Isn’t “horses for courses” such a strange saying? I suppose the origins of this saying are now well and truly blurred with history, but I definitely feel its appropriate for this weeks blog – read on to find out why.
Each of us have a range of skills that we excel at, then there are another range that we’re so-so with, clearly not our expertise but giving it our best shot, and then there are the ones that you haven’t a clue about.
Earlier today I met with my accountant to help me synchronize and reconcile QuickBooks for my business, he’d been prompting me to come in for sometime so I could get a lesson as to how he wants me to enter my invoices and expenses so that they balance and are accurate – what a concept!
Picture this, as I thrust the accordion file of receipts onto his desk there was a visible gasp… Say no more! Yes in TW vernacular it was a complete “dog’s breakfast”, no offence to dogs but it was a complete and utter mess. I promise I’ll do better! ☺
Now, don’t get me wrong I took a swipe at logging my expenses for a time but with no real understanding of how he’d set up my Chart of Accounts or categorized the various accounts I was completely “at sea” and eventually gave up inputting until I had a lesson…(yes, I realize that’s a bad thing) and definitely not proud of taking a collect and guess approach but there you have it.
I then spent the next three hours going through receipts, VISA statements, and bank account data for the past six months… trying to reconcile and figure out how I’d screwed it up in the first place. That was the easy part…clearly. Unraveling my creative accounting methods was the tricky part, but then also trying to remember what I’d purchased or spent money on for the past six months was another matter completely.
The big problem, I soon realized was that when you start a new business your personal finances are inextricably intertwined with your business finances, well at least until you start generating enough revenue to meet your expenditures. This coupled with my poor accounting skills (as you can tell I have no real interest in accounting more’s the pity) put me into this mess.
However, after correcting the ills of my books and having a better understanding of how he wants me to input my expenses I feel good about moving forward. If things get out of whack again, it will be due to my lack of discipline vs. my lack of knowledge. Enough said!
Strangely when I was a secondary school I studied accounting for three years, but let’s face it those days are well and truly behind me so I suppose I can be excused…maybe just a little.
As I write this weeks story I’m sitting on a plane waiting to push back from the gate as I’m heading to New York city for the weekend – awesome! …and now we’re parked. The excitement was soon dashed with the infamous push back from the gate, and head out like we’re going to take off but then go sit somewhere on the apron of the tarmac until we have clearance to fly into New York. La Guardia airport is notoriously busy and so irrespective of when your flight to NY is, you actually fly only when there is a space open to let you in. Good to know!
The captain just made an announcement and is hoping that it will only be a 45-minute wait time. Given this information I wonder why they even have a flight schedule into NY given the uncertainty of getting a landing slot? I suppose its one of those mysterious things in life that you have to just accept as “it is, what it is”.
Anyway, enough of the frustrations of flights into the Big Apple as there are much more important things to discuss.
The reason I’m going to NY this weekend is to build my photography portfolio, the objective (typical TW) I’ve set for myself is a minimum photo haul of 1,000 photos, but hoping that I can push that out closer to 2,000 over the course of the two days.
As you’d expect I’ve created a “shoot list” that begins with me being in the Financial district first thing tomorrow morning (preferably before dawn) so I can capture first light on Wall Street and adjacent streets. Then the list goes on from there…for much of the day and even into the night.
The reason is that I’ve been bidding on photography work through a company based in NY, but soon realized that my portfolio, although reasonable is nowhere near where it needs to be if I’m truly going to be a professional grade photographer. Not only don’t I have enough depth in my portfolio, but I also need to broaden my genres of photos so that I can bid on a broader variety of jobs.
Unfortunately this also doesn’t take into account my abilities as a photographer ☺. While I’m okay, I’m still learning the trade which is both fun and challenging but far from making the grade.
I guess the differentiator as to whether I’ll begin winning photography work is in my diligence and discipline (hey, twice this has come up today). However, in this case I definitely have a passion for photography and images that I can create, and the emotions I can evoke and so feel confident that I can push this to a point where I begin winning work. As I tell Zach and Sami if you truly believe you can make anything happen!
I can hear you all thinking, so what genres is TW going to expand into??? Well I think I’m going to keep that a surprise for now, but as you know I always add photos to my stories so eventually you’ll be the beneficiaries of my expansion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On that note, I am looking for both male and female models to conduct a series of photo shoots (non-paid - sorry) in a variety of settings. If you’d like to participate, expand your personal portfolio, and get a raft of free high quality digital photos in a variety of settings then let me know and we can schedule accordingly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are a few photos from my last visit to NY with Zach and Sami to keep you going - enjoy this weeks choices!
Each of us have a range of skills that we excel at, then there are another range that we’re so-so with, clearly not our expertise but giving it our best shot, and then there are the ones that you haven’t a clue about.
