This is what we do when we get bored. Aside from getting a haircut, we paint the studio new, amped up some of the equipment and furniture. So here's the end result! Tadaaaaaah! The new studio! :)

In line with our five years anniversary, we're opening Camera Cart's Street Photography Contest! It's our first contest ever!

Theme: The Long Journey Ahead
Show us direction, discoveries, adventure, journeys.
Think: travels, landscapes, people, culture, forgotten paths.
Feel free to interpret

Prizes for the Best Photo:
- Jusino Monopod
- Carry Speed MagFilter Threaded Adapter Ring
- P3,000 GC on Camera Cart Full Workshops 
 
Guidelines:
-All submitted images must be under the category of Street Photography (Photographs of people in candid, unmanipulated situations in public places).
-Old or new photos are welcome.
-Photos should be natural, not staged.
-Photos may be colored or black & white
-Photos are not to be Photoshopped or digitally manipulated, other than B&W conversions.
-Work must be original and unpublished.
-Only one (1) work may be submitted per photographer
-By submitting images, you confirm that you own the copyright, any other possible intellectual property rights associated with the image.

Image Specifications:
-Submit .jpg/jpeg file
-Rename your file with your full name
-Image should be 1MB to 2MB in file size
-Please do not include signatures, watermarks or borders

Deadline:
August 31, 2013, 12MN
Submit entries to cameracart@gmail.com. 
-Please include the following details: 
-Full Name of Photographer
-Mobile Number
-Landline
-Email Address
-You may include a title. But it's not a requirement.

Judge:Nonie Reyes, Chief Photographer of Business Mirror. Konrad Adenauer ACFJ Diploma in Asian Center for Photojournalism in Ateneo de Manila in partnership with World Press Photo. And he also served in the Office of the President of the Philippines as a close-in photographer for the first family of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in her first 4 years.

Winning Entries:
-The photographer owns the rights of photograph submitted.
-Winner will be announced on September 15, 2013

For more questions, please sms 0928 710 1211 or email cameracart@gmail.com.

In any business, you as the owner will have to choose if you want to be either the leading, the most productive, the highest quality or the largest business in your industry to keep yourself focused towards a goal. 

If you think of largest or leading or most productive, it's more likely you're some sort of an SM. You are a factory, mass production is your nickname. You go down and dirty with your prices, give crazy discounts, do vouchers, and go into a price war with whoever. And quality products and services are obviously compromised. Most especially customer service. Your margins are barely there. You go with volume of sales. And for most photographers in the country, this is the chosen business model. But the thing is, if you don't have a long pisi, in other words, capital - to pay for a team, computers, equipment, the works, most probably than not, you will run out of moolah and energy to make your photography venture move. You would have spread yourself too thin, you're tired, and that's when you decide that all the effort you've put into the business is not paying the financial rewards, and that's when you decide to close shop. Sad stories of these are a plenty. 

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with being SM. I mean, hello! We love SM right? But if you don't have the power and the money to sustain your venture, in a short while, you'll be at the gutter.

At the other side of the spectrum, you have highest quality. Since I started with the department store analogy, you are now Rockwell. You have people playing the piano for you. You are at the high end of things and people perceive you as that - quality. Tissue paper in the restrooms, yes? And when clients see you as such, they know your value. And they are willing to pay for your art and your wonderful products and services. 

Ideally, for photographers who see their work as fine art, this is the category. You can't be high quality and cheap. It's either or. And when people pay you good money, you can take care of your clients and give them wonderful products and services. So when someone walks in and says, "I just want simple photos. And can I get the high-res files please?" the best thing to do is walk away. This person is not your target market. This person is merely looking for a photographer, not an artist with your skill set. If you want to be the Rockwell of photography, you only deal with people who appreciate art and who will pay for the wonderful things that you can do with your camera. If you know who you are, then it won't be hard to turn down the wrong clients. And sooner or later, you get to decipher who your real clients are as soon as they open their mouths.

-Heidi Aquende, resident Camera Cart Photographer
www.heidiaquendephotography.com
www.portraitsbyheidi.com    

I was at Megamall the whole day today, shooting for the mall's in-house magazine, Shopmag. Which is well, last year's winner of an Asean award for innovative in-house publication or something of that sort. The shoot started at 10am and ended at 8:30pm. Rest time could have been 1.5 hours. So that means, I've practically photographed my heart out today. And to top it all off, I'd slept for only 3 hours! Isabelle was happy awake until the wee hours. I had survived on reserve-battery mode and I'm pretty dead tired. My feet are killing me. I've probably walked more than the last Disneyland trip! The 16 gig had 10 raw shots left.

