The last 3 months of the year will be here soon, and with it comes cooler temps (and consistent rainy days here in Washington State). I’ll have to trade my shorts in for pants, my t-shirts will be covered with hoodies, and my head will start dawning a beanie. But it’s alright, I actually prefer the cooler weather, considering I was born and raised in Washington state, I grew up playing in the rain (insert Bain’s line, “I didn’t see the sunshine until I was already a man”, lol).
Just recently I had a client cancelation, but instead of crying about it I figured I already had my gear ready to go, so I’d turn a missed opportunity into a chance to network and meet new people. I popped down to the Everett Waterfront, set up my gear on a bench, and drew up a sign that read “Would You Like A Photo?”. I got a lot of “No thank you”, but managed to find a few people that said “yeah sure, that’d be nice”. The photos below are what I came away with.
I met all different kinds of people (if they got their photo taken or not), and had a blast the entire time, yes even when I was told “No”. It was a win all ways around, but especially so for me. Some people got some great photos, I got to practice using my flash, built up my networking and communication skills, plus it got me out of the house and to enjoy the sunshine before it disappears for another 8 months, hahaha.
I had a full load out for doing Food Photography, but really only used my Westscott FJ400, 24” beauty dish modifier, a single light stand, my Sony A7iv, and my Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens.
After getting back home, I sat down and edited all the photos I captured that day. I sent everyone out their photos the next day, and made sure to take time to converse with everyone as well, adding to the networking aspect I intended to accomplish the day before. Everyone that wrote back and I talked with loved their photos, and expressed how grateful they were.
I never once asked for money, and instead told everyone that this one was on me, but that I’d have a “tip jar” for those that would like to use it included in the email I’d send them with their photos. So for any photographers out there that might be just starting out, I can let you know that what I did is a great way to build clientele. You may not make a living off of those “random pop up photo shoots”, but you never know who you’ll meet or what photo opportunities can come from them, you can expect to pay for lunch with the tips most times though.
So right now, you may be asking “that’s a great little story Drew, but what does that have to do with (coming to the end)?”. Well I’m glad you asked (even if you didn’t), because I wasn’t just referring to the end of the year, I was actually referring to my YouTube channel - Grimlock Media. You see, since creating and continuing to help build True Northwest’s YouTube channel, in addition to writing these blogs, I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know when/if I’ll make another video for my YouTube channel. I have so much focus put into TNW’s projects, my own photography business, and creating other items, that I don’t have enough time to spread myself even more thin trying to produce videos all by myself. So, that means that my YouTube “stardom” is coming to the end, for the foreseeable future. I’ll still keep my videos up, just like I did when I transitioned The Brew Log into Grimlock Media, I just won’t be making any new videos (except for one last “Ending” video). I will miss it, and hope that sometime in the future I can restart it back up.
One final note before we wrap up, and in addition to talking about the end of the year, I created a calendar for 2024. Below you can watch the video of the calendar look, but I wanted to go over it a little as well. The calendar will have 12 images that are roughly 12'“x17”, will have the month in the lower left corner of the image, and the Day numbers below the image to cross off. This is actually the 2nd version of the calendar, as the 1st version didn’t work out in printing. I created the calendar the way I did, because I feel that if people are going to pay good money for something, than I want them to be able to keep the images they get for more than a year. Each calendar will be printed on high quality Luster paper, and could easily be framed if desired. Every calendar will be signed and shipped to you before the end of 2023, but in order to meet printing/signing/shipping schedule, ordering will only be during the month of October and closed at midnight November 1st. Like I mentioned, each calendar will be $60, which has shipping included. So if you’re interested, keep your eyes and ears peeled for the official drop announcement.
That’s it for this weeks post, I hope you enjoy the photos, my writings, and are as excited as I am about the calendar. Until we meet again, I hope you have fantastic days, and I’ll catch y’all later.
Andrew Hoyle - Grimlock Media
