Ezi Pix Blog

Three Tips to a Better Work/Life Balance

1.    Go For What You Love.

 Are you constantly caught up in the daily grind of working so much that there is no time left to play? Do you really love what you are doing? We all hear the stories of people working too hard and missing out on quality time with their kids and family. If you feel like this then maybe you need to re-focus.

Take some time to sit and think about the important things in your life. What is it you truly love doing. Who do you want to spend most of your time with? Most of us spend more of our weekdays with our work colleagues than our families so it makes sense to be in a job or business that we love. This may mean changing jobs (not easy in the current economic climate) or better still, changing your attitude towards your job. If you work for yourself, choose the people that you network with so that you enjoy their company at the same time as learning from them and giving a receiving support. Make some time to socialise with friends and work colleagues so that some of the stress of the day/week/month is lifted as you let your hair down and communicate at a different level.

2.   Get Rid of the Clutter

Keep it simple. Start with a big clean up of the physical clutter. Let’s face it…we all feel better after a good clean out of the wardrobe. The Smith Family love it too! You already know what you love in life and what you need to do to get it. You just need to remind yourself. Be intuitive and then simply work out what adjustments need to be made to de-clutter your days. If you have too much on your plate, learn to say “no”. Make a list of the things you do and then prioritise them. Now you can leave out the ones at the bottom of the list and keep focused on the ones at the top. Learn to love what you’re doing and just go with your instincts.

Of course if you are truly serious about a better life/work balance and not just wanting someone else to take responsibility…you may consider talking to a Life Coach like Christine. This way you have someone who understands you and can support you over a coffee or during a walk through the park. Now that’s simple (and the first chat is free).

3.    Destress Through Laughter and Fun!

How do yo have fun? Is it hanging out with friends, walking through a forest, taking photos of your favourite place, or seeing your favourite band? Make the time to relax and enjoy yourself. If your schedule is busy, make yourself an appointment to get together with friends or go to a restaurant on a regular basis. Book a time in your diary every week for leisure/fun. This is just as important as making the next business decision or getting your newsletter out in time. If you are not healthy physically, mentally and emotionally, your work will suffer in the long run.

If you have no work/life balance, then what’s it all for? Some people have regular Friday Night drinks to catch up and unwind. Chris calls this Thank God It’s Friday and finds it a great way to catch up, relax, let your hair down and have a good laugh with friends.

So enjoy life to the full, make the most of every moment and never miss an opportunity to have some downtime.

At the end of the day…don’t just work…LIVE!

The one thing about coming home from holidays that everyone looks forward to is to SHOW OFF the photos. It’s also the one thing your family and friends DREAD. Let’s face it, holiday snaps can be pretty boring.

Check out these 5 steps to go from boring to incredible, creative and even interesting holiday memories that you and your friends will want to see over and over again.

1. Composition

This is really the most important part of taking a great picture instead of a boring one. Take a little time to consider what you are trying to capture.

The scene needs to have a subject, be it a boat, sunset sky, land mark, tree or building. This is because you are aiming to a) show off your photo and b) remember what caught your attention. What is the subject of interest in the shot you are about to take? If there isn’t one, then there will be no interest in the printed image!

Work out the best angle to capture the subject by moving around, getting up high or down low and tying both horizontal and vertical options in the viewfinder. Always look up, down and behind you. This can help make a much more dramatic image and sometimes you will see things you didn’t notice. I was once taking some nice sunset shots over a lake, only to turn around just in time to catch a massive orange moon rising up behind me. Find the scene, find the light, and then put your subject into it. Location, location, location.

2. Self Timer

Get yourself in the picture. Don’t come home without PLENTY of shots with YOU IN THEM! This happens all the time. Don’t forget, if they wanted to see a photo of the Eiffel Tower, they could buy a postcard. It’s much more exciting when you’re in the picture.  

