What Can Mascara Teach Us About Business?

The last time you went shopping for mascara... did you feel as confused and overwhelmed as I did? Yikes! We seem to be suffering from a plague of sorts in our society. It's known as the "Over Abundance of Choice," and it tends to drowns us on a daily basis... even when shopping for something completely mundane and ordinary... like mascara.

While at a photo conference in Las Vegas recently, I found myself at the CVS along the strip and couldn't resist documenting this outrageous collection simple products used to extenuate eyelashes. The sales clerk laughed along with me as I pulled out my camera and started capturing the different choices.

Voluminous mascara, lengthening mascara, voluminous & lengthening... in one. There were shimmering mascaras, water-proof options, and mascaras that provide 'lash definition.' With names like "Colossal," "Falsies," or my personal favorite, "Stiletto," they all sounded... kinda the same. There's even nutritional mascara which claims to make  your lashes "soft and healthy."

Some brands promised 11x the volume or claimed to increase length up to 85% (though I'm not sure I could see, let alone hold up my eyelids if my lashes suddenly became 11x heavier and 85% longer). Remember a year or so ago when one of the companies had actually produced a battery powered mascara with a vibrating wand? I laughed out loud when I saw the commercial for that one... (who wants vibrating pointy objects near their eyes?) which curiously, was nowhere to be seen on the Vegas shelves. You can, however,  still find telescopic "Last Explosion" wands that appear to posses magical powers of some sort...

(These photos represent only a small sampling of what was available... as there were so many, I actually got bored photographing them...)

The kicker is... they all basically do the same thing.

What you may or may not have realized, is we have a very real problem on our hands. All of this choice is actually becoming problematic, as discussed in the article, "The Tyranny of Choice" or in the TedTalk video with Dr. Barry Schwartz, referring to the notion that less is  more in what he calls "The Paradox of Choice."

There is substantial research showing that too much choice actually prevents us from being able to make decisions (on everything from shampoo to mascara... to 401(k) investment options), and tends to diminish our overall satisfaction (regardless of the outcome) if/when we finally do make some sort of decision.

When I stumbled across some of this research, I was actually... thrilled. I had been feeling like our society's tendency towards an over abundance of choice was bordering on burdensome rather than liberating for quite some time... and felt avenged to know I wasn't nuts... that there were other people who felt this way, along with research to back it up.

Of course, that's not to say that no choice would be any better. Somewhere out there is a middle ground... but we seem to have lost sight of it in blind pursuit of limitless options.

Over the past two years, with this gut feeling (and now solid research in mind), I've made several very conscious choices in the way that I run my business to ensure that it's easy for my clients to have a great experience and feel completely satisfied with the end result, all in record time.

The only real choice they have to make, is to hire me in the first place. From there, the rest is easy. You can read all about it in my recently released ebook, "A Guide to a Wickedly Fast Wedding Workflow." In fact, you can even download a sample chapter if you'd like. (PLUS--> now through Sunday Feb. 27th, you can save 20% with the discount code: WICKEDFAST)

With my workflow and business philosophy completely redefined, I'm proud to say that all of my 2010 wedding clients received their wedding photo proofs and album designs within one week of their wedding.

Less fuss, more satisfaction and time to enjoy it. :)

Down the Aisle: Amy + Adam

Yesterday, as the snow fell outside, Adam and Amy became a new family. Their celebration included Adam with his guitar, and a song he wrote for the occasion.

Yes, they really are this adorable. :)

I couldn't get enough of their girls' combination of aqua and red... so retro/classic/hip! LOVE!

Naturally, the shoes had me swooning...

Adam's ring is entirely made of wood! I'm told he loves it so much, he was wearing it even before the wedding... (isn't that cute?)

A graphic designer, Adam was heavily involved in creating many of the countless and adorable details that helped make their day so special... including (but not limited to) these cute bird-seed bags for their grand exit.

