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People often say to creative people they wish they were more creative themselves.

They tell designers they used to draw but gave it up because they didn’t have enough time. They tell writers they’ve always wanted to write a novel — the idea is already in their head! — but they lack the talent to put it on paper. Or — my personal favorite — they tell photographers they know of a perfect picture that could make someone a lot of money.

All fear they lack the creativity to achieve their artistic dreams. What they really lack, however, is the willingness and desire to work hard at something they think is play.

All minds are creative. Some of those minds, though, get more practice than others. Ask any novelist how much time they spend at their craft. Ask the same of a designer or photographer, musician, song writer, watercolorist or sculptor. They will all tell you it is a full-time job. To be really good at any creative endeavor one must work at it and work hard. The great part of this kind of work is that as “creatives” we usually enjoy what we do, and that makes all the difference.

At Wheelhouse Creative our creative team is in a separate building from the employees who work on accounts, bookkeeping and placement. This is for one simple reason: Creatives function best in a creative environment surrounded by other creatives. Our humor is different. Our habits are different, and our conversations are wildly unique to fellow creatives. We are all here in our creative building where we can bounce creative ideas off one another all day long.

Were you to visit our creative building you might find us irreverent or even silly. Other times you would think you walked into any boardroom anywhere in the USA. You won’t find many suits or ties in my building. You’d be more likely to find a Dragon Ball Z T-shirt or that of World of Warcraft. In my office you will find stained glass and odd clock parts assembled in an awkward enough way to be visually appealing yet perfectly functional. We are creatives, and we make no excuses.

When it comes to campaign creation or development of a social media marketing strategy, you can bet your eyeteeth you will want the room full of creatives. The same goes for hashtag development, slogans, lyrics, music hooks, animations, websites, logos, photography, direct mail, magazine ads, outdoor designs or any advertising or marketing piece your company may need. All of this comes from our Wheelhouse creative department and is packaged nicely and professionally for the end user.

Now, don’t be surprised when we come to visit you and you can’t tell who our creative members are. Cleaned and wearing a jacket we look just like you.

That’s in part because we ARE just like you. Some of us just practice more so we can help the rest.

They say he who plants an oak tree does so knowing the shade provided will be for a future generation.

Though this may be true, the growing oak provides plenty of benefits for the here and now. Watching something so frail and tender as a young oak grow, knowing that one day it will be the mightiest tree in the forest, yard or roadside is rewarding in and of itself. The knowledge that what you planted and nourish is developing into a giant, a provider of mast, a giver of shade and, eventually, a highly prized hardwood is something only the long-range thinker can truly appreciate.

The same goes for starting a business. Wheelhouse first opened its doors Jan. 5, 2015. We were brand new, tender and in need of nurturing. But inside of us, inside of that little acorn was everything needed to develop into an industry leader. We had the team, the knowledge, the experience and we also had a little of the new, the fresh, the untapped talent that comes only from youth. We had it all.

Over the years we’ve grown and taken root in the community — to the point where we are known as the “go to” place for marketing, advertising and political campaigns. We are now providing mast, shade and hardwood, so to speak, for many clients.

When I first moved to my farm, I started planting oak trees. I knew then I may never get the opportunity to see the trees mature and be strong, that someone else, some future generation might be the ones to enjoy the fruit of my labor. But today as I was driving to work, the sunlight shined on the golden green leaves of the sawtooth oaks I planted in the field along the side of my road. I smiled, knowing I planted those trees. I was part of all of this. I played an important role in bringing this all about. At that moment — and in every earlier moment — it didn’t matter to me the greatest benefit these trees will provide will be enjoyed for those who will come after me. All that mattered was that golden sparkle of light shining through those leaves.

Being a part of Wheelhouse has been much the same for me as planting those oak trees. Knowing Wheelhouse will continue to shine long after I am gone is an extra bonus. Seeing the light that shines in the eyes of a happy client or fellow employee when a job is well done is reward enough. Those sawtooth oaks I planted 10 years ago are now majestic sentinels standing watch and providing shade for my heard of goats. Last year they started dropping mast (acorns) that feed the goats, donkeys, pigs and even wild deer, squirrel and chipmunks. It takes an oak about eight years of growth before they start to produce mast. I am happy to say that Wheelhouse started providing mast the very day we opened and has been doing so every day since.

