Coach Becker

I'm a wedding photographer by day, wannabe professional poker player by night. I'm an aspiring paleo chef, who moonlights as a business/life coach and motivational speaker. I love travel, Vegas, cross fit, quality television, all things Apple, technology, social media, and building businesses. It's my goal to be physically and fiscally fit and it's my life's mission to help others do the same. I'm really awesome at being humble and a legend in my own mind. FYI... I suck at writing but I am trying to get better. I also have a potty mouth... get over it! Welcome to my world.

[coachbecker]

My Top 10 Productivity Hacks for 2017

[coachbecker]

WPPI 2016

Next month I’ll be attending the WPPI convention in Las Vegas for my 20th year in a row and I couldn’t be more excited!

I am going to be speaking on Sunday, March 6th at noon and I am preparing the best talk I’ve ever done. I’ll be sharing the most important lessons I’ve learned as a photographer and business owner about building a lasting brand and I will share thee absolute #1 key to success in this business.

Here are some other classes I recommend seeing if you get the chance (in order of when they occur):

Dane Sanders - (re)Building Your Business From the Ground Up - Sunday 3:00-4:30 - 

“While it is true that it has never been easier to go to market as a photographer in the digital marketplace, it is an illusion to believe it is easy. The effort required to make the leap from creating compelling photographs to building a business around those creations could not be overstated. Your decisions on the values you build your business on, where to position your brand, which business model is right for you, pricing appropriately for your market, selecting vendors and how to best compete in a globally competitive market are just some of the challenges we all face as independent entrepreneurs.

In this class, Dane Sanders will begin by helping you understand how to categorize the value you’re committed to make for your clients as well as how to create it. He’ll then help you think through ways to market that value (including identifying your target and building a marketing plan around their needs - not yours) as well as how to best sell and distribute it. He will then share a detailed framework on how to build efficient systems and tackle how to best choose and work with other people, including your customers, employees and vendors. He’ll finish this day-long course by wrestling with the toughest challenge of all: working with yourself in such a way that you flourish… where you own and run your business rather than the other way around.

This Class is ideal for the photographer who has been in business for at least three years and is eager to reconsider the business side of their enterprise from the ground up.”

Huy Nguyen: Talent Not Required - Monday 8:30-10:00 - 

“Not born with innate photography talent? No worries. Accomplished photojournalist, wedding photographer and educator Huy Nguyen will help you build a foundation for learning and development to becoming a badass wedding photographer. Huy will present concrete advice as well as transcendent thoughts to help you get on the path to stead growth as a photographer.If you are already blessed with talent, that's great too! Let's stoke that fire and learn how to convert all that goodness into amazing photography.”

Jessica Claire: Get Noticed Get Booked. - Monday 4:00-5:30 - 

“Whether you're first starting out or have been shooting for years, you've probably noticed that the photography industry is more saturated than ever. In this class, Jessica teaches what it takes to get clients, planners, and other referring sources to remember you, book you, and share your name with everyone they know. She will focus on the clients' and the planners’ complete experience with you, including initial contact, timeline review, takeaway gift, booking, sneak peek, social media, album process, final file delivery and thankyou note). She also reviews what you should be thinking at every job and how to manage those important follow-up relationships.”

David Beckstead - Reflections and Abstraction Photo Walk - Monday 6:30-8:00pm - 

“David Beckstead is a 16 year WPPI veteran. What can you lean in a short walk with David? A ton! He will concentrate on how to use reflections in dynamic ways with a subject. He will use reflective surfaces he finds and bring glass to shoot through and create wonderful abstractions that wrap the subject in light and bokeh. He will show you how to see these reflections and incorporate them to stylize your work. Using many LED video lights as our source of lighting.”

Luke & David Edmonson: Purposeful, Practical, Profitable Album Design - Tuesday 10:30-12:30 This is a Master Class and require pre-registration. 

“Are you currently creating albums designs that are Purposeful, Practical & Profitable? Deep in your heart, you know if you still have one or more areas to improve and ultimately if the entire experience for your clients is a positive one!

