MARCH 2008 | WWW.PPMAG.COM | $4.95
©Parker Pfister
Stunningly advanced 12.1 megapixel FX-format CMOS sensor. Stunningly fast 9 fps at full FX resolution. Stunningly low noise even at ISO 6400. Stunningly sharp edgeto-edge image performance. The revolutionary new Nikon® D3™ will change the way you shoot sports or action of any kind. Never again will you have to choose between blazing speed or brilliant image quality, particularly in low light situations. To learn more about how the Nikon D3 captures what other pro-digital SLRs cannot, go to stunningnikon.com/challenge.
The Nikon D3 is here. Do the undoable.
CONTENTS PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER | MARCH 2008
Features 94
MAKING THE MAGIC HAPPEN Lauded Australian photographer Jerry Ghionis finds beauty and prosperity in reinvention by Lorna Gentry
104
ONE OF A KIND Park Pfister’s special knack for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary by Stephanie Boozer
116
ENGINEERING A NICHE The tale of Mike Colón and the spiraling wedding market by Jeff Kent
82
WEDDINGS: DESTINATION SUCCESS
Business insights for destination wedding photography by Jeff Kent IMAGE BY JERRY GHIONIS
CONTENTS PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER | MARCH 2008 | WWW.PPMAG.COM
14
FOLIO
126
CALENDAR
133
PPA TODAY
154 GOOD WORKS
©Jessica Claire
Departments C O N TA C T S H E E T 20 Party time for Kathy Malaspina 22 Essay: Vive la digital!
by Laurie Klein 26 Professional Photographer
cover contest announced 28 Sacred to sensational:
Cliff Mautner’s studio
PROFIT CENTER 33 What I think: David Schwartz 36 Married to marketing
by Lorna Gentry 42 Because you’re worth it
by Charles J. Lewis 44 The joy of marketing:
Attractive pricing by Sarah Petty
THE GOODS 49 What I like: Gene Higa 52 Pro review: Nikon D3
by Ellis Vener 58 Archiving: Safe and for sale
by Audrey Gray 66 Substrates: Extraordinary prints
by Laurence Chen 70 Photoshop and Lightroom:
82
What’s the difference? by Andrew Rodney 76 Tutorial: Photoshop Actions
by Rick Ralston
Being paid to do beautiful wedding photography in exotic destinations
sounds like a dream come true. Yes, it can be enjoyable and rewarding, as long as you know that being there on someone else's dime is hardly the time to relax. Take some tips on making it work from destination photographers Garrett Nudd, Gene Higa and Jessica Claire.
6 • www.ppmag.com
ON THE COVER: After his first wedding, says this month’s cover artist, Parker Pfister, “I swore I’d never shoot another wedding.” We’re glad he reconsidered. Pfister has been shooting weddings and portraits exclusively since 1999. Read more about Pfister in our feature on p. 104.
Mind. Body.
Photography. A Picture-Perfect Relationship :PVSLFFOFZFBOEDSFBUJWFWJTJPOUSBOTGPSNFMFNFOUTJOUPCFBVUJGVM POFPG BLJOEQIPUPHSBQIJDJNBHFT8IJUF)PVTF$VTUPN$PMPVSCSJOHTZPVSJNBHFT UPMJGFXJUIBEFWPUJPOUPTJNQMJDJUZUIBUIFMQTZPVBDIJFWFNPSF BOEB SFQVUBUJPOGPSRVBMJUZBOETFSWJDFUIBUEFMJWFSTQFBDFPGNJOE8IFOZPV TVDDFFE XFTVDDFFE*UµTUIBUTJNQMF
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P ROF E S S I ONA L
EDITORIAL
director of publications
CAMERON BISHOPP
[email protected] senior editor
art director/production manager
JOAN SHERWOOD
[email protected]
DEBBIE TODD
[email protected]
2008 COVER PHOTO CONTEST
features editor
manager, publications and sales/strategic alliances
Here at the magazine, we consider ourselves pretty fortunate when
LESLIE HUNT
[email protected]
Show us what you’ve got it comes to the industry we cover. While other trade magazines might struggle to find photography to grace both the cover and the inside pages, we need only look to the inspired images our readers
KARISA GILMER
[email protected]
editor-at-large
sales and marketing assistant
JEFF KENT
[email protected]
CHERYL PEARSON
[email protected] technical editors
are creating every day.
ANDREW RODNEY, ELLIS VENER
There’s a catch though. In an industry comprised of independent business owners, it’s sometimes challenging (quite often, actually) to hear about all the top talent we know is out there. We comb the forums and online galleries,
All entries must be uploaded at www.ppmag.com
pore over the PPA Loan Collection, read all the industry publications, keep an open eye at events, scour regional newsletters, and take welcome recommendations
from photographers who have made it to the radar screen. To broaden the search, we thought of a new tactic to help you find us: The first-ever Professional Photographer Cover Photo Contest. We liken it to a nationwide talent search, and we hope we’ll be introduced to a spate of gifted artists whose work we’ve never seen, but will fill our magazine far into the future. So we invite you to submit your entries to us before the May 31 deadline, and take a shot at creating the image that nearly 50,000 PP readers will see when they open their mailboxes in late fall. And there’s more—not only do you have a chance at the cover, but to win valuable prizes as well. The first place winner, runners up and those who win honorable mention will be awarded first-rate gear from our contest’s generous sponsors, Microsoft, Bogen, Canon, Kodak and Miller’s Professional Imaging. Head over to www.ppmag.com to learn all about the prizes, contest rules and submission guidelines. (A word to the wise: Entries may be submitted only as uploads to www.ppmag.com. no print or e-mailed submissions will be accepted.) We’re looking forward to meeting you! I Cameron Bishopp Director of Publications
[email protected]
10 • www.ppmag.com
director of sales and strategic alliances
SCOTT HERSH, 610-966-2466,
[email protected] western region ad manager
BART ENGELS, 847-854-8182,
[email protected] eastern region ad manager
SHELLIE JOHNSON, 404-522-8600, x279,
[email protected] circulation consultant
MOLLIE O’SHEA,
[email protected] editorial offices
Professional Photographer 229 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303-1608 U.S.A. 404-522-8600; FAX: 404-614-6406 Professional Photographer (ISSN 1528-5286) is published monthly subscriptions
Professional Photographer P.O. Box 2035, Skokie, IL 60076; 800-742-7468; FAX 404-614-6406; email:
[email protected]; Web site: www.ppmag.com member services
PPA - Professional Photographer 800-786-6277; FAX 301-953-2838; e-mail:
[email protected]; www.ppa.com Send all advertising materials to: Debbie Todd, Professional Photographer, 5431 E. Garnet, Mesa, AZ 85206; 480-807-4391; FAX: 480-807-4509 Subscription rates/information: U.S.: $27, one year; $45, two years; $66, three years. Canada: $43, one year; $73, two years; $108, three years. International: $39.95, one year digital subscription. Back issues/Single copies $7 U.S.; $10 Canada; $15 International. PPA membership includes $13.50 annual subscription. Subscription orders/changes: Send to Professional Photographer, Attn: Circulation Dept., P.O. Box 2035, Skokie, IL 60076; 800-742-7468; FAX 404-614-6406; email:
[email protected]; Web site: www.ppmag.com. Periodicals postage paid in Atlanta, Ga., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to Professional Photographer magazine, P.O. Box 2035, Skokie, IL 60076 Copyright 2008, PPA Publications & Events, Inc. Printed in U.S.A. Article reprints: Contact Professional Photographer reprint coordinator at Wrights’s Reprints; 1-877-652-5295. Microfilm copies: University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Professional Photographer (ISSN 1528-5286) is published monthly for $27 per year by PPA Publications and Events, Inc., 229 Peachtree Street, NE, Suite 2200, International Tower, Atlanta, GA 30303-1608. Periodicals postage paid at Atlanta, Ga., and additional mailing offices. Acceptance of advertising does not carry with it endorsement by the publisher. Opinions expressed by Professional Photographer or any of its authors do not necessarily reflect positions of Professional Photographers of America, Inc. Professional Photographer, official journal of the Professional Photographers of America, Inc., is the oldest exclusively professional photographic publication in the Western Hemisphere (founded 1907 by Charles Abel, Hon.M.Photog.), incorporating Abel’s Photographic Weekly, St. Louis & Canadian Photographer, The Commercial Photographer, The National Photographer, Professional Photographer, and Professional Photographer Storytellers. Circulation audited and verified by BPA Worldwide
Three amazing cameras designed to inspire. Starting with the powerful EOS-1Ds Mark III. With a 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, dual DiG!C III Image Processors, and a 3-inch LCD monitor, it’s far and away the most remarkable camera Canon has ever created. The innovative, feature-filled 10.1-megapixel EOS 40D lets photographers take the next leap forward, with its DiG!C III Image Processor and 6.5 framesper-second shooting. Along with the exceptional EOS-1D Mark III with its blazingly fast 10.5 frames-per-second shooting and 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor, Canon makes the creative process easy, rewarding and, most important, inspiring. To get more inspired about the Canon EOS system, go to: www.usa.canon.com/dlc ©2008 Canon U.S.A., Inc. Canon, EOS and DiG!C are registered trademarks of Canon Inc. in the United States. IMAGEANYWARE is a trademark of Canon. All rights reserved.
chairman of the board *JACK REZNICKI Cr.Photog., Hon.M.Photog., API
[email protected]
Professional Photographers of America 229 Peachtree St., NE, Suite 2200 Atlanta, GA 30303-1608 404-522-8600; 800-786-6277 FAX: 404-614-6400 www.ppa.com
directors DON DICKSON M.Photog.Cr., CPP
[email protected] SANDY (SAM) PUC’ M.Photog.Cr., CPP, ABI
[email protected]
2008-2009 PPA board president *DENNIS CRAFT M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP
[email protected] vice president *RON NICHOLS M.Photog.Cr., API
[email protected] treasurer *LOUIS TONSMEIRE Cr.Photog., API
[email protected]
12 • www.ppmag.com
RALPH ROMAGUERA, SR. M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP
[email protected]
DOUG BOX M.Photog.Cr., API
[email protected] DON MACGREGOR M.Photog.Cr., API
[email protected] industry advisor KEVIN CASEY
[email protected] legal counsel Howe and Hutton, Chicago
CAROL ANDREWS M.Photog.Cr., ABI
[email protected]
PPA staff DAVID TRUST Chief Executive Officer
[email protected]
SUSAN MICHAL M.Photog.Cr., CPP, ABI
[email protected]
SCOTT KURKIAN Chief Financial Officer
[email protected]
TIMOTHY WALDEN M.Photog.Cr., F-ASP
[email protected]
CAMERON BISHOPP Director of Publications
[email protected]
DANA GROVES Director of Marketing & Communications
[email protected] SCOTT HERSH Director of Sales & Strategic Alliances
[email protected] J. ALEXANDER HOPPER Director of Membership, Copyright and Government Affairs
[email protected] WILDA OKEN Director of Administration
[email protected] LENORE TAFFEL Director of Events/Education
[email protected] SANDRA LANG Executive Assistant
[email protected] *Executive Committee of the Board
Expect More Beautiful Color
At Miller’s, consistent, beautiful color is just as important to us as it is to you. That’s why we offer color correction on our photographic prints and press products. Every step of our process guarantees the color of your printed images. We don’t simply press “print”. When you look good we look good. Don’t settle for less.
www.millerslab.com
folio|
Comprising images selected from the files of the PPA Loan Collection, Folio is a monthly sample of award-winning photography by PPA members. The Loan Collection is a select group of some 500 photographs chosen annually by the PPA print judges from more than 5,000 entries.
©Thom Rouse
THOM ROUSE “It has been greatly entertaining for me to watch viewers scrutinize this image,” says Thom Rouse, M.Photog.MEI.Cr., CPP, of Rouse Imaging in Dekalb, Ill. Rouse combined several images taken with his Fujifilm FinePix S2 Pro digital SLR and 28-105mm Tamron f/2.8 SP AF LD IF lens. Images in the mix include a weathered sidewalk for the background, a tree under an overcast sky, and a portrait captured in mixed incandescent and window light. Rouse used Adobe Photoshop to create the final image, which won a Fujifilm Masterpiece Award, ASP Regional Medallion, and ASP Gold Medallion.
14 • www.ppmag.com
MPIX STANDOUTS!
Image courtesy of Barefoot Memories, San Diego, CA.
Looking for a unique way to display your large print – something more contemporary? Consider a Standout from Mpix. Our new Standouts are perfect for offices, galleries or the home.
Visit www.mpix.com to see our full line of photographic and press products.
©Barry Rankin
BARRY RANKIN With a Fujifilm FinePix S3 Pro digital SLR and Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D AF ED lens, Barry Rankin, M.Photog.Cr., of Dirla Studio in Bay City, Mich., captured “Bewitched” for a Nashville singer’s CD cover. A 300WS Photogenic PowerLight 1250 behind a 4x6-foot Larson Soff Box provided the main lighting, with a second 300WS PowerLight 1250 and a 2x3-foot Larson Soff Box for fill. A 200WS Photogenic PowerLight 1250 and a 14x48-inch Larson Soff Strip hung above the subject, while a 200WS PowerLight and 14x48-inch Larson Soff Strip illuminated the left side of the frame.
CHRIS BELTRAMI “Perkin’s Cove” is a favorite spot for Chris Beltrami, M.Photog.Cr., F-ASP, of Beltrami Studios in Barre, Vt., and his wife, who regularly visit Maine’s Ogunquit Beach in the summertime. Waiting for the late afternoon light to fully grace these returning boats, Beltrami aimed his Canon EOS 20D digital SLR and 50mm Canon f/2.8 EF lens from the deck of his rental house and exposed the image for 1/125 second at f/8, ISO 200. He digitally enhanced the saturation and sharpness, and embellished the reflections in the water for the final image.
©Chris Beltrami
Our Product Development Team…
is Your _ Product Development Team!
What happens when you ask a group of nine fun, creative, and innovative women to design a comprehensive product line for professional photographers? They develop a beautiful, elegant, high-quality product collection that fits the product needs of every wedding and portrait studio. Learn more about the products and how these women used the highest quality materials, the hottest colors, and the most innovative design to create five best-in-class product lines at www. collages.net/creative.
Albums | High-End Cards | Press Printed Books | Gallery Wraps | Professional Printing | Online Presentation Check out Collages.net’s comprehensive product line at www.collages.net/products. ©2008 Collages.net Inc. All rights reserved. Photo ©2008 Erik Matey.
4 hours of darkness. 8 miles of glacial ice. ®
™
12 Nikon SB-800 Speedlights. 1 eye on the rising tide.
©2007 Nikon Inc.
See James Balog’s brilliant shots at stunningnikon.com/challenge Shooting icebergs at night in Alaska under fast-changing conditions would have been infinitely harder for Nikon Pro James Balog without the power and versatility of Nikon SB-800 Speedlights. “We really had to maximize our productivity and the system had a huge impact on enabling me to do as many shots as possible.” The critical edge was Balog’s ability to control all 12 Speedlights from his camera’s position. “Once I learned the incredible strengths of the Nikon Speedlight system—portability and ease—I said, ‘Wow…magic.’”
CONTACT SHEET What’s New, Events, Hot Products, Great Ideas, Etc.
BY STEPHANIE BOOZER
©Kathy Malaspina
Looking to boost your children’s portrait business? Consider portrait parties and watch the leads come in If the thought of a sales party with a hostess sends you running for the door, reconsider. In-home sales gatherings have been working for some pretty big companies. “Some of my best clients come from portrait parties,” says Kathy Malaspina, of Precious Moments Photography in Tyner, N.C., who has been reaping rewards from these events for the last three years. “People have a great time, and the parties are so easy to do.” Here’s how it works: The hostess supplies the guest list, mails the invitations, makes the shooting schedule, and handles all the hostess duties in her home or the photographer's studio. Malaspina shoots a series of mini sessions with each child. Then she
“Some of my best clients come from portrait parties. People have a great time, and the parties are so easy to do.”
packs up and leaves. The hostess directs the guests to the studio's Web site to view proofs, and encourages them to place their orders within a specified time— simple as pie you don't even have to bake. As an incentive, Malaspina grants the hostess a maximum of 15 percent commission, which is credited toward the hostess’s own purchase. She requires a minimum of 10 sessions for each event, which must be
money as the exposure. Word of mouth is
light, a table, a small backdrop, and maybe a
booked back-to-back to maximize her time.
the best advertisement you can get.”
few props, depending on the theme of the
Malaspina also offers a $35 credit for each
Averaging about 10 parties a year,
party. Shooting each mini-session outdoors
party the hostess books in a day, and an
enough to generate a healthy number of
is the best way to minimize your equipment
additional $25 credit for subsequent bookings.
standard portrait sessions, Malaspina says
needs. In her experience, it’s best to set up
her portrait parties have become popular for
the portrait area away from the rest of the
children’s birthday parties and sleepovers.
guests, so each session is semi-private.
“This really pushes the hostess to urge her friends to schedule parties,” she says. Malaspina provides the invitations, which
You don’t have to limit yourself to kids. “A
“You’ve definitely got to work it just like
include her images and studio info, and tips
lot of people do pet parties,” says Malaspina,
everything else,” says Malaspina. “But these
about preparing for the session. The hostess
who also suggests marketing parties for wed-
are a great way to go out and do something
will pick up and deliver the print orders.
dings, family reunions, and other milestone
quick and out of the norm, and they set you
events. “They make great fundraisers, too. I
apart from everyone else.”
did one last year for the local animal shelter.”
For more about Kathy Malaspina and her studio, visit www.preciousmomentsphotos.com.
“It’s not bad for an afternoon’s work,” says Malaspina, who pulls in orders of $1,200 to $2,500 per party. “It’s not so much the
Malaspina’s setup is light, usually one
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 21
CONTACT SHEET
Nine months ago I was still fighting digital and
ESSAY dragging around a boatload of negativity. I went
Vive la digital! Photography wasn’t broken. How come we needed digital technology to fix it? One holdout found a very good answer. BY LAURIE KLEIN
Nine months ago I was still fighting digital and dragging around a boatload of negativity.
©Laurie Klein
the spontaneity of the shoot to plunge into
For example, for some time, I’ve been
total darkness for a change of film, while
trying to reorient my business from pre-
praying the exposures were on the money.
dominately wedding photography to mostly
With digital IR, most of the time they are.
portraiture. From shooting 70 weddings a
I’m thinking about doing all my commer-
year, I’m down to about 10. I used to take in
I went through the usual throes of resistance
cial work digitally. I still like the results I get
$1,800 per wedding, now my billing starts
and the arduous period of adjustment. There I
from black-and-white film better. I’m not
at $15,000. My brides come back time and
was, spending 75 percent of my time behind
selling out, I think I’m becoming a smarter
again for maternity, family and generational
a computer, no time to plan, no time to market,
businesswoman. My personal fine-art work
portraits. I had a gala to celebrate my 25
no time to grow creatively, no time to relearn
will continue to be a mix of film and digital.
years in business and more than 125 clients
infrared photography—a passion of mine—sans
I hired a a recent college graduate to
attended. They bought my fine-art prints,
film, working harder on less work and making
handle my digital workflow, and I have my
and I generated portrait bookings. To be
less money. Some boon, digital technology.
life back again. I actually have the time to
mindful of these successes is to feel grateful.
But in addition to changing my workflow in
work on a new book and a huge project that
I’m still passionate about photography.
the last year, I’ve worked on changing my atti-
I feel will take my photographic business in
My recent work is some of the best I’ve done
tude. You know what? Life is wonderful again.
a new direction.
in years. My clients don’t care if I’m digital
We are a healthy hybrid studio today. I
With the help of Michael J. Losier’s “Law
or not, as long as my passion is there and
have a digital camera converted for infrared
of Attraction,” which I highly recommend,
photography and I love it. It’s different, and
I’ve stopped dwelling on how tough things
that’s the point. It gives clients another
are. I need to embrace all that’s happening
personally, feeling like the industry was out
option, and it frees me from having to kill
in my life right now, and be grateful for it.
to make my life difficult. Now I see what it’s
my photographs are brilliant. I had taken the digital movement
actually been doing—giving me this huge opportunity to grow, to look at things
WINNER REDUX The sole winner of the 2008 Hot One Award for Telephoto Zoom Lens is the smc Pentax-DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 ED AL[IF]SDM (right). In February’s Professional Photographer, we called a tie between the Pentax lens and the Tamron SP AF70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro lens, which failed to meet all eligibility requirements.
22 • www.ppmag.com
differently, to get out of my box and the way I’ve done things for years and years. The most important thing for me, besides supporting my family, is to grow as an artist. Laurie vs. the digital revolution? Doesn’t work for me anymore. Laurie Klein’s studio is in Brookfield, Conn. (www.laurieklein. com).
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9 1 4 - 3 4 7 - 3 3 0 0
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CONTACT SHEET
Cover contest announced Professional Photographer’s cover photo contest kicks off March 1
Microsoft and Miller’s Professional Imaging. Prizes will be awarded to 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-place winners, and as many as 25 entrants will receive prizes for honorable mention.
Have you always dreamed of getting your work on the cover of a magazine? Well, here’s your chance! This month you’re invited to submit photographs for a chance to have your image featured on our cover. Just one talented photographer will see his or her image published on the cover of a 2008 issue of Professional Photographer (mailing to almost 50,000 readers monthly). Images will be judged on technical, artistic
Helping Professional Photographer
HOW TO ENTER Go to www.ppmag.com to enter. Only digital files uploaded at www.ppmag.com will be accepted. Mailed print images and e-mailed digital images will not be accepted. Format/Specifications: Submit low-resolution images only, in standard digital formats (.jpg, .pdf, etc.). Images should be 525x700 pixels; file size should be no more than 250k. A high-resolution, print-quality version (300ppi at 9x12
and compositional merit. You may submit as
magazine editors choose the best entries
inches) must be available for each image.
many images as you wish, provided they are
will be guest judge Helen K. Yancy,
The submission deadline is Saturday,
representative of the work you sell to your
M.Photog.M.Artist.MEI.Cr.Hon.M.Photog.,
May 31.
clients. What we’re seeking are real-world
CPP, F-ASP, Hon. F-ASP, currently serving
examples of portrait, wedding, commercial
as the chairman of PPA’s Print Exhibition
your talent! Head over to www.ppmag.com
and event photography.
