A while back I did a podcast with Mary Ellen Mark. She’s one of the most recognized photographers in the world and if you’re not familiar with her work, you’ve been in solitary confinement for too long. One of the things she talked about was a technique she’s found that has disappeared in our “see-it-now” instant fulfillment world. Whenever she teaches a class she makes her students cover the LCD of their cameras with tape. Why? When you’re shooting digitally you look to see if you got the image and then you move on, but when shooting analog you tend to stay on the subject longer, looking for the ideal expression which may yet appear. She essentially works hard to teach her students to stay with the subject, because the best image might not be the one you thought you already captured. We’ve all become victims of digital imaging. We look at the shot and move on, hungry for the next priceless moment, when we’re often turning our back on the best image prematurely. I’ve been shooting a lot with Panasonic’s GH3 and the 12-35mm lens. I had a blast with our grandson, Ryan, on the swing in the kid's park at the zoo. Thinking about Mary Ellen’s comments I shut off the display and just stuck with it. The images aren’t award winners for anybody but me and Sheila and there’s plenty to critique, but I captured the expressions I wanted most. Nothing beats a great swing set and an almost two year old! So, the next time you've got an event to shoot and you think you've nailed the shot, hang in there just a little longer. Don't move on just because you're sure you got it. Too often the best shot might be yet to come!
Note: Mary Ellen still has a few spaces left in her Halloween Workshop. It should definitely be on your bucket list!
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While many of you farm out your design work, I just got introduced to Canva and it's pretty impressive. I'm a big fan of outsourcing, but a lot of you have a great sense of design and this is well worth your time to take the tour. What I loved most was the ability for Canva to help me think through the design process and actually come up with some things that would be fun to illustrate for the SCU blog. They're helping me raise the bar on my game and using Canva looks like it's going to give me the ability to add a touch of class to a number of different projects. I also love the ease of use. Most of you know I'm a poster child for "low-technology". That means everything has got to be easy for me to understand and use. Well, Canva's brought this incredible ease of use to the party and no, I don't have anything at stake...no investment in the company. I've just got a love for simplicity and applications that are fun to use. Just click on the banner below and take a look for yourself. I just opened an account of my own, giving me a chance to have some fun upgrading a few design projects I've had in my head for a little while. More to come...
This is one Throwback Thursday post I should probably be embarrassed to even share, but you've got be able to laugh at yourself. There are so many times in our lives when we've all done things that were simply stupid. We knew better, but it just didn't matter. Well, meet my buddy, Bob Rose. He's been with me on a lot of adventures around the world. No matter what the trip or where we were, there's always been at least one thing I've done that wasn't particularly smart. And, when it came to food, nothing we ever did was really smart! There was a time in my life, where I really believed I could eat anything I wanted. I'm a foodie and numerous times have referred to myself as the number one lunch slut in the industry. Well, hanging out with Bob for so many years, the two of us have packed away some pretty amazing and not-so-amazing meals. Bun Boy in Baker, California between Los Angeles and Vegas is a prime example. So, you've got Bob crouched down, me and my neighbor, George, who just came along for the fun of it. We were all headed back from Las Vegas after the CES show with a short stop at Bun Boy. At the restaurant we caught up to another partner in crime, Phillip Able. There are few things more fun or worse for your health than a fully loaded Bun Boy burger, fries, Coke and strawberry pie. Sadly, Bun Boy closed, but not before we consumed a few thousand calories. Then, as if the lunch wasn't enough, we all had to buy Bun Boy hats. George and I look like wannabee candidates for a Gilligan audition. The increase in my waist line should have been enough of a memory-maker! So here's the point...every convention, workshop, meeting, presentation you attend is a memory-maker. Get those images of you with friends and don't forget the ones where you make a fool of yourself, because years later they're going to make you laugh, often until you cry. This is about friendships and often it's those stories from the past that are the most fun to share. These days there's no excuse for not getting a few pictures of those priceless moments - everyone has a phone with them and many of you travel with a high-end point and shoot. Take the time whenever you're with friends to grab a few shots. Get those selfies and throw them in a file somewhere just to let them age. Oh, and about being healthy...I'm probably down about twenty pounds from those days. I don't eat like that anymore. As you get older you really do get smarter and you start to pay attention to your family history. Joe Buissink once said to me, "You can hide from a lot of things, but not bad genes!" However, put Bob Rose and I together in any Japanese restaurant on the planet and there's a lot of sushi about to be consumed. When we're together, "moderation" is just another word in the dictionary.
