Stuff I Love: SelfControl, Summer Snacks, and CreativeLive

It’s been awhile since my last personal post, mainly because May has been totally nuts, as it is for most wedding photographers out there. :) I like getting my clients’ sessions up as soon as I can, so that often means in busy times, personal blogging falls to the wayside. But there are a couple of things that I just HAVE to share with you because they’re just filling my life with sunshine and rainbows.

Welllll…. maybe not. But they’re still pretty darn cool.

SELFCONTROL

I was actually turned on to SelfControl by one of my photographer friends, Alex. And it is changing. my. life. Seriously. I can’t tell you how much time I waste clicking back and forth between my Facebook, email, and and Pinterest tabs all day long. You can put a list of websites on a “blacklist,” and then you set an amount of time that you want them to be blocked from use. Unlike other similar programs, you can’t undo it by restarting your computer. Like seriously… you’re totally blocked for that whole time once you click the start button. This is doing wonders for my productivity already, and I love that it’s free, easy to use, and actually works. Go do it!

STRAWBERRY LIMEADES + NUTELLA

(but not necessarily at the same time)

I’ve said more than once that I think Sonic’s Happy Hour is one of the most brilliant marketing campaigns ever, especially when the weather gets warmer. A lot of times, when I’m out driving in the afternoon and realize that it’s between 2 and 4 pm, my mouth literally starts watering thinking about a gigantic half-price strawberry limeade. There have been many times when I’ve driven out of my way to get there. How’s that for getting customers in the door (er, the drive-in)? Really, though, there’s no better summertime midday treat… and it’s a good excuse for an editing break. :)

I’ve also been loving Nutella lately. I ate it a lot when I was younger, but only recently started up the very bad habit of taking a spoon directly to the jar and making a snack of it… or the not-as-bad habit of having a Nutella-and-PB sandwich for lunch. So, so delicious. If you still haven’t tried it… well, you’re missing out. ;)

CREATIVELIVE

I’ll admit, I’ve never actually taken a full-blown photography workshop before. To be quite frank, I’m VERY skeptical of most of them, especially ones hosted by “rockstar” photographers in exotic locations. For one, I’ve never had a a couple extra thousand dollars lying around to afford most of them, and I’ve heard many people talk about how they didn’t feel like they got their money’s worth at all. Another reservation I have is that every photographer has a different style and a different way of doing things, and I feel like a lot of people sign up for workshops thinking that it’ll be their ticket to suddenly being as talented, successful, and savvy as the photographers they admire. In reality, what works for those photographers might not work for everyone, especially in different markets with different clients. That’s not to say that lots of people haven’t learned a ton at these sorts of workshops. I’m sure that’s true! But I would have to do a lot of research and thinking before I would sign up for one. I did a one-on-one mentoring session with one of my absolute fave photographers, Tara of DixiePixel, last spring, and that was definitely a great investment, because we have similar styles, markets, and target clients, and because it was just the two of us, we were able to maximize our time by discussing only issues that were relevant to me as a photographer at that stage in my growth. It was a fantastic experience, but that’s the closest I’ve come to a traditional workshop.

Enter CreativeLive. Some of the top photographers in the industry have teamed up with Chase Jarvis and his team to offer free live weekend-long workshops every couple of weeks. Come again? FREE? Yes. Free. If you don’t catch the live version, you can purchase a download anytime afterward for a pretty minimal price, about $100 or so. And that’s for a workshop by a renowned photographer who would normally charge the $1000 or so for an in-person workshop with the same material. Granted, some people prefer that face-to-face interaction and being able to get instant, personal feedback. (And there are other perks to in-person workshops, like getting to bond with other photographers and whatnot.) But for me, I love being able to watch these videos (hours and hours and hours worth!) at my own leisure, in the comfort of my house, while I edit and do other things. I caught Jasmine Star‘s first workshop last fall and found it interesting, but I was especially stoked when Zack Arias came on the scene because he is a MASTER of light and has so much to teach about using flashes and strobes, which is stuff I can ALWAYS be learning more about. He’s also good at cutting past the BS and giving it to you straight, in simple terms. In his most recent workshop, which I’m still in the process of watching, he goes through and breaks down aperture, shutter speed, and ISO better than anything I ever read online or in books. No matter what stage you’re in, you can learn something from him. Seriously. Even one good nugget of info is worth the $149.

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Hope you found something new to love with today’s post! And if you think there’s something else out there that I just have to know about and fall in love with…. well, you know where to find me. :)