“As photography editor, I find myself tempted to put artists into slots. This person is a portraitist. That person works in black and white. This photographer shoots musicians. That photographer does documentary work. I simply can't do this kind of thing with Karen Kuehn's photography. She is able to drop in and photograph truck drivers, artists, kids, and CEOs with equal grace. She moves effortlessly from color to black and white, and when and why to use each. Most important, she comes back with images that have both surface richness and a real depth of emotion.” David Schonauer Editor in Chief - American Photo 

by Skip Cohen

​Now and then I hear about a book with a remarkable storyline and images to match. It's time for many of you to meet Karen Kuehn. I first met her back in the late 80's when she was living in NYC and a Hasselblad shooter. She's a remarkable artist and her book Maverick Camera, which has been out less than a year, is down to its last one hundred copies.

From a collector's viewpoint, she self-published only a thousand copies, getting started with a Kickstarter campaign. Karen wanted to produce a book of substance and quality and had the help of designer Dana Wotruba, Jenny Jensen as editor, and another great friend of the industry, Santa Fe Workshop's Reid Callanan wrote the foreword. Each book is numbered and signed. But there's another aspect to this book.

Maverick Camera is Karen's story, literally how she got started going from job to job working to build a reputation as a photographer. She's an "outdoor girl" as she put it and left NYC eighteen years ago for New Mexico. Each story together with its images takes the reader through the experience of a kid with a dream.

She certainly achieved her goal to be a great photographer but took it one step further. She became an incredible friend to so many of us in the industry. In fact, I had lost track of Karen after I left Hasselblad in '99, but this is a small industry. Sitting at dinner with Bobbi Lane and husband Lee Varis, Bobbi said, "You need to get Karen in the "Why?" series!"

Well, we'll get her on "Why?" later on, but before the last copies of Maverick Camera are gone, there are a few of you who need to know about it. Her book is loaded with her adventures in photography, but I wanted to share one of my favorites sections, Saturday Night Live Bumpers.  It represents an amazing time in television. My screen shots don't begin to pick up the quality of the actual book!

Check out Karen's website and more about the book with a click on any image in this post! If you're looking for a unique holiday gift that inspires, motivates and entertains - here it is!

"Why?" is all about some of the industry's most talented artists and educators. Talking about their favorite images started out as a way for me to introduce you to some amazing people, but this series has become so much more. Each episode has become an introduction to the experiences that have often helped shape their creativity, technique and even the direction of their career.

Barbara Bordnick joins me today with two of her favorite images and the role they've played in her career as both an artist and an educator. 

"The frame is like a blank canvas and you're responsible for everything you put in it."
Barbara Bordnick

Barbara started her career as a portrait and fashion photographer, but along the way stunning flowers and nudes became subjects. But, not just any flowers or nudes. As you look at her images keep in mind she does NOT crop! Her signature is composing everything in the frame and NOT in the computer.  

To see more of Barbara's work, follow her workshop schedule and speaking engagements, just click on either of the two images above. And, make sure you wander through her galleries, keeping in mind that each image is composed in the camera!

I know I've shared a few of these images in other posts, but when I ran across that quote, it seemed the perfect topic for a throwback.

Molly just turned twelve on Labor Day, and I find it hard to believe she's been a part of my life for that long. Like so many of you who are dog lovers, we take so much for granted in that unconditional love our pets have for us.

On a trip to the vet last year, he wanted to know the secret, since Molly just doesn't slow down and has the energy of a three-year-old! It was a simple answer: she's never had people food with one exception. A couple of times a year she gets a McDonalds cheeseburger, plain. And it's incredible how she eats it - any other dog would wolf it down, but I break it into 8-10 pieces, and she lays down on the seat and waits for me to give them to her one at a time. This routine goes back to when she was a puppy, and I wanted to be able to eat a burger at the same time.

Well, it's Throwback Thursday and the perfect time to think about your business and marketing focus. The three top reasons people hire a professional photographer in the portrait/social sector goes brides, babies, and pets, all in that order. That makes a wedding photographer the perfect matchmaker extending into a couple's new life together as babies and pets come along!

So, pets are the perfect topic to add to your content for blog posts. And, with the holidays approaching, there are plenty of you who will be capturing family portraits which include the family pet! Don't forget to share them along the way on your blog and plant a few seeds for ideas with your clients.

Don't miss the opportunity to remind your readership how vital their four-legged family members are!

I started this as a concept idea about four years ago. Since then I've probably written a few hundred posts about the importance of exceeding client expectations and making yourself habit-forming. I'm bringing the topic back because there are still so many artists who just don't get it!  Plus, we're in the fourth quarter, the seasonality stretch for 2017. There's no better time than RIGHT NOW to make some changes in how you do business! And, if this post just doesn't apply to you, please don't be offended but help me make the point and send it on to somebody who's clueless!

Take a minute and think about a few things:

We’re living in the age of instant gratification. We text, tweet, and abbreviate. Our spelling has become absurd, phonetically attacking a conversation for the sole purpose of packing a full paragraph into just 140 characters.  We eat on the run, multi-tasking and getting a little work done so we can justify stepping away from the biz at lunchtime. MacDonalds has two lines for the drive-in window, and we can order combo meals, and the decision-making process becomes even faster.  

