A 'Typical' Day

Recently, someone asked me what my typical work day is. The question came in the course of a casual conversation with a person I’d just met. She has a talent for photography, so when I told her I was a Producer for a local commercial photographer, she was interested in finding out more.

What IS my typical day at work? It’s a question that usually brings a laugh from me. Not an easy question to answer. I’ve tried answering it a few ways. ‘Well, each day is different.’ Or... ‘The great thing is that there really isn’t a typical day.’

But neither of those answers really answers the question properly. They usually suffice as answers in casual conversation, but like I said, this person wanted to know more. So during this recent conversation, I recounted what I had done that day for an upcoming out of town shoot. Researched photo assistants, stylists, and equipment rentals in Seattle for an upcoming shoot. Booked an assistant and a stylist for a shoot. Reserved hotel rooms in Seattle. Acquired a Certificate of Insurance for an equipment rental. Looked into taxi & public transportation vs a car rental in Seattle. Began a production book/job sheet for the shoot.
And then there were the couple of other projects I was just beginning to estimate and the one I was wrapping up and billing.

While the tasks I performed that day are tasks I do often, it’s stretching it to say that it was a typical day. The most typical thing about it was that I was juggling a few projects. Spending part of my day on one shoot, switching gears to another, and then back to the first. Some
people go to work and have a very typical day in every sense of the word. They repeat tasks over and over. Or they deal with clients or customers in the same manner day in and day out. While there are tasks that I repeat daily or weekly, there are so many more tasks, conversations, places, and people that are different every day or every week in my work. It’s a refreshing challenge.

Slowing Down

As we all become more digital and we begin to use more tools to speed us about, I think we're loosing sight of what's important. Slowing down, though, is a conscious decision that takes some effort. Smelling the roses first takes finding the roses.

I may be preaching to the choir on this one but here I go: Slow down please is my message today. Look up and say hello to the person in front of you. Stop texting. Stop tweeting. Stop Facebooking. Just stop. Say hello to your children, to your spouse, to your mom, to your dad. Just say hello.

Okay, the preaching is over. How do we slow down? How do we stop even if it's for 2 seconds? It's tough, I know. We all have deadlines and we all have so much to say. Oddly enough, when I sat down to put this entry together it was not meant to be a message about slowing down and what ties me to this message will be odd to you for sure.

As I drove around today looking at locations, meeting with my producer, grabbing lunch, picking up my daughter and my taxes, I discovered that I was going a lot slower. Want to know why? Because I was driving a new car. That's right, a new car. Well, new to me. Why slower? Because this morning, after much debate and consideration, my good friend Michael Brawely decided to finally part with his 1977 Mercedes 240D. Let me tell you, it moves methodically.

And as I drove around to run these errands I noticed that I was present. I had the windows down to enjoy the great weather. I didn't pick up my phone to check email or even to text. I just drove. Maybe that's what life really is supposed to be like. Maybe that's what life was like in 1977. I think that's the ticket.

So this is my request to any of you that read my BLOG. Join me in slowing down and if you see me tooling around in my new 240D, please don't yell out HEY MICHAEL BRAWELY.

And now, a word from Rosemary

Rosemary has been working as my producer for nearly 5 years now. She joined the team after working at The Light Factory as their office manager and events coordinator. She's been a natural addition to the team here and has grown to be so much more than a producer. Let's just say without her I'd likely need 10 calendars, a couple of bookkeepers, a digital tech or two, and a bunch of interns.

With all that said, it's time for us to introduce her to the BLOG as an occasional contributor. I look forward to her upcoming posts and can't wait to have a view from her perspective.

These are a few images of Rose hard at work. As always, hope you enjoy.