This month has been a fast and furious... (oh, wait, is that slogan marked? - Sorry Universal Studios)

OK, fine, it's been a "fun and frenetic" month.  Besides two trips to DC, three Trade For (TF) shoots, a mud-run (Denise ran, I took pics) , two paid photo sessions, and the DIY repairs of both air conditioning units we also took time to refresh our home office.  

I had originally furnished and decorated this tiny 12'x12' room over a dozen years ago to meet my individual home office needs.  Not surprisingly, the space has always had a very masculine vibe including my old motor racing trophies on shelves and architectural artwork on the walls.  Those walls were colored with the original spray-on paint from when the house was built in the late '90s (a pale yellow nonetheless - it looked like I was a smoker.)  Now that Denise is working on her brand every night too, it's become a silly shuffle to move stuff from one corner of the desk to give her room to work.   

We decided to redesign the space with a few goals in mind.  1) properly accommodate desk space for each of us.  2) update the wall color and window treatments.  3) space clear and get rid of a lot of clutter in the room.  4) Make the space Feng Shui compatible for both of us.

Office layout before the make-over.  Denise would have to bring in a spare chair and sit between the Server Rack and bookshelf after I cleared my stuff from that part of the desk.

First, I had to find a way to take this large executive style L shaped desk and make it work for two people.  Luckily it has a main desk and a bolt-on side piece.  I found by swapping this side piece around I could make it a separate desk.  I had to economize on what I place on my desk now, but Denise doesn't feel like a visitor whenever she walks into the room.  

We chose a popular sea-foam green for the paint.  You'd think that a 12'x12' room could be easily covered with a gallon, but the thirsty walls drank up paint like I down a PBR after mowing the lawn in August.  So 2 full gallons were needed to cover the rough textured plaster.  After we finished the walls we realized the ceiling needed fresh paint too so we did that a little backwards.  The '90's Roman style eggshell drapes (that were a bit small for the large window anyway) were updated to light gray curtains with a contemporary geometric pattern.  Thank goodness Home Depot's only 3 miles from the house.

The hardest part of the make-over was figuring out how to make the space Feng Shui compatible for both of us. The server rack really can't be moved so we had to design around it.  According to Feng Shui, we have different ideal seating directions, none of which lined up with the direction of the house, so we decided on a non-conventional position for the desk that at first glance seems to waste a lot of space, but in the end makes the room feel more open, has the advantage of being able to get behind the desks for cable management and allows for thorough cleaning.  Our new sitting positions let us collaborate or work independently without having to shuffle things around.  

The new layout with dedicated desk space, clutter removed, but all the original furniture.  

We bought a large Schefflera and placed it in the V behind the desks to give a clean, organic touch to the otherwise geometric, hard edged furnishings and added a few smaller plants on the bookshelves as well.  I replaced the ceiling fan with one that better matches the overall decor as well.  

We're not quite done.  I haven't re-hung the artworks I got approval to keep and Denise is still deciding on some more feminine touches that work in the space.  We're going to splurge on some high-quality desk chairs since we do spend a good part of our evenings planted in them.

Denise can explain how the elements of wood, water, earth, metal and fire all work together to improve the flow of Qi (ch'i - pronounced "chee") energy, but with the addition of a lava lamp for fire and table fountain for water, they are now all present and better balanced.  And with that balance, even at 80% done, I feel more comfortable and productive in the space.  

We documented the whole make-over so Denise can create a video for the Feng Shui section of her web site.  I'll revise this blog entry with a link once we've got that done and published.  You'll be able to see the before and after photos there.

Why does having a large camera setup make people think you're on some commissioned assignment?  Last fall I took some photos during a neighborhood "Octoberfest" and while walking around with a 70-200mm/D750 albatross around my neck, the editor of a local magazine approached me and asked if I would send her some of my shots.  I did.  They made the next issue.  Hurray for me.  

She contacted me again in November and asked if she could do a feature story about our family (because we are so very interesting, after all) and we obliged.  I took some photos of us, which made the article, but I was really surprised when one of those pictures made the cover as well.  

Febuary 2016 cover

Fast forward a few months where I was snapping away at our local July 4th picnic.  I sent in a few photos to that magazine as requested, and the new editor wrote back she wanted to meet for coffee.  Hmmm.  Remember a few blogs ago when I mentioned you just never know where your journey as a photographer will take you?  Well...