New photographers jump into the market thinking because they understand Photoshop they’re perfectly capable of being a professional. They shoot with wild abandon and a mindset of, “No problem. I’ll fix it later in the computer!” The truth is, no matter what your skill set, if it's a lousy image there’s one fundamental rule of nature, “You can’t buff a turd!”

The reality is you can’t Tweet quality. There are no shortcuts to creating outstanding images. There are no shortcuts to building relationships with your clients. There are no shortcuts to great marketing. All of this leaves me with one sentiment – it’s time for many of you just to slow down, take a big breath and decide what you want to be when you grow up.

If you’re a shortcut, bought a camera and learned Photoshop artist before you understood lighting, exposure, composition and your gear,  here’s you’re missing some incredible opportunities:

• You’re doing yourself a huge disservice and leaving a lot of great revenue on the table. A great series of images shown to an excited client has the potential to create not only more sales from the original job but additional sales as your client shows your work to their friends. Any moron can get their first client - the key is to get more, along with the first one coming back.

• You’re doing your client a disservice, by not “being all you can be."  Yeah, it’s the US Army’s slogan, but it’s so dead-on, for every profession. You can’t compromise on being the best at what you do. When you present images that exceed a client’s expectations the excitement and goodwill you’ll be a part of will take your pride and theirs to an entirely new level.

• You’re undermining the credibility of an entire industry. I remember a story several years ago on the local news. It was a consumer protection story where a woman wrote to the TV station for help getting her wedding images. Mistakes happen, and there are always extenuating circumstances, but when what should be a quietly resolved customer service issue gets so out of control the local news media gets involved, the business entity didn't do their job.  Think about the number of people who watched the story and got a wrong impression about professional photographers. Even worse, think about the credibility boost the story gave to all the Uncle Harrys and all that gear they own. 
• You’re making it harder to build your business than it has to be. When a client is disappointed and underwhelmed the entire business model collapses. Ever gone back to a restaurant where you had a really bad experience? Of course not, because nobody does! On the other hand, when you exceed a client’s expectations you’ve got a customer for life, not to mention one more member of your word-of-mouth publicity machine.
• Last on the list; you're probably not having that much fun, because half the time you don't know what you're doing. You can't create images that tug at people's heart-strings if your own heart isn't in it!

So, here are a few ideas to help you fix the problem:

• Slow it down and pay attention to the quality of your images and the quality of your relationships.
• Build your business one client at a time and treat every client as if they were the only person who was ever going to pay you for your skill set as a photographer.
• Focus on being the very best photographer you can be. Have a mindset that one of the magazines wants to do a story about you, but you told them to wait until you had the images you wanted!  
• And as always, NEVER compromise on quality - images, relationships with clients, building trust within the community.

You’re part of a fantastic industry, and there’s help every step of the way, providing you respect and love the craft.  And trust me, if you respect the craft, there is no way to describe the return on your investment!

"Why?" is all about the backstories of great images shared by some of the most respected artists in photography. While normally each episode only features a single image, sometimes it's hard for an artist to pick just one. One of the artists on "Why?" a year ago felt it was like being asked which of your kids do you love more? Jérôme Brunet joins me today with two images on "Why?"  His work is a testimony to quality, passion and so many artists in music each of us considers iconic.

Jérôme and I have never met in person, but I became more familiar with his work when he shared a comment on one of my blog posts. I followed the link to his website and later a Kickstarter campaign he's doing for a new book, with the foreword by Steve Miller.

I called him, and we had one of those conversations where you hang up the phone and feel like you've known the person for years! I enjoyed so many of his images, but appreciate his philosophy about giving back even more. Over the years he's donated work to the non-profit organizations Unicef, T.J. Martell Foundation and the John Varvatos Stuart House Benefit.  

Now based in Las Vegas, his award-winning photographs have been published internationally in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Time, Billboard, Popular Photography, American Photo, Guitar World, Variety and The New York Times.  Interested in seeing more of his work? Just click on either image, Tom Petty or B. B. King to link to his website.

Procrastination is like a credit card. It's a lot of fun until you get the bill.
Christopher Parker

Unlike a lot of Sunday mornings, there was no hesitation when it came to what I wanted to share, and it's all thanks to Sarasota County Utilities.

Here's the scenario. Three weeks ago I reported a water leak in our front yard. It was a Saturday, and the county sent somebody out immediately. He put white flags on the property to mark the leak and later called to let me know somebody would be out Monday to do the repair. He also gave me "good" news - it was before our meter so we wouldn't be charged for the water usage.

By Thursday when the leak hadn't been repaired I called again. A day later another tech came out and added blue flags, better marking the spot of the leak. A few days later, it still wasn't repaired, and the leak was more significant, with water running down the street in front of three houses to the sewer drain. I called again and a day or two later noticed somebody had added orange flags!

Okay, one more call to complain about thousands of gallons of water going down the drain. At this point we had more flags in our front yard than the Memorial Day Parade. In the conversation I added we were ready to call the local news station, "7 On Our Side," and question the wisdom of nothing being done after almost 2 1/2 weeks.

That must have done the trick, because later in the day four trucks pulled up in front of the house, one of them with a flatbed trailer and a backhoe. It was the textbook definition of overkill. In fact, earlier in the week two neighbors had stopped by to see if I needed help fixing the leak. It was a simple 15-minute repair, although amusing to watch when they had to cut the line to cap it off! For thirty seconds it looked like a geyser in Yellowstone.