If the answer is “NO!" then this is the class for you!  Join Master Artists, David & Luke Edmonson as we peer into the baffling realm of competitive album design and take the mystery out of it for you!

For years you’ve heard of speakers and commentators preaching myths, hype, truths and opinions. It’s time to dispel with the hype and get real.

We want to create designs that have a Purpose and show value. We want to make the design process Practical and enjoyable. We want to offer albums that are attractively priced and also Profitable.”

Parker Pfister: Seeing Past the Obvious and Confronting the Unknown - Tuesday 4:00-5:30pm - 

“Why create images that everyone sees? Why not change the angle, the light and the speed at which we all see? In this mostly hands-on class, Parker will lead you out to the end of his wispy limb where he feels most comfortable; creating images on the cusp of light and past the edge of the unfamiliar, you will embark on a journey to create images that go beyond the obvious. After this class, you will walk away feeling a bit more comfortable with the unknown.”

Cliff Mautner: Mastering Light - Tuesday 6:30-8:00 - 

“Light! It literally defines our craft. NOTHING will impact your images the way light will. Join Cliff Mautner, WPPI Grand award winner,  2012 Photographer of the year, and 2014 Lifetime Achievement award recipient, as he takes you through a 90 minute crash course on how to master light on the wedding day. Discover how to find that “edge” that creates texture, dimension and mood as Cliff unfolds a slew of new images shot over the course of real weddings in both ideal, and adverse lighting conditions. Whether it’s harsh light, flat light, or no light, Cliff reveal techniques you can implement immediately into your workflow, and you’ll also receive a few lessons on the business side of things from someone who’s been at it for over 30 years. You’re assured to take away a ton of information, as well as laugh along with his irreverent, straight forward teaching style.”

Photographers Ignite hosted by Kevin Kubota - Thursday 10:30-12:00 - 

Once again WPPI wraps up with Photographers Ignite, which is a super fun event that I have spoken at numerous times in the past. There are 12 speakers, they get 5 minutes each. And not just a random 5 minutes... they get 20 slides to tell a story and they slides advance automatically every 15 seconds. 

Joe Photo will be presenting “The [b]est Man Speech” - I wonder what that will be about? ;-)

I’m also looking forward to walking around the trade show on Monday and Wednesday (it’s open Tuesday as well, but I’ve got stuff going on). I’m looking forward to seeing my friends from WHCC, Sprout Studio, ShootProof, Smart Albums, Album Exposure and hoping to find a cool new company or two.

You can find out about other speakers and classes here.

[coachbecker]

Stoked to be speaking at WPPI this year along with an amazing line up of speakers. If you’re going to be in town Sunday at noon, be sure to some se my program. RSVP here.

[coachbecker]

I know the term “game changer” gets thrown around a lot these days, but there really is no other way to describe the all new Sprout Studio.

It’s the first, all-in-one solution for photographers and it is simply amazing!

I was actually perfectly happy with my previous studio management solution, and you know what a pain it is to set these things up, so I really had no interest in switching services.

But once I saw how powerful Sprout Studio, and how it took the place of 3 or 4 other services, I had to give it a try.

And here’s what really sold me... it was an absolute breeze to set up!

Their set up wizard was so easy to use as it guided me through the necessary steps to get up and running withing hours instead of weeks or even months with other services I’ve tried in the past.

Here are a few other reasons why I am in love with Sprout Studio:

They have excellent customer service (2 full time employees I believe).

The UI looks beautiful. You can tell is was designed by Mac people.

The central client portal is huge! I assign my clients a username and a password, and they can access everything they need from one link.

The ongoing education. Not only do they make the tools available, they are dedicated on educating photographers how to get the most out of those tools by sharing best practices, suggest text and video tutorials.

An awesome community. Being that it is a new service, their Facebook group is filled with users helping each other out and also providing suggestions on how to make it even better. The team behind Sprout is super responsive and helpful and I can’t wait to see where this goes.

As we are about to start a new year, this is the perfect time to make the switch to this powerful solution. You can get a 14 day free trail here to give it a try.

