Anne Mangiante, Office Manager

If you have been reading our company newsletter on a regular basis, you have seen what an incredible year 2008 has been for Mangiante Photography! In addition to the introduction of our new clients, we also have expanded our office at our current location just in time for senior portrait season!

In adjusting to our new space, we are now able to dedicate an entire area to our enhanced proofing room. We are very excited to have this space, which features relaxing furniture for our clients, as well as a 47" flat panel LCD HDTV. Our goal is to utilize the new capabilities of our proofing room by providing our customers with the best view of their portraits. Our new software program displays each customer's images in color, black & white or even sepia tone. Customers can view all images, select favorite photos and even rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 to help make decisions. It also allows for custom cropping and a zoom tool to isolate areas that may need retouching. We are also able to compare two photographs side by side on the screen.

Our expansion has also allowed us to devote a complete space for a dressing room. Previously we used our dressing room as a proofing room as well, which limited our photographer's availability in the studio. Now, we are able to photograph clients and proof photos at the same time!

We greatly encourage family members to come with our customers to the proofing room and view all photos on our large screen during appointments. By doing so, we can make sure that all family members have the opportunity to order their favorite photos from the session. As always, we constantly strive to make the senior portrait experience one that is friendly and comfortable; this new proofing room is another way to accomplish this for our customers!

Phil Powis, Account Manager

If you have ever worked in a professional office environment, you know that sometimes the never-ending list of tasks, deadlines, follow ups and projects that need to be addressed can be daunting. Who hasn't experienced the frustration of an unorganized inbox full of emails waiting for a response? In our line of work, it is imperative to stay organized and focused on the task at hand in order to meet various photography production deadlines, as well as service our clients' needs.

Having just wrapped up a busy grad season, this summer is a time for us to review all the exciting growth that Mangiante Photography is experiencing and to look for ways to refine the processes by which we serve our clients. Part of this entails examining my own personal productivity and seeing where there might be room for improvement. I am also making preparations for the fall, which includes scheduling all our school photo dates and sports shoots that will happen during this time. Planning ahead will be integral to their successful execution. Without having a personal organization system in place, it would be nearly impossible to meet the demands of our fast-paced work environment without sacrificing quality. I would like to share 10 tips that I recently found for helping stay on top of things. Perhaps they will prove useful when reviewing your own methods of staying organized:

1. Collect - Write things down.
2. Process - Make quick decisions on things in your inbox, do not put them off.
3. Plan - Set milestones for your day and make sure you accomplish them.
4. Do - Do one task at a time, without distractions.
5. Simple trusted system - Keep simple lists and check them daily.
6. Organize - Have a place for everything.
7. Review - Review your system and goals weekly.
8. Simplify - Review your task and project lists to see if you can simplify them.
9. Routine - Set up and keep routines for the things that you do daily.
10. Passion - Be passionate about your work. Find ways to draw excitement from what you do, which in turn will help you avoid procrastination.

* This list was taken from an article on zenhabits.net titled "Zen to Done (ZTD); The Ultimate Simple Productivity System." Zen Habits is maintained by blogger and author Leo Babauta.

Mangiante Photography is proud to welcome our newest clients! Lausanne Collegiate School has chosen Mangiante Photography as its official sports photography provider for the 2008-2009 school year. Lausanne is the only independent, coeducational, nonsectarian school in Memphis for children in grades pre-kindergarten through 12. The campus is nestled away on 28 acres in one of the city's most beautiful neighborhoods in East Memphis.

The future of our business truly depends upon the satisfaction of our customers, and we are happy that you have chosen to become part of our family. We strive to provide all of our customers with fast, efficient service, along with the highest quality products available. Welcome!

Michael Spikes, Operations Manager

If you have ever seen Dateline NBC, then you know that cameras are everywhere ready to catch someone, somewhere, doing something they probably shouldn't be doing. While I am a little nervous about the not too distant Orwellian future, I do enjoy seeing thieves and no-goodniks get what is coming to them.

While it normally takes a reporter, law enforcement agent or security guard to catch criminals, in the future, it may be easier for the average Joe to do the same. I recently read an article titled "Lost cameras "phone home" to catch thieves." While this seems to have happened by accident, it isn't unreasonable to believe that we will be able to do this kind of thief-catching on purpose (or already can). Follow the link above to read the article about this new technology now available to consumers at a very reasonable price!