Whin Dropputs Becum Editers

... they get jobs where they complain that bloggers have no editors, no checks and balances, no serious understanding of the realities that really, really smart people do...

Locked, Loaded and Looney - New York Times: "It is an eminently good thing that the anti-suicide measure would require medical specialists to keep track of veterans found to be high risks for suicide. But that’s to care for them as human beings, under that other constitutional right — to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Respect for the grave sacrifices by veterans requires the Senate to strike down the Coburn ploy and hurry this vital measure to President Bush."

But, some of us actually know that "life, liberty and the persuit of happiness" is, like, you know... the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

Remember this when reading the MSM, people. Remember this. And remember that this was written by people who think they are so much smarter than you, and so important. So one can only wonder at the various other things they get wrong. Ya know.

Another Flickr Find

Originally uploaded by darkshapes

Wonderful work. Take a few moments and peruse this photographer's Flickr stream. There are true gems on Flickr and I like to share when I find them.

Our New Free Site with the PHOTOtool

We are really excited about this...

ANNOUNCING: EVERY PHOTOTOOL now includes a free website with easily customized look and feels. The fully client maintained websites have features that were once only available in custom, hi-end websites... See the new WebFolio page for more information. This feature applies to all current and future PHOTOtool clients. And these templates are search engine optimized to help you market. We combine HTML, CSS, and Flash to provide pages that are easily indexed by all major search engines. Our tools make it easy to maintain a dynamic website that works for you.

A Special Place in Hell...

... for people this f***in' arrogant and elitist. Every one of these friggin bureaucrats should be out of a job. Today. Gone. Fini.

Jerks.

Slashdot | Copyright Advocacy Group Violates Copyright: "'Commercial scholarly publishers are beginning to get afraid of the open access movement. They've hired a high-priced consultant to help them sway public opinion in favor of copyright restrictions on taxpayer-funded research. Funny thing is, their own website contains several copyright violations. It seems they pulled their images directly from the Getty Images website — watermarks and all — without paying for their use.'"

They want the public to pay a fee to see material that was paid for by taxpayers. What about that system doesn't make sense to these fools. It was, uh, already PAID for by the public, assholes. I really think it is time for cleanin house in the morally bankrupt elite class. 'Copyright for thee, but not for me.'

Sheesh. You'd think they were congressmen or something.

Amazing... truly amazing.

More Photoshop goodness coming our way. While this technology is not currently within Photoshop, I would bet that it will be a part of normal image editing soon. The site is being slammed, so I was unable to get to it to review the particulars. But this is truly a cool tool.

Free Web Site at the PHOTOtool

This is something Daniel and I have been planning for quite a while. We have made it official now and we are proud to announce that our free WebFolio sites will make the PHOTOtool owners proud. We have 8 current templates and will eventually end up with about 20. These templates can be modified to be a unique expression of the photographer, contain all SEO tools, have content management and Flash portfolios. We are excited to offer this new feature to the PHOTOtool and believe that we now have the best total offering out there. This new site design replaces the "Simple Site" product we have been offering.

Our Semi-Custom WebFolio is now Free for all PHOTOtool clients: "Our Free WebFolio is now available for all new and current PHOTOtool clients. Imagine all the power of a content managed website combined with the beauty and grace of a custom site.

That is exactly what the PHOTOtool's new WebFolio product offers. And it is FREE with all PHOTOtools. Do Business Online with the PHOTOtool for Professional Photographers Why do we use Flash as a part of the website instead of building the site totally in flash? Well, it's easy to understand when you know how the search engines work. Search engines look for several key things: page names, meta text, words on the page, and the use of the words that are 'key' to being found in searches. Metatags alone are no longer of any value to Google. We make it easy for you to keep your site in the forefront on search engines, and that makes it easier for prospective clients to find you. We believe that web sites that cannot be found are counter-productive, and do not benefit our clients as they look to grow their business on the web."

Good additional news: for all current "simple-site" users, you can upgrade to the WebFolio for no cost between now and November 1, 2007.

Glamour with Hot Lights

Glamour with Hot Lights
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

I'll say it again... I love my job. Especially the workshop part where I tell photographers that learning to light is the most important tool they will ever learn in photography. One that so many photographers just don't care to learn. Throw an umbrella up here, or stick a speedlight on a stand and fire it remotely. Or even worse... buy these multi-thousand dollar units and lighting is simple.

BS.

There is a lot more to lighting than that. I think one of the best ways to learn to light is to start simply. This shot uses two hot lights, just like you can get at any home supply store. In this case, I am using a piece of cardboard with a hole cut in it... that is all the modification that is needed. Using hot, directional light is a learning experience all its own... from the shadows on the face to the lighting of the body, it all comes into play with direct light.

So go on down to Home Depot, pick up a couple of $25 lights (hey - they come with their own stands) and get to work. Learn to light, you will.

