44. Create a Chrysler 300 Letter Car Calendar.
Cars and cameras have created such a strong bond between my father and I… ever since I started attending the Chrysler 300 International Club car meets. I come for the cars, but stay for the people.
This year my father hosted the Fall 2011 meet in his stomping grounds of Lake George, NY and it was a joy to reconnect with friends and family… especially in the recent, wonderful transitions of my life. This is my 5th year in row attending and I love seeing all the familiar faces and hearing new stories and lots of old stories (re-told). If you’ve been around guys and old cars, I’m sure you know that trip down memory lane. I know and love it well. My father hosted the meet which is a labor of love for him and one which gives me great pride to witness.
I was very excited to share in the completion of a personal project documenting all of the Chrysler Letter cars in calendar format, an item the club has been asking for years. This is my contribution to the people and cars of the Chrysler 300 International Club. Special thanks to my dear friend Alan Warner at Trion Promotion and Design to bring it all together… your hard work and can-do attitude has sweeten the memorable experience. The calendars sold like hotcakes (to use my Dad’s favorite phrase to describe a fast-selling cars upon introduction like my beloved PT Cruiser). A big hug to my loyal fans!
Fleeting moments capture in a single frame is what I relish about photography. I love this photo of my father looking on the very golf course where he played his last game with his father, over 33 years ago. 
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Posted by R. J. on October 17, 2011
I like my new home, sweetened by 80 degree “June-Tober” evenings, lots of boats, and sidewalks of Minnesotan nice.
Posted by R. J. on October 9, 2011
‘Lift with my legs.’ I told myself dozens times over the past few days as I moved from Colorado to Minneasota, taking the biggest step of my life.
Within the last seven (7!) days, I sold my home with the amazing help of Faun Hauptman, left my ‘day-job,’ packed my belongings into a Penske moving truck, and drove north to Minneapolis, Minnesota. My life has been forever changed and feels great…. like….great as the-delay-onset-muscle-soreness-from-a-personal-training-session-at-the-gym-and-now-I-can-barely-walk-up-stairs-kind-of-great. A very good great. But in Minnesota?!?!?!
‘You know, there’s 11 months of winter there,’ a friend told me. Currently temperatures in Minneapolis stand at 77 degrees and clear skies, precisely 13 degrees WARMER than current cloudy Denver. Perhaps pigs can fly.
Change ain’t easy.
‘Change is good’ is an easy bumper sticker philosophy to understand, a difficult one to apply. It ain’t easy, I’ll say that. Nor is deciding to go full-time photography.
Which is why I’ve decided to chronicle my adventures of moving full-time photography in a series of blog posts aimed towards the amateur photographer deciding to do the same. The first post in the series addresses the biggest decision of them all: deciding to give it my all.
STEP 1. CREATE YOUR MAP
I can’t do it all alone, I confess. I get lost all the time, despite being a former National Geographic cartographer. Yet, I call it exploring. It’s about attitude. A road map to becoming a ‘professional’ photographer is different for everyone. As with law or medicine, the career road map is fairly lengthy, very difficult, yet clear. With becoming a creative professional, the process is almost as lengthy, arguably as difficult, yet muddy (and fun). Like the difference between a marathon road race vs marathon in Colorado Mountains. Both are running races, yet face different challenges, terrain, and skill. I only wish the journey was marked with little red stop signs and highlighted-green arrows pointing to the fast-track.
Which is why I’ve been a long-time proponet as education being the single most important part of a creative buisness. In the next month, I will be attending two photography educational experiences. Next week’s Elevate workshop in Northern Minnesota and I head to the Foundation Workshop in New Orleans. I am excited to be a student again and I know these experiences will only help my business grow successful. 
STEP 2. DIVERSIFY YOUR INCOME
Keep your day-job as long as you can until you get to the point where your business demands more of you and the money beings telling you that. Money does talk and help make those decisions a bit easier. However, having at least 4-6 months of savings, a supportive spouse/dog/cat/family, and a source of passive income from real estate or investments is a really good thing. Get rid of equipment you no longer really need, sell stuff on craigslist, and pay-off your car. Being debt-free with a savings should be your baseline goal before proceeding to the next step.
STEP 3. MAKE THE LEAP
This is the hardest part and the biggest step when any creative person decides to quit their day job and give their passion 100% focus. Root in this decision is about learning to say ‘No.’ So often, saying ‘Yes, yes, yes’ becomes a knee jerk reaction especially when money is involved. Upon closer inspection, my ultimate decision goes back to lifestyle and balance. However, I am the first to admit that having a ‘day job’ is rewarding from a career perspective, as the cloak of security affords the opportunity to build a business without going into debt, allows you to build a portfolio you are proud of, and doesn’t force creativity just for the money. One thing to keep in the back of your head while making the leap: don’t pave a dark road which leads to doing the same thing over and over just for the money. Wear {with pride} that security cloak as loooong as you can.
As of this morning, on the inside my “photography business” looks something like this:
On the outside, my wedding photography business looks like this next photo from Jordan and Cameron’s wedding at Pastures of Plenty in Boulder, Colorado last week… two beautiful, glowing newlyweds I call dear friends, trusting in me with sparks and fire in the background, wrapped in beautiful light called love. Such a wonderful metaphor and a favorite photo {stay tuned for more}! 
Everything will work out, I remind myself.
Stay tuned for “Going Pro, Part 2: Own Your Creative Space” in about 2 weeks. That life chapter is currently sketched on a napkin, not outlined in pretty cursive with a number 2 pencil (I’d prefer the latter at the moment, if I had the time).
Posted by R. J. on October 6, 2011
The moving truck is loaded and one box remains: my grandfather’s toolbox. It helps me to “be prepared,” in my Eagle Scout spirit.
I feel his grace looking down on me today. I look forward to a bright new beginning. He would be proud.
A special thanks for my very special friends & family who help schlep boxes and cart stuff away. I count myself lucky to have you all in my life and I promise to return, very soon!
The day I sell my home, the day I transition to full-time wedding photography, happens to be the day I get so spend with my dear friend, Cameron Martindell and photograph his Boulder wedding to Jordan. Today, Life REALLY is good.
Onward to adventure off yonder!
PS- Folks, moments after I publish this, I’ll be unplugging my Airport Extreme, which means I’m officially ‘off the grid’ for the next few days. I wish all my blog readers an happy Fall weekend!
Posted by R. J. on September 29, 2011
I’ve known and worked with Brian Martinez over the years as a wedding videographer, photographer, and friend. Gosh, it is fun to look back on some of the things we collaborated on including Allie & Aaron’s wedding, our Mad-Men inspired vintage shoot, and even some of his modeling work… had a kick out of this sharp image we created in a studio using a ring flash in 2008:
Fast-forward 3.5 years, and we shared the last morsel of sunset on summer Sunday night in Colorado. This adorable family has taught me so much about life. and are a model it comes to balancing work, life, and happiness. Here we are in one of my favorite local places to shoot, Sloan’s Lake in Denver at sunset with a Rocky Mountain backdrop.
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Posted by R. J. on September 28, 2011
