Bridal Shows won't make you rich but they will give you exposure
Go there and look for your brides, not all of the brides. You're probably looking for 4-5 weddings not all the weddings. You're looking for a needle in a haystack. Spend time with the needles, not the haystack.
Remember you're not just a pricelist, you're an artist.
Engage with your brides and get them excited about you, your ideas, and their day.
Maximise your exposure by thinking big
Albums, images, everything should be big.
The smallest prints he takes are 20"s
Avoid detail shots, nobody cares about them, they're looking for the formal photos.
They book you because of the romantic images
Dress Professionally
People make snap decisions about who people are based on the way that they present themselves. You only get one shot at a first impression.
What message are you sending your clients? How old are your clients? How would they want you to dress?
Be Warm and Friendly
This should be obvious.
Consider Running a Show Special
This acts as a call to action. Without this potential clients have no incentive to book you then and there. Without this they can head off to other photographers.
Run a giveaway
This will get you names and e-mails for further contact. It also provides an opportunity to extend the show special.
Network
This can increase sales etc. through referrals and co-operation.
In the video above Sal Cincotta runs through some ways that you can exceed client expectations and differentiate yourself from the rest of the wedding photography pack through improving your service rather than (or in addition to) your images.
His key messages are: - Hand written thank you notes
You can do this immediately after the wedding. That way your memory is fresh and you won't forget to do it.
- Thank you gifts for clients
If someone is spending a lot of money with you send them a gift that says something about who you are. That way you can start building a genuine relationship. He uses wine because he and his wife love wine.
- Turnaround times
Avoid being a 12 month horror story. Aim for weeks or days, not months. If you aim for months the excitement will be gone.
- Saying goodbye to EVERYONE at the end of a wedding
While the Bride and Groom are important so are the people who are liekly to have paid you (the parents) and any future clients (the bridal party). Even if they don't need a wedding photographer in the future they are likely to become your cheerleaders with future potential clients.
- Return e-mails and phonecalls promptly
Even if you can't give a full answer let people know that you have received their message.
Some extra ideas that I do: - Extra copies of discs for family and friends
Everyone wants to share their photos. Why not make it easy? This also allows you to control the presentation.
- A few prints with packages that don't include prints
Added extras are always nice
- Stay for a bit longer than your booking
Once again added extras are always nice
- Asking for their opinion on your work as a whole
Let them know that their thoughts matter. Asking for their help often makes your clients feel like they can return part of your hard work.
Some things that I'm looking at doing once I'm more established: -Thank you gifts for referrals
Something like a canvas or a discount on an album
- Discounts on prints when buying large packages
Thankn clients for spending large amounts of money and give yourself a chance to earn a bit more as well.
A while back I did a review on a pixelpaint.co.nz canvas print. I was happy with the canvas and the service they provided so when they introduced their photobooks I thought I'd give them a crack as well. Today we got a book in the mail. While it looks great the Pixelpaint team weren't 100% happy with it yet as they thought they could do better. As a result the official review will be coming soon. Until we receive their final copy this will act as a fill in for anyone thinking about making a purchase before we get our final copy.
Overall:
So far it looks promising. While I noticed a few minor imperfections in the first book they sent through they did tell us that they were fixing them up (See the note in the picture above - click it to enlarge it). I look forward to receiving a book that is up to their standards in the days ahead.
Materials:
Cover:
The cover material is very nice and differentiates itself from the book's interior. The cover seems to be printed on a light fabric or canvas. The texture is nice to the touch and also to the eye.
Construction:
The book feels secure when vieiwing it on the table but a little wobbly when carrying it open. The glue in our book has spilt out a bit on the last page - I suspect this is an imperfection that they are looking to rectify in a subsequent copy.
Pages:
The pages have a nice feel to them. They are 170gsm with a slight glossiness to them. The whites are also nice and clean.
Ink:
The colours are vibrant and strong. In our current book some of the balck and white shots appear to have a minor green tinge to them. While most people wouldn't notice this it could be what they were talking about when they mentioned the imperfections.
