Professional photographer 2008 01

JANUARY 2008 | WWW.PPMAG.COM | $4.95

Faithful color. Incredible latitude. An effortless workflow. Even the photographers will be throwing bouquets.

In a digital age, is it possible to have a renaissance in film? After using Fujicolor Pro 400H for the shot above, Jose Villa emphatically says, yes. “I love the soft tones that this film provides. Even though the lighting is flat in this image, Pro 400H allowed me to capture smooth, soft gradations from highlight to shadow and keep the skin tones natural as well." What’s more, since Fujicolor Pro 400H is designed for ultimate compatibility in today's digital workflow, it offers ease of use after the shoot. For a wedding photographer as busy as Jose, that’s a proposal that’s difficult to resist.

Jose Villa

©2007 FUJIFILM U.S.A., Inc.

©2007 Jose Villa Fujifilm Pro 400H 220 Format

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER | JANUARY 2008

CONTENTSSENSE & SENSIBILITYFor Kevin Kubota success came bylistening to both head and heart

by Jeff Kent

OUT ON THE TABLE John Harrington shares everything he haslearned about business—and leaves nothing out

by Jeff Kent

A MASTER’S MASTER PPA’s 2008 Lifetime AchievementAward honors Frank E. Cricchio

by Don Dickson

POOLS OF LIGHT Howard Schatz and his remarkable life aquatic

by Stephanie Boozer

WEDDINGS: RISING STARS

JB & DeEtte Sallee soar into the wedding photography stratosphere

by Jeff Kent

PORTRAITS: ONE STEP AHEAD

Frank Donnino changes with the times

by Jeff Kent

WEDDINGS: FRONT PAGE NEWS

Cliff Mautner is hot on the trail of blushing brides

by Stephanie Boozer

NATURE: CHILLING EFFECT

James Balog documents the accelerating glacial pace

by Jeff Kent

WEDDINGS: BUILDING BACK

In post-Katrina New Orleans, John-Michael Hannanbuilds anew

by Lorna Gentry

IMAGE BY HOWARD SCHATZ

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132

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112

Features

DepartmentsCONTACT SHEET

18 PIX Digital Imaging Contest

22 PPA & SEP sweepstakes winner

27 Candid camera

29 New photo books

32 What makes a photographyWeb site great?

PROFIT CENTER

37 What I think: Frank Cricchio

38 The joy of marketing by Sarah Petty

42 Finding the boutique clientby Sara Frances

46 Raising the bar: Blake Discherby Jeff Kent

THE GOODS

51 What I like: Frank Donnino

52 Pro review: Olympus E-3by Joe Farace

58 Workflow: Freestyle shootingby David Jay

66 Print finishing: Grand finaleby Bryan Linden

70 Tutorial: Time-saving Lightroom presetsby Kevin Kubota

ON THE COVER: Taken in a pool customdesigned for underwater photography, in crystal clear water regulated for chemistry andtemperature, Howard Schatz's images mesmerizethe viewer with dancers' ethereal expression in a weightless world. Fashion designer Betsey Johnson loaned this fanciful dress for“Underwater Study 2615,” one of the images fromSchatz's newest book, “H2O.” Exposure: 1/125second at f/4.0, ISO 50.

6 • www.ppmag.com

14 FOLIO

156 CALENDAR

163 PPA TODAY

186 GOOD WORKSPROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER | JANUARY 2008 | WWW.PPMAG.COM

During his tenure with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cliff Mautner learned

to judge the moment and find the light. He captures the essence of who the couple is,

allowing it to come out naturally, but rendered through his artistic interpretation.

©C

liff Maunter

CONTENTS

88

Mind. Body.

whcc-1stspread.indd 2 11/30/07 2:44:39 PM

Photography.A Picture-Perfect Relationship

Sign up for a weekend retreat!

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director of sales and strategic alliancesSCOTT HERSH, 610-966-2466, [email protected]

western region ad managerBART ENGELS, 847-854-8182, [email protected]

eastern region ad managerSHELLIE JOHNSON, 404-522-8600, x279, [email protected]

circulation consultant MOLLIE O’SHEA, [email protected]

editorial officesProfessional 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.commember 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 60076Copyright 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 PPAPublications 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 expressedby Professional Photographer or any of its authors do not necessarily reflect positions ofProfessional Photographers of America, Inc. Professional Photographer, official journal of theProfessional Photographers of America, Inc., is the oldest exclusively professional photographicpublication in the Western Hemisphere (founded 1907 by Charles Abel, Hon.M.Photog.), incorporatingAbel’s Photographic Weekly, St. Louis & Canadian Photographer, The Commercial Photographer,The National Photographer, Professional Photographer, andProfessional Photographer Storytellers. Circulation audited andverified by BPA Worldwide

10 • www.ppmag.com

PROFESSIONAL

senior editorJOAN [email protected]

features editorLESLIE HUNT

[email protected]

editor-at-largeJEFF KENT

[email protected]

art director/production managerDEBBIE TODD

[email protected]

manager, publications andsales/strategic alliances

KARISA [email protected]

sales and marketing assistantCHERYL [email protected]

EDITORIAL

The masterEARNING THE ULTIMATE MERIT BADGE

We’re honored this month to feature in our pages the “master’s

master,” Frank E. Cricchio, M.Photog.Cr., Hon.M.Photog., CPP,

F-ASP, Hon.F-ASP, a member of the Cameracraftsmen of America.

Cricchio, a past president of Professional Photographers of America

(PPA) as well as the American Society of Photographers, took his

first image in 1944 with a Sparta box camera, and opened his first

studio of photography in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1958.

Cricchio also holds a record that many have tried, but so far

failed, to top. Through the PPA Merit and Degree Program, launched

in 1937, member photographers earn merits toward PPA degrees for

their professional achievements and their contributions to furthering

the photographic education of others. Merits are awarded when a

member takes PPA-sanctioned classes to advance his skills and

business acumen, creates images that become part of the PPA Loan

Collection, has images and/or articles published in Professional

Photographer magazine, and educates other photographers through

speaking and presenting seminars at PPA and affiliated events.

In 1998, Cricchio became the first person to earn more than

1,000 merits—1,192 of them to date—and he continues to make

tremendous contributions not only to the association, but the whole

of the photographic industry.

This year, the PPA Board of Directors confers the 2008 Lifetime

Achievement Award on Frank Cricchio, honoring a career of creative

image-making, his professionalism and tireless contribution to

educating and enriching fellow photographers. Turn to p. 132 for

our interview with Cricchio.

BIG TIME

Finally, a nod to this issue, our Imaging USA show special, and our

biggest magazine ever. We hope you enjoy it, and please pass it on

to anyone you know who’s just starting out in professional

photography. We hope it will serve as a useful introduction for the

photographers coming into our ever-growing industry. �

Cameron Bishopp,

Director of Publications

[email protected]

technical editorsANDREW RODNEY, ELLIS VENER

director of publicationsCAMERON BISHOPP

[email protected]

Professional Photographers of America229 Peachtree St., NE, Suite 2200Atlanta, GA 30303-1608404-522-8600; 800-786-6277FAX: 404-614-6400www.ppa.com

2007-2008 PPA board

president*JACK REZNICKICr.Photog., [email protected]

president-elect*DENNIS CRAFT M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, [email protected]

vice-president/treasurer*RONALD NICHOLSM.Photog.Cr., [email protected]

chairman of the board*MICHAEL GLEN TAYLORM.Photog.Cr.Hon.M.Photog.,API, [email protected]

directorsRONNIE NORTON ABI, Qualified EuropeanPhotographer, Associate of the Irish [email protected]

LOUIS TONSMEIRE Cr.Photog., [email protected]

