Eight Year Anniversary and 1,000th Update!

Prior to the PGS blog, there was this. (Which no longer exists.)

Wow!  Yesterday and today mark a pair of milestones for the Pretty Girl Shooter blog:  1) This is my 1,000th update and 2) yesterday was the PGS blog's 8th anniversary!

Let me pause for a moment while the wild and thunderous applause dies down...

I would have posted this 1,000th update yesterday but holidays often see a marked decline in visitors to the page -- probably true for many other web pages as well -- so, I decided to let America celebrate its birthday yesterday and then I'd announce my personal, 8-year, 1,000th post update today.  I'm a courteous blogger that way. And patriotic too!

When I first began authoring this blog, it was mostly driven by a whim. I simply woke up one day and, after a cup of Joe or two, thought to myself, "Hey. Maybe I'll start blogging about this thing I do?" (This glamour photography thing.) So, I decided to make a blog. (It wouldn't represent my first foray into the world of blogging, but that's another story.) When I began writing the PGS blog, I had no idea whether I'd stick with it for a month, a year, or more. Apparently, it was more.

Here's my very first post from July 4th, 2006: CLICK HERE TO READ IT

To quote a well known advertising line from the tobacco industry back in the day, I think this blog has "...come a long way, baby!"

Snapped this in 2010, almost 5 years into this blog.

When I first began authoring this blog, I had a thought that, perhaps, it might lead to a book.  You know, instead of sitting down to write a book, I could write a whole bunch of articles, one at a time over a period of time and, eventually, I'd have enough written that I could put it all together, edit it, and voila! A book! It didn't actually work out that way, although the thought sometimes occurs to me that I might assemble some of it together and release a Best of Pretty Girl Shooter ebook.  After all, with a 1,000 articles to choose from to include in such a book, it's mostly already written.

In many ways, the blog did eventually lead to a book. Actually, it led to 5 of them with a sixth coming soon. My ebooks are, in chronological order of release: Guerrilla Glamour, Guerrilla Headshots, Zen and the Art of Portrait Photography, Flash-Free Portraits, and Location Flash.  My upcoming ebook is titled Guerrilla Glamour 2, unless I decide to change that.   Links to all my ebooks are in the right-hand column of this page if anyone is interested in learning more about them or purchasing any of them.

I've done fairly well with my ebooks, sales wise, and I give plenty of credit to this blog for being the driving force (and a marketing springboard) for writing and selling them. Plus, I've had plenty of help from others, others who are sales affiliates who also pimp my books. Thanks, guys! I couldn't have done it without you. Also, to all of you who read this blog and/or have purchased any of my ebooks, thank you!  I appreciate the support and I thank you all for making the time and effort I've invested in this blog, as well as my ebooks, worthwhile.

More recently snapped pretty girl pic.

A lot has changed for me in the last 8 years. For one, and this is a big one, I don't shoot as often as I once did. Not nearly as often. That's not because I've lost interest, become lazy/lazier, the competition has gotten the better of me, or I've moved in other directions. It's simply because there's not as much available work as there once was. Nowhere near as much. But I'm not one to cry in my beer or over spilled milk. I simply needed to don my thinking cap and come up with other ways to generate income. I might not earn as much, at least so far, as I did 8 years ago... or 6 years ago... or even two years ago, but I'm getting by. In fact, I may be getting by as well or better than many others who are or were my camera-shooting peers in the industry I've mostly worked in.

Despite the decline in available work, i.e., the sort of work where clients hire me and I shoot pretty girls for them, I will continue authoring this blog. I'll continue writing ebooks. Plus, I have a few other things planned. I know I've mentioned before my intent to begin promoting an occasional workshop and, to this date, nothing has come of it. But I'm now investing some serious time planning such workshops.  I also know I'm rather late to the photography workshop game but that's okay. Between this blog, my email list, and a few other marketing strategies, I can reach lots of potential attendees.

I have no doubt I can fill a workshop or two and even less doubt I can make such a workshop a valuable learning experience for those who attend. I've been asked a few times if I'd be interested in being an instructor by a few workshops promoters (for their workshops) but, so far, I've declined. I haven't put in this much work to get to a point where I can reach plenty of possible workshop attendees to give that away to others. It would have to be a very sweet deal for me to do that; sweeter than they're willing or able to offer. I'm certainly not the best glamour photographer out there, far from it, but I do know my stuff and I know how to share that stuff in a worthwhile learning environment with others. Plus, I really enjoy teaching others. Win/Win for everyone, right?

So, after eight years and 1,000 updates, I think/hope the best is yet to come. Leastwise, that's my plan. Thanks again for everyone's support!You can click on any of the images to make them larger.