Ouch!!!!

Some things are just common sense. And sometimes common sense is totally uncommon. This could leave a mark... ya know.

Avisualsociety : Here’s the dilemma and the strength of photography. It’s the easiest medium in which to be competent. But, it’s the hardest medium in which to have persona: "2. If you are a photographer, and you get a meeting with an agent (especially on a referral), try not to be late. Do not call after you are supposed to be there to say you are running 40 minutes late. Try and let them know beforehand. If you re-schedule, do not turn up 20 minutes late for that one (more so if you re-schedule for later the same day). Lastly, do not cite the excuse ”I was hanging out with some friends” as your excuse for being late."

Taking a Blog from Zero to Assignments

I hear it so often... "I don't want to have one of those blog things. I don't understand them and I just don't have time." Well... I guess that is OK then, but just keep in mind that some are finding their fame - and fortune - by doing something in a style that becomes a brand. Are there others... yes, post coming soon.

The Sartorialist's Street Style: "Scott Schuman, who otherwise goes by the name The Sartorialist, is something of a fashion phenomenon. Schumann is a 15-year-old veteran of the fashion industry with a background in sales and marketing in high-end women's clothing. After closing his own showroom shortly after 9/11, he began to focus more on photography. As he writes in his blog, sartorialist.com, 'I didn't want to become a 'fashion photographer' but I knew somehow that my loves of fashion and photography would eventually merge. I just never guessed that it would be in the form of a blog.'"

WTJ meets BP - not an interview to miss

This is fun.

whats the jackanory ?: "The BP has always been a personal favorite of the Jackanory but he is not sure how to proceed, what's the BP's angle, what does the BP hope to gain by such an exchange, he has his own blog after all. The Jackanory doesn't know who the BP is, he swears and this interaction is to be conducted via email, anonymously of course.

Anyways the Jackanory thought it could be one of his mates winding him up, there is no email address on the BP site after all. Back comes an email 'pick a number 1-10' okey dokey number 9 says the Jackanory like 'El Nino' himself Fernando Torres trying to be all smart and clever.

'Check out the BP blog' comes the reply - well there you have it the number 9 in all its glory up front and posted (it has since been removed). Man this is clandestine stuff, must of been how Hoffman and Redford felt when they were dealing with Deep Throat.

So okay the Jackanory is in, it is legit and if nothing the Jackanory will get a few extra hits. Man the Jackanory loves that traffic juice this could be something especially if we can pull it off in the third person."

Read the whole thing.

Cell Phones starting to go flat rate.

Pricing Models can change all the time. Something to think about.

Amazon Current's Blog: All About the Benjamins: Cell Carriers Offer $100 Flat Rate Plans Permalink: "Verizon came out swinging first with its $99.99 single-line, flat-rate voice plan on Tuesday, which then charges $1.99 per MB of data. Verizon's also offering a Select $119.99 flat rate plan that adds unlimited messaging as well as a Premium plan at $139.99 per month that adds unlimited data as well as a V Cast VPak subscription (for accessing video). Additionally, you can get family plan versions of these three single-user plans starting at $199.98 for the basic, $229.98 for the Select, and $269.98 for the Premium (each family plan covers two lines, with additional charges for more lines)."

Seth on marketing in down times

I really think this whole 'po us, we in a recession' talk is more hype than substance, but it does take its toll when the idiots in the MSM keep harpin' it over and over. They have predicted seven of the last two recessions, so you can listen to them or not...

Anyway, the points that Seth makes in this unfortunately named post are very good. (I think the more we buck the flow, the better it would be to stem it, but acquiescing to the doomed is not my way... it just isn't.) I think it is something for us to think about. How to maximize the value of design and photography to a point that we can differentiate it clearly - and make it even more important to get the best of both instead of settling for cheap, crappy work. When money gets tight, maybe we have to work even harder to show that paying for a few great works is actually cheaper than paying a little for a lot of crap. Get your thinking caps on... how we gonna do this? I know we can...

Seth's Blog: Marketing in a recession: "Starbucks was the indulgence of a confident person happy to blow $4 on a cup of coffee. Starbucks can become the small indulgence for the person who just traded down to a small rented apartment.