The reception was a smorgasbord of eye-candy (in addition to the actual dessert table). Guests were treated to several art installations including a full-sized scrabble board, a humorous take on Amy's alphabetical advancement (her maiden name starts with 'Z,' and now, she's moving to a last name that starts with 'A'), and framed 'What I Love About You' posters... all made and designed by the bride and groom themselves.

Even their guest sign-in board was a work of art!

More yummy/gorgeous details including alliteration place cards (designed and illustrated by Adam), name cards, word puzzles (love the school teacher touch of the custom engraved pencils!), cupcakes, cheesecake, cookies and... DOT POPS! Have you seen these? They're little round cakes on a stick... like a lollipop!

After all the dessert table fun... it was time to party!

So much love... such great people!

xoxo

Love Shoot: Lindsay + Travis

These two love the white stuff. In fact, they regularly head west to Colorado to hit the slopes on their boards. While we don't have slopes like they're used to here in Nebraska, we didn't have to look far this week to find some of the white stuff. Luckily, we got our shoot in on Monday afternoon, just before things took a turn towards crazy. Travis & Lindsay were troopers... frozen fingers and all!

Camel Trekking: Morocco's Sahara Desert (Erg Chebbi/Merzouga)

We knew when we booked our air travel to Morocco, that seeing the Sahara Desert was at the top of our list. The dunes of Erg Chebbi are some of the largest and most picturesque... but, how to get there from Marrakech? Scrapping our plans to rent a car, we bought two last-minute bus tickets from Marrakech to Merzouga and settled in for the 12.5 hour ride (yes, you heard me right... 12.5 hours. yikes!). The bus itself was pretty nice... it was the mountains that made the trip rough (just ask my stomach). But, we were able to make it to Merzouga without getting lost, we reduced our carbon footprint by not driving personal transportation, and... we saved the cost of the (pricey) car rental and gas. Not bad!

If you want to see the desert on a camel trek, there are countless ways to do so.  A quick google search will turn up lots of websites eager to help, and a simple stroll through Jemaa el-Fna square in Marrakech will have your head spinning with offers from personal tour guides.

Luckily for us... we had Moha. I found him through Google and we exchanged several emails before we left for the UK conference. All I knew was that he seemed like a good guy, and that he ran a hotelof sorts somewhere in the town we would be leaving from (Merzouga) to start our camel trek into the Sahara.

We had originally planned to rent a car and drive to Merzouga over two days, arriving in the afternoon, just in time to jump on the camels and head into the dunes... but now that we had traded our rental car for bus tickets... we would be arriving a day early... and had no place to stay.

Thus, from my ever helpful iPod touch, I emailed Moha the morning before we got on the bus and told him we'd be arriving early, and asked if we could crash at his hotel. Without a wifi connection (and no cell phones) we had no way of knowing his response, but when we pulled into the bus station at 9pm that night... I saw his smiling face waiting for us through the window, and knew that we were in good hands.

To say that we lucked out when we found Moha would be putting it midly. In fact, Moha, and our stay at his hotel (Le Petite Prince), is largely responsible for making our trip the fantastic experience that it was.

After we got settled, Moha had dinner waiting for us!

This map of Morocco shows the distance we traveled from Marrakech (on the left) to Merzouga (on the right).

After we filled our tummies, we headed out back to get a glimpse of the dunes in the moonlight, and decided to snap a couple quick pics.

The next morning, we got a better look at where we were staying... adorable!

Cats are welcomed visitors in Morocco, and being cat lovers... we felt right at home. This little guy hung around the hotel and happily (or not so happily) posed for this photo.

The patio at our hotel...

The rooms...

The tile work was impeccable and everything was impressively clean. The whole place was extremely comfortable... we felt right at home.

After a quick run, we got cleaned up and Moha took us to have a look around town. He showed us the community gardens and the self-regulated  irrigation system they use where every plot is assigned an hour time slot. The canal runs through the middle, and when it's your turn for the water, you just remove the dirt dam and let it flow into your field. When your time is up, put the dam back and the water runs down the canal to the next person's field.

Back at the hotel, the crew had shown up and was working on putting in a new, extended patio. With the sun up, we could see just how close we were to the dunes we'd be hiking over in just a short while.

