While most of the content on the SCU site is about business and marketing, we're big fans of changes in technology and especially Profoto's new B1 flash. In fact, we were one of the first blogs to be able to share the original introduction video along with a podcast with Richard Walch, the photographer and filmmaker, who's work is featured in the introduction. Watching him light an entire quarry with a couple of B1's is pretty remarkable. This morning's announcement on the B1 is another example of Profoto's intent to simply NEVER stand still and it's just one of many new additions coming in 2014. When launched in November 2013, the Profoto B1 off-camera flash caused such a buzz in the photographic community that the company's website crashed. The words "game changer" have appeared in reviews and forums ever since!
The TTL metering is made possible with Profoto’s patent-pending AirTTL system. Already at launch Profoto promised to continuously upgrade the AirTTL system. One of the most frequently requested features is TTL metering with Canon's flagship model: the Canon EOS-1D X. Today, this feature is made available free of charge through an easily installed firmware upgrade. But note that it is not the B1 off-camera flash itself that needs to be upgraded; it is the small radio transmitter that is mounted on the Canon camera’s hot shoe: the Air Remote TTL-C. The complete announcement, including the process for installing the upgrade, is just a click away!
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This is a website all about the marketing and business side of photography and that's what's posted just about every day of the week. Today though, I just wanted to share something a little different, mostly because it'll just make you smile. It deals with the challenge of aging, something we all face sooner or later, with ourselves and other family members. I write/manage another blog, Be Aware Better Care. It's the blog for the Senior Friendship Centers here in Sarasota. It's a wonderful group of people who helped my Dad and I a lot when we were dealing with my Mother's Alzheimer's. These two posts are on the lighter side of aging, with my favorite being the remake of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, but the second one is a classic two. The best part of all of this is that I contacted Ben Aaron, the NBC reporter for permission to pull his two videos off of YouTube, and he totally supported the idea. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do... And as always on Sunday, make it a great day and hug somebody over sixty! (That doesn't mean you can't hug somebody younger too! LOL) Just click either video and you'll get a little background and a couple minutes of nothing but chuckles!
Just a short thought for a Saturday... I'm so tired of hearing photographers talk about failing. However, it's a concept I completely understand. When I was trying to decide about leaving Rangefinder/WPPI, exactly five years ago today, I remember Sheila, saying to me, "So what are you afraid of?" My answer couldn't have been shorter or filled with more fear, "Failing!" For those of you still holding back and afraid to let passion for the craft push you into a new chapter of your life, I found this quote from the legendary Mark Cuban. "It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It doesn’t matter how many times you almost get it right. No one is going to know or care about your failures, and neither should you. All you have to do is learn from them and those around you because... All that matters in business is that you get it right once. Then everyone can tell you how lucky you are." Matthew Jordan Smith says it all with just one closing tag line on everything he writes: Always Dream Big!