Print Resolution:
The print resolution is solid. Some of our shots came up with a resolution warning, we suspected that these warnings were on the conservative side - aimed more at printing from point-and-shoot cameras than cameras and lenses with a higher image quality (dSLRs and the like) - and it looks like we were right. All of our images look great resolution wise but it should be noted that the quality of their printers will not make up for poor quality images, cameras, or lenses.
Service:
Pros
Their Zealous service came through in their detection of imperfections in our photobook. As a result they took the initiative and reprinted our book before we asked them to. As an added bonus they sent through the imperfect book so we had something to look at in the meantime.
Cons
When the books were first listed the turnaround time was listed as 15 days. In fact the turnaround time is 15 working days. This lead to a bit of dissappointment in that the book didn't arrive when we expected it to. That being said I have been in touch with the pixelpaint team and this error should be fixed soon.
The information in the my orders section still leaves a lot to be desired. While it does indicate whether your photobook order has been placed or is printing these labels don't seem to mean much. In fact your book will be in the printing phase from the moment your order is officially processed. As such it can be 'printing' for 15 working days. Furthermore our book needed to be reprinted - this was not indicated in the my orders section.
Today I received an e-mail from Jeffrey Peterson of Above Advertisement and Photo Shop.
Jeffrey's message was vague and smelt a bit like a scam. Indeed the NZIPP warn that it could be just that.
Reasons to believe it could be a scam are:
- A representative of the company he eventually claims to be working on behalf of have contacted me to say it's a scam
- Limited details about the job itself, the advertising company, and the way they found me
- The advertising agency doesn't seem to exist or is not ranking well on google
- The supplied e-mail address comes from a g-mail account (you would expect @aboveadvert.com rather than @gmail.com)
- Poor grammar etc. (a instead of an, lack of capitalisation...)
- Failure to address you by name
- Follow up e-mail requests you to provide your name, company etc (they should already know this)
- A fundamental misunderstanding of what a client would mean when they request an 'international photographer'. International photographers have an international reputation, they aren't simply from another country
Now I'm not saying that this is definitely a scam as I don't know for sure. What I am saying is proceed with extreme caution if you proceed at all.
The NZIPP advise: Don't be surprised if they "booked" a job, prepay for it and then contact you to say that they made an error and gave you too much, you refund some money and then find out that the original money was stolen
For those who are interested in the message here it is below.
Hello,
I am Jeffery Peterson. I work for a advertisement agency called above advertisement and photo shop.
We at above advertisement and photo shop have a few campaigns and we are currently looking for an international photographer who will take coverage of this campaign and photo shooting.
I saw your profile in one of the photographers site and I think you would fit in for this campaign which I have on my books.
If you are interested, feel free to send me a message and ask me any questions regarding the potential job.
Regards,
Jeffery Peterson
Second E-mail:
Hello,
Thank you very much for your prompt reply and willingness to take up this project which upon i contacted you. I am also happy to answer your questions in
other to put you through on the follow up of this project.
1 . We are small scale company located here in UK though affiliated to other bigger scale ventures.
2. We have this contract from our client Lebara UK to provide them with models and photographers. The models, their photo will be used for the new face of
Lebara top up card and bill boards advertisement which will be published soon then the work of the photographer is to take charge of the shoot which will
take a little period of time which is a temporal employment with us and that is the reason why we have contacted you to take charge of the photo shooting
because actually we want to create relationship with international models and photographers for expansion.
3.The location for the shoot is here in London and the duration for the shoot is 10days which is from January 24th to February 4th 2012. My client will take
care of all bills so u do not need to worry.
All you need to do now is to get back with me as soon as possible with the details below for proper registration with us to enable us commence and we will
keep you updated in no time.
STUDIO COMPANY NAME:
FIRST NAME:
LAST NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY
COUNTRY
POSTAL CODE
PHONE NUMBER
EMAIL ADDRESS
Thank you very much and hope to hear from you as soon as possible.
Regards
Jeffery Peterson
If Jeffrey Peterson is out there anywhere and would like to counter these claims please feel free to contact me. Once you do this I will be happy to remove this post.