Sunday Concert

It's Sunday and time for some interesting music. Starting out with Gary Burton and Makoto Ozano doing a duet. The piece is by Samuel Barber and is a solo piano piece titled "Excursions."

Next up... "Afro Blue."

Had to go find John Coltrane's version. McCoy Tyners extended solo is magnificent as is Trane's. You will love this video, especially the shots of Elvin, there are so few around.

We end with McCoy playing the great Coltrane composition "Giant Steps." It was the first Trane tune I ever heard. Literally changed my life.

Some Things Are Just Too Precious

I wonder if she will give it back.

Tim Blair: "August 18 – the SMH’s Wendy Frew condemns wealth as a cause of global warming: Over-consumption is, literally, costing the earth … Every $100 spent on clothing generates 70 kilograms of greenhouse pollution … One of the main findings of the report, Consuming Australia, is that the more people earn, the more they spend.

August 21 – the SMH’s Wendy Frew wins a big cash prize:"

NAWWWWWWWW.................... That would be, you know, consistent with the crap she writes.

The Photographer as Director or Documentarian?

It's all in the context.

A photographer enters a scenario as an observer or participant. Usually one or the other. A reportage shooter takes the pictures presented by the reality of the situation. A participant creates an altered scenario to present a 'reality' that is contrived. The former is sometimes the purview of 'news' photographers and some fine art photographers. The latter is the world of advertising photographers and some fine art photographers. And, before the letters come, there are many intersections of the two.

A news photographer can choose a 'view' by framing, exposure, angle and more. An art shooter can do the same... frame a certain view and it can take on a whole different meaning. A photograph of a wounded marine in a moment introspection gives one pause. You wonder at his nobility, shrink a bit from the confrontation with someone who has given far more than you have even been asked to, and write your narrative in your brain. You write a narrative that reflects on your own view. That narrative can be changed by text, context, image title, and presentation. It can also be drawn from existing narratives that have made themselves at home in the confines of your perspective.

Context. A photograph conveys something we all understand... when we understand the context. Without any external context, we draw upon our own. As photographers we use tools for context... editing, light, composition, processing, cropping, presentation and titles. Take a photograph of something innocuous... a glance while eating a salad... make it black and white, gritty even, and give it a title: "Even while eating broccoli, the bastard hated her" - or something. It changes the whole meaning of the image to viewer as it was given external context that may not even represent the reality of the image. Want to make smokestack smoke look non-problematic... shoot it with front light. Process with less contrast. Want to show that same smoke as devastating to the environment? Ok, shoot it backlit with lots of contrast. Same smoke... different context... added by the photographer and his narrative.

Here is a review of an editorial / fine art photographer's 'take' on images of returning Iraq vets. Read it, and consider how often context is referred to... whether in the editing of the photographer or the narrative of the reviewer. I wonder if the person who reviewed this show actually looked at the images, or were they too ready to insert their context, construct it within the narrative that is 'politically correct' and write a political piece. I would have preferred a review of the images... but then, that is just me.

Nina Berman - Art - Review - New York Times: "Ms. Berman took this picture, which is in the solo show at Jen Bekman Gallery, on assignment for People magazine. It was meant to accompany an article that documented Mr. Ziegel’s recovery, culminating in his marriage to his childhood sweetheart. But the published portrait was a convivial shot of the whole wedding party. Maybe the image of the couple alone was judged to be too stark, the emotional interchange too ambiguous. Maybe they looked, separately and together, too alone.

“Marine Wedding,” the portrait’s title, was not Ms. Berman’s first encounter with wounded Iraq war veterans. She photographed several others beginning in 2003, and 20 of her portraits were published as a book, “Purple Hearts: Back From Iraq” (Trolley Books, 2004), with an introduction by Verlyn Klinkenborg, a member of the editorial board of The New York Times. These pictures, accompanied by printed interviews with the sitters, have been traveling the country, and 10 are now at Bekman."

The images are frank and spellbinding portraits, but where the NYT critic sees a political indictment, and seems almost giddy at times with a self-important agenda that puts the photographs into a tired, pre-designed narrative, I see powerful images of men who have been irrevocably changed. Forever. And the awkwardness of facing their changes while sitting in the comfort of my home, knowing they were willing to sacrifice this... and more... to allow me that privilege is at times overwhelming.

In these days of 24/7 coverage of underage sluts going to rehab, it is sometimes stunning to see the kind of people who sometimes are seemingly forgotten. These images will not be.

Hey, Hot Shot! » Blog Archive » Announcing the Summer 07 HHS Winners

Art Photography is always interesting to look at. You may not like it, or be confused by it, or simply love the image for reasons you cannot explain. But it is always worth looking at. The summer's winners at Hey Hot Shot run the gamut for me. Some I really am excited about, others I don't get at all, and some elicit only tepid response from me. I think that is as it should be, and I commend JB for another great presentation of images and photographers from all over.

