Much like Doug Axford recently shared of his joys of leaving dial-up behind, I wanted to share a success story that has recently brought me joy.
A couple weeks ago, I started a thread on
Pet Photography. As a result of that, Chris Perry made a comment about doing something similar to what I was asking about with restaurants and Valentines Day. Picking up on the comment Chris made, I contacted the Executive Chef at the
only full service hotel here in Smithers shortly thereafter. I proposed the idea of coming in and making portraits of the dinner guests that came to one particular restaurant for Valentines Day.
To make the story as concise as possible, that initial singular idea has taken on a life of its own and has grown into something bigger than I ever would have conceived. Now, instead of just one restaurant, on one night, I'm going to be at the Lodge for two evenings making portraits for the dinner guests at all three of the hotel's restaurants. The chef is paying me $2 for each guest that comes and eats and for that each guest will receive a (free to them) 4x6 portrait presented in a black easel (similar to
this only without the gold border). I am also going to present to each group/couple that gets their portraits done, prices for additional enlargements and finishing options.
Past history has shown that the restaurants will be full both nights (Feb 14 & 15), and so it looks like I'll be getting some excellent exposure as well as lots of traffic by my makeshift booth (which will be in the lobby of the hotel by a fireplace). The chef estimated at least 140 couples over the two nights would come and eat at the Lodge.
The meals aren't cheap at the hotel, and so I'm hoping that if people can afford a nice meal out, they can also afford a few $$ for additional prints and enlargements (apart from the free 4x6 they'll get). I will also have samples of the kind of product they can order there on both evenings as well to help them along in their purchasing decision.
BUT THAT'S NOT ALL...during our initial consultation, the chef asked if I did product photography as well. Turns out he is looking for some updated photos for their website, and he wants me to do that as well. Then today as we confirmed some details for next week, it sounded as if he was saying that he wants to use me exclusively for some event photography they have coming up soon too.
And I have to specifically thank Chris for his comment about restaurants and Valentine's day. None of this would have been possible without that. Thank you very much.
This is all still a little unreal to me right now.
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