It's that time of year again. In just three weeks many of you are going to be at PPE in New York and it's important to really think through your trip. Time is your most valuable commodity and there's never enough of it. You need to make every day you're away from your business cost effective.
Here are some things to think about before you hit the road and while you're there:
It's Marketing Monday and while new gear isn't really tied to marketing - it's definitely tied to your cash flow, which in turn is the funding you need to promote your business. NGF (New Gear Fever) is similar to NCF (New Car Fever). I don't care how much control you have, once you get the bug, you become obsessed with the idea. Sadly, so many of you think the gear makes the photographer, when it's just the opposite. Jose Villa, one of the finest wedding photographers in the industry, has been known to capture some of his wedding images with a $30 Holga. (The light leaks on every Holga are different, adding even more to the mystique of the results you get with this camera.) At the legendary extreme, I had the privilege of spending the day with Richard Avedon years ago and he pulled one of the original Polaroid SX-70 cameras out of his pocket to capture pictures of his exhibit in Tucson. Photographers create the images NOT the gear! If you've got the bug for new equipment, let's come up with some key points BEFORE you screw up your cash flow and at least qualify your purchase.
Most important of all new gear isn't going to replace hard work to build a solid skill set. Stay focused on your education and practice, practice, practice. But remember, as good buddy Roberto Valenzuela has said, "Practice doesn't make perfect. What if you're practicing it wrong? Only perfect practice make perfect!" Four weeks ago, working together with SproutingPhotographer, we launched a new concept called "Weekend Wisdom". With each podcast we want to give you as much helpful information as you need on very specific topics. Don Komarechka on publishing your own book was first and Sandy Puc on defining success was second. With this third podcast we're discussing marketing, hitting one concept particularly hard, partnerships. Just click on the banner above and you'll have access to both the podcast and the show notes on Sprouting Photographer. One last comment that's more in line with my usual Sunday Morning Reflections... Weekend Wisdom is all thanks to two incredibly creative educators and content providers, not to mention great photographers and friends, Bryan Caporicci and Rob Nowell. I've only known them for a relatively short time, but I find it hard to remember when they weren't in my life! This particular podcast has a lot of great marketing content, all thanks to my good buddy, Doug Box. I've written a lot about the importance of friendships in this industry over the years..."The best thing about our industry has nothing to do with photography, but the friendships that come out of everyone's mutual love for the craft." Nobody could appreciate a friendship more than I do knowing Doug. We've been friends for close to twenty-five years and while we don't get to talk that often, we both know we can count on each other for help with anything that comes along at any time. In fact, I found a great quote that defines my friendship with Doug. If either of us were to call the other and say, "I need some help on something," the response would simply be, "What do you need?" "I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar." Robert Brault Cherish the friends you make along your journey, because, without those good friends, all the hard work you're doing to build your brand, reputation and skill set will be meaningless.
Make it a great day. Thanks for all your support and as always, don't forget to hug somebody important to you! I've written a lot over the years about quality, not just in image capture, but in every aspect of your business. That includes customer service, your reputation, networking, communication, capture, post-production and the final presentation of everything you deliver. Today's post is just about one aspect of your photography, the quality of your printed images. Every photographer is always talking about how they want to be different, to separate the look and feel of their work from their competitors. Those of you who know me personally, know I'm always looking for companies who I believe are supporting the industry with outstanding products and education. The image above is from the lab at Breathing Color. I had a chance to visit what's going to be their new facility in Austin and loved what I saw, along with the passion and dedication of the people I met. But, here's what I loved hearing the most... On a regular basis, Breathing Color's imaging scientists hit the reset button. They examine all their materials and test how they're performing with the ongoing changes in specifications from the manufacturers of relevant digital imaging products. Where necessary, they fine-tune the performance of their products, so every artist is always getting the very best. As a result, you can be assured the performance of a specific paper or canvas, for example, is going to match your expectations. There's a reason why great artists like Tim and Beverly Walden, Seth Resnick, Victor Beer, Michael Gilbert, Bill Atkinson, Vern Bartley, Brooke Shaden, Martin Bailey, Marcus Bell, Andy Katz and Parish Kohanim, just to name a few, all use Breathing Color products. Here's my point this morning...there is no room to compromise on the work you present to your clients, especially the finished print. The industry today is the most competitive its been in the history of photography. All printing material was NOT created equal and even better, if you have questions and need help, the crew at Breathing Color is always there. From a click on the banner above, taking you into the BC Forum to their blog and BC Academy there's always somebody available to help you raise the bar on your printed images.
