So one morning I wake to find an email with the subject “Request shootin June 4, 5 and 6, 2011″  and I was surprised to see an rate inquiry from a communication firm in GERMANY..! Any inquiry is exciting to receive, but one from Germany – wow, cool! They were seeking a photographer for an upcoming convention at McCormick Place and in semi broken english asked me about my rates. But then I wondered if this was a phishing thing, I’ve heard that there are photographers out there that phish rate info out of their competitors. But I googled the company and person emailing me and both seemed legit, so I responded back and forth and proceeded to close the deal. And to be honest I wasn’t entirely sure what the shoot was going to entail beyond some event coverage . Other than that I just knew the hours I was scheduled, what they were paying me, and that no additional equipment or an assistant were necessary.  So when I took off for the day to shoot I wasn’t too sure of what I was getting in to. I love that photography provides me with some many great adventures – from the people that I meet, the experiences I am exposed to and the places I see, let alone the lighting conditions and my subjects – it is always an adventure.

And it was a totally cool adventure! My client was working with a group of Oncologists presenting at the annual ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology). It was evident that this group are VIPs and rock stars of the oncology world. In addition to covering the convention, I captured their prep for a press conference and later that night heard mention of their release on “NBC Nightly News”. But in addition, they were a great group to work with and I really enjoyed them.

I finally asked Sabine how she found me, and she said “Google!”. I confess that my SEO efforts have been pretty weak so I was pleasantly surprised to hear this. Most of my work comes from referrals, so I am lovin’ that Google hooked me up!