Delaware President
George Singleton gsingleton@SEPPAonline.com
1st Vice-President Kevin Jiminez kjiminez@SEPPAonline.com
*** Harry Markel
2nd Vice-President Secretary-Treasurer
District of Columbia
*** Carly Glazierl Dorrie Pilot
Mary Fisk-Taylor mfisktaylor@SEPPAonline.com Janet Boschker jboschker@SEPPAonline.com
Salon Exhibition Chair jamie@jhayes.com
Florida
*** Cindy Strickland Jackson Koontz
Jamie Hayes
S out he r n E x p o su re
S outher n Exposure magazine is an online publication of SEPPA and is published monthly. Editor Vic tor ia Kelly vkelly@SEPPAonline.com 919.601.4258 Ad S ales & Business M anager R ick Gibbons ExecutiveDirec tor@SEPPAonline.com 336.687.1943
Georgia
Maryland
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*** Danny Spears Wendy Lenox
*** Lidia Miller
*** Gil Brady Sue Elam
North Carolina
*** Rose Mary Cheek Loretta Byrd
South Carolina
*** David Junker Patty Hallman
Tennessee
*** Dorma Tabisz Barbara White
Ar ticle & Ad Submissions 5th of ever y month OnLine Publication 20th to 29th of each month SEPPA 3710 Nor th M ain Street H igh Point, NC 27265 336.687.1943 Acce pt a nce o f a d ver t isin g d o es n o t ca r r y wit h it e ndo rsem ent by t h e p u b lish er. Opinions expressed by S o u t h er n Exp o su re or a ny of its a u t h o rs d o es n o t n ecessa r ily re fle c t t h e p o sit io n s o f t h e S ou the a ster n Pro fe ssio n a l Ph o to gra p h ers Asso ciati o n . Asso ciat io n fin a n cia l in fo r m at io n ava i la b le u p o n req u est.
Virginia
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*** Stephanie Adams Robert Holman
*** Brent Kepner Will Price
*** state president SEPPA representative
Delaware
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BE THE ONE... Victoria Kelly A couple of weeks ago I went to a new hair salon. Nothing really earth-shattering here as I’ve followed my stylist for the last ten years or so to no less than four different locations. The reason I mention it this month is HOW I was treated as soon as I stepped through the door. Classic pop was coming through the speakers, the stylists were laughing, clients were everywhere… My stylist, David Michael, gave me the grand tour through the salon…and everywhere…people were happy…laughing…enjoying their time with Preston and Glen. Does your studio create a megawatt first impression? When we stopped by to meet Preston, the owner of Cloud 9, he gave me a big hug, welcomed me to the family and told me how happy he was that I was there. REALLY? We went back to David Michael’s little corner of Cloud 9—and here came Glen with my “welcome to the Cloud 9 family” giftie. WOW!
A zebra-print bag contained nail files, nail color, tweezers and nail clippers. I felt like I had won the lottery! And it got me to thinking…I always have gifties ready for new mommies when they come to the studio…but I decided, right then and there, to put together small bags to welcome each new client when they come through the door. Now…will that get me more clients? Maybe/maybe not…but I guarantee every new client will remember HOW they were greeted, how EXCITED I am that they chose Victoria Kelly Photography for their portrait experience and they even got a giftie for coming through the door. In this age of instant everything…what are YOU doing to stand out from the crowd? Are you offering exceptional client service? Are you doing the “under promise and over deliver” thing? Are you answering each and every call on the first ring? Try gifties…because we ALL want clients for life.
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BE MORE BRAVE... Christine Walsh-Newton, M. Photog., Cr., CPP, EA-ASP It’s been awhile. You and I. It’s almost like we’re having an affair, with how little we meet these days. I can give you all kinds of blah blah, but the honest truth is that I’ve been afraid. I’ve come to recognize that my hands are an extension of my heart when they’re poised over a keyboard. My writing is art. My art. My personal work. And sometimes the words and feelings and thoughts flow in a way that cause me pain, or perhaps reveals a part of myself to you that I’m just not sure I want you to know.
Yet. If ever. Completely. So here I am, after much of an absence because I’ve been dealing with some personal stuff that leaves me in a position of being afraid to write. Afraid to let my stuff influence my art. Afraid to let my stuff influence my art. One more time for those of you that aren’t getting it. Christine. Afraid to let my stuff influence my art. Those of you still with me, thanks for sticking it out. I’ve been admiring an artist friend of mine, a talented photographer, who has been pouring her energy into creating competition images. So what? The thing is, that energy is being fueled by some personal issues in her life. I don’t know exactly what they are, and it’s none of my business, but I’ve got to admire her guts. Her ability to be all “yeah, things are sucking, this is some art I made about how I’m feeling about that” and then she shows what she created and I’m blown away. Seriously. Blown away. Because it’s good. Very good, in fact. I get it. I feel it. My heart says Oh yes! But more… because she’s just putting it out there. She’s already got a hot mess going on and she’s packaging it all up real pretty for a panel of judges take a gander at.
And others. Thousands of others. Strangers. Here’s my heart. I want to do that. I want to be like that. I want to rise above this pain that’s silenced me. I want to wrestle and wrangle it into submission and two dimensions. But, I’ve been afraid. I tried, several months back, to create an image as an outlet of some stuff. It didn’t work out so hot, technically, and still needs some refinement. But it was also tough to do, and I might have been using that technical refinement issue as an excuse to keep from finishing it. It was that uncomfortable. And then there’s the whole “will they get it?” part… And then I question whether I’m creating for me or for my audience. Of course, what I create will be as technically perfect as I can get it because that’s just how I am. But how experimental and touchy-feely and true to myself am I willing to get with my work, knowing it might not fly in competition? Knowing the judges might not get it? Knowing that others will see a piece of me that’s vulnerable? I’m going to try and change things up. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this kind of thing, lately, and I think I’m going to try to fill that last slot in my case with something intensely personal. And hopefully, intensely well-done. I’m going to stop being afraid to let my stuff influence my art. Christine is a portrait photographer and owner of Gallery C in Dover, Ohio. She is a co-author of “The Daily Book of Photography” and authors “Wootness: The Big Girl and Guy’s Guide to Starting a Photography Business.”
Visit her blog at www.wootness.net