So, what's my point this morning? I know this is typical of county government, but as a small business owner, handle problems as quickly as you can. And, don't set up a maze for your clients to wander through in search of help. Take it a step further in your personal life too, and when there is a challenge, fix it. Even more important, do it right the first time, and there's a good chance you won't have to come back again to the same problem.

When I was a kid my Grandma Alice used to darn my socks - it's a lost art today! Then she'd give me a lecture on giving her the ones with the holes early so she could fix them right away. That would send her into her "Stitch in time saves nine" line, which virtually anybody under forty doesn't relate to today! LOL
 
It's really simple - don't be Sarasota County! Work on solutions right at the time of the challenge. Respond back to everyone involved early and stop wasting energy procrastinating. Most of us have learned the hard way - when you hide from solving a problem it only gets bigger! In the end, it takes twice as much work to resolve or sadly, sometimes it's beyond resolution.

Wishing everybody an outstanding Sunday and a day filled with minimal challenges, peace and a moment to cherish everything you have in your life. We've all been glued to the news this week watching the lives and dreams of thousands of people in California disappear. And, while we might feel helpless because there's so little we can do, keeping everybody out west in our thoughts and prayers can never hurt.  As always, go for those eleven-second hugs with those people most special in your life!

Happy Sunday!

When I shared a post last week about what I was feeling after the mass shooting in Las Vegas I had no idea what was still to come. Hurricanes, terrorist attacks around the world, shootings and now fires leave me in fear of watching the news. I find myself hugging Sheila more than usual, appreciating our home, the neighborhood and falling into moments of random silence trying to comprehend the scope of the disaster and figure out how to help.

While I'd have the same knot in my stomach wherever these newest disasters were taking place, having lived in California and having so many friends there, this latest disaster leaves me particularly anxious. I remember the fear I had when the Malibu fires came within three miles of my home. The picture above was in the morning looking out the kitchen window, the one below by the end of the day.

But the fear I had in 2007 never materialized into anything even close to the disaster we're watching unfold now. Like so many of you, I have no way to explain what I feel watching the story of Santa Rosa unfold and then be repeated over and again.

So, this morning's post is more a plea for comments and your help.

I'm looking for feedback from so many different friends from WPPI over the years to know who's okay...I'm looking for contacts to share on how people can help...I'm not sure what non-profits are helping with the tragedy, but I want to share the information for people to contact. 

I shared a tweet this morning that seems so appropriate:

"How many disasters do we need to unite humanity?"
Loesje

This is a blog post that's a testimonial to so many different aspects of our industry and social media.

Two years ago I wrote a post about believing in yourself. A photographer from Montana, Nicole Keintz commented on Facebook. It was a nice comment, and I responded back. Later I took a look at her website. That day she sent me the image above, which I ran across in my email this morning. Remember, I'm an old-fashioned guy and still believe firmly in the power of a phone call.

Well, I just hung up the phone after talking with Nicole for a few minutes. I love the image more now than I did two years ago and that's the second piece of the story. Nicole's had a tough year, and after brain surgery in the last year she's had a hard time getting back the passion for the craft. Not that she didn't want to, but like so many of us when life has interrupted our dreams, she was questioning her confidence level.

And that brings me to two last points and the pure joy I have in sharing this image:

Everything happens for a reason, especially the timing of things in our lives. The conversation I had with Nicole gave both of us a boost. First, she needed a little confirmation her mind's eye visions needed to again be pursued. Second, I love this image and talking with Nicole was inspiring. Plus, it energized me to look at some of the things I photograph just a little different.

And last on the list is that thin line photographers cross when an image becomes art. Not all of us define it the same way, but with Nicole, it's often about the influence of the great masters. In regards to this image she wrote:

This is a multiple exposure image of a flowering crabapple tree, taken this spring at a cemetery near my house.  I am very inspired by impressionist painters, and I like to experiment with different techniques to "paint" with my camera.

Now called, "Impression of the Pink Tree," it's become one of her most popular pieces of work. Big thanks to Nicole for allowing me to share the image and overlooking it took two years for me to respond to her email! It certainly wasn't intentional, but it seems like it was meant to be.

It's time for her to "get back on the horse" and get a camera back in her hands! And, I can't wait to see what she shares next!

It's a normal Sunday morning. Sheila's still asleep. Molly is on her bed and just gave me that "Leave me alone - I'm not done sleeping!" look.  I just got a full eight hours of sleep, and I'm having fun with my Sunday morning ritual - writing Reflections.

I'm going with a challenge most of you can identify with, the art of staying mellow. It is an art form, and for some of us requires an incredible amount of time, thought, and practice.

I'm not even close to where I want to be. Here's the challenge - I'm Type A through and through and want to be more Type B. I'm getting better, but so often if I feel something is wrong I have to fix it. The problem comes in when I get frustrated over not being able to resolve problems outside my control. 

Examples would be dealing with Frontier Communications, Amazon's Customer Service or just about any county government office. I'm typically on hold an incredibly long time; it always takes more than one person to solve the problem, and whoever you talk to typically doesn't have the authority to fix the problem.  So many calls have to escalate to a supervisor/manager level. That in itself wouldn't be a problem, but as I sit on hold my blood starts to boil!

