This week I got to chat with one of our photographers who is well known in the community and our brand new PUG leader in Boston, Anne Ruthmann!!
What is your favorite thing to photograph?
Uninhibited people just being themselves and doing what they love… I couldn’t pick one because they come in so many varieties!
Describe your photography style or words that describe your brand?
I actually feel like it’s up to other people to define my style and brand. I just keep doing what I love and hope to attract the people who connect with it and love it too!
What is a must read or must see?
Books: Griffin & Sabine, Freakenomics, The Last Lecture
Movies: Amelie, Garden State, An Inconvenient Truth
What are your work hours?
You mean this isn’t a 24 hr job?
What is your favorite thing about Pictage?
Permanent archive storage and “instant” FTP download service. I can’t tell you how tremendously this has helped me get things to clients, vendors, and interviewers when I’ve been on the road! In fact, I’m using it right now to download the images for this interview! Thanks Pictage!!
What lens could you not live without?
The lenses in my glasses. I can’t see much of anything without them!
How do you juggle your business and family/social life?
I schedule my time with friends and family, and then my alone time, and then I just work in between. I make friends and family a priority by making my schedule around them. There will always be more work than time, but friends and familiy won’t always be there if we don’t make time for them.
What was your very first job?
I honestly can’t remember, but I think it might have been working as a hostess for a restaurant that my mom liked going to every Sunday for breakfast. Some of my favorite jobs have been: historic tours and youth program coordinator for the 4th largest mansion in the country, account services for a credit union, bookseller at B&N, professional singer for a church, fundraiser for a few different non-profit organizations, oh yeah… and I loved being an elementary music teacher!!
What workflow tools do you use?
Lightroom for most post-production workflow and of course PhotoShop for some additional tweaks, Mac Mail, Address Book, & iCal synced w/ Mobile Me & Google Calendar for client and calendar management as well as photographer referrals, Quickbooks for accounting, EditTeam for my additional post-production, my iPhone 3G and MacBook to manage it all while I’m traveling.
Most listened to song on your ipod?
My Current Theme Song: Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey, it’s just so “me” right now… and I’m from Detroit.
What is something you have learned last year?
Destination weddings are totally overrated. Traveling for work is not nearly as fun or relaxing as traveling for pleasure.
What is one thing we don’t know about you?
I was a personal trainer (for a very short period of time.) HA!! I take it for granted that I can get my body back into shape whenever I want to.
Who inspires you?
Everyone!!! Seriously, if something doesn’t “inspire” me immediately, I take the time to study it and understand it until I find something to be inspired by. When people anger or disgust me, I look inward to find out what it is that is pushing my buttons, and then use that as inspiration. I think inspiration is everywhere and it is actually our outlook on life that allows things to become a source of inspiration or not.
One of my favorite quotes describes this perfectly: “The true voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust
How do you get most of your bookings? What is your primary way of marketing?
Referrals are by far my most effective marketing method. I just try to do amazing things for loving and appreciative people. It always pays off. I don’t really advertise, and every time I’ve thought about advertising, I just spend that money on my clients or other photographers who have been awesome to me instead.
Any words of wisdom to share…
I regularly share them on both of my blogs: http://anneruthmann.com and http://photolovecat.com.
Thanks for mingling Anne!!! – Emily