With turbans in hand (er... on head), we were ready to go! Camel trekking, here we come!

Our camel trek group consisted of Emir and I, Moha and our pro camel wrangler, Ali.

We hiked as the sun set, eventually reaching our camp site where we enjoyed dinner (courtesy of Moha!) before building a bonfire and turning in for the night.

The next morning we awoke to the gorgeous view of the sand dunes...

and... breakfast!

We found a snowboard in the dinner tent and couldn't resist putting it to good use. :) Coming down the dunes was 100x easier and more fun than going up... that's for sure!

After playing around for a bit, it was time to move on. Moha had plans to take us to see the lesser known "Black Desert" of the Sahara.

We didn't know much about what the plans were for the rest of the day, other than that we were supposed to be having lunch with a nomad family who apparently lived somewhere in the Sahara's "black desert." As we got closer, we started seeing things like this, which I later realized belonged to the children we were about to meet.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, we arrived at this family's homestead. I wasn't sure what was happening or why we were there... all I knew was that these people didn't have very much... and we had baskets full of food. So... I asked Moha if we could give it to them. We were planning to hike to an Oasis to have dinner and spend the night before returning to the hotel the next day... but we decided to cut our camping trip a day short, giving this family the food we had planned to cook for dinner that night.

The family consisted of a single woman and four beautiful children who all looked to be under the age of 5 or 6.

They make their home in the desert, living in these various tent structures. From what I could tell, this big one was a sleeping tent, and the other (smaller) structures served as a kitchen, among other things. I marveled at the family's resourcefulness and ingenuity...

I'm assuming these are some of the kids' toys... including little camels made out of cloth and wire...

After packaging up the food and leaving it in the tent for them, I found the kids off playing in the desert...

After we headed out, we stumbled across more of their toys...

We hiked about 1.5 hours back to the dunes before stopping at an oasis for a break.

One of the people we met on the road had said, "You will find people everywhere in the Sahara. Like, even if you break down in the middle of the desert, someone will appear, out of nowhere, to help." When we landed at the Oasis, I felt like I had a sense of what he meant. Here, in what truly felt like the middle of nowhere, was this refuge--- complete with tents, a proper toilet, and even a Coca-Cola, if you so choose. In fact, you could even rent skis and snowboards here if adventure called!

While at the Oasis, we ran into the British couple that was camping at our same hotel. They kept us laughing with stories of their camels and the tales they've collected over four months of traveling across Europe (and Africa) in their RV.

With the sun getting lower in the sky, and at least an hour or two to go before arriving back at the hotel, we started the last leg of our trek back to the hotel.

As I've said before, our desert guide, Moha is largely the reason we enjoyed our trip to the desert so much. He picked us up at the bus stop, made sure we had great food, a warm place to sleep, and even arranged our departing bus tickets before personally walking us to the bus station and waiting around to see us off. He taught us how to play the African drums, introduced us to what he calls "Berber whiskey" (green tea with a dash of absinthe), and showed us the land he lovingly refers to as "Mama Africa" with a  passion that makes us eager to return again.

Thank you Moha!

In the middle of our 12.5 hour bus ride back to Marrakech, we stopped for a break and I caught this sight that so perfectly captures the beauty of the area. Bright blue skies, the snow capped peaks of the High Atlas mountains, the warm browns of the other Atlas mountains, punctuated by the colorful architecture of the city below.

Will be be back? As they so routinely say in Arabic, inshallah. Inshallah. :)

PS: If you want to see the rest of the photos from this part of the trip, you can find them here.

Marrakech, Morocco: Photo Safari in North Africa

After presenting at London's Society of Wedding & Portrait Professionals conference, Emir and I added an additional continent to our journey when we hopped a quick flight down to Marrakech, Morocco. I've been itching to explore Morocco for quite some time and with such great prices on carriers like Ryan Air (2 round trip tickets from London to Marrakech for a total of only $160 USD!) and easy access from London, how could we not?

