The Right Question
Somewhere during my (higher) education a professor or teacher made the following statement. “In order to solve any problem, one must ask the right question.” And that phrase became the seed of my distain for any question except for the right question.
Wrong questions sometimes begin with the word “why”. For example…
Question I’ve been pondering lately. “Why do all soft warm flannel shirts have a plaid pattern?”
The photographer who is not particularly crazy about busy patterns in clothing
The answer to this question is, “It’s the wrong question”.
More Questions
Businesses that are well capitalized have the resources to invest in advertising like print, seo, direct mail etc. Many small businesses like myself depend on networking to find clients and spread the word about our goods and services. That means I attend a lot of meetings and occasionally am the presenter. Nothing chaps my ass more than when the 10 minutes allotted for the presentation expires and then someone in the audience has a pressing (wrong) question not relevant to anyone else in the room, takes 3 minutes to set it up and then the presenter feels like it’s their duty to spend another another 5 minutes coddling a stupid question at the expense of the other 49 people’s in the room time.
Are there any questions how I feel about that?
My Planted Question
Anyone who reads my blog or comes in as a client knows I’m big on legacy. Get a nice photo made every year or two and have a print made. When Patty’s brother died suddenly a few years ago, the family was left without any “decent printable” photographs to remember him by.
During my last 10 minute presentation I spent some time talking a couples portrait I made last Valentines day. Unfortunately he died suddenly in September (it messed me up), and how grateful she was to have this photo. “Sadly I write to tell you that Steve died on 9.11.22. It has been devastating for his 4 children, myself, family and friends. I treasure more than ever the photographs you took of us on Valentine’s….” (more here)
It was the 7 minute mark when I was speaking about this experience. I didn’t want to leave everyone on a downer so I uncharacteristically opened the floor for questions. My friend Rebecca McNulty delivered the my planted question flawlessly. “Mike, I can see you are serious about legacy. Have you given any thought to the time YOU GET YOUR WINGS AND FLY?” My response went something like, “I’m so glad you asked that question. I have this one minute video…”
I wish to thank Willie Nelson and Company for adding some (truthful) levity to the subject of passing on.
And even after this brilliant closing an eager soul tried to slip in a question about pixels. I don’t think it ranks on par with philosophical thinking about dying and death. I politely dismissed the *%%$## question.
Recently
I’ve been staying pretty busy recently. I’ll share a couple of projects with you.
Public Relations Event
I was contracted to shoot a public relations event that included the Missouri Lieutenant Governor, Mike Kehoe, some local elected officials, executives from Charter Spectrum at the Pike-Lincoln Tech School in Eolia, MO. Events move pretty fast and politicians only give you the shortest possible time to get a photo. It has to be right the first time and it has to be quick. I like doing projects like this and if your project and photographs matter, give me a call.
Cottleville Weldon Spring Chamber Witches Night Out
This was fun social event that generated some business to local stores and vendors.
Click on Anna’s eye to see a few more photos from the event… if you dare.
Wrapping It Up
Thanks for coming by today. I’m always in the market for new and different projects. If the work matters, consider giving me a call.
Best,
Mike
Ps – Did you know I can take any of my art and make a greeting card. Even better, I can photograph your family and create a unique holiday greeting card. Here’s a few of my thoughts on the matter.
Call me if you have any “questions”.