Wishing everybody a wonderful weekend, filled with BIG DREAMS! Photo Credit: © alphaspirit - Fotolia.com After yesterday's post and my comment about never having enough time, my good buddy from Boston, Brian Malloy sent me the link to this video as a comment. It's only a minute long, so just humor me and invest 65 seconds of your day...this is all about inspiration and you won't be wasting time. I just saw a post on Facebook where somebody cheered because it's Wednesday already. A few people laughed and commented, but honestly, I haven't counted down the days to the weekend since I washed bottles in the lab at Polaroid in the 70's and couldn't wait to get off work for two days. For most of you I don't think Wednesdays have any deep emotional meaning. For those of you who are actually excited that the week is half over, it might be time to change career paths, because you're sure not enjoying the one you're on. For me, on this Wednesday, I find myself excited about all the things that have happened over the last week. I want to share a few links with you. They're all about things you might have missed. I want to tie in their relevance to the fact that March is almost over, technically bringing the "slow season" to a close. "Mind Your Own Business" kicked off this week and this first Google+ Hangout to help you with marketing and business is up on YouTube. Between the three of us, Rich Harrington, Tamara Lackey and me, we hit some great ideas to help you put some strength into your existing data base of customers before you start chasing new ones. Just remember you're past clients are your best ambassadors, but you've got to keep in touch and build those relationships. Circle the Date: The next Hangout is on April 28! There are now four Marketing Bytes in the pipeline with a new one coming each Monday. These are just short reminders of things you can easily fix to build more strength into your presence online and in the community. A new episode of "Walk Through a Wedding" comes up every two weeks for the rest of the year. The newest one is all about capturing details on the dress. Justin and Mary Marantz, in just under three minutes, even give you tips on how to light it! Plus, I was able to get them to stand still just long enough for a new podcast, all thanks to Profoto USA. Last week I wrote my first sort of technical post as X-rite launched ColorTRUE. It's a free download and the cost for a Colormunki, depending on which one you purchase, is so reasonable and will finally get the images you show on your iPad or mobile device looking consistent. But, one of the features I enjoy the most is seeing how images are going to look on different printing devices. The truth is, it was a milestone for me because I'm the low-tech poster child of this industry. I've suggested they change their tag line to: 'If Skip can do it, anybody can!" There are now 18 posts in Luminary Corner from Panasonic's Luminary team. This is an incredibly diverse group of artists and a new post goes up every Monday. March is recruitment month at Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. There are some amazing guest posts with this week's from Cliff Lawson, President of the organization. This post from Cliff was pretty amazing, because he did a great job of sharing the fears he had initially in getting involved. The link to contact NILMDTS is in the post. Okay, so back to the issue about Wednesday being such a big deal - for me this week it's another great day, but with so much going on at SCU, instead of the week being half over, I need a longer week. Make it a great day and with the clock ticking down on the end of "slow season" this is the perfect time to stop procrastinating on something you've wanted to accomplish with your business, your site, your blog or maybe just catching up to old friends and associates. Just remember time is your most valuable commodity - don't waste it! "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." Carl Sandburg Illustration Credit: © iQoncept - Fotolia.com
We've all watched enough shows on television to know that doctors always scrub before surgery. They have a routine they go through every time. Yet, as business people, so many artists are completely scatter-brained having absolutely no routine for handling things that need to be done in business every day.
In early July of 2009 I wrote my first blog. I had no plan, just wanted to see if I could do one every day and make some kind of contribution to an industry I love deeply. Well, here I am four blogs later with over a 2000 pages of blog posts, a few thousand comments and I've only missed posting 6-8 days that I can remember. I've learned a lot about you, the industry, but most of all about myself and I'm hoping my experiences might help you.
Whether it's your blog or just keeping up with email, you've got to be consistent. It's all about developing a routine. Read anything from any one of a dozen social media experts and the one message you'll pick up over and over again is the importance of being consistent. Whether it's every day or once a week, you've got to be there on a regular basis. The same goes for your posts on Facebook and your tweet stream. The challenge is finding the balance in your life to make the time. I write full time, it's my "job"... you, on the other hand, are aspiring to be or are already working as a professional photographer. That means it's even tougher for you to find the time and balance in your life to post. You're juggling so many different projects. So, let's see if I can help you find a way to balance things out just a little better. 1) Prioritize a few different things you need to do for your business and make them part of your daily routine. After a couple of weeks it'll become as natural as brushing your teeth every morning. For example, I've talked about checking your website every day to make sure it's loading properly. You love your business, you love your site - what could be better than going through it each day for 5 minutes? And remember to check it on more than just one platform. 