Writings for Professional Practices

This is where I will be sharing all of the writings we have done for our Professional Practices class. We have reached that point in the semester where revisions have been made and everything you read on this page has reached it's final stage.  Below you will find a mock business plan, writings on our sources of inspiration, a mission, vision, values and goals statement, a mock press release, a curriculum vitae and a cover letter. These are the exercises we have been doing to help us create a stronger professional presence.


Amy Lynn Photography LLC.
Founded March 2012
Business Plan Copy Number [1]
This document is confidential. It is not for re-distribution.
Amy Lynn Schweizer, Photographer
115 Carmarthen Way
Granville, OH 43023
(740)504-1321 or (740)587-2914
Executive Summary
Amy Lynn Photography has created a comfortable, welcoming environment conducive to the creation of beautiful photographs for our clients. We are available for but not limited to weddings, engagements, events, senior pictures and portraits. The clients’ needs are our best interest and we work with them to make them feel comfortable in front of the camera and to achieve the aesthetic they desire. 
Mission 
Here at Amy Lynn Photography we have made a creative environment where our customers are comfortable in front of the camera. We get to know the people we are photographing and create professional relationships. 
Business
We are a photography studio that specializes in a unique and fun aesthetic. Long gone is the “boring” family portraits, we bring a different style to the table. A fun, young style that will show the true personality of the costumer. 
We are in the process of building our client base and forming relationships with the community. Our doors will formally open in the late summer of 2013.
Our Service
We will offer our clients the following:
  • senior pictures - both formal portraits and on site, out of studio shoots.
  • family or individual portraits and head shots - both in studio or on location
  • engagement shoots
  • wedding photography 
  • pet photography
  • events - such as surprise birthday parties, first birthday parties, bridal and baby showers, graduation etc.
Please bare in mind that we are not limited to the above services, the client is the number one initiator of the creative process. We are more than happy to work with a client on an idea they are trying to see made. 
The Market
Our customers will primarily be members of the Granville community. We have a high school and a large number of families seeking senior pictures in the fall. Granville is also the home of Denison University, a lovely backdrop for alums getting married at the chapel on campus. We have a strong friendship and relationship with the local flower shop and we both plan to recommend each other’s business to our customers. They offer a wedding service and will be including our business in their recommendations of wedding services in the area. 
Competition
There is currently no photography studio in Granville Ohio. Being a graduate of Granville High School, I have a strong presence in the community and I anticipate being welcomed into the professional community as well.
Risk/Opportunity
There is a need for a local photography studio in this town. The greatest risk is that not enough people will know about our doors opening and that there will be speculation of giving trust to such a young and new company. 
Key Alliances and Professional Advisors
Being a student at Columbus College of Art and Design, I have been lucky enough to build relationships and be surrounded by an overwhelming amount of creativity. My classmates in the graduate program have a wealth of knowledge between them. I have access to a graphic designer, other photographers and a legal advisor just in my class alone. 
Financial Statement
Amy Lynn Photography will be classified as a small business. Amy will own the company with several investors help and involvement. There is $2000.00 in the Amy Lynn Photography business account at Park National Bank in Granville. 
Management
The business will be managed by myself, Amy Lynn, but I am in the process of building relationships with other local photographers to build my staff. My plan is to have an individual who will work in the studio and run the office and appointments. 
Additional Operational Assistance Needs
While the concept of this business is strong and established, any professional business advice and knowledge would be welcomed. Being a first time business owner I will be seeking an advisor, be it a friend or a professional, whom I can trust to help me build my vision into the successful business I know of which it is capable. 