With Sheila's help, I'm working on trying to slide the bar more to the Type B side of the scale. Here's what seems to be working:

• We have music playing in the house all the time. After months of battling with Amazon, Alexa now plays on two dots and an Echo throughout the house. It's ironic I'd make this my first point, because the stress of dealing with Customer Service has been the biggest, most recent contributor to being anything but mellow!
  
• I've stopped taking phone calls from numbers I don't recognize. It used to be fun to abuse the scam artists, but just like the song, the thrill is gone. Plus, every time I've answered I've been confirming it's a working number and feeding these idiots with the information to create more calls.
  
• We've walked every day since June 30, only missing 3-5 days when traveling or dealing with the weather. There's no question exercise, and adequate sleep helps me relax more.
  
• I'm trying to eat differently, with less salt, sugar and in general smaller portions. If you know me, then you know I'm a major foodie! I do see a difference in my ability to cope with things when I'm eating right and drinking plenty of water.
  
• Water - it deserves its own bullet point! I never used to drink that much water.  I now stay hydrated all day long. It makes a huge difference - and I get everyone knows this, but I just never put it into practice.
  
• Now and then I take a long break. For example, yesterday we did absolutely nothing to change the world, or at least our piece of it. We watched three movies, finishing with popcorn night and the newest movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. While the old me would have seen it as an entirely wasted day, the attempting-to-be-more-type-B me loved it.
  
• "Date night" and time off: When was the last time you thoroughly cleared your head about anything to do with work and life's challenges? Sheila and I both get caught up in day-in-day-out stress-creating issues. We take turns recognizing that it's been too long since we did something together having nothing to do with anything except our relationship! You've got to grab time to recharge your battery and entirely step away from work!
  

Last on the list - I'm working hard to keep things in perspective and find balance in my priorities. This is the toughest change of all because I'm always multi-tasking and often take on more projects than I should. My good buddy Julianne Kost at Adobe has a great line when she's on overload and once said to me, "Sorry, I'm just out of bandwidth!"

We all wear multiple hats. Most of you are business owners, community members, parents, spouses, siblings, friends, and lovers. "Balance" is such an over-used word, but it's the one that fits the best, and we all have moments where our priorities are knocked out of whack. But here's my point - you can't fix the challenge of balance in your life if you're out of alignment yourself - and that's where working to be more mellow plays its role.

God, grant me the serenity to accept stupid people the way they are,
courage to maintain self-control
and the wisdom to know if I act on it I will go to jail.
Author Unknown

Wishing everybody a wonderful Sunday, and a day filled with mellow moments, peace, and doing what makes you smile the most. There's so much pain in the world reminding us that no matter how bad we're feeling about something there's somebody out there who has it much worse! Go for those eleven-second hugs with people most important to you and the ones that help you define balance in your life!

Happy Sunday!

​I started "Why?" to introduce you to the movers and shakers in the industry, but underestimated the diversity of each backstory behind the images shared.  

This episode is particularly fun for me because Chamira Young is my guest. She's a photographer, writer, and podcaster. She's also my co-host on "Mind Your Own Business," a monthly partnership between SCU and Photofocus. Over the last few months we've shared recording time with some of the most influential people in photography, and now Chamira is switching from host to guest.

Chamira referred to the image above as sort of an "extra" photo, but one of her favorites. While normally "Why?" is only about one image, I wanted to share the second picture she spoke about, because it adds so much to the story.

Check out more of Chamira's work by visiting her website and join us on the "Mind Your Own Business" podcast.  Working with Chamira is a kick! Her insight into people and her love for the craft keeps me on my toes, and makes each podcast fun to do - for both us and our guests.

As I've written many times before, the best part of this industry has little to do with photography, but the friendships that come out of everyone's mutual love for the craft!

I'm guessing on this one, but I think it's around 1995. That's me on the left and Carl Claesson, Hasselblad USA's services manager. In the middle are ten Swedish college students who were doing a tour of Swedish companies in the United States.

Like every Throwback Thursday post I share, photographs bring out memories and along with them, stories. 

This was a very focused group of college kids. Right off the bat, I'm not sure any student would dress for a visit to any company these days, but they were entirely professional. They're all in suits! Initially, I had suggested they not visit, since we were just a distribution and service center. There was nothing to see that was different than thousands of other warehouses and service centers. However, they wanted to see the business and ask questions about doing business in the US market.

I think it was the woman in the gray suit who after staring at my ring wanted to know what the "SC" stood for and then asked if I went to school in South Carolina. She was so proud to have made the link - but somewhat disappointed when I told her they were my initials. 

And last on the memory list was working with Carl for those twelve years. I haven't kept in touch with him, but he's one of the finest people I've ever worked with and his reputation as a services manager is legendary. Photographers knew their gear was always in good hands with Carl and his team! His son Paul works for Hasseblad today.

Oh, one more memory - almost every Friday night in that archway behind everybody, Al Zimmerman, Bob Nunn and Jim Morton and I would light up a cigar. Another week down and "X" weeks to go, we'd talk about the business, our lives and then head home as one of the cigar-smokin' stinky boys. Nobody smells good after a cigar!

Photographs bring back memories, and they're your chance for great content on your blog. Remind "Mom" that time keeps moving, the kids are changing and today's events are tomorrow's memories. Then, share some of your older photographs and the memories.