2) Do something that keeps you in touch with an industry you enjoy. Many of you are part time photographers and have other businesses and interests. Find a project that keeps you involved and gets you feedback. This is about shooting on a regular basis. A few years ago, my buddy Brian Palmer, did a 365 Project, shooting a new image every day for his blog. Whether he was shooting a wedding or not that weekend, he NEVER missed a new image for the day and two of them actually wound up being published. You never know when an image is going to hook a new client or maybe just help launch a new friendship. 3) Just like television shows that spin off of other main stream programs, don't be afraid to go "off Broadway" if you've got an idea you want to try. It might be with your own blog or maybe it's in adding diversity to your business. The challenge is to find something new to try and experiment with. 4) Pick a couple of blogs and then follow them to keep in touch with new products and techniques. One of my personal favorites through all these years has been Photofocus. I also follow a lot of the Panasonic Luminaries, just to see what everybody's up to. 5) Last but not least keep your family involved in what you're doing. They're your best cheerleaders and your most honest critics. Don't get defensive if you have a great idea, but they're not crazy about it. Odds are you didn't explain it enough. Most important of all is just staying focused and that's far easier said than done. I'm the epitome of a kid with A.D.D. constantly moving from something I'm working on to checking on the chime of a new email. However, when I get on line first thing in the morning it's typically two hours where I literally go through my morning routine...writing, posting and tweeting. But just because I have a routine, doesn't mean there still aren't components to follow up with. George Carlin said it best: "Just because you got the monkey off your back, doesn't mean the circus has left town!" Photo Credit: © jamstockfoto - Fotolia.com Yesterday my grandson Ryan got the spotlight and this morning it's his twin sister Sophie's turn along with my three grandsons, Luke, Zachary and Jordan. However, there's actually a point about technology in this morning's post.
I'm often asked what do I like to shoot with. The question comes from being past president of Hasselblad USA and people thinking I once shot professionally. While I know more than I often let on, having been fortunate enough to work with some of the finest photographers in the world, my real profile is just a guy who's always loved photography. I've had a number of images published over the years, even a couple of cover shots, but it was more because the magazines were hoping to secure some of our advertising budget than my skill set! *sigh* So, here's the answer to the question and the images up top prompted this lazy Sunday topic. My most favorite camera and lens combination will always be the Hasseblad 503CW with the 180mm CF lens. It was a favorite for all those years at Hasselblad and the quality of the camera together with the 180mm was simply amazing. However, most of the images you see me sharing lately as well as the video each month that accompanies my article in Shutter Magazine are all shot with Panasonic's new LUMIX GH3. I'm blown away by what Panasonic's technology has brought to the party, especially in low light situations. I've experienced just about every quality of the system the Luminaries have talked about in Luminary corner. The image on the right of the "boyz" was shot in an extremely dark restaurant. In fact, both images are right out of the can, the first with a little window light. They're just grab shots while on vacation, no cleanup necessary. The lens I was using for both was the 12-35mm F2.8 lens. For those of you who insist on still arguing the point of Canon vs. Nikon...that's about as relevant as the battle most of us witnessed years ago between traditional portrait artists and the wedding photo-journalists! You owe it to yourself to stay on top of technology and don't rule anything out. A few months ago I had a conversation with good buddy Roberto Valenzuela. Over the last year or so he's expanded in shooting both medium format with Hassselblad and now video with a high end video system. (Sorry, don't know what he bought.) When I asked him why, his answer couldn't have been more perfect... "I owe it to my clients! Unless I learn all the various techniques to capture the image, I can't improve myself as an artist. So, I want to keep growing and learning everything I can." So, the wrap up question is really easy...What are you doing to raise the bar on your skill set and expand your creative vision as an artist? Well, maybe not so easy. LOL Make it a great Sunday you guys and hug somebody you care about. After five years of writing for four different blogs, three different magazines and working with hundreds of photographers to help raise the bar on their marketing, business and skill set...this is one of those days where all I can do is smile and use my blog to show off my grandson, Ryan. I'll pop an image or two of his twin sister Sophie tomorrow. But the smiles today aren't just the result of finding some images I forgot to download. A lot has to do with all of you. Thank you for your support, your feedback and your kindness. It's been an amazing journey since starting my new company five years ago and today all I want to do is wish everybody a wonderful weekend and time with family, friends and those people who mean something special to you. I found a quote that just sums up my thoughts a lot better than I can... "Friends are hard to find. In a lifetime you get only a few. And when you find them, you always know them by sight and heart alone, you always grow a little bit taller in your soul, and you know you have been blessed just to know them." Ashley Rice Make it a great day and a wonderful weekend! Appreciate everything you have and stop worrying about the business. it'll all be there on Monday morning.
