Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
Stop worrying about how much you don't know and focus on all you've learned so far. It takes patience and a never-ending thirst for learning to be a great photographer.
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by Skip Cohen
Great photographers, share numerous common denominators. One of them is their willingness to share information. Here are just a few terrific examples. A few years back I attended a program by Sandy Puc. If you don’t know who she is, you need to get out more often! Besides being an outstanding instructor and artist, she’s also the founder of NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep), a remarkable charity supported by thousands of photographers. “Sam” was the first photographer I’d ever heard talk openly about benchmarks in her career related to hiring more staff and growth in revenue. I’ve obviously forgotten the actual numbers, but let’s say she started out in her career with a grand total of $10,000 in sales the first year, eating macaroni and cheese and sleeping in her car a lot. Her next benchmark, which might have included some advertising, showed a jump in business, followed by hiring her first assistant and another jump. Then came a marketing manager and special programs and another jump. She took us through twenty years of growing her business. I don’t think my starting number for her is off that much, but I do remember her anticipated gross sales number for that particular year was over a million dollars! She was open, honest and frank about the steps she took to build her business, including some of the mistakes. In a similar display of sharing information, I've linked you a couple times to Bruce Berg's post on the Lane County Children's Contest. Bruce couldn’t have been more open in sharing everything they do to make the contest a success and even talks about the level of revenue they create. Hit Facebook's page for Jeff Lubin and you'll find post after post of Jeff sharing his "secrets", because he doesn't believe in secrets. His forum is a labor of love, simply helping people raise the bar on their work and think before the click the shutter! Chris Fawkes is an Australian photographer who's become a great buddy. He started Facebook Wedding Photographers and asked me to help him administrate the forum a couple months ago. Every Monday he posts an advice piece to help photographers and virtually every day, there's something he's adding to somebody's request for feedback. He'll work hard to answer any question he's asked and in turn is helping thousands of photographers improve their abilities as artists. Michele Celentano, teaching next week at SCU's Summer Session, started out a GoingPro Boot Camp we did three years ago with, "Twenty years ago I was sitting right where you are and wondering how long it was going to be before my work didn't suck!" The audience laughed and you could see people start to relax as Michele proceeded to show images from the first wedding she ever shot...and they were terrible. With SCU's Summer Session coming up, I'm reminded that every one of the instructors are part of the program because they love to teach. They love to give away all their "secrets". Their focus is on raising the bar of everybody's skill set and in turn the quality of an entire industry. It's simply what they do all year long. Over the years I’ve listened to so many great photographers share their ideas and that's one of those special traits that makes them great. A great photographer is one who's willing to share and be comfortable in helping you become a stronger competitor. Illustration Credit: © Artur Marciniec - Fotolia.com by Skip Cohen
If you’re looking for the quickest way to lose friends, clients and associates, miss your deadlines and break a few promises! It’s a tough economy and everyone is working harder than ever to build their business. That means we’re all depending on each other more so than in the past. Even more frustrating for a consumer is feeling like you’re trapped in a Verizon, “Can you hear me now?” commercial. Think about a client who's waiting, but nobody is knocking on the door, responding to their email or calling their name. Their phone isn't ringing. That silent response puts any consumer on the defensive, automatically thinking the worse. In my Hasselblad days we used to laugh at Swedish expressions that just didn’t translate. One of my favorites was “When the crib is empty the horses will bite!” I absolutely didn’t understand it the first time it was used, but the reference was to the feed crib being empty and horses nipping at each other because they’re hungry and food is scarce. The reference was directed to the sales force, who at the time, were all complaining over the challenges with the economy, back orders and price increases. Product wasn’t being delivered as promised. They weren't getting any response from the home office. They were all on the front line taking the heat from photographers and retailers for broken promises. Well, you’ve got exactly the same challenge with your clients and associates.
