We are so honored that you have nominated Allure West Studios as the most Happening Photography Studio in Bucks County and (if you haven’t already) would be very grateful if you would cast your vote for us here. Polls close tomorrow!

We are proud to announce our new partnership with Doylestown Township and our joint offerings of several Digital Photography Workshops. 

Download the Doylestown Township Fall 2010 Program Guide Here.

Download the Doylestown Township Fall 2010 Registration Form Here.

View Course List on our Website.

Workshops offered include ::

INTRO TO DIGITAL POINT-AND-SHOOT PHOTOGRAPHY.

Are you tired of always missing the perfect shot because your camera is too slow? Then this is the workshop for you.  We’ll discuss the technology in your camera and how to simultaneously manipulate the camera and anticipate to finally capture the perfect moment.
Requirements: Digital point-and shoot camera, charged batteries, empty memory cards, lenses, your manual and a notebook.

Activity # 1207.014 // Dates  10/4 & 10/11 //  Time 1:00pm-2:15pm
Instructor: Natalie Napoleon Wi / Jung Wook Wi
Location: Activity Center
Age: 18yrs & over
Fee: $85 R / $99 NR

INTRO TO DIGITAL SLR PHOTOGRAPHY.

The perfect workshop for home photographers and aspiring amateurs who are interested in learning the basics of digital photography while using a digital SLR camera. This workshop features techniques and tools to help improve your results. This workshop will also act as an overview of the different technologies that are used by different manufacturers and act as a buyer’s guide or future purposes. More advanced techniques such as the use of your camera in semi-automatic and manual modes will be covered. Requirements: Digital point-and-shoot camera, charged batteries, empty memory cards, lenses, your manual and a notebook.

Activity #1208.014 //  Date 11/08 & 11/15 //  Time 1:00pm-2:15pm
Instructor: Natalie Napoleon Wi / Jung Wook Wi
Location: Activity Center
Age: 18yrs & over
Fee: $85 R / $99 NR

NATURE & OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHY 101.

This class is for the granola munching, REI shopping, Subaru driving, outdoorsy Californian in you. We will walk around Doylestown and shoot everything from portraits to landscapes, emphasizing the use of natural light and manual settings on your camera to capture all the grandeur of our beautiful town and its natural geographic beauty. For the bird watchers, we will discuss the use of high shutter speeds to freeze the fastest motion, effective incorporation of the background as well as techniques to shoot in ever changing light conditions.

**This course will also feature an opportunity to shoot on-assignment for the Bucks County Herald.

Activity #1209.014 //  Date  9/13, 9/20, 9/27. 10/4 and 10/11 Time 3:30pm-05:30pm
Instructor: Natalie Napoleon Wi / Jung Wook Wi
Location: CP-Pavilion 2
Age: 18yrs & over
Fee: $199 R / $215 NR

NATURE & OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPH Y 101 :: TEEN.

Nurture the budding artist within you and start building your portfolio with classic Bucks County landscape photographs.  As we walk around Doylestown, we will discuss the different settings on your camera and how you can manipulate them to create a perfect exposure or an abstract piece of art.

Activity #0906.014 //  Dates  9/16, 9/23, 9/30, 10/7 and 10/14 // Time 3:30pm-5:30pm
Instructor: Natalie Napoleon Wi / Jung Wook Wi
Location: CP-Pavilion 1
Age: 12yrs to 16yrs
Fee: $199 R / $215 NR

***IMPORTANT NOTE***

Due to current construction of the 202 Parkway, Wells Road (from

Lower State Road) is closed for an extended period of time. If

you are planning a trip to Central Park, please access Wells Road

via Turk Road. For up-to-date information regarding parkway

construction visit www.us202-700.com.

One of the first things I did when I moved to Doylestown was to join the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce and if you’re in the area, I highly encourage you to do the same.  The Chamber offers amazing opportunities and tools to help businesses succeed.

Within the Chamber, I work on the Entrepreneurial Assistance Committee, whose mission is to help businesses grow.  In addition to offering hundreds of free business consultations (which are also available to non-members!), including marketing, business management and succession planning, the EAC, produces a yearly educational workshop series.

Sponsored by National Penn Bank, the 2010 series centers on Business Growth and tomorrow’s session is titled “Succeeding in the New Economy”.

I will be presenting along with David Werrett, President of the CBCC and Mario O. Vicario, Jr., CPA Kreicher Miller.  David will present a global view of the economy, Mario will discuss the trends he sees when working with small businesses and what makes them successful and what holds them back, while  I am the case study and will be discussing my philosophy and methods for success in this new economy.  Donald V. Cericola, CPA DVC Financial Services, will be facilitating.

3 SIMPLE STEPS TO SUCCEEDING IN THE NEW ECONOMY

DIVERSIFY

In today’s market, consumers and business are cutting back severely and in some cases, all together.  Avenues of revenue that were free-flowing in 2005/2006 have dried up today.  My answer to this problem is diversification.  As a small business owner, I’ve been told to find my niche and perfect my game within that niche.  For example, one of my specialties is wedding photography.  If I focused soley on marketing to brides, I would be sitting in the corner crying right now.  On average, brides are spending 1/3 of what they were spending on their wedding 5 years ago and I am now competing with pro-sumers who have purchased pro-sumer cameras and are billing themselves as professional photographers,  driving down prices.  Then there’s the bride who is choosing to cut out photography all together and depending on family and friends to cover her event.  If I stayed pidgeon-holed in my niche, I’d be in serious trouble today.  You would never invest all of your money into one stock, so why would you want to depend on all of your income flowing from a single source?  In addition to being a wedding photographer, I am a food photographer, a fashion photographer, a meeting and special events photographer.  I photograph interiors, families and advertising campaigns.  I have teamed with an event planner and am the Photography Director at his company.  I am also the Senior Editor of Nesting Newbies Magazine and develop content as well as contribute my photography services.  I teach Digital Photography workshops.  I sell B2B and B2c.  When weddings are slow during the winter, corporations are throwing holiday parties, planning educational seminars and working on their annual reports.  Since it’s difficult to predict who will be spending what and when, I try to keep as many avenue of income open as possible.   I’m sure you get my point.  Diversify.

