Sales

When you own a small business, making a sale is exciting. Especially when you're semi-pro photographers running the operation out of your over-crowded one bedroom apartment, and doing the majority of your marketing through Facebook, Twitter, and word-of-mouth. The most rewarding part about selling a print is knowing our art is hanging in someone else's home - someone we don't know. It's just cool.

When a sale comes in, we're excited to find out who bought it (do we know them or not?), where they live (are they in the DC area or someone else in the country), what photo(s) they purchased (was it one of mine or Lauren's?), and what size/finish they choose. It's interesting to see which photos are popular - sometimes it takes us by surprise.

The other day we got our first repeat buyer. It makes us feel legitimate. Someone liked our photos enough to take a chance and order a couple online, and loved them enough to go back to the site and order more. And that leads me to my final thought:

Thank you. For anyone who has made a purchase from Photos That Give, we truly appreciate it. We appreciate that you like our work, but we're even more thankful that you enable us to give back to all the organizations that make a difference.

The Making of "Simply Beautiful Photographs" - National Geographic book by Annie Griffiths

Photos That Give's first field trip was to National Geographic in D.C. last week to attend a talk by Annie Griffith's, world famous nat geo photographer and author of nat geo's new book: Simply Beautiful Photographs.

The talk was inspiring and educational - Annie talked about what makes a photograph great: light, composition, and moment, just to name a few.

Watch this video for a condensed version of the talk, and to see some of the photographs included in the book.

Stay tuned for details on our next field trip!

Nat Geo Event: 10/26: Masters of Photography

National Geographic will be putting on a Masters of Photography event, starting next Tuesday, 10/26 and running until 12/08.

Here are the details on the first event of the 3-part series "Capturing Beauty"

October 26, 2010
Time 7:30 p.m.
Price NG Member: $16 (series: $42); General Public: $18 (series $48)
Address:
1600 M Street, NW
Washington, D.C. (Farragut North/West Stops on the Red Line).

I've been going to National Geographic events at their Auditorium for years now. They always have photographs on display, and their events are always unique, educational, adventure-filed, and inspiring.

Here's a brief description of the 10/26 event:
For the new book National Geographic Simply Beautiful Photographs, veteran photographer Annie Griffiths plumbed the Society’s Image Collection to select the finest photographs from its legendary archive. The result? A spellbinding visual journey…from stunning landscapes and magnificent wildlife…to fascinating cultures and rarely visited destinations. Spend an evening with Griffiths as she recounts the stories behind the images, and explains the critical qualities necessary to create beauty in a photograph.

If you'd like to join me next Tuesday, please send an email to: photosthatgive@gmail.com.

kitty nose.

Royal posed for me before I headed to work this morning.

I hear cats are typically elusive and sneaky, and play hard to get. Not Royal. He sat and glared directly into my lens.

This was the best shot of the shoot. I like it because the focal point is his pink nose.

Photography Contest

We thought you may like to know about National Geographic's upcoming Photography Contest.

Here's the Scoop:
Deadline: November 30, 2010, 9:00:00 a.m. US Eastern Time
Entry Fee: $15 per entry.
Categories: People, Places, and Nature (no limit on # of entries per person).
Format: Digital
Date: Photos must have been taken within two years of submission date.

PTG wants to know what photos you think we should enter. Let us know by commenting on this post. Thanks!

Life in Color: Green, Green Photos -- National Geographic

Life in Color: Green, Green Photos -- National Geographic

Photos That Give Mascot: Royal

Last month, we blogged about our other Mascot, Donovan. We've got some pretty cute mascots, don't you think?

This was taken with my Droid Incredible as royal started to fall asleep in his favorite spot: 10 feet up, on top of our kitchen cabinets.