Committee.
to learn more.
All work submitted must be previously
In addition to landing the cover of a 2008
unpublished and original, with written
edition of Professional Photographer, the
releases on file from any subjects pictured
winner will receive generous prizes from our
in the image.
contest sponsors, Bogen, Canon, Kodak,
26 • www.ppmag.com
Don’t miss your chance to show the world
Go to www.ppmag.com to enter.
$9,999
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Cliff Mautner turned a 1920s church into a studio with SoHo soul BY LORNA GENTRY
From sacred to sensational The front door of Cliff Mautner’s photography studio opens to an elegant foyer, but it's the allure of the 2,000-square-foot space
walk in and think, ‘This guy is credible, he
and I mean everything—is new.” The
beyond that draws visitors to his studio in
has style, he’s expensive, and he has good
$225,000 renovation took about a year to
downtown Haddonfield, N.J. The large room
taste.’ It’s all about the client experience.”
complete, but the results are spectacular. A
is harmoniously divided among handsome
Upstairs is a 1,300-square-foot. office he
photojournalist with the Philadelphia
viewing, meeting and shooting areas. Light
shares with studio manager Anne Vasquez,
Inquirer for 15 years, Mautner had been a
fills the area between the 13-foot ceiling,
and downstairs is a three-bedroom apart-
home-based wedding, portrait and
wood floor and wainscoted walls. A 30x13-
ment where he lives with his children. Built as
commercial photographer for a decade
foot exposed brick wall spans the back of the
a Baptist church in the 1920s, the building later
before opening this studio in 2006.
studio, its faded and worn bricks seeming
became a dance studio run by one of the orig-
original to the building, but they were
inal Rockettes, which turned out to be a bless-
Professional Photographer: Your shooting
installed as part of Mautner’s master plan.
ing. For years, the main foot traffic here was
area is so large. How did you design a
the soft steps of barefoot dancers. so the
lighting system with enough flexibility to
it to look like a SoHo art gallery to display
nearly 90-year-old beech wood floors needed
accommodate it?
my work,” says Mautner, a New York native,
very little work. “The floor guy was floored,”
Cliff Mautner: I have the option of stepping
who worked with interior designer Michelle
Mautner laughs.
back more than 50 feet to photograph my
“Beyond being a place to shoot, I wanted
Cheutin. “The exposed brick gives it a distinct look. My goal was to have clients
That was about the extent of a financial break for him, though. “Everything else—
subjects. I have two zones of rails for the lighting system that allow me to position the lights however I want them. On the rails are
All images ©Cliff Mautner
four Profoto ComPact 600 monolights attached to scissor mechanisms that can extend all the way from the ceiling to the floor. That gives me plenty of range—from the back to the front third of studio. I can easily highkey or drop them out altogether and use natural light. I had four 10x14-foot windows installed, which gives me northwest light, a beautiful Rembrandt light not easy to produce artificially. I have a Bogen backdrop, but I also use the brick wall as background, shooting at a shallow depth of field so it drops out of focus. Since you were going for a gallery look, why isn’t your work hung traditionally?
28 • www.ppmag.com
I added chair rails to wainscoting that was already there so I could prop up my photos on it. I did that so clients can pick them up and inspect them. I didn’t want them to be untouchable. It also makes it easy to change the images. Cable lighting enables me to direct the lights in any direction, and they add to the studio’s gallery look. What’s the most impressive feature of your studio? The DWIN TransVision 4 projector, with a separate video processor and high-definition capabilities. It projects to a 92-inch hi-def Da-Lite Neutral Gray screen, which enriches the blacks in my images. This system is used in home theatres and has film-like quality, and yes, I do watch some sporting events on it!
It took quite a bit of vision to see what this derelict old building could become, and Cliff Mautner supplied it.
Lorna Gentry is a freelance writer in Atlanta.
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Have you always dreamed of seeing your work on the cover of a national magazine? Here’s your chance! Beginning March 1, 2008, submit your photographs for an opportunity to be featured on the cover of Professional Photographer. Contest Rules & Judging: Images will be judged on technical and artistic merit. Helping Professional Photographer magazine editors choose the best entries will be guest judge Helen K. Yancy, M.Photog.M.Artist.MEI.Cr.Hon. M.Photog., CPP, F-ASP, Hon. F-ASP, the chairman of PPA’s Print Exhibition Committee. You may submit as many images as you wish, provided they are representative of the work you sell to your clients. What we’re seeking are real-world examples of portrait, wedding, commercial and event photography. All work
submitted must be original and previously unpublished, and you must have written releases on file from any subjects pictured in the image. Prizes: In addition to landing the cover of a 2008 edition of Professional Photographer, the winner will be awarded a selection of prizes from among our cover photo contest sponsors, Bogen, Canon, Kodak, Microsoft and Miller’s Professional Imaging. Prizes will also be awarded to 2nd-, 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-place winners, and as many as 25 entrants will receive prizes for honorable mention.
How to enter: Go to www.ppmag.com to enter. Only digital files will be accepted. Print images and e-mailed images will NOT be accepted. Upload your electronic images to www.ppmag.com. Format/Specifications: Submit low-resolution images only, in standard digital formats (.jpg, .pdf, etc.). Images should be 525x700 pixels; file size can’t be more than 250k. A high-resolution, print-quality version (300ppi at 9x12 inches) must be available for each image.
GO TO PPMAG.COM TO ENTER Submission deadline: Saturday, May 31, 2008
Professional Photographer
P R E S E N T S
Business, Marketing and Sales Strategies
What I think Pricing for profit leads David Schwartz to long-term success What do you wish you knew when you were first starting out? That it takes time to develop a look. I spent so much time attempting to emulate others. I should have spent the time soulsearching and stretching myself to come up with new ideas and techniques that felt right to me. Reaching an affluent client requires having a look he can only get from you. What’s the biggest business risk you’ve ever taken? I walked away from a nice salary to pursue something I’ve always loved. Making the leap to full-time photography was a tremendous risk. What’s your deal breaker? I pre-qualify my clients before we meet. I make sure they completely understand my pricing and that my photography fits within their budget. I don’t negotiate on price when they visit, and if they attempt to do so, I will cut the meeting short. What is the biggest business mistake pro photographers make? Attempting to run every aspect of their business. I believe in farming things out to spend more time behind the camera. We need to remember that we make our money taking pictures. What is the most important element in a successful photography business? Pricing. Ensure that your pricing strategy brings you the income you need to live. IMAGE BY DAVID SCHWARTZ WWW.DAVIDSCHWARTZPHOTOGRAPHY.COM
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 33
Photography by Gregory Heisler.
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PROFIT CENTER
Recognized with the 2007 PPA AN-NE Marketing Award, these three marketing campaigns share a focus on the importance of targeted promotion, attention to detail, and maintaining effective Web sites and blogs.
“Every year there are 22 percent more photographers in the marketplace,” says an animated Christa Hoffarth of South Lake Tahoe, Calif. “That number scares me.” A healthy fear of competition may propel Hoffarth to work harder, but what distances her from the pack is smart marketing for
BY LORNA GENTRY
her eponymous wedding photography
Married to marketing INNOVATIVE MARKETING STRATEGIES
business. Her deft techniques were recently recognized with the 2007 PPA AN-NE Marketing Award for her outstanding wedding marketing campaign. The annual award, which honors member photographers’ creativity and effectiveness in marketing, also went to finalists Peter Holcombe, API, CPP,
All images ©Cheryl Pearson
Christa Hoffarth designed her AN-NE award winning-wedding marketing campaign to make a big first impression on upscale clients.
36 • www.ppmag.com
of Holcombe Photography in Lafayette, Colo., and Albert Lewis of Mulberry Photography in Truckee, Calif. These three photographers agree on the importance of focused promotion, paying attention to detail, and maintaining effective Web sites and blogs. They differ in approach when it comes to brochures, due in part to their differing markets, business strategies and targeted audiences. The three promotions are a study in contrasts, but the effect is the same: greater profits. Christa Hoffarth is a natural at marketing. Last year she designed a new brochure and other promotional material for her wedding photography business. Because most of her clients are out-of-towners, Hoffarth says her Web site and brochure are the only selling tools she has. And because competition in her marketing area—San Francisco, San Jose,
Albert Lewis targets his brochure to event planners. The quality of every component communicates the sophisticated aesthetic that he will bring to a wedding.
Sacramento and Lake Tahoe—is fierce, she has to make a lasting first impression in print. Targeted at upscale wedding clients, her
press information page, and a page with an
and aesthetically pleasing. She figured her
brochure denotes sophistication. “My clients
explanation of her philosophy of wedding
clients would feel the same way about high-
spend anywhere from $200,000 to $1
photography. A DVD of her work—an
quality promotional items, and apparently
million on their weddings, with the average
“indispensable portable marketing tool,” she
she was right. “My brides keep these
being $300,000,” says Hoffarth. “Most of
says—is seated in a sleeve affixed to the
brochures and give them to their friends, so
my brides are MBA grads. In fact, a lot of
back. A clear plastic routed business card
they continue to market for me for years.”
my brides were together in the same MBA
foil-stamped with her contact information
program, like at Stanford, for example.”
goes on the front cover. For mailing, she
the contract and payment information with
slips the brochure into a transparent self-
thank-you cards and a complimentary
sealing envelope.
bride’s emergency survival kit in a clear
CHAIN REACTION. To appeal to these monied professionals, Hoffarth’s brochure
“These brochures have texture appeal
Once a couple hires Hoffarth, she mails
acrylic box. Inside are dress chalk, safety
design is eye-catching, sleek, contemporary
and sound to them,” says Hoffarth. “They
pins, hairpins, deodorant, stain remover,
and fun. The six pages of the 6x6-inch, matte-
have a feeling of immediacy, and the clear
sewing kit, breath mints and pain reliever.
finish brochure are bound with an elegant
plastic envelope makes the brochure even
silver chain. Her printer, Blossom Publishing
more apparent.”
in Winona, Minn., drills holes in the card-
Each brochure costs $3.50 to produce, so
Ever mindful of branding, all her packaging and marketing materials are color and logo coordinated. Hoffarth’s colors are a con-
stock pages, and Hoffarth finishes each hole
Hoffarth pre-qualifies brides who request
centrated light blue and white, which appear
with a silver grommet before threading the
one. She got the idea for the piece from her
as solid colors and in a loose floral pattern.
ball chain through the pages. Following the
enjoyment of saving shopping bags from
“I still print proofs, so I package them in a
photo-imprinted cover page are two pages on
expensive boutiques. “I use them again and
beautiful black-and-white box and use my
pricing, a page about reprints and albums, a
again,” she admits, because they’re well made
brand colors as accents—a blue silk ribbon
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 37
PROFIT CENTER
Naturally, he’s selective about whom he markets to, and he screens the recipients carefully. With a background in graphic design, fashion photography and art direction (he was an art director for Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus), Lewis knows good visual marketing. “My degree is in graphic design so it’s in my blood,” he chuckles. “It’s hard to design for yourself, so I work with a design firm. With the brochure, we tried to integrate the photography and guts of the piece with the overall design. The design catches the eye of the type of client we’re going for. This is not in-your-face marketing. We wanted to create a mood and drive business on the sophistication of the piece. This brochure says, ‘If we can do this, then we can apply these same aesthetics to photographing your wedding.’” Lewis’ 2007 ad campaign also included five No. 10 envelope-size cards mailed periodically throughout the year. Each card feaPeter and Kathy Holcombe garnered the favor of wedding planners by sending them four-packs of custom-labeled Jones Soda.
tured images from a wedding the studio photographed, along with one-word headlines (such as “Luminous,” “Bliss,” “Captivating”)
and custom tag that I write a personal note
wedding coordinators have been very
and a heartfelt account of how he and his
on. With the package I send a gift, a 3x3-
complimentary. Many tell me they keep it
wife and fellow photographer, Tari, felt
inch bride book. We also send a first-year
on their desks, and some call after they
about the wedding. There is no sales language.
wedding anniversary gift, an accordion
receive it. Because our clients come from all
Reading like a wedding photographer’s blog,
photo book in our colors with graphics and
over the country, we mail it nationwide.”
these cards are intended to generate enthusiasm,
black-and-white images. The outside of the
Clean and elegant, the gate-folded bro-
box is a floral black-and-white print that
chure opens to an impressive 26 inches long.
matches our marketing motif.”
Inside is a mini portfolio of the studio’s work,
showcase Mulberry’s work, and keep the studio’s name in the eye of their target audience.
which is showcased on individual sheets of
MAILBOX WOW. Peter and Kathy
NATIONAL FOCUS. Like Hoffarth, AN-
heavy matte card stock held in place by
Holcombe’s printed brochure wasn’t taking
NE finalist Albert Lewis of Truckee, Calif.,
small rivets. The outside cover is fine-ribbed,
their business in the direction they wanted
caters to affluent wedding clients in the
grayish-green paper embossed with the
to go. “In 2005 we were averaging $3,500
Lake Tahoe area, as well as in Palm Springs.
studio’s logo, a stylized mulberry tree. Inside,
on wedding packages,” says Peter. “We
Lewis, too, relies on a sophisticated brochure
the colors are cream and a serene green, with
wanted to break out of that mold and go
to sell his services. Unlike Hoffarth’s, however,
the exception of the contact page, which is
after high-end clientele. So in 2006 we did
Lewis’ targets wedding coordinators and
standout mauve, the color of mulberries.
something different from the tri-fold, printed
event planners. “Eight-five percent of my
Hand assembled, each brochure costs Lewis
brochures go to event planners,” he says.
a whopping $32, but he maintains that these
“The piece communicates quality and the
head-turners are generating high-end business.
38 • www.ppmag.com
piece we had been doing.” “We feel a brochure is limiting,” Kathy adds. “It doesn’t show off our images or demon-
strate the quality of our work. We decided to
four wedding photographs was printed on
On the bottlenecks they hung custom-made
produce a DVD that shows how we’re different.”
each bottle, along with catchy messages on
tags with fun wedding images, like a close-up
the labels, such as, “Holcombe Photography:
of a bride putting on mascara, along with such
they packaged it in a striking way. “Our
refreshingly unique,” “Don’t trust your
pithy tag lines as “Keep an eye out for us.”
materials arrive in a padded silver envelope,
wedding photography to the bland,” and
which gives it the ‘wow’ factor right out of the
“Call us for full-flavored images and service.”
Once the Holcombes created the DVD,
The Holcombes shipped the bottles by UPS and FedEx so they could track delivery.
mailbox. The DVD is wrapped in a rectangular aluminum tin with a custom sticker, ribbons and tissue paper. Fitted inside the tin is a brochure with rounded corners.” Brides feel that opening the tin first gives them the feeling of opening a gift. "It has really given us a leg up.” Right away the results were dramatic. Within a year bookings increased and the
!RTIX3CAN -
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Holcombes averaged $7,800 per wedding, which handsomely offset the $10-per cost of the mailing. (They also screen brides before
3UGGESTED 2ETAIL 0RICE
going to the expense of mailing to them.) Now Holcombe Photography attracts a clientele that’s in the 27 to 32 age range, who, says Kathy, are professionals with at
0ROFESSIONAL SCANS WITH DPI OPTICAL RESOLUTION AND BIT COLOR
least a B.A. degree. Peter adds, “We do get
'LASSLESS lLM SCANNING WITH -ICROTEKS PATENTED %$)44- DESIGN
the younger clients too, usually from families
/PTIMUM SHARPNESS WITH AUTO FOCUS TECHNOLOGY WHEN SCANNING lLM
who can afford [an upscale] wedding.”
%XTENSIVE lLM SUPPORT WITH 3NAP4RANS lLM TEMPLATES FOR MM SLIDES MM lLM CM lLM 4-
AND X INCH lLM
JONESING FOR ATTENTION. In 2007,
2EmECTIVE SCANNING WITH AN X SCAN BED
the Holcombes decided to continue with the
&AST SCANNING WITH (I 3PEED 53" CONNECTIVITY
tins, and go out a little further on the creative limb with a dynamic new campaign involving
0ATENTED %$)44- $ESIGN FOR 'LASSLESS &ILM 3CANNING
Jones Soda. This time the target wasn’t brides
-ICROTEKS %MULSION $IRECT )MAGING 4ECHNOLOGY %$)4 IS A PATENTED hGLASSLESSv SCANNING SYSTEM
but event planners at upscale venues in the area. The Holcombes had been knocking on their doors for five years with little success. Peter likes to research marketing ideas on
BUILT INTO THE LOWER BAY OF THE !RTIX3CAN - 4HE %$)4 DESIGN ENABLES lLM SCANNING WITHOUT SUPPORTING THE lLM ON GLASS 4HIS EMULSION DIRECT APPROACH IS SIMILAR TO DEDICATED lLM SCANNERS AND AVOIDS ALL THE ISSUES THAT ARE RELATED TO SCANNING lLM THROUGH A GLASS SUPPORT )NCLUDED WITH THE !RTIX3CAN - ARE -ICROTEKS EXCLUSIVE 3NAP4RANS4- lLM HOLDERS WHICH ACCOMMODATE MM SLIDES MM lLMSTRIPS X INCH lLM AND MEDIUM FORMAT lLM UP TO X CM
the Web, and he learned from Photojojo, an
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online photo newsletter (photojojo.com), that
SHARPER IMAGE QUALITY
ACTUATED TENSION GRIPS THAT HOLD THE lLM PERFECTLY mAT ENSURING CONSISTENT SCAN RESULTS AND YIELDING
the makers of the popular soft drink Jones Soda will print personal photos on its bottles for a fee. “We thought it would be a clever way
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to make a first impression on people we’ve been trying to get to know,” says Kathy. They ordered 16 sets of four-bottle packages in four Jones Soda flavors. One of
¥ -ICROTEK -ICROTEK !RTIX3CAN 3CAN-AKER %$)4 AND 3NAP4RANS ARE TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF -ICROTEK )NTERNATIONAL )NC !LL OTHER TRADEMARKS OR REGISTERED TRADEMARKS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE HOLDERS 3PECIlCATIONS AND SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE BUNDLES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE
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March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 39
PROFIT CENTER
now display their wall portraits and books.
MARKETING ON THE ROAD
The cost of the campaign was high, about
Christa Hoffarth shares her marketing knowledge this month alongside another savvy marketer, Laura Novak (www.novakphotography.com), in a workshop at Novak’s Wilmington, Del., studio, March 4-5. Hoffarth creates templates that photographers can use in their promotions to ensure their brand is uniformly reinforced in their brochures, business cards, letterhead, tags and more. Checkout Hoffarth’s marketing site for photographers, Jellyfingers.wordpress.com. Kathy and Peter Holcombe share their know-how in increasing wedding sales at the Imaging Workshops of Colorado, (www.coloradoworkshops.com) May 19-21.
$70 per venue, but the return on the investment more than paid for it, they say. The Holcombes now average $12,000 per wedding. Says Peter, “I think marketing is one of the most exciting aspects of this business. It’s all problem-solving and thinking through.” “We’re passionate about marketing and our business,” adds Kathy. “We calculate carefully. At the beginning of each year we figure out how much we want to work, how much we need to make, and then design our
A day after delivery, they called each recipient,
the follow-up phone call was to set up a
and they were blown away by the response.
meeting to show our book and get to know
“The amazing thing is that we got thank-you
them. We got a meeting with everyone.”
notes from these coordinators,” says Kathy. “I
This imaginative campaign put Holcombe
don’t think anyone gets thank-you notes for
Photography on 12 of the 16 venues’ preferred
promo materials,” Peter marvels. “Our goal of
photographer list, and five of the venues
40 • www.ppmag.com
[marketing] materials according to that.” For the Holcombes, provocative marketing fuels a business that underwrites the good life. I Lorna Gentry is a freelance writer in Atlanta.
PROFIT CENTER
C H A R L E S J . L E W I S , M . P H O T O G .C R .
It’s not the price, it’s the way you present it. Train yourself to be comfortable talking about your fees.
Because you’re worth it
understand how she feels—“I know exactly how you feel, and I understand.” You want to continue working with this prospect, so don’t argue, confront or correct. KNOW YOUR LINES. How many times have you thought of the perfect
The better you become at presenting your
anyone. You can make a great living by
comeback too late? Write down and
fees, the higher those fees can be. Here are
being honest!
memorize good replies to typical questions
five keys to successful presentation.
You want to sound as if the studio is
and likely objections in all phases of the
SELF-CONFIDENCE. You need to
busy. You want clients to see that you have
sales process. For example, early on you
practice—no kidding, practice—presenting
to pore over your booking calendar to find
might take control of the conversation like
your fees in a self-assured way that says cus-
an opening for them.
this: “Before we go any further, let me give
tomers are already gladly paying those fees. You need to look, act and sound self-
GENTLE DISARMAMENT. When a
you an idea of what you can plan on investing.
prospect says something negative, such as,
Is that okay? For a portrait of the kind you
confident and successful, even before you
“Your fees are high,” be ready with a cush-
described, most folks invest between [your
are. I’m not suggesting that you lie to
ioned response. First, acknowledge that you
figures here] and get a large framed portrait
42 • www.ppmag.com
for themselves, plus a few smaller prints for friends, family and the workplace. Does that fit into your budget?” Notice that no exact print sizes have been mentioned.
Keep mentioning that if the caller isn’t thrilled with your work, you’ll do whatever’s necessary to delight her, or you will return her money in full, no hassles, no hard feelings.
You want the ballpark figure you’re quoting to be an honest representation. Add up the sitting fee, an 8x10 print (the prospect probably considers that “large”) and a couple of 4x5s. That’s the starting figure. For the high figure, add about 20 percent to cover a few more of the small prints.
