75th Blog! Time For a Break

Hi Family and Friends!
This is my 75th blog posting and probably a good time for a break while we continue to work on our business, J&M Photography. Many people have asked me about the lack of postings, especially in November, and the reason is simple: time. The blogs take me between 4 - 6 hours each to complete and that time is now devoted to processing pics for J&M Photography.

So, for number 75, I would like to dedicate this blog to Mellissa, who still supports, loves, and stands by me despite my nutty ideas.

I used to love to go through the hundreds of pics following a trip and sort, edit, and enhance them, add text and upload to the blog. These days, my time is filled with educating myself on the new Epson printer, Adobe's Lightroom photo software, Canon's 40D DSLR, and the pro lenses.

Mellissa has been teaching me how to use the binding machine for our photo journals, and we have been watching on-line tutorials for Adobe Photoshop Elements, Lightroom, RAW vs JPEG, and other photography sites. Creating photo postcards, notecards, and journals is time-consuming as is building our website at www.fotogood.com.

We are getting closer to opening our photo booth and finally purchased our canopy, wire racking, tables, display boxes, SUV, and a million other items related to our business. The fabric for our tables and walls has been ordered, but you'll get the idea here on how this will look when we ultimately can sell at craft/street fairs and fine arts festivals.

The point is that we are having lots of fun being retired, and I finally get to spend a lot of time learning about the art and business of photography. I love going out in the mornings on photo shoots trying to get that one pic that looks halfway interesting.

I think that it will take a year of two for us to get it right, but we are off to a good start and enjoy working together. We have hundreds of photos to sell and are applying to craft fairs around the Bay Area for the 2008 Spring and Summer season.

The good news is that I still get to get out among the plants and animals and find something fun to photograph. Like many things in life, timing is everything.

Many of you have offered so much support and help, and I am very grateful for your tips and advice. I could not have done it without you.

So, there you have it: I will be working to become an artist! I'm half kidding, but that is what I like about all this - I get to try my hand at art, that elusive form usually reserved for those able to evoke a feeling or emotion through their creation. I'm nowhere near it yet, but it's a kick sometimes getting close.

I also try to remember that life is short and it's important to sometimes sit back and enjoy the view with someone who loves you. What's more important than that?

I will continue to improve the J&M Photography website and the Klein Family Blog, but Jeff's Blog needs a short rest. Thanks for hanging in.