Yesterday's "It's Time to Stop the Madness" was one of the most commented about posts I've ever written, but I didn't start out with any particular plan except to express a lot of disappointment in so many artists taking shortcuts. My rant got me thinking about the constructive side of the problem and I found this quote from Winston Churchill that really hits home... "To every man there comes in his lifetime that special moment when he is tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the work which would be his finest hour." Note: It's interesting that one of the most iconic portraits ever taken was by Yousef Karsh, who NEVER compromised on the quality of an image. His portrait of Sir Winston Churchill may well have been one of his "finest hours!" The images in your galleries have to be representative of your skill set. There's no way to bluff your way through a session or an event if you don't know what you're doing. All the Photoshop skills in the world aren't going to give you the ability to create the stunning images the client hired you to capture.
Being a successful professional photographer means building trust with your clients. There are no shortcuts to understanding exposure, composition and depth of field, just to name a few. I've written books with Don Blair, Bambi Cantrell, Joe Buissink and Scott Bourne and the common denominator with each of these industry icons is, they NEVER compromise on quality. The never take on a job they can't do. They never disappoint a client. Most important of all, they always work to make themselves habit-forming! If you're taking the time to read my blog posts or anybody else's then we know you've got the passion. It just takes time and constant practice to get your images to that point where without any hesitation you know you've met the client's mindset. Michele Celentano once got up in front of a group of new photographers and said, "Twenty years ago I was right where you are now, wondering how long it would be before my work didn't suck!" She then proceeded to share some of the worst images I've ever seen, but each one provoked a little more laughter and you could see people start to relax. Each person realized they weren't alone in their frustration to ramp up their career. There are no shortcuts to becoming a great artist, but there's nothing you can't do if you've got the passion. Better yet, if you stay focused and work to always be prepared, you don't have to worry about the tragedy of missing "your finest hour." *****RANT ALERT***** This is so simple to fix. I've written about different aspects of the challenge so many times in the past...
STOP SHOWING MEDIOCRE/BAD IMAGES! Pick any business and pretend you're the owner. Would you expect to be successful selling inferior products? A dry cleaner couldn't survive returning things only partially clean. A gas station wouldn't make it, short-changing customers with "almost a gallon" measurements. Your favorite restaurant wouldn't survive long with bad food. I can see the tag line now, "But there's only a 20% chance you'll get sick!" It doesn't matter what the product or service, people have to believe you're the best and with photography they get a sneak preview by visiting your online galleries. That's why you've got them - to show people what you can do! Knowing then, how important your galleries are, why are some of you still not cleaning them up? Why show an image you wouldn't buy yourself? Then there's the other extreme...Just a few days ago I had to delete a photographer from the wedding forum I manage with Chris Fawkes from Australia. We had a photographer who's images were stunning - sadly most of them were stock images he bought. In addition, he made them look like his work - no photo credits and mixed at random with other images. That's a new type of madness that needs to stop. If it's not your work then don't show it! Another level of madness comes with some of you who insist on using images you've taken in a workshop. I'm not against working with models to build your portfolio. I'm also not against taking things you've learned in a workshop and creating new images for your galleries and portfolio. What I am against is using that shot you got as you literally stood next to Kevin Kubota, while he was teaching and piggy-backed off of his expertise. It's not your work, even if you did click the shutter. There's only one way to build your business and it's all about building your own skill set. It's about directing your passion for imaging into your quest for quality. So, here's a suggestion for your galleries. (My apologies to those of you who have read this before.) Take the time to review your website. Look at the images you're showing and ask yourself one serious question. "If this was the only image I could show, would I hire me?" This is a career field based on quality...Quality in your images, your relationships with your clients and the way you do business. Don't let yourself get caught up in the argument about showing lots of images just to fill up space. If an image isn't good enough, don't show it. Just work to build your inventory of images so that each one is a "wow" print, current and fresh. Vince Lombardi said it best, "The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." Make your commitment to excellence and never compromise! Illustration Credit: © faithie - Fotolia.com "Spend a lot of time talking to customers face to face. You'd be amazed how many companies don't listen to their customers." Ross Perot Lately I'm surprised at some of the discussions in a few of the forums where photographers are complaining about their customers. My first surprise comes at the way they publicly shred their clients. You might be in a closed group on Facebook, for example, but do you know who else is in the "room" with you? Second is the issue of some pretty irrational thoughts on how to resolve some of the issues. Fortunately this is where a great forum or network can really help you see things more clearly.