DON DICKSONM.Photog.Cr., [email protected]

SANDY PUC’ M.Photog.Cr., CPP, [email protected]

RALPH ROMAGUERA, SR.M.Photog.Cr., CPP, API, [email protected]

CAROL ANDREWSM.Photog.Cr., [email protected]

SUSAN MICHALM.Photog.Cr., CPP, [email protected]

TIMOTHY WALDENM.Photog.Cr., [email protected]

industry advisorMICHAEL [email protected]

legal counselHowe and Hutton, Chicago

PPA staffDAVID TRUST Chief Executive Officer [email protected]

SCOTT KURKIANChief Financial [email protected]

CAMERON BISHOPP Director of [email protected]

DANA GROVES Director of Marketing &[email protected]

SCOTT HERSHDirector of Sales & Strategic [email protected]

J. ALEXANDER HOPPERDirector of Membership,Copyright and [email protected]

WILDA OKEN Director of [email protected]

LENORE TAFFEL Director of Events/[email protected]

*Executive Committee of the Board

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Albums | High-End Cards | Press Printed Books | Gallery Wraps | Professional Printing | Online Presentation

©2008 Collages.net Inc. All rights reserved. Photo ©2008 More Than An Image Photography.

Collages.net press printed books are made from the highest quality materials and provide the industry’s fi nest presentation. They are available in a wide variety of convenient sizes and creative color and border options, for any of your studio needs.

For more information, visit www.collages.net/books or contact Customer Service at (877) 638-7468 or [email protected].

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folio| Comprising images selected from the files of the PPA Loan Collection, Folio is a monthly sample ofaward-winning photography by PPA members. The Loan Collection is a select group of some 500photographs chosen annually by the PPA print judges from more than 5,000 entries.

STAN JONESWhile visiting Babcock State Park in West Virginia, Stan Jones, M.Photog., of S&NPhotography in Cave City, Ky., fulfilled a longtime wish to photograph this unique spot.Taking advantage of the early morning light, Jones exposed “Glade Creek Falls” for 4 secondsat f/16, ISO 100, with a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital SLR and 24-70mm Canon f/2.8 L EFlens with a circular polarizer. He used Adobe Photoshop to perform minor color correction.

©Stan Jones

TIM MATHIESENTim Mathiesen, M.Photog.Cr., A-ASP, F-ASP, ofPanoscenes.com in Laguna Niguel, Calif., couldn’tresist the urge to capture this breathtakingsunset over Moloki Island in Hawaii. Shootingwith a Fujifilm Panorama GX617 Professionalcamera and 105mm Fujinon SW f/8 lens with acenter filter, Mathiesen exposed Fujichrome Astia100F film for 1/15 second at f/16 to create “JustAnother Sunset in Paradise.” “Sunsets in Hawaiiare legendary,” says Mathiesen. “This one lookedlike nothing would happen, then turnedspectacular in just a few minutes.”

BOB HAWKINS“Anyone who knows my work knows I love

character studies,” says Bob Hawkins,M.Photog.MEI.Cr., CPP, of Bob Hawkins Studio inNewton, Iowa. “I like to get their story, where thejourney of life has taken them.” Using nothing buta Larson 4x6-foot silver reflector to bounce light

from a window, Hawkins captured “Etched byTime” with a Canon EOS-1Ds digital SLR and 70-

200mm Canon f/2.8 L USM EF lens. Heconverted the image to black and white in Adobe

Photoshop, adjusted the contrast and density, andapplied a weathered wood overlay to add texture.

©Bob Hawkins

©Tim Mathiesen

Three new cameras designed to inspire. Starting with the totally new 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 newly redesigned 10.1-megapixel EOS 40D lets photographers take the next leap

forward, with its DiG!C III Image Processor and 6.5 frames-per-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.

©2007 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.

To get more inspired about the Canon EOS system, go to: www.usa.canon.com/dlc

Enter the “Why Do You Love Football” Photo Contest at www.usa.canon.com/nfl for a chance to win a trip to Super Bowl XLII. Contest ends 12/2/07.

CONTACT SHEETWhat’s New, Events, Hot Products, Great Ideas, Etc.


©Greg Sims

Let’s get

digitalPIX Digital Imaging Contest Thirteen highlights 2007’s best

©Michel Tcherevkoff

Sponsored by Photo District News magazine,

the annual PIX Digital Imaging Contest recog-

nizes special achievement in digital photogra-

phy in several categories. Winning images are

determined not only by the technical profi-

ciency they reflect, but also by such universal

photographic principles as imagination, vision

and collaborative effort. The PIX contest is

an opportunity to acknowledge the digital

techs, CGI artists, retouchers and other

digital artists who labor behind the scenes.

The first place winners of PIX Digital

Imaging Contest Thirteen are, by category:

Advertising Campaign: Hasnain Dattu

and Stephen Cribben for their collaboration

on “We See What Most Don’t,” a campaign

for the Salvation Army.

Portraits/Celebs/Music: Michael O’Brien

for the “Tom Waits Series,” depicting the

musician in a variety of scenes for his new

album, “Orphans.”

Travel/Lifestyle: Tony Gale for “Night,”

nightscapes of public recreation spaces shot

on film then scanned for digital editing.

Fashion/Beauty: Michel Tcherevkoff for

“Shoe Fleur,” a collection of shoes and acces-

sories made entirely from botanical elements.

Personal Work: Jim McHugh for the

“Hotel Series,” a project inspired by the

preservation of Los Angeles buildings.

New Talent: Sean Teegarden for “True

Character,” a portrait series in which

Teegarden made the distinguishing

characteristics—what some would call

flaws—of his subjects vividly apparent.

The PIX contest judges were Brian Storm

of MediaStorm; Dave Lewis of Fallon

Worldwide; Marin Preske of Surface magazine;

Katrin Eismann, digital photography author

and instructor at the School of Visual Arts;

and Martin Bols of [zerone] Photo Retouching.

For more information on the awards, visitwww.pdngallery.com/contests/pixdigital/2007.

January 2008 • Professional Photographer • 19

©Sean Teegarden

Opposite page, top and left: Greg Sims' "Lemonade Stand," was merited in the Advertising category.Michel Tcherevkoff's "Shoe Fleur," was First in Fashion/Beauty. Above: Sean Teegarden's "TrueCharacter" series was first in New Talent.

Roman Cooper from Saginaw, Mich., is the first

winner of the 2007 Graduate in the Driver’s

Seat Sweepstakes, sponsored by Professional

Photographers of America (PPA) and the

Society of Sport & Event Photographers (SEP).

Cooper entered the sweepstakes at Hicks

Studio of Saginaw, owned by Randall

Tucker, CPP. He chose to take home the cash

equivalent of a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara.

Hicks Studio participated in the national

sweepstakes by joining the PPA/SEP Sweep-

stakes Marketing Cooperative member

program. Along with the Graduate in the

Driver’s Seat Sweepstakes, PPA and SEP

also sponsored two more give-aways, the

Family Destination: Disney Sweepstakes and

Escape to Paradise Cruise Sweepstakes. The

winners of both will be announced this month.

This exclusive new member-only benefit

enables photographers to participate in a

profit-building sweepstakes promotion with

high-value prizes that they couldn’t offer on

their own.

PPA and SEP members can still join the

2008 Sweepstakes Marketing co-op and

give their own clients the chance to win

fabulous prizes. Find out more at Imaging

USA in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8, or online

at www.ImageSweepstakes.com.

