Last Post On This Blog

After one year of blogging it's time to say goodbye to my old blog. In this time it had nearly 7000 visitors. Some of the readers I not only stay in contact with, but also met them personally and they became new friends.

My new and awesome blog is online now and I hope you like it!
Big is beautiful :)

Please update your bookmarks to the new address:
http://www.danielzihlmann.com/blog/

Thanks for your visit. See you there!

Best,
Daniel

Nice To Meet You :)

Yesterday we started sharing :)

It was great to make new friends and meet other photographers. It's kind of different if you talk with your no-photog friends and they always say: "Wow, that are great images you do!" And then you meet other professional photographers and they have a different point of view than you have. They know more about the subject so the discussions will be more profound. They do things in a different way and you notice how you can do it in another way too. It's not about better or worse, just different. For one photographer Jessica Claire's Shootsac meets perfectly his shooting style. But the other photographer is shooting differently and for that has another perfect fit in camera bag. You just have to try it out and see what works best for you. That's it.

Check the work of these awesome photographers:
Jeanine Linder, www.jeaninelinderphotography.com
Philippe Wiget, www.photophil.ch
Christoph Ris, www.christophris.ch

About something else. I recently started to use more flash in my photography. Not my big studio lights, but just my strobes (Canon 580EX II). If you are looking for a great flash bracket that holds two strobes and even an umbrella, go visit Brewer Bracket. Todd Brewer developed it himself. It's well built, very sturdy. And Todd is a great guy, providing you an awesome customer service. Congratulations, Todd!

Slave To The Rhythm

If you do post production and work the whole day at the computer , it's easy to be disturbed every some minutes. Of course your computer is online and the emails keep coming in. You just want to have a quick look and...

So I tried a new email policy. I check emails only 3 times a day (10 am, 2 pm, 4 pm). That will do nicely. If it's urgent, use the oldfashioned phone instead. It's anyway better to connect with people by voice. Try to use your phone instead of email and you will see how better your communication will be and how your business is going to improve!

Try it. Don't be a slave to the rhythm!

And yes, I ordered an iPhone :) So my iPod Touch 16GB is on sale now. It's a great device, perfect as a PDA. You have always your calendar, contacts, email and internet with you. Its display is so big and brilliant, that it's fun to show prospective clients your portfolio on the iPod Touch. You will never regret this investment! Send me an email if you are interested in my iPod Touch 16GB.

Customer Experience

While I'm waiting for the iPhone to be released in Switzerland I still have to use my "old" SonyEricsson K800i. It's a very nice phone though, has an awesome camera and a great display. But recently it broke down and I had to take it to the repair service. That's always bad because in the meantime you have to use your "even older mobile phone" that you keep just for this kind of backup purpose.

Now imagine that you managed to survive this uncomfortable time with a mobile phone right out of stone age. And it's the day you get your regular mobile phone back. They didn't only change more parts than necessary and refurbished the whole phone. There's even more.

The mobile phone was handed out to me in an "iPod Sock" saying "Home Sweet Home".

You take it out of the sock and on the display is a sticker with a text like a SMS, saying: "It's great to be back in your hands. I've missed you! If you need any more help at all, feel free to call 0848 82 40 40."

Sweet! :) What a customer experience!

What do you do to make your clients happy? How do you handle complaints? What's your outstanding service to give your customers a great experience and differentiate your business from the competition?

Did I ever tell you...

Did I ever tell you that I love my job? I meet the nicest people, party with them and they even pay me for the favor I do them! :)

Doris and Lorenz are another couple that is going to tie the knot this summer. They are awesome. Spontaneous and very funny! And a bit loud (that was your word, Lorenz, not mine! ;) They both work in the IT business and as computer geeks they are the perfect match to chat about Windows problems :) At the moment Lorenz is working on their wedding website too. I love that.

Thank you, Doris and Lorenz, I'm so happy that I met you and can call you friends!

Open your Mind

I reworked the "concept" of Share your Power a bit. From now on I will host it every first Thursday a month. To be invited please send a request by email to get the details.

AND: It will be open to everybody who wants to connect and share. So, it's not just for photographers. If you are an art director, project manager for a NGO, a social student, a chef or run your own business. It doesn't matter. Open your mind, connect with new people and share your power and your vision!

Date: Every first Thursday a month
Location: Details on request
Kind: Open Mind Event

To find out more about Share your Power **read this post**

Join (Us)

Lately I received more and more emails from fellow photographers that were seeking some advice, help or just a personal contact to share some thoughts, ideas or the vision of our business in the future.