You get what you pay for. We all know that, but sometimes the deal seems too good to be true. So, you take a chance. This goes for just about everything in life. If it seems too good to be true, it usually is. The advertising world isn’t immune to these fly by nights and cheap deals. Even the best of clients sometimes fall for this. Someone says they can shoot your video or design your logo for half the price of an agency. They like to say that they have no overhead and no agency fees. What this really translates to is no insurance, don’t pay taxes and have no staff.

Over the years while working as a full-time commercial photographer I have had plenty of clients tell me that my fees were too high, and that if I didn’t lower my fees they would have to use someone else. I never once caved for this. Instead I would wish them the best. I did this because I knew they would not be happy elsewhere, at least not for long. And I knew they would be back. Best not to make a big deal out of it, since I knew we were going to be doing business together again.

I remember a client who said that my $200 an hour fee was ridiculous, even though they had been paying me this amount for years. As it turned out a new photographer approached them and said that he only charged $50 an hour. The choice was easy. My client dumped me and went with the cheaper guy. After all, he was only one fourth the cost. Then one day he failed to show up because he was needed at his “real job.” Another time he took too long to deliver his photos, saying that if the client wanted same day service, they would have to pay more for that. How much more? Well, as it turned out it was more than my $200 an hour fee.

My point is simple. You really do get what you pay for. I once had a guy tell me that he and his buddy could install a whole house air conditioner for less than half the estimate I got for just the cooling unit alone from a reparable dealer. I eventually found that they installed a used unit, and even at that it was the wrong size and improperly installed. I ended up paying the dealer the full price anyway, and also had to eat the cost I paid the cheaper guys.

At Wheelhouse we understand that our clients have budgets that they have to adhere to. We know what it costs to provide every client with the best service we can. Already factored into our costs are things like wages, rent, insurance, equipment and all the many things that go into maintaining a first-rate shop. Sometimes clients get miffed at the amount services cost. They go off in a huff and try to find someone cheaper. And sometimes it works out for them. Eventually though, they come back. They come back because they realize that we offer top notch service at a fair cost. Wheelhouse is the first agency I have been involved with that honestly and up front lets the client know exactly what everything costs. We find that an informed customer is a happy customer.

The joy of being strapped into a tin can thousands of feet above the ground.

I was having lunch the other day with Jamie Bordas and Joe Monahan from Wheelhouse. Jamie was telling us of a pleasant experience he had recently had on his first privately chartered airplane trip. He mentioned that it was out of the Ohio County Airport and asked if either Joe or I had ever been on a small chartered plane. Joe and I looked at each other, grinned and commenced to tell war stories for the next 45 minutes.

Joe and I are both old pros, he with video and I with my stills. Each of us remember the days before drones, back when you had to charter a small plane and go flying in order to get aerial photography. Back then we both used the same charter service, the Wheeling Flight Academy owned and operated by a great guy named Dinny Wolford. Dinny taught many Ohio Valley residents to fly at his academy, but he also rented his planes and his expertise as a pilot out to anyone interested in going up.

I started the stories with my first experience with Dinny. We got in the small aircraft, Dinny went over his check list, something he did before every flight and turned the key. Nothing. He tried again, still nothing. He asked me if I had ever flown an airplane. Thinking he was kidding, I told him, no. He smiled and said, “all you have to do is press both your feet on that big peddle, and no matter what, don’t stop pushing, or you’ll kill me.” I thought that this couldn’t be happening, could not possibly be real, but it was. He quickly jumped out of the aircraft, walked to the front and spun the propeller like I had seen done in so many old WWII movies. The engine roared to life, Dinny got back in and buckled up, then said I could stop pushing. Told me to relax, everything was fine, only a dead battery. I asked if we needed a good battery while flying, and he said, “Oh, I hope not.” Dinny had a wry sense of humor about him. Eventually I learned to really like that about him.

Joe and I went on tell story after story. There was the time Joe stuck his camera out the window to get a shot, only to nearly have the camera ripped from his hands because of the extreme wind, or the time he asked Dinny to get him a better angle, only to have the plane turned almost entirely on its side leaving Joe feeling sick as he realized that the only thing holding him in the aircraft was his seatbelt.

