“Next week there can’t be any crisis.  My schedule is already full.”  -Henry Kissinger

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s quote encapsulates what I will be doing in the upcoming week in Las Vegas.  The Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) will be  holding its 30th annual Convention and Trade Show from March 4 – 11.  It will be my second WPPI and I am looking forward to the teaching, meeting old friends, and making new ones.  Photographers who are attending WPPI for the first time have bombarded Facebook, Twitter, and forums with variations of this same question:  How can I make the most of my WPPI experience?

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”  -Stephen Covey

I would like to challenge and encourage you to not be overwhelmed by the amount of classes and information that you will inevitably encounter.  Make a mental exercise of the immediate needs of your business (do this without looking at the list of classes; it will only sidetrack you) and ask yourself fundamental questions about the state of your business.  Reason with yourself (perhaps seek input from those you trust) and evaluate the path that led you to this point.  Where are you lacking?  Where are you struggling?  Where are you stuck?  Struggle with these types of questions, attempt to answer them, and in doing so, you will begin to see areas in your business that are more important than others.  In other words, what are the priorities of your business at this very moment?  When you can get a little bit of a handle on this, then you can look at the list of classes/vendors and choose the ones that will help you with your priorities.  You will no longer be tempted to attend a platform class because it’s the popular one nor be tempted by classes that look interesting.  Don’t focus on what looks interesting.  Focus on the classes/vendors/people that will address your priorities.

I realize this is not an easy exercise!  You’re like, “Riz, that’s too much of a headache.  I’ll just go with the flow once I get there.”  You most certainly can do that but imagine just how much more you will be able to maximize your experience and more importantly push your company in the direction it needs to go in order for you to be successful if you took the time to identify your priorities.  Isn’t success what you want for your business after all?  I’m all about having a great time (you’ll see me at parties too) but let me end with this quote from Jack Canfield which emphasizes the the need for thoughtful reflection:

“If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren’t doing enough asking.”

WPPI is going to be awesome.  May WPPI 2010 be a great, fun time for all  but more importantly, a truly meaningful experience.  See you real soon!

This is a video of our awesome church in Japan!  On this Valentine’s Day, we are thankful for God’s love displayed through the members of our church. You guys are awesome! Enjoy the video!

Another highlight of our trip back home was hanging out for one week with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.  Even though they have 4 kids of their own, Dave and Emily were great to put us up for a week, bringing the number of kids under four years of age to seven.  Needless to say, it was a lively house.  Plenty of good times!  Dave and Emily are great parents and a fun couple to be around.  A week is simply not enough when together with Dave and Emily.  Dave and Emily, our Christmas and New Year’s were special this year because of you.  Thanks!  Love ya, guys!

In front of their new home.  It’s over a  hundred years old!

I love their neighborhood!  No problem finding beautiful backgrounds.

This is my favorite.

One of the highlights of our U.S. trip was taking along our good friend, Mrs. Fukuda, and her son, Akira, to experience American Christmas.  Mrs. Fukuda was there at the birth of all three of our girls.  Her family and our family have spent countless meals together.  She is without a doubt a very special part of our lives.  And we continued to build great memories: caroling, Christmas Eve service, turkey and ham dinners, Christmas sweets, holiday shopping, opening Christmas presents in pajamas, etc.  The images below display Mrs. Fukuda and Akira’s bright and fun personalities.  You can also see the strong mother-son bond they have.  Mrs. Fukuda and Akira, thank you for your friendship.  I was honored and happy to capture the images below.

Their smiles are contagious!!

Anne’s younger brother, Dave, snuck in on some of the shots in his pajamas and had some fun with the Fukudas.

I got in some individual shots of Akira.

We also went to Virginia Beach  and Akira was able to see the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year!  May your year be filled with peace, love and joy.