Comments are open to anyone so please feel free to add your voice below :)
This song, or perhaps my interpretation of it, made me cry. It did this by making me think of the relationship between a father and a son as they and their relationship developed and aged to the point that one of them, the father, passes on. It is full of metaphors - many of which I'm sure I don't entirely follow but all of which I enjoy because of the possible interpretations they raise - I am particularly fond of the reference to an evergreen forest which, to me, suggests a desire to preserve the relationship or some golden aspect of it in a way that it never changes.
Gripes:
The lyrics feel a bit thesaurus-y at times and the odd line feels a bit out of place or unnecessary. While I really like the idea of echoes being more frightening than the sound of any beast I'm not convinced that the clarification of the reason that they are frightening is necessary, this explanatory line also lengthens the verse to the point where it becomes out of step with the others. Personally I feel that the echoes here are the sound of silence/the absence of the father. The explanation of why they are frightening runs counter to this though suggesting that it is what the echoes tell or have the potential to tell our narrator something about himself that is frightening, the echoes serve as a mirror.
In writing this I am talking myself round a bit. This is something I am always wary of when talking about something that is feeling based rather than fact based as it means I've pushing myself away from thinking with feelings and towards thinking with thoughts. That move feels dangerous. That being said that additional line could suggest to us that our narrator has not lived up to the expectations he has set for himself through his time with his father. This is very different from simply being alone in that it also reflects some sense of failure and/or disappointment.
Dennis has been a friend for a while now.When I first met him I got the impression that he was something of a force to be reckoned with in the university's film group. Later I learnt that his talents extended to music as well.
While I know very little about music (I have actually said things like "I don't know what to call them, so I'm going to say... notes?") as a general rule I like his work. In fact my wife and I were lucky enough to have him play at our wedding during the bridal entrance and the signing of the register and we have a few of his EPs from a few years back. These days he has taken to releasing tracks online via bandcamp.
Like all of us he's continuing to develop his skills and talent - currently he's doing this by writing songs and recording them onto cassette tapes.
What follows are my impressions of 'How Could We Be'. I write them in the belief that providing or receiving honest opinions can be a great way to develop skills in yourself or others any area. As always though, when considering opinions, its important to consider the source and this source is not very well informed. Feel free to join me as I stab wildly in the dark.
Initial Impressions:
The song is soft and gentle, more suited to an intimate performance with people sitting and listening than dancing and singing along. If anyone is dancing in this fantasy land of mine they're damn good at it and their movements are slow and formal with the occasional step filling in a blank spot in the music. That being said it does seem to have an underlying - and slightly unusually paced - driving beat to it. It stops and starts in a fashion that draws you in while preventing any easy exaggerated seated rocking movements or lighter waving (thankfully). At points, such as the beginning and near the midpoint, the drawing-in highlights the lyrics. This in interesting in the sense that without these pauses, once the song had gotten under way, I found my attention wandering from the words of the lyrics to the tone of the lyrics. While I still heard the words the voice became less of a voice and more of an instrument - it accompanied the guitar rather than the other way around.
Grumps:
Personally I'm not a fan of the cassette recording. I'm not sure if it's intended as an aesthetic thing (akin to the vinyl is better argument), an authenticity thing (the need to get things right in one hit), a convenience factor (reduced post work), some kind of limitation to encourage enhanced creativity, or something else entirely but it doesn't work for me. The crackle in the silence is more distracting than charming. Chances are that doesn't matter though, chances are the recording medium isn't designed to impress me, chances are it's something that works for him for one of the earlier reasons or an entirely different one and, at the end of the day, that's all that matters.
As a photographer I love this ad for the Panasonic Lumix dSLR range. Often I want to describe images the way the man on the stand does because, often, that's how you pick your aperture and shutter speed. If you want to freeze motion you go for something really fast. If you want to blur the background you go for a really big aperture. The best of course is the compensation for low light. While you always want to compensate really well for low light this is where an understanding of shutter speed, aperture, and iso really come into their own. While the image shown in the lowlight example does look really good odds are it would be quite difficult for anyone to take with that camera without some understanding of how to achieve the shot. For example shooting handheld would almost certainly lead to a world of hurt. Instead you would want to shoot using a tripod. Ideally you would shoot with a low iso, long shutter duration and a reasonable aperture. Probably around 5.6 assuming it was shit with a wide angle lens. A smaller aperture (higher number) may be required if you wanted super duper depth of field though.