CONTACT SHEET


Sweepstakes winnerPPA and SEP members-only Sweepstakes Marketing Co-op pays off


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Nearly every aspect of the digital generation’s

lives is online, in photographs, and fair game

—even the typically private moment between

couples when marriage is proposed. Would-be

grooms are hiring professional photographers

to secretly photograph them on bended knee

popping the question to their unsuspecting girl-

friends, who also have no idea a lens is trained

on their priceless (and, hopefully, positive)

reaction. In a trend that’s picking up traction,

photographers are documenting couples’

lives from “Will you marry me?” to “I do.”

New York wedding photographer Terry

deRoy Gruber, who photographed the wedding

of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones,

is in the vanguard of pre-engagement photogra-

phy. Since 1999 Gruber has been all over

Manhattan covertly photographing proposals

from Central Park to rooftops and the Brooklyn

Bridge. “Public places are often best, but there

is always the chance that someone will walk in

front of the camera at ‘the moment’ and obscure

the view. We do the best we can, but when we’re

in a public spot we can’t control everything.”

It’s a bit easier to pull off paparazzi

photography in a restaurant, he says. For

outdoor proposals, Casey Fatchett, also a

New York wedding photographer,

recommends daylight or at least a well-lit

area. “I once had a client who took his

girlfriend to Columbus Circle to propose,” he

says. “I text messaged him to move her

closer to the fountain where the light was

better. As we messaged back and forth, he

told her he was he was messaging for work,

but afterward she said she was beginning to

wonder if there was another woman.”

Price depends on the arrangements, which

can range from a photographer simply dressed

as a tourist with a camera to elaborately con-

cocted pretexts. Terry Gruber has hired people

to pretend to pose with their dogs in Central

Park for a photographer who is actually

shooting over their shoulder to capture the

proposal-in-progress behind them. “It’s a bit

like a duck blind,” he says. For about an hour’s

time, Gruber charges $750 and up, and

Casey Fatchett’s prices begin at $295. Each

photographer books about a dozen a year.

Equipment depends on the job. Gruber

uses Rolleiflexes, 35mm film and digital

cameras with 200-400mm lenses, and

Widelux panoramic cameras “in order to

give a sense of setting,” he says. If Casey

Fatchett is trying to blend into a crowd, he

uses either a 70-200mm f/2.8 lens or a 28-

105mm f/2.8 lens on his digital camera.

One of Fatchett’s ruses is pretending to be a

street photographer at a predetermined loca-

tion. “It helps that I came to New York to be

an actor,” he says. “This type of photography

let’s you live out a spy fantasy, following people

around paparazzi-esque, shooting out windows

and taxis. It’s fun and it’s always different.”

To see more of Terry deRoy Gruber’s photogra-phy, visit www.gruberphotographers.com. Tosee more of Casey Fatchett’s photographyvisit www.fatchett.com.

Lorna Gentry is a freelance writer in Atlanta.

CONTACT SHEET

©Gruber Photographers

Candid cameraCapturing the moment she says, “Yes.” BY LORNA GENTRY

Photo by Casey Fatchett


162 supermonday.indd 1 12/5/07 1:05:00 PM

PagesA survey of photo books

Rob Gardiner, editor of the online PhotoBook

Guide (www.photobookguide.com), cites five

noteworthy books on photography rolling

off the presses this month.

“The Brown Sisters: Thirty-three Years,”

by Nicholas Nixon (The Museum of Modern

Art, $34.95). For each of the last 33 years

Nicholas Nixon has photographed a group por-

trait of his wife and her three sisters. This book

presents all 33 portraits, including eight taken

since the out-of-print 1999 edition. To witness

the progression of these portraits, through

marriages and pregnancies, is to encounter the

courage and dedication of family experience.

“Vinter,” by Lars Tunbjörk (Steidl/ Swedish

Books, $50). Lars Tunbjörk's latest fascinating

exploits find him traveling through the cold,

dark aura of a northern Scandinavian winter.

These bittersweet scenes will echo with

readers everywhere.

“This is War!: Robert Capa Photographs

1936–1945 (Steidl, $74). Robert Capa captured

photos of destruction and liberation that have

become icons of war. This book takes a detailed

look at many of those famous images, including

the “Falling Soldier” and D-Day invasion,

using historical documents to illustrate the

stories behind both Capa and his photographs.

“American Sports, 1970: Or How We

Spent the War in Vietnam,” by Tod Papageorge

(Aperture). This photo book by Tod Papageorge,

an enormously influential photographer and

teacher, captures the jingoism of America in

the 1970s through a wide-angle lens.

Crowds of spectators at sporting events form

eerie evidence of a nation embroiled in war.

“Magnum Magnum,” edited by Brigitte

Lardinois (Thames and Hudson, $225). Since

1947, Magnum Photos has chronicled the

major events and personalities that shape

our time. This massive tome of more than

400 photographs marks Magnum’s sixtieth

anniversary. True to its cooperative heart,

each Magnum photographer has featured

the work of another of its 69 members.


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Brett ChisholmBrett Chisholm Photography

Houston


Contact Customer Service at (877) 638-7468 or [email protected].

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CONTACT SHEET

A great Web site is one that gets you the

quality and quantity of work that you

want. In the current age of technology, a

high-quality portfolio Web site is essential

for a professional photographer because in

many cases, your Web site is also your

potential clients’ first impression of you

and your work.

The first and arguably most important

aspect of your site are the images—make

sure they load quickly and are displayed

large. Beyond your imagery, here are five

key components: unique and consistent

branding, easy to use navigation, updated

content, search engine optimization and

clear, easy to find contact information. All

of these contribute to ensuring your Web

site is working to market your business.

1. A distinct and consistent brand

identity. Your Web site is a primary means

to establish your brand and distinguish

yourself. Through the selection of your

images, use of color, typography, logos and

graphics, and even music, you have the

opportunity to create your own unique

brand. Consistent branding throughout

your site shows the attention to detail and

the level of professionalism you bring to

your business.

In the worlds of portrait and wedding

photography, your personality—and that

of your brand—may be as important as

your images to your potential client’s

decision. Customers often look for a brand

and images that they connect with on an

emotional level.

2. Intuitive navigation. Navigating your

site shouldn’t be a challenge. An intuitive

navigation scheme helps visitors explore

your site without experiencing frustration.

With a glance they should understand how

to navigate your site and access the content

What makes a photography Web site great?5 important content and design basics BY TRICIA GELLMAN HOLMES

Your Web site is often a client's firstimpression. You need a distinct brand identity,as John Sibiliski's site illustrates (left).


they want to see. Your choice of readable

fonts is also key to ease of navigation.

Ornate or highly stylized fonts should be

used very selectively. Clearly identified menu

items enable visitors to quickly find the

pages they are most interested in. Easy-to-

navigate portfolios make visitors want to

explore them fully. The right navigation

makes your Web site inviting and will

increase the amount of content potential

clients view.

3. Updated content. Keep it fresh. A Web

site that changes regularly provides an

incentive for visitors to come back again. A

site that is frequently refreshed tells

prospective clients that you are actively

working and also technically astute. And

having a Web site solution that allows for

easy updating without complicated

programming is key to keeping your Web

site current without taking away from your

time to shoot.

4. Image size and download speed. Your

Web site should showcase your work first

and foremost, not distract people from it.

Let your images take up most of the viewing

area so the rest of your Web site design isn’t

competing for attention. Faster download

speed helps visitors have a better experience

overall. Finding the right balance between

high quality and low file size is essential.

Too far in one direction and your photos

will appear slowly on a visitors’ screen, and

too far in the other gets you fast-loading

photos that don’t reflect the quality of

your work.

5. Clear contact information. A clear

contact page is one of the easiest ways to

increase business. Make sure that after

visitors have explored your Web site they

have an easy way to become your clients.