​Happy Throwback Thursday!

For two days I've been trying to find the words I want to share in this post. I'm rarely at a loss for expressing myself, but the events in the world since mid-August have, on a daily basis left me speechless. I know life goes on, but if we were all at a convention and sitting in a kick-off keynote address, the speaker would start with a few minutes of silence, whether in prayer or just poignant thought, out of respect for the suffering and pain we've all witnessed.

For me, it started with "Harvey" and worrying about friends in Texas. There were more senseless terror attacks, this time in Spain. Two weeks later "Irma" reared her ugly head literally on our doorstep. I watched the news as lives and homes were lost in the Caribbean, then Key West then Florida and continuing north. "Maria," followed much of the same path as "Irma" and Puerto Rico was crushed. Finally, the earthquake in Mexico reminded me that Mother Nature wasn't finished.

But I wasn't done being speechless. The last few nights, like most of you, I watched the latest update on the mass shooting in Las Vegas. It's a city nearly all of us in the industry have spent enough time in to probably declare ourselves residents. But the pain we're all feeling isn't about Vegas; it's about the human spirit. A senseless mass shooting at a concert that could have been anywhere.

Today, regardless of what any of us do for a living, it's business as usual, except...

There's a unique sadness I feel. I find myself wondering what I would have done had Sheila and I been at that concert. I think about how we would have felt to come back to our home after "Irma" and find everything gone. I find myself trying to imagine the panic if the earth around our home simply opened up and swallowed us whole!

I'll post today like I do every day with some great content thanks to the SCU partners. I'll share links to social media to various companies and products I believe in, but there's a huge difference from other days. I can't start off today without reminding you how lucky we all are. While I'll be accused of an inappropriate topic for a business and marketing blog, a big piece of my heart belongs to so many people who in just six weeks have seen their lives and dreams changed, some forever.

Tragedies happen all over the world, and each day somewhere there's somebody in pain, but I don't remember a time in my life when we've witnessed so many at once and felt so helpless. While the world is in turmoil, maybe it's time we each took a deep breath and a moment of reflection. Regardless of your religious affiliation, it's time to say a prayer and thank God for everything we have and to help so many people in so much pain.

It's Marketing Monday, and I can't think of a better day for a little sarcasm and ideas to help you kill your business! Yes, you did just read it correctly - I'm taking things I see every day on so many websites that have the potential to send clients running to your competitors.

I shared some of these in a couple of different posts years ago, but we've just started the fourth quarter, and if you're guilty of any of the following points, there's still time to correct them.  I know it's snarky, but it just seems appropriate to remind people how much they're giving up by not paying attention to some of the simple details in their business. 

• Make people mine for data on your website.  This is so easy to avoid, but evidently, a lot of photographers think their client base is still playing Dungeons and Dragons. They bury their most important information under a sea of testimonials, accolades and miscellaneous pages. 

• Don't give people a phone number to contact you. It's the let's-make-people-contact-me-my-way scheme. Don't you feel great when you contact a company and can talk to a live body? Your website and your business are no different. And the same goes for business cards that send people to your website instead of your phone. If they're serious, they want to talk to you, not write an email. I understand if you're working out of your home and don't want to give people an address, but give them a phone number! 

• Put up images that look just like Uncle Harry's! Here's one that's so easy to fix, but there are some photographers who think Uncle Harry is the competition.  Up go images in the galleries that are as good as Uncle Harry's!  WRONG - they need to be better than Uncle Harry's and demonstrate why you're a professional photographer. Look at your website as if you were the client. Based on the quality of your images, would you hire you?
  

• Not returning phone calls and emails makes you look really busy and in high demand!  Who started this one? Seriously, there are people on this planet who think that building your business is all about looking busier than you are and one ingredient is to play hard-to-get!  That might have worked to get a date in high school, but success in business today is about a fast response.  It's about great customer service, and it all starts with your client's perception you care about them. A quick response shows you care and they're important.
  

• Confuse your audience!  This one is all about showing every image you've ever captured. Hey, who knows, that potential bride might just have an auto parts business on the side and be really interested in your table-top product work, especially the series you did on spark plugs, tools and 10W40! Keep your specialties separate and don't give people too much to look at that isn't relevant. For example, wedding and family portraiture go well together but throw in your images of the Grand Canyon, and there's a good chance you'll lose them.
• Give your clients lots to read! Your most valuable piece of real estate is your website, but what I don't understand is why so many photographers junk it up with paragraph after paragraph that doesn't say anything! If a picture really is worth a thousand words, then keep the copy on your site to a minimum. Every outstanding image demonstrates why you're a professional. 
  
• Never bother to check your website. There are still those of you who are convinced nothing can go wrong - after all, it was working okay yesterday!  Ever had an unexpected problem with your car? Maybe it was a dead battery or a flat tire, or just maybe somebody hit you in a parking lot. Your website is no different! When the gremlins get involved, and your site locks up or is just too slow to load, it can cost you business. Check it at least twice a day and on different platforms.
  