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Closer to closing the sale or ending the conversation, ask a well-worded question to see how close the prospect is to making a decision. My favorite is, “How do you feel about that?” I use it all the time, in all sales situations, including the presentation of the fees. YOU DON’T NEED HER MONEY. You want to get the decision today, but you
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don’t want to sound anxious. Always talk in terms of how she will benefit by working with you over any other photographer. Memorize the unique qualities you specified in your business plan, and always open with your guarantee of satisfaction. GUARANTEE SATISFACTION AND GET A PAYMENT TODAY. Keep mentioning that if the caller isn’t thrilled with your work, you’ll do whatever’s necessary to delight her, or you will return her money in full, no hassles, no hard feelings. If you will take action in these ways, you’ll be able to charge more for your photography, and see dramatic improvement in your profits and cashflow.
I
For more tips from Charles J. Lewis, visit www.cjlewis.com.
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March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 43
THE JOY OF MARKETING
TM
S A R A H P E T T Y, C P P
competitor offers a certain item, you don’t have to if it doesn’t go with your brand or if you simply don’t like it.
In a clever marketing strategy, pricing can actually enhance your studio’s image. Pricing can even make people do what you want them to do!
Party like it’s $1,999 TIPS FOR CREATING ATTRACTIVE PRICING
Boutique items such as photo jewelry, purses and personalized greeting cards make fine add-ons and incentives, but aren’t necessarily high-profit items. You don’t want to undermine your more profitable portrait sales, so it’s a good idea to make a separate rate card for them, or even require a minimum purchase before clients can order them. Use prices to make people do what you want them to do. Take the session fee, for example. If it’s better for you not to photograph on location, set your location
Remember that “silly little millimeter”? When you buy something for $1,999, you say you’ve spent less than $2,000. Well, you have, by $1. That little bit less than two grand makes a big difference psychologically.
The more you have to explain, the more
session fees twice as high as studio
they have to employ logic to make the
sessions. If the fee doesn’t discourage the
decision.
client, it will be worth your while to do it.
If you have more than one target market,
If you notice that your in-studio sessions
you can have more than one set of prod-
average three times more sales than
ucts, and certainly more than one rate
location sessions and take half the time to
tographers, I like to start by determining if
card. For example, you might offer albums
do, you might lower the studio session fee.
their expenses are in line, including the
to high school seniors, but not to buyers
If you want to limit your Saturday or
cost of sales, employee wages, administra-
of child and family photography. You need
evening hours, it’s amazing how higher
tive expenses, and general overhead. If
separate, exclusive lists of your products
session fees or minimum purchase
those are in line, I like to evaluate their
and prices.
requirements will encourage people to find
When I consult on marketing with pho-
pricing. Sometimes studio owners ask what
And you don’t have to offer every great
their pricing has to do with marketing.
product you saw at Imaging USA, especially
Believe it or not, pricing is a key ingredient
in a boutique business. Just because a
time to come in during the week. I’m a big believer in using business management software that helps you
of the marketing mix. I’ve seen photographers struggle with pricing and creating a rate card, and I’d like to share some tips to make it easier. One of the largest problems with photographer rate cards is that they’re confusing, often overwhelming. Simplify! If you present too many choices, it’s going to take way too long to explain it all to your clients. You want to keep clients interpreting information through the emotional side of their brain, not totting up the facts.
44 • www.ppmag.com
‘‘
I’m a big believer in using business management software that helps you identify your most profitable sessions. It can help you decide if you you should charge more for large groups, additional clothing changes, all manner of extras.
THE JOY OF MARKETING
TM
identify your most profitable sessions. It can
simple and clearly worded. I don’t have a
effective to produce full-color rate cards in
help you decide if you you should charge
problem with a rate card leaving the studio,
small quantities. We order ours from White
more for large groups, additional clothing
but only if it’s part of your sales plan. I don’t
House Custom Colour in quantities of 25 or
changes, all manner of extras. You might
believe in posting prices on the Web. I want
50, so if we need to adjust our prices, it’s not
find that the large orders that result from
prospects to call the studio so we can chat.
a huge expense. We like to print them on
group portraits make it unnecessary to charge higher session fees.
Rate cards can also help illustrate the value
small, elegant folded cards—it makes such a
of your photography. They must be
difference in how people perceive your work.
beautiful! One of my favorite guidebooks is
Always include a very high-priced item on
packages against a la carte pricing. There
“The Non-Designer’s Design Book,” by
your price cards. You may never sell the
really isn’t a right or wrong answer. Looking
Robin Williams (Peachpit Press). It presents
item, but it will lend value to your other
at your sales averages will help you choose a
the principles of using type and graphics
products and will allow you to keep raising
method. If you do offer packages, make sure
effectively. Use photography to illustrate the
the prices. Now we all dread presenting
they contain enough value for the price to
products wherever possible. It is much
price increases, but the increase is less
encourage people to invest in more than
easier to sell a collection of six images if
glaring when you use odd numbers: $1,999
they would otherwise.
people can see how they look together. The
is less than $2,000! I
You also need to weigh the benefits of
Rate cards are not a marketing brochure for your company, but a vehicle for stating your prices. Still, they should be well designed,
46 • www.ppmag.com
look and colors of the design must also be consistent with your brand identity. With the ease of digital printing, it’s cost
Sarah Petty Photography is in Springfield, Ill. (www.sarahpetty.com).
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Professional Photographer
P R E S E N T S
Products, Technology and Services
What I like Gene Higa is always on the move, and so is his gear What makes your workflow flow? The Bay Photo Lab ROES system. We can upload everything from reprints to album pages to greeting cards. Orders magically show up at our door days later. We can do it from anywhere in the world as long as we have an Internet connection. What’s the best equipment investment you’ve ever made? My Canon EOS 5D. The fullframe image sensor brought me back to the 35mm days. Little thing, big difference ... My 12-inch Mac laptop has traveled the world with me. I use it to back up image files, create slideshows, conduct workshop presentations and keep in touch on the road. What hot new product are you going out of your way to use? My iPhone. Just for fun, I’ll have my assistant grab an image of my clients and me at their wedding. I immediately email it to them along with a thank-you note. Has a piece of equipment ever changed the way you approach your photography? The Canon 50mm f/1.0 lens. It keeps me moving on the job. What is the most valuable piece of gear for shooting on-location? I have this custom Tamrac belt pack with four pouches for holding gear. It helps me stay mobile and have every essential ready for action. IMAGE BY GENE HIGA WWW.GENEHIGA.COM
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 49
THE GOODS: PRO REVIEW
Nikon’s first full-frame DSLR tops previous models and blows the competition out of the water. BY ELLIS VENER
Completely right NIKON D3
To say that Nikon users have waited a long time for a full-frame DSLR is an understatement. Under this kind of pressure,
All images ©Ellis Vener
Nikon needed to get it right the first time. With the D3 they have. Wedding, event and studio shooters, you now have a high-resolution DSLR that’s superb at high ISO, has an extended dynamic range, especially in the highlights, and excellent color accuracy under a variety of lighting situations. I exposed thousands of frames, ranging from snapshots to architectural to portrait photography, under ambient light, carefully controlled lighting and lit studioon-location portraits, at ISO settings from 100 (L-1.0) to 6400. The results pleased not only me, but notably picky clients as well. I even tried the H +2.0 setting (ISO equivalent 25600). It works, although you’ll want to reserve it as a fallback when using flash would be disruptive or dangerous, or when your flash batteries have died. It’s also worth saying that even with frequent image viewing on the camera’s large highresolution LCD, the D3 consumes minimal battery power. The D3 exhibits a reduction in the chromatic aberrations common to other full-frame 35mm-based DSLRs. Nikon’s
The quality of high ISO images from the D3 may lead you to shoot with less light than you have been. Exposure: 1/60 second at f/2.8, ISO 6400.
Expeed digital imaging concept—optimized
paired with on the D2 series. The AF sensor
last DSLR I saw with two CompactFlash
in-camera image processing technologies
field choices have narrowed from four to
card slots was the $8,000, 6-megapixel
that speed capture rate, refine image quality
three. And in the lower right corner, the AF
Kodak DCS 760 of 2001. Having two CF
and handle images in 16-bit color—deserves
on button and the main command wheel for
cards is useful in a couple of ways: You can
much of the credit for this.
vertical shooting have been reversed. The
set the camera to record to both cards for in-
media compartment door is wider to
camera backup, or to overflow from one card
accommodate two CompactFlash cards. The
to the next and seamlessly continue writing
You can see the benefits of Expeed technology by comparing images captured with a D3 and D300 to those captured with earlier Nikon DSLRs with the same lenses, and factoring in other technological advances, as in sensor design. This is true with both in-cameraproduced JPEGS and NEF (raw) photos. Nikon and many of the brand’s users assert that it takes Nikon’s Capture NX software to get the most out of your D3 NEF files, but I do most raw processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.3.1. because it’s faster and I prefer its interface. Qualitatively, Capture NX can do a better job of NEF processing (especially with the implementation of Nik Software U Point technology), but the difference isn’t great enough with general work to sacrifice the speed of Lightroom. The D3 handles like an evolved version of
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previous top-end Nikon DSLRs. The topside LCD and top deck controls are the same, save for the addition of an optional live view mode. The crisp, bright, 3-inch, 920,000-dot (VGA) LCD monitor dominates the camera’s back. The new LCD is not only better for previewing, but also makes menu navigation and setup more efficient. Protected by a pane of tempered glass, the LCD no longer has a plastic cover. Some of the control buttons have been modified or moved. The changes are important if you’re a D2 shooter accustomed to operating the body by feel. The control buttons to the left of the LCD are much the same, but the zoom function is now the second button from the top. To the right of the LCD there are a few notable changes: the combined AE/AF lock button moved down and to the left, away from the AF on button it was
Call 631-656-7400, visit www.qtm.com or your professional photo dealer for more information.
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 53
THE GOODS: PRO REVIEW
or you can shoot NEFs and JPEGs simultaneously, dedicating a card to each format. I used the first option more, with either a 2- or 4GB SanDisk Extreme IV card or a Kingston 266X card in slot 1, and a 16GB Sandisk Extreme III card in slot 2 to backup the less
specs: Nikon D3
capacious cards. The Canon 1Ds (Mark II and II) and 1D (Mark II and III) also have two media slots, but the second is for an SD card. Like earlier Nikon models and the competing Canon 1D series, the D3 is a large, heavy camera, especially with a large aperture zoom or prime lens attached. A D3 with AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens adds up to about 5 pounds (body, battery, and lens) to carry around. That’s not a pleasant workout, and adding a flash or, worse, a flash on a bracket makes it even rougher. Please, Nikon and Canon, work on lightening your high-end cameras while retaining the capabilities. Image quality is the real reason to consider the D3. Like the D300, it’s a 12-megapixel (12.1 officially) camera, but we know pixels are not all equal. With a total sensor area slightly more than 100 percent larger than the D300, the D3 has larger individual photoreceptors on the CMOS chip, which parlays into lower noise at high ISO equivalents, as well as a greater dynamic response range at all ISO settings, a premium for photographers who shoot in low-light and sometimes high-contrast situations, such as photojournalists, sports photographers and wedding and event photographers. Also top-notch is the sensor’s rendering lifelike flesh tones, even under a variety of lighting. The D3 got it right in my test shots under lighting conditions ranging from electronic flash with a soft box; tungsten television studio spotlights; and mixes of existing light, including all sorts of daylight, candle light, both standard straight and compact fluorescent tubes, and some really nasty and badly ballasted mercury vapor
54 • www.ppmag.com
SENSOR: 3:2 aspect ratio, 23.9 x 36.0 mm; CMOS RESOLUTION: FX format (full frame) 12.1 effective megapixels (4,256 x2,832 pixels); DX format (APS-C crop) 5.14 megapixels (2,784 x 1,848 pixels); 5:4 format (30x24mm) 10 megapixels (3552 x 2832 pixels) Skin tones looked great under television studio lighting. METERING: TTL full-aperture Exposure: 1/640 second at f/2.8, ISO 3200 with a Nikon exposure metering, using 1,005-pixel 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. RGB sensor: 3D Color Matrix Metering II (type G and D lenses); Color Matrix Metering II (other CPU lenses); Color Matrix Metering (non-CPU lenses if user provides lens data); center-weighted (weight of 75 percent given to 8-, 15- or 20mm circle in center of frame, or weighting based on average of entire frame); spot, meters 4mm circle (about 1.5 percent of frame) centered on selected focus area (on center focus area when non-CPU lens is used) ISO EQUIVALENTS: ISO 200 to 6400 in steps of 1/3, 1/2, or 1 EV; with additional 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, or 1 (ISO 100 equivalent) EV below ISO 200, and 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1 (ISO 12800 equiv.), or 2 (ISO 25600 equiv.) EV over ISO 6400 WHITE BALANCE: Auto (TTL white balance with 1,005-pixel RGB sensor), seven manual modes with fine-tuning, color temperature setting, white balance bracketing possible (2 to 9 frames in 1/3 increments) SHUTTER: 1/8,000 second to 30 second in steps of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV; Bulb VIEWFINDER: SLR-type with fixed eye-level pentaprism; built-in diopter adjustment (-3.0 to +1.0); 100% coverage (vertical and horizontal); about 0.7X magnification with 50mm lens at infinity LCD MONITOR: 3-in., approx. 920,000-dot (VGA), 170-degree wide viewing angle, 100% frame coverage, low-temperature polysilicon TFT LCD with brightness adjustment. LIVE VIEW: Tripod shooting mode, contrast-detect AF anywhere in frame; hand-held shooting mode, TTL Phase-difference AF with 51 focus areas (including15 cross-type sensors). LENS COMPATIBILITY: DX AF Nikkor all functions; other Nikkor lenses with limited function; IX Nikkor lenses not supported FLASH: NIKON i-TTL Speedlight flash units and Nikon CLS MEDIA: 2 slots: CompactFlash(TM) (Type I/II, compliant with UDMA); Microdrives MSRP: $4,999
fixtures. The ISO equivalent ranged from 100 (L -1.0) to 25600 (H+2.0). The D3 also shines in 3D-tracking
When the subject and the camera are
also capable of shooting 8-bits per channel
not moving, using the Live View Tripod
in the TIFF file format. Why TIFF? I
mode in conjunction with that big LCD
suspect it’s at the request of some
dynamic predictive autofocus. Nikon’s
makes a large difference. You can zoom the
government entities.
Multi-CAM 3500FX autofocus module uses
display to an area of any size anywhere in
51 focus points in a rough oval pattern,
the frame and, with the camera or lens set
tucked into the D3’s firmware. Every pho-
including 15 cross-type sensors and TTL
to manual focus, carefully focus on the
tographer will have personal favorites, but
phase detection, and operatives in light
exact area you want, just as you can with a
aside from the Live View Tripod mode, I
levels ranging from -1 to +19 EV (as
view camera, ground glass and a magnifier,
particularly like these:
measured at IS0 100, 68 degrees Farenheit).
but in many ways better.
Color information from 1,005-pixel 3D
The D3 is capable of shooting 9 frames
There are some real operational goodies
• The two ways of using the camera’s orientation sensors as a virtual horizon tool. The
Color Matrix Metering II enhances
per second in the FX or 4:5 aspect mode,
most obvious way is through the large virtual
autofocus performance by helping the AF
up to 11fps in DX mode. With a fast CF
horizon display on the rear LCD, accessed
module predict the motion of a subject not
card, you can capture a large number of
through the camera setup menu—very useful
only as it moves across the frame, but also as
frames before the buffer fills. The official
when the camera’s mounted on a tripod. If
it gets larger or smaller, and moving toward
buffer capacity ranges from 108 small, basic
you need to see the tilt angle in the viewfinder
or away from the camera. You have a choice
JPEGs (0.4 MB on average) to about 16
or on the top deck LCD, you can set the custom
of single point, dynamic area AF, or
uncompressed, 14-bit-per-channel NEF
function menu to activate the virtual horizon
automatic area AF sensor patterns. The
files (24.7MB on average), giving you lots of
with the Fn button near to the lower right of
most useful of these is the dynamic mode.
options for sequential shooting. The D3 is
the lens mount. The degree of tilt is indicated
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 55
THE GOODS: PRO REVIEW
by what would otherwise be the over- and underexposure scale. • The programmable intervalometer.. • The ability to program the camera for up to nine different non-AF lenses (which comes with every Nikon in the D2 series). • And a really big deal: a tool to measure the sharpness of your lenses. You can use the autofocus fine-tuning tool with up to 20 CPU-equipped AF Nikkor lenses, including multiple lenses of the same type used on one D3 body (in other words, if your studio has multiple 24-70mm f/2.8G, 70-200mm f/2.8G, 80-200mm f/2.8 D AF, or 300mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor lenses). This tool isn’t needed to correct any slop at the Nikon factory, but to optimize individual camera bodies with individual lenses, which cinematographers have done for decades. I
Using the camera's built-in intervalometer, I shot a sequence of 240 frames at 1fps of the Ocean Voyager tank at the Georgia Aquarium, and later made an 8- second movie using Apple QuickTime Pro software. Exposure: 1/100 second at f/2.8, ISO 3200, with 14-24mm f/2.8G Nikkor at 14mm.
P RO F E S S I O NAL
Promote your photographic products and services with targeted and affordable classified advertising. For maximum exposure, each ad insertion runs in both the printed issue and on ppmag.com. • $1.50 per word (rates are net and non-commissionable. • $2.00 per word/words with all caps or bold face. • $10.00 per issue—Confidential Reply Box Ads (Optional)—$30 min. per ad • Closing date is 20th of the second month proceeding issue date. • Ad copy must be sent by mail, fax, or e-mail. Copy and changes are not accepted by phone. • Remittance must be received with order. Check and credit cards accepted. Remittance to: Attn: Monique Martin Professional Photographer Classified Ads 229 Peachtree NE, Ste. 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303 800-339-5451, ext. 221 FAX 404-614-6405 56 • www.ppmag.com
THE GOODS: ARCHIVING
Two photographers discuss their experiences with PhotoShelter, an online archiving service and stock agency.
property, MIT scientist Mr. Enby. “I don’t love re-shooting subjects,” says Fasten. “I sent the editor a link to my [Enby archive] gallery. He downloaded a low-res file from the PhotoShelter Personal Archive,
B Y A U D R E Y G R AY
showed it to his editor, and within a day, he
Safe and for sale ONLINE ARCHIVING AND SALES
had the image he needed. It was just so easy!” Easy and profitable. Fasten’s business acumen and navigable archive system allowed her to shoot once and score twice. You never know when an image will suddenly be in demand again—just ask photojournalist
Photographer Leah Fasten of Boston recently
sent the Make editors a link to her Enby gallery
Dirck Halstead, whose archive happened to
experienced a workflow best-case scenario.
on PhotoShelter, they chose a winner, and
include a shot of President Bill Clinton
Editors at Make magazine asked her to shoot
paid Fasten. She still owned long-term copy-
embracing a young intern named Monica—
a portrait of an MIT scientist named Drew
rights to the image, and everyone was happy.
so many photographers are asking how to
Enby. Fasten had a great day with Enby, return-
Flash forward a year-and-a-half.
make their image collections key-worded,
ing from the shoot with a number of strong
Fasten gets a call from Esquire
searchable, and above all, stored securely.
images, which she edited and uploaded to her
magazine’s photo editor, who wants to hire
online archiving service, PhotoShelter. She
her to photograph—guess who? That hot-
One option, of course, is a do-it-yourself indexed archive on DVDs, but disks can fail over time. Another solution involves multiple hard drives, deciphering RAID specs, and housing servers in the basement, headache inducers all, and then you’ve got to think about how you’ll transfer or even access your archives as your hardware becomes obsolete. Another option is to outsource the task to an online archiving service. There are several outfits to choose from, which offer varying services and presentation styles at varying costs. Philadelphia photographer Scott Lewis looked at a couple of firms, then chose PhotoShelter, a company offering a solution for archiving, image protection, distribution and sales, based in New York. A significant portion of Lewis’ work is wedding photography, so he needed a service that would allow him to upload 500 or more images in one sitting,
The Personal Archive gallery user interface allows the photographer to choose and edit file data for browsers and potential clients to see. Image ©Grover Sanschagrin/PhotoShelter Inc.
58 • www.ppmag.com
and quickly sort them into a half-dozen galleries for his clients’ viewing. Lewis says he’s noticed over the past year that PhotoShelter’s online presentation is evolving to accommodate the needs of wedding photographers, and he’s been happy with its geographically redundant data storage system from the start. “You always want backups of the backups,” says Lewis. “For $500, I can take two to three years’ worth of weddings and store them somewhere safe. My house could blow up and I’m still covered. … If someone calls me in five years because their grandmother died and they want to have a nice, beautiful print made [from one of the wedding shots], I need to have that picture! That’s just good business. I’ve safeguarded it for that moment.” PhotoShelter was founded in 2005 by Allen Murabayashi, an Eddie Adams
©Leah Fasten/PhotoShelter Inc.
Leah Fasten uses her online archive to post a private gallery of images after an assignment. The client can select, purchase and download high-res files.
THE GOODS: ARCHIVING Image ©Allen Murabayashi/PhotoShelter Inc.
it became available to them last September. Leah Fasten, a PhotoShelter user since its early days, says it’s worth the $800 to $1,000 a year she pays for the Personal Archive service. “I worked with them to create a custom archive that works seamlessly with my Web site (www.leahfasten.com).” Fasten has about 5,000 images in her personal archive, 1,000 of which she’s made searchable to the public. That’s one of a number of PhotoShelter security measures, from watermarking to privacy settings, that Fasten uses regularly. PhotoShelter does not provide visitor tracking per se, but it does track the number of times each image is viewed. “I have all sorts of choices about whether I want someone to download an image, the file size, how many times, and the length of time an image will be available,” she says. “There’s a record of who’s downloading and when, plus, you can’t right-click on an image. Realistically, I know that when an image is online, someone can find a way to steal it, but PhotoShelter makes it very hard to do that.” PhotoShelter’s e-commerce back-end allows photographers’ clients to buy an image online with a credit card, then Watermarking options allow you to apply information from your IPTC copyright field to the image or to overlay an uploaded file of your own.
download it directly. The company also offers printing and shipping through partner lab EZprints. Neither Fasten nor Lewis uses EZprints often, preferring instead to take a hands-on role in the
workshop graduate and a founding employee
of high-res files to controlling usage rights, he
and senior VP of engineering at hotjobs.com,
adds. “We see ourselves as a soup-to-nuts solu-
“It’s clear to me that with 5,000 images
and a handful of technological innovators
tion for everything that happens after the shoot.”
sitting in my archives, a few of them could
and professional photographers, including
PhotoShelter offers photographers two
have another life as stock,” says Fasten.
