An Inconsequential Milestone

I noticed that, a few updates ago, I passed the 400th post mark. Not that it means much, but it surprised me to realize I've authored over 400 posts on the PGS blog! So, I'm raising my big, blue, Crystal Lite-filled Bubba Keg to myself for the effort.

Alright. Enough with the patting myself on the back.

But you know what? Milestones, even those that are as inconsequential as this one, sometimes cause one to pause, reflect, and try to figure out what it means and where things might go. Sort of like making resolutions on that annual milestone we call New Year's Eve.

What it means? It means I've spent more than a few hundreds of hours writing and maintaining this blog over the past few years. It also means I've managed to attract something of a small but loyal following readership. Leastwise, according to my stats I have. (So far, for 2008, the PGS blog has had nearly a quarter of a million page loads from well over 150,000 unique visitors... whatever all that means.) But more importantly, it means I've made friends and contacts and my name gets out there, not that my name getting out there has gotten me any work, but it gets out there... somewhere out there. Example: A while back, I attended a photographer/model event, sort of a model expo, and I was surprised how many people knew who I was. Not so much models but photographers. And they knew me from this blog. I guess wearing one of those stick-on name tags with "Hi! I'm JimmyD" written on it helped. I also guess I'm not the only one who spends way too much time on the freakin' internet.

Where things might go? Well, although I'm sometimes capable of being a world-class procrastinator, I'm not much of a prognosticator. I don't have a crystal ball and I can't read tea leaves, palms, or Tarot cards either. But here's the things I still want to do:

1. Produce a Pretty Girl Shooter DVD. Yeah, I've been talking about this for quite some time. I get plenty of emails asking me to do this and telling me that, once such a DVD is available, the person writing will buy. Yep, I receive quite a few emails telling me this. In fact, I get one or two almost every week. So here's what I've done: I've put my son-in-law on the case and I'll tell you why. Kyle, my son-in-law, is one of those guys who puts blinders on when things need to get done. Unlike me, his often-procrastinating father-in-law, he gets things done! And he gets others to get things done. He will question me daily on what I've accomplished towards producing the DVD. If I say, "I'm working on the outline." He asks me every day how the outline is coming and when he can see a copy. Actually, he's been doing that for about a week now, ever since I told him that's what I've been doing. He's even put together some production people, an MUA and a camera operator and editor, to commit volunteer their time to the production. And now those people are also calling me and asking what's going on! Expect to see a DVD in production in the not-too-distant future... in spite of yours truly.

2. Produce/promote some workshops-- Another thing I've spoken about in the past. And it's another thing I regularly receive emails about. Unfortunately, I'm not a very well-organized, detail-oriented kind'a guy so this has also been difficult to get off the ground. So here's the deal: If some of you want to write me or comment on this with some suggestions or words of encouragement or otherwise, I'd love to hear from you. I don't really want to do a workshop in L.A., although I'm not tossing that idea out. I'm thinking of Las Vegas or perhaps somewhere else... somewhere even more fun and/or exotic or possibly better located for potential attendees. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW, occasionally someone writes and inquires if I'd be willing to do some private instruction. They're willing to cover my travel expenses and put me up. But so far, I've always politely declined. It's not that this doesn't appeal to me, it does, I just think if I'm going to spend a couple of days out of town, privately instructing someone, sharing all those so-called Secrets of the Pros, I should be getting something more than a free trip out of the deal. You know, like getting paid for the effort. So, if anyone, or any small group of people, would like to have me do a private instructional thing, let me know. I won't ask for an exorbitant fee, probably something in and around my day rate plus expenses. Trust me, I ain't the highest paid pretty girl shooter on the block.

3. The TV show-- I've been dragging my heels at getting my agent to quit dragging his heels. I still think there's a great idea for a TV show in what's been put together. And my agent agrees. It's just a matter of me being more determined and getting him to be more determined. Things were really looking good for a while but that VH-1 show, "The Shot," kind of screwed things up. Especially since "The Shot" didn't do well. Had it been a hit, it would be easier to pitch this show. (Tv development people aren't, as a rule, too daring. They love to mimic what's already proven to be successful.) But just because audiences weren't too impressed with "The Shot" doesn't mean they wouldn't be happy with the show we've pitched--which is considerably different from VH-1's show--and should still be pitching.

There are a few other things I'd like to put on my plate (or put back on my plate) but I don't want to overwhelm myself. Often, I'm an easily overwhelm-able guy.

Pretty girl at the top is Jamie from last Spring. Guess she was hungry although I can't imagine that stripper's bra was very tasty. Canon 5D with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, ISO 100, f/5.6 @ 100th.