Hey, Hot Shot! » Blog Archive » Announcing the Summer 07 HHS Winners: "Summer is coming to an end and it’s just about time for us to announce the winners of the Summer 2007 edition of Hey, Hot Shot! Drumroll, please… And, the winners are:
Dan Boardman
Afshin Dehkordi
Rachael Dunville
Jonathan Gitelson
Shuli Hallak
Beth Herzhaft
Gregory Krum
Kalpesh Lathigra
Ari Salomon
Willamain Somma

Congratulations, winners! Mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 12, which is the opening night of the Summer ‘07 Hey, Hot Shot! Showcase at the jb (from 6-8pm!) If you can’t make it then, be sure to check out the show which will be up September 13 - 16, 2007."

You can get links to each photographer at the site.

Gotta Love It

A Flickr Find

Emma
Originally uploaded by Nina Holma Photography

Nina Holma Photography in Australia. There are a lot of so-so shooters out there, and when I find someone on Flickr that I think deserves a bit more attention, we feature them here. Wonderful light and composition throughout. Enjoy.

Well... back up

One of the stupid ass third party widgets I had on here crashed the blog. Lost the weekend posts, but I will try to restore them. I like this template better anyway. Sorry folks... Web2.0 firms with no revenue crash and burn... what a surprise.

A Photoshop Tutorial for Fun

Actually, there are two. We shot Renae and Jim in Tempe. The water is not blue. Not even close. I had to do some serious retouching to make it work. I think it turned out well. This one is on YouTube...

This one is on Brightcove...
Interesting.

What a Wonderful Collection

Images! Some famous, some not. A fantastic collection of photos.

AFP's Photo Woes Continue

So photographers who fear that Ad agencies, designers, other photographers, magazine publishers and college kids doing their term papers now have to worry that News agencies will not only rip the image off, they will try to sell it through stock agencies as their own.

If you think that this is an anomaly, I submit that we are now only getting an insight into it because of the internet and the vast amount of citizen editors.

Confederate Yankee: Yet Again: AFP's Photo Woes Continue: "Fresh off of being caught trying to pass off unfired civilian ammunition as evidence of soldiers shooting into the home of an elderly Iraqi woman, the French news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) has been caught once again in a photography scandal involving the U.S. military, this time misidentifying a U.S. military photo taken by a member of the 173rd Airborne in Afghanistan last month as one of their own."

Another of my heroes....

gone. Max Roach was one of the first drummers my dad encouraged me to listen to when I started playing. At first I didn't appreciate it... we were busy with "Wipe Out" and such. A few years later I picked up a Roach album and couldn't believe what I heard. Sensitive where it called for it, and kidking ass where that was needed. Max Roach was one of the good ones out there, and the legacy he leaves is a strong one. See ya, Max. We'll miss you.

The Quartet.

A Peek Inside...

Mary Ellen Mark's Moleskine
Take a look at the Moleskines for an intimate view of artists brains.

Moleskine: "70 Moleskines by international artists, designers, architects, illustrators, and writers 4 exhibitions inside 4 London venues: Conran, Waterstones, Stanfords, Artwords Central London 9-22 October 2006 “Not to find one’s way in a city does not mean much. But to lose one’s way in a city As one loses one’s way in a forest Requires some schooling…” Walter Benjamin"

A Great Discussion...

... over at the Strobist Forum.

This one focuses on how to deal with the changes we are all seeing:

This quote I like from a proam user who nails it:

miwo76 said:
" The changing marketplace is making a complacent pro unmarketable - and new ways to market and sell your skills are needed."

That sounds about right.

Free today: Media Recovery

This is a nice program that helped me recover a CD and a Flash Card.
Today it is free... today. I think these GAOTD guys are great.

Giveaway of the Day - free licensed software daily » Elprime Media Recovery 1.5: "Elprime Media Recovery is the professional data recovery software for scratched, damaged or defective CD and DVD disks, USB flash drives, memory cards, floppy disks and other storage media. It uses an advanced data recovery technology to access and recover inaccessible files in Windows operating system. Elprime Media Recovery can recover all known file types and allows preview of recovered files too."

Competitors Everywhere... I guess...

I have been participating in two very interesting threads over at Strobist's Flickr Forum. There is discussion over pricing, new wannabees driving prices down and such and a smaller, but vocal group that are arguing that change in the business is inevitable, but that doesn't bode disaster. This was my post to yesterday's thread about the state of business (related to the John Harrington post I linked to recently.)

Well, this was interesting and great timing too. I went in to the office yesterday and had two client meetings. One was with a real-estate person who wanted to "inally get my site to the next level." He has a 'webguy' who is a friend and a good programmer, but not good in design and marketing at all. He realizes he needs that now. Price is not a big deal, he just needs it done. He spent a few hundred with his previous guy and ended up with a web site. he is spending a few thousand with me and will end up with a web site.