While I was about to start another complaint-marathon about my aching feet, I regressed. It was 9 years ago, I was at a mall, at Podium to be exact. There was an event and there were three photographers buzzing about, documenting the whole thing. Back then, I was still managing our company's cargo forwarding firm then, readying myself to be some big-shot logistics person. But while I was salivating on how they were capturing the event, I was thinking, "How can I be like them?" I wanted to shoot and make a living out of my camera! I wanted, more than anything, to be like them! I was even contemplating on introducing myself and asking them how they got those gigs because 9 years ago, there weren't many photographers, no schools to teach photography, no stuff on photography on the internet. In other words, access was close to nil. 

So fast forward, I'm back to my senses. My feet still hurt but my heart, happy and ecstatic. It's been such a journey and a thrill to now realizing how blessed I am that I'm in the mall, shooting. Not working on the issues and finances of the cargo firm. Here I am, actually doing what I thought was impossible some 9 years ago. What an overwhelming thought!

The thing about being a photographer is that work usually comes on weekends: Weddings on weekends, events on weekends, more clients on weekends. But we all know that weekends, especially Sundays, in every Filipino's watch, is family time and for Catholics, time to hear mass and pray. 

So when I started Portraits by Heidi and workshops by Camera Cart, the assumption was of course that weekends would take center-stage of my work time. Last year, Melvene the husband and I went full blast. Working our asses off on weekdays and weekends. In other words, we were on 24/7. Yes, like the HBO documentary for a pre-Pacquiao fight. But this was our fight. And last 2012, we found ourselves too tired for words. I mean, really dead-tired, not knowing when a week starts has taken a heavy toll on me. I was stressed and tired. So I've been harboring guilt feelings also for not having Isabelle time, time for church, me time, and wife-husband time. I've lost my bearings. I was all work, work, work. 

But we took a 2-week vacation at the end of December (because if I wouldn't, I'd end up depleted) and I realized that I've built my business backwards. What I've been doing for the past years is that I made the business take center stage, and the things/people that matter most fit into my schedule. What I should have done was to prioritize the things/people that matter first, then the business will have to revolve around it so that I get to have purpose with every stride. So everything in my life have more meaning. 

I'm currently reading Why Entrepreneurs should Eat Bananas by Simon Tupman, a gift from my sister Hazel last Christmas. And he says:

Long quote but definitely worth the read. And I say "Amen" to that!

For those who've started their own businesses and especially those who love what they do, I think you'd agree that it's so hard to stop working. I love working with Camera Cart and doing portrait work. It's who I am. It's so my passion. That I literally sleep and breathe thinking all about my businesses! I am really grateful that I've been given the opportunity to do what I love to do. The problem is when to stop.

So anyway, I'm still working on Saturdays, but I've decided I'll try my hardest to declare Sunday as family day. And for the first Sunday of 2013, I have chosen not to book any meetings, shoot any client. I have chosen to let the yaya take a break and have a Sunday off so I can spend time with my dearest Isabelle and my loving husband. We had lunch, made Isabelle tumble at the Gymboree, and had coffee when we were all exhausted. And it was perfect. 

Hello guys! 

Hello Guys, Here's the new Camera Cart Membership Card. The old ones, will not be honored by our partner merchants so please pick up your card. The old ones who were issued with the old designs will not be paying for their new card. We're replacing with no extra cost. In the card, there's our new logo and our new website address. Please SMS us when you're dropping by the studio to get your card. You know the drill, 0928-7101211. We'll be releasing the list of stores where you can get discounts. Thanks for all the love 'n' support!

This was taken from yesterday's class. Kharlo talking about the work of his favorite photographer.

Running now at the studio is Photo I, Camera Cart's basic photography workshop. Teaching this course is Bubuy Balangue

It was a rainy, traffic-heavy afternoon in Katipunan, but Camera Cart Workshop Lecturer, Heidi Aquende, gave a talk to budding photographers of the Ateneo ACOMM members about photography as a career or business. We'll soon be coming out with the same topic, soon, sometime in September.