[coachbecker]

Catch me on the Sprouting Photographer Podcast again. This time I had a candid conversation with Brian about the struggles I’ve been experiencing starting over in a new market.

[coachbecker]

Salesographer just released their 2nd of 3 free In Person Sales training videos for photographers. They first video got rave reviews and I am certain this one will be received just as well. Watch here.

[coachbecker]

Loving the new beautiful and customizable emails from ShootProof!

I’ve found in the past, that whenever I included a photo, or made the emails look nice, my couples are more likely to forward their emails to their friends and family members.

Also, by adding a discount code that expires in 2 weeks has really motivated people to purchase loose reprints right away.

ShootProof makes it easy to manage the discounts and create this highly sharable email.

Feel free to borrow this idea!

[coachbecker]

Last night at the United Center in Chicago, I attended my 20-something-th U2 concert of my life and as per usual... they did not disappoint. They still bring it after all these years.

They are by far my favorite band of all time and every time I see them live, I am inspired.

This time, I was particularly inspired by the simple, yet brilliant stage design. In years past, US has created some incredible sets to serves as the back drop of their performances. I remember hearing an interview with Bono once about why they built such grand stages and he said something to the effect of... “We build these incredible shows so that we (the band) have to kick it up a notch to compete for the attention of the audience.”

But this time, it was much more toned down, with all the grandeur of the past concerts stripped away so that they could feel closer to and connect with the audience. I think they succeeded. 

They had a main stage like everyone else, a catwalk that lead to a secondary stage (they’ve been doing that since Zoo TV in ‘92), but the brilliant thing was the video screen above the catwalk. Instead of putting the screen behind the main stage (like they had in the past), they put it right down the middle of the venue so that people on either side had a nice view of it... giving more fans a better overall experience. (It reminded me of the big screen at Cowboys Stadium).

And depending on how the screen was lit, you could see through it, partially through it, or not at all. The guys performed several songs from inside the screen, and interacted with the video images that were being projected. It’s kind of hard to explain, but it was really awesome. (see photos below)

I’ve always been impressed with their ability to connect with their audiences. I’m also impressed by how they’ve continued to innovate and evolve over the years while still staying true to their roots. They also care so deeply about how their customers (fans/concert goers) experience their music.

I have the same goal with my photography business. It’s so important to me to maintain my the consistent style that I have developed over the years, but to continue to grow as an artist. I am also always focused on giving my clients an outstanding experience every step along the way.

Here are a few iPhone images. Sorry they suck... we got the cheap seats way at the top.

In this on, you can see The Edge on the catwalk below the screen, and if you look closely, you can see Bono walking inside of the screen, with video graphics of his old neighborhood projected on it:

Here’s the entire band inside of the screen:

And finally the screen just being a screen so everyone in the cheap seats can see better:

[coachbecker]

WPPI 2015 Recap

I got back from WPPI a week ago, and I am just now getting around to writing the recap of my experience.

There are two reasons for my delay:

I hardly slept in Vegas and combine that with the daylight saving time that kicked into effect last weekend... I've been having a hard time getting out of bed this past week.

I was so motivated and inspired by the convention this year, I have been working my butt of during the times I was awake to make sure 2015 is going to kick ass. (More on that later).

WPPI 2015 marked my 19th year in a row attending the convention. And without knocking his predecessors, I got tip my cap to Jason Groupp and his team for continuing to raise the bar and making WPPI an outstanding experience for photographers to learn, connect and grow.

For me personally, my #1 reason to go to WPPI is to connect with old friends. (See the photo above... those are my peeps!)

When I first attended in 1997, there was no Facebook, or Twitter, or Instagram, or even Google. Creative Live wasn’t available, or text messages, or even cell phones for that matter. Only rich people had car phones back then and they certainly didn't fit in your pocket.

Back then, there were no blogs and only a handful of us even had websites!

In 1997, everyone shot film, not just the hipsters. If you wanted to connect with other photographers, you had to actually meet them in person and actually talk to them. And back in those days... the local competition wasn't too open to even talking to a potential competitor let alone actually help them.