Our first look at Africa was from the air. We found out later that most of the green fields we saw from the plane were either oranges, olives or dates.

We decided to stay at a riad in Marrakech's ancient kasbah (an older, walled part of the city) instead of a traditional western hotel located elsewhere. Best. Thing. EVER! Riad's are like homes with a small number of rooms instead of a hotel, whose room numbers may number in the several hundreds. It creates a feeling of comfort and personal connection that is hard to find in any other way.

Traditionally, riads are hidden treasures featuring 3-4 rooms with windows serving up generous portions of natural light from the central courtyard/garden. They are true havens of peace and serenity in an otherwise buzzing part of the city.

Our riad's driver met us at the airport and gave us a tour of our surroundings while taking us through the gates into the kasbah.

We stayed at the riad Maison Mnabha where we were treated to incredible breakfasts of fresh fruit, breads, jellies and my personal favorite: fresh squeezed orange juice (If you've never tasted fresh squeezed, it is drastically different than what you buy at the store. Simply amazing!), all served on the gorgeous roof-top terrace.

The view from our roof-top terrace.

Are you kidding me!? Look at our room! The level of attention to detail and ornamentation was out of this world. (The place was also absolutely spotless. Clean, clean, clean!)

The main receiving room where we checked in was lavishly decorated with lanterns, rugs, columns, etc... and at night, it becomes even more inviting as jazz tunes flow from the stereo and light patterns dance on the walls from the countless candles strewn about. (This room heavily influenced our current obsession with lanterns. We happily brought some home from the shops that line the streets of the kasbah.)

Exploring the area, we walked down some other quiet streets before hitting the kasbah's main drag, eventually leading us out through the gates and into the rest of the city.

We headed towards the famous market square known as Jemaa el-Fna to marvel at the musicians, snake charmers, and countless "souks" (shops).

The colors were astounding... I was in photograph heaven! Traveling only with backpacks, we weren't able to bring much home with us (though we did end up packing (and paying for) a 9kg box of treasures to fly home with us). Of all the traditional goods/wares the local artisans made, my favorites were the lanterns. We managed to bring home a few. :)

The shop owners and local artisans are more than just crafts people... they're incredible sales people. Here, I couldn't resist a classic henna tattoo and a mosaic mirror. :)

After spending the morning in the market, we were ready for lunch and needed to find our way to the bus station to get tickets for the next day's journey east to the Sahara... so we asked around and continued exploring the city while en route. Our path brought us past the city's opera house...

and down one of the main streets, lined on both sides with these orange trees!

We found the bus station, bought our tickets and celebrated over lunch before heading back to the market square to see it come alive in a different way at night. On our way back, we saw this gorgeous sign letting us know we were headed the right direction.

Headed back to the market, we passed "Cyber Park" (kind of like NYC's Central Park) with free wireless!

Back in the market square, things were getting busy!

One night, a few days later (after returning to Marrakech from Merzouga and the dessert), we decided to go out for a schmancy dinner to enjoy our last night in Africa. Around the corner from our riad was by far, the most over the top, lavishly decorated restaurant I have ever seen or even heard of. La Rotonda features ancient antiques and collectibles from around the world, stylishly showing them off in an upscale eatery that appears part restaurant, part dance club, part... museum.

They were quick to point out that their guest list has included folks like Penelope Cruz, Matthew Maconaughey and even Hilary Clinton. I offered to let them put photos of Emir and I on their 'star wall,' but they didn't seem interested... go figure. :)

We found the people in Marrakech (and Morocco in general) to be incredibly outgoing, very friendly and quite welcoming. Already can't wait to go back! (PS: If you're hungry for even more photos from Marrakech, check out my FaceBook album.)

Speaking at London's SWPP

Well.... fancy that! Yours truly was invited to speak at the UK's Society of Wedding & Portrait Professionals (SWPP) annual conference in London and it was everything I hoped it would be, and more.