Mine will be better. It costs more. That's the way it is.

The second meeting was with a couple who have been looking for a wedding photographer. I showed them my work, portfolio and price packages and they told me they had been considering another guy who only charged $800 and gave them the CD.

I told them that sounded like a good deal to me. I wished them well. They had a strange look and they guy asked me if I was going to try to sell them my services. "What would make us pay you $3200 for nearly the same thing?" he asked.

"Oh, that's easy," I explained. "When I shoot a wedding, my first and only goal is to provide you with the best images that can be shot, to tell your story for generations to follow, and to produce the only thing you have at the end of a very expensive day. Foods gone, booze is gone, flowers die, cake is eaten, tuxes returned... you only have my pictures and I want them to make you smile, cry and want to share them for the rest of your lives. I take that responsibility very seriously. And I need to make the money that allows me to do that. The other guy wants to make 800 bucks as quickly as he can."

We talked a bit more and they left, telling me they had to think about some stuff and would let me know when they made a decision.

This morning an email and request to send info for their deposit.

"We thought about what you said and we agreed that we cannot afford to not use you."

Yeah, that's about right.

Competitors are everywhere if you look for them, but the biggest competitor we all face is that little voice that tells us it isn't our fault, it's the other guy, they did it to us, we can't compete with that guy, if only someone else would make it better for us, why can't things be fair, what does he think he's doing, why can't I catch a break....

Me to voice: Ahhhh, Shuddupp.....

Sooo... what the hell is this?

Ok, you may know what this is. If you do, would you share. If it is a scam, and I don't have any reason to think it is or isn't, it's damn well done.

Do You Care If It's Bad for the Profession? Quite Possibly - No.

In an excellent post about the state of the business, John Harrington tackles the challenge of telling someone who is not in the business that sound business rules and a business heritage is important. Some listen, many don't. And the ones who don't are changing the business. Change is not necessarily bad or good, it is simply change. Some will be hurt by the change and some will be lifted by it. There will be a sizeable group that wont be affected at all.

John makes some points and assumptions that are right on, but I think there are a few more things going on here as well. I will discuss after the jump here. Read the whole post at John's site.

Photo Business News & Forum: Do You Care If It's Bad for the Profession? Quite Possibly - No.: "Photographers are not day laborers, nor call girls. Yet, when a photographer accepts a WMFH job, they become, in effect, a day-laborer. They're paid for that work, and will never generate a dime from it again. When a photographer accepts an assignment that they're paid $150 for, that should be an assignment for $1,000, they are selling themselves short, and not recognizing the true cost of that assignment, and how they have given away their creative talents for a fraction of it's value.

When we say 'it's bad for the profession', what we're saying is a shortcut to how it's really bad for you, and that it'll hurt your friends as well. It's not a holier-than-thou attitude, it's sound counsel. You may know, deep down, that WMFH is bad for you, but you feel you have no other choice. You do. You can say no to the deal, or, better yet, negotiate the deal to a yes/win-win for both parties. Sure, some clients have such a long line of people saying yes to WMFH, that you have no bargaining power. Don't work for them. Don't work for people who don't value you beyond your eyeball and trigger-finger."

1. Lowering the business bar. It is being lowered you know. All around you. In lots of industries.

• Drummers are being replaced by drum machines.
  One of the more popular styles of music (rap) doesn't even use a 'drummer' - just a beat.
  
• I know a film composer who does amazing work on her electronic keyboard and Protools... cranking out some wonderful music that sounds like an orchestra, or flamenco band... no musicians needed
• There is a place (probably a dozen or so) where you can get a logo designed for $50 - and no, I am not linking to those types of sites.
• Need a brochure? No problem, dozens and dozens of free to nearly free sites exist where you can download a template for free to a couple of hundred bucks. Web sites too.
  
• Web 2.0 has delivered to us literally thousands of tools, widgets, apps, templates and technology that is absolutely free.

And that causes a cultural shift to get a toe-hold. Why pay for something when you can get it free? In a recent forum post on creating a portfolio to show your work, I witnessed dozens of people saying they use Flickr, it's free and who cares anyway. Uh... ok....

In my own world, Daniel and I have the PHOTOtool... and it isn't free. We have people tell us that it is under-priced and we have people who tell us they just use Shutterfly or Photoshelter cause they are free. Free. Does that make any sense to you? I cannot maintain servers, code, updates, marketing and customer service with "Free". If others can, great, but I fear there will come a time when the investor cash runs out and profit has to be shown. They will have to monetize anyway. (I am sure the two mentioned have ways of monetization, but that is their model, not ours. We focus on helping photographers maintain their business with online sales.) We still have 'professional' photographers who tell us they cannot afford $50 a month... Yeah, well your professional opinion of yourself may be a bit overblown. Or maybe you are shooting at such a moderate profit that you are right.