The challenge for marketers is to figure out how to change the story they are living so that their customers can change the story they tell themselves. What you make, where you make it, who makes it, how it's priced and sold and ... it all adds up to a perception. If you change these elements the story will change too."

Check Out This Video at The Imagist

If you like fashion and fashion models, you will really love "The Imagist" and his blog. Talk about the inside of the industry... sheesh. I find the blog a fun read and really do get to see some stuff that may not be easily accessible to us in the hinterlands.

The video on this page is case in point. You will really enjoy it.

LOL... still good...

OK... it has been linked to about a million times, but damn... it still is funny.

The OnLinePhotographer's Reviews of Famous Photographers.

Do not attempt to eat or drink while reading the post.

"Turning an Ocean Liner Around in a Bathtub"

Sometimes we find ourselves in places that are comfortable, not safe necessarily, but comfortable. We become united with the tools, technique becomes easy, and the results are perfect. Time after time. Hell, that is what commercial photography is all about... a home freekin' run at every bat.

And that is as it should be. We work damn hard to get to that point. And we spend a lot of money. And we spend a lot of time... sometimes so much that things, and people, that were important get shorted. Sometimes we pay a price.

And then we start down a new path... one that is less familiar, but oh so much fun. The joy becomes so intense we want to walk there everyday. It is a dangerous, lush path of creativity. Where in one area home runs are a daily occurence, on this new path we have to work hard for them. We smile at base hits... and are overjoyed when one gets hit out of the park.

OK... that's it on the baseball analogy, but you get my point. Thomas Broening is finding his way on a new path. I love the new work as much as his commercial work, but for different reasons. The solid commercial work is excellent, the new stuff a little raw and personal and intimate. We see things through his eyes, but he allows us to bring so much of our own to each image.


PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS BROENING

"And then sometimes you make photographs and you are not sure what to make of them.

The truth is I am not sure how to make sense of all of this and it feels alot like trying to turn an ocean liner around in a bathtub."

Take a moment to see this growing body of work and let him know what you think.

Lighting Essentials Magazine: A Place for Photographers

Lighting Essentials Magazine Launches Today, February 22, 2008. Come take a look and let us know what you want to see! We are currently looking for authors and contributors.

Seth's Blog: Advice for real estate agents (Read Photographers as well)

After doing a lot of consulting with a couple of photographers who are starting to really get it - the "it" that things have changed, are never going back, but that there are definite ways to go forward - along comes this remarkable little post by Seth. He could be talking to photographers you know. The comfortable ones are no longer comfortable. The beginners have no baggage - good or bad - and the older ones are just biding their time so to speak. Not all, but too many. Read this... there is a lot of info for photographers to consider as well.

Seth's Blog: Advice for real estate agents (quit now!): "I had the good fortune to speak to a large gathering of real estate agents last week. Here’s my best advice (everyone knows an agent or two, so feel free to forward this along).

Plan A: You should quit selling real estate.

I’m serious.

Quit being an agent. Get a job doing something else.

Some of you have been waiting to hear that. My pleasure.

...

Now, if you’re still with me, you’ll be glad to know that the competition for attention just got smaller. The agents who built their business on low interest rates, easy money and speculation (the order takers) have left the building.

The ones that are left, that’s you, can consider Plan B:

If you’re not going to be able to make a living by taking orders, by selling houses the way everyone else does, by using the never-ending rise in real estate prices to make sales, then what are you going to do? Whining is not an option.

In fact, I think this is an extraordinary opportunity for you.

Without a frenzy, without short-term competition, you can actually build assets that will pay off for the long run. I have two in mind:"

Keep going: There is more... much more.

Mighty Imaging Ver 2 is Live

Mighty Imaging (Peter and Stephanie) have launched the new site I designed for them. We went for a much more open site, and left the articles and such for the Blog and Special Reports.

Mighty Imaging does large scale printing on a LightJet and Giclee printers. Their prices are remarkable, and the quality is really amazing. They can also turn that order around in just a day and get that incredible 16x20 in your hands in no time at all.

