My trainer, Paul, said it best the other day: Everything cost something. We were actually talking (well, I was panting between squat reps — if you don’t squat you don’t work out) about a previous blog post, and that, distilled, was the bottom line. Fast forward to last night. Every night, I take a zen […]
Back between owning Cool World Aquarium and working for Target, I held a job for a jewelry company. Not your traditional jewelry store, this guy was a manufacturer — with factories in Thailand — a designer — creating most of those dolphin and sea shell pendants sold at the beach — a wholesaler — selling […]
As some of you know, last week, my mom and I photographed for our oldest, newest client, Maryland Association of Realtors (MAR). Working for my first real client brought on a wave of nostalgia in me, thinking of how far we’ve come, and in no small measure is that success due to loyal clients who […]
When I was growing up, I was the official restaurant scoper-outer. That means I was sent in to prospective restaurant, and I made the decision whether the family would eat there — or move on down the road. This was a big responsibility for a kid, therefore, I had to develop some rules. Restaurant rules […]
Photographers are all high brow, even myself. We are convinced our most famous work will be hanging in a gallery, perfectly lit, overshadowing the sainted Ansel Adams in the MOMA. People will brush past the Ansel Adams work, not giving it a second glance to exclaim: “OMG! IT”S A MIKE GATTY ORIGINAL! I SAW THIS […]
Eleven years. That’s how long long I’ve been shooting for one of my oldest, newest clients — a decade plus one. What is an “oldest, newest client”? Maryland Association of Realtors (MAR) was the first client I obtained under the new business — DC Event Photos. Not the old business, Gatty Communications, my mom’s business. […]
Working as a photographer, you are a fly on the wall to history. The problem is, sometimes they — those not on the wall — want to take a swatter and beat the living crap out of you. Photographer’s make for an easy target: in some ways, we’re a bother. Everybody moans and groans when […]
The Republicans have their economic theories. The Democrats some of their own. And, the President is responsible for overseeing the National Budget. There are hundreds of economic theories out there: ranging from Trickle Down Economics of the 1980’s to Economies of Scale of the 1990’s. All are wrong. Mine is right. I call my […]
I tip everyone. I tip excessively. Here’s why. In our work, servers, bellmen, valets, sky caps — even the workers at the hotel’s free breakfast — all make our jobs easier. Much easier. And, when I travel, I travel with equipment — in some cases more than 400 lbs of equipment — and lugging it […]
As some of my more loyal groupies might know, we shoot all the Indycar races, nationwide. That eats up about 1.5 MONTHS out of my schedule of solid travel, setup and shooting time. That doesn’t even account for weekends, if you look at just “work” days . So, it’s a major contract for us, takes […]