mullenberg designs-portfolio design studio from lcm=liquidcreativemedia on Vimeo.

Local Plug

Scott Mullenberg of Mullenberg Designs in his studio.

I'm a big fan of collaboration and cross-promotion. I have worked with some amazing people in the past years, which has proven to be mutually beneficial in every case. For me, building community is important as I build my brand. I will share your links, retweet your tweets, tell people amazing things about you. I'm honestly better at promoting others than I am at promoting myself. I'm a work in progress, to say the least.




But I get a high of sorts whenever I work with other creative types and small business owners, and I want to tell everyone how great they are. I want people to buy their products. I want them to be successful. I want them to be important parts of my community.




People let me into their lives and I get to witness things that perhaps other people don't see. But I'm there with a camera, so I'm recording evidence that will be shared with pieces of the world. Still, photos don't tell every story. They can tell a lot, but there are still some secrets that remain. I often use my big mouth or the computer's keyboard to tell more of the story, to let people know how great someone's product might be.




Scott Mullenberg has a studio in an old mill in Biddeford, Maine. He makes amazing portfolio books, and has clients all over the country who have pushed their careers to the next level by having their work displayed in one of his original pieces. I will post a video soon that was made in collaboration with Liquid Creative media (you may remember them from this post)

Earlier this year I photographed Gabrielle Melchionda, owner of Mad Gab's, Inc. They are small company in another old mill in Maine manufacturing the world's best natural lip balm. That's my opinion, anyway.

I recently did the photography and the website work for a local art-based preschool called Creative Pathways - a gem in the Portland landscape, so if you have a creative child and need a great preschool, this could be the answer.

Last night I spent time at a local theater company called Mad Horse Theater photographing what will become the poster and promotional pieces for the next production. I laughed the majority of the time I was there, and the entire time I edited the photos today. I can't wait to put some of those photos on this here bloggity blog. I hope to do a post with info about times/dates to help them get even more people to come see their amazing production.




So, while it may be a bit of a flaw that I still don't promote myself quite enough, I find that building these relationships and sharing their info with others is often what I love to do. I am confident that I will be given the chance to work with each one of these fabulous businesses again in the future, and I welcome that opportunity!


...

Rinse and Repeat

The other day I hung out on a farm in the snow with an actress, a photographer and a videographer. Oh, and the the two camera guys are also musicians, but maybe that's not important right now. We joined forces, in the name of creative collaboration, cross promotion, and style enhancement. Working in collaboration, and seeing what our talents can produce. I think I am in love with working this way.




First of all, creative types can truly benefit by stepping out of their studios or even away from their egos, and sharing with each other. It's easy to get wrapped up in our projects and forget that. But every time I work with others I come away jazzed up and ready to roll. I know I am not alone in this.




One of the many things I learned while at Mystic5 was the concept of Lather, Rinse, Repeat (not just for clean hair, apparently!) In photo terms it can be worded as Shoot, Learn, Go out and do it again. And again. And again.... You get the idea. And since this early January 3 day seminar ended, I have seen that concept repeated all over the place - on blogs, twitter, Facebook, etc., and not by people who were at the Mystic5 seminar. People everywhere seem to know this.

So, go out and try it. Figure out what worked and what didn't. Go out and try again. And do that over and over, as often as possible. There has to be some mathematical formula out there that tells us this is the only way to get better and better at what we do. I'm not a math person, so I wouldn't know the name of such thing, other than persistence.




So, allow me to introduce Casey McDougal, SAG actress, Vegan, and all around fun person. She has to go through the Lather, Rinse, Repeat process all the time as well. No one is going to find her if she doesn't audition, and she's never going to improve if she doesn't keep at it, and learn from those around her, and then head out the door the next day to do it all over again.

There is something incredibly exciting about this concept. Every chance you go out and work on your craft is a chance to learn, to grow, to take yourself to the next level. And isn't that so much better than feeling stuck or working the same way day in, day out? Even the most seasoned rockstar-esque professional has to do this or else they too will get stale, and will watch as their colleagues pass them by. It's one of those things that reminds me at times that our possibilities are endless. I will continually shoot, learn, and head out my door yet again, and still not know all there is to know. There are so many directions I will be able to go. All of us have this chance, should we wish to take it.

The two musician guys and I had two more shoots together that weekend. Each one just as rewarding as the last, each one another step in the direction of building ourselves as individuals and a team. There will be more info coming soon on these collaborations, so please stay tuned.

Don't step away from the computer!

;-)