BUDGET & FORECAST

Since the market is so volatile and unpredictable, I have cut my spending back to the very bare minimum.  I created a spreadsheet listing all of my monthly expenses, canceled any service that wasn’t crucial to running my business and shopped around for the lowest prices on those expenses that just couldn’t be cut.  I then created a spreadsheet for the entire year and created a forecast showing me what I would be spending and when to expect to pay annual bills.  I added a page to the spreadsheet showing my projected income for contracted jobs.  I used this information to forecast trends in my income and determine the appropriate months to market certain services.  This is a time consuming activity, but well worth the time spent to get a better understanding of the trends within your business.  This is also an effective exercise if you need to open a line of credit during lean times.  When you have a forecast, you prove to the bank that you are a responsible borrower and show them exactly when they can expect to be paid back.

SOCIAL NETWORKING & WARM LEADS

Advertising was one of the big ticket items in my budget and the first expense to be cut.  Since I was cutting my exposure dramatically, I had to find creative ways to market myself.  I started a blog, created a Linked-in profile, a Facebook profile and began Tweeting.  I also joined several different organizations, including the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce and ISES (International Special Events Society) and got involved.  When I had the opportunity to personally connect with someone at a networking event, I looked them up online and connected with them there as a follow-up.  Having the online connection strengthened our live connection.  Social networking also works in the reverse.  There are several people with whom I am connected because we have a mutual colleague in common and when we were at a networking event, it was easy to recognize these people and talk with them, since we already started our relationship online.

Getting involved with an organization is a great way to show colleagues your work ethic first-hand, which makes them more inclined to hire you or recommend you to a friend or another colleague.  This is called a warm lead and if strategized correctly, can be a valuable source of business.  I find that when I am referred thru my network, I am more likely to be hired and my client values and respects my services more because of the personal connections involved.

YOUR ACTION ITEMS:

1.  Diversify

2.  Create a budget and a forecast

3.  Get involved online & with your trade organizations

IN SUM

The most important trait you can have as a business owner is this economy is flexibility.  Be willing to constantly re-evaluate your plan and be flexible with your decisions.  Try new things.  My motto is that it’s better to try something and do it badly than not to do it at all.  The more you do something, the more practiced you’ll become.  There’s a learning curve associated with pretty much everything we do, but if you never try, you’ll never know where it can take you.

The holidays are in full-swing and Aldie Mansion is particularly beautiful during this time of year.  I love seeing the snow on the roof and the lights twinkling inside.  I love the sound of the floors creaking beneath my feet and the warmth that envelopes me as I walk in thru the stately front entrance.

Aldie Mansion was built in 1927 by William Mercer Jr. (brother of Henry Mercer) and his wife, Martha Dana of Boston and replaced the previous structure handed down to them by William Jr.’s parents.  Martha continued to live in the house after William passed away and was well known for throwing lavish Christmas parties.  Her most famous Christmas party was held in 1941 when the Von Trapp family sang in the great hall.

Martha died in 1960 and bequeathed Aldie Mansion to the Catholic Archdiocese, which used the mansion first as a seminary and later as a drug and alcohol treatment center.  In the 1980′s, Aldie was abandoned, vandalized and burned.  After many changes of hands, Genuardi Markets, Inc and Vesterra Corporation sold the property to the Heritage Conservancy for $1.  In 1991, the Conservancy, with the support of the community, complete a 3-year capital campaign to restore the mansion.  Aldie now houses the business offices of the Heritage Conservancy and is rented for weddings, receptions, meetings and community events.

Since we are now Doylestown community members, my family and I recently attended the annual Christmas at Aldie Community night where we indulged ourselves on sweets, listened to the local high-school choir sing Christmas carols, made a Christmas ornament, learned how to make a bat house, watched a rescue dog presentation and played instruments at a sing along.  I’m so thankful to the Heritage Conservancy and the community for resurrecting Aldie so that we can enjoy it today.

To schedule your holiday event at Aldie and dine on exclusive caterer Jeffrey Miller’s cuisine, contact Kimberly Bates or Shelley Nohowel.

Ventresca Ltd., Bucks County's Finest Clothing Store for Men

Amanda Soler, Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce Deputy Executive Director of Operations and Editor of Who, What, Where, When (W4) asked me to photograph Ventresca Ltd., Bucks County’s finest clothing store for men, for an upcoming issue of W4.

As I photographed the store, I could see that Ventresca Ltd. deserved its national reputation built on the old fashion tenants of superior quality, service and value.  As I watched co-owner, Frank Ventresca work with his customers, it was also evident that Ventresca Ltd.’s primary goal is to create the greatest shopping experience for each person that walks thru their doors.

Ventresca Ltd.’s top of the line selection in clothing and footwear ranges from classic to contemporary.  All clothing is expertly fitted and Ventresca Ltd. offers complimentary tailoring by European trained tailors.  Only the finest furnishings and accessories are available to complete your personal look.

Visit Ventresca Ltd., the Men’s Clothing store in Doylestown, for the ultimate dressing experience.