Every now and then, I come across a picture and it just grabs me and holds my attention for a very long time.  It’s a picture that I never get tired of and a picture that makes me come back to it again and again and again.  The above picture is one of those pictures.  As an exercise, I have been taking the time to study images that I really like and asking myself “Why do I like this image?  What about it is really striking a chord with me?  What individual elements of the image contribute impact to the whole?”  (As an aside, I would highly encourage you to do this exercise and you will see that by examining an image (shoot for 5 minutes per image) you will improve your ability to find your photographic style.)  Here’s how this image speaks to me:

1) I believe even if this picture had been taken with a cheap disposable camera, it still would have had the same effect on me.  If it had been out of focus or had a lot of noise, it wouldn’t have mattered.  Here’s why: the story trumps equipment.

2) With the exception of the man’s mouth, you don’t see any full view of anybody’s mouth or eyes.  Their expressions are hidden from you.  Instead, you are invited and made to smile by the interaction before you.  And moreover, you are made to imagine the wide grins that these children most likely are having.  Isn’t it amazing?  You don’t see them but you know they’re there!

3) I’m willing to bet that this is a priceless, joyful moment for the man.  Does he care that the child is leaving fingerprints all over his camera?  Does he care that the child is probably changing the settings on his camera?  Does he care that the child is messing around with a camera body and lens that cost thousands of dollars?  He would most definitely tell you “No!”

4) And what about the lady holding the toddler in the background?  Shouldn’t the photographer have cropped them out or photoshopped them out?  For me, they add to the story.  Was it a mother or older sister enjoying the moment and laughing along?  Or perhaps she was chastising them for bothering the man?  And what about the toddler?  Could you imagine this toddler just as interested and  wanting to join in on the fun?  It would have taken away from the image if this element was cropped out.

5) And the biggest reason why it speaks to me: I know the context of this picture.  This summer, a group of photographers went to Tanzania to help with Thirst Relief International (TRI).  The man in the picture is one of those photographers.  TRI is a non-profit organization founded by Jim Hicks.  TRI has the following mission statement: “Our mission is to overcome death and disease resulting from the consumption of contaminated water by providing safe, clean drinking water to those in need around the world.”  It is humbling and sad to know that, according to the World Health Organization, 2.5 million people die each year from diarrheal diseases.  Not only are many of them the result of contaminated water but 90% of these deaths are children under the age of 5.  Yes, the picture above speaks a message of hope.  Yes, it is a picture of hope for who would want any of these precious little  angels to perish?

If this picture has spoken to you as it has me, would you consider supporting and giving to the work of TRI in this season of giving?  You can go to their site here.  TRI is doing great work and what a privilege it would be to take part in one of their many projects, by going or through donation.  I like this anonymous quote, “The purpose of blessing is so that we can be channels of blessing and not the establishing of self.”  During the holidays, it is my prayer that we will all be channels of blessing to others, near and far.

Wait!!  What about that Mike Colon DVD?  I bought an extra copy of his On Location in Toronto DVD as I anticipated some of you are not on Twitter or Facebook 24/7 and hence, missed out on his sale   Here’s how to enter:

1) Leave a comment on what giving means to you and/or how photography has given to you.

2) Please retweet this blog post or mention it on your facebook profile.  Thanks, everybody!

From the list of commenters I will do a random pick and announce the winner on Sunday night.  And, of course, you are free to comment even if you already have the DVD

And many thanks to Phillip Glickman for such a captivating image.  BTW, the man with the million dollar smile is none other than Mike Colon

Peace,

Riz

****Blog update: Phillip will give a 16×24 print of the above image to the lucky winner.  Wow!  Thanks, Phillip!

****Blog update 12/7/2009:  And the lucky winner is…drumroll,please…Studio Laguna Photography!  Congratulations, John and Katrina.  Phillip and I will be contacting you soon.  Thanks again, everyone, for participating and sharing with us what giving means to you.  And remember to give to awesome causes like Thirst Relief International.  Peace and blessings!  -Riz

Well, I have finally gotten around to posting the second part of my China trip.  After an excellent time in Hong Kong, our group flew to Beijing and had a once-in-a-lifetime shooting session on the Great Wall.  It was cold but experiencing firsthand one of the great wonders of the world was quite exhilarating!  Our original plan was to shoot for a couple hours but we easily went over that time.  What made this trip to the Great Wall special was that our group had this portion of the Wall all to ourselves.  There were no tourists or gimmicky shops.  Heck, there weren’t even any locals.  We had private access to a portion of the Wall that is unrestored.  How awesome is that?!?