Grover Sanschagrin, executive producer of
primary products, the Personal Archive and a
“I like the idea that I don’t even have to
SportsShooter.com.
stock photo sales and pricing and copyrights
market the work myself. They can do it
management service, The PhotoShelter
for me.”
“The other founders were interested in
production and delivery of prints.
what I’d done in technology,” recalls
Collection. The archive currently holds
Murabayashi, now CEO of PhotoShelter. It
work of 19,000 photographers; more
make a significant investment this year in
became clear that photographers were running
than 10,000 photographers have
promoting the Collection nationally to ad
into workflow problems, from the distribution
submitted images for The Collection since
agencies, designers and editors. “We’re not
60 • www.ppmag.com
Murabayashi says PhotoShelter plans to
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© 2007 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Sony and SnapLab are trademarks of Sony.
THE GOODS: ARCHIVING Provided by PhotoShelter
PhotoShelter uses fotoQuote price guides, which makes it easy to set standard or customized prices and rights management for your images.
trying to be microstock at all. We have reservations about an image for a dollar,” says Murabayashi. “In The PhotoShelter Collection, the minimum you can price a photo is $50.” In late 2006, PhotoShelter struck an exclusive agreement with fotoQuote, a pricing standard for stock photography, to help photographers set their own prices for each image in the Collection, as well as in their Personal Archive. The PhotoShelter Collection gives photographers at least 70 percent of the purchase/usage price, which is more than many stock agencies. “We have a much more Web 2.0 ethos,” says Murabayashi, referring to how the Web is transforming in regard to usage and purpose. Lewis and Fasten both view The PhotoShelter Collection as impetus to give themselves more creative and personally fulfilling assignments and, potentially, to make cash on stored images, if they take the time to keyword each image to make it searchable. “This technology is making the fun stuff easier to do,” says Fasten. “I do think you have to be somewhat of a digital expert to be a photographer these days, but luckily, you don’t have to create your own archive.” Billed monthly, the PhotoShelter Personal Archive service is priced on the client’s use of storage space. Accounts range from the free Starter account that includes 50MB of space, to the PhotoShelter Pro account for $49.99 monthly with 100GB of storage. With a Pro or Standard account, photographers can purchase an additional terabyte of storage for $1,000 per year. The PhotoShelter Collection is free to join. I
62 • www.ppmag.com
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THE GOODS: SUBSTRATES
You can print on more than photographic paper—and in your own studio.
easy to print on. He’s been wanting to brighten
BY LAURENCE CHEN
proved to be the best material for the job
Extraordinary prints
because it doesn’t stretch and sag over time
MATERIAL DIVERSITY
up the studio’s high ceiling by hanging images from the rafters, and Polypropylene
like other materials he’s tried. He says ink adheres well, and the almost matte finish of the print minimizes reflections. Banners can accentuate as well as dominate. Smaller banners in the form of tapestries or flags can add character and elegance to a space. Artist Holly Alderman did just that with interpretive photographs hung as tapestries on the grounds and buildings at Saint-
With the availability of varied substrates for
The banners were printed on versatile
Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish,
professional inkjet printers, photographers
LexJet Water-Resistant Satin Cloth, a light-
N.H., where they remained for several months.
can present their work in a way that was
weight and resilient material. You can roll it,
For weather resistance, she and her print-
once the sole province of expensive
unroll it, even spill water on it. LexJet provides
maker chose LexJet Water-Resistant Satin
commercial printers. Here’s a look at some
free profiles for most major makes of printers,
Cloth. Alderman also liked this material
of the substrates that are getting
making color management a straight-
aesthetically for its slight translucence.
photography off the wall.
forward process. Perry recommends placing
With highly translucent materials like 3P
clips or other weights on the material as it
Polyvoile, viewers on both sides of the banner
INDOOR/OUTDOOR BANNER MATERIAL
feeds to keep the fabric from bunching.
can see the image, as well as see through the
Large banners command your attention.
Polypropylene, which is strong, resilient and
Perry also uses LexJet Water-Resistant
Mounted on banner stands, they become more versatile than billboards because you can place them wherever you like. They can announce your image as they simultaneously define a space. Jamie Perry of Excess Studios in Rochester, N.Y., used banners to advertise the studio’s presence at a big cheerleading event. “We didn’t really think of selling the banners until we saw that the girls loved them and wanted them for themselves. When their friends saw them, they wanted them, too.” Two hundred cheerleaders went home happy, and Perry had discovered another way to keep the studio’s printer busy.
Highly translucent 3P Polyvoile lets light through and makes an ideal material for locations where viewers can see the image from either side.
66 • www.ppmag.com
©Gary Box
image to what lies beyond. This soft, elegant touch can have a dramatic effect. Portrait
photographer Gary Box of Sapulpa, Okla.,
She uses thermal glue to secure the
uses Polyvoile to separate his studio’s
Water-Resistant Polypropylene to the lamp
window display from the gallery inside.
frame; Polypropylene’s rigidity holds its
Polyvoile is so porous that it should be
shape. Lovett says the lamps can sustain six
printed at 720dpi rather than 1,440dpi.
to eight “really good” months outdoors in
After 24 hours of dry-down, it’s safe to
the shade before noticeable fading occurs.
remove the backing material and hang or
Southern exposure reduces the longevity to
mount the banner.
about three months. She offers economical
Tracy Lovett took advantage of LexJet’s
replacement prints to encourage her
Water-Resistant Polypropylene banner
customers to keep returning. For indoor
material to create photo-lamps that she
lamps, she uses LexJet Water-Resistant
calls Photo-Luminaria. Made in a process
Satin Cloth.
that Lovett and her husband developed,
©Chris Conrad
Any printing begs the question of longev-
these indoor/outdoor lamps feature photos
ity. While the answer ultimately depends on
of her clients. “The inkjet printing was the
numerous factors, Tom Hauenstein of LexJet
easiest part,” she says. “If you use profiles and soft proof in Photoshop, you’re fine. When printing for backlight situations, I like to increase the saturation, but that’s a personal preference.”
Fibrous fine-art papers like Moab's Moenkopi paper Unryu provide a tactile experience and stand out in presentations where backlighting is possible.
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 67
THE GOODS: SUBSTRATES ©Tracy Lovett
generally estimates that for the Polypropy-
Bizan 300 sheets are handmade
lene and the Satin Cloth materials, you can
individually in Japan. Kozo has a relatively
expect two to three years of indoor use
smooth surface, while Unryu grabs your
before there's noticeable fading. Outdoors,
attention with the coarse texture of the
he says six to 12 months is typical. He
thick and thin fibers running through it
believes most customers actually observe
(“unryu” means “cloud dragon paper”).
greater longevity. Is there an advantage to
Slightly translucent, Unryu is ideal for
having to replace your art periodically? For
backlighting. Bizan has the most textured
situations where seasonality, custom
surface, both dimpled and wavy, and it has
signage, or staying fresh is desirable, change
hand-torn deckled edges. Bizan is sold
will likely keep your audience’s attention.
exclusively on the Moab Web site. Chris Conrad, among the first to print on
FINE-ART PRINTS
the new material, says the Moenkopi papers
Most everyone admires the texture of
are comparable to any high-quality fine-art
Japanese papers and wants to handle them.
paper. Printing is straightforward with Moab-
It’s a shame to trap them behind glass. Moab
supplied profiles; Conrad uses the Epson
by Legion Paper recently introduced a line
Enhanced Matte profile with equal success.
of Japanese Washi paper, called Moenkopi
Paper of character requires imagery to
(moe-in-koe-pee), coated for both dye- and
match. Conrad likes Unryu for his black-
pigment-ink sets . The name is actually Native-
and-white work. For color, he suggests
American in reference to the paper’s environ-
using muted tones to suit the paper’s
mentally sensitive qualities; its distinctive
“dreamy texture.” Jim Graham, another fan
fibers come from mulberry plants, which
of Moab papers, says the Moenkopis are
remain unharmed by harvesting.
best suited to images that will be enhanced
The three archival varieties reflect their
by the paper’s “gentle nuances.” For
respective weight and character. The Unryu
presentation, both Conrad and Graham
55 and the Kozo 110 varieties, available in
recommend taking non-traditional
44-inch rolls, are machine-made, while
approaches. “I would try to show the entire
Tracy Lovett makes indoor/outdoor luminaries from images printed on water-resistant polypropelyne.
piece of paper, mounting it somehow so it stands off its backing,” says Conrad, “it is a true tactile experience.”
©Gary Box
WALLPAPER If your photography dominates a wall so much as to be the wall, then photo wallpaper is the obvious answer. When a children’s oncology clinic wanted to soften the mood of an examination room, photographer Jack Puryear in Austin, Texas, found a solution in printing his image on LexJet WallPro, an inkjet-
Think big. Murals printed on wallpaper can bring character and new dimensions to dull office and exam areas.
68 • www.ppmag.com
compatible wallpaper that installs with standard wallpaper paste. Puryear used profiles, made test prints, and applied two coats of protective coating to bring out the full image quality on the wallpaper. The image so inspired one child that he added
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a creative contribution in Crayon. With the coating, it cleaned up fine without harming the image. For the treatment room, Puryear printed five sections on 36-inch rolls at 100dpi. “If you get really close, it looks grainy, but at a normal viewing distance it looks fine.” (He allowed 1.5 inches for overlap.) The professional installation of Puryear’s -because you & your clients demand the best!
photo wallpaper took about an hour-and-ahalf. Although it’s a simple job, he recommends hiring an experienced wallpaper hanger to do it quickly and easily.
The
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AVAILABILITY Many of these materials are available in rolls intended for professional wide-format inkjet printers; most start at 24 inches wide. Check with the supplier for details, and if you don’t have an appropriate printer in-house, ask the supplier for referrals to studios in your area that will do the printing for you. Photographers interested in fabrics with even greater longevity and durability should investigate dye-sublimation printing on such materials as poly-silk, which is washable. New display and substrate ideas are in development and help is available from manufacturers and distributors who are becoming more aware of the photographic end-user’s needs and the importance of client support. Here are some Web sources to explore: www.breathingcolor.com • www.drytac.com • www.exhibitors-handbook.com • www.hahnemuehle.com • www.ivey.com • www.LexJet.com • www.moabpaper.com • www.pacificmount.com. I
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 69
THE GOODS
SOLUTIONS BY ANDREW RODNEY
Nearly every modern photographer knows what Photoshop can do. What does Lightroom bring to the table?
What’s the difference?
impossible to achieve on rendered pixels. For example, you can’t correct highlight data where none exists as a result of how the initial pixels were originally rendered. Severe white balance adjustments are extremely difficult to correct on rendered images.
I spend far too much time online reading various photo-centric Web sites, where the
your processor and slow your workflow. Photoshop has to work with rendered pixels.
Altering an image that appears dark, has a severe colorcast, or needs saturation
same questions are often asked, such as, “I
Rendered means that the color values, color
adjustment requires changing pixel values, a
have Adobe Photoshop and Bridge, why
space and gamma are baked in. Like a cake
slow process that causes data loss.
would I need Adobe Lightroom?” It’s a
recipe gone awry, it’s nearly impossible to
However, in presenting you each and every
logical question. There are significant
remove the individual ingredients, remix
pixel, Photoshop has the ultimate set of tools
differences between the two.
them properly and re-bake the cake. With
to precisely select and edit only some of
Photoshop was designed to edit pixels.
Photoshop, you can make a good show of it,
these pixels. Consequently, Photoshop works
To do so, Photoshop needs access to every
but it takes effort, and it’s just not as good as
primarily with one image at a time. Droplets
pixel, even if you’ll be editing only 22 out
it might have been.
and batch commands provide a limited
of the 22 million in the file. That can tax
Some image corrections are difficult or
means of working with multiple images; still, each image has to be opened and every pixel has to be loaded into RAM before you can view and manipulate multiple images. Lightroom at its core is a raw processor. Though you can import existing rendered images, Lightroom is most powerful working with raw, non-rendered, essentially grayscale data to produce new colored pixels that represent how you want to render the image. A raw file is like having individual ingredients that you can remix and re-bake at any time. Rendering isn’t color correction, it’s image creation. You should minimize, if not eliminate, the need to globally color correct or “fix” pixel-based images. Lightroom uses instructions (metadata) to describe how a raw image should be processed into pixels. It doesn’t open a fullresolution, pixel-based image; it shows a series of previews based on how the final image will appear if you tell it to build those pixels. This process has a number of features that Photoshop doesn’t. First, it’s fast and
Figure 1: Exporting one or more images selected in Lightroom brings up this dialog, where I can specify how I want my pixels built from the metadata instructions. I asked for full-resolution, 16-bit ProPhoto RGB rendering. I could ask for smaller resolution images in differing ways and these new pixel-based documents could be built as specified.
70 • www.ppmag.com
flexible. You view either a low-resolution preview of the entire image or a screen-size, full-resolution preview (1:1 or greater). The
THE GOODS
computer doesn’t alter the pixels, it just shows you what the current metadata would produce. You can change your mind at any time, since all you’re doing is rewriting the metadata. Once you want to actually produce a pixelbased document, Lightroom performs a single computation of the metadata to produce a new set of pixels from the raw data, which is truly non-destructive editing. Metadata editing in Lightroom also allows you to quickly apply a set of rendering instructions to multiple images—just copy and paste the metadata instructions from one raw file to others. The computer doesn’t need to do the heavy lifting of generating pixels until you tell Lightroom to export the data (or print it from the Print module or upload a Web gallery) based on these instructions (Figure 1). Lightroom has some simple clone-like tools that produce what appear to be pixelbased edits, but are merely an additional set of instructions. Suppose you have 300 raw captures and notice that there was a dust spot on the camera sensor. You can clone out the single spot, and that instruction will be applied when the rendered pixels are built from the raw. Better, you can copy and
Figure 2: If you have 1,000 images that need the same global correction, it takes only seconds to complete in Lightroom. I copied settings from the image in the upper left, then used the Sync Settings command to bring up this dialog, where I can specify which instructions onto paste to all of the highlighted images.
paste this single set of instructions to all the other images (Figure 2). Lightroom will automatically select a clone source and apply the dust removal on all the other images, even if the orientation of the images varies. In Photoshop you’d have to open each image, use the clone tool, then save the image to disk. Furthermore, if for some reason you don’t like how you edited the dust spot (or any instruction-based edit) in one of the 300 images, you can always go back to Lightroom and remove or update that one edit. Unlike Photoshop, the edit list (history states) remains with each image, even if you quit Lightroom. The metadata instructions are either stored
72 • www.ppmag.com
Figure 3. XMP metadata is seen here, opened using a text editor. It describes all the edits of one image, in plain English. Once I convert my images into DNG, this data exists within the DNG, no sidecar files necessary.
THE GOODS
as small sidecar files or embedded into a DNG
images. This saves time and disk space. One
(see www.ppmag.com/reviews/200709_
version could show the desired color and
selective editing, compositing, and complex
adobedng.pdf).
tone instructions, others could show black
blending of multiple images. In Lightroom,
You can make virtual copies of one raw
and white, with and without a split tone, one
all instructions for color and tone are global;
file and produce multiple sets of instructions
a different crop. Each of them can be rendered
there are no provisions (yet) for altering
without having to create multiple pixel-based
out to a pixel-based image at any time.
only a part of an image. For precise pixel
Photoshop becomes a necessity for
editing, true retouching and compositing, you need to render the images as pixels and work on the data in Photoshop. Try to conduct all the global tone and color rendering work in Lightroom, then hand off the rest of the work to Photoshop, with the goal of not going back into Lightroom for further global work—possible but somewhat counterproductive. I’ve concentrated only on Lightroom’s rendering abilities, but it has much more functionality. While Bridge is just a file browser, Lightroom is a database that can be the heart of your digital asset management. There’s a module for making Web galleries and a print module that takes printing multiple images to a new level. Too many people, some Photoshop gurus included, have failed to recognize that they should render the best possible data from the start of the process, at the raw rendering stage. Lightroom gives us the tools to properly render image data and go far beyond what Photoshop can “fix” on an existing pixel-based document. Investigate this exciting new process and think about editing instructions first, then pixels. I
Andrew Rodney owns The Digital Dog, a digital imaging training and consulting business in Santa Fe, N.M. The author of “Color Management for Photographers” (Focal Press), he lectures around the country. Rodney is an alpha tester for Adobe Systems, was placed among the “Top 40 Photoshop Experts” by Wacom Technologies, and inducted into the NAPP Photoshop Hall of Fame in 2007. Learn more at www.digitaldog.net.
74 • www.ppmag.com
Images by Michael Ayers and Patrick Rice
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THE GOODS: TUTORIAL
This tutorial shows you how to create an action that performs a set of general workflow tasks. It also shows you how to use Photoshop actions if Adobe Lightroom is your main image editing program.
Figure 1: Begin by setting up folders for the new files you’ll create.
BY RICK RALSTON
Photoshop Actions
Figure 2: To access the Actions palette menu, click on the button in the upper right corner.
THE EASY WAY TO AUTOMATE REPETITIVE TASKS Adobe Photoshop records a series of tasks you do individually to create an action that you apply at once to a single file or a whole Figure 1
folder of files. Photoshop records each task separately as a command that appears in its own block, which you can edit later.
Figure 3: This is the copyright section of the File Info window.
A set of commands (represented by a stack of these blocks) make an action. They’re fast to record, easy to edit and portable between Windows and Mac platforms.
THE TUTORIAL 1. Create a main folder named Project 01, then create a folder inside it named Print and another named Web (Figure 1). It doesn’t matter where you put the Project 01 folder, as long as you know where to find it. These folders will store the new image files we create in this tutorial. 2. In Photoshop, open the Actions palette (Window > Actions) if it’s not already visible. Go to the Actions palette menu and select New Action (Figure 2). Type in Action 1 for the name and click the Record button. Photoshop will now record what you’re doing.
76 • www.ppmag.com
Figure 4: The buttons at the bottom of the Actions palette are VCR-like. The square is Stop, the circle is Record and the right-facing arrow is Play.
3. Open a raw image file, make whatever adjustments you choose in Camera Raw (or use a preset) and click the Open Image button. In the Actions palette you’ll see that the first command has been recorded. You can click the right-facing arrow on the command to see all the recorded settings. Photoshop is still recording. 4. Select Filter > Sharpen > Unsharp Mask and apply this filter. Later we’ll see how to exclude this command, delete it entirely, or record another filter. 5. Resize the image to 6 inches on the longest side at 300ppi. To make sure this works for both landscape and portrait images, go to File > Automate > Fit Image and type in 1,800 pixels for both width and height (6 x 300 = 1,800) to reduce the image appropriately for its orientation. 6. Go to File > File Info to enter some metadata. I’ve selected Copyrighted in the Copyright Status pull-down menu and entered information in both the Copyright Notice and Copyright Info URL fields (Figure 3). 7. Convert the color space by selecting Edit > Convert to Profile and selecting ProPhoto RGB from the Profile pull-down menu. 8. Save the image (File > Save As), navigate to the Project 01 folder, and select the Print folder. Select TIFF from the Format pulldown menu and click the Save button.
Figure 5: To exclude a command click on the check box to the left of the command to deselect it.
9. With the image still open, resize it to 2.5 inches on the longest side at 72ppi (File > Automate > Fit Image) and type in 180 pixels for both width and height (2.5 X 72 = 180). 10. Convert the color space by selecting Edit > Convert to Profile and selecting sRGB from the Profile pull-down menu. 11. Save the image (File > Save As), navigate to the Project 01 folder, and this time select the Web folder. Select JPEG from the Format pull-down menu and click the Save button. 12. Close the file. 13. To stop recording, go to the Actions palette menu and select Stop Recording (or click the Stop button at the bottom of the Actions palette as shown in Figure 4). You can run this action on a single image by first clicking on the check mark to the left of the Open command to uncheck it (Figure 5). The recorded command specifies the particular image you opened when you recorded the action. You’ll see why you recorded this step when we get to the Batch feature. Single-click Action 1 to highlight it, then click the right-facing arrow at the bottom of the Actions palette to run it. You can edit an individual command by double-clicking on it and changing the settings. You can exclude a command by deselecting the check mark next to it in the Actions palette. For
78 • www.ppmag.com
Figure 6: You can run an action on a folder of images using the Batch settings above.
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instance, if you don’t want to include the Unsharp Mask filter, you can exclude it before running the action. You can also delete a command by selecting it and clicking the Delete key. To add another command, highlight the command you want it to follow and click the Begin Recording button at the bottom of the Actions palette, record a command and click the Stop Recording button. You can also rearrange commands by dragging and dropping them. This works from one action to another as well. To run this action on a folder of images, select File > Automate > Batch and make the selections as shown in Figure 6. Make sure to include the Open command before proceeding or the Batch process will not work. Note that we are overriding the Open commands, which bypasses the particular image recorded in the command, but keeps the Camera Raw settings. Also, by checking Suppress File Open Options Dialogs, the action won’t stop and wait for you to click the Open Image button when opening raw files. We’re not overriding the Save As commands because the action specifies two different folders, and the Batch command can specify only one.
ADOBE LIGHTROOM If most of your workflow is done in Adobe Lightroom rather than Photoshop, you can do everything in the action above except run the Unsharp Mask filter. Lightroom is not a pixel editing program, so you’ll need to enlist Photoshop to do the tasks it can’t. In an automated workflow there’s only one way to do that. Save a Photoshop action as a droplet (converts an action into an application) in Lightroom’s Export Actions folder and specify that it’s to run when exporting from Lightroom. Lightroom’s Export command works first, then Photoshop opens the files, runs the filter and re-exports them. You’ll need to run this once for the Print images and again for the Web images. Let’s see what that looks like: 1. Record an action in Photoshop with only three commands: Unsharp Mask, Save As to the Web folder as a JPEG, and Close. 2. Select File > Automate > Create Droplet. This window is similar to the Batch window. First make sure None is selected in the Destination pull-down menu. The droplet has to be named (Unsharp Mask) and saved into a particular folder (Save Droplet In at the top of the window)—finding it isn’t easy. Click Choose. On a Mac, the location is Users > yourname > Library > Application Support > Adobe > Lightroom > Export Actions. On Windows it’s C: > Documents and Settings > yourname > Application Data > Adobe > Lightroom > Export Actions.