I told about the time I landed on top of a mountain on an airstrip in Welsh, WV that you landed on while going uphill. The airstrip was under a foot of snow, and there were strong side winds and almost blinding snow squalls. I remember the pilot saying over and over again that this was not good, not good at all. Not something you want to hear your pilot say while you are landing. The local Sheriff was there when we landed. We said that we didn’t expect to be greeted by the Sheriff. He said he heard that we were going to be landing and didn’t want to miss the crash. Said there was also an ambulance outside. It took us awhile to figure out he was kidding.

These days if we need an aerial shot we simply call our drone pilot. The shots are better, more stable, and we can fly anywhere from six inches off the ground to a thousand or so feet, all while never having to leave the ground. Still there is something to be said for the exhilaration and heart thumping adrenaline that comes from a stalled engine at five thousand feet, or the joy one feels mere seconds after the craft stops bouncing and shaking after extreme wind turbulence. And then there is that sense of relief one experiences when the airplane finally touches down, and you realize that not only are you still alive and in one piece, but that you just made several hundred bucks. It was good to be young, fearless and ambitious in those days. Not sure I could do all of that today but give me the chance just once and I bet I’d give it a go.

The first thing I want to know on a video set is where my shot is. Once I know my shot and shot location I’m able to light it, dress it and figure out the motion. It’s TV folks. It’s magic, or at least it looks like it. Our job as Wheelhouse Creative’s video production team is to find that shot, make it look like magic and then do that over and over again. If it sounds like fun, it is. We love what we do.

Video production is not easy. There’s a lot you need to know, and much of that can’t be taught. Experience is a powerful friend. It guides you when times are tough. It lets you know without thinking about it what areas are good for a scene and what areas are not. It allows you to move quickly and with confidence. And all of this means a better value and a better experience for the client.

Clients want to know that you understand their wants and needs. They want to rest assured that you know what you are doing, that you are taking good care of them. And they want to know that they made the right choice in hiring you. That’s why finding the shot is so important on a set. Nothing can happen until you know your shot. Then the magic begins. That’s when you start giving your client the benefit of your experience. That’s when they start seeing added value.

On a video set there are many things that gain you added value. There’s the shot angle and move. Is there foreground, or is there a great void between the camera and the subject? There’s lighting. Lighting is the mood of the whole picture. Cinematic lighting provides the drama, the mystery and the excitement in video. Some would say that the soundtrack brings the excitement, and it does, but so too does the light. Sound and music are equal to lighting. It all goes together to make for a better picture show.

A better picture show, a better experience for a client, that’s what we at Wheelhouse strive to produce every day. Early on in my career I had a client hire me to shoot a check presentation for the newspaper. Paid seventy-five bucks if I remember correctly. It was at the race track, a shot of the Governor of West Virginia handing a check over to the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra. I got there thirty minutes early. So too did the Governor. We were in and out in under fifteen minutes, and still had fifteen minutes before our scheduled start time. Easy money.

I went back to my studio, developed the film and printed the black and white images. I delivered the photos the same day. Not great shots I’ll admit, but that shoot got me the client, and I worked for them for twenty years. I remember this guy looking at the photos I had just delivered, and saying that he had seen better photographers, but that I had something most photographers didn’t. I had a watch, and I knew how to use it. I asked his meaning, and he said that had I come late, or meanly on time we would have missed the shot. That I knew to come early was worth something to him.

This all may sound silly to you, and that’s OK. I’m talking to those others. I’m talking to those who are eager to please, eager to succeed. When a client gives you a suggestion, it’s not really a suggestion. They are telling you they want you to do it. And when they ask that you do something when you get a chance, they mean now, or sooner. They want you to find the shot and provide them with value. My friend Joe Jacobs, graphic designer at Wheelhouse says his heart soars when he hears his customer’s cash registers ring. That is what we do. That is our job. We find the shot, and we make your cash register ring.

Let us help you. I promise we will show you only in the best light, and in the best shot. As one famous ad goes, “if you don’t look good, we don’t look good.”