So when my new friend Joe Photo invited me to go to a photo conference in the desert... I was eager to go and learn as much as I possibly could.

That first trip was a life changing experience an I've been back every year since. I often refer to WPPI as my 2nd favorite week of the year. (Burning Man actually wins hands down!)

Over the year I have been a speaker on several occasions, but I think I was most known for hosting my legendary parties. I'm a connector and I love bringing people together!

The last couple of years though, I have been lying low and just enjoying my time with old friends. It's been nice not having the pressure (and expense) of hosting a huge party, not having to worry about doing a talk, or showing up a booth at a certain time to plug some vendors.

I've actually enjoyed WPPI so much the last few years!!!

But this year... I wanted to actually find some inspiration and learn some stuff, so I actually went to a few programs!

Moving to St. Louis has been a huge change. I went from being pretty well established in SoCal, to virtually unknown (by the venues & coordinators at least) in St. Louis. It’s been humbling. 

I’m thankful that quite a few STL photographers have been sending me some referrals, and I am still booking weddings back home as well as destination weddings, but it’s been weird virtually starting over.

But back to WPPI... the best program I went to was the Tuesday night presentation by The Two Mann Crew. My jaw was on the floor the whole time. Their work is so crazy good and their presentation was hilarious. So raw, so real… no fluff. I actually introduced myself to Erika & Lanny after their program and they ended up inviting Ashley & I to grab a bite the next night. Such cool people and I am glad to know them! (They’re on the short list of photographers we are considering to shoot our wedding).

I am bummed I missed my friend Parker’s program. I still wish WPPI would stop hosting classes at 8:30 in the morning. It’s Las Vegas and classes should start around 11:00 or so. I heard it was amazing (as I knew it would be). Parker is also on the short list of photographers we are considering to shoot our wedding and he’s a constant source of inspiration to me.

I caught a couple of other programs, but I still think my favorite thing about WPPI is the conversations you have in the hallways, or over a drink or a meal. I don’t want to get all name-droppy, but I had some awesome conversations with The Chrismans, JVS, Joe Buissink, Jason Groupp, David & Luke Edmondson (congrats to David on his lifetime achievement award), Zach Gray, Huy Nguyen, Rich Lander, Cliff Mauntner, Nick Adams, Parker Pfister, Kevin Jairaj, Kevin & Claire Kubota, Andy & Brian Marcus, and so many more.

I think the highlight of the trip was actually going out to the desert and being on the other side of the camera for once! Our good friend Jessica Claire volunteered to shoot a little maternity session of us and it turned out to be so much fun! 

A few of our St. Louis friends also tagged along and shot a few images. I love this one of Ashley from our friend Julia Noack:

Thanks to Jess, Katie, Julia, Amy, Joel & Kurtis... we had a blast with you all and can’t wait to see the rest of the photos!

Some other highlights from this trip were:

The Fearless Party.

Hanging with Kurtis & JVS. Photo by Robyn Navarro.

I didn’t get to play a ton of poker, but I did manage to get a first and a second place (out of 3 tries at the nightly Monte Carlo tournament).

I also love cruising around the trade show floor and checking out all of the new products. I spent a ton of time at the Sony booth (thinking about adding a mirrors camera to the mix).

The new Smart Albums 2.0 looks absolutely amazing!

ShootProof has a great new interface and some cool things on deck.

It was also great seeing the guys at the MagMod booth:

(Full disclosure, MagMod hired me to do a little consulting work and I am stoked to be a part of the team. Their new MagSphere and MagBounce are awesome for wedding photographers).

Big thank you to Madera Books who made me a new sample album after reading that someone broke into my car and stole one. So stoked to be partnered with them.

Loved catching Photo Ignite again. My boy Joe Photo did an awesome slam poetry performance over his adventures of the last year.

As far as what I’ve been working on this week... networking like a madman and working on relaunching my website! It’s not 100% done yet, but take a look.

Lastly... next year will mark my 20th year at WPPI. I am working on some ideas to make it memorable. Stay tuned!