I enjoyed every single contact and thought it would be a good thing to meet all those nice people in person and let them connect with each other too. Best to be done while having dinner and a cold beer or a non-alcoholic drink at hand. I personally prefer a drink called "Hurricane". Don't expect it to be non-alcoholic :)

The date is set to March 13, 2008. The first host city will be downtown Bern aka "La Capital". If you need a place to stay over night, we will find you one. I expect several people coming from the Zurich area, so there will also be the possibility to share a car and have a warm-up chat on the way.

Just send me an email if you want to Share Your Power and I will let you know the details.

Hope to see you soon!

Do I mind?

Yesterday I received an email from Beth. She's a photographer from Australia and currently based in London. She asked if I mind if she asked me for some help. Beth will be shooting a destination wedding in Switzerland for an Australian couple and needed some advice about the wedding photography market here in Switzerland.

Of course I do mind! I definitely wanted to help her and provided all advices I could :)

Beth, I hope you will have a great time shooting this destination wedding here in Switzerland!

By the way, Beth Jennings is an awesome wedding, portrait and travel photographer! Check out her website at www.bethjennings.com.au

Take Off

It starts working! Seems that I hit the nail right on the head. There really ARE more photographers in Switzerland that want to share!

Wedding and event photographer Philippe Wiget was the first one to contact me after I posted about my new little project "Dinner for One". Check out his website at www.photophil.ch

Welcome to the community, Philippe!

And because Philippe couldn't wait: Yes, I will organize a monthly photographer meeting in a host city in Switzerland. We will share our meal and share our vision.

Stay tuned for more details!

Join (Me)

Maybe you already noticed this new orange button on my blog and were wondering what this 'Dinner for One' thing is about. Here comes the truth.

Lately I get more and more requests from people that read my blog or enjoy my website. May be aspiring amateurs or pro photographers or just people that enjoy photography. They ask about what equipment I use, how I do post production, where I get my albums done, how to do online proofing and more.

I remember very well how difficult it was to find out all these things by myself when I started. It took me a long time for research and I had to go through some bad experience. Sharing is not really a common practice in Switzerland. At least not yet.

For my part I really like to share (read in this post why) and also enjoy to connect with new people. I think to have lunch or dinner together is the perfect occasion to socialise and network. Just have some good food and chat. Ever read Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi? If not, start now!

So, here comes my offer: Invite me for a 'Dinner for One'. You can ask me whatever question you like and I will tell you all the secrets (just business secrets of course, not my personal ones ;-)

It doesn't have to be an expensive restaurant. Just feed me! Once in a while I might even accept fast food. But it would be worth to take some more time, so you can ask all the questions you have. You can choose the location or invite me to your house if you are a good chef in the kitchen (please send some referrals before :-)

To share with me a 'Dinner for One' just write me an email or give me a phone call. I'm excited to meet you!

Best,
Daniel

New Year's Resolutions

For the next year I found a new project to support: the Schweizer Foundation in Switzerland. It's a small private foundation (founded in 2004 by my good friend and famous Swiss photographer Peter Schweizer) that supports projects for poor children in Tanzania/Africa. At the moment they concentrate on helping the street children of Dar es Salaam.

When you choose your New Year's resolutions for 2008, think about how you can not only make your life better, but also somebody else's.

Have a happy New Year!

Make a gift, Join (RED)

Let me dance for you

Christmas is coming, let me dance for you!
Click this link and enjoy :)

Deutschland kapituliert vor der Schweiz!

Aber nicht die Schweiz vor Blocher!

Update von der Website der Ärzte:

"Danke an alle Schweizer, die Christoph Blocher nicht gewählt haben.

Aus aktuellem Anlass: Wir kapitulieren! (Vorerst.)

Leider habt ihr es im Handumdrehen geschafft, unseren Server genauso lahmzulegen, wie euren Blocher. Deshalb müssen wir euch noch um ein wenig Geduld bitten, bis wir eine technisch massenkompatible Lösung gefunden haben. Schaut bitte ab Mittwoch, den 19. Dezember, gegen Mittag nochmal rein, dannn haben wir das (hoffentlich) alles so hinbekommen, dass ihr auch eine reale Chance auf euren wohlverdieneten Gratis-Download habt. Sorry!"