Learn how to use the self timer before you go on holidays, and then get into the picture with your friends or family. Don’t set the timer pause for too long or you’ll have everyone looking in different directions by the time the shot is taken. You need just enough time to get yourself back into the scene.

3. Travel Tripod

Why use a tripod? I’m glad you asked…because understanding this will give you an amazing advantage over other photographers that don’t see the necessity. When you take a photo in low light such as sunrise, twilight, sunset, evening shots and also fireworks, you need the shutter speed to be slow to allow more light onto the sensor to enable the scene to be visible in your image. This also means the camera will capture any movement and blur the shot if it’s not held still and it is virtually impossible to hold the camera steady for the length of time required for these low light shots.

One tripod known as Fozi Tripod is plastic and will fold down to fit into your wallet. There are also stronger metal mini tripods that fold to about the size of a ruler and mini fold down versions of the larger standard tripods. Do your research and check the internet and local camera shops for more info before you go away.

4. Get in Close

You want to show some emotion on faces, details in the architecture and the beauty of a tropical flower. It’s not always about where you were, but what you were doing. Was there dancing with local tribal people? Was there a warm fireplace? Did you relax on a tropical beach? Why not try taking a close up of some deck chairs and a palm tree with the water and sand in the background, and not worry about getting the entire scene into the picture.

Do you really need to show the entire scene to portray cocktails were being consumed? Get in close and show only the umbrella and fruit on the top of the glass. These close up shots will make a stunning collage and tell a great story when you get home.

5. Copy the Pros

This one is simple. Check the postcards in the shops nearby and then imitate what they have done. The professionals know when and where to get the best shots so use them as a guide. You need to put your own flair into the shot to make it personal.

Don’t forget: Keep the story of your holiday exciting and never boring. Pick out the most interesting shots and file the rest away just for yourself. Choose the photos that have lots of people in them and put them into an album or make a coffee table book. Let the images tell the story of your trip of a lifetime!

So…here’s to the holiday of a lifetime and the reward of wanting to show off the photos for years to come.

Of course there is much more to photography than I have explained in these 5 steps so for more information on how to improve your photography, to find out about workshops, to enter photos in a local camera club competition or even to sell some of your fantastic images online, go to www.ezipix.com.au

Light is the most important part of any photo. Even if the composition and focus are out, the image will still be pleasing to look at if the lighting is good. You see, photography is all about light and colour and tonality and you need to get to know the colour of the light, the quality of the light and the angle of the light. Are there any blotchy shadows? Is the light falling at the right time of day and at the right angles? This gives the image it’s artistic elements.

Bright, midday sun makes a scene very high-contrast, and can add sparkle and great colour, but will deepen shadows. Early morning or late afternoon sunlight gives much lower contrast resulting in, softer and varying hues. On cloudy days, the sun's rays are peeking through the clouds and this creates either a dark or light "soft box" effect, depending on the clouds' brightness and luminosity. Remember these lighting tips and use them to make the most out of any lighting conditions by matching the subject to the light source

Midday sun is the worst possible setting for photographing people. The sunlight being directly above the subject's face will be casting deep shadows around the eyes and every wrinkle in the face will be well defined. You may not be asked back! Look for shaded areas and use fill-in flash if needed to lighten the shadows and even out the exposure.

It is always ideal to try and keep the sun at your back to reduce lens flare and prevent an incorrect light meter reading. If you cannot avoid your subject being backlit by strong sunlight you do have some options. If your camera has an Exposure Lock (AEL) button, move in close to your subject and fill the viewfinder with their face. Take the meter reading and press the button to lock the exposure. Then when you move back to your original position to take the shot you require, the camera will not be fooled by the backlight. This will achieve the correct exposure.

Another option is to use the Spot Metering mode which allows you to take a reading from only the very centre of the frame, and not the entire area covered in the viewfinder. You can meter your subject in the centre of the frame, lock the exposure and take the picture, reframing the subject if necessary.

