Wednesday night I attended the monthly meeting of the Atlanta Pictage Users Group (PUG) with about 20 other area photographers. Catherine and I are currently researching ordering, printing, and album options, so Pictage is definitely on our list as a possible solution for order fulfillment. We had some great munchies, including some delicious spice cupcakes, and generally had a blast networking with other local wedding photographers at the meeting and at dinner afterwards.

The highlight of the meeting was a presentation on the business of photography by the extremely talented and business savvy Liana Lehman of Liana Photography. Liana is an award winning photographer and instructor, and her presentation of business requirements and facts were "eye popping" to say the least! Her discussions, touching on areas of planning, budgeting, marketing, pricing, accounting, and ongoing analysis, show just how many things have to click in order to run a successful photography business. I would like to thank Liana for presenting this extremely important information to the group!

So if I wash all this down to my perspective, there is a lot of hard, time consuming, and often unnoticed work that occurs to produce a quality finished product for the customer. As a professional photographer, I want to know that I am doing all that I can to run my business in a cost effective and successful manner. As a customer, you want to know that the photographer or studio that you select to capture your life's most precious moments will still be in business down the road when you are ready to capture that next timeless moment. As consumers, we all know there are many ways to "cut corners" in today's photographic market, especially with the advent of digital technology. But will you get that special moment preserved in its most beautiful way, destined to be an heirloom for your children or your children's children? Support your chosen photographer, you will be glad you did!