[coachbecker]

I'll be in Minnesota next week sharing my Complete Wedding Workflow at a PPA event on February 23rd at 1pm. Details here. I hope you'll join me!

[coachbecker]

Pro-Duc-Tiv-Ity

Happy New Year friends!

I don't know about you, but I am excited for 2015!

On the business front... I have some great weddings on tap, some fun "business" trips planned, a plethora of projects that I am excited about, and what seems like a world of opportunities on my plate.

Personally, my fiancee and I will be planning our own wedding for the Spring of 2016 and we are also expecting a baby girl come June... which is certain to flip my world right upside down. We're very excited on both counts and with each passing day, I become less and less terrified about being a father (it would be nice if babies came with instruction manuals).

Another personal goal of mine if to finally because physically fit!

Sure, I dropped 70 pounds a few years back and I am very proud of that accomplishment... but I still never hit my ultimate health and fitness goals.

In fact, in the last year or so, I went in reverse and put some of that weight back on. At one point, I had gained half the weight back. 

So here's the deal...

For me, 2015 is going to be all about PRODUCTIVITY!

One of my favorite quotes is from a guy names John C. Maxwell and it goes:

"The greatest gap in the world is between knowing and doing."

Sure, I know HOW to get 6 pack abs... but until now, I haven't taken ALL of the steps required to get them.

And I know HOW to book weddings and network with other wedding professionals... but lately my follow through has been less than stellar.

There was always some kind of excuse, a distraction, other priorities, etc...

But this year it's going to be different.

I have committed to becoming the most productive person I have ever been in both my personal and professional lives.

I didn't wait until January 1st to get started on my goals for the year.

I started my new fitness regimen the day after Christmas and I have already dropped 10 pounds! 

I released my first eBook for photographers two days after Christmas.

My 2nd ebook is going to be ready next week!

I've also booked 2 weddings so far and set up lunches or coffee dates with several wedding planners.

No more excuses. No more wasting time online, No more being lazy. No more procrastinating.

It's time to kick ass and take names! Time to Piss Excellence as Ricky Bobby would say.

It's time to close the gap between knowing and doing!

If you want to make 2015 your most productive year ever, I highly suggest watching this free video and downloading the accompanying PDFs. Eban has a way of teaching and motivating by breaking things into easy actionable steps. All you need is a little motivation to get going, and the results keep the momentum flowing!

Cheers to a kick ass and PRODUCTIVE 2015!

You can do it!

Coach Becker

[coachbecker]

On the 12th day of Photo Christmas...

We celebrate #Festivus!

But instead of airing my grievances... I have a gift for you!

Well, sorta.

I had every intention of finishing my "The [ b ] Flow: Work Smart, Not Hard" eBook in time for the holidays, but sometimes life gets in the way.

Ever since switching to digital in 2001, I have been obsessed with finding ways to make my workflow more efficient.

As new software, services and technology becomes available, I am always evaluating my workflow looking for ways to:

Save time

Save money

Expand my reach

Add additional revenue

I'm telling you friends... I have a really good system and I am eager to share it with you. 

It's 90% done... but since is my first eBook... I just want to make sure it's perfect.

I am putting a deadline of January 15, 2015 to force myself to make the time to finish it.

You must reserve your copy in advance if you'd like it for free. Otherwise, you are more than welcome to pay for it! ;-)

Anyway... I just want to say thank you for your continues support and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Much love,

Coach Becker

[coachbecker]

On the 11th day of Photo Christmas...

I encourage you to start a personal project in 2015.

Sure... for many of us, photography is our career. It's how we put food on the table and a roof over our heads.

But it's also our passion. Our hobby. Our creative outlet to the world.

It's my goal in 2015 to shoot more images for my soul, than for my clients.

Don't get me wrong... I still want to be booking weddings for cool couples around the world, but I also want to make sure to make it a priority to shoot for myself.

My BFF Joe Photo has been on a mission this past year. He has turned a personal project into his life's mission and I am so proud of him.

Along with his girlfriend Denise, they both got rid of their residences, sold most of their worldly possessions, put the rest in storage, bought an RV and set out on the road!

