This is a great question. I probably say that too much. I promise i'm not kissing Zaddy butt. These questions always make me think. My biggest challenge use to be figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. I now know what that is. I want to live and work, having fun taking pictures of people and exploring the internet. Any synergy I can build between photography and exploring the internet would also be cool. My biggest challenge now is simply letting everyone know that I now have a dream!

I recently revived an effort to begin building a business around my love of photography ...

I believe your pictures are your own and shouldn't be held for ransom.

Pay me a low flat rate of $25 an hour to cover your event or activity.

I'll give you a CD or DVD with full resolution, high quality images for free. Yes that's right, included in the flat rate is a digital copy of all of your photos.

I'll also post them to a professional print fulfillment site for you to order prints at cost, if you so desire.

The rest is history ...

I have been following the efforts of a friend named Brian Robertson of Ternary Software to bring enlightened business practices to the Software Industry. 

It occurred to me today that if I'm going to build what I consider a successful business out of my love for photography that it would have to be done with some of these concepts in mind.

Here is a summary of how I'm applying enlightened business practices to photography:

1.  Customers should have unrestricted access to their photographs.
2.  Customers should only be required to purchase prints they want.
3.  Customers should pay a fair hourly rate for the photographers time.
4.  Printing of photographs should be limited as much as possible.
5.  A portion of time should be dedicated to mastering the craft.
6.  A portion of time should be dedicated to worthy causes.

This is no doubt only a beginning but I'm looking forward to the remainder of the journey.  If you have any ideas on how I can better apply enlightened business practices to the business of photograpy shoot me an e-mail or leave me a comment

Good Morning Everyone!

This note is one attempt by me to announce to the Zaadz world that I'm offering free photo sessions to all of my local Zaadz buddies.  I'm starting a photography business and need all the experience and exposure I can get.  Please refer to this article or my zPro page for more information on how I'm running my "enlightened" business.  This offer is for a limited time.



Peace!

Frank

I'm spreading my love for life through my photography.  I'm taking pictures of people doing the things they love and loving what they're doing.  What could be more peaceful?  Take pictures of people having fun, spread them around the world on the Internet.  Find ways of taking photographs that "go viral" and send a message... That's my plan.

Do "values" have to be summed up in one word?  If not, I'd have to say my love for my family is the one thing that comes to mind.  That love shapes my life in a number of ways.  My love for my wife prompted me to up-root the family rather quickly and move all of us to Pennsylvania where my wife grew up.  My love for my children keeps me in my car acting as taxi driver a great deal more than I'd like.  My love for my parents keeps me in the business of taking pictures and uploading them to flickr.  My love for my in-laws allowed me to purchase their home for my own and allow them to move in taking a huge burden from them.

So I guess I'd say the "value" of love drives me more than anything else.

Of course one could argue that these things are just my "life situation" and not really my "life". In that context I'd guess I'd have to say the value of "asking questions" or my inquisitive nature is the answer.  I question just about everything. Again I don't know if the average person would consider this a value.  But I guess I do.  What do you think?