Go-saw

Now that I'm back in Miami I can finally apologize for my lack of mid-trip posting while on my late summer swing through NYC to see clients and friends. I didn't forget to write, but I did completely forget my login... pretty pathetic, right. Fortunately WTJ stepped in to scoop me and my suit-ed plan of attack upon the magazines of Midtown. Many thanks Andrew, though the older woman next to me looks more stylish than I, suit or not.

Home again, home again I feel good about the trip and have my head in fairly fine order (not always the case). It helps that I've received 2 assignment offers before the wheels touched back down into the (sweltering) Miami heat. Ultimately my dozen+ meetings were all productive and I was able to meet a lot of editors who I've worked with way too many times not to have ever met in person. As Andrew pointed out in his write-up, August is usually an awkward time to be in The City and not just because you're likely to sweat your ass off in a late summer heat wave. I got extremely lucky with some beautiful weather, though I knew ahead of time that I was going to have a very hard time seeing my news magazine clients because of the pre-DNC/RNC preparations. Many thanks to everyone who made an effort to squeeze me in despite vacation chaos and general craziness.

To paraphrase one of my editors (about my suit)... "what gives?" Well nothing really. I've never been one to show up to any kind of meeting in shorts and flip flops, and even though I knew I was dressing up a bit I was deeply surprised at the amount of attention my formal attire drew from my clients. I got a lot of comments and some of them seemed to be totally thrown off. That wasn't my intention, but I'll take it if it buys me some more time or edge. What the suit was really about was an intentional effort to treat my go-sees as a business meeting between two companies that exchange money for services rendered. I'm not a suit, but I respect myself, my work, and my company and believe that dressing up for a meeting with a client both demonstrates and broadcasts that respect to them. Photography may be casual, and that's cool sometimes, but other times I want to get down to business. This trip was about that for me.

And I guess the suit was really just an outward extension of what I've been focusing on lately in a larger way, which is to project a more polished image of what John Loomis Photography is all about (and what it's not). Just as the new website was made to give off a formal and luxurious vibe, the book I showed in NYC was shiny black and very focused on my new lit portraiture. Hopefully it felt more cohesive than past portfolios I've shared with these clients (some of whom I've been working with for 5 years), and I was excited to get several comments to that effect.

Obviously no matter what anyone wears to a meeting or how their website is designed, the pictures are the meat of the matter, and I know and honor that. But I run a business and I don't want that to be forgotten my clients, especially in this harsher economic climate. Maybe in the future I'll ditch the suit in favor of a more nuanced approach, but this felt like a step in the right direction.

NYC was infinitely better on this round because Judyta and I were both in town (a first), and it was fantastic to cruise around enjoying food and friends, finally introducing my amazing fiancée to several friends. Many thanks especially to Judyta for her patience and indulgence during an otherwise busy beginning to her radiology rotations in NYC. Beers were of course shared with Mr. Hetherington (and his very charming Mrs.), but also with Brian, Chris, Coburn, Robert, Martin, and my sister Amy and boyfriend Jonathan (who I doubly owe for lending me their great apartment during their trip to LA). We had some great food (Del Posto, Bouchon, Smith & Mills, Yakitori Totto, Corner Bistro, Roti Boti (Jackson Heights), Dice (Windsor Terrace)) and enjoyed many finely poured beers. All and all a really wonderful trip.

There are several other notes that deserve more attention than I have energy for (especially my conversation with Andrew about production and concept in editorial photography), so stay tuned and dry (we have another hurricane on its way).

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