The conference was held at Hammersmith's Novotel hotel (lovely!). After presenting, Emir and I headed out to explore the city. The weather was classically cool and rainy, but surprisingly warmer than we expected. (All of these images were captured with my new Canon S95... traveling light, I made the conscious decision to leave my big rig at home.)

Buckingham Palace.

I'm in love with British phone booths, even though I'm guessing few people use them anymore...

Everyone I talked to told me I should ride the London Eye, but alas, it was closed for maintenance while we were there...

Making use of 'night portrait mode' on my S95 with the London Bridge in the background.

The bridge from the north bank (I think...)

Big Ben.

Fountain at Trafalgar Square.

View looking out at the street from Trafalgar Square.

Of course, one of the best things about our trip was all the people we got to see, including Emir's cousin Nela and her husband David who live just north of the city and came in to meet us for dinner and celebrate Emir's birthday!

We *finally* got to meet my dear friend Carly who I first came to know through an email she sent me, then a phone call, more emails, twitter messages, and finally in person! What a treat!

Scoring points for the most surprising encounter, after I had just finished my first presentation where I had literally just recommended to everyone in the class that they rush out to buy Robin's book, Emir and I walked out the door, turned the corner and ran into Robin while crossing the street! I knew she was in England working on her Ph.D, but I had no idea she was near London, let alone in Hammersmith. So fun!

After London, Emir and I jumped on a train and headed west to Wales to connect with our friends Amy & Matthew. Emir met Amy when she was presenting at a conference he was attending in Chicago, after which he started following her on Twitter. But-- he did so while unknowingly signed in to my account. When I started seeing her tweets, I was like, "Who's this?" We've been great friends ever since, finally meeting in person on this very trip!

Matthew & Amy's adorable neighbor Sylvain, drove us around the next day on a sightseeing tour of Swansea, Wales (Catherine Zeta Jones' home town!). It was gorgeous!

Sylvain claims to be 70 years old... but I'm not sure I'm buying it... look at her! She was a spit fire. So full of life, she had recently returned from a trip she took (by herself, at age 70!) to Kuala Lumpur. I love this woman.

Emir looks adorable... as usual. Totally unfair... the man requires zero primping. Pft!

We were honored to witness this sheep crossing while driving back to town.

Just the girls---What fun!

We left Swansea and headed back to London where we caught a flight to north Africa's Morocco (separate post all its own). When we returned from Africa, we had another day to spend in London before coming home and were finally able to connect with my cousin Joel, his wife Martina, daughter Phoebe and my aunt Maria Elena... who had all just welcomed new baby Zoe to the world. What fun!

After our brief visit, we caught the train back to the city to grab a quite bite (I love this napkin from Pret... I was impressed by the UK's selection of healthier fast food options), before...

Catching the evening performance of WICKED! Woot woot! I've been meaning to see this show forever and just couldn't seem to make it happen until now.

Great conference, great city, great friends & family. A truly special trip. If you want to see even more photos from the trip, click here. :)

2010: A Year of Weddings

And what an exciting year it was! As it wraps to a close, I am, and continue to be, eternally grateful to have been invited into the lives of so many wonderful couples. To share such a special day with them and their families, while being entrusted to capture the details and moments that will tell their story for years to come, is a responsibility I take very seriously.

It's been over 11 years since I photographed my first wedding, and I'm happy to say that I still get choked up at least once at every one. I still have moments where the enormity of what such a day means hits me in the chest and wrangles my heart. And I love it.

I tried to include at least one shot from every wedding I shot in 2010... and I'm crossing my fingers that I didn't leave anyone out (I pulled the images late at night from my own blog, so.... anything is possible).

Grateful for each and every one of my clients, I hope they find that within every image I created for them, is a little piece of my wrangled heart.

xoxo

Some gorgeous getting ready moments

Portraits and other beautiful moments

Cute kiddos

Details and reception image yumminess

2011, here we come!