Have a page where visitors can find out

where you are located and access your

contact information, including your address,

phone number, and e-mail address. Make

the page clickable with hot links to your

e-mail or a request for more information, so

it’s easy for potential clients to get in touch

with you.

Features such as these add value to your

site and make it a resource for clients and

potential clients. A well-designed and easy-

to-use Web site will dramatically increase

the amount of business you generate while

giving you more time and energy to spend

on your work.

Tricia Gellman Holmes is vice president ofmarketing for liveBooks, a provider of cus-tomized portfolio Web sites and marketingsoftware for professional photographers.


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Professional Photographer P R E S E N T S Business, Marketing and Sales Strategies

What I thinkFrank Cricchio prioritizedprofessionalism for 50 years

What advice would you give to someone who is just

beginning in the photography business? Know the

technical skills that enable you to give your client the

best product in the industry. Having technical skills

enables you to go further with your artistic vision.

What’s the biggest business risk you’ve ever

taken? My biggest risk was embracing color

photography when we had only black and white.

Families wanted matching images of their

children, and black and white mixed with color

images was not acceptable.

What do you consider your big break—the turning

point? The introduction of color photography in

1958. Before color photography, the old masters

kept their quality processes secret and did not share

with others. When color photography was introduced,

everyone was on a level playing field. All of us had

to start from step one to learn color, from

processing to the art of using color in an image.

What’s the secret to running a successful photogra-

phy business? The secret to any personal service

business is to care more about your customers’

needs than your profits. You must become involved

in your community. Your professional image should

be impeccable. You should always dress profes-

sionally and behave professionally. When the phone

rings, always answer it with a smile in your voice.

IMAGE BY FRANK CRICCHIO

WWW.FRANKCRICCHIO.COM

To be successful in business, you must do

things that give you visibility and build your

brand all year long. To be a leader in your

market requires doing even more, things

that knock the socks off clients and prospects.

Once a year, every business should throw an

event that creates massive buzz. Think of it

as a party to celebrate your clients.

The event must be exciting, enticing and

inspiring. People don’t want to come to your

business to hear a sales pitch, they want to

be stimulated. Now’s your opportunity to

wow them with your creativity.

One of the best reasons to host an event

is to bring in people during a slow time,

which often for photography studios is the

first quarter of the year. You can use an event

not only to create buzz, but also to book sessions

during typical lulls. When it comes to having

successful events, Vicki Taufer, M.Photog.,

CPP, and husband Jed Taufer, owners of

VGallery in Morton, Ill., are some of the

best. VGallery has had a Girls Night Out

event every winter for eight years. They

invite vendors who appeal to women or who

have a unique product to set up in their

studio during the event. They give each

attendee a gift bag stuffed full of goodies

from these companies—really great goodies

like product samples, not just coupons.

Known for putting on events worth going

to, the Taufers launched another successful

event, Dog (and Cat) Days of Summer.

Promoted solely with an e-mail blast, the

event was fully booked in 24 hours. The 30

to 40 animals they’d planned to photograph

grew to 120. The event’s sales were fantastic,

and as part of the promotion, raised enough

money to contribute 125 bags of pet food to


Successful studio events can generate buzz,heighten visibility and build brand for yourbusiness. Here are 12 tips for a great party.

Host with the most12 IDEAS FOR THROWING AN ANNUAL EVENT

SARAH PETTY, CPPTHE JOY OF MARKETINGTM

Vicki and Jed Taufer's Dog (and Cat) Days ofSummer event generated a fantastic response andgreat press for Vgallery and animal charities.

All photos ©

Vicki Taufer

animal charities. Three newspapers covered

the event, and one quoted Vicki Taufer: “We

have run specials for children over the years

and have never seen a response like this.

People love their children, but they must

really love their pets.” The event generated

both buzz and revenue, and positioned

VGallery in a segment of the market they

had not yet tapped, pet photography.

Hosting an event can be stressful when

you’re new at it. I hope these tips from my

own experience will help you create a

smashing success.

SELECT A THEME. Whether it’s a playful

tagline or an extravagant design, your event

needs consistency. Use the same theme and

design elements on the invitations, signage,

nametags, packaging, ads and anything else

you use to promote this event. This is one

time you can go crazy with fresh looks, but

the theme should be consistent with your

identity. Whatever the look, do not tamper

with your logo.

POLISH YOUR STUDIO like never before.

Repair any nicks and get rid of anything

unattractive or dated. Give the place a fresh

coat of paint. When I worked at an advertising

agency, a client company rebuilt the front

room displays in its hair salon and day spa

every six to eight weeks. Our clients knew it

would increase sales of add-on products

because it was timed with the visiting cycle of

the typical customer, so she’d see something

new every time she came, yet would still feel at

home there. Photographers should reenergize

A great goodie bag goes a long way in creating buzz.

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their studio at least once a year, and having

an event with lots of “guests” is a great

motivator to do it.

TIE-IN WITH A CHARITABLE CAUSE.

We always find a way to generate funds for a

charity we believe in. For example, we can con-

tribute the event’s session fees to the charity

and say so in our promotions. Clients get both

a tangible product and emotional satisfaction.

It’s a wonderful feeling to help others and it

creates goodwill in the community.

INTRODUCE SOMETHING NEW. People

look to you as a leader in style and design. They

want to see what’s fabulous and new. Maybe

it’s a canvas gallery wrap framed with stirring

words, or a line of custom art books, or a

new metallic media or a unique frame. New

products plant seeds for future session sales.

PROVIDE A GUESTBOOK. Your database

is one of your most important assets. Make sure

you capture the names of everyone attending

your event and add the newcomers to your

database. You can also collect new names

and updates with register-to-win studio gift

certificates. You could have people register

to win a television set or other unrelated

prizes, but you gain an opportunity for

additional sales if the reward is a sitting.

OFFER BEVERAGES AND ENTICING

SNACKS. Pastries, hors d’oeuvres, soda and

even adult beverages for evening events can

stimulate conversations and make people

comfortable in your setting. Make sure the

time of your event accommodates different

lifestyles. Stay-at-home moms are usually


THE JOY OF MARKETINGTM

If you’ve recently changed the name or

logo of your business, an event is an

opportunity to keep people attached to

your brand. When you make major

changes to your business, people want to

know that they are positive changes.

If you just opened your first retail

studio space, have expanded or changed

location, everybody is curious to see your

new space. Make every detail perfect and

celebrate with everyone you know.

If you transition from proofs to projec-

tion, an event can help educate clients on

how it benefits them. Set up a projector

and show large images with music. It will

give you a chance to explain how you can

shoot more, how you can help them with

framing and in-home design and more.

Events bring traffic during slow times.

Planning an event allows you to be

proactive and boosts the cash flow.

Generating money for a favorite charity

not only feels good, but also makes people

feel good about you. It would be hard for

many of us to donate $2,500 to a charity

out of our own pocket, but if we can do it

through our business, how wonderful is that!

When you want to overcome objections,

an event can be the solution. Have you ever

heard, “We don’t want our home to be a

shrine to our kids.”? Because my clients

purchase large wall portraits, they sometimes

have concerns that they’ll run out of space.

I want them to come to my own home and

see how to decorate with artful portraits of

one’s family. Right before Christmas, I

hosted a holiday open house at my home.

Welcoming my best clients into my home

strengthened the bond between us.

If you are expanding your services,

an event can be a catalyst for growth.

For example, if you are starting to offer

senior photography, plan something

exciting to get seniors to come see

your cool space.

Even if you don’t have a specific

reason to stage an event, throw a fun

party and hang out with the people who

love your photography the most. Make

hosting an event a goal for your business

in the new year.