2. Lowering the art bar. Reality check. Have you really perused the online photo sharing sites? And click on some of the links to 'professional' photographers. You have? Then 'nuff said.

• Flickr has some wonderful images, the vast majority are simply snaps. Nothing wrong with that, but let's not start believing that it is a professional portfolio place.
• If your attitude about what makes a great shot is being made from visiting Flickr, you may have lowered your own expectations of excellence
• Self importance as a psychosis (yeah, this'll get me hate mail). Look - just cause you have a camera and a flash and a tripod and a Flickr site and 10 comments on a shot you did, doesn't mean you are ready. But in forums all over the net we see it all the time..."I've been asked to do 50 shots for my companies Annual Report... any suggestions on lighting, equipment, angles and composition? Please hurry.... shooting commences at noon."
• A general 'who cares' attitude about actually learning the craft. Just get a camera, stick a flash on a stand and 'chimp' it till it looks OK. There are those who even eschew the need for a meter, or tripod or... sheesh. It is amazing.

Look, I have kind of a unique view of what is going on. I own a company that hosts hundreds of photographers portfolios, I am a photographer and I am a designer that hires photographers. I see what is going on from a lot of points in the business sphere.

Recently I was asked to create a website for a company and they didn't need any photography as they had just had a professional do a lot of images. The pro charged them $2K, for a days worth of location shooting. Not bad. The images, however, were... uh, well.... they were shit. I spent hours in Photoshop trying to fix the crap that this 'professional' had foisted on this unsuspecting client.

3. Lowering the expectations overall.
Here's the quandry with a little back up. When I was starting out, decades ago, I spent probably 100K in the first two years for equipment and I wasn't the most well equipped commercial studio in town. Today, you can equip a good location shooter for under 20-25K... maybe way less.

So here is the real challenge. Try telling a kid who went to some lame ass photography school (and that includes universities) and now has a job working at Starbucks (while looking for a "photo job" that probably doesn't exist) that shooting a portrait for his buddies company for $400 is bad. That's more than he makes in a week... for an hour.

We can plead the case, as John has beautifully laid out, but it is within the parameter of "if I don't do this, I wont get $400... and I want a new lens." How would it sound? "If you do this job for only $400 then I wont get to do it for a grand or more." How does that play?

Cultural and socio-economic forces, backed by a dismal public education system that fosters a me-first, I want it now, if I want it it's OK - mentality makes the overall challenge more difficult. But I agree with John that we have to try.. for our industry and for the people who are affected by the professionalism that we espouse.

BTW... the image on this post was obtained free at Stock Exchange... just a bit of whimsical irony to think about, ya know.

Sunday Concert

With Joni Anderson. Oh, and you may recognize Harry Chapin on the left there.

She later changed her name to Joni Mitchell. Harry kept his name the same.
Big Yellow Taxi:

"Amelia" is one of my all time favorite songs. Here you will find a cover that is, well, beautiful. If you don't know the words... it still is lovely.

Everything on the "Hejira" album is simply exquisite.

Speaking of "Hejira" - here's a nice little cover.

"Coyote." Joni with the infamous backup band. Pat Metheny, Jaco Pastorius... Sheesh... that's a pretty solid group there, eh?

Finally: Allison Crowe doing the incredible "River".

Happy Sunday everyone. I'm gonna pull out my "Hejira" and "Hissing of Summer Lawns" CD's and play them for about the billionth time.

Editing: Kind of like Photoshop for Movies

You are gonna want to see/listen to this...

Especially if you are a commercial shooter, or want to be. Agree or not, it is a definite point of view from a heavyweight Creative Director. This is great insight.

Free Professional Legal Documents

via: Lifehacker. Could be quite valuable as a resource.

Free Professional Legal Documents | Downloadable Forms, Certificates, Affidavits, Agreements, Leases, Policies, Waivers, Wills: "Over 300 free professional legal documents and forms available to download as Microsoft Word documents (.doc) ready for you to print."

Don't Worry, Just Focus. Please.

Chase delivers a sharply worded intervention. I agree totally and have been saying so for years. I see it everywhere... whining and whimpering about pricing, competition and the seemingly endless legions of amateurs "lowering prices".

And yet, PDN is thicker than ever, pricing for gear keeps going up (not a sign of a failing industry) and there are more and more incredible images being made daily.

What is so interesting to me is how many photographers seem frozen and uninterested in the changing landscape. I wonder at how many shooters end up spending thousands on Flash only websites and then wonder why no one is finding them. How many pros don't have blogs, or Flickr's or participate in forums... or do anything that would be stepping into the new business fracas. In my town I offered a free seminar on the many ways to get visitors and be viral... sort of a 'welcome to Web 2.0 for Photogs'. I had only 1 person say they would be interested.

However, many of the photogs they are worried about are doing the things that are distinctly 2007... viral marketing, social networks, search friendly sites, blogs, and more. But, alas, it is so much easier to simply stand in one place and complain. Read the whole thing...