80 • www.ppmag.com
Note: On Windows some folders may be hidden. If you don’t see the
Photoshop tutorial and the Web folder as the Export Location. You
Application Data folder, highlight your user folder (in Documents
can use the original raw images if you wish, but it’s faster to use
and Settings) and select View > Customize This Folder > General tab
the exported TIFFs in the Print folder. They are smaller and
and click in the Hidden box until it is completely clear.
have already had the Unsharp Mask filter applied. Import the
For this droplet, confirm that the Override Action Open
images in the Print folder and export them as JPEGs and skip
Commands box in the Play section is unchecked. The other three boxes don’t matter in this tutorial. Name the droplet Unsharp Mask so you can identify it in Lightroom’s Export window. Click OK. 3. In Lightroom import your raw files. Add the metadata
the Photoshop droplet. This action gives you one example of actions’ potential. Observe what you do during a given day. Does your workday contain repetitive tasks that don’t really require anything more of you
(copyright info) using the Metadata panel. You can also do this
than remembering all the steps and punching the buttons?
during the import process.
Your time is much more valuable than that. Think of the
4. In the Export window (File > Export) select the Print folder as
Photoshop and Lightroom automation features as your assis-
the Export Location, TIFF as the format, ProPhoto RGB as the color
tants. They don’t ask for a salary, never call in sick and actually
space and Resize to Fit at 1,800 pixels for width and height (same as
do what you tell them. I
Photoshop’s Fit Image). To run the Photoshop droplet, select Unsharp Mask from the After Export drop-down menu at the bottom. If you’ve placed the droplet in the correct folder, it will appear in this menu. 5. Click the Export button. 6. Do this again for the Web images using the settings from the
Rick Ralston works in the graphics group at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta. He is the author of “The Designer’s Apprentice: Automating Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign” (Adobe Press). He also writes a graphics automation blog at www.theAutomatist.com.
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Do you catch yourself daydreaming over your work, imagining romantic faraway places? If wanderlust is forever distracting you, there might be a profitable way to give in to it. WEDDINGS
By Jeff Kent
A
©Garrett Nudd
s mainstream wedding photography becomes more creative, more couples are attracted to the idea of importing a photographer to capture their destination wedding. Such weddings typically include
25 to 80 guests, cost thousands to produce, and require the same care and forethought—if not more—as traditional weddings. And couples are willing to pay a premium for the service. Destination wedding clients want to document the destination experience as much as the actual nuptials, so the wedding photographer must also be a travel photographer. He must know how to capture the soul of the location, as well as the spirit of the people who’ve chosen it. He must be flexible and adventuresome, yet bring order and expertise to the experience. The key to success in destination wedding photography is to view it as a business endeavor rather than a paid vacation. That means being completely prepared for every conceivable circumstance, and having the professionalism to deal with the unexpected. We talked to three in-demand pros about how they’ve become successful in this dynamic business.
GARRETT NUDD FAVORITE DESTINATION: PARIS, FRANCE. “Photographing in Paris was pretty amazing, being that it’s one of the most romantic and Destination: Aspen, Colorado
artistic cities in the world. Just being there was an inspiring experience.”
Destination: Success Business insights for destination wedding photography
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Two years ago, Garrett Nudd Photography did zero destination weddings. This year,
destination weddings will account for about 30 percent of the studio’s wedding business. The Chattanooga, Tenn., operation has accomplished this impressive business growth in two ways: One, the husband-wife team of Garrett and Joy Nudd actively promotes destination work in all the media; and two, they know how to inspire their clients’ confidence in them. “When a bride hires a photographer, it’s not just about the images; her primary need is a feeling of security,” explains Garrett. “She wants a photographer who’s familiar with travel, who knows how to handle an event, who knows what he’s doing and makes her comfortable in knowing he’ll do the job right.” The Nudds opened their first studio in Orlando, Fla., one of the world’s most popular destination wedding locations. Though they weren’t traveling for weddings, they got plenty of experience dealing with wedding parties that were. When they moved to Chattanooga, the Nudds got involved with a local university that attracts an affluent, international student
©Garrett Nudd
body. They began moving in a circle of
Destination: Scotland Destination: Paris
people who travel extensively. They talked up their penchant for destination work, and their experience with destination weddings in Florida. They started landing gigs in Aspen, Santa Barbara, Savannah, St. Augustine, Key West, and as far away as Norway, Scotland, France and Italy. The Nudds customize a package for each destination wedding. These weddings tend to cost about 25 percent more than local ones, with packages averaging $8,000 to $10,000 per wedding. If they’re working with a wedding coordinator who has referred the couple, the Nudds charge a flat fee for their services and add travel expenses. If the bride contacts them directly, the fee is all-inclusive.
©Garrett Nudd
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 83
WEDDINGS
A key element in the Nudds’ pricing is
being away from the business for several days.
Beyond the profit and prestige of
the number of days they’ll be away from the
We have a young daughter for whom we need
destination photography, the Nudds see
studio. “That’s a cost people often overlook,”
to make arrangements as well, so that’s another
traveling as a way to expand their creative
Garrett says. “Flight and hotel are obvious,
factor. We look at each destination event indi-
horizons and revitalize their photography.
but lost income is very important—like
vidually and decide if it makes sense for us.”
“Being able to photograph in a different place is a great way to stay fresh and
GARRETT NUDD’S LESSONS FROM THE ROAD • Schedule plenty of time for travel on the front end. Planes can be late, connections missed. Things can happen to prevent your being somewhere on time. • Carry the necessary electrical current adapters for your equipment on international trips. • Foreign cuisine may not agree with you, so do some research ahead of time to locate places that will accommodate your special diet or preferred cuisine. • Figure out the best time to shoot outside—daylight hours are different in every destination. • Sometimes when you’re staying at the same venue as the clients, you end up working for them all weekend. If that’s not in your contract, consider how you can work in time for your own needs.
artistic,” says Garrett. “If we’re in the Caribbean, I often get up before sunrise for a walk on the beach to think and reflect. That, as an artist, is so valuable—to be far from home, to clear your mind. To me, that’s the biggest benefit of destination weddings for a busy wedding photographer.”
To learn more about Garrett Nudd Photography, check out www.garrettnudd.com.
©Garrett Nudd
Destination: Italy
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WEDDINGS ©Gene Higa
GENE HIGA FAVORITE DESTINATION: THE PHILIPPINES. “We shot seven locations in six days. It was the most exotic wedding I’ve ever done.” Like the others, Gene Higa kick-started his destination wedding business through wordof-mouth marketing. Beginning with his existing client base, in 2004, the San Francisco-based wedding photographer began spreading the word. He promoted his desire to work destination weddings to brides, then asked them to mention him to their bridal parties, their friends and their families. The more pleased the local clients, the more willing they were to talk him up in their social circles. Now Higa books events from Hawaii to Hong Kong, Tuscany to Thailand. Higa’s non-local bookings account for about 25 percent of his total workload, or roughly 10 destination events out of 40 weddings a year. In 2006, Higa hit nine countries and every major U.S. city. In 2007, he scaled back the travel by about 50 percent and began courting more high-end local clients. “There aren’t a lot of photographers in the Bay Area who really focus on destination weddings,” says Higa. “That sets me apart. I show exotic destination images to everyone, even people who are planning to get married in San Francisco. You walk into my studio and see large photos of Greece, Peru, The Philippines. It gives clients the impression that I’m trusted enough to do these big destination events, so I can definitely handle their local event. My perceived value goes up significantly.” For Higa, destination weddings provide the additional benefit of filling traditionally slow periods. Many of his destination couples get married in warm-weather locations Destination: Thailand
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during San Francisco’s winter months.
TIPS FROM GENE HIGA Things people don’t always think about when planning a destination wedding job SAFETY AND STABILITY. Keep up with the news about the area you’ll be working in. It’s important to insure your equipment and take plenty of precautions. Before leaving for a trip, I photograph all my gear and write down the serial numbers. I make backup copies of my passport and travel documents. I carry one copy with me and leave another with someone back home. GETTING IN AND OUT. Research visa regulations, entry documents and exit documents for your destination. Sometimes these documents need to be arranged far in advance. If you show up without them, you’re out of luck.
©Gene Higa
Destination: Barbados
STAY IN TOUCH. We carry a World Phone so we always have cell phone access. Or you can buy a SIM card that works in that country for your mobile phone. Phone access is useful for keeping in touch with the bride and groom, as well as the business back home. GET ACCLIMATED. The hardest part of any destination wedding is getting there. I like to arrive a couple days before the event so I can get acclimated, recharge and get in the groove.
©Gene Higa
Destination: Peru
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 87
WEDDINGS
When Higa would otherwise be tidying up
to be included in the group lodging and travel
world, and getting paid to do it! The best
the studio and filing his income taxes, he’s
rates that clients negotiate for their guests.
part is coming home with all those beautiful,
off in the tropics generating income.
His fees include an associate photographer,
exotic images. From a photographer’s
Ann Hamilton, who accompanies him on all
standpoint, it’s pretty amazing.”
Higa’s destination packages begin in the $20,000 to $25,000 range. Like Claire and
destination jobs. Their commissions range
the Nudds, his custom quotes include his
from one-day wedding coverage to week-
services plus travel expenses. Higa makes his
long shoots to document every adventure.
own travel arrangements, accumulating frequent flier miles and hotel points, but he asks
Destination: Philippines
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“The experiences are second to none,” says Higa. “I’m going out there, seeing the
For more from Gene Higa, including information on his Image X destination wedding workshop, visit www.genehiga.com and www.imagexworkshop.com.
WEDDINGS Destination: Cabo San Lucas
“When I started the destination work, I was eager for the experience, and I treated each trip like a little vacation. That changed over time. The more you travel, the less glamorous it is. If you want to run a serious business, you can’t forego your profits taking vacations on someone else’s dime.”
©Jessica Claire
JESSICA CLAIRE FAVORITE DESTINATION: SANTORINI, GREECE. “It was so beautiful, such an idyllic place to photograph a wedding.”
JESSICA CLAIRE’S DESTINATION WEDDING TIPS TRY IT BEFORE YOU BUY IT. Shoot a destination wedding before you invest heavily in that market. Even if you lose money on that first job, the experience can be worth it. You’ll get a more realistic idea of what it’s like to work in that area.
Orange County, Calif., wedding photographer Jessica Claire began doing destination weddings with a 2004 assignment in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The bride, a referral from a
GET CONNECTED. Network with travel agents, local coordinators and vendors. Let them know you love shooting at their venues or destinations and that you want to do it again. Send them images. Don’t make it hard for them to refer someone from far away.
local wedding coordinator, was active in destination wedding message boards. Blown away by Claire’s work, the bride posted kudos up and down the boards.
DON’T BE A STRANGER. Respond to calls and e-mails quickly, especially when you’re dealing with a client who doesn’t live near you. Be totally available to non-local prospects, because it’s easier for them to work with someone closer to home.
Before long Claire was getting five to 10 inquiries a day about doing destination weddings. She snapped up the gigs that interested her, in such places as Greece,
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DO IT YOURSELF. It pays to make your own travel and lodging arrangements. Include the costs in your total package price.
WEDDINGS
Hawaii, St. John and British Columbia. It was fun. It was exciting. But profitable,
forego your profits taking vacations on someone else’s dime. I took a hard look at my
sell for about double the price of a local wedding. “Making money on destination weddings
not so much. “When I started the destination
costs and started raising my prices to make
involves so much more than adding on the
work, I was eager for the experience, and I
it really worth it to do destination events.”
cost of the flight and the room,” says Claire.
treated each trip like a little vacation,” Claire
Claire’s customized price quotes include her
“There are also costs like parking at the
remembers. “That changed over time. The
travel expenses and commute time, even rev-
airport, meals, shipping wedding albums to
more you travel, the less glamorous it is. If
enue she could have generated had she not been
out-of-town clients, having equipment sent
you want to run a serious business, you can’t
traveling. In general, her destination packages
to you, paying extra to travel with gear, Internet access fees at the hotel and all the
Destination: Greece
incidentals that come with traveling.” And then there’s the cost of opportunity lost. “If you travel for a wedding on Memorial Day weekend, you can shoot only one wedding. At home you could have shot two or three. You have to charge accordingly,” she adds. Word-of-mouth marketing and vendor referrals have been critical. As Claire’s prices increase, so do her clients’ expectations of personal service. With destination packages starting at $10,000, clients aren’t finding her in the Yellow Pages. They want someone referred by others of the inner circle. Claire works extra hard to establish relationships with all her clients, their friends and families, and naturally, the resort managers, wedding coordinators and travel agents who specialize in destination events. Claire includes destination event info on her Web site and writes about the weddings on her blog. “If I post about a particular destination, it will come up in search engines,” she explains. “Brides searching for info about those locations may come across my blog, where they can look at my recent work and learn more about me. There’s no one magic bullet for finding destination brides. They live all over, and they don’t hear about photographers from just one source. The challenge is to make as many connections as possible and let all those people know you do destination wedding photography.” I For more on Jessica Claire, visit www.jessicaclaire.net.
©Jessica Claire
Making the magic
happen
All images ©Jerry Ghionis
Lauded Australian photographer Jerry Ghionis finds beauty and prosperity in reinvention. BY LORNA GENTRY
hat a year 2007 was for Australian photographer Jerry Ghionis. In March American Photo Magazine named him one of the top 10 wedding photographers in the world. In July, Microsoft anointed him an “Icon of Imaging.” Never one to rest on his laurels, Ghionis celebrated his success by reconfiguring his business model. This month Ghionis opened an eponymous boutique photography studio in the Docklands area of Victoria Harbour in Melbourne. His present studio, XSiGHT Photography and Video, in Melbourne, continues to be run by his brother and business partner, Nick, an accomplished photographer as well. The new studio, run by Ghionis and his wife, Georgina, and his personal assistant Sally-Ann Sargood, will cater to an elite clientele, and have more individualized services and higher prices than XSiGHT. This month Ghionis also publishes his first coffee table book, and launches an online
as well. Over the years Ghionis has given
Professional Photographer: You’re at the pin-
classroom called The I.C.E.Society.
seminars and workshops worldwide and
nacle of your career, so why change your studio?
won numerous international awards, including
Jerry Ghionis: We’ve all heard the saying,
enough for Ghionis. Even though his first
four of the last five International Wedding
“If it works, don’t fix it.” I prefer, “If it works,
studio was successful, several years ago
Album of the Year awards from Wedding &
make it better.” There is always a better
Ghionis changed the name to XSiGHT,
Portrait Photographers International.
way—a more efficient, less expensive and
added a state-of-the-art theater, and doubled
Professional Photographer caught up with
more effective way. I would rather risk and
his fees. He doubled the number of clients
Ghionis between seminars in Melbourne.
fail than be safe and boring. Rather than
Maintaining the status quo was never
96 • www.ppmag.com
concentrating on being the best, I concentrate
years since I started my own business, and I
I grew tired of waiting for magic to happen
on being better than last week and being dif-
can’t wait for what the next 10 years will bring.
on its own. An artist’s paintings say as much
ferent. I encourage new photographers to be
about the artist as the subject. Why should
as passionate about their business as they
Your approach to photographing weddings is
photography be any different? Aren’t we
are about their photography. My biggest rein-
different from the popular photojournalism style.
artists? I love beauty, glamour and fashion.
vention yet is the introduction of my new
What is your technique and why is it successful?
In fact, those who inspire me most are fashion
studio. I am ready for the next phase in my
When I started, I was told that a wedding
photographers—Herb Ritts, David LaChapelle,
career. I’m starting from scratch. It’s been 10
isn’t about me, it’s about the bride and groom.
Patrick Demarchelier, Sante D´Orazio,
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 97
Mario Testino, Horst P. Horst, Helmut Newton,
my images appear as if I happened to be in
emotions and demands attention. I never shoot
Richard Avedon, among many others.
the right place at the right time.
in black in white, but I do convert images to
If I waited for moments on a wedding
black and white. Black and white and sepia
day rather than create them, my albums
What gives your images that touch of drama?
represent about 10 to 20 percent of the images
wouldn’t look as dynamic as they do. My
Through lighting—video light, candlelight,
in my wedding albums.
albums feature images that I captured as
ambient light. I also use shadows and
well as those I created. When viewing her
reflections. I vary angles, cropping and
How many weddings do you shoot in a year?
photographs, a bride first looks to see how
perspective. Mainly it’s the last-minute
People often have the perception that I don’t
beautiful she is and then looks for expression,
finesse, the last direction. It could be a slight
shoot much anymore because I’m away teach-
emotion and storytelling. Ironically, the bride
parting of the lips or tilt of the head.
ing. In 2006 I was away from home for about
who wants to look beautiful doesn’t want to
three months, collectively, but I still shot 65
be posed, which tells me brides want to look
You seem to love saturated color. Why?
weddings. The same for 2007. But from this
glamorous and natural. Emotion often beats
Because it’s exciting and stands out from what
year on I’ll be photographing fewer weddings,
perfection, but why not have both? I make
other photographers do. Color evokes certain
(continued on p. 102)
MARKETING, THE GHIONIS WAY Five key things photographers should remember in planning marketing and advertising for the year: 1. Work on marketing that costs you nothing—ask clients and vendors for referrals and maximize relationships with people who can help you. 2. Try a same-day slide show at the reception. It’s the best direct marketing you will ever do and you can charge good money for it. 3. Don’t be a tightwad! Don’t think about the advertising dollars you’re spending; think instead about the return. 4. When presented with an advertising opportunity, ask yourself, Is there a better way I can spend this money? 5. Don’t forget to consider yourself a brand. Build it and they will come.
JERRY GHIONIS’ CAMERA BAG CAMERAS: Canon EOS 5D (x2) Canon EOS 20D LENSES: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM Canon 24-105 f/4 L USM Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM SanDisk CompactFlash cards LIGHTING: Canon Speedlite 580EX Canon Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2 Lowel id-Light video light Sunpak ringlight flash
“Rather than concentrating on being the best, I concentrate on being better than last week.”
(continued from p. 98)
made by Seldex Artistic Albums in Australia.
setting up pose number 23 in location
doubling my prices, and offering a more bou-
In my new studio, every album will be cus-
number 57. Comfort zones have never been
tique service. Portrait and fashion photography
tomized and tailored to suit individual clients.
synonymous with artistic expression. Learn
make up about 20 percent of my business.
to observe and listen to people. Become a good What is the number one way a professional
communicator. My images are solid …
What makes your wedding albums award
photographer can improve his or her business?
because of how I communicate with my
winning?
Surround yourself with great people. Without
clients. I
I believe it is the simplicity of design, which
a good staff, your studio is only four walls. Stop
allows the photography to speak for itself. A
being a control freak and get some help. Educate
good design goes unnoticed. It’s all about the
yourself. Seminars and workshops can literally
images. It’s harder to be simple than it is to add
change your life. After all, knowledge is power.
a lot of bells and whistles. Wedding albums
Don’t be too precious about the work.
shouldn’t be too fashionable. I want my albums
Consider yourself first a businessperson who
to look great 50 years from now. Most of our
happens to be a photographer. Artistically,
albums are a mix of matted and magazine styles,
don’t be safe or stay in your comfort zone by
See more of Jerry Ghionis’ work and get info about his seminars, workshops, DVDs, and Picpockets educational tools at www.jerryghionis.com. A freelance writer based in Atlanta, Lorna Gentry has covered the professional photography industry for 15 years.
“I grew tired of waiting for magic to happen on its own. An artist’s paintings say as much about the artist as the subject. … Aren’t we artists?”
All images ©Parker Pfister
“I want people to know me as a photographer. Not a wedding or a portrait photographer, just a photographer.”
One of a kind Parker Pfister’s special knack for turning the ordinary into the extraordinary BY STEPHANIE BOOZER
“I’m kind of an inventor,” he says, as he describes the inexpensive lighting option he found at a neighborhood Wal-Mart. “About five years ago I unleashed the deer light on the world, and the response was amazing.” A CV boot from an old Honda Accord and a
hunting practice in which “guys drive around
really miss film and large format cameras,”
rechargeable deer light aren’t exactly typical
at night with these huge spotlights hunting
he explains. “I figured out that I could take
gear for a camera bag. But for Parker Pfister, one
deer,” says Pfister. “I thought, Wow! That
the rubber CV boot from this ’84 Honda
man’s trash can be another man’s treasure.
would be the coolest thing to light portraits with.”
Accord, put my Canon body cap on one end,
“I’m kind of an inventor,” he says, as he
Pfister rigged a deer light with a soft box,
and a large format lens on the other. Now I
describes the inexpensive lighting option he
and discovered some of the best artificial
found at a neighborhood Wal-Mart. “About
lighting he’s seen. “People kept asking me
five years ago I unleashed the deer light on
how I was getting this gorgeous lighting. I
of film led him into developing a set of
the world, and the response was amazing.”
love showing up with funky stuff like this at
Adobe Photoshop actions that have become
a wedding,” Pfister says.
wildly popular. The set is saved in layers, so
The rechargeable “deer light,” about the size of a gallon jug, lasts 40 minutes on a full charge. The lights are used in an unlawful
The CV boot? Pfister turned it into a tiltshift lens for his Canon EOS-1D Mark II. “I
have a truly unique tilt-shift lens.” Pfister’s penchant for the organic quality
photographers can alter them to suit their own style and purposes.