I hope this helps and if anyone has any questions or further information to add to this blog post, I would love to hear from you. Cheers Julie

There’s no longer any excuse not to be moving forward in your business. If you are struggling with certain business issues then once you read this you will see that you have all the support you need to go from being stressed to satisfied!

1. Feedback from Experts in your Industry - FREE

Many small business owners work alone and most of their decisions are made by themselves, with no-one to brainstorm with or ask for feedback from. Even businesses that have staff realise that their employees may not skilled enough to assist in the decision making process. This can make the business owner feel very isolated and uncertain. It can lead to a downturn in productivity through lack of motivation and many businesses fail simply due to this feeling that they have no support.

Next time you have a great idea and you are not quite sure what is the best plan of action from here, why not book in with a mentor and run it by them. Your idea may just need an extra point of view to take it to the next step in getting it to work, getting it out there and making money for you. A mentor is chosen to match your needs so that you have someone to act as a sounding board, to bounce your ideas off and support you in your business. Your own skills will be improved, simply by working alongside someone on your project. This is definitely one of the key benefits of going to the mentoring service. With the expertise of the mentors they can provide some feedback which would be quite useful to the business owner.

2. Improve Productivity…and take a holiday

If you have ever asked yourself “Ok, how can I improve the efficiency and the productivity within my business?” That would be another area you can sound off on the business mentor. Business systems are a crucial part of any business, however small businesses often skip this step as they believe it is only large corporations that need ‘systems’. Not true. Even if you are the only person in your business, you will find that your productivity will noticeably improve as you put systems in place to track, test, and measure and make yourself accountable to your systems.

It also allows you to take time off. If you never intend to take a holiday, get sick, or sell the business, then you may not need systems. However; if you would love a holiday (even an extended one), would like to know you will be covered if you fall ill or think you may sell the business (or employ a manager) in the future, then you need systems in place. To take a holiday, others need to know the system of how to run the business. A mentor can offer their own experience and throw in some ideas that can help you improve your business systems.

3. Develop Business Skills

The third one would really be business skills and how you would like to improve your personal development, your business proficiency, marketing or sales skills set. A mentor can be assigned to improve the specific area of your business that you feel you may be lacking.

You may be a great photographer, but do you know how to do a Profit/Loss statement or even the name of a local accountant or bookkeeper to help. Let’s face it, we all have our strengths and weaknesses and this is a way to improve the weaknesses and learn how and who to delegate them to. This is another important area where a mentor can assist

    Hey, c'mon everyone, lets see your comments and posts and what you have to say. Here's one for you all. What do you think of this picture?

How would you have improved it either at the time or later in photoshop?

With digital photography in the 21st Century, surely one would have to ask this question. After all, it is pretty hard to take a bad shot these days. Some of the most fun shots I see are those taken by young people out partying and taking the shot themselves with their digital mobile phone camera! This is because of a few things, mainly that the pixel count on the camera phones is so much higher and also the fact that the photos are composed with the subject (the party goers) so closely cropped.
So with people able to go out and take a snapshot of a sunrise, have it look fantastic, blow it up and it still looks fantastic, get it printed at really great prices, framed at reasonable prices and then hang it on the wall, why would they purchase someone else’s images?
Hopefully, if you're in business you have already asked yourself this same question and come up with a good answer. If you haven’t looked into this, then you better be prepared for some slow growth. Of course you may already be charging top dollar and earning a good profit in which case this may not be of interest to you.
As a business person, you really need to make sure you think about this and do something about it. Maybe you need to ask yourself if you are charging too much? I know what you’re thinking…but I am worth it and I need to charge that much to make sure I cover costs and still make profit. Maybe you should look at new ways to market that are a lot cheaper and also cut down the time you spend on selling, processing, delivering, invoicing etc. If you could spend 3 hours a day less on this tedious stuff and get on with taking more photos, then you would probably make more money and enjoy it more.