contracts and stuff for freelancers

Pricing and Ethical Guidelines

photographer's toolkit

Lets face it, most creatives do not have a penchant for writing contracts. As a small "creative business" owner who has been around for more than five years, I get lots and lots (and lots) of requests for advice on running the business end of a creative business. I always tell freelancers to HAVE A CONTRACT FOR EVERY JOB, and point them toward the Graphic Artists Guild's must-have book, Pricing and Ethical Guidelines. The book has sample contracts for just about any occasion and will give you great peace of mind as you prepare paperwork for your clients.

I was really pleased to hear that John Mireles, a fabulous local (San Diego) photographer and business coach, has a website, Photographer's Toolkit, geared toward helping his fellow photographers with "business stuff." Advice on marketing, sales, contracts, and business in general is aplenty on the site. He also lists free resources that are helpful to any creative, not just photographers.

snapshot

Here's a quick snapshot from the writing desk in my bedroom: home décor magazines, remotes, The Lion King dvd, and a toy gun. Oh, and a (warm) beer. Wonder what this says about me?

studio props: fabric backdrops

Monday I went prop shopping with my photographer friend Jessica for fabric: Jess was looking for backdrops for her baby and maternity portraits, and I was looking for backdrops to match the upcoming 2009 stationery collections.

I always love to hit the back room/remnants at We R Fabrics to find treasures. After sifting through bolts and bolts and bolts of 1980's country club tapestry, we did come up with a couple of winners, but the experience left us wondering where we could find a proper game of tennis and a white wine spritzer. Of course we found tons of things we loved in the front of the store, including some bright and modern Duralee prints, but it seemed like everything we picked out was $49 per yard!

So we headed to Yardage Town in Encinitas, where we scored with some super bright and fun prints from their remnant table. After a while we had to cut ourselves off ... "step away from the chili pepper fabric." The fabric I'm most excited about is the faux bear fur that Jess bought as a prop for infant photo shoots. Can't wait to see what cute baby photos Jess comes up with!

inspiration: california

photos by delphine -- San Francisco, California

color trend: paisley

photo by rachel rosenberg o'brien

My bff sent me this photograph of her dad, taken at a family wedding last year. Ron says "this jacket was made new for me in 1970 and it still fits!"
I'm thinking Ron could start a new color trend: psychedelic paisley.

color worship: pastels

espresso cups from anthropologie; wedding invitations by delphine

I'm always on the lookout for fun photo props. One of my favorite props to use is a cute cup. I usually pull them from my collection of vintage teacups, but I also love these pastel espresso cups from Anthropologie and couldn't resist buying the pale green one to use in the promo shots of our Ava invitation. The invite on the left is a sneak peek at our new Pacific Beach Blooms design.

southern wedding

photo by Zoom-Works; bouquets by Epting Events

As I've mentioned before, I spent many years living in the South (South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina). I've always loved the look of cotton in floral arrangements, and love the Southern tradition of a natural cotton wreath on the door, but have never seen cotton incorporated into a wedding bouquet quite as beautifully as these wonderful bouquets by Epting Events. Marisu, of the superb Athens, Georgia based photography studio Zoom-Works, captured this shot. (BTW, Zoom-Works is available for destination weddings, so you're in luck even if you don't live in Georgia!)

wedding photography favorite

vallentyne photography

This photo by Heather Moreau of Vallentyne Photography is one of my all time favorite wedding photographs.

road trip

photos: delphine

This weekend J and I drove to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon with our son and some friends. The hours on the road reminded me how huge (and beautiful) this country is.

polling place photo project

The New York Times Polling Place Photo Project

I received a reminder email from AIGA, the professional association for design, this morning about the NYT Polling Place Photo Project. Take your camera to the polls tomorrow and help document the election.

Every state has diferent election laws, some which allow photos of polling stations and others that do not, so check your states' procedures to find out what is acceptable.

living catalog

portraits & merchandise from anthropologie

I'm a big Anthropologie fan and am lucky to live close to two stores! But I still love visiting their website and am always impressed with the way they are constantly improving the customer experience on the web. Check out their "Masterpiece" accessory e-catalog ... instead of photos it is a series of beautiful, short video portraits. There is no sound, which intensifies the viewing experience in this case, I think.

bridesmaid dress fun

photos by Colleen Sherman

One of my coolest clients ever, Tiffani, had a lot of fun with the whole bridesmaids dress issue ... she had a "27 Dresses" themed bridal shower. Everyone wore a real live bm dress from their closet (including Tiffani!). Colleen Sherman took photos ... you can see them on her blog here.

bridesmaid dress bliss

photos by Kate Benson Photography

"Bridesmaids dress" ... two of the most dreaded words in every woman's lexicon. Everyone in the same dress = everyone unhappy (SORRY, D, R, J & D!). A great alternative is something like what Katie's bms did: pick a great color palette and a fabric type & let the ladies pick a dress they really love. Aren't these dress colors (and flowers) simply lovely?!?

Being able to wear the dress again is really not the issue ... feeling great about the way you look on your best friend's big day is! Fab photos by Kate Benson. Found on the Southern Weddings super cool blog!

holiday

card design: delphine • photo: jessica davis

All summer I've been putting off designing the new holiday collection. Today I am going to make myself some hot cocoa (with marshmallows for energy), dim the lights, turn up the ac, and work on the new holiday collection. I'll post some sneak peeks later this week!

sneak peek: savannah

photo: delphine

Titus Maximus Vegetarius is a ham. Impossible to keep him out of our photo shoots. The save the date shown is the new "Savannah" design, part of our Charleston Collection, which will hit a very few select stores this Fall.

photo shoot preview

photo: delphine

A sneak peek at a new photo for our website.

behind the scenes

photos: delphine

Behind the scenes at our latest photoshoot, and a sneak peek at a new design!

fun sunday

photos: delphine

It was my extraordinary pleasure to spend the day yesterday with nineteen South Bay girls and an uber-talented staff of local (Southern California) photographers & stylists on the set of a Seventeen Magazine and CosmoGirl photo shoot. The theme of the shoot was "Smiles & Self-Esteem;" the wonderful Jessica Davis did an amazing job of getting every girl's sweet personality to shine through onto film and I'm looking forward to designing the spread!

jessica davis photography

photos: jessica davis photography
logo design: delphine

I caught up with my friend Jessica Davis yesterday at her fabulous new studio in Solana Beach, California. Her specialty is kids photography, but I think she could have a second career as a pet photographer. Check out that cute doggie!