“Digital is way too clean. People have no idea what I shoot—film or digital—and I love that.” Pfister’s unconventional methods and beautiful images have made him a popular speaker and teacher. “I’m always in awe when I watch Parker shoot,” says his wife and business partner, Melissa. “He has an amazing way of seeing a shot that no one else ever would. And he’s very fast. He never hesitates when he’s shooting.” Pfister was 6 when his grandmother gave him his first camera, and he was hooked. At 11, he won the county and state fairs of Ohio with an image of a toad, and eventually took second place in the world at the St. Louis Fair. From then on photography became his calling. He shot his first wedding in 1984 with his father, an ichthyologist, who also happened to photograph weddings on the side. After that wedding, says Pfister, “I swore I’d never shoot another wedding.” Later, Pfister headed west to Oregon to pursue landscape and large-format photography, and he accumulated a portfolio of fine-art work as well. He reluctantly agreed to shoot another wedding, but only on his own terms. “I fell in love with it,” he says. “I was able to show my personality and my style, and really take on the wedding day.” Pfister has been shooting weddings and portraits exclusively since 1999. His inventive spirit keeps it fresh because he’s always got some crazy new idea to try. He won’t divulge his latest inventions, but he will admit to rigging up his own ring lights, and says he’s having fun playing with Westcott Spiderlites, which are “super-duper cool and fit my style perfectly,” he says. “The biggest way I combat burnout is that I never go in with a plan,” says Pfister, who scoffs at the idea of scoping out the location ahead of time. “It’s all about the light anyway, which is always changing. We run around looking for gorgeous light. It
Situated in the mountain town of Asheville, N.C., the studio is more of a fine-art gallery than a typical studio. There’s no camera room, and no portraits or wedding shots adorn the walls. The space is dominated by Pfister’s fine art and landscapes. may be in the ugliest part of the church, but if the light’s perfect, it’s going to sing.” Situated in the mountain town of Asheville, N.C., the Pfisters’ studio is more of a fine-art gallery than a typical studio. There’s no camera room, and no portraits or wedding shots adorn the walls. Instead, the space is dominated by Pfister’s fine art and landscapes, making clients feel they’re taking in an exhibition as well as sizing up a wedding photographer. “I realized that this space is really my marketing tool,” he says. “People walk in and say, ‘Wow, this guy’s a real photographer,’ then sit down and look at the wedding books. When someone spends 10 minutes up front just looking at my pictures, I know they’re my kind of client.” The Pfisters limit their wedding bookings
110 • www.ppmag.com
"SuccessWare helped me become very profitable and create a wonderful debt-free life for my family through a business that I dearly love. But in any business, adversity can appear at any time. The focus SuccessWare provides gives me the insight to keep my studio on track - even through back-to-back hurricanes."
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Frank Donnino Donnino Galleria Portraits | Boynton Beach, FL
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Frank teaching The Baby Plan at a workshop.
successful photographers have a lot in common. creativity. passion. successware.
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to 20 a year, portrait sessions to 30 or so. They do everything themselves, from shooting to printing to hand-binding albums. Designated both a Canon PrintMaster and Canon Explorer of Light, Pfister prints all final images with a Canon iPF 8000 printer onto Hahnemuhle paper, though he’s looking forward to testing a new “all-green” album printed on bamboo paper, a renewable resource. The Pfisters use a traditional English signature binding method with their albums, which are popular among both wedding and portrait clients. Most important, they reserve time to develop strong personal relationships with their clients. “We try to create a one-of-a-kind experience for our clients,” says Melissa. “We want them to be able to look at every image and remember how they felt in that exact moment.” “We actually call our bookings ‘commissions,’” says Pfister, who averages about $12,000 per wedding and $4,000 to $5,000 per portrait sitting. “We meet with our clients as often as we can, have drinks, dinner, whatever, so that we’re really comfortable at the wedding. We couldn’t do that if we were doing 40 weddings a year.” Limiting commissions also provides time for Pfister to continue to explore the world with his camera. “I have to shoot daily,” he says. “I shoot random things just to see how light reacts, see different angles. Once you see something in a different way, you can mold it to whatever look you want to create.” Pfister is content with his present workload, and enjoys a happy balance of teaching, photography and inventing. “I’m always trying to see how I can do things differently,” says Pfister. “I want people to know me as a photographer. Not a wedding or a portrait photographer, just a photographer.” I See more of Parker Pfister’s wedding portfolio at www.parkerjphoto.com, or check out his Adobe Photoshop actions at www.pjddr.com.
LEARN FROM JERRY GHIONIS ONLINE
inspire challenge educate
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The Ice Society is an online classroom dedicated to empowering photographers to take their business and photography to new heights. It has been created by one of the industry’s premier educators and celebrated photographers – Jerry Ghionis. Each month, members will have access to a new Chapter – each Chapter includes video footage, tutorials, invaluable critiques, lessons and a growing list of frequently asked questions among other topics of substance. Members will also receive discounts on products, seminars and workshops. View Chapter 1 for free. Join in March & April and receive 10% off (PPA members promo code 1PPA2008)
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All images ©Mike Colón
ENGINEERING A NICHE The tale of Mike Colón and the spiraling wedding market BY JEFF KENT
ith each new price point, there is so much more that’s expected. You’re dealing with a completely different group with different wants and needs. The trick is to understand what’s required and deliver it without being asked,” says Mike Colón.
As an electrical engineering student at
Colón’s skill with a camera opened doors,
Colón began by shooting a mix of action
Cal State Fullerton, Mike Colón spent his
and his business acumen helped him make the
sports and sports portraits, along with an
extracurricular hours working at three photog-
most of his opportunities. Now one of the most
occasional wedding. He hooked up with an
raphy studios. The more he photographed,
recognized names in wedding photography,
established wedding shooter who taught him
the less he wanted a career in engineering.
Colón runs a studio that averages about $25,000
the ropes, then sent him referrals for a fee. In
Deciding his future lay in photography, he
per wedding. He speaks at industry events
the first year with the photographer, Colón
didn’t switch his major to art and photog-
around the country, maintains a quiver of big-
booked some 25 weddings, and fell in love
raphy, but to business. “I wanted to learn
name sponsors, and sees his images gracing
with it. “I was in a happy place every
how to run a business,” says Colón. “I had no
major ad campaigns—all this in about 10 years.
weekend. It was good pay, consistent work,
intention of being a starving artist.”
Working out of Newport Beach, Calif.,
and I got to be my own boss,” he says.
In January 2000, with wedding referrals flowing in, Colón dropped everything else to focus solely on weddings. He figured that by dedicating his energy to marketing and building a specialty business, he could establish himself as an expert. Expert status draws experts’ pay. Colón’s first investment was a top-notch Web site. He started advertising in magazines and bridal publications, going into debt to buy full-page ads like the major players. He also started building relationships with other wedding photographers, such as fellow SoCal shooters Becker, Jon Barber and Joe Photo. At Becker’s instigation, the group organized an online calendar to post open dates, so they could refer prospects to one another if they were already booked. The system helped all of them build their businesses in the otherwise cutthroat competition of the Southern California market. The kick-start in drawing a client base emboldened Colón. “Every time I felt like I was making progress, it would give me confidence and I would get more aggressive,” he says. “Rather than sitting back, I would actually spend more money. I would max out my credit cards to invest in the business. With each new investment in the business, I would raise my fees.” At first, he bumped up prices incrementally to get his packages on par with the A-list photographers in the area. His first big increase was from $4,000 to $6,000. Then he upped it to $7,500. Then $10,000. Colón decided to decrease his bookings and really focus on the upper tier market. In one fell swoop, he doubled his rates to $20,000 per wedding. It was an enormous risk, but it if worked it would take Colón to the level he wanted to retain for the rest of his career. He wasn’t being haphazard, but executing a plan, backed by increased service, product quality and personal respon-
COLON’S GEAR CAMERA: Nikon D3 LENSES: 200mm Nikkor f/2G ED-IF AF-S VR; 70-200mm Nikkor f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom; 105mm Nikkor f/2.8G ED-IF AFS VR Micro; 85mm Nikkor f/1.4D AF; 50mm Nikkor f/1.4D AF; 24-70mm Nikkor f/2.8D ED-IF AF-S Zoom; 14-24mm Nikkor f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S Zoom; TC-20E II (2X) AF-S, AF-I Teleconverter ON-SITE DISPLAY EQUIPMENT: Epson Powerlite 1810P Multimedia Projector; Epson 80-inch portable pop-up screen; Apple 17-inch MacBook Pro DIGITAL DARKROOM: Apple Mac Pros with Cinema Displays; Epson Stylus Pro 3800, 4800 and 7800 printers; Mitsubishi CP9550DW dye-sub printer; Apple Aperture 1.5; Alien Skin Exposure 2.0 STORAGE DEVICES: Tamrac Big Wheels Rolling StrongBox 692; Epson P5000 Multimedia Storage Viewers; Lexar Pro 8GB 300X CompactFlash cards; SmartDisk 80GB FireLite mini external drives; 7.5TB Sonnet SATA mirrored RAID enclosures
sibility for his clients’ happiness. “With each new price point, there is so much more that’s expected,” says Colón. “At each level, you’re dealing with a completely different group with different wants and needs. The trick is to understand what’s required and deliver it without being asked.” Word in the industry spread like juicy gossip. Who was this kid? Competitors, vendors, sponsors and clients saw him in a new light. “The price increases did more than target the clients who wanted to spend that amount of money, they created buzz. They helped me stand out from the pack,” says Colón. Colón’s success confirmed his instinct about his new target market and helped establish him as a leader in the industry. He began speaking and giving seminars, creating a name for himself as a wedding photography expert. In the era of Internet-fueled information exchange, says Colón. “Shoppers for highend products do their research.” “When a bride has money to spend, she wants the best. She looks in the magazines, searches the Internet, and sees whose name keeps popping up. If I keep to myself and never share my knowledge with anyone, then I don’t have a chance at that bride. But if I build a network and a reputation, it translates into people knowing me and respecting me.” “I’ve worked very hard to create a brand that appeals to the high-end bride. So much of that brand is based on a confidence that I will do a great job no matter how high the stakes,” says Colón. When you have that confidence, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish.” I
To see more from Mike Colón, visit www.mikecolon.com.
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© 2007 Cherie Steinberg Cote
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calendar Submit your organization’s convention, workshop, seminar or exhibition dates to Professional Photographer at least six months in advance. Editors reserve the right to select events to be announced on these pages, and to determine when announcements will appear. Editors are not responsible for conflicting or incorrect dates. For readers’ convenience, each event is identified by a code preceding its name: C=Convention, W=Workshop, S=Seminar, C/E=Approved PPA Continuing Education Seminar, E=Exhibit. Send all Calendar of Events additions or corrections to: Sandra Lang, Professional Photographer, 229 Peachtree St., NE, Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303; FAX: 404-614-6404;
[email protected].
Current Events April 4-8 S: PP of Washington, Wenatchee, Wash.; Radley Muller, 360-676-9279;
[email protected]; www.ppw.org
April 13-15 C: Montana PPA, Billings, Montana; Scott Fairbanks, 406-761-2059;
[email protected]; montanappa.org April 14 S: Connecticut PPA, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell, Conn.; Harvey Goldstein, 203-430-8276;
[email protected]; www.ctppa.com
June 22-23 S: Kentucky PPA; Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky.; Randy Fraley, 606-928-5333;
[email protected]; www.kyppa.com
April 21 S: PP of Massachusetts; Steve Meier, smphoto @comcast.net, www.ppam.com
June 22-24 S: PP of North Dakota, Northern Light Seminar, Doublewood Inn, Bismarck, N.D.; Poppy Mills, 701-222-3040;
[email protected]
April 26-29 C: New Hampshire PPA; North Conway, N.H.; Lorraine Bedell, 603-743-5732;
[email protected]; nhppa.com
June 22-25 S: Texas PPA, YO Ranch Resort, Kerrville, Texas; Doug Box; 979-272-5200;
[email protected]; www.tppa.org
April 27-29 C: PP of New Jersey, Bally’s Hotel & Casino, Altlantic City, N.J.; Leslie Meltzer, 866-985-4300;
[email protected]; wwwppanj.com
August 2-5 C: PP of Louisiana, New Orleans, La.; Dayna Ponthieu, 318-359-6633; www.ppla.net
May 18-20 S: PP of Louisiana, Marksville, La.; Dayna Ponthieu, 318-359-6633; www.ppla.net
April 6-9 C: PPSNY, Hilton Rye Town, Rye Brook, N.Y.; Barbara Bovat, 518-851-2187;
[email protected]; www.ppsnys.com
May 18-23 W: Imaging Workshops, Mountain Summit, Breckenridge, Colo.; Jeff Johnson, 303-921-4454;
[email protected]; www.coloradoworkshops.com
April 12-15 C: Heart of America, Mid America Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa.; Stephen Harvey, 620-624-4102;
[email protected]; www.hoappa.com
June 15-16 C: PP of Oregon, Mt. Bachelor Resort, Bend, Ore.; Arlene Welsh, 800-370-5657;
[email protected]; www.pporegon.com
PPA EVENTS
January 11-13, 2009 Imaging USA, Phoenix
Professional Photographers of America (PPA) has a proud tradition of providing its members with outstanding educational opportunities through its annual events, PPA-Merited classes and its PPA Affiliate School Network. Don’t miss out on the vital knowledge you’ll gain at these events! For information on PPA events, call 800-786-6277 or visit www.ppa.com.
January 10-12, 2010 Imaging USA, Nashville
Certification Exam April 6 Washington
June 6 117th Annual International Print Competition Deadline for Entries
April 10 California
July 22-23 Judges Workshop, Daytona Beach
For a complete list of exam dates, go to www.ppa.com and click on Certification.
April 7 Super Monday
Image Review
October 9-18 PPA Fall Cruise
Online submission: May 9, August 8, & October 10
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June 16 S: PP of Massachusetts; Steve Meier,
[email protected]; www.ppam.com
August 15 C: Tennessee PPA, Marriott Cool Springs, Frankin, Tenn.; Ernie K. Johnson, 615-509-5737;
[email protected]; tnppa.com September 12-15 C: PP of Oklahoma, Radisson Hotel, Tulsa, Okla.; Ted Newlin,
[email protected]; www.ppok.org September 13-16 C: PPA of New England, Radisson Hotel Nashua, N.H.; Roland Laramie, P.O. Box 316, Willimantic, CT 06226;
[email protected] September 13-17 C: Georgia PPA, Athens, Ga.; Tom McCollum; 770-972-8552;
[email protected]; www.gppa.com October 3-7 C: Southwest PPA, Sheraton Arlington Hotel, Arlington, Texas; Michael Scalf, Sr., Box 1779, Blanchard, OK 73010-1770; 405-485-3838;
[email protected]; www.swppa.com October 5-6 S: Kentucky PPA; Hyatt Regency, Lexington, Ky.; Randy Fraley, 606-928-5333;
[email protected]; www.kyppa.com October 12-13 C: PP of Colorado, Denver, Colo.; Jeff Johnson; 303-921-4454;
[email protected]; www.ppcolorado.com October 20 S: PP of Massachusetts; Steve Meier,
[email protected]; www.ppam.com
2008 PPA-AFFILIATED SCHOOLS PPA members receive both merits and the best-published prices. March 30 - April 2 International Photographic Arts School, Mariott Hotel & Conference Center, Indianapolis, Ind.; Janell Spencer, 812-384-3203;
[email protected]; www.apag.net/ipasschool.html March 30 – April 4 Triangle Institute, Greentree Radisson, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Samuel Pelaia, 724-869-5455; trianglephotographers@ verizon.net; www.trianglephotographers.org March 31 – April 4 California Photographic Workshops, Fisherman’s Wharf, San Francisco, Calif.; James Inks, 888-422-6606;
[email protected]; www.cpwschool.com April 6-11 New England Institute, Ocean Edge Resort, Brewster, Mass.; Sal Genuario, 401-7383797;
[email protected]; www.ppane.com April 27 – May 2 Texas School, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas; Donald Dickson, 806-296-2276;
[email protected]; www.tppa.org/school.htm May 4-9 Georgia School, N. Georgia Tech, Clarksville, Ga.; Tom McCollum, 888-272-3711;
[email protected]; www.gppa.com May 4-9 MARS (Mid-Atlantic Regional School), Grand Hotel, Cape May, N.J.; Adele Bastinck, 888-267-6277;
[email protected]; www.marsschool.com May 6-9 and May 11-14 Wisconsin Professional Photographers School, UW Stevens Point-Treehaven, Tomahawk, Wis.; Phil Ziesemer, 715-5364540,
[email protected]; www.wiprophotoschool.org May 18-22 Florida School of Photography, Daytona Beach Community College, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Teri Crownover;
[email protected]; 800-330-0532; Marybeth JacksonHamberger,
[email protected]; www.fppfloridaschool.com
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May 18-22 Imaging Workshops of Colorado, Breckenridge, Colo.; Jeff Johnson, 303-921-4454;
[email protected]; www.coloradoworkshops.com June 1-5 Kansas Professional Photographer School, Bethel College, Newton, Kan.; Ron Clevenger, 785-242-7710,
[email protected]; www.kpps.com June 1-5 Mid-America Institute of Professional Photography, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Charles Lee, 641-799-8957;
[email protected]; www.maipp.com; Al DeWild,
[email protected] June 8-12 Illinois Workshops, Grafton, Ill.; Bret Wade, 217-245-5418;
[email protected]; www.ilworkshops.com June 8-13 Great Lakes Institute of Photography, Northwestern College, Traverse City, Mich.; Greg Ockerman, 313-318-4327;
[email protected]; www.glip.org June 15-20 West Coast School, University of San Diego, San Diego, Calif.; Kip Cothran, 951-696-9706;
[email protected]; www.prophotoca.com June 22-25 Golden Gate School of Professional Photography, Mills College, Oakland, Calif.; Julie Olson, 650-548-0889;
[email protected]; www.goldengateschool.com June 22-26 PP Oklahoma School, St. Gregory’s University, Shawnee, Okla.; Glenn Cope, 580-628-6438;
[email protected]; www.ppok.org/school.html July 13-17 Image Explorations, Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia; Don MacGregor, 604-731-7225;
[email protected]; www.imageexplorations.ca/
July 20-25 PPSNY Photo Workshop, Hobart/William Smith Colleges, Geneva, N.Y.; Linda Hutchings, 607-733-6563;
[email protected]; www.ppsnysworkshop.com August 4-7 Long Island Photo Workshop, Sheraton Hotel, Smithtown, Long Island, N.Y.; Jerry Small, 516-221-4058;
[email protected]; www.liphotoworkshop.com August 10-14 East Coast School, Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Raleigh, N.C.; Janet Boschker, 704-567-0775;
[email protected]; www.eastcoastschool.com August 24-27 Carolina Art & Photographic School, Randolph Community College, Archdale Campus, Creekside Park, N.C.; Bob Henderson, 336-288-1132;
[email protected]; www.capsartschool.com September 28-October 2 Lamarr Williamson School of South Carolina; Springmaid Resort, Myrtle Beach, S.C.; John Wrightenberry; 803-781-2130;
[email protected]; www.ppofsc.com
Send all additions or corrections to: Marisa Pitts, Professional Photographers of America, 229 Peachtree Street, N.E., Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303;
[email protected].
