Only 363 Days Left and a Guest Post by Moose Peterson

Yellowstone pine cone captured by Z9 / Z24-120f4

by Skip Cohen

In between the holidays, I always have a hard time figuring out what to write about. The year is closing fast, and there's not a lot of marketing ideas to share that I haven't covered numerous times already. But then, along came Moose Peterson yesterday.

On his blog he shared the post below and the idea is perfect for this time of year - capturing winter images for next year's holiday blog post - although I'm expanding his idea to your holiday card! I'm old school and still love a printed card that people can hold, as well as appreciate a hand-written message on the inside for special friends and associates.

I've written so many posts about photographers and the importance of a holiday card. Here's the short version:

• No photographer should ever use a store-bought holiday card!
• The front of the card is one of your favorite images; the inside whatever message you want to share, and the back, just like the Hallmark logo is your contact info - your name, studio, email address and phone number...and if you have an office or studio, that address should be included.
• You're photographers - why would you use somebody else's image on your holiday message? It's up to you to remind people what you do for a living!

And there you have it - to Moose's point - start building your stash for next year's use NOW.  And to pick up on more of Moose's wisdom - follow his blog. (Click on either image in today's post to link directly). Success in photography is about passion and love for the craft, and nobody does it better than Moose!

​A big thanks to Moose for permission to share the two images and his post.

​Happy Holidays!

---

by Moose Peterson

I know I know, the wrapping paper from this year has barely hit the floor and I'm talking about Christmas 2023! This is an old editorial photographer habit, taking photographs this season in preparation for photographic needs for next. If your client asks for fall themed photos from you right now, being winter, you can't go out and take them. This means that if you didn't take them the last fall, you don't get the opportunity for a payday. That kind of thought process runs through my own photographic needs, and one I have every year is the photo for my Christmas greeting blog post. This years was taken last year so now I'm working on next years.

These are the two runner ups for this year's post. There are a couple of tricks I used in the process to pass along. Most important is to create the message the year, that you want to use next year. What does it look like, say and what type font?  This is needed to determine in part the elements in the photograph. And it's a lot easier to create this now while you're still in the Holiday mood, than next fall. 

With that, I take the photos and this trick is really important. Photos I take this year for next year: I make a copy of the finished photo and change the file name to Xmas '23#1, #2, etc. I do this so I can FIND the photos a year from now. All I have to do next Christmas is to select the photo I like best, maybe make some tweaks and post. The panic is on in my mind, I only have 364 days left!

Yellowstone Grand Canyon grove captured by Z9 / Z70-200f2.8