Earlier today I met with my accountant to help me synchronize and reconcile QuickBooks for my business, he’d been prompting me to come in for sometime so I could get a lesson as to how he wants me to enter my invoices and expenses so that they balance and are accurate – what a concept!
Picture this, as I thrust the accordion file of receipts onto his desk there was a visible gasp… Say no more! Yes in TW vernacular it was a complete “dog’s breakfast”, no offence to dogs but it was a complete and utter mess. I promise I’ll do better! ☺
Now, don’t get me wrong I took a swipe at logging my expenses for a time but with no real understanding of how he’d set up my Chart of Accounts or categorized the various accounts I was completely “at sea” and eventually gave up inputting until I had a lesson…(yes, I realize that’s a bad thing) and definitely not proud of taking a collect and guess approach but there you have it.
I then spent the next three hours going through receipts, VISA statements, and bank account data for the past six months… trying to reconcile and figure out how I’d screwed it up in the first place. That was the easy part…clearly. Unraveling my creative accounting methods was the tricky part, but then also trying to remember what I’d purchased or spent money on for the past six months was another matter completely.
The big problem, I soon realized was that when you start a new business your personal finances are inextricably intertwined with your business finances, well at least until you start generating enough revenue to meet your expenditures. This coupled with my poor accounting skills (as you can tell I have no real interest in accounting more’s the pity) put me into this mess.
However, after correcting the ills of my books and having a better understanding of how he wants me to input my expenses I feel good about moving forward. If things get out of whack again, it will be due to my lack of discipline vs. my lack of knowledge. Enough said!
Strangely when I was a secondary school I studied accounting for three years, but let’s face it those days are well and truly behind me so I suppose I can be excused…maybe just a little.
As I write this weeks story I’m sitting on a plane waiting to push back from the gate as I’m heading to New York city for the weekend – awesome! …and now we’re parked. The excitement was soon dashed with the infamous push back from the gate, and head out like we’re going to take off but then go sit somewhere on the apron of the tarmac until we have clearance to fly into New York. La Guardia airport is notoriously busy and so irrespective of when your flight to NY is, you actually fly only when there is a space open to let you in. Good to know!
The captain just made an announcement and is hoping that it will only be a 45-minute wait time. Given this information I wonder why they even have a flight schedule into NY given the uncertainty of getting a landing slot? I suppose its one of those mysterious things in life that you have to just accept as “it is, what it is”.
Anyway, enough of the frustrations of flights into the Big Apple as there are much more important things to discuss.
The reason I’m going to NY this weekend is to build my photography portfolio, the objective (typical TW) I’ve set for myself is a minimum photo haul of 1,000 photos, but hoping that I can push that out closer to 2,000 over the course of the two days.
As you’d expect I’ve created a “shoot list” that begins with me being in the Financial district first thing tomorrow morning (preferably before dawn) so I can capture first light on Wall Street and adjacent streets. Then the list goes on from there…for much of the day and even into the night.
The reason is that I’ve been bidding on photography work through a company based in NY, but soon realized that my portfolio, although reasonable is nowhere near where it needs to be if I’m truly going to be a professional grade photographer. Not only don’t I have enough depth in my portfolio, but I also need to broaden my genres of photos so that I can bid on a broader variety of jobs.
Unfortunately this also doesn’t take into account my abilities as a photographer ☺. While I’m okay, I’m still learning the trade which is both fun and challenging but far from making the grade.
I guess the differentiator as to whether I’ll begin winning photography work is in my diligence and discipline (hey, twice this has come up today). However, in this case I definitely have a passion for photography and images that I can create, and the emotions I can evoke and so feel confident that I can push this to a point where I begin winning work. As I tell Zach and Sami if you truly believe you can make anything happen!
I can hear you all thinking, so what genres is TW going to expand into??? Well I think I’m going to keep that a surprise for now, but as you know I always add photos to my stories so eventually you’ll be the beneficiaries of my expansion.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On that note, I am looking for both male and female models to conduct a series of photo shoots (non-paid - sorry) in a variety of settings. If you’d like to participate, expand your personal portfolio, and get a raft of free high quality digital photos in a variety of settings then let me know and we can schedule accordingly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are a few photos from my last visit to NY with Zach and Sami to keep you going - enjoy this weeks choices!
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| No visit to NYC can be complete without a visit to D&D! |
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| There's just something about the grittiness of the NY subway system |
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| Lights under glass at the Rockefeller Center |
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| Love the detail on the Brownstones |
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| Crappy view for the Lion... |
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| Better view for the Lion! At the NYC library |
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| Office building reflection - Bryant Park, NYC |
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| Traditional iron fence at Bryant Park |
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| One of my favorite images - art deco reflections |
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| Interesting name for a restaurant - Brooklyn |
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| My favorite bookstore near Union Square |
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| NY Subway - line 1 above the platform |
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| Feels like I'm on a permanent movie set...just sayin |
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| Old school iron girders in the NY subway - I bet they could tell some stories! |
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