I am proud to have worked with them and now we will focus on creating more of a presence for them online. If you need large prints (16x20 to the size of a wall... check out their pricing or give Stephanie a call at 602 977 1234. Tell 'em you saw it here.

Updated Workshop Schedule

I love teaching the seminars, and it is the focus of a lot of what I am doing these days. I want to expand and do even more to educate. I was telling a friend last night that after doing these for nearly two years, I have been able to look back and see the results that are produced when students who take the workshop apply what they learn. I realize something pretty cool... I can teach anyone how to make better pictures through better lighting.


Tutorial on Fill Flash up at Lighting Essentials

I have had professionals and beginners in the same class and both learned how to do what they were doing even better. But the most fun is when I have someone who is really passionate about images and wants to make better and better image but haven't had the hands on experience that can teach them. I work with them in real life situations with real people and models and they do it. So we tell them, show them and then make them do it. Aural, visual and kinesthetic learning. It takes. They keep it and they use it.

I have added Texas and Central Texas to the current schedule:

Workshops:

Phoenix, AZ:
March 22, 2008

Detroit, MI:
April 6, 2008

Tucson, AZ
April 12, 2008

Baltimore, MD:
April 19, 2008
New York, NY:
April 20, 2008

Mexico
(Rocky Point)
April 27 - 28 - 29, 2008

Santa Clara, CA
May 4, 2008

St. Petersburg / Tampa, FL
May 17 - 18, 2008

Houston, Texas
June 7, 2008

College Station, Texas
June 8, 2008

Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 21, 2008

If you are interested in hosting a seminar in your neck of the woods, let me know.

Jim Goldstein on Photo Contests and Sharing Sites

After being shocked at the Facebook TOS, I guess we are just getting numb to it. Sheesh....

Landscape Photography and Nature Photography by Jim M. Goldstein - JMG-Galleries - How The Rights To Your Photo Are Being HijackedThrough Photo Contests & Social Media: "One of the most underhanded tactics sweeping the online and publishing world is the hijacking of photo rights through inequitable terms buried in the fine print of legalese for contests and web sites. The perpetrators will no doubt surprise you, they include the likes of Facebook, National Geographic + PDN, Popular Photo, and more.

This issue is not a new one and has reared its ugly head in the past on other photo sharing sites, but now this tactic is becoming increasingly common with major players. Offending words such as perpetual, royalty-free license and irrevocable are being introduced to hijack the rights to photographs of well intended photographers looking to play the odds to have their work recognized in a contest or just to simply share with friends.

So what does this mean? It means companies, that used to pay for quality photography to fill the pages of their publications, are now taking advantage of well intentioned photographers to develop royalty-free photo libraries they now can tap to fill the pages of their publication or place in promotional advertisements."

An Important List of Resources

This is kind of cool. We are mostly freelancers, and here is a great list about being in business. It is a list of great resources. All for free... gotta love that.

eMoms at Home - The Internet Business Blog for Work at Home Moms & Dads: "So let’s say you’ve made the decision to start a business, or maybe you have even been in business for a while. I have found that the majority of home-based entrepreneurs I know and have met online have no idea how many free resources are out there to help you start or grow your business.

While I have nothing against paid help - and have paid for help in the past (and was glad I did!), the following resources are greatly under-used, in my humble opinion. So whether you’re just dreaming of business plans or have years of experience under your belt, the following links can help you run a better business:"

Read the whole list and check some of these great sites.

Sometimes You Just Know It's Cool

From the way it feels... or looks and handles. Or the way it fits your hand. You may not be a designer, but you just know. Sometimes great design simply jumps out at you. It appears along a line of boring same-0l's and pulls your eye like a laser. This great little blog is all about design and the common things we all use. I would love to see one on portfolios some time. In the meantime, I think we can glean some great presentation ideas from stuff like this.

About The Dieline

TheDieline.com was founded by Andrew Gibbs, a senior packaging designer in Southern California. “I started The Dieline because as a packaging designer, I wanted a resource where I could go to see the latest design trends and styles. When he realized something like that didn’t exist, The Dieline was born.” The Dieline was launched in January of 2007, and has quickly become the web’s leading packaging design blog. “Product packaging not only secures and protects a product, it is the direct link between the brand and the consumer. It is what determines if a product will be a success or failure. Packaging plays a pivotal role in influencing a consumer’s perception of the brand and product.” TheDieline.com defines good packaging and is the ultimate resource for packaging designers in the field.