• "I'm too good to have a network."  Yeah, I know, you're so good you don't want anybody to know what you're working on. Plus, you're so smart, and you absorb new technology so fast, you don't need new ideas or help from other photographers. A great network takes time to build, but every new photographer or vendor you meet at a local guild meeting, state/national convention or workshop helps you expand your expertise. Your network can help you through the toughest challenges in half the time and time is your most valuable commodity.
• If it ain't broke, don't fix it!  No, it should be if it ain't broke, you haven't looked hard enough! Need I say more?
• Criticize everybody!  Negative sell because your potential client wants to know what's wrong with your competitors. NOT! Negative selling just doesn't cut it. Ever had a contractor like a plumber or an electrician do some work on your house? They'll always tell you the last guy did it all wrong. Don't get caught up in negative comments. 
  
• Make fun of client challenges in public forums on Facebook. I'm still amazed at photographers, especially wedding shooters who make fun of their brides in public forums. What happens when a potential bride picks up on the disrespect they have for their clients? And remember, there are no erasers on the Internet.
  
• Miss your deadlines and break your promises. Trust is one of the biggest components in building a strong business, and word-of-mouth is the strongest form of advertising in photography. If you make a promise to deliver and then tell a client the equivalent of, "My dog ate my term paper," any chance of turning that client into a fan is gone!
• Talk more than you listen. You've got two ears and one mouth, so trust the saying that you need to listen twice as much as you talk. Listen to your clients and ask for clarification to make sure you meet their mindset.
  
• Blog every full moon. You built your blog but it just takes too much time to keep it current, so you've decided that one good post every now and then is enough. NOT! An effective blog is about consistency, and you need to be sharing fresh content at least twice a week.  Sending people to outdated blog posts and irrelevant information will hurt you more than help. If you can't keep up with your blog, then shut it down for a short time; build a stash of relevant content, and then come back with a consistent presence.
  

And there you have it - Fourteen ideas to avoid with easy fixes to strengthen your brand, instead of taking away from it. You're working the hardest you've ever worked to capture outstanding images. Why not make sure the love you have for the craft and the respect you have for your target audience comes through?

Sunday Morning Reflections started years ago because I wanted to take one day a week where I wrote about something other than the business of photography. Often what I've written has been as much for myself as it's been for you, my readers.

Well, this morning it's a slightly different Sunday. While Sheila's still asleep and Molly is out cold at my feet, we've got company in the house, who's also still asleep, Suzette Allen and husband, Jon Yoshi. The house is completely silent except my pounding away on the keyboard and my Hasselblad clock in my office. (Note: It's a great product, but we always wondered why the Swedes chose such a cheap and noisy clock mechanism to put in the camera body!)

Last night I had one of the most fun evenings I've ever had "hanging out" with photographers. There's a drum circle every Saturday night on Nokomis Beach just ten minutes from our home. Suzette and Jon are both members of Panasonic's Luminary Team and each of us armed with plenty of camera gear headed over to enjoy the evening.

For years I've written about what I consider the best thing about our industry - the friendships that come out of everyone's love for the craft. In the last year or so, I've grown tired of never getting time with people I care about. We hit the conventions, and catch up with each other literally on the run, never getting quality time to step in and share each other's lives.

This weekend, the four of us ended that trend and started something very special and important. We just hung out with no agenda and appreciated the elements of time, sharing, conversation and even a good cigar!

As I went to sleep last night I thought about the evening when at one point Jon was behind the drummers with an FZ2500, Suzette was walking the parameter of the drum circle with a GX85 on a gimbal* and I had the FZ300 and was sitting with Sheila, capturing random moments from the "dance floor."  It hit me how photography has brought together four people who most likely would never have met.

That passion for the craft has provided the bricks and mortar for a relationship that's making each of our lives richer and in turn, individually, stronger. There's a great line from Tennyson that I've shared many times:

And there it is, the point of my post this morning. We're all a part of this giant tapestry called life. Our passions, challenges, accomplishments and even failures here and there are what bond us together. In our case, it's photography that's been the catalyst to support the curiosity in sharing parts of each other's lives.

We each define "success" differently, but as I've gotten older I've realized that the smile on my face each morning has little to do with the business of photography, but the friendships I appreciate along the journey. And, as sappy as it might sound:

"There are some people who could hear you speak a thousand words and still not understand you.
And there are others others who will understand without you speaking a word."
Unknown

Wishing everybody a Sunday filled with time to share with good friends. Take the time to appreciate those special friendships in your life and then smile over how they got started! Go for those eleven-second hugs and don't waste time thinking about the business - it'll all be there waiting for you tomorrow!

* Relax, for those of you who have minimal experience in video, I didn't know what it was either. It's a phenomenal little accessory for giving your videos a look that just let's the camera glide when you're moving around a scene. She just recently got a Zihyun gimbal, and it was remarkable to watch how it worked.

When I started to think about Throwback Thursday this morning I was briefly distracted by one of those throwback videos from Facebook. Today is evidently 9 years since I joined Facebook. While some of these little reminders can really be heartfelt, this one caught me off guard. Look, I get it, they're computer generated and there's no human heart involved in any of them, but every now and then they hit a nerve.

Well this morning just made me chuckle. As the computer generated anniversary card played Facebook seems to forget one of the highlights of my nine years - throwing me out because they decided my name wasn't really "Skip." While my license shows my legal name, Steven, I had no legal documents showing "Skip." I actually sent them book reviews from Amazon, descriptions of workshops where I had spoken and eventually my birth announcement in a post to Mark Zuckerberg. But, because it's rare to find a live body, they still kept up the challenge!

