How Many Calendars Do You Want This Year?

I am excited to announce that my 2012 New England Reflections Calendar is out and at a store near you, I hope. It takes many hours to select the images and design the calendar, but the major effort always comes afterwards when I have to market it to the community. This is the time of year when my fall shooting is interrupted by frantic visits to local bookstores, card shops, galleries and any place else I can think of to get the calendar out for the brief prime sales period from now until New Years. This is also the time of year when my friends start looking the other way when I walk by, knowing that any eye contact will be immediately followed by, "So how many calendars do you want to buy this year". I am normally quite reluctant to push my work, but the fact that all the money goes to the Cheshire Medical Center Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program gives me license to be as obnoxious in my hard sell as possible.







The Pulmonary Rehab program has always been very special for me and not just because I have been the medical director since its creation. The treatment of chronic lung diseases such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and pulmonary fibrosis is frequently complex

2006 Better Breathers

 and challenging for both patients and those who care for them. Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene provides a comprehensive outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program to serve the needs of patients in our community. Our goal for those who struggle with these difficult diseases is to improve their understanding, comfort and functionality. Over several years the sale of the New England Reflections Calendar has raise over $40 thousand dollars to supplement the program and assist patients who need help covering the cost.

Brattleboro Vermont

The process of selecting the images and putting the calendar together every year is exciting, but challenging . It is still surprising to me that stores start selling next year's calendar in the middle of summer and I have never been good about getting the calendar completed early enough. I'm lucky if I get mine out by early fall. As each year goes by I find myself increasingly looking for the illusive perfect "calendar shots". In addition to being great images calendar shots need to tell an interesting story that I can relate in a couple of coherent sentences in the caption. It is always helpful if I

Sugar Hill, New Hampshire

can remember where I took the picture. Generally my photographic eye gravitates toward vertical images. I suspect this vertical preference comes from my attraction to a wide depth of field, but, given the calendar's format, my pictures must be in landscape orientation. As the calendar deadline approaches, I have a growing stimulus to rotate the camera looking for the horizontal perspectives. I have learned that, regardless of what appears to be the strongest composition, it is a valuable to routinely try to get both horizontal and vertical versions of attractive scenes.  You never can predict what a future client may prefer. In general the calendar images focus on my corner of New England. I know my audience. 

"Spofford" the Moose

I try to get a fair share of pictures from both the Monadnock Region and southern Vermont, and, of course, any picture which features Mt. Monadnock will sell. Typically I will also include one seacoast image and one wildlife portrait, but this year, with images of Seagulls, Blue Herons and "Spofford" the Moose, the animals rule. In the end the toughest part about image selection is all the pictures you have to leave out, but , happily, there is always next year. 

You can check out all the images in this year's calendar in the 2012 New England Reflections Flickr set.

So now for the shameless plug.
If you would like to purchase a spectacularly beautiful 2012 calendar and also support a wonderful cause, I would be happy to oblige. They are only $15 and make wonderful, and inexpensive holiday gifts. Send me an email or give me a call. If you are nearby, you can pick up calendars at many fine local stores, including (so far):

The Cheshire Medical Center Gift Shop, Keene, New Hampshire
Toadstool Bookstore, Keene, New Hampshire
Pocket Full of Rye, Keene, New Hampshire
Heidi's Hallmark, Keene, New Hampshire
Hannah Grimes, Keene, New Hampshire
Ingenuity Country Store, Keene, New Hampshire
Monadnock Imaging, Keene, New Hampshire
JJ Discount Store, Spofford, New Hampshire
Harrisville General Store, Harrisville, New Hampshire
Westmoreland General Store, Westmoreland, New Hampshire
Jingles Christmas Shop, Westmoreland, New Hampshire
East Hill Farm, Troy, New Hampshire, New Hampshire
Gilsum Village Store, Gilsum, New Hampshire
Vermont Artisans Designs, Brattleboro Vermont

So if in the next several weeks we should see each other on the street, just be warned, you WILL be asked "How many calendars would you like this year"

Click Here, for more information about the Cheshire Medical Center / Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program.