Summer's Almost Done (Thankfully!)

I know many of you live in places where summer rules. But here, for me, in Southern California, where summer lasts practically the year round, summer represents ridiculous heat, increased energy costs, and too much time on my hands because there's not much work. Leastwise, that's how it is for me.

In the industry where I ply my photographic trade, summer represents a yearly Great Depression. From a "bookings" point-of-view, July and August are the worst months of the year. For seasonal lack-of-work, they are followed closely by December and January. (Those mid-winter months also suck, but for different reasons: Holidays and trade-shows and more.)

There are more than a few reasons why summer work for photographer guys like me goes into the toilet. Too many to list. Just accept my word that it does. And it does in a big freaking way!

Summer 2008 has been especially brutal! The heat? Not ridiculously bad. Energy costs? Well, yeah. Lack of work? Precisely.

Thankfully, September, my birth month, is about to arrive. I already have more work booked for September than July and August combined and, well, it's not even September yet. A good omen, I hope. October should follow suit. (Assuming history repeats itself which I expect it will.) In fact, I'm expecting October to trump September. It always does.

If I were smarter and more fiscally responsible, I'd save for the summer doldrums. But I don't. The optimist in me always believes each new summer will beat the odds and not present the same financial challenges it presented in summers past. It never does. Nope. Apparently, I don't learn from previous mistakes.

Because summer sucks, July and August are usually the months I make resolutions. Forget about New Years Eve: Making resolutions on New Year's Eve might be traditional but, since necessity is the mother of invention, I find the need to search out new inventions to meet my necessities means summer is the time to strain my brain for ways that will insure future summers won't suck.

Sounds reasonable.

Maybe my resolutions, born of July and August, 2008, won't go the way of previous resolutions made in summers past? Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

Okay. I'm done whining.

A commenter in my last update, LSC, asked it I could post a few more pics of Kori. So, that's what I did. Kori up top and below, snapped and processed back in the days when my PS skills were sorely lacking and somewhat heavy-handed. (Not that they're so great now.) I suppose I could re-process these pics but it's still summer. In fact, today's an especially lazy summer day. My energy level is always influenced by lazy summer days--and not necessarily in good ways--and today is no exception.