​But here's where the fun of this industry came into play, my friends stepped in. Nothing beats the value of your network when you need an "army" of support!

Scott Bourne put out a tweet along with a few dozen other people confirming my name to Facebook. Then Brent Watkins hit the topic with what's become my most favorite Facebook memory, his "Free Skip" campaign.

Going back only two years hardly qualifies as a Throwback Thursday contribution, so I decided to make this a double-header. There are boxes, envelopes and file folders all over our house, and you never know when an old photograph is going to show up.

I ran across this stellar print last weekend and have no idea why my folks wanted it as an 8x10. When I showed it to Sheila, I said, "Being dressed like this, it's amazing I grew up being able to dress myself!" Now, remember some of the reasons I fell in love with the lady are her humor, sarcasm, and wit. Her response was simply, "You still can't!"

I'm guessing I'm around ten in this image. Notice the fire hydrant behind me. Five years later, technically not old enough to drive, I backed my Dad's brand new Oldsmobile into it. I was moving it to shoot some hoops in the driveway while trying to impress the college coed next door. I hid under my bed the rest of the day!

And that brings me full circle to the fun of Throwback Thursday - the memories old photographs bring back and the smiles they put on our faces. My dad only shot Ektachrome, so I have no idea why he'd want a print unless they were thinking of putting me up for adoption! LOL, I scanned it in color because that pale faded orange tone is so representative for the period!

Wishing everybody a terrific Throwback Thursday and one loaded with memories that make you smile. Don't forget to use your throwbacks to remind your clients of the importance of capturing those memories - the kids are changing every day and growing up so fast!

Happy Throwback Thursday!

When I first shared this video four years ago it was at four million views. Today it's coming up on eight million. Still, I'm betting many of you haven't seen it. In just over a minute it brings together one famous personality after another, reminding us:

                                                                     "If you haven't failed, you haven't lived."

The same thing seems to happen every year as we go into the fourth quarter, photographers get reflective. Business often picks up to an unreasonable pace, and at the same time things are good, they're not always in the direction you hoped for when you started. I love the way this video puts it all in perspective and reminds us to simply never give up!

The last frame says: "Life = Risk" and it reminds me of the challenges we all take every day as business owners. I've quoted this old proverb before:
                                                                     "Smooth seas don't make skilled sailors!"

Between technology, the economy, consumer trends and each of our own personal fears, we're all sailing through the perfect storm every day. It's time for us all to soar!

Intro by Skip Cohen

This post by good buddy Scott Bourne is from the SCU archives, but couldn't be more appropriate this time of year!

We're coming up to the fourth quarter, the one time of year when seasonality clearly plays a role in consumer purchasing, especially with photography. Scott's tips couldn't be more in line with things so many of you need to do to make buying easier for your clients.

One thing to add to Scott's list is the diversity of the products you offer. Don't forget about slide presentations, canvas prints, images printed on other materials and various album sizes. One call to your lab asking the question, "What's new?" should give you a much larger list of products to consider than what you might normally offer.

by Scott Bourne

I am often amazed that many professional photographers don't understand this simple truth. If you make it hard for someone to do business with you, they will visit your competition. 

It's not enough to have a great camera - a great studio - a great portfolio. You also need a great business model. And that business model better be customer-friendly or your business will be short-lived. 

Here are a few steps you can take to make it easy for people to do business with you.

1. Be easy to find and easy to reach. Plaster your phone number, studio address (if you have one), website address, and your email address all over everything that you print, share, distribute or publish. If the customer can't reach you, they won't do business with you.

2. Have business hours that meet your customer's needs, not your own. I consulted with a new studio in Seattle several years ago. The family that ran it told me they wouldn't open on Saturdays because that was their day to have fun as a family. What? Saturday is the busiest day in most wedding and portrait studios. Your clients aren't professional photographers. They have other jobs and those jobs typically force them to work 9-5, Monday through Friday. That means you need to be open for them evenings and weekends. Yes that is hard. Which is why we call it a JOB!

3. Be sure your terms of service are customer friendly. Don't force your clients to sign 15-page contracts. That will scare them away. You should be able to get the basics down to one page or less.

4. We live in a digital age so get used to the fact that digital products are going to be important to your clients. The old days of hanging on to the files to force customers into a print sale are going away. And there's no reason to fear this change. Just charge more money to cover the cost of the print sales you might have made when you release the digital files. It's the money we care about not the format of the sale. Guy Kawasaku and I were talking about this recently. He made several good points speaking strictly from a consumer's point of view. He has a family. His wife and children have their portraits made. He wants the digital files. He's willing to pay for them, but the photographer says, "That's not my business model." To which Guy replies, "That's not my buying model." If your business model doesn't match your client's buying model then you are on your way out of business.

5. Have samples to show prospects. Remember that just because YOU know what that frame looks like, doesn't mean your client does.  Take advantage of the samples offered by your lab and album company, and make sure you have something to show your clients. You can't sell what you can't show. Conversely, you always sell what you show.