THERE’S ALWAYS A REASON TO HAVE A PARTY

Color scheme and design should be fresh andsuit the theme, but still consistent with yourstudio's brand and identity.

available until the kids get home from

school, and working parents like to come

right after work. Yes, 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. is

a long time, but heck, you’ve done all the

work, the more the merrier.

FREE GIFT FOR EVERYONE. I strongly

advise studios to invest in an impressive

promotional item. Coffee mugs and pens just

don’t cut it anymore. I have given offset-

printed custom calendars housed in CD

jewel cases. Twelve sheets of paper fit nicely;

turn over the calendar and there’s a second

year. Our art will be sitting in front of the

client for two years after the event. At the

Dog Days of Summer, VGallery gave visitors

gift bags donated by a local bakery holding

custom-made VGallery dog biscuits.

BE GENEROUS. We produce hundreds

more calendars than we’ll need for the event.

I give several copies to everyone whose child

was featured in it—we like to use some of

our best clients as models—and they delight

in passing them along to friends.

PROSPECT FOR NEW CLIENTS. Target

ads and announcements at select neighbor-

hoods, groups or organizations to stir up

new business.

CONSIDER CO-MARKETING. For example,

if you specialize in children’s photography,

you could photograph select clients of children’s

clothing shops in town and display them in

a unique way during your event. Build

goodwill with the store by inviting everyone

on the clothing store’s mailing list.

INVITE FRIENDS AND FAMILY. It’s smart

to invite the people who care about you. It helps

fill your studio, which makes it seem more

exciting, and because they want to see you

succeed, they’re some of your best salespeople.

GENERATE PUBLICITY AND MAXIMIZE

EXPOSURE. Because you’re generating

money for chairty, your event is newsworthy.

Not only should you send a press release,

but on the day of the event, take the time to

make phone calls to the targeted reporters

at the newspaper and television stations.

One thing about events: there are no

guarantees, warns Vicki Taufer. “You can’t

control things like weather or other events

that might be taking place at the same time

as yours. Remember that events typically

grow each year, so don’t get frustrated if you

don’t have a huge turnout for your first. On

the other hand, we know photographers who’ve

had 400 people at their first event.” �


This is the first in a year-long

series about the boutique studio business

model. The series will appear in the Web

Exclusives section at www.ppmag.com.

Where can you find the clients for fine com-

missioned photography who won’t be

stricken with sticker shock? Demographic

information alone won’t help you. We’ve all

experienced the low-income wedding client

who pays cash for the most expensive package

and the Lexus-driving bride who values

status more than high-quality photography.

As for party consultants, an obvious referral

source, they often expect a sizable commis-

sion and listing fees as well.

A boutique cannot afford to work with

unprofitable, time-consuming clients. The

wrong client can even damage your business

reputation. Last year, to fill a post-Christmas

lull, I took on a bat mitzvah hosted by the owner

of a public relations firm. I saw the potential

for a valuable commercial relationship. The

budget was small, but the request for “nothing

special, just photos” looked easy and profitable.

But it took 60 days to close the deal, the retainer

check bounced, as did the final payment, and

a huge snowstorm almost doubled the time we

spent on the job. Group photos for 20 disinte-

grated into chaos, as some 50 people milled

around with pre-dinner drinks, getting in the

way and distracting the subjects. These were

not the clients for my studio. The boutique

photographer deals with relatively few clients

a year, so he has to recognize and turn down

the uncommitted client.

We recently had the privilege of photo-

graphing a couple at their country club wed-

ding. All the decision-making parties came

to the studio for the first consultation. They

judged the quality of our product based on

their appreciation of fine arts and our willing-

ness to brainstorm special ways to approach

their needs. It was unnecessary to educate them

PROFIT CENTER SARA FRANCES, M.PHOTOG.CR.

The boutique photographer, a franchise of one

Finding the boutique client


The clients we desire want to knowthe spirit of the people they workwith, so we post photos of ourselveson our Web site doing all kinds ofjobs. The boutique model is anappearance business, and everythingabout us is critical as a sales tool.

©Eddie Tapp

on the fine points that make our studio differ-

ent. They booked a $20,000 still and video

package on the spot. It’s been a joy to work

with them as the job progresses. It’s worth

the extra effort to find a handful of such clients!

One way to simplify your search for the right

client is to hire a professional coach or advisor,

who can help you formulate a step-by-step

playbook, a guide that defines the desired

client, helps you find her, leads you through

selling and contracts, and helps you close at

least seven out of 10 prospects. A proficient

coach is worth far more than the investment.

After more than three decades in business,

I didn’t think I needed a professional business

consultant, even though I wasn’t reaching

enough of the right boutique clients. Then I

met Rick Skurla. He was the right person to

analyze my business from the outside, help

me develop a consistent sales presentation

and a word-for-word script to close the sale.

After the first few meetings, I began to get

it. Within a structured guideline for building

a client relationship, there’s plenty of room to

be creative yet make high sales. It’s all about

trust. Recently four different clients voiced that

exact word; they trusted me to design photo-

graphs and albums for them, for more than

$15,000 each. With that I knew my invest-

ment in a professional coach had paid off.

There’s a subtle difference between a busi-

ness consultant, who helps to define a market,

suggest operation and sales strategies, and a

business coach, who focuses on the principals

of the company and their personal goals and

strategies. I’m using the term “coach” to signify

either one, but ask the professional you’re

interviewing which one he considers himself

to be. When choosing, consider these factors:

Profile you and your market. First, honestly

state who you are, what services and products

you offer and how you want to limit jobs and

services in the future, your goals in regard to

your age and experience, your family life, and

whether you’re a long-time pro like me, or an

eager newcomer. A startup boutique owner

might have an easier time self-profiling

because you can begin fresh. The demo-

graphics of your area have a lot to do with

the feasibility of your plan. Your coach

should make sure you’re in the right arena.

Profile your client. Your “franchise of one”

needs to know the buying habits of the desired

client, where she lives, her social pursuits, her

family involvement. Analyze your best clients

and note what they have in common. When

you know what led them to select you, you

have a treasure map to lucrative clients. The

more detailed the map, the better.

Attract and book prospects. For boutique


photographers, the right client is almost always

a referral from a planner, a friend, a past client,

or anyone in a position to trust you enough to

refer others to you. You must consistently ask

particular questions to ascertain that the

prospect wants the top-tier product you

provide, is in position to finalize the decision,

and has the funds allocated. You can’t afford

to invest time in prospects who don’t meet

all three criteria. Your coach should help you

script word-for-word qualifying questions

phrased accurately and sensitively.

Next, you get to show off your talent with

extravagant samples and offer creative ideas

for the prospect’s particular needs. Your play-

book should include anecdotes of how you

solved similar problems in the past. If your

prospect lives elsewhere and cannot meet in

person, your Web site becomes your credentials;

the site in itself isn’t a direct sales tool. Asking

for a commitment and closing the deal are

the last of the “offense” plays in your book.

Service after the sale. Score big when you

demonstrate your superior technique, unique

presentation and timely delivery. When you

like your clients and there are but a select few

of them, it’s easy to invent artistic new products,

keep in touch with progress reports on the

job and write thank-you notes. Never

discount the importance of careful, trans-

parent billing. I was amazed at clients’

positive response when presented with a

computerized, detailed invoice explaining

every charge and the inevitable add-ons that

come with any job. You will probably spend

serious time over a number of months to

complete each job. Your billing can make a

lasting impression and fulfill the meaningful

experience the boutique client desires.

Now why not take a client to lunch, and

measure your success with her answers to

your questions about how and why she

booked you, what she liked best, what could

have been done differently? You’re in a great

position to ask for referrals, because the

boutique photographer’s reward comes from

exceeding expectations. �

Sara Frances and her business partner andhusband, cinematographer Karl Arndt,own Photo Mirage in Denver, Colo.(www.photomirage.com).