Long story short, (too late?) Denise and I are now "on-staff" of this regional magazine.  I'm in charge of a couple of monthly segments, "Home of the Month" and "Garden of the Month." and Denise will be providing healthy living articles including Feng Shui tips and healthy recipes.  In exchange for our time and contributions, we are getting a huge discount on a half page ad each month.  Bartering is a great way to collaborate.  

We're not sure what the print ads will yield or if the contacts we make along the way will lead to customers, but we're giving this a try.  Marketing is a funny beast.  At the very least we are meeting some new and interesting neighbors.

The magazine lay-up folks really butchered my images with terrible crops.  

Talk about baptism by fire.   After we agreed to all this the regular photog, who shoots the family spotlight articles, had a conflict so I ended up doing that shoot this time around as well.  As I'm typing this blog, I'm also putting the finishing touches on three articles, including photos, and wrapping up our advertising lay-up.  All of which is due tomorrow for the September issue.

Wish us luck!

I wonder if anyone noticed that I didn't post a blog entry last week.  My grand plan to be diligent and post each week has met its first true setback.  Like everyone, I have busy weeks, hectic weeks and weeks where I feel like Job.  Last week was one of those.  The day job stuff really piled on, I had three photo shoots and unexpected home repairs.  No time for sitting down and waxing poetic about future plans, politics, navel lint, or anything else fun.

I also wonder if anyone noticed all of the typographical errors and overall poor grammar in my post the week before.  You only saw that ugly mess if you read the subscriber's email copy as I've since fixed all the mistakes I could find.  You see, the mail distributor that sends the blog out to subscribers, MailChimp, somehow got overexcited and sent out my blog immediately instead of the set schedule.  I have it set to deliver at a later time so I can send myself a test copy and read it in that format - sort of a way to self proof read when I don't have Denise available to put a second set of eyes on it.  Anyway, I saw that MailChimp had jumped the gun, but too late.  The damage had been done.  Since neither I nor the MailChimp helpdesk staff could figure out what happened, I'm going to use a different proofreading tool and hopefully this post will be a quality product when it arrives in your inbox.

©2016 Images by Design

I've got some interesting news but I think I'm going to save it for next week.  For now I'll just share a fun photograph from one of those photo shoots last week.  Can you guess the book/movie series it relates to?  All the props here belong to the model who's a bit of an obsessed fan with this genre.   

©2016 Images by Design - July 4th fireworks

Most Americans see the 4th of July simply as a summertime 3 day weekend.  A chance to fire up the grill, fill an ice chest with frosty beverages, get together with friends and family and maybe head off to the beach, lake or other casual destination.  Fireworks are always fun to watch and after you get the hang of it, great to photograph as well.  

I'd like to encourage everyone, during the course of these festivities, to take a few moments with the folks around you and reflect on the true nature of this holiday - to honor the founding fathers who so carefully crafted the words that are the fabric of this nation.  Who did so at great risk of imprisonment or death had our fight for independence failed.   It is to honor the 25,000 american soldiers who gave their lives and another 25,000 seriously wounded in a fight to ensure their families could live in a truly free democracy.  Those courageous men and women fought and won our independence against tremendous odds, going up against the most powerful nation on the planet at that time.  I'm always in awe at the bravery, spirit, ingenuity, and fortune of the American colonists.  They not only changed a small group of cities, town and farms into the genesis of this great nation, but they changed the course of world history.  

©2015 Images by Design - Independence Day Bicycle Parade

When I see the social chasms in the world today - political oppositions, religious factions, ideological divides with all the associated bickering and squabbling that pervades the news, social media and dinner table conversations (does anyone else have dinner conversations anymore?) I sometimes scratch my head and wonder "what's wrong with us today" but look back on the peace movement of the 60-70s, the civil rights movement, the suffrage era, prohibition, emancipation, etc., it becomes evident that open, sometimes heated, and even violent discourse is nothing new to American society.  In fact, at a very macro level, it may be one of our biggest strengths.  I'm not condoning those individual, radical and sometimes illegal acts committed in the support of position or another.  I mean, taken as a whole, we enjoy a freedom of expression unknown in most of the world which allows us to try to work through difficult issues as a people.  This, I feel, is the single most important gift the men who penned the Declaration of Independence gave to American citizens.  

Happy Birthday, America.  We have had, have today, and will always have issues but we will work through them - and in the end, be stronger as a people.  Now, I'm off to flip some burgers and reach into that cooler for a cold one.  Cheers!