Enjoy.

How to Get That Portfolio Finished...

Take out a contract with yourself. Involve your friends and loved ones. Get it done.

OK... I don't have a clue if it will help us all get off our collective backsides and actually finish the projects that are so important. But, hey... it couldn't hurt. Ya know...

This picture is so fake. Briana is way too short to play ball...

This picture is so fake. Briana is way too short to play ball...
Originally uploaded by Evan Romine

Evan caught this just right. The guys are flexed in the feet so they are going up or at the apogee. Briana looks great in the middle there. This shot came about when Briana said she brought a bikini and we decided to see what we could get in that location. I asked the guys if they would mind taking some shots of Briana jumping with them. They said fine... who knew?

This is the kind of stuff we do at the workshop. This is a single strobe shot with daylight mixed and it works really well and doesn't look overly lit or harsh.

Nice work, Evan.

Workshops / Seminars

My workshops are a total blast and it is what I want to do. I have worked and reworked them to make them more fluid while also being more structured. I have watched beginners and solid pro's come in and learn to light. Learn to see light, manipulate it, bend it and make it their own.

The photography gets better... the confidence goes up. And I use live people for models. Actually, I use models. Its a win-win situation for everyone. Models get pix and the chance to meet photographers. Photographers get pix and a chance to work with a model. And everyone learns more about everything related to the business.

Here is my Schedule so far:

Workshops:

Phoenix, AZ:
March 22, 2008

Detroit, MI:
April 6, 2008

Baltimore, MD: Full
April 19, 2008
New York, NY: Full
April 20, 2008

Mexico
(Rocky Point)
April 27 - 28 - 29, 2008

Santa Clara, CA: Filling Fast
May 4, 2008

St. Petersburg / Tampa, FL
May 17 - 18, 2008

Houston, Texas
June 7, 2008

Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 21, 2008

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day! It is the day of chocolate and roses and promises... oh, and a crapload of cards...
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

It's Valentines Day. I hope everyone remembered and got the flowers and the cards and the chocolate and the champagne and the... well, you get the idea.

Announcing a New Venture

I have been so busy lately for a bunch of reasons, but this one is taking some more of my time. I wanted a magazine type site for the www.lighting-essentials.com and I finally have it. Thanks to a great WordPress theme called Gridline Magazine, I now have what I wanted all along.

It is taking quite a bit of time as WordPress is a new tool for me. May I say I love it. You can preview the new Lighting Essentials Magazine here. I will announce it on the site later this week.

Denis Rouvre Rocks... He Just Does...

This morning on a forum a I followed a link and found Denis Rouvre's incredible images. I had been vaguely aware of him from reading about his "automation" shoots where he lets people photograph themselves. I hadn't seen that much of his work.

I have visited the site three times in the last 2 hours. I just love looking at his pictures. Simplicity and classic light, with amazing composition and style. His use of normal and slightly wide lenses give the shots an immediacy and "in your face" POV that just pulls you into the frame.

You have to see his work... what an inspiration to those of us who do portraiture.

Ground Glass on Mentors: The Power of a Teacher

This is quite a nice post on mentorship and the meaning of teaching. I recommend you read it as soon as possible.

Joel Sternfeld on Robert Frank « Ground Glass: "I remember with perfect clarity the day he brought Frank’s book to class and told us how he used to sleep with it every night and return to its pages over and over to decode its secrets. So reading his essay, I recognized the emotion in Joel’s voice about being present for the last printing of The Americans under Mr. Frank’s supervision. It must be pretty incredible to realize you have accomplished your dream and reached the level of your mentor. To me, American Prospects sits shoulder to shoulder with The Americans as a seminal photographic body of work. The same way Joel poured of Robert Franks images, countless numbers of photographers have obsessed over his images. What makes photography a wonderful medium, is that when you see Joel’s photo’s, Frank is there, embedded in the the Sternfeld photographic language. But Joel’s vision is also his own."

