Totally Incorrect

When I saw a blog mentioned with the name of Totally Incorrect (www.totallyincorrect.com) I just had to take a look. I’m very glad I did, here’s why.

I’ve been asked to put together some slideshows for clients, two of whom wanted their weddings covered. David Holliday who writes Totally Incorrect also runs a wedding event / photography business called Unique Weddings, so on the main page of his blog he has a slideshow style clip promoting his service. As with any slideshow it’s a simple mix of photos and music. I just loved it, so I suggest you hop on over to totallyincorrect.com to take a look, but first let me explain why I liked it.

First, it works. If somebody did this of my wedding I know my wife and I would love it. We’d look at it time and again.

Second, there’s great inspiration in the shots David has taken. The still life of the bride’s shows, the table top with all the name labels. Would you have thought of taking those shots? I know the shoes my wife wore are important to her - 30+ years down the track they’re still at the back of the wardrobe.

What really hit me was the choice of music. The choice and David’s bravery in the way he uses it. To appreciate what I’m saying you’re going to have to watch all the way through to the very end to know what I mean. My choice for music would be classical, OK I can trot out some sort of logical justification for that but really nothing else ever crosses my mind. David’s choice isn’t classical, although it did sound to me as if it had classical overtones. Throughout it works, it’s a great choice but sorry I don’t know what the track is.

The bravery comes in at the end. He lets the track run through his images right into the very quiet ending. I bet 99.99% of us (me included) would have chopped out the quiet ending. That would be mundane, predictable and safe. David took a bold step and it really works. I bet if you ran that for the bride and groom you would hear their hearts beat as the clip ends.

It’s under four minutes. It’s great - and any one of us can learn from it. Go check it out NOW.

In Case of Fire?

What would you grab?

The American insurance company Chubb Corp. commissioned a poll which found that nearly half would grab a family photo album, while a fifth would reach for money. They surveyed 1,000 Americans and found that 13% would take a laptop, 7% would bring their pet and 2% would pack their jewelry.

One third of respondents said they don't store valuable documents in a fire-resistant safe or at an off-premise location. But 73% said they've cleared their roof or gutters of leaves and debris, and 70% have removed dead or flammable plants and trees from around their homes.

Still, a fifth said they haven't replaced the batteries in their smoke detectors.