Chase Jarvis Blog: Don't Worry, Just Focus. Please.: "Please don't take this too harshly: Being attuned to market trends in our industry is one thing (something I advocate and something that's crucial to good business), but to think that the industry is dying at the hands of point and shoot amateurs is straight up wack and completely baseless."

This is too good to miss..

When a company becomes this arrogant, this overwhelmingly infatuated with their overblown self image, it is great to see someone with their feet on the ground take a stand. If I were living in Austrailia, I would never even step foot in one of those bookstores.

And the guy who penned the letter should be looking for a job today if he did it on his own. And, if it were my company, the bastard would be needin' a good attoorneee... ya know!

The Sydney Morning Herald Blogs: Entertainment: "The first thing I would say to you is that arrogance of the kind penned by you in your letter of 30 July is an unenviable trait in any officer of any company, no matter how important that individual thinks himself or his company, no matter how dominant that company may be in its market sector. Business has a strange habit of moving in cycles: today's villain may be tomorrow's hero. It is quite possible to part from a business relationship in a pleasant way leaving the door open for future engagement. Sadly, in this case, you have slammed and bolted it."

PageRanking... an examination

This is an interesting take on Page Ranking and where it is in the end actually a commercial lead-in for a product (see bottom link) the points made are cogent, the research is well presented. While I am not sure about the product (which I will be examining closely this week) I do agree with the logic presented. If you want to rank higher and have it mean something, you must have incoming links from other high ranking sites. That is something I preach to every client and in every seminar I do. Sometimes to get those sites it is necessary to link out to them.

Now that is hard to do when you have a site that you cannot manage yourself. If everytime you want to add a reciprocal link from your site to get a good one back in you have to call your 'webguy/gal" you will eventually give up or lose interest. Make sure you can manage your site, and if you can't get a blog going where you can easily do it.

I do think that PageRank matters but it has to be a quality backed PR, not just numbers.

Does PageRank really matter for ranking in Google?: "Now, generally speaking, the sites with higher PageRank are focusing on the keywords in their links, which is why (on average) higher PageRank sites are holding the top positions. But this is not always the case. As I said, about one out of three ranking sites have a lower PageRank than the sites they are out-ranking.

So does PageRank matter? No, not really. What matters is that you get quality links from other sites that contain the keywords you want to rank for. Do that, and you might just find your site outranking the big boys, too."

Shipping as a revenue source

Seth points out a problem that we see all the time with clients. Shipping costs. What to do about them.

It is very complex when you have to figure size, weight, distance, time and method... on the fly and instantly. Easy for the big guys like Fed-X - that is what they do. Much harder for the smaller guy. Our first solution had always been... free shipping or single shipping charge period.

Three examples come to mind:

1. Client sells very small units (1 oz, 1.5 oz) types of very, very expensive creams. What to charge for shipping? Our feeling is simple. Nothing. If someone is spending $125 for this small thing, pick up the $3 it takes to ship it.

2. We have a client on the PHOTOtool who was very indignant with me once when he found that it doesn't have a dynamic shipping fee tool. We allow 3 units based on total of the sale. His point was that he had just sold 24 30x60 prints and there was no way to recover the shipping. I asked him what he had charged for the prints and he asnwered $400 per. That's 24 times $400... and the shipping was $56. Really... "you just made nearly 10 grand and you are calling me to recoup fitty bucks?" He was quiet then laughed and admitted he hadn't even really thought about it that way. He comped the shipping to the client. Yeah, that's what I would have done.

3. One of our photographers was very upset that he wasn't able to have total control of the shipping. He complained that no one wanted to pay for a 4x6 - one 4x6 - and then pay a dollar for shipping. He was only charging $2 per print. I told him to experiment with this: All prints are 2 for one with a 3 print minimum for $12... and shipping is free. He tripled his sales almost overnight. Figuring that he was getting his prints at 12 cents a piece... that seemed about right to me as well.

Shipping says more about your companies relationship to customers than a sincere reflection of business charges. Of course if the client wants it shipped overseas or overnight simply add a premium and be done with it.

Seth's Blog: "Shipping and handling charges have always been deceitful. Storefront merchants rarely charge 'for the little hangtags' or add a 'mannikin surcharge'. When direct mail was new, sellers tried to persuade buyers that the prices were just as good as at the local store--and they segmented S&H as a way of comparing it to the hassle of driving over. When the shipping and handling for an order was $1 or 2, this wasn't such a big deal."

Selling Your Photography Online on Squidoo

Finally got the Squidoo up. I will have more every week or so for a while. It will be where I introduce the book on SE for Photographers and Designers.

Selling Your Photography Online on Squidoo: "There are many ways for photographers to create income from their work. This Lens will explore some of the ways to sell images, but also how to attract clients to your site to purchase prints. Along the way we will touch on digital photography tips, Photoshop tips, marketing strategies and even ideas for creating more work for you fledgling online print business."