6. Accept all forms of payment. Worried about bounced checks? Do some due diligence. Ask for photo ID, only accept checks with the correct name and address on them. If it's a large check, excuse yourself while the client looks at samples and call the bank to verify the check. Accept money orders from major companies, then familiarize yourself with their samples so you know what to look for in case of a fraudulent instrument. Again, excuse yourself and call Western Union or the Post Office with the Money Order number and ask if it is good. Accept cash, and get one of those pens that verifies US currency if you live in the USA. Accept credit cards. 

7. Offer guarantees. Zig Ziglar taught me that fear is the number one reason people don't go forward with a purchase. So help eliminate fear by offering guarantees. Most of your vendors will offer guarantees on the products they sell, so pass them on to your clients. Guarantee your prints. Since the incremental cost is so small to remake a print, it's worth the occasional make good to keep customers happy. (During 15 years of operating a retail studio I offered lifetime guarantees on my prints and never ever, even once, had to replace a print for a client.)

I could easily go on here, but I think you get the point. As I've shared in other posts on this site, when it comes to marketing, you are not important; your customer is. It's THEIR comfort and safety that matters, not yours. If you make THEM happy, then you'll end up happy. Make it easy for people to do business with you. It's simple. It's a choice. Make it.

This is one of those blog posts that's hard for me to categorize because there are so many elements I'm hoping you'll think about. It's about relationship building, pursuing your dreams, building your skill set and redefining various aspects of your business. It's also about friendships, and Brad Walsh is a prime example.

Brad and I first met when I was doing "Skip's Summer School." His full-time job was with Ernst & Young, but he had that dream, so many of you have of one day being a full-time artist. We've kept in touch through Facebook, and a few months ago he went full-time as a photographer. On Thursday he shared a post about some of his images being featured as part of the office decor for his old employer.

I had a meeting yesterday with the powers that be...and selected the 6 pieces that will adorn the walls...EY has provided me with this opportunity and has given me the chance to share my work...It will be an incredible feeling to walk through the building and see MY ART hanging on the walls...I am able to leave a legacy with the firm after working there for 12 1/2 years. I am so thankful and appreciative to the people that provided this opportunity to me.

Here are the points that made me want to share this small part of Brad's story:

• Brad worked for Ernst and Young for 12 1/2 years, and in leaving kept the door open to the relationship and pride he had about the people he worked with. No quick exit that left them hanging, but a relationship built on trust and friendships that's one more building block in his foundation of being a full-time artist.
  
• Everyone has a powerful core dream, but so often we lose patience and give up. Brad's stayed on course, never slowing down on building a stronger skill set and the vision for his business.

Believe in your dreams. They were given to you for a reason.
Katrina Mayer

Last on the list is about friendships. I haven't spent a lot of time with Brad, but there's respect for what he's doing and the dream he's chasing. For years I've said the best thing about this industry has nothing to do with photography, but the friendships that come out of everyone's love for the craft. Well, as hokey as it sounds, I couldn't be more proud of what Brad's accomplishing. It's going to be a kick to watch his business and style change and grow in the years ahead.

So, to Brad, nicely done buddy, and to all of you chasing your dreams, whether you're just starting or a seasoned veteran:

You're never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream!
C.S. Lewis

I do it because I can. I can because I want to. I want to because you said I couldn't.
Unknown

It's the perfect topic for a Sunday Morning Reflections post. It's also timely with a post I'm sharing tomorrow about good buddy, Brad Walsh. I'm not sure what got me thinking about how many of you are chasing your dreams, and how many give up too early.

At one time or another most of us have felt the pressure from friends, family or just our inner voice challenging a dream. Too often people give up, just when that dream is coming into focus. I chose the word "focus" intentionally because there is no auto-focus when it comes to your dreams. There's no button to push that suddenly gives you the sharpness right where you want it most. We're all in manual mode and focus is a daily ritual.

This is a short post this morning, but I hope, not without substance. Learn to listen to your heart. It doesn't matter how unrealistic your dream might seem. It's your dream and as hokey as it sounds, Walt Disney said it best,

If dreams were easy to chase we'd never need them. Everybody would have the life they wanted - complete satisfaction with no effort probably followed by an apathy about life! Dreams are meant to be complex, labor intensive and rewarding, which makes them worth it.

Life will only change when you become more committed to your dreams than your comfort zone.
Unknown

So, on this beautiful sunny morning from South Florida, I'm wishing everybody a day filled with the time to appreciate some aspect of the journey you're on, chasing your dreams. Achieving a dream comes in hundreds of small steps, which so often we miss. Take the time today to appreciate how far you've come. Think back a couple of years and give yourself a big pat on the back for how much you've accomplished. Then, go for an eleven-second hug with somebody who's been with you on the journey!

Wishing you a day filled with peace, smiles and lots of love from the people most important to you.

Happy Sunday everybody!

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

We're part of a career choice requiring a never-ending quest for education. From technique and your photographic skills to marketing and running your business, there's so much from which to choose.  Sadly not every workshop, conference, and program are worth your time or investment.

Well, here's an opportunity that keeps on giving you the educational support you need. If you've followed Sue Bryce over the years then you know she can teach, and more importantly inspire. Nobody can teach you creativity, but a great educator can help you find that sweet spot to better develop those visions you have in your mind's eye. Sue recently surrounded herself with seven of the finest artists and educators in photography at the Portrait Masters Conference.

It's an incredible lineup, and although the conference is over, she's made the videos available as part of membership in Sue Bryce Education. Just click on any of the icons below for more information.