On Friday night, I received a call from one of my clients. They were at a trade show in Houston and needed a Video DVD by 9AM on Saturday morning. This was the first I had heard of it, and not only did I need to burn a DVD, but I also needed to create the content from scratch. Anyone who has had any experience with Apple’s Motion knows that creating, rendering and getting Final Cut to operate properly takes time. I did the impossible, almost…

I was able to create a video presentation for them in record time – about 2 hours – render it out and burn it to DVD. I ran to the FedEx World Shipping Center on 42nd Street in Manhattan. (The World Shipping Center is where all the trucks come to drop off their pickups for the day and then the packages are taken to Newark Airport to be flown to their destinations) Well, Fedex’s last pick up time in NYC for Early AM Saturday Delivery is 9:00PM. No chance of getting this to them by Saturday AM — I sent the DVD anyway, but the earliest they would get it was Monday AM.

I, frantically, posted on the forums of a community for photographers seeking someone in Houston to help me out. I would send them Quicktime files all ready to be brought into DVD Studio Pro or iDVD, or a similar program on a PC, and they would burn it to a DVD for me and deliver it to my client. That was the thought anyway and I knew it was a long shot, but I could try, right?

10 Minutes later people were posting referrals for people they knew in the Houston area that could possibly help me. I received about 20 messages directly to me, as well. By 10:00 PM, someone had not only came forward to tell me that they could help and had the software to do so, but he also offered to do it for free.

At 9:30 AM on Saturday Morning, he drove to the Convention Center in Houston with not only one DVD, but a backup copy as well, and handed it off to my client. My client called me soon after to say, “Thank you – I love you and I owe you!”. Had it not been for the great community of photographers, I don’t know if I would have had my client calling me on Saturday morning to profess HIS love for me.

I have always been very active helping and mentoring other photographers. I have, generally, asked for little in return, but in this instance where I really needed someone’s help they went above and beyond to help me.

About the author

Kevin Michael Reed
Kevin Michael Reed (Google+, Facebook) is a fashion & beauty photographer and producer/director based in New York City and Los Angeles, CA. He is the President/CEO of RedFOG Visual Media, a production company in New York City, and a partner in Passion of Photography, Inc, a company dedicated to teaching photographers and sharing our passion through charitable causes. Kevin has lectured and hosted workshops throughout the United States and the world teaching photographers the business and creative sides of photography. (Kevin's Fashion & Beauty Photography Portfolio can be seen here).