Dedication and true professionals

In my previous blog I was mentioning my hair stylist and how she will envision her clients the day before they come in. This is sign of a true professional and the mark of someone who is dedicated and passionate about what they do.

The same holds true in my profession. Many people think my job is glamorous, for example, when I have a destination wedding or an assignment out of town. The moment I accept an assignment,  I am getting a vision of what the client wants to see through their eyes. A lot of it is research goes into the job checking out the event website, business, client etc… I like to do my research and be prepared. One example that comes to mind is the photo assignment I had this past weekend for Food Service Magazine Awards at the Ritz Carlton Chicago and Plate Magazine at the James Hotel in Chicago. Most people view this as a “who’s who” in this industry with wining and dining and enjoying some of the best food and drink. My view point, as a photographer is what will be the best angles and lighting for the photos. How will I capture the ambiance of this 1st class event through the magazine publisher’s eyes? I might be at the finest hotel or at a destination wedding on a island, but in my mind it is all business and I am looking at the situation from an artistic photographic experience. My mind is looking beyond the grandeur and constantly envisioning the best location, lighting and composition to capture the feeling of how the event should be remembered.  It is to be said that a good photographer captures a moment. A professional Photographic Artist sparks emotion and feeling in the moment and brings it to you.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 at 8:10 PM and is filed under Awards events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



This morning while getting my hair cut my stylist was mentioning how she will mentally envision the brides the day before they come in and think of every angle and detail of hair and look at it from every dimension as well as a reflection of their personality. She believes that your hair should bring out your inner beauty and reflect your personality. Just as important, it should be functional and to fit your lifestyle. It is true beyond words and beauty, and my wife is living proof, as she uses the same stylist. I can not keep my eyes off my beautiful wife and her hairstyle reflects her smart, fun-loving, youthful beauty. This is sign of good stylist when they can take the inner beauty and bring that out with a hair style to match. I am the luckiest man on earth for having all this and more in my life!

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 5th, 2012 at 12:00 AM and is filed under Hair Styles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



It was a long but fulfilling weekend. Starting Friday night our family volunteered at our church to pack rice for the children of Haiti, with 206 other volunteers. It was an awesome site, seeing everyone come together to support a worthy cause. We put together rice packets, each feeding  up to 6 children. I spent Saturday morning putting the finishing touches on my Basic photography class which I taught on Sunday. Then I was off to Help the New Berlin Junior Women’s Club with their “Breakfast with the Bunny.” The food pantry was collecting donations from each participant. My son and I filled 4 – 100 gallon drums full of food donations within two hours. I believe they had a record number of attendees this year. My daughter and her friend volunteered to be the bunnies. On Sunday, I taught a basic photography class to a small group. It was One of the best classes I have ever taught, and a great group. Some of the students came all the way from Iowa and Illinois. I am Quite honored considering the gas prices lately. To conclude the busy weekend, I grilled out for my family. I was totally exhausted by the end of the weekend, but it felt excellent to give back.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2012 at 12:29 PM and is filed under Community volunteering. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



Yesterday I attended one of the best seminars I’ve been to hosted by Rick Brewer on wedding strategies and personal coaching to help our brides. What really hit home is how we all need to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and help them more than ever. Brides are overwhelmed and so are we as business owners. It takes approximately 25% more energy and time every time we click on that link that takes us away from what were focusing on. Multitasking is attempting to manage and focus on multiple things at the same time which can lead to making that many more mistakes. Take time each day to think long term, goals, creativity and new projects ideas. Find the most productive and quiet time of the day to do this. Turn off the phone, email, iPad etc. Prioritize your most time consuming and important tasks and complete those in the first 60 to 90 minutes of your day. Take breaks to refresh and renew as it will give you more energy. It is ok to say no, so do not be afraid to do it. The  last thing you need to is to over commit and not have the energy and focus you need for the important things in life as well – family, time for yourself, clients’ attention. Organize your strategies and time frames to stay on track. Keep a note pad by you so if you do get distracted, make a quick note of what is on your mind, but get to it later. Social Media has driven us to feel the need to stay ahead, keep in touch and always feel we are not doing enough. Remember we are humans and  we feel the need to stay in constant contact with the outer world to know what is happening and how we can stay ahead; but we need to take care of our sanity and home first, the rest will follow.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 16th, 2012 at 2:34 PM and is filed under Realationships, Wedding. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



Planning your wedding? You probably are already using Pinterest. It is one of the most inspirational collection of ideas out there. You can use it to create your own pin boards of your favorite shoes to a unique favor idea for guests. It will take the ease out of bookmarking and visiting multiple web sites to get that perfect wedding planned. The possibilities are endless. If you can dream it, you can find it out there. As for a photographer, Pinterest is equally beneficial to have clients pin all their ideas, inspirations and details of their big day as it gives me a great idea of the style and taste of each couple. It also allows me to go deeper into what inspires them. I truly believe this will be as big as Facebook. It has a much more pleasing visual element by allowing you to see larger images, organize them into pin boards and even create your own without all the clutter. Happy pinning and lets see what inspires you!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 at 11:22 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