For more info on Rick Skurla,professional business and sales coach ofSkurla and Associates, [email protected]. Downloada free copy of “The Business Owner’sPlaybook,” a publication of The Hartford,at www.thehartford.com/businessowner.

Sign up for a one-time consultation withProfessional Photographers of AmericaStudio Management Services, get info onupcoming business workshop atwww.ppa.com.

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For the last 18 years, Detroit photographer

Blake Discher pursued professional

development, reinvention and

specialization. Starting out as an Associated

Press stringer, he cut his teeth shooting

sports and spot assignments. As his career

matured, Discher got into P.R. and corpor-

ate photography. These days, he specializes

in people-centered images, shooting for

annual reports, brochures and editorial

features. He’s one of the biggest names in

corporate photography in Detroit.

Discher is a strong believer in open

information sharing. He enthusiastically

talks about his business to fellow profes-

sionals, going so far as to post a pricing

structure on his Web site. He wants

photographers everywhere to raise the

bar so that everyone profits. We asked

Discher to share some of the lessons he

learned in running a successful photog-

raphy business.

SPECIALIZE. Everyone wants a spe-

cialist. If you do all types of photography,

you’re a general practitioner. If you needed

an operation on your brain, you’d go to a

brain surgeon, not a general practitioner.

Being in Detroit, my clientele is in the

automotive industry. I’m a specialist in

that field. I talk their lingo. I know

their concerns. I have the relevant experi-

ence. That’s what clients like to hear.

It’s what differentiates me from the

competition.

DIFFERENTIATE. One of the keys in this

business is to stand out from the crowd.

You need to express why the client should

work with you and no other. If you can’t, it

becomes a price game, and you’ll lose. One

way to differentiate yourself is to be know-

ledgeable about your clients’ business, be


Blake Discher thinks new photographersshouldn't have to learn the business the hardway, like he did. He's happy to share what he'slearned about being a success.BY JEFF KENT

Raising the bar ©Blake Discher

7 VALUABLE LESSONS FROM BLAKE DISCHER

PROFIT CENTER

able to talk intelligently about it, ask

pertinent questions. It instills confidence

that you’ve put time into the project, and

that makes you valuable.

PERSONALIZE. A large part of this busi-

ness is people skills. If you call me from a

referral, the first thing I say is that I’d like

to collaborate with you. Then I ask how

creative we can get on the project. Can we

be a little different, or do we need to be

conservative? You need to really engage the

client. Try to determine why this person

called you. What did he see on your Web

site that he liked? What makes him think

you might be the right person for the job? I

also zero in on what makes this client click,

find out exactly what he’s looking for up

front. I give him some ownership of the

ideas we discuss. I create a partnership. If

you do this well, the client feels like you’re

on the same team—his team. You want to

build on the sense that you’re working

together toward a common goal.

VIRTUALIZE. Photographers need to pay

attention to Web marketing. The majority

have a Web site, but don’t take full advantage

of the Internet. Update your site often.

Add content. Make your site a dynamic

experience for the visitor. About 65 percent

of my new clients come from Internet.

The Internet is especially important for

emerging photographers without big

budgets. You can gain a real advantage with

search engine optimizations, new content,

updated material and other steps to keep

your site fresh and interesting.

BUDGET. Early in my conversation with a

prospective client, I ask, “Have you set a

budget for this project?” I say I won’t be the

cheapest photographer around. In fact, I

may be at the top end. But there’s a reason

for that. Never quote a price in the first

phone call. Instead, take down all the

specifics, ask plenty of questions, and then

tell the client you’ll call him back. Then go

research the client’s business. Look at the

specifics of the job. When you call back with

the price, you can drop in some talk about

his company, show you know what you’re

doing when it comes to this job. Get him

talking and engage him.

In pricing, as bad as it is to come in too

high, it’s equally bad to come in too low. I’m

convinced that photographers who under-

charge do so because, for the most part, they

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don’t know how much they could charge.

Take the time to not only research the client

but to research what other people are

charging in your market.

MAXIMIZE. In today’s business climate,

the survivors will be those who, at the end of

the day, can say “I did everything I could to

market my business today.” Part of the

challenge for professional photographers

today is that the cost of entry is so low.

Clients can buy high-end cameras for

$1,500 and take pictures that are good

enough. As a professional, if you take

pictures that are only good enough, then

that $1,500 camera just replaced you.

REINVENT. It can be dangerous not to

reinvent yourself every four or five years.

Part of developing a style is looking at

images, adapting to new tastes, and staying

current. If you shoot long enough, you start

to repeat certain elements. I’ve noticed my

images have a lot of strong diagonal and

vertical lines. The images are structured.

The danger is that if I do it too much, it

becomes standard, boring.

The same goes for marketing. Examine

what you are doing and don’t let your look

get stale. Reinvent your marketing. I

know I need to be more aggressive in my

marketing. I’ve put my Web site out there,

and it’s worked for the last five years. But I

think that wave will start to settle down. It

can’t be just about a Web site anymore. I

need to get back to some traditional

methods of getting clients.

The way to make more money in this

business is to get better clients. Once you

have an established client, you’ll never be

able to raise your prices dramatically with

that client, so it’s important to keep getting

better clients. That’s the way to progress

in business. �

To see more from Blake Discher, check outwww.fireflystudios.com.


Blake Discher presents “Web Marketing” in thepre-convention program (January 3-5) at ImagingUSA in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8.

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Professional Photographer P R E S E N T S Products, Technology and Services

What I likeFor Frank Donnino,toys are toys

What makes your workflow flow? I

have this dumb envelope system. We

move the client envelope and order

form from one area to another. It

works well. Plus, I get exercise!

What’s the best equipment investment

you’ve ever made? My new GPS. Oh,

you meant for photography? Hands

down, our iMacs. Great, stable system.

What hot new product are you going

out of your way to use? Those plastic

credit card type gift cards are getting

our phone to ring off the hook.

Has a piece of equipment ever changed

the way you approach your photography?

Yes. I love my 75-200mm Canon f/2.8

zoom lens. I photograph wide open

outdoors and love the look I get.

What’s the one piece of gear they’d have

to pry from your cold, dead fingers?

My iPhone, of course. Also, my Canon

5D with my zoom lens. Hey, toys are toys!

IMAGE BY FRANK DONNINO

WWW.FRANKTHEARTIST.COM

In 2003, Olympus introduced the E-1, a pro-

fessional digital SLR based on the four-thirds

system; Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma followed

suit (www.fourthirds.org). Olympus

launched the Olympus E-3, its flagship, in

Puerto Rico, which provided opportunities

to test the camera’s capabilities under real-

world pro shooter conditions. The E-2 got

knocked off the design board when

Olympus teamed with Panasonic for

production of the Live MOS sensor.

The E-3 includes live view and dust

reduction, along with fast autofocus, in-

camera image stabilization, and a 10-

megapixel image sensor, all housed in a

rugged dust and splash-proof magnesium

alloy body. The 17.3x13mm Live MOS

sensor yields a picture angle equivalent to a

2X focal length in 135mm format.

Olympus says the E-3 has the fastest AF

speed in the world. I couldn’t put a stopwatch

THE GOODS: PRO REVIEW

I made a series of photographs of Old San Juan’sChrist Chapel with the E-3 in Auto White Balancemode and got the kind of golden church photo-graphs so beloved of wedding photographers inthe days of film, but I wanted more. I shifted theE-3 into Live View mode so I could see color balanceoptions and how they affected the image in real time.I captured this image using the Tungsten white bal-ance preset that represented the chapel’s true colors.Exposure: 0.3 second, handheld at f/4.5, ISO1600, 7-14mm Zuiko Digital ED f/4.0 lens at 7mm.