It starts as you walk toward the building. From the parking lot you detect the wonderful tang of wood smoke and smell of meat cooking. Then as you get a little closer you actually see the smoke, and if you are lucky you might see the master chef himself carrying in a tray of beautiful beef brisket that has been in the smoker for the last 16 hours. People walking in have an excited look on their faces. People walking out all share a similar contented smile. You have arrived at the newest hot spot in Wheeling and are about to enjoy the divine goodness known as the Route 88 Brew & BBQ.

In my neighborhood (the Wheeling area) our idea of barbecue is either a charred dog or burger cooked over hot coals on the home grill, or maybe some sloppy, salty, MSG filled piece of processed meat at one of the local national chain restaurants. Neither sounds all that appealing to me. Then I heard about the Route 88 Brew and BBQ at Oglebay’s Par 3 and driving range. Just the thought of an actual barbecue joint in my area made my mouth water. But for me life is not that easy, at least when it comes to dining out.

I have Celiac Disease, an auto immune disorder that means my body cannot tolerate gluten, and gluten is in almost everything in America. So, no matter how rewarding the thought of local barbecue sounded, there was no way I was going to try it out. Eating gluten doesn’t just make me uncomfortable and bloated. It makes me very ill, and for a very long time.

One day a friend invited me to lunch at the new barbecue joint. I declined on the grounds of gluten. Not one to take no for an answer, my friend called the restaurant, and asked them if they had anything on their menu that would be considered gluten free. Chef Jeremy told her that all of his meat products, dry rubs, sauces and side dishes were 100% gluten free. The only things he suggested as being out of bounds for a gluten free person would be the buns, Texas toast and possibly the fries. So, I decided to give it a go, and now I am such a regular customer that Chef Jeremy and I are on a first name basis.

Those of us who eat gluten free have developed this sort of test that tells us if the food served is actually gluten free, or if we are about to be sick. It goes something like this. If the food tastes too good to be true, it probably has gluten in it, and we are about to die. That was my thought when I first tried Chef Jeremy’s barbecue. It was so good. My mouth watered at the smell, and by heart leaped at the taste, and that was without any of his hand made sauces. When I added his spicy sauce to my pulled pork it was as if all my troubles melted away. After that first lunch I waited for several hours, expecting all the while to feel the sickness coming on. When all I felt was satisfied, I decided I had found a new favorite safe place to dine.

I would encourage anyone who loves barbecue (gluten free or not) to stop by Route 88 in Oglebay for some of the best hand crafted, artisan-based barbecue in the world. Let me know if you like it. Let Chef Jeremy know if you like it. Then tell everyone you know how wonderful it was and invite them to Oglebay. If you require gluten free simply let them know. You won’t be disappointed. Buy a hat, or a tee shirt while you’re there. Wheelhouse’s own graphic designer, Rick Palkovic designed them. At least pick up a take-out menu. Rick designed that too.

Back in the old days, we had a marketing tool that was perhaps unsurpassed by all others. It was known as print. Print came many forms. There were magazines, brochures, signs and the almighty newspaper. Today, electronic media has replaced, or at least dwarfed, much of the older style conduits for print advertising, but the same rules apply. If you want great results, include good photography.

It wasn’t all that long ago that an article in the newspaper, not an ad, but an actual article, was the best for which you could hope. Newspapers were trusted by their readers, they had legal standards to uphold and the term “fake news” was unheard of. If it was in the paper, it was considered to be true and reliable. Get your name or your company’s name and story in the paper, and you were golden.

In the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence you will find the words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Though I personally subscribe to this thought, no one was ever equal in the press, especially the newspapers. Hot topics got precedence over dull stories. Current stories were pushed to the front, while older news, or less interesting news, got pushed to the back. The challenge for PR specialists and marketers was to get their client’s message pushed to the front, and even better, get it on a cover, and the holy grail, above the fold. Some people only read the headlines. Some only read the cover. This kind of attitude made real estate on the front page, especially above the fold, very valuable. Knowing how to get a message in that coveted arena made a marketer, or in my case, a photographer valuable to their clients.

I was just a kid, starting out in business for myself back in the early 1980s. My first two clients were a hospital and a college. I started with both of them, getting small jobs here and there. I remember walking the halls of West Virginia Northern Community College while delivering my finished photography. I would stop and look at the glassed-in bulletin board where they placed all the newspaper articles that were produced about them. I noticed that the stories they submitted with my photos were more likely to get printed. I also saw that the articles accompanied by my images were longer and more likely to be on the front page.

