Water Leaders Summit 2019

     Right before the fourth of July, Vagabond Photography had the pleasure to work the with The Water Council at the Water Leaders Summit for the fourth year in a row. It is always a fun and educational experience to work with them. This year’s summit took place at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 26-27th.

Charles Fishman - During opening statements

     Normally as photographers, we go to a conference or seminar to photograph the event but we always seem to come away with something a little more tucked away in our brains by the end. This year, main take away was during the opening statement by events the MC Charles Fishman, “Every time we do a search on Google it uses two tablespoons of water.”  As a photographer I use the internet a lot to look up how to fix camera/lighting equipment, learn new techniques, to my guilty pleasure of looking up Babylon 5 and Star Trek memes. Never in a hundred years would I have thought for one minute that we really use water in that process. But Google and all the internet search engines do, its used in keeping the servers cool. It also made me think how much water goes into making a camera? So I did some searching and didn’t come up with an answer but I would wager it is many, many of gallons between the circuit boards, plastic, metals and glass in a camera.

Eleanor Allen & Charles Fishman

         It was a great day filled with great speakers from all walks of life. Touching on multiple subjects from Rethinking Water for People, How actions and awareness are no longer the domain just of the water sector and Rethinking Water Use: Risk, Stewardship and Value Creation and Rethinking Water in Corporate Governance. This year focused more on how we use water and the risk of pollution and running out.

     Eleanor Allen spoke with Charles Fishman to talk about her work when with the peace corps to bring clean water and better out houses to communities to prevent the transmission of disease to people in foreign countries. She went on to explain how some communities for all for clean water while others didn’t really care but once one community got on board with the project others seemed to be more receptive to it.

     During the last panel of the day they talked about rethinking water in corporate governance and as a person who has worked in many fields from photography, to industrial, and farming to commercial it really got me to pay attention while working the rest of the event. They noted if companies really had to pay for the water they use, items we use would cost us a whole lot more money but the companies would also be a lot more apt to stop leaks and save themselves money. One of the speakers stated that one of the biggest leaks for a plant is in its fire suppression system and that was mainly due to leaky valves or connections in pipes.  It was interesting to hear them talk about how Ford Motor Company managed to reduce their over all use of water in manufacturing use to help water stressed areas be more sustainable.

So think of how you use your water.

Xiaofeng Zhao and Valeria Orozco

Holiday Events

     Every year at Vagabond Photography we get asked to cover a few corporate Christmas/holiday parties which start in December and can run through mid-January. Its always a good time for the employees and for us as well. It’s a night that everyone knows they are appreciated and the stresses of work get left at the door and on occasion there is a chance to win some prizes put up by work.

     If your company has a yearly Christmas/holiday party consider using Vagabond Photography for your party photography services. This way it allows your employees in marketing or human resources a night off as well. We know they spend a lot of time organizing these events and are normally handling some project/s at the event and it gives them one last thing to worry about. It also is good for in house and out of house marketing tool when recruiting new employees to show that your company is more than just a business to work for, but you represent a family that values their employees.

The Water Council - Water Leaders Summit

On May 23rd and 24th we had the privilege to cover The Water Leaders’ Summit for The Water Council of Milwaukee.  It was a great couple of days working in downtown Milwaukee at the Pfister Hotel.
Over the course of the two days while photographing the event we had the ability to hear Mayor Tom Barrett speak at lunch the first day and many other great speakers and panels. Topics ranged from providing clean water in developing countries to being better stewards of our water use here in the developed world. The evening reception was great fun and it gave us the ability to get some good photos of guest interacting with each other.

Clean Rivers, Clean Lake Conference

Last week on May 4th we had the privilege to attend and cover the annual Clean Rivers, Clean Lakes Conference hosted by our friends at Sweetwater, held this year at the Florian Park Conference & Event Center in Germantown WI.
It was a great day filled with many great people who believe in cleaning up the water ways which we live around and use for recreation, along with other services. Even though we were there to take pictures and document the day for Sweetwater we still managed to learn about a fair amount. One on the things we managed to take away having come from an agriculture family was a form of over seeding on an already established corn crop to minimize runoff during heavy rains. It is something that we had never given much thought to but we can see where it defiantly has it advantages.
A big shout out goes to Linda Reid and her team for putting together another amazing Clean Rivers, Clean Lakes Conference. Also to Stephanie Cresci the event coordinator of Florian Park and their staff for providing such a wonderful place and great food.

Love is in the air or is it cabin fever?

It’s that time of year where love is in the air or maybe it’s the cabin fever or some form of both.

For us at Vagabond Photography it’s where we come out of our winter hibernation and start gearing up for spring/summer weddings, corporate events, senior portraits and so much more. Also, we will be traveling around to a few of the areas comic cons for fun.

It’s been a long, kind of dull winter here in Southern Wisconsin. We have had a lack of snow and an abundance of rain and abnormally high winter temps. It seems though, weather is finally starting to change for the better, hopefully, and we would like to reach out to the recently engaged or couples looking to have a unique on location photo session. There is still some snow in parts of Wisconsin so if you were thinking “hey I’ve always wanted pelt my significant other with a colored snow ball (provided we still have snow) or ice skate on a lake” for a photo session we can help with that. The joys of Wisconsin the possibilities are endless you just need to have a love of outdoor spaces and the willingness to brave the cold.  As spring progresses and it gets warmer out we can even change it up to suit you and your significant others outdoor activities. That could be anywhere from activates on the lakes and waterways, to the riding trails of Northern WI or relaxing on the beaches of Lake Michigan/Superior to the cities Madison/Milwaukee or anywhere/anything in-between.

This spring we are also looking forward to getting back to some of our fun personal projects and we will be looking for some people to collaborate with to create some new and exciting photos. We’ll discuss those more at the spring rolls along.

We look forward to hearing from you and bringing your dreams and imagination to prints that will hang on your walls. We also hope that you and your loved ones have a great Valentines Day.