NYC for Some Book Writing TLC

We left for New York on Friday morning, and Thursday night found me in a fit of stressed out frenzy, desperately wanting to cancel the whole thing so I could stay home and enjoy four gloriously peaceful days to get ahead on all the projects on my plate. Surely that would be more relaxing than driving an hour to the airport, taking a shuttle, catching two flights, another shuttle, a 1.5 hour train ride followed by a subway jaunt, only to repeat the travel mania on the way home a few days later (getting back super late, with an early start on the agenda for the next day, of course). Emir, on the other hand, knew that if I we canceled... I'd be equally bummed about having missed out on the great trip we had planned (not to mention some of the sample files for my book), so... we made a midnight trek to the store to grab a few last minute items before coming home to fret a bit more about which bag to take (or not). Seriously. It was almost comedic. Roller bag(s) or backpacks? A camera bag, or just tuck all my gear inside my clothes for cushioning?

Ultimately, we finished packing just before we left the next morning, fitting everything (for both of us) into a single carry-on roller bag (yes!). We even got my laptop in there so I could write along the way! (My camera gear came along in a purse/bag from Epiphanie)

We spent our first day strolling from Central Park West towards downtown. We shot along the way, snapping examples for my book and a few group shots for tourists who asked.

As expected, the city was swarming with mobs of people anxious to do some holiday shopping, and it wasn't uncommon to see lines of people waiting to get inside stores that had already reached capacity.

Not a fan of the mob scene, we crossed some shots off our list at Grand Central Station before jumping on the 2 and escaping to the quiet promenade of Brooklyn for lunch. LOVE.

We strolled Brooklyn for awhile before deciding to walk back to Manhattan across the infamous Brooklyn Bridge.

How funny is Emir? I don't know what I'd do without him...

More from Manhattan...

The next day we awoke to the sound of rain and and decided to spend the morning working at the neighborhood Starbucks before heading back downtown to B&H (deserving of a blog post all its own) and later, show tickets to "American Idiot."

After the show, we played with my new S95 in Times Square at night before devouring some more NY pizza and cheesecake, later heading back uptown to catch some z's.

I'm so, so, so glad we went after all. Emir is a saint. Thanks love.

My kind of Disneyland

To say that Emir and I spent a ridiculous amount of time at B&H's flagship store in Manhattan on Sunday, would be an embarrassing understatement. When I say ridiculous, I mean… We were there for over four hours. Trying to decide between Canon's G12 and S95, we stayed busy testing every conceivable camera body/camera bag combination we could come up with, trying to think of every imaginable shooting situation we might encounter while traveling, hanging out with friends, or just in daily life when I might not have have (nor want) my 5DmII with me. It was my first time seeing the store live and in person, and I'll admit… I was giddy. Emir laughed while I exhibited a child-like wonder that easily rivaled any kid's first visit to Disneyland, which is not as far fetched as you would think.

There were doormen, greeters and even drinks and snacks… all from staff who, in their matching green B&H vests, literally resembled little green elves, delivering holiday joy with three simple words, "Welcome to B&H!"

As we wandered our way through the entrance, the impressive signage made finding what we were looking for easier than spotting a costumed character in the Magic Kingdom. Over 235,000 different items, and I could get to what I was looking for in a matter of seconds. Unbelievable.

Eventually, the dreaded announcements began. "Ladies & gentlemen, B&H will be closing in 45 minutes." Followed by, "Ladies and gentlemen, B&H will be closing in 15 minutes." Finally, they started turning the lights off (literally) and we were forced to leave. We did have a Broadway show to catch, so I guess it was good that they kicked us out, or I'm sure we would've missed it.

As we made our way to the front door with our order ticket in hand, we were awe struck by the famed B&H over-head conveyor-belt system as it magically delivered items from the stock room to the check-out counter, just for us.

It seems silly to think that a 'super warehouse' of camera goods could be considered a 'featured attraction' in a city as jam packed with entertainment and cultural treasures as New York, but… it just is. Or, at least, it was... to me. :)

I spent a lot of time thinking about what makes them so different from the countless 'camera/computer/electronic' stores the line 5th Avenue and Broadway anywhere from 32nd to 48th Street. Why is B&H so monstrously huge, successful, and efficiently well-run, while other stores seem to struggle (despite the fact that one of them managed to get $35 out of me for a 4G SD card--arg!)?

