Working my fingers until they bleed

I set a new bar this past week. But before I share my success story, I’d like to set the atmosphere. On June 1, Carla and I attended DIAC (Durham Integrated Art Camp) and were there until June 9 (save my one day adventure back into Toronto to shoot a wedding on the 6th). This was my third year taking pictures at DIAC and it was great to have Carla with me who was also taking pics and putting together slide shows of the visual arts students’ products.

But when we got back from DIAC, we hit the ground more than running, we were speeding. June 8, 9 and 10 were loooooong days. Carla and I were up past 3:30am all three days. Not that I’m bragging or looking for sympathy, I just want people to recognize that we work our A$$ off for our clients. We gave’r for several 12+ hour days on two and a half projects. One of them is our new bread and butter project “DASS 2009″ – a documentary we made with the Durham Board of Education to secure more funding for the Artist in Residence program next school year. It’s a 20 minute DVD with 5 sections of special features. James (who presented our video along with his own material) at a special function with representitives from all the other regions (Durham, Toronto, Peel, York…) said that our video destroyed the other multimedia presentations that were done. How satisfying! It makes the insane hours worth it (somehow).

The other project was for a friend of mine Lindsay Daniels who co-runs the Brooklin Dance Company here in Whitby. Empty Cup was in charge of taking the dance photos and recital video. On top of that, we made 9 mini videos to be played during the recital – which is what kept me busy in the wee hours of the morning those same mornings.

So both of those projects are wrapped up (or 95% wrapped up anyway). And there are many more projects that will keep us at work past regular business hours during the summer months. 9-5? Ha! Try 11-9. 6 days a week. Now there’s the life of an entrepreneur I’m glad I have Carla and Gryffin to keep me entertained while I’m there. All of these crazy work hours are re-enforcing my ultimate goal of having a real at-home studio. And the way things are going it looks like we’ll be there in a few years.

“In” equipment vs “Out” equipment

I am a big fan of re-investment into the company. It’s satisfying to build the toys list with new cameras, mics, lights, strobes, lenses, attachments and any other gizmo that will make our product more rich and unique. As my company has been growing over the past few years, I have been heavily focused on the “In” equipment – stuff that brings material onto my plate.

After working with three people in the office for a week, I was required to step up and buy some more “Out” equipment. I just bought a new custom built high-def editing PC for the office *applause* at the end of April. We now have three edit suits to work on simultaneously. Two are desktops with lots of power, and the other is our laptop – also with lots of power. After working with an extra machine for a few days in the office, the work flow has increasing drastically. Carla, our co-op student and I can all now be plugging away at “Out’ing” several of our many projects at the same time. Which is definitely what we need right now (Our business videos all seem to be climaxing at the same time!)

Now only one piece of technology stands between us and the ability to make true high-def Blu-ray projects – the capturing device (which my computer was essentially built around). Once we have that, we will be able to shoot HD, capture HD, export HD via Blu-ray and preview HD in our office. While weddings will be a good outlet for this new capability, we think that businesses might like that perk more than the individual (for now).

We’re very excited to produce our first HD video which will be in the form of a virtual tour of the three businesses in our office building (Orbit Sound, Adam’s Printing & Empty Cup Media). There’s lots to look forward to with our new “Out” piece of technology

New video kit, second wedding show and a co-op student!

Holy smokes things are moving faster than Superman here. I’ll start at the beginning… I finally made the call and bought a new video kit *applause*. I picked up a brand new Canon A1s high-def camera with all of the fixings. It was a heafty investment but it was very necessary. Carla and I have been booking double angle shoots and two-weddings-a-day shoots that justify its purchase. We’re now operating with 5 cameras: a Canon A1, A1s and HV30 (backup) and a Nikon D300 and D50 (backup). Oooo I love camera toys!

