Maine PUG January agenda

Happy New Year, photographers!!

Given that I may be in the hospital during our January PUG, Beth Fitzgerald of Blush Imagery has offered to host the PUG for a few months so I can get settled with baby.

Join the group for a gismo and gadget share on Wednesday, January 19th at 7pm at Beth's Blush Imagery Studio, 28 Maple Street, 3rd Floor, Portland, Maine. 207-899-5585. Drinks and snacks provided. Beth will lead a fun discussion on favorite camera equipment, studio equipment, gadgets and gismos to excite you for the New Year. Bring your favorite thingy-ma-bob for show and tell. Let's share our best and worst photo purchases with each other to avoid spending too much in 2011.

Please RSVP to this event at beth@blushimagery.com.

Open to all Maine photographers.

Maine PUG December agenda

Join us for a little holiday cheer at a casual potluck dinner at Em & J's new house on Thursday, December 16th at 7p. Bring your spouse or significant other, your favorite dish and a bit of booze as we wrap up a successful stretch of monthly PUGs and bid farewell to a fabulous 2010.

Please request an evite for directions and to RSVP to this event at photo@emilieinc[dot]com.

Open to all Maine photographers.

Fall luncheon recap

Many thanks to the women who recently attended our fall luncheon at Pier 77 Restaurant in Cape Porpoise. Dining upstairs in their private Lighthouse Room with stunning views and spa-like music was the perfect setting for everyone to unwind and catch up after a busy season. It was so nice to have a few new faces in our group, as well as the chance to see some old friends as well. You are a very dear group and I always leave feeling grateful for having such a stellar group of colleagues- and girlfriends- in the biz who have each other's backs.

See you in the spring!

Maine PUG November agenda

Meet Kerry and Richard of Richard Coke Guided Safaris, visiting the states from South Africa, as they share an inside peek into their unique lifestyle and show Richard’s beautiful wildlife photography at the Maine PUG on Wednesday, November 17th at 7p at Sea Dog Brewing Company in South Portland. RSVP to photo@emilieinc.com or on our Facebook PUG page. All are welcome.

Upcoming PUGs:

Thursday, December 16th: Holiday potluck

Fall 2010 luncheon

The email just went out to announce our fall luncheon, this time at Pier 77 in Cape Porpoise on November 10th at 12:30p. Looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up after a busy season!!

Maine PUG October agenda

Join us for our October Pictage PUG with special guest Rachel LaCour Niesen of ShootQ.

Rachel will be in town from Atlanta to discuss Pictage's recent acquisition of ShootQ, what it means for your relationship with Pictage and how ShootQ can help your studio workflow.

When: October 20th at 7p

Where: Sea Dog Brewing Company, 125 Western Ave, South Portland (private dining room)

RSVP: All are welcome photo@emilieinc.com

Upcoming PUGS:

Wednesday, November 17th: Richard Coke and Kerry Bardwil of South Africa will be discussing their photo safaris and nature photography

September PUG agenda

Join us for a round-table discussion with several of the area's premiere commercial photographers: Brian Fitzgerald, Darren Setlow, Zack Bowen, Jeff Stevensen and Trent Bell as they show us a peek into their world of advertising, architecture and food imagery.

Wednesday, September 15th, 7-10p at emilie inc. photography, 227 Congress St., Portland

7p: arrivals, mingling

7:30-9p: program

10p: evening ends

Snacks will be provided, please BYOB and RSVP to photo@emilieinc.com by Tuesday 9/14. Guests welcome.

Upcoming PUGS:

Wednesday, October 20th: Rachel and Andrew Niesen of ShootQ

Wednesday, November 17th: Richard Coke and Kerry Bardwil of South Africa will be discussing their photo safaris and nature photography

Roots Workshop 2011 registration opens Tuesday, September 7th at 9a

Calling all professional photographers! It's that time of year again! Starting at 9a tomorrow, Tuesday, September 7th, registration for the next Roots Workshop, July 17-21, 2011, will be open! Last year sold out in three days, so please don't delay in calling the emilie inc. studio to reserve your spot! Tuition, lodging and all meals is $3400 for this unique learning experience on Cape Cod.

For more information about this opportunity and to take an inside peek at the experience from the student perspective, please visit our workshop website and blog. We'll be waiting for your calls tomorrow at 207.272.2285.

See you on the Cape!

August PUG agenda

It’s the middle of wedding season, everyone is feeling a little overworked and our bodies are perhaps a little sore. Let’s start our August 18th PUG with a foot soak at Soakology at 30 City Center in Portland at 5:30p (soaks start at $20 and range in price depending on the ingredients you add to your soak and if you would like to add a massage to your service). Afterwards we’ll head over to David’s at 22 Monument Square to meet up with anyone who may not have attended the foot soaking to catch up.

Soakology is limited to the first 12 people who RSVP to photo[at]emilieinc.com. Please include any additional services you might like with your regular foot soak on this menu.

If you would rather just join us at David’s, please also RSVP asap so that I can make a reservation for the right group size.

Upcoming PUGS:
9/15: commercial photographer panel discussion
10/20: Rachel LaCour Niesen of ShootQ visits to share insight on the ShootQ acquisition by Pictage

Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

$12,000 ShootQ photography grant

In between processing weddings, be sure to check out this amazing opportunity offered by ShootQ! A panel of judges (I am happy to be one of them!) will award a $12,000 grant to one photographer to complete a photography project to raise public awareness about an important social, environmental or economic issue. This is a chance of a lifetime to have someone else help fund your personal project without digging into your own pockets to make it happen. Application deadline is Friday, August 27th. Click here for more details.

