People on guard

I recently took a couple of shots one lunchtime from work. I saw a scene in a coffee shop window which I liked ,composed and ran of 2 shots. At my next darkroom session I printed a 10x8 and liked the result so printed a couple of extras plus a 12x16 sepia toned

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

The next day I took the prints with me into work so I could get them dry mounted at my usual store and passed the coffee shop where I took the shots. Being quite pleased with the results I thought I would show the owner and offer him one of the 10x8's free as I am a nice guy. So I sauntered up to the counter and enquired if the chap behind it was the manager and started telling him that I had ran off a couple of shots of his window display and would he like to see them. He said yes hesitantly and launched aggressively into a long story about how he had his own photographer? and interior designer who supplied all his art work and that was fed up with people trying to punt their wares on him. "I'm only a small shop" he said. My reply was "I'm not selling it, I just thought you might want to see the results, but know at least I know why you are still a small shop" Needless to say I still have the spare print.

Phill

note: Phill I took the brackets off so the link would work.

Running a small business seems to exhaust the resources - mental, emotional and financial - of many folks.

The most successful small business owners I've seen tended to be hyperactive adults, the types who hit the ground running right out of bed, ran all day long and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow for a thorough recharging.

The successful ones also seem to have reliable and supportive partners, often wives/husbands.

The mere humans among us who run small businesses tend to be a bit grouchy at times.

I wouldn't be a good one-person business owner SO GET OVER IT!!! ;>

Seriously, I have a somewhat related story:

Last year I revisited a live theatre I hadn't been to for a few years. I'm no longer active enough to participate regularly (I used to act, direct, whatever was needed) but I thought it would be fun to hang around a photograph rehearsals, offstage activities, maybe a few performances.

For a while I felt welcomed. There were two other photographers participating at this theatre but one was a pro who shot their publicity stills and nothing else. I never even met him. The other was, like me, interested in the dynamic of the process from a photographic POV. But she was out of the country for most of the summer season so I didn't feel like I was stepping on either photographer's toes.

'Til this year.

The pro moved on and the other photographer, now back in the U.S., stepped in to do the publicity stills. For awhile I thought there should be no problem. But I gradually got the feeling that something was a bit off. Even tho' I wasn't in competition - all I did was occasionally give a copy of a print to the theatre owner or an actor or stagehand - I was getting that "fifth wheel" kinda feeling.

During my last visit this summer just before the season's final show, one employee made an offhand remark that was rather telling. I don't know whether the remark was intended to be a clear message but I decided to play it safe and interpret it as such: I was one photographer too many for that theatre.

Tell ya the truth, it's just as well. This is an outdoor theatre that runs May-September. I can't take much of the Texas summer heat anymore (a thyroid condition has thrown my metabolism and internal thermostat into the crapper). So I'm willing to find other creative outlets.

But I'll miss that place. It was dynamic. And the light was great!