PPA-Approved Continuing Education Seminars PPA members receive both merits and the best-published prices. April 21 C/E: Arizona Spring Fling, Phoenix Airport Hilton, Phoenix, Ariz.;
[email protected]; www.arizonappa.com/seminars.html April 28-May 2 C/E: David Ziser’s Digital Master Class; Cincinnati, Ohio; 800-292-2994; www.davidziser.com March 3-8 C/E: Painter Panache Master; Jeremy Sutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971; www.jeremysutton.com May 5-9 C/E: From Traditional to Digital; Jeremy Sutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971; www.jeremysutton.com July 12-18 C/E: Copan Honduras Study Abroad Excursion with Paul Wingler, Suzette Allen & Jon Yoshinaga; 800-483-6208;
[email protected]; www.suzetteallen.com/copan August 1-4 C/E: Oxford Painter Workshop; Jeremy Sutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971; www.jeremysutton.com September 12-17 C/E: Great Gatsby Impressionist Workshop; Jeremy Sutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971; www.jeremysutton.com October 20-23 C/E: Painter Creativity; Jeremy Sutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971; www.jeremysutton.com November 2-6 C/E: The College! Master Biennale; Jeremy Sutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971; www.jeremysutton.com
October 20-21 C: Wisconsin PPA, The Osthoff Resort, Elkhart Lake, Wis.; Donna Swiecichowski, 920-822-1200; Paul Tishim, 715-3845454; Deb Wiltsey, 866-382-9772; wppa-online.com October 26-27 C: PP of Iowa, Airport Holiday Inn, Des Moines, Iowa; Chris Brinkopf, P.O. Box 108, Sumner, IA 50674; 563-578-1126;
[email protected] October 26-28 S: Northern Light/Minnesota PPA; Nicole Bugnacki, 763-390-6272;
[email protected] November 2 S: PP of Louisiana, Northern Exposure, Shreveport, La.; Dayna Ponthieu, 318-359-6633; www.ppla.net November 9-10 C: PP of Ohio, Hilton Easton, Columbus, Ohio; Carol Worthington,
[email protected]
April 3-8, 2009 C: Minnesota PPA; Joanie Ford, 763-560-7783;
[email protected]; mnppa.com April 4-8, 2009 C: Northern Light, Minnesota, Jeff Fifield, 218-722-377;
[email protected]; Nicole Bugnacki, P.O. Box 567 Ironton, Minn.; 56455; 763-390-6272 April 25-28, 2009 C: SEPPA, Athens, Ga.; TomMcCollum; 770-972-8552;
[email protected]; www.4seppa.com August 8-12, 2009 C: Tennessee PPA, Marriott Cool Springs, Frankin, Tenn.; Ernie K. Johnson; 615-509-5737;
[email protected]; tnppa.com November 15-16, 2009 C: PP of Ohio, Hilton Easton, Columbus, Ohio; Carol Worthington,
[email protected]
Future Events January 31 - February 3, 2009 C: PP of Iowa, Airport Holiday Inn, Des Moines, Iowa; Chris Brinkopf, P.O. Box 108, Sumner, IA 50674; 563-578-1126;
[email protected] February 20-23, 2009 C: PP of Oregon, Mt. Bachelor Resort Bend, Ore.; Arlene Welsh, 800-370-5657;
[email protected]; www.pporegon.com February 20-25, 2009 C: Virginia PPA, Renaissance Hotel, Portsmouth, Va.; William Garrett, 434-836-2751;
[email protected] February 26-March 4, 2009 C: PP of North Carolina; Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Durham, N.C.; Loretta Byrd, 888-404-7762;
[email protected]; www.ppofnc.com February 27-March 3, 2009 C: Wisconsin PPA, Marriott Conference Center, Madison, Wis.; Donna Swiecichowski, 920-822-1200; Paul Tishim, 715-384-5454; Deb Wiltsey, 866-382-9772; wppa-online.com
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March 28-31, 2009 C: Heart of America, KCI Expo Center, Kansas City, Mo.; Stephen Harvey, 620-624-4102;
[email protected]; www.hoappa.com
February 26-March2, 2010 C: Wisconsin PPA, Radison HOtel, Green Bay, Wis..; Donna Swiecichowski, 920-822-1200; Paul Tishim, 715-384-5454; Deb Wiltsey, 866-3829772; wppa-online.com April 10-13, 2010 C: Heart of America, KCI Expo Center, Kansas City, Mo.; Stephen Harvey, 620-624-4102;
[email protected]; www.hoappa.com November 14-15, 2010 C: PP of Ohio, Hilton Easton, Columbus, Ohio; Carol Worthington,
[email protected] March 4-9, 2011 C: PP of North Carolina, Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Durham, N.C.; Loretta Byrd, 888-404-7762;
[email protected]; www.ppofnc.com April 2-5, 2011 C: Heart of America, KCI Expo Center, Kansas City, Mo.; Stephen Harvey, 620-624-4102;
[email protected]; www.hoappa.com
PPA AFFILIATE SCHOOLS Bahamas International School of Professional Photography (Bahamas)—www.bispp.com California Photographic Workshops (CA)—www.cpwschool.com Carolina Art & Photographic School (NC)—www.capsartschool.com Delta School (MS)—www.deltaschool.com East Coast School (NC)—www.eastcoastschool.com Evergreen School of Professional Photography (WA)—www.ppw.org. Florida School of Photography (FL)—www.fpponline.org Georgia School (GA)—www.gppa.com Great Lakes Institute of Photography (MI)—www.glip.org Golden Gate School of Professional Photography (CA)—www.goldengateschool.com Illinois Workshops (IL)—www.ilworkshops.com Image Explorations (British Columbia)—www.imageexplorations.ca Imaging Workshops of Colorado (CO)—www.coloradoworkshops.com International Photographic Arts School (IN)—www.ppofi.org Kansas Professional Photographer School (KS)—www.kpps.com Lamarr Williamson School of SC (SC)—www.ppofsc.com Long Island Photo Workshop (NY)—www.liphotoworkshop.com MARS (Mid-Atlantic Regional School) (NJ)—www.marsschool.com Mid-America Institute of Professional Photography (IA)—www.maipp.com New England Institute (MA)—www.ppane.com PP Oklahoma School (OK)—www.pposchool.com PPSNY Photo Workshop (NY)—www.ppsnysworkshop.com Texas School (TX)—www.tppa.org/school.htm Triangle Institute (PA)—www.trianglephotographers.org West Coast School (CA)—www.prophotoca.com Wisconsin Professional Photographers School @ Treehaven (WI)—www.wiprophotoschool.org
TODAY
MARCH | 08
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Dennis Craft, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP 2008-2009 PPA President
GREETINGS As you read my Àrst message as the PPA President, I am thrilled to tell you that the organization has just surpassed the 20,000 member mark. What a privilege to be President during this exciting time for the Professional Photographers of America. After all, being a PPA member (since 1987) is one of the most important things I have done for my photographic career and business.
As you can see, PPA is more to me than just another trade association. I can belong to a number of different organizations that will help me with my photography skills and my business knowledge. But there is only one organization that provides the best learning opportunities, mentors that truly care, and friends that will go the extra mile and last a lifetime. And that brings me to what I would like the President’s Message to become this year. I have been so blessed with my PPA experience and the people I have met, so I will feature a different person from my journey each month. They might be from my travels this year as president or someone who has made an impact on my life in the past. I hope this will give you a glimpse into the wonderful people that make up PPA and help you reÁect on those you have met during your own walk through life. Again, thank you for this incredible opportunity to serve as your president this year. May we all grow and prosper…not only in business, but also in our friendships.
FRIENDS MET ALONG THE WAY
Sae Lee, M.Photog.Cr., F-ASP West Hollywood, California
In July 2000 I had the opportunity to present a program to the Professional Photographers of Korea. Sae Lee, a photographer from California (originally from Korea), organized the trip and traveled with Tyler, my son, and I. It was an experience that opened my eyes and heart to a very gracious group of photographers and a culture that I had never experienced before. My son was 10 years old at the time, and I thought it would be great for him to accompany me on this trip. Sae Lee introduced us to Mr. Kim and his son Tae Hung, who was also 10 years old. These two boys from different countries, different cultures, and different languages bridged all those barriers in about Àve minutes. You would have thought they had known each other forever. Tyler still talks about his special trip with me and the people he encountered along the way.
PPA News & Notes
I was a member for two years before I attended my Àrst PPA convention in 1989. My wife Lori and I never thought we had time to attend. But as Ron Nichols, now PPA Vice President, was receiving his Masters Degree that year, we thought we would sacriÀce the time to support our friend (and make our Àrst trip to Las Vegas). During that Àrst convention, we were introduced to so many new experiences: the overwhelming tradeshow, programs that inspired as they taught, and— most importantly—a new network of friends in the industry. Our PPA experience was just beginning.
Now, every year, we look forward to spending time with old friends…and making new ones along the way. This year in Tampa we had lunch by the bay with our good friends from Montana, Clark and Rachel Marten. Not only did we discuss our respective businesses, we also shared stories about our children and enjoyed the brief time spent with old friends. And we again had the opportunity to make new friends, David and Ally McKay from California. David was in a Christian Rock band before photography, and we actually met via that connection.
Sae opened my world (and my son’s) to a culture and people that we have both come to love. These kind and caring photographers have been inÁuenced by Western photographers while maintaining their own styles. For the introduction to such creative photographers and wonderful friends … Thank you, Sae.
Dennis Craft, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP 2008-2009 PPA President
© Dennis Craft
news from the world’s largest professional photography association | Professional Photographers of America | www.ppa.com
P1
TODAY BOARD MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Dennis Craft, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP PPA Member since: 1987 Shoots: CHILDREN & FAMILY PORTRAITS Location: MICHIGAN
PPA News & Notes
Dennis Craft, new PPA President and owner of Craft Photographic Gallery, didn’t understand photography or business when he bought his Àrst photography studio. “I wouldn’t recommend it,” he says wryly. He’s learned a lot since then. It started with a vacation to Hawaii. He wasn’t about to take a trip to that island paradise with just a point-andshoot, so he bought his Àrst 35mm “real” camera. But when he got off the plane, it didn’t work. While a lab Àxed it, Dennis decided he better learn to use what he had bought. Back in Michigan, he took some photography classes at a community college, started to learn the intricacies…and became absorbed.
After three classes, his brother—an accountant—told Dennis of a photography business one of his clients wanted to sell. “Well, I bought it. Back then, if you were a photographer, you had business—it was a much smaller industry, I feel,” comments Dennis. “I survived those Àrst few years.” So how did he “survive” so successfully? He took the advice a lab rep gave—he joined his local and state photography associations. “My best education was from all the people I met in the associations,” Dennis adds. “And once I joined PPA, my opportunities expanded. I could network and learn from photographers all over the country. I absorbed information any time I could ask questions.”
To him, education and networking are the two biggest advantages. “A lot of associations try to emulate PPA, but they don’t come close,” he says emphatically. In his mind, a lot of PPA’s strength comes from the AfÀliate network. “That structure is brilliant, allowing us all to keep interacting and growing under PPA.” With the local, state, and regional AfÀliate groups, photographers can retain stronger ties to each other, to education, and to the photographic community. Just as he relishes the connection PPA and the AfÀliates provide, Dennis also cherishes the connection his art allows. “As photographers, we can connect with our clients in a way other industries can’t,” he says. “It’s how I know that I really did Ànd the right profession.”
PPA QUICK NOTES… CONGRATULATIONS TO AWARDS & DEGREE RECIPIENTS People came from all around to congratulate recipients at this year’s Awards & Degree Ceremony during Imaging USA. For a complete list of award and degree recipients, please visit the Competition & Awards section of www.ppa.com.
SUPER MONDAY: ONLINE AND NEXT MONTH
It’s back in April…the event that makes Monday the treasured day of the week: Super Monday. On (and around) April 7, 2008, photographers around the country will open their intellectual doors to others. See all the courses detailed online at http://events.ppa.com. Pick your favorite and get ready to learn. P2
NEW PPA WEBINARS
Don’t have the time or money to travel to your education? Let us bring it to you! With PPA’s new webinars, you can learn in the comfort of your home or studio. These online seminars—produced by both PPA and Studio Management Services (SMS)—feature business and photography experts. Watch your inbox for information about the upcoming topics and times.
THANKS IMAGING USA VOLUNTEERS!
If you didn’t know already, Imaging USA—our record-blowing educational convention and tradeshow—would never have been the success it was without all the convention volunteers.
2008 COUNCIL MEETING ATTENDANCE
The 2008 PPA Council meeting was held January 9 in Tampa, Florida. A record of attendance is available in the Members Only section of www.ppa.com.
news from the world’s largest professional photography association | Professional Photographers of America | www.ppa.com
TODAY MEET PPA’S 2008-2009 NEW BOARD MEMBERS We are pleased to introduce the three newest members of your Board of Directors. Check out www.ppa.com for biographies on your entire Board of Directors.
Doug Box,
Don MacGregor,
M.Photog.Cr., API
M.Photog.Cr., API
Along with serving on the PPA Board, he is currently the Executive Director of Texas Professional Photographers of America (TPPA). He has served as Past President of TPPA, Executive Director of American Society of Photographers, publisher of ASP Magazine, and chairman/member of many PPA committees.
MacGregor Studios started in 1974, growing from humble beginnings in an apartment to a 3500 sq. ft. building in Vancouver. Don focuses on wall portrait and wedding work, and he has visited the awards podium virtually every year since obtaining membership. Numerous Best of Class, Gallery, Epcot, Fuji and aggregate awards in almost every portrait and wedding class…he can claim them all. In addition to his awards (which also includes the National Award and the Ross Sanddal International Award), Don has spoken at many platform and convention programs for national, state and provincial conventions over the years throughout Canada and the United States. Along with serving as a PPA Board member, he is the Past President of Professional Photographers of Canada and Professional Photographers of BC. Don is also a member of the prestigious Cameracraftsmen of America.
President & CEO, Collages.net
Kevin Casey founded and built Collages.net from scratch with no previous experience in the photography business. But after holding key roles in two start-up companies (medical and clinical lab industries), Kevin gained the necessary know-how. His technical sales and marketing experience—ranging from product development to building markets for a wide range of innovative products, services, and tests— prepared Kevin to lead Collages.net to success. The idea to scan photos for photographers and post them online has quickly evolved into a multimillion dollar corporation. Collages. net’s leading workÁow, online posting, and printing solutions now help over 10,000 pro photographers increase their competitive advantage. In addition, Kevin has a BA in Mathematics from College of the Holy Cross and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He even spent 6 years in the U.S. Air Force as a B-52 combat crew member.
PPA News & Notes
A professional photographer with many hats (he even owned a child care center for 18 years), Doug lives on his hobby, a 110-acre cattle ranch in Caldwell, Texas. A PPA Approved Juror and Councilor, he has been a PPA member since 1980 and has owned a studio for 35 years. He has instructed at the International Wedding Institute, 18 PPA AfÀliate schools, and seminars and conventions located throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Scotland, Wales and England. On the publishing side, Doug’s articles and images have graced most professional photographic publications. He is the author of The Power of Business marketing systems and several books, including Professional Secrets of Children’s Photography, Professional Secrets of Photographing Weddings, and Natural Light Photography.
Kevin Casey,
(Industry Advisor)
2008-2009 PPA BOARD MEMBERS Guiding the world’s largest professional photography association is a tough job, and PPA is fortunate to have the right visionaries at the helm. Our board of directors understands exactly what you face daily and knows the programs, education, beneÀts, and services you need to be successful. After all, they are practicing professional photographers just like you. We’re pleased to introduce this year’s PPA Board of Directors: Dennis D. Craft, President M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP
Don Dickson M.Photog.Cr., CPP
Susan Michal M.Photog.Cr., CPP, ABI
Ron Nichols, Vice President M.Photog.Cr., API
Sandy (Sam) Puc’ M.Photog.Cr., CPP, ABI
Tim Walden M.Photog.Cr, F-ASP
Louis Tonsmeire, Treasurer Cr. Photog., API
Ralph Romaguera, Sr. M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, F-ASP
Doug Box M.Photog.Cr., API
Jack Reznicki, Chairman of the Board Cr.Photog.Hon.M.Photog., API
Carol Andrews M.Photog.Cr., ABI
Don MacGregor M.Photog.Cr., API Kevin Casey, Industry Advisor President & CEO of Collages.net
news from the world’s largest professional photography association | Professional Photographers of America | www.ppa.com
P3
TODAY AFFILIATE SCHOOL SPOTLIGHT
PPA News & Notes
FPP FLORIDA SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY May 18 – 22, 2008 | Daytona Beach, Florida Daytona Beach Community College Contact: Teri Crownover; 800-330-0532 Web site: www.fppÁoridaschool.com Tuition: $500 FPP/PPA members; $650 non-members Course information:
Vital Photoshop Skills - Suzette Allen Fundamentals of Photoshop - Al Audleman Environmental Portraiture - Doug Box TurboCharge Your WorkÁow - Mark Campbell Foundations of Portraiture - Bruce Evensen Intro to Corel Painter - Jane Conner-ziser Portraits & Weddings - Hanson Fong & Janice Wendt Power Marketing - Mitche Graf High Octane Weddings - Curt Littlecott High School Seniors - Larry Peters Learn to See & Control Light - Barry Rankin, The Next Level with Corel Painter - Jeremy Sutton Mastering the Light - John Woodward Master’s Class - Al Gordon, Tim Kelly & Greg Daniel
MID-AMERICA INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY June 1 – 5, 2008 | Cedar Falls, IA Contact:
[email protected] Web site: www.maipp.com Tuition: $625 members; $675 non-members (tuition only) Course information:
Photoshop for Fun & ProÀt (advanced) - Suzette Allen Seniors, Families & General Portraiture Jean, Dave, & J. D. Wacker Introductory Portrait Techniques - Doug Box The ABC’s of Business - Aletha Speakar & Steve Larson Taking It to the Next Level - Monica Sigmon & Michael Taylor Portraying Families & Children - Dennis Craft Think Inside the Box - Gary & Pamela Box Photoshop (intermediate to advanced) - Mark Campbell The Walden Experience: A Journey through Imaging Tim & Beverly Walden Mastering the Techniques: How to be a Complete Photographer - Hanson Fong Brand New Course for Brand New Photographers (basic level, 2-day course) - Robert Lloyd Mastering the Light - John Woodward
IN MEMORY…ARTHUR J. REED, JR., CR.PHOTOG. Art Reed, retired from Eastman Kodak, passed away on January 16, 2008. Art, who was 82, died from complications while hospitalized for a fall. He is survived by his wife, Marj, two children and two grandchildren. Art was a honorary life member of SEPPA, Georgia and Florida Professional Photography Associations and a longtime PPA and PMA member. He graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and began his professional photographic career in Auburn, NY. He was invited to join the Eastman Kodak Co. for a 35-year career—in both the domestic and international markets—and retired in Atlanta as Regional Manager. He is remembered for his patriotism as a WWII veteran and a citizen, one who
had great pride in being a member of the Kodak corporate family. Art understood the value of relationships and was committed to helping others. Art recognized that the needs of the professional photography market, as well as his staff’s, were constantly changing. He is credited with coining the phrase “we have to remain rigidly Áexible!” “Find out what keeps your customer awake at night and then go Àx it” was another favorite that led to improved customer satisfaction. The world and the photographic industry have lost a true gentleman and a devoted friend with the passing of Art Reed.
CONVERSATIONS ON OURPPA.COM Super Monday is next month, and the International Print Competition is gearing up. So what can you do to get ready? Ask questions, get ideas for the best programs, debate the best competition print choices, and more…all on OurPPA.com. The forum is P4
designed to let you connect with other professional photographers because sharing thoughts leads to even better discoveries and skills.
http://www.ourppa.com/forums/ forumdisplay.php?f=30 http://www.ourppa.com/forums/ forumdisplay.php?f=10
news from the world’s largest professional photography association | Professional Photographers of America | www.ppa.com
PHOTOSHOP WORLD IS THE OFFICIAL CONVENTION OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PHOTOSHOP PROFESSIONALS
Photoshop World: ®
COMING TO ORLANDO, FL. APRIL 2-4, 2008 Mark Your Calendar! The world’s largest Adobe® Photoshop® educational event, featuring the latest Photoshop CS3 training, and an expanded 3-day tech expo is coming to Orlando, Florida!Photographers, graphic designers, Web developers, educators, art directors, students, and Photoshop fanatics — this is the conference you don’t want to miss in 2008!
REGISTRATION OPTIONS
NON-NAPP MEMBER (before February 29, 2008) includes a full-year NAPP membership $599 (after February 29, 2008) includes a full-year NAPP membership
$
699
NAPP MEMBER (before February 29, 2008)
$
(after February 29, 2008)
$
499 599
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REGISTER TODAY! CALL 800-738-8513 OR VISIT WWW.PHOTOSHOPWORLD.COM
Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Photoshop Incorporated.
LabTab
WHERE THE PROS GO FOR THE BEST IN REPRODUCTION SERVICES
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WHERE THE PROS GO FOR THE BEST IN REPRODUCTION SERVICES
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WHERE THE PROS GO FOR THE BEST IN REPRODUCTION SERVICES
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WHERE THE PROS GO FOR THE BEST IN REPRODUCTION SERVICES
LabTab ad specs: Ad size: 31⁄2” x 21⁄2 12x rate: $400.00 gross per month Sign a 12x contract and receive a double size feature ad twice during your contract year at no extra charge. Contact Bart Engels, Western Regional Manager, 847-854-8182; or Shellie Johnson, Eastern Regional Manager, 404-522-8600, ext. 279; for more information.
PROFE SSIONAL
3D LightMaster (www.3dlightmaster.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Adorama (www.adorama.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129, 131 Advanced Photographic Solutions (www.advancedphoto.com). . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Album Crafters (www.albumcrafters.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Albums Inc. (www.albums inc.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64-65 AlbumX/Renaissance Albums (www.renaissancealbums.com). . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Allied Photographic & Imaging Lab (www.alliedphoto.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 AllStar Photo Imaging (www.4allstar.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 American Color Imaging (www.acilab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89, 142 American Student List (www.studentlist.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 ARK-LA-TEX Color Lab (www.altcolorlab.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Asukabook (www.asukabook.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 B & H Photo-Video (www.bhphotovideo.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124-125 BWC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Backdrop Outlet (www.backdropoutlet.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Backgrounds by David Maheu (www.backgroundsbymaheu.com). . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Bay Photo Lab (www.bayphoto.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50-51, 139 Bellies & Babies 2008 Tour (www.bellies-babies.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 Big Black Bag (www.bigblackbag.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Bogen Imaging Inc. (www.bogenimaging.us) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Brightroom Inc. (www.backprint.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Buckeye Color (www.buckeyecolor.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57, 142 Paul Buff Inc. (www.white-lightning.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 CPQ (www.cpq.net) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Candid Color Systems Inc. (www.candid.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Canon (www.usa.canon.com/dlc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Canvas Artworks.com (www.canvasartworks.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Chimera (www.chimeralighting.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Christopher Imaging (www.chrisimaging.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Cindy Baxter Studios (www.cindybaxterstudios.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Collages.Net (www.collages.net). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17, 30-31 Color Incorporated (www.colorincprolab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CIII, 140
Corporate Color/Prolab Express (www.prolabexpress.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Contemporary Photography/J. Hartman (www.jhartman.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Custom Brackets (www.custombracket.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Custom Color Corporation (www.customcolor.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Dalmatian Lab (www.dalmatianlab.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Denny Manufacturing (www.dennymfg.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Denny Manufacturing (www.photonovelty.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Digineg (www.digineg.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Diversified Lab (www.diversifiedlab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Draper Imaging (www.draperimaging.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Drive Savers (www.drivesavers.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Dury’s (www.durys.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 Dyna-Lite Inc. (www.dynalite.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Ed Pierce Seminars (www.edpierceseminars.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 emotion Media Inc. (www.emotionmedia.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Epson (www.epson.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34-35 Express Digital (www.expressdigital.com/cheer) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Filmet (www.profilmet.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Focal Point Studios (www.notecard.info) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Foto Figures (www.fotofigures.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Fredericks Photo Lab (www.fredericksphotolab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 GP Albums (www.gpalbums.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Graphic Authority (www.graphicauthority.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Group Photographers Association (www.groupphotographers.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 GTI Graphic Technology Inc. (www.gtilite.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Hallmark Imaging (www.hallmarklabs.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Herff Jones (www.hjpro.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 HiTi Digital America Inc. (www.hi-ti.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Jerry Ghionis (www.theicesociety.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114-115 Jonathan Penney Inc. (www.jonathanpenney.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Kambara USA Inc. (www.kambara.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 The Levin Company (www.levinframes.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Lustre Color (www.lustrecolor.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55, 143 MPIX (www.mpix.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 McKenna Pro (www.mckennapro.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Mamiya (www.mamiya.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27, 29 Meridian Professional Imaging (www.meridianpro.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover II Michel Company (www.michelcompany.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Michigan Photo (www.michiganphoto.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Microtek (www.microtekusa.com or www.artixscanm1.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Midwest Sports (www.midwestsportslab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Miller Professional Imaging (www.millerslab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 More Photos (www.morephotos.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Morris Group (www.themorriscompany.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 MyPhotopipe (www.myphotopipe.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 National Direct Marketing Services (www.ndmservices.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Neil Enterprises (www.neilenterprises.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Nik Software (www.niksoftware.com/ppadfine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Nikon (www.stunningnikon.com/challenge.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3, 18-19 Noritsu (noritsu.com/M300) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 North American Photo (www.naphoto.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142, 144 Onlinephotofix.com (www.onlinephotofix.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 PR Photo Lab (www.prphotolab.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Pacific Mount (www.pacificmount.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Perfection Distributing Inc. (www.perfectiondistibuting.com). . . . . . . . . . . . 148 Photobook Press (www.photobookpress.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Photoprism Color Lab (www.photoprismcolorlab) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Pictobooks (www.pictobooks.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146, 149 Pictology (www.go.pictology.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148 PocketWizard (www.pocketwizard.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Printmakers Chicago (www.printmakers.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 Profoto (www.profoto-usa.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover IV Portrait Weavers (www.portraitweavers.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 Sekonic (www.sekonic.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Simply Canvas (www.simplycanvas.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79, 145 Sony (www.sony.com/dpf). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Speedotron (www.speedotron.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Sto-fen (www.stofen.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Student Marketing Group Inc. (www.studentmarketing.net) . . . . . . . . . . . . 149 Studio Dynamics (www.studiodynamics.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Studio Logic (www.studiologic.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Studio Pro Group (www.studioprogroup.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Successware (www.successware.net) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Tamron (www.tamron.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Unique Photo Supplies (www.uniquephoto.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Used Camera Buyer (www.usedcamerabuyer.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Veach Co. (www.veachco.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150 White House Custom Color (www.whcc.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-9, 24-25 White Glove (www.wgbooks.com). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146 Zookbinders (www.zookbinders.com) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Publisher not responsible for errors & omissions
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Buyer’s Gallery THIS SECTION IS THE MONTHLY RESOURCE PHOTOGRAPHERS USE TO FIND THE PRODUCTS THEY NEED. PUT YOUR MESSAGE PROMINENTLY IN FRONT OF INDUSTRY PROS AND START TURNING BROWSERS INTO BUYERS.