All images ©Joe Farace

The recently released Olympus E-3 digital SLRincludes Live View, dust reduction, in-cameraimage stabilization and 10-megapixel image sensor.BY JOE FARACE

Four-thirds forOLYMPUS E-3the pro

on the AF, but with the camera’s 11-point,

biaxial cross type AF system, five frames-

per-second continuous shooting, and 1/8,000-

second top shutter speed, it was ready when

I was to capture a decisive moment.

The shutter has a life rating of 150,000

exposures, likely underrated, which should

meet the demands of professional photogra-

phers. Olympus also announced three new

Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) lenses, including

the Zuiko ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 (24-120mm

equivalent), my go-to lens in Puerto Rico.

The E-3’s optical viewfinder provides a

100-percent view, and a 1.15X magnification

for precise composition. The only cameras

close to matching this big, beautiful view

have full-frame sensors. The 2.5-inch swivel

Live View LCD screen affords a 100-percent

view and 170-degree viewing angle. The

screen can be rotated freely so you can take

Hail Mary shots with the camera held

overhead, down low, or from unusual

angles.

Live View’s real advantage to pros is its

real-time monitoring of white balance and

exposure. When I was permitted to shoot

inside Old San Juan’s Christ Chapel, I could

confirm proper color balance through the

live view image. Being quiet was essential,

and the SWD lens focused quietly and

accurately. Wedding photographers will find

these features especially useful.

The E-3’s built-in dust reduction system

uses a supersonic wave filter to eliminate

specks in captures. It can even remove spots

that usually cannot be removed through

vibration or discharging with static electricity.


I used the 12-60mm lens along with the new EC-20 2X Teleconverter at Castillo de Serralles tophotograph these tiny—smaller than a dime—

flowers. While the 2X teleconverter does notdecrease the camera to subject distance, it doesdouble the image size, producing superb macro

results. Exposure: 1/200 second at f/11, ISO 100.

DIGITAL ZUIKOAlong with the E-3, Olympus announced three new Zuiko Digital ED lenses that use

Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) autofocus motors: the 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD, 50-

200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD, and a 14-35mm f/2.0 SWD that will probably be available at

PMA 2008. The lens’ two compact, high-powered Supersonic Wave Drives autofocus

at high speed using elliptical oscillations, while an optical encoder

detects and controls the lens drive position with direct rotation

detection. What this means to you is quiet, fast autofocus lenses

that accurately focus to 5 microns in 0.17 seconds.

The 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD covers a zoom range

equivalent to 24 to 120mm on a 35mm camera. It has special

optical glass elements to correct aberrations, while its digital

design ensures crisp edge-to-edge images even when shooting

wide-open. This lens boasts impressive close-up capability,

allowing you to shoot as close as 9.8 inches throughout the zoom

range. At Castillo de Serralles in Ponce, I was able to shoot the

12-60mm lens along with the new EC-20 2X Teleconverter and it

produced superb results in “normal” or macro shots. On the other end of the focal

length spectrum, I used the same combination to double the focal length of the 60mm

maximum focal length while photographing a model next to a waterfall in the El Yunque

rain forest. Both close-up and fashion images were tack-sharp.

The system really works. After three days

shooting on the beach and streets of San

Juan and Ponce, where I was constantly

changing lenses, my image files are squeaky

clean. The E-3’s sealed splash-proof, dust-

proof chassis proved itself during a rainstorm

in the El Yunque rainforest, even after I

slipped on a wet rock and bloodied my

elbow, proving it’s more rugged than I am.

The E-3 has a twin cross-type (biaxial),

11-point AF sensor that responds on both

vertical and horizontal axis. Unlike systems

that react at lower f-stops by boosting sensi-

tivity, the E-3’s sensor has a houndstooth

pattern phase detection layout with micro-

lamination technology for fast, real-world

performance. The 11 AF target points can be

chosen individually or dynamically in combina-

tion. If you know the general direction of

the moving subject, the AF area will be

determined by the anticipated motion—a

modern implementation of the pre-focusing

techniques used in the manual-focus days.

Mechanical focusing is available, and there’s

a custom function to let you choose the

direction of the focus (clockwise or counter-

clockwise) that you find more natural.

The camera is fast from start-up to first

capture, but exposure compensation and

some other button controls seem stiff; you

have to really poke them to make them work.

It’s easy to freeze sports action with the

E-3’s continuous frame rate of 5 frames per

second (fps) and shutter speed up to 1/8,000

second. You don’t have to worry about blur

caused by camera shake because the body’s



specs:Olympus E-3

IMAGE PROCESSOR: TruePic III

SENSOR: 4:3 aspect ratio, 17.3 x 13.0mm

Live MOS sensor

RESOLUTION: 10.1 effective megapixels

(3,648 x 2,736)

VIEWFINDER: 100% field of

view, 1.15 magnification

METERING: TTL open-aperture metering

system, digital ESP metering (49-point

multi pattern metering), centre weighted

average, spot (about 2% of viewfinder);

highlight/shadow bases are available

SHOOTING SPEED: 5 frames per

second up to 16 frames in RAW, up to

card capacity in large/normal JPEG mode

with SanDisk Extreme II or faster CF card

ISO: 100-3200

EXPOSURE SETTINGS: Program AE

(shiftable), aperture priority AE, shutter

priority AE, manual

SHUTTER SPEED: 1/8,000 second to

60 seconds (1/3, 1/2 or 1EV steps), bulb

WHITE BALANCE: Hybrid detection

system with high-speed Live MOS

sensor and dedicated external sensor, 7

settings, custom from 2000 K - 14,000

K, white balance compensation available

FOCUS MODES: Single AF (S-AF),

continuous AF (C-AF), manual (MF),

S-AF + MF, C-AF + MF

LENSES: Four-Thirds mount Zuiko

Digital lenses

FLASH: Built-in retractable flash, GN=13

(ISO 100.m); compatible external flash

FL-50R, FL-36R, FL-50, FL-36, FL-20,

STF-22, SR-11; X-synch at 1/250 second

or less, Super FP up to 1/8,000 second

STORAGE: CompactFlash, xD

PRICE: $1,699 (body only)

I was walking past these boats and wondered what the E-3 could do—handheld—in the moonlight. Evenhandholding the shot is remarkably sharp due to the E-3’s mechanical image stabilization. Exposure: 0.4second at f/3.5, ISO 2000, captured in Live View mode, 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 lens at 27mm.

Catch the creators of these images at booth #833 during IUSA! Sponsored by Miller’s, JB & DeEtte Sallee and Elizabeth & Trey Homanwill reveal their own successful tricks of the trade! www.millerslab.com

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

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miller.indd 1 11/30/07 1:57:22 PM

built-in image stabilization compensates for

camera movement up to five stops. The stabi-

lizing Supersonic Wave Drive motors collect

information about movement from a gyro,

which detects and analyzes vibrations, and

moves the imaging sensor with a piezoelec-

tric element. I predict in-body image stabili-

zation will become standard in digital SLRs.

The camera’s TruePic III Image Processor

uses all of the pixel information in each image,

to yield accurate color, natural flesh tones,

and true blue skies. It also lowers noise in

images shot at high ISO—surprisingly low,

even at ISO 1600. Noise becomes noticeable

at ISO 2000 and higher, and if that bothers

you, better reach for noise-reduction software.

The synergy between the mechanical image

stabilization and TruePic III processing gave

me remarkably sharp and colorful captures

under pure moonlight at the Ponce Yacht &

Fishing Club, hand-holding the camera and

at a shutter speed of 0.4 second.

Image quality in both RAW and JPEG

modes was high, but is 10 megapixels enough?

