trust
Intention (Live your life with intention – EVERY DAY – thank you Mikki Williams!)
Health
Life/Work Balance (I REALLY struggle with this one still!)
Intellectual Stimulation
Rewarding/Fulfilling Work
Be Myself.

Thank you for reading my story. I hope this inspires others to “Be yourself” and to “Listen To Your Heart”. You WILL find what you are PASSIONATE about. I believe in you!

My mom was a music teacher. She had musical abilities that I will never understand. Picking up an instrument she had never seen and playing a song with it was like watching a songbird belt out a song in a tree. She had the *gift*.

She attempted to pass the gift on to her children (which soared right over all four heads when we were younger!). A record player resided on our dining room buffet and my mother played endless hours of classical music. The dining room also happened to be the place where we all did our homework. I always did my homework there because being the youngest, I could get help from my older siblings or my mom in a moments notice. As classical music filled the room and our pencils were busy answering questions, my mother would ask from the kitchen, “What composer is this?” OR “Is this in a minor or major key?” OR “What instruments do you hear in the music?”. Even our cats were involved in it. One cat was named Beethoven (my white beauty – who my sister will claim was hers until the day she dies!) and Choplin (my black beauty – which was also my baby). They were both composers that my mother loved and shared with her children.

Unfortunately, none of her children found a career in music. My older brother works for a large software company in California, my older sister went to Harvard and now owns a hedge fund with her husband in New York, my younger brother is traveling in Korea in search for life answers, and me….well…..I found my music.

Every Dog has a Song.

Every wisp of hair on a chinese crested mane, every brush of a golden retriever tail, every soft trot of a dachshund pup ~ They all make music.

Meeting a new dog  is an adventure. First, I LOVE to touch them, feel their fluffy or smooth ears, scratch their chests and maybe a little bum scratch. I engulf myself with their presence. I then *stop* to hear their music. Sometimes it takes a while. Maybe I don’t hear it until they leave. But it is always there. I just need to listen to it. Rescues are my favorites. I never know what song they are going to share with me. 

But I do know this ~ I am fulfilled when I leave them. When my four-year old daughter will ask to leave the table after dinner, I ask her, “How full is your tummy?” She will usually lift her hand in a horizontal line and hold it up to the top of her head, signifying that she is full to the top. That is how I feel after a session. Full. Right up to the Top.

So I guess my mom was successful in sharing her love of music with one child. I don’t plan on making a career out of music and I am certainly not a “good” dancer with any type of beat (picture Elaine from Seinfield – yay bad).

Thank you mom for the countless hours of classical music on the record player, composer quizzing, singing at the grocery story, and having hope. Hope that one of her children would share her love of music.

Every artist and every person has an inspiration. It is very apparent in your everyday life OR burning inside and is waiting to be released. I let mine burn deep inside for TOO long! I buried my passion for art under layers of fear, guilt, lack of confidence, work, business certifications that meant nothing to my heart and sometimes shopping for the latest trend. In 2008, I pushed these “obstacles” away and embraced my passion. But that is for another blog post….

Thank you for reading and do this for yourself – Share your passion with someone today (as long as it is a *healthy* passion…and it is legal…and doesn’t require fire). 

What is your inspiration + passion?

On a side note, I told my mom about my personalized service (because she is driving from CA to bring her cat to me to photograph this June!) and she (or the PhD in her) suggested that I write *in detail* about all the little things I do for my customers. So here is a little “Tid-Bit” on my Personalized Service ~

#1 – Each client fills out a “Getting To Know You” form. It asks questions like, “Where did you come from?” (this is asking the dog – of course) to “Do you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?” and “If you had to describe your personality in one color, what color would it be?”. I originally received the “Getting To Know You” form from Jamie at www.cowbelly.com when I went to her “pet photography workshop series” back in September 2008. I really want to get to know my clients so I can provide them with *nearly perfect* service.

Note On Listening~  Little things clients say about their dogs like, “Oh….did you see that? I love it when his tongue sticks out of his mouth!” Click, click, click goes my camera. If a client talks about how “regal” their dog is then I wait to capture those moments that *reflect* that feeling and again click, click, click goes my camera. When I am at a photo experience (BTW – I am tossing out the “session” word and replacing it with”experience” because it really is an “experience!”), all of my senses are *ON* especially listening….listening to the owner and especially the dog or cat. They are *on stage* and I want them to feel comfortable enough for them to “be themselves” around me. I only have 1 or 2 hours with them so being alert (picture the little alert ears of a Jack Russell!) to the situation, owners and furry customers is the utmost priority during a photo “experience”.

Okay – back to the main point of this post was to announce my ONLINE BOOKING that is now available: http://jaimerowephotography.bookmonline.com/schedules (wild cheering!)

You can now choose (from the comfort of your home):

#1 – Your requested SERVICE (i.e. Pet Photo Experience)

#2 – Add additional dogs (1-2 dogs allowed in a session and each additional dog is $25)

#3 – Choose the DATE + TIME (super bonus!) You can now schedule a session IMMEDIATELY (i.e. June 15th – 9-10am)

#4 – Option to PAY with Paypal.

Quick, Easy and Awesome service that requires just a few clicks from you and I do the rest!

Feedback:
I am open to suggestions (really….seriously) ~ Just send them my way: jaime@jaimerowephotography.com

www.jaimerowphotography.com