One day, the president of the college called me into her office. I figured I was about to get fired. I couldn’t have been more wrong. She asked me to sit down, and she laid out about a dozen clippings, all about the school. She pointed out that she was recently made aware of the fact that their press releases were not only more likely to get printed in the paper, but that they were getting much better placement. She then pointed out that upon studying the matter, she discovered that only the ones with my photos were doing well. She told me that the articles they sent without photos were less likely to get printed. Add one of my photos and, like magic, placement was better. She was the first to tell me that the best place in the paper was the front cover, above the fold and that my images helped them get there with a greater success than ever before.

I never forgot this. I started using this story to get more work from my other clients. When they would question my prices, I would simply ask them if they wanted above the fold, or lost in the back of the paper somewhere. Today, things are still the same. Newspapers may not hold the same place of power in our marketing as they once did, but the premise is the same. People are attracted to a pretty or gripping photograph. It is the photograph that grabs the reader. Then they read the message. And if the photo can telegraph the message, all the better.

It makes no difference if you’re in the paper or on Facebook, a better image will attract more interest than none at all. So often that photograph is the first or only impression you get to make. We at Wheelhouse suggest you always make it count. Always include great photography as part of your message. With more than years of professional experience, Wheelhouse photography is a powerful tool that we use daily for our clients. Let us help you get your message above the fold.

Cell phones and digital cameras have made photographers out of everyone. Technology has certainly taken most of the learning curve out of the craft. It used to be that you had to learn things like shutter speeds and aperture settings, exposure and reciprocity. Now all you have to do is point and shoot and the camera does the rest. That doesn’t mean that all photographers are created equal. A good photographer can take a fantastic photo with a cell phone or an oatmeal box pinhole camera. The vast majority of those taking pictures are by no means photographers. Most people take crappy photos. Trust me. I’ve studied this for over 30 years. This does not mean that all is lost. With a little instruction and some trial and error anyone can learn to take a great shot.

Let’s say you have a company, or that you represent a group that has a social media presence. If you are social media savvy at all, by now you have realized that anything you post on Facebook with a photo is going to generate more interest than a post without a photo. The same goes if you post something with a really good photo – you will get even more looks, likes and shares than if you used a bad photo. In this blog we will give you a few tips that will allow you to get really great shots and that will mean that more people will look at your posts.

Let’s start with the distance between you and your subject. Most people want to keep their distance from their subjects. It is almost as if they want to stand in the background and not be seen. That doesn’t work very well. Don’t be afraid. Be bold. Get right up there, fill your frame with your subject or subjects, and take a photo that doesn’t show the ceiling, the floor and all the rest of what is in the room that has nothing to do with your photo. Sure you can crop afterward, but that means you are enlarging a small part of the photo. This translates into a soft or noisy image. Stop thinking of your phone’s zoom feature as a tool to use while taking the photo. Whenever possible, walk up to your subject and fill the frame of your camera. This one tip will change your life forever.

Next, decide if the shot should be vertical (up and down) or horizontal (side to side). I like to shoot a vertical if I am shooting one or two people and I want to fill the frame with them. Verticals are great for waist up, knees up or full length. Groups of three or more usually cause me to shoot horizontal. What you are trying to do here is fill your frame with only what you want to see. That doesn’t mean that you always have to follow this suggestion. Sometimes I like to shoot one person horizontally from the chest up, place them to one side, and allow the other side to fill the space. This is good if you want to show the subject’s surrounding area.

Just a couple more things and you will be well on your way. Hold your camera – phone level at all times when photographing people. Aiming up will make them look tall and aiming down will make them look short. Shoot straight ahead. Chest level is usually a good spot from which to shoot. One last thing. If the exposure on your phone is too dark or too light, try touching the part of the picture that you are concerned about. By doing this your camera will change the exposure automatically. You can also tweak your final photos with the editing software that comes with your phone.

My old man was a junk man his whole life. He started out as a rag picker in 1929 when he was 13 years old. He would pull a wagon through the streets of North, East, Center and South Wheeling, as well as the Island, Claytor, Elm Grove and Woodsdale, calling out for rags. These rags would be added to a giant hopper, shredded and sent to textile and paper mills by rail. I asked him once if he felt ashamed pulling that wagon. He quickly said, “Hell no. I had a job. It was the Great Depression. Many had it rougher than I did.”

