Fall 2011 luncheon

Hard to believe we are turning the calendar to September in the morning!! I hope you have all had a wonderful season so far and wish you great luck as you push through to the end! Need a little motivation?

Instead of our usual fall brunch, I thought it would be great fun to check out Maine based travel spa I Do Spas to unwind and work out those kinks in our backs and feet! They bring the equipment, music, even robes and slippers! You bring those aching muscles and a brunch-type eat to share.

Mark your calendars now as this event has limited availability and reply with the spa service you would like from the options below. Payment is required in full 10 days before the event (this might be the best business meeting write-off yet!).

Package #1
Ultimate Spa $125
Facial, Massage, Pedicure & Manicure

Package #2
Spa Day $90
Massage, Pedicure & Manicure

Package #3
Nail Spa $55
Pedicure & Manicure

A la carte Services
Facial $45
Massage $45
Pedicure $45
Manicure $30

Each service is 30 minutes. Appointments will depend on services booked, starting at 9a. Please list your time preference and we will try to accommodate.

Maine PUG September agenda

A year and a half ago I was approached to lead a monthly group of local wedding photographers who also use Pictage, the online image hosting and professional lab I have used since 2003! I gladly accepted and opened the group up to all photographers, not just wedding photographers and not just photographers who use the Pictage service. We've had round-table discussions with magazine editors, commercial and stock photographers, other top notch wedding industry vendors, lighting and gear demonstrations, and even legal advice. I am proud of the range of topics covered and depth of information shared with our close knit community. I am also insanely busy and therefore will be passing the torch after next Tuesday, my final meeting as host.

Photographers: Months in the making, we're so happy that Justin and Mary Marantz will be joining us from Connecticut on September 6th at 7p to discuss tips for attracting and booking clients like you. A perfect pep talk as we head into the fall booking season! Please RSVP asap as this meeting will be limited to 25 people.

Look forward to seeing you next week!

2011 season assistants

Angela DiPhilippo and Beth Lorden have both contacted me to let our group know they are available to assist or second shoot for you this season. Feel free to contact them directly about your photography needs.

Spring 2011 luncheon recap

Last week Maine's best women wedding photographers met for our bi-annual lunch at Vignola in Portland. Just before lunch we visited Cindy and Randy at Body of Work in South Portland for a brief training session to learn some stretching and core exercises to help us better prepare for lifting our gear and the long days on our feet photographing weddings. Cindy has been my personal trainer for the last five years and I definitely give her all the credit for helping to keep my body strong for this physically demanding profession. It was a fantastic afternoon! Thanks for coming, ladies!

Spring 2011 luncheon

Whew! What a winter! Happy that we've begun our spring thaw and looking forward to wedding season!

On Thursday, April 28th, please join us at Body of Work, 161 Ocean Street in South Portland, at 11a and then we'll head across the bridge to lunch for our 12 noon reservation at Vignola at 10 Dana Street in Portland.

In addition to our usual lunch, personal trainer Cindy Gotts of Body of Work in South Portland will be leading a complimentary group session to share some strength training exercises and stretches so that we may all be better prepared for carrying our gear and help soothe those aching muscles after each wedding this summer.

Please check your inbox for your Evite (or request one from photo [at] emilieinc [dot] com) and note in your RSVP if you will be attending both the training session (comfortable street clothes are fine) and lunch (we'll have individual checks and will order off the regular lunch menu).

Associates, assistants and office staff are welcome. Please RSVP no later than Monday, April 25th. Look forward to seeing you soon!

Maine spring PUG agenda

Happy March Maine Photographers!

It's almost Spring and clients will be coming! Time to brush up on those lighting skills! As I'm still on maternity leave, please join Beth Fitzgerald for the PUG group on Wednesday, March 16th at 7pm at Blush Imagery Photo Studio, 28 Maple Street, 3rd Floor, Portland, Maine. Location lighting guru Brian Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Photo will lead a full tutorial on balancing multiple lights and modifiers in the studio and on-location. Bring your camera, if you want to shoot along. Plus, a membership to the Maine Wedding Company for a year (a $275 value) will be given away as a door prize so bring your biz card! Drinks and snacks will be provided. Open to all photographers.

Upcoming PUGs:

Wednesday, April 20th: Meet Mary Jo Brown, publisher and creative director of Seacoast Bride Magazine and Melanie Brooks, editor of Real Maine Weddings Magazine for tips on how to get your wedding images published.

Wednesday, May 18th: A round table discussion with a local accountant, trademark lawyer and business lawyer to chat about taxes, Quickbooks, registering your logo, the benefits of incorporating your business, and more!

Wednesday, June 15th: J Sandifer of liveBooks shares the inside scoop on how to create a user-intuitive website and secrets of SEO.

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Nicole at photo [at] emilieinc [dot] com.

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!