They had no idea that wearing some "Free Hugs" t-shirts during Mardi Gras would change their world. The started the Entertaining Angels Project to celebrate the spirit and wisdom of "Dirty Kids".

Their mission statement:

Our mission is two-fold: Our first mission is to communicate value to Dirty Kids; we do this by sitting with them, hugging them, listening to their stories, photographing them, and sharing what we have with them. While Joe and I don’t smoke cigarettes, we carry them to give to Dirty Kids when they ask for one or if they ask for money we will offer them a cigarette, which makes them very happy. When they find out we carry cigarettes just for them, they are overwhelmed with our kindness. We have learned that the Dirty Kids love candy, fruit, nuts and baby wipes, so we frequently carry those items to share with them as well.

Our second mission is to cause a shift in the public’s perspective regarding Dirty Kids through our Entertaining Angels Project website. We share their stories, their wisdom, and their portraits to encourage people in the communities where Dirty Kids temporarily rest their heads to have more compassion, smile at the Kids, say, “Hi”, and perhaps take some time to listen to their stories and learn from the wisdom which comes from this alternative lifestyle.

I know it's the holidays, and you've probably blown your budget on gifts, but if you could find it in your heart to donate just $10 or $20 to help Joe & Denise continue to do the Lord's work they would most certainly appreciate it.

Love without judgement. Imagine if the everyone started doing that.

Merry Christmas!

[coachbecker]

On the 10th day of Photo Christmas...

I give you Pixifi... my online studio manager for the last few years.

Here's what I love about Pixifi... for $40 a month... it basically replaced my studio manager. Sure that sucks for her, but it saves me a lot of money each year.

Another thing I love is that it just keeps getting better. Tim and his team are constantly making changes, listening to feedback from their customers, and it keeps getting more powerful and easier to use.

At first, I just used it to do online contracts (I'm running a virtually paperless office over here), but lately I've been also taking advantage of the invoicing feature, scheduling of appointments and most of my client communications.

They have a 2 month free trial so you can really play around and see how helpful this will be for your studio.

Check it out!

[coachbecker]

On the 9th day of Photo Christmas…

I want to share some love about the company that has made my wedding albums for the last couple of years, Madera Books.

Full disclosure here… the owner of the company, Michael Norwood is a good friend of mine who’ve I’ve known for about a decade.

He’s an outstanding photographer, an awesome family man (he and his wife Cyndie are celebrating 15 years of marriage today), but he's a terrible poker player! ;-)

Anywho… a few years ago he started Madera and I felt kind of bad for not using the albums. I didn’t really even check them out. 

You see, I was happy with my album company and I had been using Leather Craftsmen for over a dozen years and I wanted to remain loyal.

LC is a fixture in the industry and they make some of the best books in the business. Their customer service was also excellent so I really had no desire to make a change.

And to Michael's credit... he understood where I was coming from and never tried to pressure or guilt me into giving Madera a try, which I really appreciated otherwise it could of been awkward when we hung out or played poker.

Michael's sister in law and one of my dearest friends, Jessica Claire on the other hand... pretty much had to switch to Madera otherwise things could have gotten really awkward when the families got together for the holidays.

One day I was visiting Jessica and she showed me the completed album of a wedding that we shot together. It was gorgeous. I couldn't believe how nice the quality of the album was. It was very similar to the albums I was offering, but actually had 3 additional things going for it that made me decide to give them a try:

The gap between the pages was smaller. It may not sound like much, but when you do panos across two pages, that really makes a difference. The gap seemed to be about half the size of my old albums.

The presentation box that album comes in is really nice. I think it just adds some nice value for my clients when they receive their book(s).

The price. If I can get the same, if not better quality, and save 20-25% on each album... I decided it was more important to be loyal to my bank account. After all, it's not how much you make that matters, it's how much you keep.

Do yourself a favor and watch this 70 second trailer about Madera Books and consider giving them a try in the New Year.

[coachbecker]

On the 8th day of Photo Christmas...

I share with you some of my favorite FREE apps.

