I’ve said it in a few other posts; we always get a number of clients who have first tried out another photographer and didn’t get the results they wanted. Remember, it’s not just the final images: it’s the session, it’s the possibilities in the variety of products, it’s the retouching and enhancing and yes; it’s the products and how professional they are. So if you have gone someplace else and aren’t satisfied, or if you’re still deciding where to have your portraits taken; here’s a testimony from a client of ours. And some of the photos.

Ron & Toni:

We tried to go somwhere else because my daughter didn’t want to follow in her older sisters footsteps. Wow, what a mistake. We ended up calling Toni for retakes. They turned out so terrific. Extremely happy. Don’t always pay to go to the ‘new guy’ in town. Live & learn. Thanks Toni & Ron

Signed: Cindy & Lacey

Yes, I did miss a Monday. Funny how things go by so quickly when you’re busy. No excuse, just telling the facts. It’s great to be busy; but I do want to keep my readers and clients informed of what’s happening at Jacobson Studio.

I’m reprinting a post from my creative coach blog because I think it’s very relevant giving what’s happening around us in todays world. If you want to see more of my coaching blog posts, check them out at my coaching site…

#mce_temp_url#

Here’s my last post there…

CRAZY?

  When a person thinks of crazy, they think of all kinds of things. Mostly things that are not normal, not everyday happenings, and especially something they generally wouldn’t do. That being said, some of the most famous (if not all of the famous), have at one time or another…..been CRAZY!! And mind you, that’s a good thing.

   We’re not talking crazy weird. We’re not talking crazy scary. We’re talking just CRAZY!!

  I was reminded of the importance of CRAZY in our lives when on The Early Show on CBS, Wednesday, September 10th, Benjamin Mee was quoted as saying; “Often it’s good to do the CRAZY thing”. See Benjamin is the author of “We Bought A Zoo”. It’s a real book, about a real story of him and his family purchasing a zoo that was going to have to close. And they purchased it to help keep it open.

   In addition, shortly after they purchased the zoo; his wife passed away from the recurrence of a brain tumor. But he pushed on with the help of his family, and especially his kids jumping in and helping out. (Not an easy task with all the grounds and animals to take care of.)

   So what has this got to do with the word CRAZY? Lots. In fact, most inventors, entrepreneurs and many an artist have been labeled CRAZY at one time in their careers. It’s kind of a nature we all take on and those who survive the barrage of cruelty, humiliation and threats on their craziness seem to come out flying higher than everyone else. So there’s something to be said about CRAZY.

  Speaking from my own experience; most everything that I do is systematically thought out in my brain ahead of time. It doesn’t discount the fact that the idea might be CRAZY; just more calculated than it may appear on the outside. I think that’s where the bubble is expanded. Where the box is thrown away. And where the comfort zone is eliminated all together. But the ‘creative’ planning and thoughts that go on ahead of a certain task, or project; make the CRAZY situations only look crazy to those who can’t see anything beyond the reality that lies before them.

   So for today and all times…..go CRAZY….in a good way!!

Interviewer:  Today I will be asking Ron about some of the tidbits in his business and different topics that maybe he has run into in his 30 years of photographing.

I: We see all the good things that you do with your exceptional photography, can you describe any of the hard or tough things that are involved in your business?

Ron: Yes, we do have fun in our business. And most of the time it is pleasant, fun and exciting. Whether that be a childs portrait, or a wedding, or a high school seniors portraits. But there’s times we end up photographing things that have happened to people for insurance or court cases. These usually aren’t too pleasant; but we do our best to help out our clients in every type of situation they may have.

And getting to know our clients makes them part of our family. So when a person is sick or injured we feel that with them. And there are clients or clients families that have deaths in them. And that is very hard on us. Especially if they may have a family appointment scheduled and one of them passes away. While many people think it’s just a snapshot, we get requests each year to restore and remake family portraits where that’s the only photograph they have of a certain ancestor. You don’t realize how important that Portrait is to you until someone passes away. So if you haven’t had a family or individual portrait taken in awhile, it might not be a bad thing to have done. The psychological effect can help families in ways we don’t even understand.

I: From a standpoint of giving back to the community; is there anything you do in your business that sets you apart?

Ron: We just finished a benefit portrait promotion for Hospice in Jamestown at the Stutsman Harley-Davidson store. Bikers were able to receive a portrait with a donation to the Hospice in Jamestown. I think they raised over $600 this past weekend. 

We also do 2 Humane Society benefits in Fargo and at our Grand Forks Studio location. They are coming up the end of September and in October. With a donation to the Humane Society, clients are given a choice of many backgrounds and we provide them with a session and a FREE 5×7 for their donation. There are many other products available for them to order, but they are under no obligation to buy; and the Humane Societys Benefit from the donations.

At this point we are looking to connect with a couple other needy groups in the future; but because of our schedule, a couple more is probably all we could fit in.

In addition, my wife and I just came back from donating our time and talents to ‘LifeLight’; a ministry based out of Sioux Falls (see previous Blog post), and I also donate my time and talent to “PULSE”, a campus-based ministry out of Fargo.  It is truly a great feeling to help out in anyway possible to worthwhile groups and organizations.

I: Ron, thank you for your time and explaining some of the ‘little’ things you do to make a ‘big’ difference.

Ron: You’re welcome.

First off, we’d like to thank Stutsman Harley-Davidson for letting us be a part of their Open House and offering portraits with a donation to the Jamestown Hospice. And thanks to the ‘wonderful’ ladies from Hospice that were there to keep things lively.

So here’s a tribute to Stutsman Harley-Davidson with some photos from their Open House and a couple of the portraits we did. We’re looking forward to doing ‘future’ promotions with the great staff and helpers!!