I can't deny for a second that every now and then you get one you just can't please, but it's so important to build relationships even over challenging issues. If you don't think that's possible read the post of Bruce Berg's and how he saved a client...after forgetting their wedding! Today one angry client has the ability to reach more people than some of the magazines did just ten years ago. The customer is not always right, but the customer is always your customer. That means you've got a responsibility to listen, empathize and resolve their issues. It's not a one way street and compromise is always a potential solution, but you need to keep things in perspective, build your business on quality and not just in your images. This is about building relationships with each client. Photo Credit: © Carlo Toffolo - Fotolia.com Most of you who know me are aware that I'm all about easy technology. In fact, I'm a poster child for "Low Tech". So, when Matt and Josh, two good buddies at X-Rite asked me to be part of the beta test on ColorTRUE, after telling them they were nuts, I agreed to give it a shot. Just a few minutes ago the ColorTRUE site went live and for one of the very first times in technology, I'm ahead of the curve! This is an amazing product and so perfect for today's applications. In the "old days" photographers would show me their portfolios, but today it's all on an iPad or their phone. What amazes me is how few photographers have thought about color calibration of the device itself. It's the old equivalent of fools who spent a fortune on great speakers in the 70's, but played an album on a cheap turntable with a ten dollar stylus - I'm counting on at least one of you to know what a turntable is! LOL Well, if you're showing images, especially to a potential client or sponsor, you've got to see them with the very best quality they deserve! Why would you consider any compromise? I decided to start out completely from scratch, using my MacBook Air which has absolutely no calibration software. I got a cup of coffee and just sat down and read the instructions, which I never do. The process of getting started couldn't have been easier as X-Rite's software for my ColorMunki Display seemed to know the system was talking to a technically-challenged moron! Once loaded and calibrated, I hit the button to calibrate my iPad and everything started talking to each other. I had previously loaded in the Beta software. I had a minor challenge when the iPad couldn't find my MacBook, but even that was easily resolved by hitting x-rite's trouble-shooting guide and simply fixing my the specs on my firewall. Through color calibration and then black and white - x-rite, ColorMunki and the software did it all. Here's what I love most about the process - THE RESULTS! I now have the ability to see what the image will look like calibrated and uncalibrated. I've got the ability to adjust my iPad for the lighting conditions around me that I'm viewing in with "Ambient Compensation". I can see what my image will look like using "Print Simulation", which allows me to preview how an image will look printed on various output devices. Anything I show now is being shown with the very best quality of light and color. If you still have doubts on how amazing this is, don't take my word for it - just watch the video! We're still in convention season and many of you have some serious shows and workshops coming up. Don't compromise on showing your images. Get your device calibrated before you start sharing your work. The application download is free and just a click away! You're working so hard to capture and create the ultimate images, give it the presentation it deserves! Welcome to my morning...I NEVER sleep late anymore. Every day I'm up and on line around 7:00 am. For whatever reason, I crashed until 10:00 am this morning and while last night's dinner with great neighbors and a few more than normal empty bottles of wine contributed, I obviously needed to catch up on sleep. I'm in one of those reflective moods and just feeling thankful for all of you in my life. I started this business in May of 2009 and people told me I was nuts to give up what they perceived as the greatest job in the world. Well, here I am almost five years later and couldn't be happier. If I was keeping track, it would be in the "Best Weeks of the Year" record book. And here are some highlights...all of the images except the one of Sheila and me are linked to the original post or video - just click if you missed it. So the words "thank you" carry so much meaning this morning. Thank you - to all of you who have supported this project, encouraged me to keep adding new features and topics, beaten me up when I've gone off course and contributed to helping raise the bar on building an educational resource for photographers! And to those of you who told me I was nuts and should have stayed in my old job... "I do it because I can, I can because I want to, I want to because you said I couldn't." Author Unknown Wishing everybody a wonderful weekend - This is going to be my post for today and Sunday. I'm just going to spend it hanging out with Sheila! You guys should do the same...no, not hang out with Sheila - just find somebody you love and make it a great day.