Wenn 30% der Schweizer Bevölkerung die SVP wählen, heisst das eben auch, dass 70% der Schweizerinnen und Schweizer Blocher NICHT unterstützen :)

Die Schweiz ist anders - 'Die Ärzte' verschenken ihr aktuelles Album!

Die Schweiz ist anders!

Am 5. Dezember spielten die Ärzte ein Konzert in der Schweiz. Damals verkündeten sie: "Wir verschenken unsere CD - wenn weniger Leute in der Schweiz Blocher wählen!"

Das Parlament hat gestern entschieden. Christoph Blocher wurde als Bundesrat abgewählt!

Und die Ärzte lösen ihr versprechen ein: Schweizer - welche bestätigen, dass sie Christoph Blocher nicht unterstützen - können das neue Album der Ärzte "Jazz ist anders (Economy)" bis morgen, 12 Uhr kostenlos auf der Website der Ärzte herunterladen!

**Direkt zum Download**

Wahrlich ein doppelter Freudentag für die Schweiz! Vielen Dank für die Unterstützung, Deutschland!



UPDATE von der Ärzte-Website:
"Aus aktuellem Anlass: Offensichtlich stürmt mindestens die halbe Schweiz gerade unseren Server. Deshalb kann es zu Problemen kommen. Keine Panik, der Download steht im Zweifelsfalle länger als ursprünglich geplant zur Verfügung."

JOIN (RED)

Maybe you noticed that I added recently a BLOG (RED) logo on the right side of this blog. What's this for, may you ask?

PRODUCT (RED) is a business model and was founded by Bono (U2) and Bobby Shriver. I better let them explain what (RED) is about:

"(RED) was created [...] to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT) RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT) RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa."

At the moment only big companies like Apple, Motorola, GAP, Armani and some others are allowed to sell official (PRODUCT) RED products. Otherwise I would think about creating a (PRODUCT) RED product for Daniel Zihlmann Photography.

But it's also possible that you directly donate to The Global Fund. Just follow ***this link*** and you can make a donation to fight "AIDS in Africa, inspired by (RED)" and your money will help the same as if you did buy a (PRODUCT) RED!

I'm not rich but I know that I still live a great life with a lot of opportunities. I live in a nice country without war, have a good education, a flat to stay, good health insurance, enough to eat and can follow my dreams.

In 1999 I worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and traveled to Congo-Brazzaville in Africa to portrait victims of the civil war. You can view the portraits on my website www.danielzihlmann.com in the GALLERIES section.

I portrayed children that lost their parents while they tried to escape the fights between the rebels and the soldiers. While my friend Till Mayer interviewed the children and I did my portraits the guns were screaming close to the refugee camp. The paralyzed children talked about their escape, their parents they lost and didn't know where they are and if they still were alive. They talked about their future, what profession they wanted to take up. They talked about their dreams in life.

Today I often find myself thinking about these children. What happened to them in the past years?

So I decided to make my blog a (BLOG) RED. For every assignment I do I donate money to The Global Fund. To help with my work not only to pay my life, but to also make somebody else's life a little bit better.

That's my commitment. What's yours? Please write a comment.

My Books - My Music - My Gear

This blog is about my personal life and my work. It gives you the possibility to find out more about me. If you are interested to know what books I read or what music I listen to, check out the new link at the right side: My Books - My Music - My Gear

Annakin

If you are interested in great music and you like the label Swiss Made, check out my friend Annakin's website! You can even download the dance remix of her song «Storm» for free! It's now being played in clubs in the UK! To download the song **CLICK HERE**

Annakin's concert last Saturday in Berne was awesome and it was great to meet her and her husband, famous fashion photographer Christian Ammann (who also shot the great cover of course). They are very nice people and deserve all the success they have with their work!

Hi

Hi Mickey, Jordan and Sandy

No, thanks, I'm happy with my size. I don't need your help.
Please don't send me your offers anymore.

Thanks!

Cheers,
Daniel

Great story

Today I read a great story on the blog of famous wedding photographer Joe Photo (yes, that's his name!)

I think it's worth to share it here. Enjoy and take a moment to think about it.

The American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied, "Only a little while." The American then asked, "Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" The Mexican said, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs." The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?" The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life." The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing; and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat: With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor; eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles and eventually New York where you will run your ever- expanding enterprise." The Mexican fisherman asked, "But, how long will this all take?" To which the American replied, "15 to 20 years." "But what then?" asked the Mexican. The American laughed and said that's the best part. "When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions." "Millions?...Then what?" The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos." - Author Unknown