When I was in music school, I had the opportunity to work with an egomaniacal jerk who felt totally intimidated by any one who didn't regard him as a compositional god. He wasn't, so I didn't. And seeing as he was chair of the Music Dept., it really caused a PIA. A wonderful man, and quite a good composer, named David Cohen let me study composition independently. While our compositional styles were incredibly at odds, it didn't prohibit him from the encouragement and friendship. I didn't write music like his, but he wanted me to write music like me. It was an incredible 2 years and we remained friends for many years after.

I remember he would kind of twist his head, get that impish grin and ask me..."Is that what you wanted? Is that what you hear in your head?" We would be working on the score and he would leap to the piano and play a few bars... then look at me and force me to come to terms with, and defend what I had written. The guy was uncanny in picking some of the passages that had given me fits, so the challenges were uncomfortable, heated and, in the end they made me push harder and harder to be sure of what I had written.

I have always tried to be like David when I teach. I don't want photographers to shoot like me. I want them to shoot like them. Support and encouragement toward developing a style that is unique is so much more important than sitting as a guru that knows 'the way.' I distrust anyone who tells me that they know 'the way.'

New York Times on Girly Boys

You know, I kind of feel bad for young ladies these days. Boys are wimps for the most part... socially stunted from a short but full life of video games and role models who are simpering whiners. But it looks like this phenomena has finally reached the point of physicality. What a crazy world this is when sickly becomes a fashion statement. Oh well, I guess it is a sign of the times.

The Vanishing Point - New York Times: "Then a funny thing happened. The models were also downsized. Where the masculine ideal of as recently as 2000 was a buff 6-footer with six-pack abs, the man of the moment is an urchin, a wraith or an underfed runt."

Creativity Contest at Fresh Peel

Looks like it could be fun.

:: The Marketing Fresh Peel :: Creativity Contest:
"All you have to do is show us what creativity means to you in a digital photograph. Entries will be judged on creativity.

How to Enter

1. Take a photo showing what creativity means to you.
2. Upload it to your Flickr account. (Open an account if you don’t already have one. It’s free!)
3. Join the Flickr the Fresh Peel: Creativity Contest group.
4. Send your creativity photo to the Fresh Peel: Creativity group.
5. Tell your friends to vote for you when the time comes!
6. That’s it!"

3 Day Photography Lighting Workshop in Mexico

I am really excited about where the workshops are headed. I am going to Florida, Detroit, Nova Scotia, Baltimore, New York... even Texas.
And this is my first multi-day workshop in Mexico.

Rocky Point (Puerto Peñasco), Mexico April 27, 28, 29, 2008 (Las Palmas)

Can you believe this!!!!
Beach, incredible surroundings, luxury at an amazingly affordable price. We are going south of the border to conduct a 3-day workshop on the beach and around the little town of Puerto Peñasco. Structured workshops and free shooting time provided.

SIGNUP FORM HERE (NOTE: if the signup form has no submit button, the workshop is full.) It is currently open and ready for enrollment.

We would like to limit it to 15 participants for this workshop. The fee is $325 for the workshop and there are great prices for the rooms there as well.

Included: The workshop will include the Lighting Essentials DVD and Photoshop DVD as well as a Workbook. There will be plenty of time for personal shooting as well as team shooting with the models. The workshop will be broken into three parts.

Sunday a meetup at the resort: Portfolio sharing, a creative workshop with workflow for shooting discussed. In addition we will meet the models and each other and prepare for the next 2 days.

Monday starts with basic lighting fundamentals part of the workshop. From headshots to group shots you will explore many ways to control light and use studio lights as well as small flash techniques that are amazing. After a late lunch, team shooting will find you with models and a team to help, rotating models and teams will keep everything fresh and fun. Meetup on the beach as the sunset approaches for shooting sunset model shots.

After dinner discussion and image review from the day. Location techniques discussed

Tuesday is location with models in the field. We look at natural light and how to augment it. We will be all over the resort and in the town so the possiblities for images is limitless. I will be working with each of you to develop location skills and lighting tricks to save you time and get the shots you want to get...everytime. Free shoot time and demonstrations for those interested. Back to beach for beach shoot and another sunset model shoot.