My career started in Boston at Polaroid. I've got a lot of close friends and family in the Boston area and it's one of my most favorite cities. Now there's something else that's a kick...my buddy Brian Malloy just sent me the link to this video and some of the images from his studio were used. It would be fun to watch if I didn't know any of the participating artists, but it's even more fun when you know a couple of the people involved! What a great way to wind up the week. Around a year and a half ago, Chris Fawkes asked me if I was willing to help him as a co-administrator for Facebook Wedding Photographers. He had about 3000 members in the forum and it simply seemed like a fun thing to do. I had been following Chris for a while, liked his approach and definitely his skill set. We changed the group to a closed group and slowly started removing everybody who wasn't a photographer. We did our best to remove brides, makeup artists, travel agents, retailers - anybody who didn't have something to do with image capture. Today the forum is coming up on 16,000 members from around the world, but an Australian and an American working on a project together is hardly anything worth posting about. However... Last night we did our very first Skype video call and had a chance to actually talk to each other. It was a kick - my day was ending as Chris' was just beginning. During the conversation Chris mentioned somebody who had said to him that you can't build real friendships through Facebook and social media and that's my point this morning. Chris and I are proof that indeed you can!. I admit I'd love to get out to lunch once in awhile with him and just talk about the business, but through hundreds of messages and conversations on Facebook, there's a quality to our friendship that matches many of the people I've worked with for years. We've worked on so many different aspects of the forum that we both know how the other is thinking about something and the respect we have for each other matches any normal business partnership. So, here's my point as this business week comes to a close... First, for those of you who still don't want to get involved in social media - it's your loss! Second, if you are involved take the time to get to know some of the people whose comments on line you find interesting. Visit their website, read their blog, pay attention to their comments. Third, pick up the phone or crank up Skype - either way you've got a chance to expand your network and raise the bar on its quality with some new friends. Last on the list - building online friendships takes patience and communication skills. Writing is one of the toughest ways to communicate, because so often things can be misconstrued, especially on anything sensitive. Take your time, choose your words carefully and just be helpful. There are hundreds of forums on Facebook, each one giving you a chance to share your passion for some aspect of life with other likewise dedicated people. In photography alone there are so many opportunities to share ideas, challenges and images, but you won't find them if you're not involved. As I've written before, you can either stand on the sidelines and watch the parade go by or, you can get involved and be a part of it! Wishing everybody a terrific weekend! Image copyright Chris Fawkes. All rights reserved.
Every now and then there's a project that comes along that's just worth following. A few minutes ago Courtney Bent, Lorie Borges and the team launched their Kickstarter campaign for "The 100 Cameras Project". The opening paragraph on the Kickstarter page says it all...