July PUG agenda

(Rescheduled for September 15th!)

Continuing our tour of Portland photography talent, join the Maine PUG (Pictage User Group) for a round-table discussion with several of the area's premiere commercial photographers: Brian Fitzgerald, Darren Setlow, Zack Bowen, Jeff Stevensen and Trent Bell as they show us a peek into their world of advertising, architecture and food imagery.

Thursday, July 15th
emilie inc. photography, 227 Congress St., Portland

7p: arrivals, mingling
7:30-9p: program
10p: evening ends

Snacks will be provided, please BYOB and RSVP to photo[at]emilieinc[dot]com by Tuesday 7/12. Guests welcome.

Maine PUG

I have recently assumed the role of PUG leader, better known as the local Pictage User Group, a group of photographers that meets once a month in Portland to mostly talk about wedding photography, running a business and specifically, Pictage, as we're all subscribers to this online image hosting service based in California.

Moving forward, we've decided that we would like to expand our group to not just Pictage users and to not just wedding photographers, but to all professional photographers in Maine who make a living behind the camera either full-time or part-time, and within every genre of the medium.

We are hosting our first such gathering at the studio a week from today, June 14th, at 7p and would love for any and all local photographers to attend. The evening will feature a conversation with Peter Dennen, director of photography at Aurora Photos, who will discuss the elements of a great photograph (with examples). Please feel free to bring some of your own images as well if you would like to offer them up for group discussion.

Other points of the evening to note: We will be ordering Portland's best new pizza, Otto, to munch on. And should we have at least 35 attendees, liveBooks has offered to give away a one-year subscription for a website (!). Pictage will give a $50 print credit (to a Pictage member only).

7p arrivals and introductions
7:30p Peter to take the floor
8:30-9p wrap-up

Want to come? Be sure to RSVP (either to photo[at]emilieinc[dot]com or on our PUG blog). And remember, bring a friend or two so that we can gift someone a new website!

See you soon! 227 Congress St, Portland (above the North Star Cafe). BYOB.

multimedia 101 workshop

emilie inc. is hosting a multimedia workshop on June 16th from 10a-4p (lunch included) with filmmaker Morgan Kirkham. Have a DSLR that records video? Come and learn what all the buzz is about! Details here.

2010 spring luncheon recap

Just back from a scrumptious brunch at the Danforth Inn with 20 of Maine's stellar wedding photographers for our bi-annual meeting of the minds. Today we started with a 40 minute round of "speed dating" to say hello and get a bit of face time with each person in attendance before lunching on a beautiful spread by innkeeper Leslie and her staff. The Danforth was a perfect relaxed setting for our spring gabfest, our official launch of wedding season!

Per usual, our group photo is, er, a comedy of errors. Many closed eyes, poor expressions and that's Michele Stapleton hiding on purpose in the back row. Good thing we're usually on the other side of the camera for our client's sake!

Best of luck this summer, ladies, and we'll see you again in the fall!

4/8 RSVP list

Thank you all for registering for our spring luncheon. Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday!!

Emilie Sommer
Whitney Fox
Audra Bayette
Beth Fitzgerald
Spring Smith
Carol Savage
Andree Kehn
Alexandra Daley-Clark
Anne Schmidt
Melissa Mullen
Debra Harmon
Amy Salerno
Claudia Murray
Danielle Peterson
Shannon Post
Angela DiPhilippo
Michele Stapleton
Felice Boucher
Sarah Cross
Rachel Bell
Tiffany Converse
Judy Beedle
Brea McDonald
Sharyn Peavey
Audra Welton
Cyndi Smith

spring luncheon

Our spring luncheon has been announced for Thursday, April 8th at the Danforth Inn in Portland from 12-2p. The cost is $19 and includes food (yummy brunch and dessert) and drink (pomegranate punch!), tax and tip. We must give a final headcount and pay by Monday, April 5th at 12 noon.

Need the password? Email me to be added to our member list.

Hope to see you soon!

contest for new photographers

Safely home and mind spinning from WPPI, the grande dame of wedding photography conventions in Las Vegas, I wanted to alert new photographers to an excellent contest announced there this week by Rangefinder Publishing and liveBooks called emerge.

Geared toward newer (er, emerging) photographers, the photography contest aims to help launch the careers of wedding industry newbies with stellar prizes: a one-year subscription to a liveBooks predesigned website, a one-year subscription to a Pictage account, a one-year subscription to a ShootQ account, a 2011 WPPI VIP pass, a Think Tank Photo belt and a $100 AsukaBook gift card. The top photographer in each category will receive an advertising package from TheKnot.com valued at $1,200, and a professional photography kit from Sony valued at $2,000. Wow!

Click here to check out all the contest rules, and enter your favorite wedding images to win asap (competition ends May 31)!

Business workshop 3/31

San Diego wedding photographer Jared Bauman will be stopping in Portland for a leg of his "Prevail in Business" tour on March 31st. Jared is one of the kindest and most giving in our industry, so be sure to check out this opportunity. Cost is $300 and location is TBD. Click here for more information and early registration details.

Branding & Blogging workshop 2/25

Thursday, 2/25
10a-5p
227 Congress St, Portland

I'm teaming up with Liene Stevens of Splendid Communications in Phoenix (if you don't follow Liene, you definitely should), J Sandifer of liveBooks and Angela Adams for an intensive day of branding and blogging instruction. Catered lunch by Kitchen Chicks. $150 for morning branding session, $150 for afternoon blogging session or $250 for both (including lunch). For more program information and to register, please click here. Hope you can make it!