In this video Bambi Cantrell explains why she thinks that you're too cheap if you can afford yourself.
She stresses the importance of acknowledging your own skill level and how price and professionalism can help to demonstrate your worth.
At the end of the day's talks attention turned from business to art photography with the photographers taking aim at one image in particular. Rhein II. While I had to dash off it seemed as though the image was about to suffer through a frosty and hostile reception. One that is not, to my mind, entirely justified. In fact it is my opinion that image is probably worth its price tag but that the reasons for this are less about the photograph itself and more about what it means to the buyer.
The image above is the most expensive photograph ever sold, coming in at a cool $4.3 million USD (2.7 million pounds at the time). The photographers were quick to criticise - suggesting the print was of poor quality and would soon fade - asking whether or not it would meet their professional standard requirements - declaring that there was nothing special about it and that anyone could have taken it. Unfortunately none of these things are the point.
In fact those calling for the metaphorical blood of the image had failed to grasp a message that they had heard just moments ago in a video of Simon Sinek. They were all focussing on what the image was and how it had been produced rather than considering why it existed in the first place.
Critically I am not pointing this out as a failure of the wedding and portrait photographers in the room. In their world the issues of how and what are of the utmost importance with the why often being reduceable to capturing a moment, a likeness, an event and so on. As wedding and portrait photographers that is their job, their reality. The failure comes from looking at the image as themselves and expected it to be judged by their standards. They expect and require the image to be able to stand on its own.
In the art world however works do not stand on their own. They stand in the context of all that has come before, all that will come after, and all that was occuring at the same time. On top of this they are accompanied by the interpretation of the artist, critics, and viewers. Art is free to take on a meaning beyond itself - in so doing it becomes more than itself.
Yet art is only part of what makes up the price of the image. The dirty old market also plays a role. As the photograph was auctioned this meant that it was worth what anyone was prepared to pay for it. In fact, more precisely, it is worth slightly more than the amount that the person who wants and/or is able to pay second-most is prepared to pay for it. As such we might well assume that the image may be worth more than $4.7 million. But what drove the winner of the auction to pay that amount for it?
The first thing we might consider is that they liked the photograph for its importance as a piece of art - its extrinsic context and the meaning that people had imposed on it. While that's nice it probably doesn't do much in terms of setting a price. What we need next is some kind of an expectation about what a fair price might be. This can be informed by previous art purchases, previous records, and any number of other things - interestingly what we see here is the influence of context once again. Finally with the picture now having permission to be worth anything the auction contributes to the final price - with each successive bid the price that the item is permitted to have increases. With each successive bid someone takes ownership away from the previous bidder. With each successive bid a person who owned the item has had it taken away and is tempted to take it back for just that little bit more. Arguably the auction process may drift from the objective value of the photograph toward the emotional value of the pride of the bidder.
A combination of these factors (and certainly more) are what make the image 'worth' the money to the person who buys it. It is not so much what the image is that matters but what the image means that matters. While this may begin with some sort of artistic meaning it probably ends up with more of an emotional meaning. The owning of the image becomes more important than the image itself.
So, is the photo worth the price that was paid for it? On it's own probably not - but that is not relevant. This auction and this photograph were never about the combination of ink and paper. They were both always about something more.
This may have been where the group ended up as well. Again I don't know, I had to leave early.
What Follows is a combination of my notes, memory, and opinions from A Tonic 2011 - Some things may be inaccurate, misleading, or even missing - please feel free to point out any errors out or add your own voice in the comments section below.