When you miss the mark, and it’s happened at times to all of us, you create unnecessary stress for everybody and in the end it simply becomes more painful that it had to be. Your customer isn't always right, but every client deserves the very best service. You can dodge a lot of bullets if you just focus on exceeding expectations. Illustration Credit: © bramgino - Fotolia.com Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
On line education is terrific, but nothing beats up close and personal. Along with webinars and online workshops, you've got to attend as many LIVE programs and conventions as you possibly can. You can't become a great photographer just watching videos! by Skip Cohen
It’s just a quick and very direct concept this morning: Stop beating yourself up when something doesn’t work out as planned. Last week I ran into a photographer on line who was kicking herself for “failing”. She’s got some temporary health issues from working too hard, trying to please both her family and her business. She was beating herself up and calling herself a failure. Whether my thoughts on the subject are the result of my years of experience as an executive in the photographic industry or just my experience kicking around on planet earth for a lot of years – here’s the point: You’re only one person and you can only do the best you can. NEVER use the word failure, because nobody is a failure at anything. Everybody makes mistakes. Everybody has set backs and disappointments. Every project you tackle isn’t going to be a winner, but if you learn from everything you do, you’ll become an incredibly strong manager and artist. And last on the list – stop thinking that everybody else out there has everything working as planned. I’ve repeatedly heard young photographers say, “Sure she can talk about her business that way. Look how successful she is!” Guess what gang – none of the industry icons made it to the top right at the start. Here's a great example: John Sexton is one of the finest photographers in the world, known mostly for his stunning black and white landscapes. But John actually started out as a wedding photographer. He once told me a story about being fired from one of his early jobs, working for a wedding photographer. All he wanted to do was take a month off in peak season to attend a workshop by some photographer named Ansel Adams! In later years John became one of Ansel’s assistants and while it sounds so trite, the rest is history. You know how to focus your camera, so let’s start a campaign to focus your career. The best way to stay on course is just do the best you can every day with every image and every client. "Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success." Dale Carnegie "Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats." Og Mandino I heard a great line once and it's perfect for the next time you get into that whoa-is-me rut and think you're the only one who's life is screwed up and not going as planned: “Instead of “I’m okay, you’re okay,” it should be I’m not okay and you’re not okay either, but that’s okay!” Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
About a year ago a photographer asked me my opinion on new photographers. She wanted to know if I thought we should help them become better and more professional or just let them flounder and hopefully drop out of the business... Look, I won't deny for a second we're all frustrated with the horror stories of photographers who had great gear, but didn't know how to use it. The Internet is loaded with story after story from an unhappy bride who had no understanding of what she was getting into, but here's the thing. Half of the industry has always been part time, going back long before digital photography. There are some outstanding part time photographers. Being a full time photographer doesn't necessarily make you better, just luckier in the paths you've chosen to follow. So, let's keep helping those new photographers who have the passion and want to learn and stop trying to slow them down. WPPI got started over thirty years ago because nobody would recognize the "weekend warrior". There are so many different aspects to this pet peeve, but it's really directed to those members of the "old guard" who have forgotten how much help they needed when they were first getting started! by Scott Bourne
UPDATE: Please note that the central thesis here is that you should concentrate on what is important to YOU – it’s a given that everyone will have their own opinion as to what is meaningful. You’ll get more out of the post if you don’t take the pedantic view of the information and concentrate on the central idea. Thanks. A business leader I admire once said, “We believe in saying no to thousands of projects so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us.” I never forgot that speech – and I’ve spent significant time seeing how it could apply to my life and my photography. I have lived to make a few important images. I know the difference between the mundane and the spectacular – as do most of you. But knowing what’s important and meaningful isn’t as easy. It is different for everyone. And that’s why it’s so intriguing to me. The “spray and pray” approach to photography rarely yields anything other then mediocre images. The slow, deliberate, contemplative approach – now that’s a different story altogether. I don’t have any answers here – but sometimes you need to start with the right question and I think I have found that question. What would happen to you – to me – to all of us – if we stopped just taking pictures and instead, focused our photography (and our lives for that matter) by doing only work that was truly important or meaningful to us? I am trying to find out the answer to that question for myself. I’ve been asking it now for two years. I am getting the sense that what will happen is a lower volume of work with a higher overall quality. I am starting to feel like the images I make matter more – at least to me. There will be a temptation for some to start thinking about this in a way that isn’t helpful. They may start trying to make images that are important or meaningful to someone else because that will gain them glory. That won’t work in my opinion. This exercise needs to be important to YOU – nobody else matters. What is meaningful to YOU? There seems to be a rush to mediocrity in so many of the things that surround us lately that we may be in danger of simply forgetting about excellence. I hope that doesn’t happen and I think that by concentrating on what’s important and or meaningful, we’ll be closer to mastering this thing called photography. "Skip's Summer School" by Kenny Kim A week from today Summer Session of SCU is going to start, kicking off with Marketing Boot Camp. Whether you can join us or not isn't the issue, but planning things that give you benchmarks to look forward to is! Every year I go through the same thing a week out from any major industry event. My wife and friends call it "Skip's Show Mode". It starts out with me feeling stressed and driving her nuts. I'm