Letter To A Wedding Photographer

I've always been fascinated by the power a letter carries. Call me old fashioned, but someone taking the time to write to you is nothing short of wonderful. What makes it even more beautiful is when you have moved someone by just doing what you love. A few days ago I received just such a letter and it made my day.

"Subject: Standing Ovations

Spring has hit northern california with blue skies and a lowlying chill in the air but for a brief moment I forgot it finding myself captured by your photography.

The moment you held in your hand: the woman in a wheel chair watching the young man, the couple in love, a busy dance floor and lingering cigar smoke, I am enthralled and in awe of you talent.

My vision of photography has been that which you possess: to capture the moments that flee us. The notions that exist while everyone is busy posing and smiling. That which makes up the experience of life.

You made me cry this morning and for that I am thankful. I needed to know that I was not insane for feeling passionately about photography.

Cheers, Amina"

Dear Amina, thank you for sharing your thoughts & kind words. You can never be insane for being passionate about you dreams. Regret only sets in when you don't follow them.

Pakistani Indian Wedding Photography Slideshow

Who doesn't love a sweet little slideshow? This is from a Pakistani wedding. Enjoy.

The Dynamics of Pricing

Regardless of what kind of business you're in, whether you're a wedding photographer, a wedding planner, or an employee in a corporation, here's a very interesting yet short read on pricing that's worth your time.

The following link will open up a new window to display an e-book in PDF written by Todd Satterston forwarded by Seth Godin: http://bit.ly/dm004R

Ask Me Anything

Anything about weddings, photography, me, etc. Go ahead.

Use the form on the right side of this blog or go here and submit your question.

All answers are FREE :)

• Wedding bride or groom with a question about wedding photography?
• Photographer curious about something?
• About American / Indian / Pakistani / or South Asian weddings?
• What I ate for breakfast today, yesterday, Tuesday?
• Meaning of life??

All questions welcome and creative questions encouraged.

So ask something. Someone else might be wondering the same thing.

http://www.formspring.me/asimsoofi

p.s. If you don't see your question posted, that means it wasn't appropriate for public view. Sorry!

Some Blog Love: Free Stuff

I've been neglecting my poor blog for a while...okay, don't have to rub it in. I can hear ya! As most of you should already know, you can always find the latest Soofi news over at my micro blog by following me on Twitter, so make sure to add me!

So I'm here and making up for some lost time...In the month of April, I will be randomly giving out some FREEBIES through Twitter updates, so the only way you can win is to play. Hint: Click the whale.

Here's the first freebie that's available to all fabulous wedding clients: All weddings booked in the month of April will receive a free E-Session with any package (sorry, can't combine with any other discounts/promotions). Total sweetness...I know! Don't wait too long though...Limited to only 3 bookings remaining for 2009!

Okay, I'm feeling really generous, so I'll continue the giveaway streak...2nd Freebie: If you're planning a surprise proposal for your girl....Woops....I'm going to stop right there....You're going to have to wait for this one!

So just remember to click on the Twitter Fail Whale above to follow me for more Freebie Giveaways throughout the entire month of April for EVERYONE!

Donate Your Time & I'll Give You Mine

I walked outside my house this morning and was met with the freezing wind hitting my face and hands. It felt terrible as I wrapped my scarf around my neck tighter and bundled up in my coat. Another sign of the change in seasons. Although freezing cold, the best thing about this time of year is that everyone is so much happier while being around family and sharing holiday dinners.

Unfortunetly, there are so many that don't have a family to spend the holidays with, and worse, they don't even have a place to call home. Some will be spending this winter sleeping on the streets or if lucky, in a shelter. That is why I'm going to do my part to help by volunteering my time and hopefully get some of you to do the same. As an incentive, I'm rewarding some special gifts if you donate some of your time to help those less fortunate.

This is all you have to do:
1. Email a creative photo of yourself to info @ asimsoofi.com holding up a creative sign that reads "Turkey Volunteer 2008 with Asim Soofi!"

2. Take someone with you for atleast one volunteer shift at a local soup kitchen on Thanksgiving Day, or any day up to Christmas.

3. Take some photos of you and your friend volunteering with the same sign reading "Turkey Volunteer 2008 with Asim Soofi!" and send that to me as well.

Then you pick from one of the following for being such an awesome & giving person:
Choice 1: Lifestyle Session for individual or couple.
Choice 2: $500 gift credit towards product or service from asimsoofi.com.
Choice 3: Power Lunch to discuss photography, business, or anything else you want.
Choice 4: Power Shoot to pick my brain and learn about photography, tips, & tricks.

I'm going to limit this to the first 5 people to submit a photo of themselves holding up a creative sign saying "Turkey Volunteer 2008 with Asim Soofi!" If I get some extra responses that are EXTRA creative, I might consider upping the limit. For now, I will pick the 5 most creative submissions and post them on the blog...Yes, your face will be famous! :)

Find a local soup kitchen:
http://www.volunteermatch.org/

Extra things you can do:
-Take a child with you. Teach them the importance of community service.
-Organize a group of your friends or family members to go with you.
-Make it a family and friend tradition to do every year.

I'm really excited to do this and hope you guys enjoy the personal reward of giving back to your community. I also hope this leads to some of you to continue volunteering in an on-going basis afterwards.

Good luck and thanks for volunteering!

#1 on Yahoo!

If you have your own business online like I do, your search ranking is extremely important. There are many factors that are considered and now there are even professionals (SEO) that actually charge big money to provide you guidance in making sure your website gets ranked high. Unfortunetly, it's not something that can be easily done just by paying someone. Like I said there are many factors that contribute to how high you rank on any search engine. You can not pay for this as some may believe...Ranking is not the same as advertising. Ranking is all based on an algorithm and relevance.

Well, what got me to write about this is a phone call I just got a little while ago from one of my clients, and friend now, with some awesome news. She was on Yahoo.com and did a random search for "Pakistani Wedding Photography" on Yahoo... low and behold, my site came up #1 on Page 1!

For a site owner, this is the most awesome news you can possibly get! I couldn't believe it myself so I had try it out myself. I've been on page 1 for some time now under different search terms (Pakistani wedding photographer, etc), but this was the first time my site got kicked up all the way to #1 search result. I'm completely psyched about it and just wanted to share my happiness with everyone in hopes it inspires other dreamers.

For all those people that say 'be practical' and so on...Don't be afraid of following your dreams. Success has a funny way of overshadowing what some define as practicality. We all have a choice to set our own standards...low or high. For me, this is just one small milestone in a line of many. It might be a drop in the bucket for some....but hey...it's MY bucket and I'm happy.

If you have your own business and if there's anything you'd like to ask, drop me a line anytime. I'd love to answer any questions you might have.

Now, I've just got to move onto other mini goals. Have to keep on moving!

/asim