David Oliver opened by reminding everyone of the importance of looking back on the great photographers who have gone before. Afterall without knowing where things have come from how can you know where you are going or even where you are? In particular he spent time pointing to David Moore Graham McCarter Lewis Morely He also talked about his own experience of working around other photographers and being open to the feedback that they provide. While he did mention feedback from mentors who he still seeks advice from one particular piece of feedback seemed to have stuck in his mind - a comment from an unnamed advertising photographer in a studio he used to work for:
"When are you going to show me a strong image?"
This comment, challenge, question, whatever you want to call it, seemed to serve as a springboard. While at the time he felt that his images were strong he later realised that a strong image is something that is truly special. In fact he suggests that he has only a handful of strong images from his photography career to date (one such image being the Balmoral). This lead to one of the key messages of his presentation
We are our images
Now, you might expect this to be fairly obvious to photographers who are employed by people to take photos or are paid for the photos that they take. However in a world full of marketing madness where style (spin) is often emphasised over substance (the product/images) it can be a surprisingly easy point to lose track of. In fact it has very important implications for us.
Strong images tell people who we are Strong images tell people a lot about our particular style. Importantly while clients may not neccesarily hire us to produce a strong image (they are more likely to hire us to produce nice or pretty images) strong images may be what brought them to us. importantly strong images can be ugly and identifying the difference between pretty images and strong images is an important exercise for any photographer. For me strong images have a power to create a strong emotion, desire, or drive within the viewer. Ideally a strong image will have this effect on any viewer, in some cases however it is necessary for the viewer to understand the context or story surrounding the image for this power to manifest. David gave an example of a wedding image which - in itself - was pretty but not powerful. However when paired with its backstory of extraordinary loss the picture came to show a form of strength/determination in the face of adversity that gave the image enormous emotional strength. Was this image strong? Not by itself - a point that he would revisit later.
Individual images can last a lifetime and keep bringing you work Self explanatory :)
Charity projects can give us exposure Charity projects raise awareness of causes and the photographers who shoot them. While you may not gain financially you do gain experience, understanding, and perspective.
Presentation matters If we are our images it makes sense to present our images in the best way that we can. Presentation on quality product - such as fibre-based/fine-art papers with Ultra Chrome ink - ensures that the images will last and provides an opportunity for split price points with increased profits. In fact presentation on these sorts of products can allow an image to be placed in sunlight for 6 years (maybe more) with no visible degradation in colour quality. Lab (Resin Coated (RC)) prints on the other hand would be lucky to last 3 years in the same conditions. In the shade RC prints can be expected to last 20 years or so while Ultra Chrom prints should last 100 years or more. To get equivalent performance from an RC print it would need to be kept in an album. Finally beware of what you put in front of your images. Glass can give images a green cast while perspex should not.
We capture luck
Yet with these points in mind a lot of what we do comes down to luck. Being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment to get the right shot. 2 examples of this were given. 1 involved the capturing of a strong photograph, the other an example of an iconic photograph. Yes, there is a difference.
Luck and a strong photograph The Balmoral - One of David's strong images - almost didn't happen. It was taken during a family portrait session with a spare frame on the end of a roll of film. David turned around, saw what he liked, and took the shot. While a number of people have tried to replicate the shot they have not been able to - this is because the shot is the result of a combination of factors that occurred by chance rather than design. In particular the presence of the mist in the photo - an event that is very uncommon in that area. This photograph was a product of being in the right place, at the right time, with the right equipment. As such it is a strong argument for always having your camera with you.
Luck and an iconic image Lewis Moorely took a nude photo of a prostitute - Christine Keeler - in the 1960s. The image was good but probably wouldn't have been strong enough to sell to your average punter on its own. However later it emerged that the prostitute's clients included KGB agents and a British minister. Lewis had the only nude shot and the image was printed everywhere. Through a little bit of luck the image had become iconic.
David's Keys To Survival
David's studio survived the crash of the 1980s and is in a good position to survive the current crash. How has he done this? The simplest summary of his answer is that he has achieved this by focussing on his clients.