Here is a gal who is very quick on her feet...

... and good with words.
This game show host is very distracted by the endowed contestant.

On a more serious note, Megavideo.com is taking on YouTube. Should be interesting.

Are you selling online? Would you like to?

This is a good set of ideas and links. Creating multiple sources of income can be very powerful folks. Whether you are a photographer, designer or a creative of any kind, there are certainly ways to monetize yours or someone else's products.

Blogs as Stores: A Comprehensive Overview of Ecommerce Solutions for Bloggers: TypePad Hacks: "This year, that number is more like 80% and I've grossed more in the first six months of 2007 than I made in all of 2006. So, I think it's safe to say that selling services and products with TypePad is worth talking about. Some of my income has come from custom template design and some of it has come from selling artwork. Both businesses have been quite successful, and both have reached a point where I no longer need to actively seek work in any way other than trying to post new content on my blogs whenever I have a little down time. Compared to the income I've received from advertising (perhaps $100 total in all the years I've been blogging), the money I make selling goods and services seems a much better way to monetize a blog."

Yes, I Love My Job

Every once in a while I realize how lucky I am to be able to do what I love. Design, photography, art and music. Ahhhh...

I had Briana come over so I could try a few things I had been wanting to do. Close backgrounds, striplight main lighting, off axis umbrellas with lots of fill and such. She was a fantastic subject and worked very hard. You can see more of this work at the Lighting-Essentials site.

I video taped the session and then did screen movies of some Photoshop work on 6 of the images. I am going to offer it as a premium free addon to the Lighting Essentials 1 DVD. The DVD is reality style and is very au-natural... not a ton of editing, just the shoot and some voice over.

I am hoping this free premium will open some eyes as to how a photoshoot unfolds. And the fun of seeing the shoot, the images, the Photoshop work and the final images is kinda cool. Ya know?

The shot above is the final of a shot we did with one umbrella, and some creative Photoshop work to indicate a spotlight effect. Visit the site for more images.

Be Aware. Be Safe.

Stranger danger ala a Toyota commercial. Well done.

Be still my heart...

Oooohhhh... I want one of these. No, actually I want two of these. I do. I do.

Sunday Concert: Johnny...

Mathis. I used to imagine I could sing like him when I was a kid. I tried. Really, I did. I failed. No one can sing like Johnny Mathis. If you haven't heard him in a while, chances are it will bring a smile and hopefully some nice memories:

Johnny and Gladys: Sublime.

(I know I've said this before... but I would love to have been a Pip just to stand and hear Gladys sing night after night.)
Next up... Johnny and Barbara.

My dad's favorite song. Hey, I miss you pop.

Next week a cool surprise. Have a great Sunday.

Fashion Can Be Fun Too

... and laughter can be contagious. Probably not a portfolio moment for this model.

So... It's Design Over Music?

This is really interesting. I have said for several years that when the RIAA shut down Napster, they actually shut themselves down... but were just to Effing Stooopid to know it. I hate to see I was right. Personally buy very little music these days... Internet radio, XM, and the new HD Radio gives me most of what I need. And I love music. So the design of the shirt trumps the sale of the CD... dang. Read the whole thing.

Cover story: 'Off the record' by Robert Sandall | Prospect Magazine August 2007 issue 137: "There is a story doing the rounds in the US that says a lot about the state of the music business. It concerns a young rock band who decided to stop selling their CDs at concerts. Selling CDs has, for many years, been a good way for an act to reclaim the margin that would otherwise have been snaffled by a retailer. But it made no sense to this band once they discovered that by selling CDs for $10 they were cannibalising sales of their $20 T-shirts.

There are two points to note here. First, that a simple garment with a logo stamped across it, probably manufactured for pennies in a third-world sweatshop, now costs twice as much as an album of digitally pristine, highly wrought music recorded in a state of the art western studio. Second, most bands, however successful, now make their money from live work and the merchandising opportunities that go with it, rather than from recordings."

Smashing Magazine Smashes it Again

These Smashing Magazine guys have got to be having a ball. This is a very cool thing they have done here. Go to the site and download 5 of their most content rich posts as PDF files. They have all the links working and the resource is incredibly valuable.

I will have more to say about this, as I think it is a super smart idea that we all can learn from.

Hey, Smashing folks... you guys really do rock!

FormatPixel has a nice app...

I think they may have something here. The beta editor is very smooth and seems to work for me very well. Check this out, and let me know if there are any browser issues.

Webb Alert: Worth a Look

Yeah, call me a whacko, but I never cared all that much for Rocketboom and it's weird and oh-so-public tantrum breakdown has left it... well, I haven't heard much about them lately.