Both of our cameras were on display at the wedding show at Tosca in Oshawa on April 26 too! It was lots of fun (and a bit tiring) wearing a public relations hat with Carla at the show. We had both done wedding shows before, but this was our first chance at unleashing the raw power of C2 onto the eyes and ears of potential wedding clients. We met a lot of great people at the show – some of which are having destination weddings which we are keeping our fingers crossed for! Even some existing clients showed up to say hello which was nice. Carla is so great to work with, I couldn’t have found a better partner to help run the business and I think that was demonstrated well at the show.

While I was away on vacation in Myrtle Beach playing golf, a friendly co-op student knocked on our door asking if we could help provide her with some work experience and help build a portfolio to help her graduate. Needless to say Carla and I were so happy to have her! She is joining us for the next few weeks in the office helping to illeviate some of the work pressure and gain some valuable experience. It’s making me think a lot harder about buying that new high-def editing desktop now that she is with us. If all goes well and she blends well with us (which she already is) it would be nice to keep her with us on a part time basis. We’ll see where the summer months take us!

New wedding videography demo

I’m pleased to finally have my latest wedding videography demo all done. I’ve been collecting shots from various weddings since last summer. The result is a pretty accurate summary of our shooting style and our ability to highlight the special moments of the day.

The video is a ‘live’ video in the sense that it will constantly be updated. Already we have more clips we want to use in it!

I encourage you all to watch it and let me know what you think

Editing my brother’s wedding video

As a wedding present to my brother, I edited his wedding video. (If you’re wondering, I didn’t shoot it – a good buddy of mine and my unofficial videography guru Ugo did).
After finishing Ryan’s wedding, I feel like I learned a lot more about what a wedding video means to a family. For the past 4 years I’ve been looking at wedding videos from an artist perspective (getting the creative shots, the clip variety, the shot transitions and shooting-to-edit styled videography). But editing this wedding was so different than making a piece of art for me. Don’t get me wrong, I gave their wedding the same digital treatment I give all my clients, but I got all cholked up at the shots of my family smiling, laughing and being with our extended family. Sure the crazy shot angles, shutter tricks and rack focuses are really, really nice – but it’s the content of the participants who make the shots special.
I’m going to take this knowledge with me as I am shooting all my weddings. And I think it will make me a better shooter still.

The office is getting cooler

When I started writing, I thought I would do it routinely. It would have been a Friday afternoon thing. But that led me to think that would result in uninteresting posts. So I save up my stories and explode them all onto one page. Which is what I am going to do right now.

First, our meeting room was overhauled and looks muuuch better than before. (Pics are posted). Carla, Shayne, Shawn and I have been pretty dedicated to turning our universal meeting room into something we all can feel a bit more luxurious in. It feels good in there now! The Blu-ray player, 32″ TV, 5.1 surround sound, leather couch, coffee table and chair and a huge mirror make it feel much more social than it was before. It’s a great place to hang out and watch movies in now.

Our work area has had some upgrades as well. Aside from the new photo display, Carla and I transformed the small space under the stairs into a recording booth! It’s nice and cozy inside. We’ve recorded a few voice overs in it already! We’re making good use of the space now. (The pic below was during a very busy day).

And I’m not sure how this happened….. but there’s a dog in my office now. It’s true. A small pug/boston terrier named Gryffin (whose name I keep forgetting). He’s our little mascot for the three companies that now operate under the same roof. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his presence. He’s sleeping behind me as I type this. Cute.

And as I said, there is a third company in our building now. The addition was Adam’s Printing; another ambitious couple of swell people in the printing business. I had all of my material printed from them before they moved in, now that they are across the hall, it’s so good! Our building now has DJ, video, photo, and printing available. It’s cool to bounce things off each other – we all hook each other up with what we can, when we can. It’s a good community feeling. I can see this unofficial union going places.

Lastly, and perhaps the coolest part, I got a foosball table to put upstairs! Long have I wanted a foosball table in my work place. And now I have one. Visualize, actualize. I bought some new cork balls for the table today too. All I need now is some competition! All the folk in my building are casual players… I need some good rallys.

So if you’re up for a good game of foos, drop me a line and we’ll do it up in the Cup.

