ShootQ loves Asheville

Asheville is fantastic! We're here for the ShootQ Set-Up Party, hosted by our friend Corey McNabb.
Corey's studio is filled with vibrant imagery that reflects his vision and his clients' style! We also had a chance to enjoy a great Indian meal at Parker and Missy's favorite spot! It was fun to hang out with Corey, Jill, Parker and Missy for dinner and drinks. Thanks guys for being such wonderful hosts for ShootQ! Photos from our visit in Asheville, courtesy of Corey's blog.

We love our clients — this is the life!

When we arrived at the stunning lodge tonight, we were graciously greeted with champagne, dark chocolates (my favorite!) and a personalized welcome note. We love our clients and the incredible venues they select for their weddings. Subtle details create a remarkable experience. Superlative service = a superlative experience. We can't wait for the wedding tomorrow! Now, I'm off to enjoy the whirlpool tub in our room!

ShootQ FAQs

We've heard from many of you this month about ShootQ. Thanks so much for your support! We look forward to seeing you at the ShootQ Set-Up Parties. If you haven't had a chance to sign up, put your name on the list. It's free, but seating is limited.

ShootQ FAQs:

ShootQ is the result of a need LaCour had in our studio. We were struggling to organize our inquiries, keep records of client contact, organize our production/projects, and close sales. So, we designed a database-driven management tool for LaCour. We discovered that our photographer friends really needed this tool, so we began to develop it for multiple users.

ShootQ is designed to make photographers' lives simpler and their studios more profitable by allowing creative people to focus on what they enjoy doing while also allowing them to have more free time. In short, ShootQ is designed to improve your overall quality of life. It does this in three ways:

1) Organization and Efficiency. ShootQ is a tool that is designed to do the tedious work for you -- from filling out contracts and invoices to keeping track of sales leads.
2) Community. You can share leads with other photographers who use ShootQ. If you're booked already, share the wealth with a friend! ShootQ will foster true collaborative community -- we'll train photographers at ShootQ Setup Parties to use the software. We always want an experienced ShootQ user to be just one phone call away.
3) Understanding your studio inside-and-out. You amass a lot of data by using ShootQ, why not analyze it so you understand your business more fully? We designed ShootQ so that you will be able to analyze product and package profitability, referral sources, and to record vendors you've worked with for future marketing efforts. This functionality will be available in the near future.

Click here to watch a video demo.

1) ShootQ is cross-platform. It currently works with Safari and IE/Windows, but we're working on FireFox compatibility now.
2) Training. ShootQ is currently available to photographers who are trained during ShootQ Setup Parties that we're hosting in select US cities. We will be adding a few dates to the calendar, including many West Coast dates. To be notified of new dates, please sign up for our mailing list by clicking here.
3) Price. Normal pricing for ShootQ is $40 per month with an initial setup fee of $200.

We are offering a limited number of ShootQ Founding Memberships, which are lifetime, for $595. Currently, we're limiting all ShootQ memberships to those who have attended a Set-Up Party. We wish we could release to everyone immediately, but we want to carefully forge a strong community, which takes time to build and nurture. Also, we want to be sure everyone receives the support they need.

To be notified about future ShootQ developments & announcements via email, sign up on the ShootQ homepage. Also, watch the LaCour blog for the announcement.

We're excited about the future of ShootQ. Nearly everything in life is done online today -- we are literally a global community. We want to access our information from anywhere, anytime. ShootQ allows us to do this.

The Decisive Moment?

That Moment

When you are sitting right on the edge of something daring and scary and creative and powerful and perhaps wonderful... and you blink and take a step back.

That's the moment. The moment between you and remarkable. Most people blink. Most people get stuck.

All the hard work and preparation and daring and luck is nothing compared with the ability to not blink.

-- Seth Godin

Congratulations Drew & Kathryn!

Photographers love great love stories.

Our dear friends Drew & Kathryn just got home from France and shared their beautiful engagement story with us! Drew's words are more eloquent than mine, so I'll let him tell the story:

"The first village we visited was Rousillon. Rousillon is notable for being on a hill of ochre — bright orange red, and all the buildings in the town are bright ochre color. It has to be the most colorful and cute hill town possible.

We went into town to get some lunch. We climbed to the top of the town, past the 11th century pre-Norman church and looked down onto the old town below and saw a terrace on top of a 3-story building with red canopies. Lets go there! So, we went down to the square and realized the restaurant is actually at the top of a 3 story bookstore. Yes, a bookstore.