worried about what I've missed. I'm racking my brain thinking about logistics, the schedule, meetings I've got planned, etc. But that stress only lasts a little while as my excitement builds. I find myself acting no different than a sitcom's portrayal of a first-time expectant father pacing in the delivery room! This is Sunday morning and I always try and keep it short, so here's the point. I keep writing about planning ahead and here's a prime example. Start planning NOW for events you want to attend over the next six months. I know there are state photography conventions coming up. Florida for example is August 17-21. Then there's Photoshop world and PPE in New York. IUSA kicks off the year in January, followed by dozens of smaller state shows and WPPI in March. With the help of a whole bunch of terrific friends, we built the original Skip's Summer School in the middle of the summer to give you a quick charge on creativity, networking and building your skill set, because there isn't much going on over the summer. Plan your schedule for the next twelve months so at the very least, every quarter, you've got some event to look forward to. Creativity, enthusiasm and that rush you get when you're trying something new don't happen by accident. They happen because you're feeding your passion. That anticipation leading up to any event will keep you focused and pumped to keep growing as an artist. Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
I'm tired of photographers who claim they don't have the time to feed their brain every morning. There's so much on the Internet to help you grow. Pick a couple of blogs to read every few days. Wander through YouTube searching by words related to photography, "lighting", "photography" etc. or plug in the names of photographers whose work you admire. Take the time to look at something every morning besides your email. You’ve got to feed your brain to keep the creative juices flowing. Nobody taught a better program than Dean Collins and a secret to his success was simply that he NEVER rested on his laurels. He was constantly reinventing himself! by Skip Cohen
I ran across an incredible quote a little while back that got me thinking about a number of photographers I’ve met over the years. “Out there in some garage is an entrepreneur who’s forging a bullet with your company’s name on it.” Gary Hamel. While there are moments where you can relax a little, the economy, technology and social media have created some of the strongest business competition in history. New photographers, new techniques, new gear, software and apps are showing up every day. You can’t stay on top of everything, but you can stay focused on your skill set, the quality of your images and customer service. Years ago one of the associations had a "Retailer of the Year" award they presented at the annual PMA show. We used to laugh, because in one five year stretch there were three or four winners who claimed bankruptcy within a year or two following the award. While the problems they had were all different and didn't just happen overnight, to the public it looked like they just kicked back to enjoy the glory and stopped focusing on building a stronger business. In some cases that really was what happened - as if the recognition of the award was going to turn things around, all on its own. You've seen the same thing happen on the artist side of our industry. So often a photographer wins an award, gets the recognition and then simply slows down. They start to believe their own press releases! They’re resting on their reputation and while it’s fine to kick back a little and relax, you can’t do it for too long. This also seems to happen a lot with photographers who hit the road on tour. Their program is terrific in the beginning, maybe even for a year or two, but they’re no longer shooting or running a business. They wake up one day and their message has no relevance. They’ve lost touch with the reality of the industry and running a business as a photographer. My old buddy Dean Collins recognized this early on, producing some of the finest educational programs our industry has ever seen. He’d hit the circuit for two years and then completely back off and and get back to shooting, and focus on his business. A year or two later, with all new material, new clients and experiences to share, he’d re-invent himself and come back with a whole new series. The Bottom Line There's absolutely nothing wrong with competing for the various awards in our industry, especially print competition, which I've written a lot about. Just don't let that become your ultimate point of focus. To grow as an artist you have to keep learning and experimenting to develop your own creativity. As a business owner you do the same, but while wearing your marketing/branding hat. Pay attention to your skill set and your business first and don’t let your ego run the business. Be proud of what you’ve accomplished, but recognize as an artist you never really stop learning or creating. With each new change in technology the bar gets raised on your true potential. This has nothing whatsoever to do with photography, although considering the history of the problem, imaging certainly played a role. I just watched this and loved the chuckle power. I realize the number one rule of a good blog is to stay out of politics unless that's an interest of your target readership. Well, I'm violating that rule in support of some great lyrics thanks to Jay Leno and his crew with help from Kristen Chenoweth. Just watch it for it's amusement value! by Skip Cohen
“I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been!” Hockey great Wayne Gretsky. That quote got me thinking about how most photographers run their business. I’m generalizing, but so often it’s simply too reactionary. Instead of anticipating a down turn in business and having an emergency plan, photographers hit the panic button in a half-ass futile attempt to figure out what’s wrong and what to do next. In the end the “solutions” include everything from buying new equipment to getting a “real job”, both rarely the right or best approach. So it's August 1st and summer is rapidly coming to a close. In a couple weeks kids are going back to school and you're going to be headed into what everyone is hoping for, a strong fourth quarter. What if, just for this morning we stopped for a second and tried to anticipate what 2014 is going to be like? What are the things you can count on?
Winter comes the same time every year, yet the drop in temperatures and snow in so many markets always leaves everybody surprised. It’s no different with business cycles. While the economy does feel like it’s improving in some markets, 2014 is still going to be a tough year, right along with the back half of 2013. Anticipate the challenges and it’ll be smoother sailing – not easy sailing, just smooth! I've used this quote so many times in the past, but it's so relevant: “Calm seas don’t make skilled sailors!” Illustration credit: © fotoscool - Fotolia.com |
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