No pressure selling David has avoided the advice of marketing gurus on the understanding that marketing gurus make money by selling ideas to photographers rather than selling photos to clients. If they have no experience doing what he does why should he listen to their advice? Rather than pressure clients into making purchases by threatening them with the deletion of files or sudden price spikes he leaves the clients along with printed 3x2 proofs and a pricelist. David then wanders off allowing them time to make their decision.
Focussing on quality products David also focuses on quality products. Arguably this focus reduces the need for further salesmanship on his behalf as clients can have faith in the fact that if they purchase something it will be worth the money that they are spending on it. This even extends to the sales session - he provides prints on paper as projected images are of a reduced quality.
Focussing on what the client wants David takes the time to understand what his clients want. He treats people as people rather than numbers being churned through a system. This makes people feel valued, ensures that they are happy with the work and leads into the next point.
Repeat Business and Referrals All of this together has lead to repeat business and referrals.
Inspiration Staying inspired is key. As photographers we are in a position where there is always more to be learnt - there will always be new things to look at and new ways of looking at them. This links back to the beginning - the benefit of looking back on the work of great photographers who have come before - but also links us to the present and the future. Look around you to see what other people are viewing and seeing. If you find a photograph that you like - buy it and frame it. It will become an investment - if it not a financial investment an investment in your continued inspiration.
Critically none of this has been tested scientifically. While he has received positive feedback from people who have implemented similar systems it is entirely possible that the change may be acting as something of a placebo. I implemented a change that I expect to work in such a way, therefore the change does work in such a way regardless of what the change actually is.
Final Tips and Thoughts
David also dropped a number of tips that don't fit easily into the sections above. These included:
SunCalc SunCalc is a web based app tied to google maps. It predicts the position of the sun and lays the information over a map of the area you intend to shoot in.
Wear a White shirt
This will provide a little bit of bounce and may give you some catch lights in your subject's eyes.
Avoid Flash
Flash kills faces.
Use your camera bag to secure your reflector
This provides an alternative to flash and can work quite well to fill in people's faces.
Film shooting was theatre
A key advantage of digital photography is the ability to take an endless number of shots with very little hassle. While this often leads to hell in the editing phase it has made also made the shoot itself less theatrical. Without the limitation of a roll or 2 of film there is no longer a need to pretend to adjust the lights in order to warm up a subject. While this does perhaps lead to a more honest version of photography does it also mean that something has been lost? Do we take less care in taking our images? Do our subjects feel that are getting less value through reduced fiddling?
Get the Film Look Back with Nik Software David loves the look that film grain and papers gave photographs. Nik software and Silverefex allow him to bring that look with him in the digital era. If you're also a fan of the film look give them a go and let us know your thoughts.
What follows is a combination of my notes, memory, and opinions from A Tonic 2011 - Some things may be inaccurate, misleading, or even missing - please feel free to point out any errors out or add your own voice in the comments section below. Critically this is a reduced version of what was presented. Any of Johannes unique content has been presented in brief only to acknowledge the time spent preparing the material and the value that can be obtained from future presentations.
Some points that were covered but are not covered here include:
The importance of story Detailed coverage and examples of how packaging signals value The unexpected consequences of winning awards
The ugly truth about brides Removing Ugliness
Johannes full list and definition of his style defining terms Detail around the types of clients you will encounter in a recessionary environment and how to market to them
Johannes solution to the architect/photographer search (what's important in photographers/architects)
Detail of how to recover from a setback like an earthquake Photographic examples used to illustrate points
If any of the above are likely to be helpful you may like to attend a future event or hire him as a speaker for an event you may be planning.
Johannes van Kan talk was media rich and heavily influenced by the impact that the Christchurch earthquake had on his business. While he stopped short of wishing an earthquake on everyone in the room he did suggest that it was an experience that could be beneficial to consider when planning your business. That being said things started on a lighter note with a wine tasting and viewing.
We Buy the Bottle, Not the Wine
The talk began with the room being split into two groups. One group were taken outside and shown 3 bottles of wine. the other group stayed inside and were given three glasses of wine. Both groups rated the expected price of each wine. The bottle group made their judgements solely based on the way the bottles looked. The wine glass group made their judgements based on the taste of the 3 wines. Differences in the expected prices unveiled some important lessons.