Does it all stem from a single wise decision made waaaay back in the day when they first started? Is it related to personal connections and good negotiations that eventually lead to a loyal client base that exponentially expanded? Maybe it's just the unbeatable combination of great product knowledge, easy accessibility and a company culture that is reminiscent of everyone's mysterious and aloof uncle that you can't help but love.

The guys who answer the phones are hands-down my favorite. The way they say, "B&H, how can I help you?" in their thick New York accents with only faint interest but intense efficiency, makes me laugh every time I think of it. (I once got wrapped up into a long and detailed personal conversation with one of them, who I later ran into at an event in Kansas City… and he remembered me. By name.)

Might be worth taking the kids. Maybe you could convince them that it's Disney's Magic Kingdom of the northeast?

Canon PowerShot S95 vs Canon PowerShot G12

The prowess of my dedicated 'purse cam' recently reached new heights with the acquisition of Canon's new point and shoot dream boat, the PowerShot S95. I had been looking at and planning to buy the PowerShot G12---until I happened upon the S95, which completely t-boned my G12 intentions. That's not to say my decision was simple. In fact, one could make a very compelling argument that both cameras could have a fiercely defendable place amongst your collection. It's not unlike the fact that, despite the prolific existence of desktops, laptops and iPods… apparently, there is still a niche in our lives that is perfectly suited for the iPad.

My goal was to replace the horrific noise reduction and laughable control options of my archaic SD750 (circa 2004) with something that has manual control in super compact and portable form, and it was not an easy choice. Not by a long shot. The G12 has some unbelievable bonus features, and though it's obviously much smaller/lighter than my 5DmII, the S95 literally fits in my pants pocket. Even on the rare day when I don't mind sporting a pair of skinny jeans. Word.

Thus… I obsessed.  I fretted about which size purse I typically carry on any given day. Would the G12 be ok in it? What about with a case? Would the larger weight drive me bonkers? Would I even notice it amidst all the other stuff that's usually in there? What if I'm riding my bike (or hitting the town)? Would the S95 be better? If I did get the G12, would it end up sitting on the shelf waiting for the call of the open road, while I make more practical and daily use of the camera that's built into my 'always with me' phone?

How would I use it? Am I ok with a wristlet, or do I really want a neck strap? Is it worth having to source my own, as even though the S95 has dual wristlet openings, they're not the right size for a standard neck strap? Do I want/need the flip out LCD screen on the G12? Should I really care that I can put a lens converter on the G12? If I find myself wanting a rig like that, wouldn't I just bring along my real gear and call it good? A hot shoe? For a personal/vacation camera?

What about long exposures? I have a mini-gorillapod from Joby that I'm wildly fond of. Like the S95, it easily fits in my pocket, or my purse. But with a minimum aperture of only f/8 and without the built in neutral density filter of the G12, could I even achieve a slow enough shutter speed in bright conditions on the S95 to bother with letting my beloved gorillapod weigh in on the decision?

As you can see… not an easy decision. Here's the skinny.

Both the G12 & the S95 cameras feature the following:

• Full manual control
• ISO capabilities of 8o-3200
• 10 megapixel capture
• Slowest available shutter speed of 15 seconds
• RAW + JPEG
• HD Video
• Digic 4 Image Processor
• Hybrid Image Stabilization
• Smallest available aperture of f/8
• A staggering collection of 'scenes' including a built-in tilt-shift simulator (referred to as 'miniature') and fish-eye effect

I was actually told that on the inside, they're essentially the same camera (same sensor, processor, etc...). From there, they start to differ, but only slightly. And what one seems to give, the other appears to take.