It’s 2009 and the Cup is well

Happy New Year! 2008 was really good for me and for the Cup. After standing back and comparing years, my third year of business was (statistically) 62% better than my second. Yippie!

I have a clear vision of what this year is going to look like. The brand of Empty Cup will remain untouched – I like my colours and theme, Carla and I are now going to nurture and massage that theme to our advantage. We have lots of ideas together on how to keep the ball rolling, keep our clients happy and to have a good time ourselves while we’re at it.

It’s been really great to work with another like-minded soul over the past month and a half. It’s just nice to have someone to double check things, to bounce ideas around or to just chat with when my eyes start turning square from the computer monitors. I’m very excited to do a trade show in the spring of 2009 – I feel I will be able to present myself as professional as I ever have. (Right now we are too busy to look at gathering more immediate business. We’re going to save it for a few months). And with Carla at my side, we will be a duo that everyone will be talking about at the water cooler the next day.

Carla and I have tackled a few large projects together in our short time together. We’ve seen 4 weddings, shot one together, shot a band performance, and shot/edited/finalized a large video contract with the Markham Stouffville Hospital and a few other projects. It’s great to share these victories with someone who enjoys video as much as I do. We’re working on updating our website again (keep a close eye over the next few months – www.emptycupmedia.ca). We have lots of great ideas that we want to get out there! We can hardly wait to revamp it!

Our scheduling still needs some tightening though – we’ve been putting in shorter days (5-7 hours) over 6 days of the week. We could be a bit more efficient than that. It’s all coming though. I’ve been a night hawk my whole life, it’s tricky to slip out of that routine. In two months time we are going to be brilliant with a clear window in front of us.

My trial of Premiere CS4 is ready, I’m going to and tinker with it now. (I love new video toys)

Empty Cup 2.0 – two weeks in

This past month has0 been very eventful for Empty Cup. To start, on November 16 I flew to BC to meet Carla in her hometown of Rossland. We stayed there for 5 days and then drove back across Canada in her 2 door Grand Am GT over 6 days. (Feel free to ask a million questions about the trip – we have lots of stories!)

When we arrived back in the grace land of Ontario, we hoped almost immediately in the driver seat of Empty Cup 2.0. Carla and I had our first double angle ‘real time’ shoot the second day we were home – and it went great! The day after we had to throw together a quick slide show for a funeral presentation and it has been non stop ever since. Once the initial flood of shooting and slideshowing had calmed down a bit, Carla and I burnt the midnight oil a few nights in a row and totally re-decorated our office space. It looks great! And it got a great response during our ribbon cutting that happened on December 3 that officially launched Empty Cup’s new status. (Thanks everyone for coming out to support us!)

Now Carla and I have slipped into a good work groove; our responsibilities are slowly being defined and our collective thoughts are helping to move the company along well. I’m very happy that she is here working with me. 2008 was much more successful than I had anticipated and the workload has definitely spilled into the ‘two person business’ area. Without her help, I would have been in way too far – so thanks Carla!

Working with another creative, ambitious and talented mind is very satisfying. I never realized how much more satisfying work could be not only when you’re running your own company, but running it with a best friend. I love having someone else in the office who shares the same love for cameras, computers, editing and running a company as I do. The energy that we create in the office heats the room (sometimes… it can get cold in our office).

This is the step I was waiting for. I’ve been thinking a lot about the size and the direction of my company, and this is the optimal size. The company now has a general manager/shooter (me), an editor/office worker (Carla) and a freelance videographer (Mike). This is the size I wanted, and this is the size it will remain for at least a handful of years. I wanted it, I worked for it and I got it. It’s a satisfying feeling.

Happy 3rd birthday to the Cup!

It’s hard to believe I have been self employed for three full years now. It’s been quite the rollercoaster ride – lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, headaches and screams and definitely some sighs of relief when it’s over. I’d like to reflect on the past three years if I may.

