Windows and Beyond & Hunter Douglas Minding Your Business CEU #3

I attended the final Minding Your Business CEU presented by Hunter Douglas and hosted by Windows & Beyond last week. This seminar was on the selling process. Lot’s of valuable information.
You can see the photos by following this link.

ASID California Peninsula Chapter Board Meeting June 7 2010

Last night the Board of the California Peninsula chapter of ASID met at Anna Sarkissian’s studio (AS Designs) in Los Gatos, CA.

Front Row (L - R) Carol Spence Carr, Debbie Snider: Back Row (L - R) Meera Chawla, Jeanette Loretz, Anna Sarkissian, James Stout, Janine Arietta: Not Shown but in attendance: Dean Birinyi (Photographer)

We are beginning to get to know each other and feeling more comfortable discussing chapter business in an open and less tentative manner. This may be because the hand off to our board from the leadership of Marie Chan of Interspace Design is under way.

We discussed many things but the primary focus of the meeting was to ensure all members had a good working grasp of the overall goals of our organization and define a clear vision and mission for our terms. There were many opportunities that presented themselves to us, more than can reasonably be achieved in any one year. We will rely on the leadership of Carol Spence Carr of Carol Spence Interior Design to focus our efforts and make this year, and next successful and productive.

One Door Has Closed

I’m very sorry to announce that my agreement to collaborate with Nesting Newbies as Director of Photography didn’t work out. It’s a shame, but sometimes things just don’t work out the way you want them to.

This will allow me to focus more of my time and talents towards my responsibilities as ASID CA Peninsula Industry Partner Director in the coming year.

So, although one door has closed yet another has opened.

Rebuilding Together Peninsula National Rebuilding Day 2010

Whew… today was the third National Rebuilding Day that I have helped Rebuilding Together Peninsula with by photographing their volunteers. It was even bigger than the last.

I’m very time challenged with working with Nesting Newbies running my business, being the Industry Partner Co_Director for ASID CA Peninsula and being a husband to my wife so please follow this link to view the photographs and enjoy.

Ciao!

2010 ASID CA Peninsula Designers Challenge

2010 ASID CA Designers Challenge Fashion Show Winner

Last night was the 2010 Designers Challenge Fashion show for the CA Peninsula chapter of ASID. It was a lot of fun and I was very impressed by the high quality of the designs. I guess that’s what happens when you put a bunch of highly talented designers together on a project with instructions to “Be Creative.”

You can review more of the shots in my portfolio gallery by following this link.

ASID Student Mixer at Hunter Douglas in Milpitas, CA

I attended the ASID Student Mixer at Hunter Douglas in Milpitas, CA a couple of weeks ago. It was a really nice meeting and I got to meet a lot of the students.

Marie Chan, ASID CA Peninsula chapter President started things off with a wonderful video on speaking with conviction. A thought provoking concept that is all too true, far too often.

This was followed up with an insightful and thought provoking speech made by Susan Eschweiler, Associate Principal at DES Architects and Engineers.

I posted the photographs I shot to my gallery, please take a look at them to see the fresh faces of the next generation of Interior Designers.

Hope Hospice Hike for Hope

An HDRI photograph of the Sunol Regional Wilderness Area in the SF Bay Area

Recently I donated my photograph “Along the road to Avalon” to Hope Hospice for their “Hike for Hope”  fund raising event. This was one of my first publicized HDR images and it has made a big hit.

Donna McMillion sent me this:

The Hike is going well, with 210 hikers signed up and it’s more than a month away.  I anticipate about 350 to 400 by May 1.

You can learn more about the Hike for Hope event at their website

2010 Interior Design Student Career Forum Design Competition Winners

Yesterday I had the opportunity to help Lilley Yee photograph the winning entries in the Interior Design Student Career Forum 2010 Student Design Competition.

It was a lot of fun seeing the boards and the students who won definitely did a great job.

Lilley was surprised at how easily I overcame the challenges associated with photographing these design boards. To shoot something like this really requires a tripod and soft lighting. The glare from the acetate overlays the students used can pose a problem but after twenty-five years of photographing glass walled rooms, mirror or marble walls, and enamel kitchen cabinets I didn’t think about what was required, or how difficult it could be. I just did it.

Oh, well. Chalk it up to the benefits of experience, and move on to greater challenges.

I have the boards posted in my portfolio gallery but I won’t release them for public view until after the ceremony. You’ll just have to wait to find out who won.

Now, it’s back to the electron mines for me.

Ciao.

Pauline Hsu Said My Photographs Made a Difference

Pei-Lan Pauline Hsu is the Professional Development Director for ASID CA Peninsula. We were talking at the Miele Event at Sierra Select in December and she was telling me that the high quality of my photographs of past ASID events made the difference in getting a special room rate for the members at the Gaia Hotel located in American Canyon here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I’m glad I could help provide this benefit for the members and very proud to know that I helped Pauline chalk up another success as Professional Development Director for ASID CA Peninsula.

As I always say “Helping you is why I am here”  and now I’ve helped every single member of the ASID CA Peninsula Chapter and they didn’t even have to hire me.

ASID CA Peninsula October Newsflash

A couple of weeks ago we had an ASID chapter event at Sun Marble titled “Brave New Marketing” I was on hand to learn new marketing tricks and techniques and to shoot pictures for the ASID CA Peninsula Newsflash. And here they are, and after twenty-three years in the business I still get a thrill whenever I see my images in print.

I’m still quite new to the chapter so I don’t know everyone yet but the folks I do know are our guest speaker Deborah Shea, our past chapter president Paula McChesney with a very happy man, another of the attendees, Carol Gillam and Mary Lou Manlove, our current chapter president Marie Chan and another member. Then we have various vendors, and Doreen Yun of Windows & Beyond, two more vendors and the Sun Marble Team. In time I hope to get to know everyone personally and by name.

It was a fun night and we all got to learn a few things about marketing in the economic environment we are experiencing. You can learn more about the event by following this link.

ASID CA Peninsula Newsflash "Photography for Interior Designers"

And in this issue of the Newsflash we also have the official annoouncement of the CEU I will be giving on Novemebr 12th titled “Photography for Interior Designers”. This CEU provides .2 credits and will help the interior designer have greater control over their photographs by explaining many compositional techniques and will also help when they are doing their own photographs. I’ll be posting more about this next week. I hope you’ll have time to attend.

Dean