Now these apps aren't specifically made for photographers, but they certainly can help you stay organized and be more productive.

Up first... Say hello to Trello!

Trello is a collaboration tool that helps you organize your projects by yourself or with you family, friends or team members.

To me it looks like a "Pinteresting" version of a to do list.

I have boards for:

Planning my own wedding.

Health & Fitness (where I track my workouts and my favorite paleo recipes).

eBooks I am working on.

My Photography business.

Coach Becker ideas.

Places I want to travel

My daily to-do lists

I also love Evernote and Skitch. Whenever I come across great blog posts, or interesting articles about photography, small business, marketing or whatever... I just save them to Evernote. And Skitch used to be a stand alone program, but then Evernote bought them and they work even better together.

Skitch allows you to easily take screen grabs, and then mark them up with text, graphics or arrows very easily. It comes in so handy when you are working with your web developer.

Copy is my favorite cloud storage solution. I like it better than Dropbox because Dropbox always seemed to give me annoying alerts and warnings anytime I restarted my computer. You can upgrade to a paid plan on Copy if you want to, but you really don't need to. Every time you refer a friend to sign up, they give you 5 extra GBs. I am up to like 550 GB so far... but I can always use more so sign up!

Lastly, I just found this fun little app a couple of weeks ago but I am really liking it. Noizio just plays some soft background noises while you work. When I really need to sit down and focus on a project... I just put on the headphones and listen to the sounds of soft rain, a coffeeshop and a crackling fire in the background. It's actually quite soothing!

[coachbecker]

On the 7th day of Photo Christmas...

I just want to give a shout out to my lab, White House Custom Color.

I can remember the Christmas of 1999 like it was yesterday. I was still shooting film back then and as per usual, I was slammed with holiday orders.

Get this... back in those days, when you wanted to order prints and stuff... you actually had to drive to the lab to drop off the negatives, place your order, then come back days or even a week later to pick it up.

I always had a December 10th cutoff for Christmas orders so I'd have time to get them back and delivered in plenty of time for the holiday.

Well in 1999, when I dropped my order off at my local lab, they promised it would be ready on the 17th, giving me plenty of time to ship the orders and still make the deadline.

So you can imagine my disappointment, when I drove a half hour on the 17th, only to be told they were slammed at they wouldn't be ready til the 20th.

Look, I used to work at a photo lab when I was in high school and I know how crazy they get around the holidays, so I was willing to cut them some slack.

But when I showed up on the 20th, and the orders still weren't done... I was getting pretty pissed.

So I came back on the 21st, and yay... the orders were ready!

But they were all screwed up and I didn't realize it until I got home. So after yet another trip to the lab, they promised they'd fix it and have the orders ready on the morning of Christmas Eve.

And by morning they must have meant by 6pm when they closed.

So I spent the next 8 hours, driving all over Southern California in the pouring rain to personally deliver images to my clients so they'd have them in time for Christmas. 

As I was driving home after making my last stop at almost 2am, I decided to move my future Christmas cutoff date to November 30th as I didn't ever want to risk missing Christmas Eve with my family ever again.

I ended up switching to digital in 2001 and everything changed, and I started using WHCC 10 years ago.

In those 10 years, I have only had to send one order back to WHCC because of something was messed up.

AND IT WASN"T EVEN THEIR FAULT!

But they made it right anyway because they have the very best customer service in the entire photo biz.

Of course they are an incredible lab, will all the latest technology and their deliver an outstanding product with that legendary customer service... 

But the thing I appreciate most about WHCC... is that it's a family run business and I just love the family!

The Hanline clan are the most gracious, generous people I have been around. They love life, they are passionate about partnering with photographers and helping them grow their businesses, and they are always looking for ways to expand, tackle new challenges and raise the bar of excellence in the photo finishing world.

I will always be a loyal customer of WHCC and I am so grateful for all they have done for me, and the photo industry at large.

Merry Christmas to Mike, Diana, Chris, Michele, Jack, Tim, Julie, Jed, VIcki, Nema, Sarah, Kristina, Sean, Lacey and all of the rest. Love you guys!