I was amazed at this feat of engineering.  The Great Wall just seems to go on forever, its walls disappearing into the horizon.  The Wall was built by the vision of its engineers along with the right tools.  And I think this sums up what it’s like to attend one of Scott’s workshops.  He gives you a vision and the tools needed to prosper in the photography business.  Just as the Wall seems to go on and on, Scott mentors and challenges us to see the potential and limitless possibilities before us as we build a career in photography.  I am looking forward to some more mentoring in 2010!

And I must be out of my mind for not saying this earlier.  Big, big, big props go to Jeremy Chan and his wife Zabrina Deng for organizing everything.  They worked so hard to give us a wonderful experience.  Thanks, Jeremy and Zabrina!  We are so thankful for you!  Check out their work on flickr.  I also want to thank the models (Yu-Cheng and Mei-Qian).  They braved the cold weather and worked hard to give us fantastic images.

Here’s Anwar helping me with my set up.  I learned a lot from him.

Enjoying a nice, relaxing dinner.

Tauran took this shot of me.  Thanks for the profile pic, T!  I appreciated Tauran sharing his insights.

And Chantal was very generous.  She gave me plenty of advice/coaching on setting up my images.

Chantal wondering if we will ever get to our destination.  It was a long trip from Badaling to central Beijing.

Paramilitary officers on duty inside the Forbidden City.

The walls just outside the Forbidden City.

Local Beijing resident.  I was happy to capture this image.  I realize that China is changing with the times but this image seems, to me, to symbolize China.

The annual school festival is one of the events I look forward to every year.  Food stalls, games, events, concerts, people, etc.  The students work hard planning for this event so when it’s finally here, there’s a lot of excitement and plenty of positive vibes.  Below is a short video of the festival and the faces of the beautiful people you will encounter at this time of year.  Even Santa and the Power Rangers came out for the event.  Good times!!

Last Tuesday, Anne and I took the kids to a “mikan” grove.  “Mikan” is the Japanese word for mandarin orange.  It is also commonly called a “satsuma”.  Trivia: Did you know that the towns of Satsuma, Texas, Satsuma, Alabama, Satsuma, Florida and Satsuma, Louisiana were named after this fruit?  Mrs. Itoh came along with us and everybody just had a great time as you will soon see.  The girls must have eaten at least 20 oranges.  You can eat all the oranges you want for a measly 3 bucks!  It was a beautiful day for such an outing.  Okay, time for the pictures…

My blog is long overdue for a post and what better way to break out of that slump by sharing with you images from a recent workshop I went to a couple weeks ago.  I attended the Scott Robert Next Level Workshop and IT…WAS…INCREDIBLE!  Okay, sorry for the superlatives but Scott Robert Lim is an amazing photographer, mentor and friend.  Scott not only helps you improve your craft but his style of teaching is holistic so you learn so much more than just the technical aspects of photography.  He really will take you to the next level.  What made the workshop unforgettable were the new friends made and the location…China!!  It was an unforgettable experience learning and shooting in a totally different culture.  And let me just say that, training and friendships aside, I could go back to China just for the food alone!!  Special thanks to the Hong Kong models (Juju Chan, Angelica Hung, Carmen Chan and Amisa Meow) and Hong Kong  photographers Kelvin Lau and Mina Yuen.  This post is the first of a 2-part series.  The images below are from our time in Hong Kong.  Let me know what you think.  Beijing images coming soon…

This image was my first lesson in off-camera lighting.  The vision for this image was created and inspired by Scott Robert Lim.

This image was also created and inspired by Scott Robert Lim.  It was a photoshoot on a double decker bus of all places!

The master at work.

This vintage Hong Kong diner was great!  So many shooting possibilities but the owner was a bit of a grump.  LOL!

The background for our last shooting session.  To my Japanese friends, notice the Yoshinoya; it’s taking over the world!  Ha ha ha!

This image was actually a test shot but I kinda like its moodiness and how it turned out.  What do you think?

And the best shot of the night goes to my roommate: The amazing and situational vegetarian….drumroll please…Anwar Torres!!!