We go upstairs and the waiter tells us they are behind in the kitchen, and are we sure we want to stay and we say YES! He proceeds to turn away clients and the other tables empty out until its just US.

The ring is in my bag and its starting to glow. Anyway, the weather turns windy and so they move us into a 2nd floor dining room inside the bookstore, which is set up with a big country table, beautiful old white candelabras and dried flowers with books all around us. The waiter even lights the candles "pour faire plus romantique." And mysteriously, they leave us all alone.

I am trying to play it cool but the anticipation is killing me inside!

They clear the plates and ask if we want tea or coffee and we say yes and I ask them to leave us for 5 min and then bring the coffee. It was perfect.

I took Kathryn's hands in mine, told her life with her has been so expansive, so joyful, that I wanted to spend my life with her and for us to be by each other's side. She said she could not imagine it any other way.

I got out the ring, put it on and frankly neither of us remember much of what happened next! But we have some awfully cute photos and the owners of the bookstore were ecstatic and gave us a cute book on Le Bonheur du Mariage and are going to put us on their website because they have never had anyone propose in their bookstore.

Drew and Kathryn are among the most creative, generous people in our lives. We are thrilled for them to start a new journey together.

We love you guys...and you have the coolest glasses on earth!

ShootQ has gone to the Dawgs

Our friend Emilie Sommer posted this hilarious video of her dog, Dakota, gnawing on a ShootQ "Sport Flyer" (can't use "Frisbee" b/c it's a registered trademark!) I think we should hire Dakota for our next promo!
CLICK HERE to see the video — but I warn you...there's lots of slurping!

ShootQ's First Setup Party!

The Atlanta ShootQ Party was a hit! People drove from Birmingham and North Carolina to hear about ShootQ. Thanks so much to everyone who joined the party. It was fun to meet you all!

LaCour at Loca Luna

After the ShootQ Set-Up Party tomorrow (Tuesday), the LaCour crew will be relaxing at Loca Luna. Come hang out with us at Loca Luna around 5:30pm. We'll be there for a few hours, so even if you aren't coming to the ShootQ party, stop by Loca Luna and order a margarita to celebrate summer! We'd love to see everyone!

Click HERE for directions to Loca Luna.

Featured on Strobist

For those of you who haven't come across the Strobist.com blog, go check it out. It's a great resource for lighting tips and tricks. They also just put a blog post about our image that we made of a night beach ceremony which was featured on www.flashflavor.com last week.

*Click Here to check out Strobist!

WedPix.com Article About "Sideline Shots"

WedPix.com just published their June issue and they interviewed me again, this time for an article about "Sideline Shots." They define sideline shots as "photos that are distinct from the standard reaction pictures that you may capture during the walk down the aisle, the vows or the cake cutting. This particular variety tends to be further away from the primary wedding day action, both geographically and thematically, but adds depth and essential perspective to the complete wedding day story."

It's an interesting story and they quoted me quite a bit, so brace yourself :) It's always a little weird seeing stories written that quote you. Especially after spending so many years working in the news industry where we were the ones photographing and quoting people, it's a very interesting experience being on the flip side of that. What's great, though, is that Michael Roney, the writer of the WedPix article has been very accurate with quoting me from the phone interview we had.

*Click Here to read the article.

Elevate!

We're having a wonderful time with the crew at Elevate2, Garrett and Joy Nudd's workshop in Orlando. There are so many talented photographers here, and we've been inspired by their passion and creativity. As Gene Higa told us earlier this week, it's a great time to be a wedding photographer! Thanks to everyone for a fun few days of sharing. It's refreshing to meet so many new friends, and reconnect with many old ones too! ShootQ is sponsoring the workshop, and we had a chance to give a demo to everyone today. We can't wait to incorporate new ideas into ShootQ. Thanks to everyone for giving feedback. It's the best way to grow and improve the software.

Rachel and Regina Holder

The St. Louis boys, Andrew and Dan Watkins

Frank DiMeo, Gene Higa, Kevin Meyers and Dan Watkins

Garrett during the shooting demo


Katie Torres of 6 of Four Creations


Ann Hamilton with her new Leica point-and-shoot

Rachel LaCour Niesen with Regis Chen

Dan Watkins and Zack Arias

ShootQ World Tour!

Come party with us!
• During ShootQ Set-Up Parties, the crew will teach you how to use ShootQ to simplify your life.
• The tour is Free-of-Charge.
• Seats are limited, so sign up today.
• Bring your Laptops!
• You will be invited to keep your ShootQ account at the end of the party.
CLICK HERE to learn more!