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Amy Schweizer
Professional Practices - Spring 2012
April 7, 2012
  The project I am currently working on addresses two important issues in my life: water conservation awareness and the way we deal with and carry our anxieties. I grew up as the child of scuba instructors, so naturally, being around water was a very big part of my childhood. I love water, I love being around it, being in it, I love the way it smells and sounds. It is calming and beautiful, just as it is powerful and dangerous. I have struggled in finding my way with this project, but continually return back to photographing water...there must be something there. 
  But not only is there the water, there are the concepts and metaphors that I have for it. The second part of this project concerns our anxieties as individuals. We all have struggles, insecurities and anxieties that we carry with us through life. It is part of what makes us humans. I have been collecting the inner thoughts of those willing to share them and I have been writing them on river rocks. Often times the thoughts are as simple as “I’m having a bad hair day” but what is so important about these are that they are what makes us who we are and they are what we carry with us, they have a weight, just as rocks have a mass. As life moves forward, we may collect more and more rocks, shaping us, weighing us down. I am placing these rocks beneath the surface of the water, using water as the metaphor for life, just as water never stops moving, not matter how many ‘rocks’ are below it. 
  What I have found as my most successful method of research is merely the act of getting outside with my camera and photographing, everything. I could make pictures of water all day long, the patterns beneath the surface are always changing, it is as though I am in a constant state of discovery. The more I thought about it during these sessions, the more I realized how important and precious our fresh water is. Only 2.5% of the earths’ water is fresh and 70% of that goes towards agriculture with another 22% for the worlds’ industries, leaving only 8% of that 2.5% for human consumption. That is frightening. These images show the beauty and importance of our fresh water. It is precious, we should not forget that. 
  My search for inspiration covers many different areas and media. I usually visit a handful of blogs daily, such as Colossal (http://www.thisiscolossal.com/), and Feature Shoot (http://www.featureshoot.com/). Both of these blogs offer a wealth of influence and current ‘happenings’ in the art world. I also make it a point to check National Geographic for their untouchable photographic resources. I find great inspiration from their images, our earth is such an overwhelmingly beautiful place and they truly do know how to showcase it. I also find inspiration from watching shows like ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘Planet Earth’ produced by the Discovery Channel. So it goes without saying that the natural world and what goes on within it influences my art a great deal. I find the greatest inspiration from just being outside and away from distractions. 
  The artists and photographers that I am currently referring to for inspiration:
  I accredit much of my love of photography to my father. As I mentioned earlier, my parents were scuba instructors when I was young, and along with that, my father dabbled in underwater photography. I have always been, you might say, a daddy’s girl so I thought that was one of the most amazing things ever. I absolutely loved seeing the slides of their travels and adventures. As soon as I was old enough, he let me have his old Canon AE1 film camera and I just went to town. I feel lucky that I never received anything other than encouragement from my parents. I truly believe that was the start of my artistic journey. 
  I am an avid reader (at least when not in school) and I love fantasy and fiction, or just about anything that transports me to another time and place. Reading is an escape for me, just as looking through the lens of a camera. No matter what the subject, I want the images I make to transport the viewer, to take them to another time and place. Books take us on mental journeys, my images should take us on a visual journey, even if that time and place is within our selves. Take a trip with me.  

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Mission Statement
  My mission as a student and growing artist is to develop a strong body of work that inspires the viewer to explore the alternate worlds of our imaginations.
Vision Statement
  My vision is to make art that has a strong narrative. To make art that takes the viewer on an adventure without ever leaving their home. Embrace the child that is still inside all of us. As an artist, it is my responsibility to explore the imaginative areas of the everyday thoughts that plague us all and turn them into something beautiful. 
Values Statement
  Art is something that we pass by everyday, in many forms. Mother nature is a true artist. I value the beauty of nature above all else. I am drawn to patterns and colors that are found naturally. It is a very important concern of mine that through my art I can transfer that aesthetic into my work. My work will show the natural excellence of not only the natural environment, but also the human form. We are surrounded by so many alarmingly beautiful people, perhaps it is time we stopped being afraid to enjoy the view. 
Goals Statement
  With my sociological background, I will use my unique artistic eye to bring a fresh perspective to the artistic community.
  Researching the tendencies of our emotional activities, I will make art that opens the viewer up to a different way of thinking. To encourage one to open his/her eyes and acquire an alternative perspective to the differences we all have that makes us individual.
  My work will confront the fears and doubts we carry with us. It will create a tension that pushes the viewer to explore and defy their own troubles.  
  I will surround myself with as many unique and different people as possible and absorb as much as I can that will contribute to my work. 
  I will use the observations I have absorbed to make a body of work that is a combination of a sociological study and an artistic presentation of the uncomfortable and unusual. 

