Garden Photography and the Unique Challenges It Presents

The beauty of living in the South is that I get to enjoy my garden almost year round. While gardens in the Northeast look a bit sad in the winter. Gardens in the South provide color throughout the year. This is especially true in several local gardens in Charleston South Carolina. There are several former plantations in the area that filled with color from one season to the next.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is probably the most visited and is definitely my favorite. Magnolia Plantation dates back to 1670′s with areas of the gardens left in its original state. This of course has granted me a wonderful opportunity to capture beautiful 300 year old English gardens. This along with the historic background makes for a garden photographers dream setting.

There are always challenges for any photographer when taking pictures. Garden photography has its own set of unique challenges. First and foremost for me is lighting and the challenges it presents.

Bright sunny days are great for going to the beach, but not for taking pictures. The best natural lighting you can have is when the sky is overcast. The problem with having bright sunshine is that you get a reflection of the leaves. This causes an issue with you having too much contrast in your raw pictures.

Try and avoid midday sun if possible. You can try and create an area of shade with a blanket or bed cloth. There is one inexpensive method that I like to use and that’s cardboard. If you are able to get the right lighting the next issue is proper angle.

Getting the right angle on the subject you are focusing on is extremely important. You want to look at it from different positions and angles. This way you can eliminate any objects you don’t want in the shot. This can be a pole in the ground or a group of wires that’s used to brace a nearby tree. It could even be a hose or broken branch. Get close to the ground and look at it from that angle. Take a few shots with your camera shooting upright. Moving in closer after each shot and as close as an inch or two.

Use of a tripod can be very useful in low lighting situations that you just created. As well as close up shots. This will allow you to get a steady shot as well. I like to think I have a steady hand, but some shots are a little blurry at times.

Every season brings new life to gardens. Birds and bees in the Spring. Winter rye grass in the Fall. Sunflowers in the Summer. So, the last point that I can share is most important. Explore your surroundings and enjoy what nature has to offer. You’ll never find a subject in the garden that you have to ask to smile or hear complaints from.

I’ve been a Charleston photographer for over 10 years and each and every time I explore the area gardens with my camera at my side. I find something that I didn’t realize was there before. Makes each trip a very unique and rewarding experience.

How To Win More Negotiations – Understand The Shoulder Shrug – Negotiation Tip of the Week

Shrugging shoulders – The question was asked of him, “why should we lower our price?” He shrugged his shoulders, took a moment to reflect on the question, and then offered several reasons why the price should be reduced. Little did he know, his shoulder shrug exposed the fact that initially, he didn’t have an answer to the question. Others picked that up and he lost credibility.

When negotiating, you should possess a heightened sense of awareness about the signals you send via your body language. You should also have a heightened sense of awareness of the other negotiator’s body language. That’s because body language displays true feelings. While some very good negotiators know how to convey false emotions through their body language, through their attempt to convey such emotions, their body tries to compensate for the inequity the body is experiencing. The shrugging of the shoulders is one form of display that the body conveys such sentiments.

What shoulder shrugging indicates:

The shrugging of the shoulders during a negotiation can imply different meanings depending on what occurred earlier in the negotiation, the level of intensity of what’s currently being discussed, and the mental frailty of the negotiator displaying the gesture. It can mean:

  1. What else do you want from me?
  2. I don’t really know the answer to that?
  3. I don’t care?
  4. I feel threatened!
  5. I’m indecisive.
  6. I’m thinking but I don’t know what to say.
  7. I’m experiencing some form of pressure.
  8. I disagree with you.
  9. I have disdain for what’s being discussed.
  10. I despise you.

To more accurately note the intent of the meaning, observe what occurred prior to the shoulder shrugging gesture. Also, note the length of time the shoulders stay in that position; that will allow you a glimpse into the degree the expression is being internalized. You can also gain additional insight into its meaning by noting other body language gestures that accompany the shrug(s). As an example:

  1. Mouth agape with head leaning forward is more of a display of not backing down. While head leaning back can indicate a reluctance to pursue the point being discussed much further.
  2. Ponding of the fist indicates defensiveness with the possibility of becoming aggressive.
  3. Sighing while displaying the shoulder shrug is a sign of exasperation. The level of exasperation is amplified when hands are extended in a palms-up or palms-down gesture.

When reading body language, you need to remember that the body always seeks to be in a state of comfort. When that state is violated the body displays its lack of comfort in an attempt to retrieve the state of comfort that it seeks. It’s during the times when the body is displaying such gestures that you need to be very attentive. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of what’s occurring in the other negotiator’s mind by doing so. Depending on your negotiation strategy, you can allow the opposing negotiator to emotionally flutter in discomfort or throw him a lifeline to assuage his discomfort.

In your future negotiations, if you become more aware of body language signals and the shoulder shrug in particular, you’ll be able to negotiate from a stronger position… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating.

Generating B2B Leads for Your Financial Software: No Time Like the Present

A financial and accounting software is an ERP computer application (or more specifically an Enterprise Resource Planning software) that integrates the many procedures of an organization’s accounting into a well-to-do computer program. Many of these types of software incorporate a powerful yet easy to use application for the maintenance of data pertaining to general accounting, portfolio management, stock maintenance, inventory control, sales, purchases, and other expenses of the business. It can also make reports in a click of a button to streamline processes and lessen overall operational costs with regards to financial and accounting.

This type of computer application may be a substantial need for many but the truth is that not everybody knows of this marvelous ERP software. Hence, the common mentality of a person that if-I-don’t-know-it-I-won’t-touch-it kind of feeling sinks in. It is because of this feeling that the manufacturers, programmers, and even resellers of financial and accounting software could not generate enough quality ERP leads for their own good.

There are a lot of businessmen (and women) out there that do not know the existence of this software. As such, sellers of these software might have to put in an extra amount of effort to search and qualify software sales leads lest they lose out to their competitors. In today’s business era, no matter what type of industry a company may reside in, losing out on the competition is not an option.

For these sellers of this type of software, outsourcing to a reputable telemarketing firm should be their first option in hopes of generating quality ERP leads.

The reasons for this is as plain as day: precision, expertise, and haste.

First of all, let us talk about their precision in targeting software sales leads. Many of today’s reputable telemarketing firms not only have professional telemarketers but also data specialists. These specialists make sure that the lead database they use remains updated at any given time. Hence, when a company wants to contact a specific market to generate interests for their financial and accounting software, the campaign poses no threat of contacting leads that are not within their targeted specifications.

Furthermore, when it comes to expertise, professional telemarketers have it second to none. Telemarketing firms can guarantee the expertise of their telemarketers as they hold multiple training programs to hone their representatives’ skills and talents at all times. This is to allow the software company to safeguard their name always even when these telemarketers are faced with a lot of negativity during the course of a call.

Lastly, their haste; using the telephone to produce interest is by far one of the fastest methods to get the word across about the financial and accounting software. When compared to traveling around town just to talk to leads, this method is certainly a lot quicker. In a span of a few minutes, a conversation with a lead can be done. Hence, many telemarketing firms promises more than a hundred calls within a span of an eight-hour work day.

Manufacturers, programmers, and resellers of financial and accounting software should not waste time in outsourcing to a well-known telemarketing firm. After all, there is no time like the present to generate quality ERP leads.