The summer is upon us and excitement is in the air...

It has been a wonderfully busy season here in SW Florida, and as is the norm, as the temperature begins to rise, the pace of life begins to slow. This past week is the first week where I feel I've had a little extra time to explore some of my personal projects and goals (oh, and to finally clean up my messy office). One of my goals has been to give a little more attention to this blog and I hope to be doing weekly posts (maybe even bi-weekly, I know, now I'm talking crazy)! I have so many ideas that flow through my head, problem is they've usually dripped out before I am able to give them any attention. So, now I've written it down for all to see, and you know that anything online must be true.

I have a few summer plans on the horizon, but one in particular that I am getting very excited about. I have throughout the years tried to take as many "continuing education" classes as I can. If time and money were no obstacle, I would be perfectly content being a permanent student. But, since that is not to be, I try to squeeze it in when I get the opportunity. If you are anywhere from a budding photographer to a seasoned pro, I think taking these courses is one of the best things you can do to progress your skills and creativity. While I don't mind working on my own, the nature of photography (especially architectural photography) can be very solitary. You have to take it upon yourself to interact with other photographers and to get and give feedback. I have been working in this area for five years and I am ashamed to say that I have met a scant few of my local industry professionals.

Anyway, I have taken several NAPP courses throughout Florida over the years. These are usually in a large auditorium with hundreds of people, with subjects ranging from Photoshop, to Lightroom, to lighting techniques. The courses are usually taught by renowned photographers in the business and are well worth the $99 fee. I have also made use of many of the online workshops available, most of them offered for free. Two that I have taken are through Creative Live and also OnOne. Again, I have usually always gained some piece of information that made it well worth my time. I also attended the PDN PhotoPlus Expo in NYC a few years ago with the opportunity to take several specialized seminars.

However, I have never taken a very intensive course, one that is one-on-one with the instructor, out in the field, and over a multiple day range so that you could really absorb all the information. I have looked for such a course over the years, but never really saw what I was looking for, or shall I say, could never really justify spending the money because a lot of the courses weren't necessarily in my area of interest. A few months ago, I came across Santa Fe Workshops and I immediately knew that I had found what I was looking for. I will be taking the weeklong Architectural Photography course, taught by Hedrich Blessing photographer, Nick Merrick. The best thing about the course (other than the aforementioned aspects) is that it is not geared to beginners but to architectural photographers with an established portfolio. So, I will be with 13 other established architectural photographers from across the country (plus, Nick Merrick, and he has to at least count for two on his own!) for a whole week completely immersed in all things linear. Sounds like a dream to me!

I am really looking forward to it and I'm sure I will blog more about it as details arrive, and of course, I will give updates on my experience there.

And because I can't post without a photo, here's a Miami skyline photo I shot while visiting a few months ago, just for fun.

Amber Frederiksen Photography is going green!

Or, greener may be more appropriate.  Ever since officially launching my photography business over 3 years ago, I have always tried to think of more environmentally friendly ways to conduct business.  But, as society becomes more conscious of what we can do, and more green-friendly products become available in the marketplace, I feel I could be doing a little more.  So, my goal for 2010 is to take steps to make my business as efficient and green as possible.  I plan to mark my progress as I go to let others know what I find out along the way.  

So, to start off, I want to take an inventory of where I am currently and then I can target the areas where there may be room for improvement.  

• DIGITAL:  One of the greatest green improvements is photography has been the digital revolution over the last decade.  No more chemicals needing to be disposed, driving to and from the lab for every assignment, and the mere lack of the waste of film canisters, sample prints and proof sheets.  With digital, I rarely print or use any tangible products in the entire process.  I can go from start to finish of an assignment without one sheet of paper being printed.  The only energy used is powering my computer and charging my batteries.
• COMPUTER:  Yes, I am on my computer a lot more than in the past, which as we all know, wastes a certain amount of energy.  This is unavoidable to conduct business these days.  But, there are a few things we can do to lessen the impact.  First of all, I always use the energy-savings options on both of my computers, which puts the computer to sleep when it is inactive for 15 minutes.  Also, my iMac is one of the most green and energy efficient desktops available, and my Macbook Pro isn't too shabby, either.  Now, one area I need to improve on is in shutting my computers down for the night.  Admittedly, I often leave them running if I am in the middle of working on an assignment and do not want to shut all the programs down.  Well, after doing a little research, a study showed that in one year, the number of computers left idling overnight in the U.S. waste the energy equivalent to 4 million cars on the road (they did not specify if this was for a year, or  for normal use, but I'll let it slide since I don't have the exact figures in front of me).  They did also say that if all the one billion PC's were turned off for one night, the energy saved could power the Empire State Building for over 30 years.  So, this change of habit is going to be at the top of my list!
• OFFICE SUPPLIES:  This is probably the area where I can improve the easiest with just a little effort.  I do already reuse paper for all printing that isn't required to appear "business-like" and I always save pdf's instead of printing whenever possible.  The main problem is that office supply stores have a ridiculously poor selection of "green" office products, and due to the fact that I generally will run out of something the very same day that I need it, that doesn't allow me much opportunity to shop online.  So, my goal is to find some online retailers who offer recycled, green products and to stock up in advance rather than waiting until the last minute.  Considering that I don't use much, it shouldn't be too hard.  Now, does anyone know if they make recycled dvd's??
• TRANSPORTATION:  Unfortunately, I am not in the market for a brand new hybrid/electric vehicle.  And unless everyone wants to come to my house to be photographed or properties are in walking distance, I'm not sure how this one is going to be easily improved upon.  Any thoughts?  I do try to only drive when necessary and combine multiple errands whenever I do go out, but beyond that, I'm going to have to get creative with this one.
• ADVERTISING:  Well, one of my other goals for my business this year is to run a new advertising campaign.  Of course, with the internet, I can technically get myself out to anyone in the world with the click of a "send" button, or even better, people can search and fin me.  However, it is necessary to send actual printed materials from time to time.  So far, all of my promotional cards and business cards have been printed with 100% recycled material, my business cards also used soy ink.   But, if you're doing a larger campaign, those can unfortunately get expensive.  I think what I will plan to do is to not sacrifice my new green standards and instead try to target my advertising more selectively.  

I plane to update throughout the year as my little seed begins to grow greener.  For now, I am off to bed...and turning off my computer.  

Website Launched!

My long-awaited (by me anyway) website has finally been completed!  After months of hard work and procrastination, I officially launched it last night.  Here is a screen shot:

I'm sure there will be a few tweaks over the coming weeks, but I think it's definitely a huge improvement over my previous one.  Plus, the best thing is that I will be able to update photos regularly and easily.  Now that this is "finished" (is it ever really finished?), I foresee more regular blog posts in my future.  Until then, I may give my eyes a break from staring at this computer screen for a few.