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Press Release 
Amy Lynn Schweizer will be exhibited at the second floor of the Canzani Center at Columbus College of Art and Design on the corner of Cleveland Ave and E. Gay St. The exhibition is a showing of the class of 2013’s final works for the semester. An evening reception will be held on May 11, 2012. 
This young, aspiring artist brings something fresh and new to the table. A graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University, Amy Lynn is unique in that she received her undergraduate degree in sociology, bringing a fresh approach to art making. A photographer with a keen eye for detail, she encourages the viewer to take a second look at the ordinary through the images she makes. This body of work is a personal journey made by the artist. Experimenting with using written words and thoughts on rocks and photographing them below the surface of water with a macro lens. "Water is the metaphor for ourselves, just as the rocks are a metaphor for what we carry within us" Schweizer says. 

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Amy Lynn Schweizer
115 Carmarthen Way, Granville Ohio 43023
mobil: 740.504.1321 email: schweiza@yahoo.com
Education/Specialized Training
2013 Columbus College of Art & Design Master of Fine Arts: New Projects with a focus in photography
2009 Ohio Wesleyan University Bachelor of Science: Sociology and Anthropology
Leadership and Work Experience
2009 - Present As a recent graduate of the Master of Fine Arts: New Projects program, I have not developed teaching experience. 
                        However, I have been a manager at River Road Coffeehouse in Granville Ohio for 3 years and I am responsible for
                        training new employees among other managerial responsibilities 
2012 Freelance engagement shoot at Franklin Park Conservatory
2011 Freelance engagement shoot on Ohio Wesleyan University’s campus
2010 Freelance engagement shoot at Dawes Arboretum in Newark Ohio
2010 Freelance wedding shot in Canton Ohio. Shot both wedding and reception
2005 - 2007 As an undergraduate student I worked as a photographer’s assistant at Michelle Murphy photography in Granville 
                        Ohio. I framed and matted images and worked as a second photographer at weddings and receptions
Exhibitions and Shows
2011 “Round Two” - a group exhibition put together by the class of 2013 fall semester work. A reception was held and 9
                         artists were featured
2008 “From Generations to Generations” - Ohio Wesleyan University 2001 Gallery - A featured artist in an exhibition 
                         with an alum of 1954
Publications
2009 Columbus Monthly Magazine - Freelance Photographer: 
  - Shot activities at the New Albany Oktoberfest
  - An image published in the “New Albany News” local newspaper on October 9, 2009
2009 Columbus Monthly Magazine - Freelance Photographer:
  - Shot images of the Harvest the Arts Festival at the Doran’s Farm Market in New Albany
  - An image published in the “New Albany News” local newspaper on October 20, 2009
2009 Granville Chamber of Commerce - Freelance Photographer:
  - Shot areas of interest around Granville Ohio
  - 5 images were selected and published in the annual “Granville Magazine in March of that year
Skills
  • Types 47 words a minute
  • Has moderate knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and Bridge
  • Very organized

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Amy Schweizer

115 Carmarthen Way
Granville, OH 43023
740.504.1321
April 12, 2012
Mayberry Management INC
Red Bank, New Jersey 07701
  I am applying for the position of manager of the photography studio. I found this listing on monster.com and I feel that I am qualified for the opening. I have worked in the studio setting at school for over a year and I am anxious to get into the professional studio setting. 
  As a recent graduate of the MFA program at Columbus College of Art and Design, I am eager to begin the journey on my new career path. As a student I worked for a wedding and event photographer as a second camera and framer. My experience with Michelle Murphy Photography introduced me to the studio world and I am excited to take on the responsibilities of which I know I am capable. I love working with people and maintaining an organized and clean workspace is a must. Whether it be taking the role of leadership or receiving direction from others, I feel comfortable in both roles. I am very interested in this position.
  If we could set up a time to meet by phone and talk about the next step I would greatly appreciate it. Once we set up a time to meet I will be sending my portfolio. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
Amy Lynn Schweizer 
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