I arrived home this past Monday night to a cold and clear Washington.  Nearly all over the country January has not added up for very much snow, in Washington we have received 2 feet of snow in total (compare this to the winter of 2005 when Mt. Baker received 27.5 feet of snow in January alone!).  My trip out to Utah went very well, I spent the first half of the trip working with Chris from Backcountry Essentials taking in all the new gear possibilities for the winter of 09-10.  Then the second half was spent meeting Marketing Coordinators and Photo Editors from nearly all the outdoor companies and publications I would have interest in working with.  Meeting all of these folks turned out to be really enjoyable, all were helpful, considerate and encouraging to work with.

On a Marketing/Photography standpoint I cannot urge enough just how important meeting face to face is!  Despite the ease of email, iphone, cell phones and the Internet these all are still trumped by the power of meeting someone in person.  I am realizing more and more that being successful in photography and nearly any business takes not only being highly skilled in your marketed trade but equally skilled in your interpersonal skills, marketing and work ethic.  There are plenty of highly skilled individuals without work because either they do not work hard enough or do not take the time to meet the right people.  I knew that to get off the ground and going into this field would not be easy and would probably take more time working on the business and marketing myself than actually out photographing…so far this has been fairly true.  A little of Advice 101 from Garrett!