I have an embarrassing admission to make about my photo shoot with these two back in November 2007. I used to have a client schedule I’d bring with me to shoots, a simple piece of paper that I’d fill out with the client’s name, address, phone numbers, driving directions, and any details on the shoot. I’d bring it with me in the car, and refer to it while driving so I’d know where to go. Since many of my clients live in new suburban developments that don’t yet appear on maps, I learned that doing this was often better than relying on Google maps.
This time though, I forgot that little piece of paper at home in Seattle. And the shoot was in Tacoma. A 45-minute drive from my house. Yeah.
Because I had done a lot of shoots in Tacoma I was already very familiar with the area, and remarkably, I remembered the street the client lived on, but when I turned onto their street and reached for the paper to get their cross street and house address, that paper was nowhere to be found. I didn’t have their address, their phone numbers, their email, anything. Wuh-oh.
So how did I get these shots you wonder?
Well, as it turned out, as I was driving slowly down the street, wondering what in the world I was going to do, and cursing my terrible memory for the umpteenth time, I turned to my right just in time to see a person exiting their side yard through a gate, with a dog that appeared to be similar to the description I received in my pet questionnaire. The person looked up and smiled and waved, I parked my car, got my camera bag, and walked over as if nothing had happened. “Hi Jamie!” was the welcome I received, and I cannot begin tell you how relieved I was. I never let on that I didn’t have a clue as to where I was going.
Now? I put all of that information on my iPhone. Ha!
I share with you Nikita and Wanda, who were only photographed that day due to a random stroke of luck. 🙂
If you are a client who lives in the Tacoma area and would like me to photograph your dog or cat, take a look at my website, and then give me a shout!
Ha ha ha, yes! Always great to learn from other’s mistakes, which means you spend less time making them yourself. 🙂
Its the smart business woman in me that says, “learn from others that have been there, done that” and remember to put client info in my phone from now on. Great story!