Over the past three years, I have shot around 120 weddings, hired a few employees, fired a few employees, moved office space three times, found a business partner, participated in two trade shows, done thousands of dollars of free ‘PR’ work for companies to get my foot in the door, partenered with a handful of Durham and GTA companies and lost countless hours of sleep thinking about how much work I have to do. I’ve satisfyed my college dream of owning my own camera (5 cameras at one point), expanded into photography, focused my PR training to target a new business market of videography and met hundreds of helpful people (and dozens of not so helpful people). Business now is perpetual, I’m getting calls and e-mails now almost daily with new opportunities and I am finally charging what I am worth.

It’s been fantastic though. I’ve learned a great deal about myself, about business, about finding the right role models to emulate, about the digital world, about dealing with dozens of clients simutaneously, about finding the right type of help, about discipline, about taking time for myself and so much more! It’s really hard sometimes when dealing with so much all at once, I just try to remind myself of all the benefits I give myself during those difficult times.

I plan to keep running the business for at LEAST another two full years (to make it five years total). When I started the company back in 2005, it was a cool way to procrastinate getting a real job. But when things started to snowball, I realized I liked the lifestyle, the paychecks with my company name on them and the freedom of working from home (which I am doing right now). Once 2006 had come and gone, I told myself that five years was going to be the re-evaluation period. See how things are going. I have a STRONG feeling it will go beyond those five years. I’m far too rooted now to pull the plug. And even if I wanted to, I would have to pull the plug a year in advance. I’m not ready to do that just yet.

As most of my fellow work associates and friends know, I am traveling to BC in less than two weeks to bring back one of the most ambitious and talented people this country has to offer to work beside me. This is the step I have been waiting for! All of 2008 I have been thinking about finding a partner. They’re tough to come by! I wasn’t huge enough to pay full time wage just yet – I needed someone who just wanted to work for the experience AND could bring more bread to the table. And I have found her. Allllll the way on the west coast of Canada.

So the Cup now has to support two people’s workload and paycheck (eek!). 2009 will take some getting adjusted to, but in 3-4 months we are going to be a well oiled machine supplying Durham and the GTA with the digital services it needs. With two of us on board, we are going to be stronger, more organized and more talented. Nothing is going to stop us!

So happy birthday Empty Cup Media! It’s been great so far and it’s about to get a lot better!

It’s pretty fatigued over here

You know that feeling you get in your legs after staying up for a really long time? I have that buzz right now. Which is expected I guess – I live a very active lifestyle. Between exercising frequently and shooting weddings, I keep in pretty good shape. Anyone who is more than two years older than I am reminds me ‘ah, you’re young! You can handle it’. Which is true! I can handle it. But I can feel age creeping up with a bit more potency now. In three days I am turning 25. Hurray! Down on paper, it seems like I have it pretty well. At 25, I still have my youth, vigor, hype, enthusiasm, sense of adventure and many other young attributes. One quality I still posses (which is a real two way street) is my ability to work long hours. Sure I get a lot accomplished, but there is a definite fee attached to it. I’ve been working 6 day weeks for a long time now. I bet my hourly rate is pretty weak. But I’m ok with that. I still find pockets of it satisfying.

I had a great week off last week. It was soooo good. I got to hang out with a fantastic girl who is just an absolute blast to be with. As a result of her being so great, we burnt the candle at both ends and thus didn’t get a lot of sleep. So after my ‘vacation’, I really felt like I needed a vacation. It was 100% worth it though. It was my first real vacation since I started my company three years ago. During my time off, I wasn’t thinking about work at all. My brain was free. But let me tell you, the second I walked back into my office, I was hit with a fury of work I had to catch up on… Ah balance.
But have no fear Colin! Another one is around the corner. Half way through November I am taking a bit more time off again to relax and see a bit of our beautiful country. (With no leaves, heat, snow or colour mind you) haha – but that’s not the true focus of my time off. I’m going to be focusing on the people who I will be spending my time with.

Time off that is earned feels fantastic. And I am GREATLY looking forward to this trip. If you’re getting sun glare in your eyes over the next 6 weeks (even when it isn’t sunny out) it’ll be the reflection off my ear to ear smile in anticipation of spending more time with people who I love spending time with.

Ah, I feel more relaxed already