By the age of 18, my dad worked his way up to scale operator in the scrap metal part of the yard. This was the most coveted job in the whole junk yard. People would give the scale man gifts, little favors in hopes that he would weigh their loads a little heavier than they actually were so that they could get more money. It was not uncommon for a scale man to fake the load weight and then demand part of the over payment as a kickback. My dad decided he wasn’t going to do that. Even at 18 he was no pushover. He made it clear from day one that he would accept no gifts and everyone would get a fair weight.

He knew he could do this job. He could do the math in his head. He knew metal and he knew how to deal with people. He was not at all worried that he would fail, but he wasn’t sure that would be enough to keep that coveted position. He needed an edge.

Believing that doing a good job was not necessarily good enough to keep a job during these though times, he wanted to do more. He wanted to impress his bosses and try to assure his job placement. He came up with an idea wherein he could buy bulk graphite, pour it into paper tubes and sell it to the folks who came in to sell their junk. He approached his boss and asked if he could start doing this. He told them he figured that everyone of their customers would buy the graphite because every one of them had a use for it. He said he could sell it for 10 cents a tube cash, or 5 cents a tube if they took it in trade with every load they brought in. His bosses said that they didn’t think they were interested because people might think that they were trying to extort patronage from their customers. Instead, they told him he could run it as a side business while he was also working for them.

Eventually my old man was selling tubes of graphite all day long. Still wanting to show his self-worth to his employers, he came up with another idea. He figured that just like the graphite, oil was something his customers could use, too, as were tarps and tie down straps for the trucks carrying the loads. So, one day, he approached his bosses. He told them how well he had been doing selling his graphite and said that he was sure he could sell oil, tarps, rope and even chain. He said that customers could bring in their own oil cans and he could fill them from the oil drums in the yard. He said that they could salvage old chains from the junk and have their welders put hooks on them. This would be money for nothing. The ropes and tarps they would have to buy wholesale. Before they could say no, he pulled out a wad of money – all he had made selling graphite. He offered the money to them and said they could use that money to purchase the materials.

The bosses thought it over and asked him what he wanted in exchange, or what he hoped to gain. He said that all he wanted was to get to remain the scale man and to be assured a job. They took his money, and agreed to his new idea. Soon the scale room looked like a store front. They sold all kind of necessary items to the men who brought in scrap for cash. They also kept the profit. My dad didn’t get a cent of that money.

Then one day in December of 1944, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next week, my dad and his cousin walked into a recruiting station and joined the Navy. Soon he found himself in the South Pacific on an LST. He saw much action in those campaigns. Many died around him. Fear was a constant companion, but one thing he never had to fear was whether his wife was doing without, if she was going hungry or in fear of losing their home. This was because his employers back home never failed to deliver a paycheck to his wife. Even though he was not there, even though he was not working for them, they paid him every two weeks and delivered that check in full to his wife.

When my dad got back from the war, he went back to his old job. He thanked them for not only keeping his job open for him, but for sending a check to his wife every two weeks for two years. He swore that he would pay them back for every cent. They told him that he had already paid it back to them. They informed him that they not only made money selling merchandise that they never would have sold had it not been for him, but that there was a bigger reason that they had never told him about. It seems that soon after my dad took over the scales, the company found that their scrap intake weight, their weigh in, was down, but that their outgoing, or weigh out had stayed the same. It took them a while to figure this out, but eventually it all came clear. Every scale man before my dad, had cheated the company by claiming weigh ins were higher than they were. They did this to get kickbacks from the customers. All my dad did was mark down the exact weight, and pay out accordingly. This money added up, so much so that when my dad was in the Navy, his employers continued to pay his wages to his wife.

My father worked there until 1967. The last of the three Laffer brothers, for whom he worked his entire life, had passed away by then, and my father no longer felt obligated to stay. I remember his boss at his new job gave him a brand new car as a signing bonus. It was a 1968 Olds Cutlass, the first and only new car he ever had.

My old man was a smart man with a great work ethic. It is my hope that not only some of that rubbed off on me, but that perhaps some of that can rub off on my fellow compatriots here at Wheelhouse.