...and that's why we're so proud to have Breathing Color as a partner with SCU! Last Friday a good friend and one of Don Blair's favorite "nieces", Cindy Smith, posted a wonderful tribute to Don on her Facebook page. It was ten years ago he passed away. While there's rarely a day that goes by that something doesn't happen that makes me think of him, I can't help but feel he's watching over all of us in the industry right now. Sadly, there are too many of you who never got to know him, hear him speak or take one of his workshops. However, you do know the legacy of quality and techniques he left us. This image, along with the copy I wrote below, ran in the November 2004 issue of Rangefinder Magazine as a full page. I found it as a pdf on an old backup drive last night. In all honesty, there are only two simple points this morning...I wanted you guys to meet one of my very best friends and classic portraiture is timeless. Within minutes of the announcement on September 26 that Don Blair had passed away, there was an eerie silence that started in every studio in Utah and stretched around the globe. It was simply inconceivable that he was no longer with us.
“Big Daddy” was the recipient of virtually every award and honor in professional photography. Over the last 64 years his presence in photography has been as consistent as the daily window light he used so often in his portraiture. It’s hard to imagine he’s gone, but here’s the beauty of what he achieved – maybe he hasn’t left us at all… There are hundreds of thousands of photographs created every year all over the world using the lighting and posing techniques Don Blair taught and often had created. If immortality and success can be defined as the number of lives a person has touched, Don Blair has plenty of both. He never compromised on quality and never quit a single project he ever started, no matter how impossible it might have been. He was an ambassador for much more than just photography. He was an ambassador for life with an unmatched passion for the human spirit and friendships. Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote, “I am a part of all that I have met.” Every professional photographer who ever attended one of Don’s seminars or met him at a convention became as much a part of Big Daddy’s life as he did theirs. The mark of a great portrait lies in the ability of the photographer to capture the essence of the subject in the lighting, the pose and the expression. Nobody could have captured Big Daddy better than in this image created by two of his closest friends, Louise and Joseph Simone, just two years ago. If you’re real quiet and just stare into this image you can almost hear him thanking you for being a part of his life and the profession he loved so much. As he so often said to all of us, “Hey, I love ya man!” Along with the sales seasonality of the fourth quarter comes a long list of opportunities for you to get involved in your community. In fact, it's one of the very best ways to build your reputation and brand. Years ago I heard Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, speak at what used to be PPA's Marketing and Management Conference. In his list of top 100 things guerrilla marketers needed to do was give back to their community. Why? Because people like buying products from companies they perceive as giving back. To take it a step further and these are my words, not his...you're looking for the community to be good to you, so you better make sure you're being good to the community. It's that simple, but so critical to the growth of your business. Well, today is October 1 and that gives you plenty of time to start making the rounds to see who in your community needs help through the holidays. Start with the Chamber of Commerce to find out what's going on over the next few months. Even more efficient, if you don't know enough about what non-profit programs are going on in your state, here's the link to a terrific site, Great Nonprofits. Just click on the banner below and you'll be able to search by state, city, top issues and zip code. Then there are photo-centric charities right within the photography community like NILMDTS, Shelter Me Photography, Help-Portrait, HeartsApart and the Josephine Herrick Project just to name a few. In fact, my good buddy Rick Gerrity in NJ just sent me the link to a project Unique Photo is doing with a program for veterans to learn photography through the Josephine Herrick Project. And, if you still haven't found a way to give back to your community that fits with your style, contact the local PTA, homeless shelters, hospitals, food banks, organizations like Kiwanis, Lions Club and Rotary. Everybody needs help. With or without your camera in your hand, you have a chance to make a difference. Most important of all, don't worry about how big a program you're involved in - this is about giving back in any shape or size... "Not all of us can do great things.But we can do small things with great heart."
Mother Teresa |
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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