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Buyer’s Gallery ad specs: Ad size: 21⁄4” x 43⁄4 12x rate: $550.00 gross per month 6x rate: $600.00 gross per month Contact your advertising representative: Bart Engels, Western Regional Manager, 847-854-8182; or Shellie Johnson, Eastern Regional Manager, 404-522-8600, ext. 279; for more information.
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ProductMall
SOMETHING HERE YOU NEED...
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES • $1.50 per word • $2.00 per word/words with all caps or bold face. • $10.00 per issue—Confidential Reply Box Ads (Optional)—$30 min. per ad • Closing date is 20th of the second month proceeding issue date. • Remittance must be received with order. NO ADS ACCEPTED BY PHONE. Remittance to: Professional Photographer Classified Ads 229 Peachtree NE, Ste. 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303 800-339-5451, ext. 221 FAX 404-614-6405
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ClassifiedAdvertising CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES Classified rates: • $1.50 per word; • $2.00 per word/ words with all caps or bold face. • $10.00 per issue—Confidential Reply Box Ads (Optional)—$30 minimum per ad. Closing date is 20th of the second month proceeding issue date. Remittance must be received with order. NO ADS ACCEPTED BY PHONE. Remittance to: Professional Photographer Classified Ads, 229 Peachtree NE, Ste. 2200, Atlanta, GA 30303; 800339-5451, ext. 221; FAX 404-614-6405.
ACCOUNTING CPAs FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS. Business set-up, tax planning and preparation, business valuations and consulting. Decades of experience. Darryl Bodnar, CPA, (410) 453-5500,
[email protected]. Visit our website at www.nlgroup.com.
ALBUMS GP ALBUMS (formerly General Products L.L.C.) is focused on flush mount and digital offset albums along with our NEW extensive line of self-mount albums and folios. GP’s Optimus, Quick-Stick, Digital Vision, Tempus, and Eclipse albums are the products that will help take your photography business into the future. You will experience the same great quality with a whole new look. As a manufacturer, GP Albums also has the ability to create custom photo packaging products upon request. GP Albums continues to offer variety and flexibility allowing photographers to design the perfect product that will last a lifetime. For more information, please visit us at www.gpalbums.com or call 1-800-888-1934.
BACKGROUNDS THE DENNY MFG. CO., INC. is the World’s Largest Manufacture of Hand Painted Backgrounds, Computer Painted Backgrounds, Muslin Backgrounds, Studio Sets, Props, Lift Systems, and related Studio Accessories. Contact us today to receive our FREE 180 page color catalog filled with exquisite products and ideas to help you succeed in Photography. Write P.O. Box 7200 Mobile, AL 36670; Call 1-800-844-5616 or visit our Web site at www.dennymfg.com. STUDIO DYNAMICS’ muslin and canvas backdrops offer quality and value at outlet prices! Call 1-800-595-4273 for a catalog or visit www.studiodynamics.com CHICAGO CANVAS & SUPPLY—Wide Seamless Canvas and Muslin, Duvetyn, Commando Cloth, Theatrical Gauze, Velour, Sharkstooth Scrim, Leno Scrim, Gaffers Tape, Primed Canvas, Gesso, and Deka Fabric Dyes—Fabrication Available. Curtain Track & Hardware for Moveable Curtains and Backdrops—Easily installed. Quick turn around time. Our prices can’t be beat. Visit our website or call for a free catalog and samples. 773-478-5700; www.chicagocanvas.com;
[email protected]
CANVAS MOUNTING
HELP WANTED
CANVAS MOUNTING, STRETCHING, FINISH LACQUERING. Original McDonald Method. Considered best AVAILABLE. Realistic canvas texture. Large sizes a specialty. WHITMIRE ASSOCIATES, YAKIMA, WA. 509-248-6700. WWW.CANVASMOUNT.COM
HELP WANTED: Assistant photographer for contemporary photojournalistic wedding coverages in Orange County, CA area. Must have digital equipment. E-mail John at
[email protected].
COMPUTER/SOFTWARE
WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Experienced Digital Photographers in South Florida with back up equipment. Must be creative and consistent. Email
[email protected].
SUCCESSWARE®—Studio Management Software available for both Windows® and Macintosh®. Recommended by Ann Monteith, the nation’s foremost studio management consultant. Call today for a FREE SuccessWare® Tour 800593-3767 or visit our Web site www.SuccessWare.net.
Well established Studio in CODY WYOMING seeking business partner. Must have a minimum of 10 years experience in running your own studio operation. www.singerphotography.com/partner for details
Learn how you can revolutionize customer and order tracking and ignite your marketing fire with customized software that knows what’s going on in YOUR business— even when you don’t! More professional photographers trust Photo One Software, powered by Granite Bear than all other studio management software combined! 5 Powerful Guarantees: 5 days to customize your Photo One to match your studio; personalized phone training for you and your staff; 75 minute no-hassle guaranteed support call-back time; 365 days of unlimited support and usable upgrades and a 365 day unmatched money back guarantee! Zero-Risk. Only $299.00 deposit gets you started. Call 888-428-2824 now for your free working demo or visit www.photoonesoftware.com. Photo One, Building better businesses, one studio at a time.
DIGITAL DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS—Kessler Color produces STUNNING images from digital files. Try our rapid FTP site and get a FREE 16 x 20. New Service—E-Vents from Kessler Color. Get 8x10 units for $.90.
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EDUCATION/WORKSHOPS
PHOTO LAB MANAGER—Responsible for digital photo processing. Large in house production lab. Must have general knowledge of photography. Candidates will be proficient in producing color correct portrait quality images. Fax cover letter and resume to FCS 315-733-3214. No phone calls please.
WALL PORTRAIT CONFERENCE. April 20th-25th, 2008. Six day Wall Portraiture concept to completion. The original wall portrait school. Has changed the lives of many! Emphasis on public acceptance, concepts, sales, portrait finishing and more. Yakima, Washington, 509-248-6700, www.wallportrait.com
INCORPORATE OR FORM an LLC today! Your art is a business. Treat it like one. The Company Corporation can help you incorporate or form a limited liability company in as little as ten minutes. We are fast, accurate and affordable. Provide additional credibility to your photography studio or business at the fraction of the cost of using an attorney. Call 1-800-206-7276 or visit www.corporate.com today!
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE DIGITAL PRINTERS; FUJI-NORITSU; MINILABS; NEW & USED, FACTORY AUTHORIZED. INSTALLATION AND TRAINING. FINANCING—$600 UP. DELIVERY—INSURED. WWW.DIRECT-RESOURCES.COM; 877-318-3015. HENSEL INTEGRA 500, 3 heads, power packs, stands, snoots, case, cords, complete. Like new! $750 or best offer. Call: 319-389-0723.
CAMERA REPAIR
PROSHOTS STUDIOS—Always dreamed of owning your own portrait studio but don’t know where to start? With a Proshots franchise you can be open for business in as little as 4 months. NO exp. necessary! Our all digital full service studios come complete with everything you need to be in business. We train, support and walk you thru each step. Total investment including your franchise fee only $60,000. For more information call Darrell Collie at 864.350-6735 or visit us at www.proshotsstudios.com
152 • www.ppmag.com
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER. Company: Club Services of America. Description: Family portrait photographer with wanderlust. Great earning potential for excellent family photographer with quality portrait experience. Photograph and sell to Country Club members throughout the United States. Many assignments are where the weather is good: south in the winter and north in the summer. OK to travel with spouse. PPA Certified or Masters of Photography are preferred. Requirements: Must have tools of the trade and a dependable automobile. Family portrait photographer. Some sales experience. Excellent knowledge of digital photography. See our website at: www.clubservicesofamerica.com. Email resume and sample portraits to
[email protected].
DIGITAL PAINTING FORUM. The Digital Painting Forum, hosted by Painter Master Marilyn Sholin has thousands of international members and over 50,000 post about Corel® Painter, Essentials, and Photoshop.Forums include tutorials, brushes, digital painting, art, and the business of creating, marketing and selling digital art. This forum has a small subscription fee that is well worth the education gained. www.digitalpaintingforum.com
KNOWLEDGE BACKGROUNDS—The #1 manufacturer of quality handpainted canvas and muslin backdrops. Proudly handcrafted in the U.S.A. Call today toll free: 888-8497352 for your free copy of our 2008 Product Catalog; or visit us on the web at: www.knowledgebackgrounds.com
HASSELBLAD REPAIRS: David S. Odess is a factory trained technician with 31 years experience servicing the Hasselblad system exclusively. Previously with Hasselblad USA. Free estimates, prompt service, reasonable rates and a 6 month guarantee. Used equipment sales. 28 South Main Street, #104, Randolph, MA 02368, 781-963-1166; www.david-odess.com.
PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN Harmann Studios is a progressive portrait company with multiple locations with emphasis in seniors, children, families, sport, and school photography. We have been in business for more than 45 years and have unlimited resources to make our portraits stand out. We are seeking a candidate with 5 years of portrait experience, good organizational skills, exceptional understanding of DSLR cameras, and most of all, a fun and adaptive personality. Health, vacation, and flexible scheduling are just some of the benefits we offer. Please send resumes and sample images and sample images to John Harmann at
[email protected].
FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES
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PECHMAN PROFESSIONAL IMAGING (DIGITAL OR FILM) Portraits & Units 8x10 16x20 Print-By-Inch $1.45 $5.80 Studio-Color Corrected 1.90 11.99 Lab-Color-Corrected 2.57 13.99 Raw-File-Services 3.15 16.40 •Undergrad-Sport-Event Pkgs. 8x10 @ $.96 •Fully Assembled Albums-10x10 print included-9 to 18 pages from $149.99, (100’s of templates available) •Proofs from $.25 •Proof Books-spiral bound-8x10 page @ $1.60 • 48 Wal Gold Stamp Special-next 48 free •Spray-Mount-Texture •Digital Retouch $2.50, Art-$1.00 per minute ROES®, LABPRINTSTM, FTP OR DISK. 800-777-0221 WWW.PECHMANIMAGING.COM SCHOOL/WEDDING Photographers. Low package prices starting at 19 images. Wedding 10x10’s, you design we print $2.49. www.PhotoPrintPros.com. PLATINUM GICLEETM FINE ART B&W from your digital file or negative up to 40 x 60. New DuraFiberTM Media provides deep blacks and waterproof, non-scuff surface, great for hand-coloring. Also available in sepia, color, split-tone. Call for free sample. Jonathan Penney, Inc., Master Printmakers. 631-874-3409. www.jonathanpenney.com SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHERS The most versatile sports program available. Digital or film, quality & service is our motto. See www.sportsphoto.com HAND PAINTED OILS; Transparent, Deluxe, and Canvas Stretched up to 40x60. A complete photo art lab serving photographers since 1965. Traditional and Digital printing services. Fiber based B&W up to 30x40. Giclee Fine Art prints. Restoration. Free estimates & pricing guide. 800922-7459 Venetian Arts www.venetianarts.com
MARKETING REVEALED: HOW TO GET MORE REFERRALS AND REPEAT BUSINESS THAN EVER BEFORE! Studies show you can see a 10, 25, EVEN 100% INCREASE in referrals and repeat business by ‘staying in touch’ with a client newsletter. But who has the time? Photographers using my unique, “DONE-FOR-YOU” NEWSLETTER system report spending only around 60 minutes on their newsletter and getting $750-$18,500 back every month! See for yourself… Request your FREE Special Report and Sample Package at www.TheStudioNewsletter.com to learn more. STOP WASTING YOUR TIME AT BRIDAL SHOWS. No hassle system automatically follows up and gets referrals. FREE 24/7 toll-free recorded message. 800-301-2062, Ext. 703.
PHOTO RESTORATION 1st PHOTO RESTORATION FREE! Try us, you’ll like us! Point & click easy. No sign up cost. 100% guarantee. Online leader since 1993. Wholesale only to professionals. www.hollywoodfotofix.com or call 888-700-3686.
PRESENTATION BOXES BOXES—FREE SAMPLE PRESENTATION BOX—FROM THE ORIGINAL BLACK BOX MANUFACTURE—Fast delivery, Finest quality 4"x5", 5"x5", 4"x6", 8"x10", 11"x14", 16"x20", 20"x24". AUFENGER BOX, 4800 COLLEY AVENUE, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 23508; 757-440-1147 (phone); 757-440-1149 (fax); 888-440-1146 (toll free). www.aufengerbox.com PRESENTATION BOXES available for immediate shipment; 19 sizes—4 stock colors. For FREE catalog & samples call 800-969-2697 or fax request 800-861-4528. BUY DIRECT AND SAVE. NPD Box Company, 3000 Quigley Road, Cleveland, OH 44113. www.NPDBox.com PRESENTATION BOXES-BOX MANUFACTURER BUY DIRECT AND SAVE. Complete line of Print and Proof boxes. Hinged presentations. Better Quality, Lower Prices. Product mfg in our own plant. Customize with logo, and choose colors with ease. Tissue included! Call 401-7253646 for free samples. H-B Packaging Group 575 Lonsdale Ave. Central Falls, RI 02863 www.h-bphoto.com.
RETOUCHING UNITED PROMOTIONS, INC. • FULL SERVICE DIGITAL & FILM LAB• 10% DISCOUNT from our low List Price for prebuilt orders submitted in ROES (free software), Photolynx, OzE, Workstream or other pre-approved software via our web site, FTP or on CD’s. Fast Delivery. Wallets to 40" wide prints. VOLUME PACKAGE PRINTS - Pre Schools, Day Cares, Underclass, Proms/Dance, Cap & Gown, Store/Malls, Glamour, Church, Fund Raising and Family Packages. SPORTS & EVENT PACKAGE PRINTS WEDDING - SENIORS - CANDID - STUDIO PRINTS ADD ONS TO ORDERS - Retouching, Proofs on Envelopes, School Service Items, CD’s, Fun Packs (laminated & die cut), Plastic ID Cards, Groups, Big Prints, Composites, Trader Cards (2 sides), Magazine Covers, Memorymates, Digital Groupmates, Photo Magnet Cutouts, Statuettes, Buttons, Magnets, Mirrors, Calendars, Locker Prints, Photo Pennants, Mouse Pads, Fun Posters, Admission Tickets, Sticker Prints, Banner Prints, Collages, Gold Foil Stamping Laminating, Mounting, Posting Images Online and many more services for the professional photographer. NEW PRODUCTS - Dye-Sub Photo Plaques and Gallery Wraps on Canvas. UNITED PROMOTIONS, INC. 433 Lawton Road Charlotte, NC 28216-3317 (800) 362-4441 - Toll Free www.upilab.com
[email protected] FREE 20X30 Wallets to 6ftx14ft Goldencolor 9020 W. Olympic Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90211 310-274-3445 www.goldencolor.com
WHEN YOUR NAME is on the line, nothing but the best will ever do. Our retouchers know what you need: fast service, a retouch that looks like the photo was never altered and the lowest prices in the industry. If you demand the best log onto www.retouchup.com and your first 10 retouches are free just to prove our claims—the best—the fastest and the least expensive or call 888-700-3686.
SALES AIDS BOXES—FROM THE ORIGINAL BLACK BOX MANUFACTURE—FREE SAMPLE—Fast delivery, Finest quality 4”x5”, 5”x5”, 4”x6”, 8”x10”, 11”x14”, 16”x20”, 20”x24”. AUFENGER BOX, 4800 COLLEY AVENUE, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 23508; 757-440-1147 (phone); 757-440-1149 (fax); 888-440-1146 (toll free). www.aufengerbox.com
CHARMING, well respected NORTHERN CALIFORNIA full service portrait studio in a cute country town which has always supported a photography studio. Originally established in 1996 as strictly a wedding business, expanded based on consumer demand. PHENOMENAL visibility on primary Business Route in the downtown area. No competition for 25 miles. Recent recipient of downtown beautification award from Chamber of Commerce. Growing high school senior, photo restoration and commercial markets. Successware, Roes and LLC in place. Strong web presence (www.ricecreekphoto.com). Regional and national advertising in place. Selling due to death in family and relocation. Owner will assist transition. 100% turn-key. $90K negotiable;
[email protected]. HOME/ STUDIO FOR SALE. Three bedroom Cape Cod with 20 x 30 x 10h addition, with full bath and basement on corner lot. (Perfect for home studio) Busy street, separate office entrance, parking in front and side of house. Five minutes to I-95, fifteen minutes to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and/or Wilmington Delaware. Retired, asking $ 295,000. Phone 610-859-8596 Cell 610-505-4018.
STUDIOS WANTED COLUMBUS CAMERA GROUP, INC. buys whole studios or any part including cameras, film, darkroom, long roll, lighting, and misc. No quantities too small. Call 800-3257664. Ask for Eric.
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CREATIVE FRAMES…Designed frames for the professional wedding, portrait and school photographers. Our frames are manufactured here in the USA. Visit us at WWW.CREATIVEFRAME.COM to see our full line. 5000 POSTCARDS $149 UV Coated 5,000 Business cards for $60.00 www.colorphotobusinesscards.com $10 off /with ad
STUDIO FOR SALE FLORIDA STUDIO: High-End 35-year business in beautiful Tampa Bay available at $460k with owner financing. Nets over $150,000 annually without weddings. Magnificently landscaped real estate is also available. Retiring and ready to sell call VR Business Brokers 727499-6500 or e-mail
[email protected]. WESTERN COLORADO—just hours from national parks. 40 year-old established studio plus client list. Amazing outdoor photo park. Thriving economy in this sunny college town of 150,000 - a great opportunity. Owner will assist your transition. Call 970-596-1975.
March 2008 • Professional Photographer • 153
good works |
Images wield the power to effect change. In this monthly feature, Professional Photographer spotlights professional photographers using their talents to make a difference through charitable work. ©Allen Stross
several nonprofit associations, pursues personal documentary projects, and works with local art and community fairs. His work with the NBSC began with a volunteer gig photographing food for the center’s meal program. “I documented the good and the bad,” he remembers with a laugh. After giving his food photos to the NBSC’s nutritionist for displays and menus, Stross started documenting NBSC field trips, officer elections, on-site programs, parties and other events. “I decided years ago that I wanted to document the senior experience,” he says. “So that is what I’m doing. I’m creating a photo record.” For others interested in volunteering at a senior center, Stross recommends first getting to know the staff and senior denizens. Familiarize yourself with the programs and
Centered on seniors
I
ALLEN STROSS PURSUES LIFE AS A PHOTO PHILANTHROPIST
the people, and you will be welcomed, he says. Stross also suggests leading classes for seniors; in particular, many seniors are eager to learn about digital photography. Looking back on more than a half centu-
n our youth-obsessed culture, senior citizens
a decade. He serves on the NBSC Advisory
ry in professional photography, Stross is
are often a forgotten population. From Hanna
Council, the City of Berkeley Commission
pleased by what he has accomplished, and
Montana to High School Musical, it’s all
on Aging, and the Berkeley Historical
excited by what he has yet to contribute.
about the craziness of kids (and big profits
Society. He also volunteers as the NBSC’s de
“I’m a photo philanthropist,” says Stross. “I
for Disney). The focus is on youth, and the
facto photographer, covering events, outings
take photos and I give them away. Forget
message is “Out with the old, in with the new.”
and special programs. He donates all the
the money. When you donate your photo-
images to the center and to the senior citi-
graphs, you get the satisfaction of supplying
zens pictured.
something for people that lasts beyond you.
Not so in Berkeley, Calif., where the
North Berkeley Senior Center (NBSC) has created a model for active, involved seniors.
“Not only does Allen take photos, he has
It’s your legacy, and you will be appreciated
One of the most successful centers of its
them developed within a few hours, and then
for it. There are not many professions where
kind, the NBSC offers a nonstop smorgas-
passes them out free of charge to the delight
you can do that.” I
bord of activities, educational programs and
of his subjects!” says Suzanne Ryan, recently
community meal services. Allen Stross,
retired director of the center, who continues
To learn more about Berkeley’s senior programs, visit www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/hhs.
M.Photog., a PPA member since 1955, is one
to express gratitude for Stross’ services.
of the center’s most active participants. He’s been attending events at the NBSC for about
154 • www.ppmag.com
At 84, Stross isn’t even thinking of retirement. He provides event photography for
Share your good works experience with us by e-mailing Cameron Bishopp at
[email protected]
© John Russo
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