Well it’s almost been a year since I retired from IBM, after 37 years, and started working on Casual Elegance Photography® full time. It’s been 8 years since I started the Casual Elegance Photography® brand and business, but the business was more part time than not because of the international travel I was doing at IBM. So this “first full time year” has been an “interesting one”. It started out with a bang, a trademark infringement issue. That forced me to hire an attorney for advice and forced me to apply for a registered trademark on the name Casual Elegance Photography. But even before we received the trademark, the issue was over so that chapter of 2008 was closed. It was a great learning experience in the world of business and the internet influence on it. I’m thankful for the advice of the attorney, the information I learned along the way, and the great people at the USPTO who were very helpful in in obtaining the registered trademark.
Although the economy has taken a turn for the worse, the business has actually grown slightly. But even more important is that we had the pleasure of meeting and shooting with some very interesting clients this year. Our clients come from all over the US and come from walks of life. We completely enjoy meeting them and sharing the Casual Elegance Photography® experience with them. It’s like an extended family at times.
This year we’ve rebuilt the studio and invested into equipment to make things easier and better. Our new Wacom monitor/tablet is awesome for editing, the new computers being linked (so we can see the shots we are taking immediately) is a big plus, and the new Nikon D700 (and wireless sender) with the full frame sensor is fantastic for capturing the images for our clients. We’ve invested in new software and several web associated packages as well as a new website template. All of these things are to make my job easier and to produce the highest quality of work possible. This was a year of fine tuning the entire business from advertising to software to equipment to practically everything.
We are looking forward to the new year and the wonderful things it will bring. We’re hoping that it too will be a year of growth, meeting more new clients, and having the pleasure of sharing the Casual Elegance Photography ® experience with them all.
A big thank you to all of our clients, family, and friends for making 2008 a wonderful year!!!!
Leave a comment