Supper Club club inaugural outing. Our first supper was held at the Country Squire Supper Club in Muskego, WI. Our group of 10 looked forward to this evening all week and by all accounts, it met our expectations and then some! This was a classic supper club atmosphere. Country Squire does not take reservations so we waited in the bar. No coat check but a coak rack prevailed. Dan graciously hung several coats on the rack for us. While doing so, he hung 2 coats on one hanger. An elderly female former waitress remarked “In all my my years as a waitress, I’ve never seen any body hang 2 coats on one hanger!”  Her friend then commented ” I see it all the time. If you wear something really sharp, you don’t want anyone to take it!” Dan remarked ” NO. I am just too lazy to grab another hanger.”

Meanwhile, as we occupied the corner of the bar sipping our brandy old fashioneds, Kelli struck up conversation with an older gentlemen near us. She explained the creation of the “supper club club”. Through conversation they discovered that he (Steve) grew up in Cudahy, WI while Kelli grew up in neighboring South Milwaukee. Both attended college at Whitewater. Steve was a member of Delta Sigma fraternity and Kelli was a Delta Sig “little sister”. Who knew so many commanalities could be found in a simple conversation about supper clubs. We were seated at 2 different tables next to each other, which we found unexceptable, so we took the liberty of joining our tables together. The hostess, upon seating us, stated “Do you whatever you want.”

Our meals were mostly the classic Friday fish fry and one member, Sarah, enjoyed the prime rib, which was “dragged through a kitchen.”  The food was really good and they serve potato pancakes, which is a must with a fish fry.  Sarah’s prime rib included the salad bar. She made the mistake of getting her salad and then heading to the ladies room. While she was gone, her salad was passed around the table TWICE for nibbling in place of the non-existent relish tray. The only disappointment of the night.

Upon Sarah’s return, she ordered a Kettle One vodka and tonic with a lemon, which caught the ear of a neighboring patron. Hank asked “Who ordered the vodka tonic?” Sarah responded that it was hers. He said that she ruined a perfectly good drink by adding tonic. A great conversation began after that. We got to know Hank and his wife, Mary Ann. They are classic supper club patrons! We found out that Hank has his own business building sheds. Shedwerks  backyard builder is his business. He and Mary Ann told us about many great supper clubs around the area.

So next on our list are The Steak Out and Chances in Rochester, WI.

 

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This entry was posted on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 9:47 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



Congratulations to all the newly engaged couples. What better gift to give for Valentine’s day than a complimentary engagement photo session. Save the date announcements and other products available. Reserve you complimentary session fee of $150- when you put down a retainer of $150- towards your order of photos. Contact Paul Owen at info@paulowenphotography.com or call at 262-797-0602, text 262-389-8710.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 3:58 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



Congratulations to all the newlyweds. What better gift to give for Valentines day than a complimentary engagement session. The session fee of $150- for on location is waived when you put down a retainer of $150- towards your photos to order. Save the Date announcements and many other products also available. Contact via email or phone to set up your complimentary session info@paulowenphotography.com or 262-797-0602

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 3:47 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



How would it feel to not be able to put food on your table for your family this season?

The best possible gift you can give your family this Christmas is the gift of your love for your family!
Capture it with a custom family portrait this season with a free session fee when you donate a minimum of $25- to the Hunger Task Force (tax deductible).
More families than ever before are struggling to put food on the table for their loved ones this year.
Donate at leas $25- or more to the Hunger Task Force and you will receive a complimentary session fee
of $150- towards your family portrait in December or January. Contact Paul Owen for details

Details: C/C retainer of $150- towards purchase of photos from session. Session must take place and be
scheduled in December 2011 or January 2012.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 16th, 2011 at 12:40 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.



When you are hiring someone, whether it be for your wedding, or perhaps a new job position, what are you looking for in that person. Commitment  and perseverance beyond getting the job done, above and beyond what is called for in the job? Kindness and honesty towards others?  Creativity to get out of ruts and inspire others around you? These great traits also hold true to your wedding vows.  These vows are made but do people really take them to heart?  In good times or bad, for better or worse. Are you willing to do what ever it takes to support and get the job done or are you in it just for you? We should all ask ourselves these questions. I was reading this past week and doing  a bit of reflecting and came across this great article in “Wired” on my iPad. After the 2001-02 market crash almost all the tech companies in Silicon Valley cancelled their intern program, except Apple! Steve Jobs’ perseverance and commitment to programs he believed in, helped pave the way for the new products that emerged in 2002, such as the iPod and i Tunes. In some of the most difficult times in history great things have emerged because of commitment and perseverance. Surround yourself with leaders and successful people, or fall prey to the doom and gloom around you. Perseverance always wins!

This entry was posted on Friday, December 2nd, 2011 at 6:45 PM and is filed under Realationships, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.