G12 Highlights - $469

• Faster shutter speed (up to 1/4000 compared to the S95's max of 1/1600)
• Better grip (feels similar to dSLR, the S95 is really tiny in comparison)
• Built-In neutral density filter (amazing!)
• Flip out LCD screen
• Hot shoe for external/off-camera flash
• Ability to add lens converters to extend focal length up to almost 200mm
• Connection for an intervalometer
• Comes with a neck strap
• Effective focal length of 28mm - 140mm (vs. the S95's range of 28mm - 105mm)

G12 Drawbacks

• The viewfinder is a joke so I'd likely end up holding/shooting with it like a regular point and shoot anyway
• At 12.4 oz, the G12 is more than twice the weight of the S95 (6 oz)
• The extra weight makes it too heavy for vertical shots on my beloved gorillapod (horizontal shots are fine though...)
• Maximum aperture of f/2.8 (compared to 2.0 on the S95)

S95 Highlights - $369

• Crazy compact. At only 6 oz, it's less than half the weight of the G12
• Because it's so light-weight, it's perfect on my mini-gorillapod, which also fits in my purse
• Slightly bigger LCD screen (3") than the G12's (2.8")
• Maximum aperture of f/2.0 (at the widest focal length, of course), vs. f/2.8 on the G12 (also only at wider focal ranges)

S95 Drawbacks

• Maximum shutter speed of 1/1600
• No built in neutral density filter to compensate for a max shutter speed of only 1/1600
• There's no hotshoe/intervalometer connection
• Comes with a wristlet strap only. If you prefer to wear it with a neck strap for constant access like what you'd be used to with a dSLR, you'll have to make one yourself or find one specially designed for the smaller connections of a compact point and shoot (a standard neck strap won't fit through the tiny slots, but it's worth knowing that there are in fact, two). You could have your choice of a traditional double sided-neckstrap or a singly attached lanyard style.

After crazy amounts of back and forth dialogue, here's what I based my decision on:

• My main priority, next to having manual control, was compact size. I can carry the S95 in my pocket or my purse... even with my favorite little tri-pod.
• When I pack my gear bag for personal/travel photos, I usually only bring two lenses: my 16-35mm f/2.8, and my most fave, the 50mm f/1.4. So I didn't feel like the extra focal length of the G12 was a necessity (though if the S95 had it, I certainly wouldn't complain)
• The one feature on the G12 that gave me the greatest pause was the built-in neutral density filter. Since the minimum f/stop on both cameras is f/8, it's awesome that the G12 has both a faster maximum shutter speed and the ND filter, making it possible to shoot at wider apertures or use longer shutter speeds, even in broad daylight. I decided that if I really need ND capabilities, I could keep a snippet (or two) of a ND gel in my camera case for the rare occasion when I might want it
• Even though the G12 feels like a dSLR in your hands, the viewfinder is so laughable, you really have hold it and shoot with it like a true point and shoot, so... the S95 just made more sense to me. For now. :)

Here are some shots from a recent trip to NYC, captured on the S95, all straight out of camera.

This was a test to see what kind of slow shutter speed I could get away with in a bright situation (Times Square at night is far from dark!). This was exposed at 2 seconds, f/8, ISO 80. A ND filter would've been nice in Times Square, but wasn't absolutely necessary.

Here's another long exposure in a darker area. 6 seconds, f/8, ISO 80. In this darker scene... no ND filter? No problem! (Don't you love star bursts at f/8?)

This is an example of the built-in feature called 'miniature' that mimics a tilt-shift lens. (Also available on the G12)

An example of the built-in fish-eye effect (also available on the G12). I'm not usually a fan of 'effects,' but this was fun to pull off without having to lug around my fish-eye. :)

A low-light shot. Unbelievably clean, and the color looks great. 1/30th, f/2, ISO 800

Here's the gorillapod set-up that made the long exposures (the first two sample images) possible--> I just wrapped it around one of the many street barricades nearby. (This behind the scenes image was shot with the ancient SD750 I was so anxious to replace.)

I still entertain the idea of getting the G12 to bring on once-in-a-lifetime trips (like an upcoming one we have planned for Morocco... with bright sun and lots of sand, making an ND filter look pretty attractive), but... for now, I am madly in love with the S95.

Either way, you really can't go wrong. They're both happiness in a little black box. :)