After dinner wrapup with a review and discussion on marketing and web design for photographers.

Wednesday: Dawn shoot with models and the location for those intrepid souls that want to arise at that magical time of day. Breakfast and wrapup.

The workshop will take place at Las Palmas Beachfront Resort which is located on Sandy Beach. Each participant needs to contact the resort directly to rent a private condo at rates below. Your rental also covers the cost of us using one of the resort's exclusive beachfront homes for the entire 3-day workshop.

We will be shooting on the beach and around the resort. We may venture into town and try some remote location in the old town district. Naturally we'll be bringing down some models from Phoenix. The workshop will also include peer shooting reviews each evening at the beachfront home.

Kevin Kelly -- When Free Isn't Enough

I think this is a very, very important read. Take your time... heck, print it out and take a highlighter to it like I did. Think about what he is saying as it pertains to what we do... shoot and design and create. This is one of the key points:

Kevin Kelly -- The Technium: "Yet the previous round of wealth in this economy was built on selling precious copies, so the free flow of free copies tends to undermine the established order. If reproductions of our best efforts are free, how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies?

I have an answer. The simplest way I can put it is thus:

When copies are super abundant, they become worthless.
When copies are super abundant, stuff which can't be copied becomes scarce and valuable.

When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied."

This piece of the article is very prescient to what we content producers are dealing with.

Patronage -- It is my belief that audiences WANT to pay creators. Fans like to reward artists, musicians, authors and the like with the tokens of their appreciation, because it allows them to connect. But they will only pay if it is very easy to do, a reasonable amount, and they feel certain the money will directly benefit the creators. Radiohead's recent high-profile experiment in letting fans pay them whatever they wished for a free copy is an excellent illustration of the power of patronage. The elusive, intangible connection that flows between appreciative fans and the artist is worth something. In Radiohead's case it was about $5 per download. There are many other examples of the audience paying simply because it feels good.

the conundrum

We decided to have a garage sale this morning. I arose at 4:30 and started moving stuff around in the garage so we could get it arranged out on the driveway in neat, almost 'Walmart'ish rows. Seems like we would get some 'flow' and, hell, I know marketing so I could drive the customers in a way to get to the end with all the impulse buy items... cassettes of the Dooby Bros and such.

It is 34 degrees this morning and I am sitting here blogging in the shade freezing my fingers off. I could go into the sun, but then I cannot see the laptop screen.

So the conundrum... go where it is safe and warm and not have the chance to be creative, or stay where I am, possibly freezing to the keyboard in a dramatic... ahh, it's just cold. But cold or not, I am risking and feeling uncomfortable as I work on my book and try to be creative.

That's the way it is with creative people. Go in the sun and just be comfortable or stay where the comfort level is less, but the freedom is greater. Choices. We make them everyday.

Tips to Consider if you are a developer and designer

This concise list is simple on its face, but the amazing amount of truth that it invokes is worth the read. I have worked with great developers who couldn't, or wouldn't, design anything, preferring that someone with those skills do it. There are others that thought that a submit button and default Times were all anyone ever needed. Nope. Design counts big time. However, good design and bad code makes for an equally sad marriage.

Wake Up Later: Freelance Blog + Passive Income: "An excellent website takes a particularly savvy blend of both great design and great code. Because of this, you often find designers having to figure out code and developers trying their hand at design. Speaking as a developer who spent his university years studying among other developers, I can safely say that programmers are not designers. Thankfully, we were graded back then for having reusable code and proper OO methodology -- never for our aesthetics. But nowadays, one of the greatest assets a developer can have is a keen understanding of design.

Now I understand that a programmer may never need to know anything about design (or for that matter, a designer doesn't ever need to program). But the truth is, every programmer has personal projects, frugal clients, or management roles that require design. Furthermore, I can say that often, a freelancer's greatest asset in pitching potential clients is their keen understanding of the entire website building process. So coming from someone who studied as a developer but now also does design (or at least attempts to), here are 8 mistakes I've either heard or made myself."