Bottle Viewers Gave Higher Prices than Wine Tasters
This is important because it shows the difference between having packaging and not having packaging. In this case any packaging was better than no packaging.
Only Bottle Viewers Could Reliably Differentiate the Wines
There are a few important points here. First is the fact that the packaging is more effective at signally how much something should be worth than the product itself. Second is the fact that most people were unable to tell the difference between the expensive and cheap wine. Why not? Participants were not experts - without knowing how to tell if the wine was good or bad people were unable to. This is directly relevant to photography. Most of our clients don't know what separates a good photo from a great photo. If we are sellling great photos we need to tell them (or, somewhat more deceptively, if we're selling good photos we can tell them our photos are great and they will believe us).
The take home message. Beware of the way you present yourself. What is your story? This, rather than your images, is what people will buy.
Awards - Are They Worthwhile?
Tying in nicely to this are the idea of awards. While awards can be expensive to enter they can also be beneficial. They bring clients a sense of reassurance in your quality and can also provide media exposure. However in order for them to be beneficial you must tell people about them, you must put them on your wine label.
Johannes also covered the unexpected consequences of winning an award and what this can mean for your business.
What is Beauty?
Similar to David's distinction between pretty images and strong images Johannes made the distinction between pretty images and beautiful images. Once again Johannes pointed out that a beautiful image did not need to contain a pretty subject (one could even go so far as to say it could contain an ugly subject) because beautiful and pretty were not the same thing. Johannes pointed to specific photographic examples to illustrate and clarify his point.
What is Ugliness?
Like beauty Johannes believes ugliness is not physical. He gave specific examples of where he believes it comes from and how you can address it when shooting.
Developing Your Own Style
While Style is an important selling point for any photography defining what style is can be difficult. While it is often spoken of as the way a photographer chooses to take photographs - covering everything from framing to equipment choices - Johannes, inspired by a talk by architect Daniel Libeskind, has come up with a few ideas opposing statements that may help pin this idea down. These included, but were not limited to
Emotion vs. Cool
Grace vs. Fashion
Love vs. Lust
Gen2.0 vs. Experience
While a few of these overlap the concepts that you value will influence the way you take photos and this will be part of what makes up your photographic style.
The Recession
The Environment
The recession has amplified an environment that had always existed. It consists of people who buy services (Clients) and the types of services (Essentials, Treats, Postponables, Expendables). For most people photography does not fall into the essentials category so it is important to understand how clients might classify photography in order to understand where we should focus our efforts.
The way to survive
The good news is that the recession isn't all bad news. Tough times inspire creativity, efficiency, and forward momentum while decreasing competition. The trick is going to be in avoiding the temptation to cut spending on advertising (thus reducing exposure, awareness, and business) or to enter a price war in order to win business that may end up being unprofitable or detrimental to your brand image and prevent recovery.
Remember Your Clients - Another lesson from Architects and the return of the wine Bottle
As previously mentioned Johannes business was hit hard by the earthquake. Their building was torn down and they needed to rebuild. This brought on the need for an architect which brought on the search. During this search Johannes was struck by the similarity between hiring an architect and hiring a photographer. Both professions are of an artistic nature, both involve a number of clues to who to choose and both sets of professionals are usually hired by people who know little about the industry. He outline the types of architects they met and the reasons why they did and didn't choose them. Ultimately this provides a great exercise for anyone to indulge in. Find something of an artistic nature that you know little about and attempt to hire the best candidate. What do you prioritise and why?
Ted's Words of Wisdom
Johannes made mention of videos from Ted a number of times and stressed the importance of their messages. They are included below for your viewing and listening pleasure. The Final tips and thoughts - things that didn't fit elsewhere - are included in the next section.
Be up front about pricing
People look for prices when they look for a photographer. Don't hide yours away, be open and honest about them. They form part of your wine bottle.
A Tonic was held by the NZIPP in association with Epson at the Jubilee Building in Parnell. It was intended to focus more on the business of photography than the practice of photography as suggested by its advertised title "A Tonic For Your Business".