"What does it feel like when your voice and ideas are truly heard? The 100 Cameras Project will place cameras in the hands of 100 individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities throughout the United States and create a series of photography exhibitions that will bring the often unheard voices and unseen vision of these new photographers to life." The video below will fill you in and there's even more great information about the project on the Kickstarter page. It's just a click away... Last week, while on the flight to Las Vegas, about an hour from landing, the flight attendants came by and handed us each the small box pictured on the left. It was about the size of a deck of cards, but only 3/8 inch thick. Inside was a pack of mints and seven cards, each one giving us a discount or added benefit for some aspect of the Cosmopolitan Hotel. This is continuity marketing at its very best. I have no idea how much the hotel spent on a marketing approach like this, but I can guarantee it was big bucks, but that's not the point you need to think about. Think about the concept for your own business and doing something similar. I can't believe it would be that hard for most of you to get several non-competing companies together to split the cost four or five ways. Each company has a card or two with something relating to their business. I have no idea whether this program did anything to help the Cosmopolitan, but in all honesty, it doesn't matter for my purpose in sharing it. This is about consumer bundling with other companies and the application fits with EVERY photographic specialty.
A wedding photographer together with a florist, travel agent, venue, salon and wedding planner gives you a six way split. A pet photographer working together with a veterinarian, groomer, pet rescue group and pet supply store is a five way split. A family photographer doing a Mother's Day/Father's Day/Graduation promotion could bring in a venue, florist, limo company, a gift boutique and men's/women's clothing store...there it is again a six or even seven way split. Here are the benefits:
Last on the list, you can scale it down and just use it to focus on your own business or maybe it's a great program to do with another photographer. For example, there are only so many weekends you can work as a wedding photographer before you simply implode. Why not work with another photographer and promote both of your businesses or, put a children/family photographer together with a wedding photographer and share the costs? Survival today is not longer about the most fit - it's about who's the most creative! Aurora Daley Olmstead has been a buddy for a lot of years. She wrote one of the most read guest posts I've ever had about a shoot she did for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep many years ago. The day after WPPI she sent me the video below, as she and her partner in crime, Marisa Balletti-Lavoie, set out to be noticed. Unless you've spent the last year or two in solitary confinement, you should notice a few different industry icons...Personally I think Sal Cincotta had the best moves, although you gotta love the Ninja twerk from Kenny Kim! Just a smile-maker on a lazy Sunday morning...Wishing everybody a wonderful Sunday. It's Saturday and I'm still catching up on everything I need to do following this past week's convention. This was one of the best WPPI shows I can remember, especially for new projects and I find myself getting very close to what my pal, Julieanne Kost, refers to as "out of bandwidth".
But here's what really made it a great convention for me... I don't remember ever being able to put so many names together with faces. Even in passing somebody in a hallway and having a minute or less to talk, it's such a great feeling to physically meet somebody. Over and over again I had a chance to talk with people I've only met flying through cyber space. The convention season is still going on with a number of state and regional shows coming up. If you're on the fence and still undecided, just take the plunge and go! Any convention has the potential to be terrific if you walk in with the right attitude. Years ago Photo Plus had a sister show called Photo Midwest in Chicago. Most companies thought it was terrible, but Hasselblad did a mailing in advance to every professional photographer within 100 miles. I still remember laughing because we even mailed to the nine forensic photographers on the list. (It's one of those totally useless facts that somehow has been lodged in my brain for all these years!) The bottom line is that we had a terrific show. We were busy, made some great contacts and were happy, even though it was pretty slow for most of the other exhibitors. My point is pretty simple - every convention you attend has the potential for greatness, but it's all in your attitude. Networking is the greatest reason to attend any convention and physically being able to talk to somebody is so much richer than email, IMs, DMs, Comments and texting! Physically meeting people in your network and getting time with new friends is the mortar that holds the bricks of your network together! As more and more of you get involved in projects that push the edge of the envelope, you also need to make sure your gear is secure and that's where Vulture Equipment comes in. There's no question the video below is an infomercial, but it's got so much great content. It hits on so many different issues about keeping your gear, and at times yourself, safe. Could you tell your story in just two minutes? Congratulations to our friends at Vulture Equipment for making XOverland.com's Best Camera Accessory list. Nothing will secure your gear better than Vulture! |
Our Partners"Why?"Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.
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