Do your kids get invited to a zillion birthday parties? The ones where you are expected to stay the duration and make small talk with other parents you have never met and will never see again? Mine do. Here’s my tip. Make it a project instead. Take your camera and practice taking pictures. Offer it as "help" to the host parent(s) while they are running the show. You can practice in a low pressure environment, you can escape any tedious conversation you find yourself stuck in, you make yourself useful, you gain experience and you just might get one great shot for your portfolio. While you are there, offer to email the parents you like a picture of them with their kid or a particularly cute picture of their kid. Maybe it’ll even lead to referrals in the future.
I recently did this and got a few really good shots. Since they aren’t my kids and I don’t have permission, I won’t post them. Still, it was much more fun to be at the party gaining experience doing something I like than just sitting there. Know what I mean?
Amen! Since I am no good with a camera, I offer to wash dishes, lol. The camera sounds like much more fun.
Comment by This Eclectic Life — April 22, 2007 @ 8:54 am