The speakers were David Oliver and Johannes van Kan. David intended to cover printing fine art, the classic portrait taken on location, quirky landscapes, and life after wedding photography. Johannes intended to cover Working in the face of adversity, An important lesson on wine tasting, 10 great ideas I wish I had applied to my business but never got around to and The ugly truth about Brides.
If you have more than one phone that you want to connect to Orcon Genius you will need a multi adaptor similar to the one you use to attach multiple appliances to one powerpoint. This adaptor will need to connect to the Orcon Genius Base Unit (modem) rather than your normal telephone jackpoint.
Why?
If you're on Orcon Genius you are no longer using the phone network in the traditional manner. Your phone calls are now being put through the internet. This means that your phone must be connected to the the rest of the world via the Ocron Genius Base Unit (the modem) rather than your normal telephone jackpoints.
You will need an RJ12 double adaptor - this may be called a modular phone double adaptor in some cases.
If you are unable to find one of these you can use a BT double adaptor in conjunction with a BT-RJ12 adaptor. This will give you 2 BT jackpoints (normal telephone jackpoints) from your Orcon Genius Base Unit (modem). It won't look that pretty but it should work.
If you are connecting an old phone that connects directly to normal telephone jackpoints you may require a BT-RJ12 adapator. Click here to learn more
Should we still use lectures? This American RadioWorks program suggests not.
Once you get over the irony of an anti-1-hour-lecture radio presentation being 1 hour long and delivered vocally this is a solid and thought provoking documentary.
Part 1 - Do lectures work?
They make the distinction between learning how to solve problems and learning how to understand problems. It seems that lectures are a good means of getting people to learn how to solve problems (a good way to teach techniques) but less effective at getting people to understand ideas.
This was demonstrated by a test measuring conceptual understanding of physics at the start and end of a course. The increase in understanding was not very high in fact the increase in understanding was only around 14%.
Peer instruction has been proposed as an alternative. Here student participation is encouraged in a way similar to tutorials. Students are encouraged to discuss questions posed in class. By engaging with the question and trying to explain it the students become more involved and help each other understand through an imporved understanding of the position of a student - they are more familiar with the challenges that must be overcome in order to learn. It is not teaching by lecturing - it is teaching by questioning. The benefit? The learning benefits tripled.
This is the combination of a few things we know about.
- Working memory is limited
- Active learning is more effective than passive learning
- In fact passive learning doesn't really work
However in order for peer instruction to work students need to come to class with some understanding of what will be discussed. As such they are required to read the material before coming to class. How is this encouraged? Through the creation of online quizzes that are also used to guide the questions that will be used in class. In fact classes are created from the responses to a final question - what did you find the most difficult to understand?
So if lectures don't work why are they still around?
It's the way it has always been
Teaching is not viewed as important by Universities - Your research is important, you just need to able to get by with your teaching
Teaching is not often discussed by Academics - it is seen as an individual exercise
The combination of these factors limits and discourages innovation and improvement.
Part 2 - The college without lectures
University of Minnesota Rochester
An institution focussed on learning. Knowledge and the way it is being transmitted and used is changing so our structures for learning must also change. Students here sign releases on enrolment allowing the university to perform research on them. The research focuses on what works in teaching and all academic research staff are required to research what is and isn't working in their courses.
People learn when they're motivated to learn. A key part of this involves making connections. Connection here takes a number of meanings. In particular classes become connected. They cover similar content from different areas. For example biology, ethics, and writing. In fact teachers from one class can attend the others. This is a movement away from the Las Vegas model of courses - a move away from the idea that what goes on in this course stays in this course only.
Oddly there is a form of self selection bias occurring here in terms of the type of students they are taking on. The unique structure may make the results coming out of UMR harder to compare to other places. These may be a special type of student.
If you have ever wondered how a digital camera works this is a great introductory video. It shows you how a dSLR works including a clear demonstration of the role of the mirror and the prism. Importantly while it does mention the aperture, shutter, and sensor it does not go into detail about how these elements can be manipulated to acheive the desired level of exposure.