So along comes this new endeavor (Flash movies changin' the world, baby), and it merits a looksee. Only two episodes as of now, but I liked what I saw so far. My complaints are in the slightly ValleyGirl approach from someone who is obviously brighter than her delivery tone, and the 'talking head' venue which will tend to get stale... at least to this viewer.

Pluses are plenty. Informative, timely and well researched, WebbAlert should have a chance at the space left empty for far too long.

You say tomauto - I say oranges...

As usual, Rick is off shopping. Returning with photographic delights as usual. You gotta follow along with this exceptional "small market" photographer as he posts nearly daily excursions into West Virginia.

On Location With Rick Lee: "Because Thursday night is grocery night!"

Borghetti: Photographers Site

I love the clean design here. Very photographic in presentation. Starts out with images... you have to click to the contact. Nice use of a freeware flash slideshow, and the muted colors let the images own the screen.

I wish he had some text for SE's though. He has absolutely no ranking in Google. His work should be seen, but no one will find it. Two small paragraphs below the image and in a slightly different shade would make all the difference. Even though he has keywords and such, the fact that they are not repeated on the page renders them useless.

Imagery is well done, clean and evocative. Nice use of light as a sculpting tool and as a sub-hero as well. I think his work is fresh and the presentation is muted and easy to navigate.

Great work, Mr. Borghetti.

UPDATE: Here is a link to the Pro version of Airtight Interactive's "Simpleviewer" - the flash tool used in Mr. Borghetti's site.

This Explains so Much...

My wife (a truly gifted teacher who gave up and retired...) had this happen more times than you could imagine. Sometimes dozens of cases per year. So when the kid can't figure change, cannot answer a phone or take a message and becomes unemployable... you now know who to blame. Yep - them damn teachers should grow up and become men - err, uh or women... there is no reason at all to expect anything from the kids. Dammit, it's America and the Gubment gonna take care of everyone... If they fail they can blame it on 'the man' or corporations or Bush or the school or the gangs or the - ah, hell... anyone but themselves.

Now where would they get such a notion?

A Teacher Grows Disillusioned After a ‘Fail’ Becomes a ‘Pass’ - New York Times: "Mr. Lampros, disgusted, did not come to school the next two days. Miss Fernandez meanwhile took the test and scored a 66, which still left her far short of a 65 average for the semester. Nonetheless, Mr. Arocho tried to enter a passing mark for her. When he had to relent after objections by the teachers’ union representative, Mr. Lampros was allowed to put in the failing grade. Ms. Geiger promptly reversed it.

Samantha Fernandez, Indira’s mother, spoke on her behalf. “My daughter earned everything she got,” she said. Of Mr. Lampros, she said, “He needs to grow up and be a man.”"

Design Geek Stuff Here: Proceed with Caution

I just love Smashing Magazine. This is such a cool post for design wonks and anyone who likes to see some exciting new design approaches to the mundane process of data display. You should look as soon as possible in case Elton has the internet shut down tomorrow or something. I know, I know... this isn't how data is 'sposed' to be shown... this is not stuck in the past. This is... gasp... new and different. Good God... EJ may be right. Subversive modernists!

Data Visualization: Modern Approaches: "Data presentation can be both beautiful, elegant and descriptive. There is a variety of conventional ways to visualize data - tables, histograms, pie charts and bar graphs are being used every day, in every project and on every possible occasion. However, to convey a message to your readers effectively, sometimes you need more than just a simple pie chart of your results."

Uhh... sorry, just took a pill and feel a lot better.

Leaders to Luddites: The Journey Snags Another

So the one time cultural leader, iconic musician Elton John wants to close down the internet. He has his reasons... music today is not as good as music from the past, good music has been limited, people don't talk to each other... Yeah, Elton. I remember when I got my Richie Valenz album way back in the late fifties. My pops said the exact same thing. (And personally, I don't care much for current pop music, listening mostly to jazz, modern classical and film score... but I try to refrain from making moronic statements that harken the remembrances of hurts past.)

Not that anyone would listen to this fool, but it really interests me when people have no sense of irony or perspective on their perceived self importance. (I wonder how many ISP's are having conniptions over their soon forced demise because Elton John has decreed the internet must go.) Probably, err, none.

The Sun Online - News: Why we must close the net: "POP legend Sir Elton John wants the internet CLOSED DOWN.

Never one to keep his opinions to himself, the Rocket Man has waded into cyberspace with all guns blazing.

He claims it is destroying good music, saying: “The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff."

Do You Blog? Do You Wanna?

Darren has started a great project over at his problogger site. If you are a blogger, it is not too late to jump in and start the process in real time.

31 Days to Building a Better Blog - 2007: "This year my posts will have a slightly different focus than last time we ran this project. Over this time I want to post 31 simple and practical tips - each with a task associated with them (homework). The tips will not be massive posts that will take you hours to reader and apply - rather they’ll be short, sharp tips that hopefully you’ll be able to spend a few minutes reading and then 10 or so minutes doing something about."