I’ve never been a patient person in my professional life. My early staff was afraid of what they’d find if I worked the overnight shift.  I once moved a whole wall overnight. Other times new sound systems or other kinds or hardware were discovered the next day. I’m certain I’ve offended many people by my lack of patience over the years, not the least of which my wife.

My patience was tested one day while on a photoshoot at Antelope Canyon and that day's experience totally changed my ability and understanding of the practice of patience. It’s meditation of a sort and a pure form at that. The outcome turned out to be the most popular photo I ever had the good luck and pleasure of capturing a moment in time, that is, if sales in dollars and square footage is the measure.

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I was at Antelope Canyon, a series of narrow slot canyons where you often feel as if you’re in a cave instead of a canyon. There are many areas where there is barely any sunlight coming through. At some point I noticed a spot where the sun changed the scene over time and the wind would occasionally blow some sand into the air. It was rather windy this winter day. I set up my camera and took a shot. There was something about the spot and yet nothing spectacular about the photo, yet the tripod quickly came off my back and was set up soon enough.

I started shooting every half a minute. After about 40 minutes the light had changed significantly. I was losing faith and considering moving on to the next place to shoot.

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Suddenly an apparition of a woman’s profile appeared. It lasted maybe 2 seconds. I don't think it lasted any longer. 

Sixty-five photos into the shoot I had the picture I call Ghost Bride. She stands facing left at a profile. Her strong nose a rock, literally. Her graceful neck displays what appears to be a string of pearls if only a refraction of light. Below her necklace you can say the bodice of her dress 

The rest of her body and dress consisted of sun, sand blowing, rock, and reflections. As the time progressed she came into view and just as quickly disappeared as the sun and wind moved on.

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I hope you enjoyed reading about how Ghost Bride came to be. She is available on the Arizona Treasures Calendar. 

For most of my adult life I’ve been an entrepreneur. It’s a long story and it’s been quite the ride. With physician friends we promoted sports medicine in the mid-1970s. After a few years managing medical practices I realized that health care telephone communications were sorely lacking and I created MediConnect. 

MediConnect, a healthcare call center served the needs of some 170,000 physicians and medical specialists by creating new ways to distinguish, among other things, just what is an emergency. At first these healthcare professional scoffed then told me I had improved their lives dramatically and made their practices run better.

I researched, studied, and ultimately created a new method to attract patients into and retain them in clinical trials.  Major companies like Eli Lilly signed on after we proved our worth, but one company, a major British firm with presence in the US threw me out, only to sign on after one of their acquisitions was proving better results in patient recruitment than they. My company, PhoneScreen set the standard and created a huge business segment in this arena worth many hundreds of millions annually.

I invented new methods of patient communications using the web and have been issued patents.  We worked with some major entities in government and healthcare but I ultimately sold out and retired. 

I so much appreciate all the folks we came in contact with and who trusted us with their medical practices, organ banks, dialysis firms, and the numerous pharmaceutical and device companies. I also thank Rush University, University of Chicago, Northwestern, Northshore and many others in Chicago who closed their call centers and allowed us to flourish and help them all grow as well.

Along the way I was often attacked by people questioning the various businesses themselves. That is what happens to pioneers, you’re told you know nothing, your idea is stupid and stop wasting your time. It's what my folks said to me as well. I've had many mentors whose success began the same way, people questioning their vision. I thank them too for their friendship. So why am I telling you this? I have a crazy new idea. It’s this website called Calendar Memories.

For a long time my wife and I have made photo calendars using photos taken during the prior year. To that we added our special dates like birthdays and anniversary and sent them off to our family and friends every year. I started adding things like clock and seasonal changes too. 

People often tell me how much they enjoyed the calendar and others tell me they look forward to months’ end to flip the page and see where the next picture came from. 

I'm thrilled they like my work. 

For years I’ve been told that these calendars are great and I should make a business of this. People have often said they retained a picture often well after the year has gone.

Finally, I got the point. This is my attempt at giving you access to my photos while adding your special touches and delivering the finished product to you and your important people. Pick a theme, add your dates and addresses of the people you want to receive a calendar and we’ll do the rest.  We’ll print and mail them to your complete list USPS First Class.  

I’m excited about sharing my work but photography has never been work for me, even when people purchase large format prints like 8 feet. So, it’s not quite work, and yes, I am very excited to be sharing my photography with you.

Joe Sameh