For most studio, portrait and wedding pho-

tographers, yes. If you disagree, remember

not so long ago when you happily delivered

images made with 6-megapixel cameras. If

clients liked those image files, they’re going

to love the 3,648x2,736-pixel captures of the

E-3, especially captured in Olympus ORF

(RAW) format. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

and Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw already

support this format.

The E-3 accepts CompactFlash, including

the fast Lexar UDMA cards and not-so-fast

(they lack a built-in controller) xD Picture

Cards, which I’ve called “mostly useless”

because they’re non-standard and so tiny

they’re easy to lose. Olympus makes this

annoying little format more palatable by

letting you copy files from one memory card

to another with a single push of the added

button next to the pentaprism. If you want

to switch between capture card types, you

still have to dive into Olympus’

“kitchen–sink” menus, in which every

possible combination of customization is

listed. That will be intimidating for the new

Olympus shooter, but once you’ve

customized the E-3, changes and menu

dives will be fewer and simpler.

I tested the E-3 with the optional HLD-4

Power Battery Holder, which holds two

rechargeable BLM-1 lithium-ion batteries,

and had power enough to shoot all day. The

HLD-4 has a vertical grip and shutter release

with controls, including a programmable

function (Fn) button. If you prefer big

cameras, you’ll like it. If you need the

additional power, you might use the grip

despite its bulk. My wife, Mary, who has

small hands, found the HLD-4 grip

comfortable, although she didn’t like the

similar grip for the E-1. (Price: $199.99.)

The FL-50Rwireless flash accessory will

be useful for wedding and senior photogra-

phers to add snap to available-light photo-

graphs without the flat flash-on-camera

look. The flash syncs with either the camera’s

pop-up flash or another FL-50R in the hot

shoe. I used the pop-up flash to trigger two

FL-50Rs to photograph models on the streets

of Old San Juan and they always fired. (Price:

$499.99.) Olympus includes a Sto-Fen-like

bounce adapter that works quite well but

doesn’t seem as sturdy as the real thing.

The E-3 is a tough pro camera that’s

infinitely customizable to any specialty. A

clever combination of live view, mechanical

image stabilization, and dust reduction let

you deliver clean, publishable image files

with little or no tweaking. �

Joe Farace is the author of “Getting Startedin Digital Imaging” (Focal Press), availablewhere books are sold and at www.joefarace.com.



The E-3’s fast AF and nimble response enabled me to get off a series of shots of this guy coming up anarrow street in Old San Juan on a scooter. I didn’t have time to put the camera in Continuous mode; Iheard the scooter, turned around and just started snapping the shutter. All of the shots were sharp andwell exposed. Exposure: 1/640 second at f/4.0, ISO 200, 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 lens at the 12mm setting.

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Imagine you’re out celebrating with friends and

you want to remember this happy experience.

You hand off your point-and-shoot to a

stranger, he counts off 1-2-3, and nothing

happens. How long can you keep smiling for

the camera before you begin to feel

awkward, like your smile has become forced

and cheesy? About half a second!

We’ve all felt it and then hated the pictures

of ourselves, even if those photos weren’t badly

taken. We dislike seeing that frozen aspect of

ourselves and we feel awkward all over again.

Now put yourself in your clients’ shoes.

Imagine how they’d feel on their wedding

day if they had to keep smiling while the

photographer fiddled with the white balance

to ensure getting spot-on color, setting and

resetting the exposure, and readjusting the

THE GOODS

It’s a radical theory—trust your equipment,automate your post-capture workflow, andspend your energy on your clients.BY DAVID JAY

By using his Brilliant preset as the default Developpreset (applied to images as they're imported),David Jay has most of his photos looking exactlythe way he wants when he sees them for thefirst time in the Photoshop Lightroom Library.

FreestyleshootingBREAK FREE OF YOUR

TECHNICAL BAGGAGE


All im

ages ©D

avid Jay

DAVID JAY’SWEDDINGWORKFLOW

I believe the photographer’s workflow

should be streamlined to include only

the tasks we need to do every week.

Here’s how my workflow goes:

1. Download images using four Lexar

Professional CompactFlash readers—

I can download four CF cards in the

same amount of time as one.

2. Import images into the Lightroom

Library.

3. Watch as Lightroom makes unique

custom adjustments to each file with

my Default Develop preset. I use my

own Brilliant setting.

4. Correct with Find and Fix editing,

finding the files that need extra

adjusting and fixing them with presets

to make batch adjustments.

5. Pick the keepers by pressing the P

key (Flag as Pick).

6. Show only picked files.

7. Sort by date created, putting files

in chronological order.

8. Export full-resolution JPEGs in

the sRGB color space, naming them

00001_Filename.jpg,

00002_Filename.jpg,

00003_Filename.jpg

9. Organize into categories

(Preparation, Ceremony, Formals,

Reception, etc.)

10. Upload to Pictage and release

to client.

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noritus.indd 1 11/30/07 2:29:51 PM

rest of the technology. How would they like

seeing themselves like that in your images?

Our first job as wedding photographers

is to provide a positive emotional experience

to our clients even decades down the road.

Step one is to make absolutely certain we do

not cause them to feel awkward, posed or

stiff on their wedding day. The second step

is to preserve their joy in a way that invites

them to relive it ever after.

A recent article in Business Week pointed

out that businesspeople should avoid con-

fusing the business they’re in with how they

conduct business. Photographers might

confuse their business with being a lab or

selling prints and albums, when in reality,

that’s simply the way they’ve been

conducting their business. Successful

photographers realize that the intangible

element of the service they provide and the

environment they create on the wedding day

is a huge part of what they sell.

In the past year, some amazing tools have

become available, tools that can free us from

the technology of shooting and post-

processing so we can focus on engendering

that emotional experience. I call it “freestyle

shooting.” We can be free of the technical

baggage that’s weighed down photographers

for generations.

My freestyle shooting tools include a

Canon EOS-1D Mark III camera and its

Safety Shift feature, which allows me to set a

minimum shutter speed to prevent motion

blur, set the camera on AV mode with Auto

White Balance, then open up the aperture.

Then the camera can adjust the shutter

speed and the ISO for near-perfect exposure

and color every time. As an artist, I

sometimes struggle with near-perfect, so I

need a tool to make a few global

adjustments to nail it. The tool is Adobe

Photoshop Lightroom.

The day after the wedding, I import all


David Jay's Brilliant preset (above) applies a certain signature look to his images. In cases where thatpreset isn't quite right, or he wants another look, he has a full selection of alternate presets (below)that he can apply for certain lighting situations or to create different image styles, all with one click.

Four views of the Really Right Stuff flash-rotating flash bracket.

THE GOODS

colorvision.indd 1 11/30/07 1:44:07 PM

2,000 images to Lightroom, and then the

software makes a unique, custom adjustment

on every single file without my doing any-

thing further. I use my “Brilliant” preset, which

I’ve set as Lightroom’s Adobe Default Preset

(Develop > Set Default Settings). The magic

of the Adobe Default Preset is that it analyzes

each file and custom corrects for exposure,

brightness, contrast and other density

settings. It will brighten some files a bit and

darken others, all while I’m out having

lunch or serving a client.

Next, all I have to do is find-and-fix editing.

I skim through the images and delete the

ones where people were blinking, and fix the

ones that the computer didn’t do a super job

on. The computer has trouble with backlit

images, so I’ve created and saved another

preset to apply to them with one easy click.

Sometimes I want to adjust the color. I

like my pictures a bit warm, so I’ve made a

preset that allows me to select and warm-up

the cooler images with one click. Not long

ago we had to correct each file, but now we

can color-correct in batches by lighting

condition.

To create and save a preset in Lightroom,

go to the Develop tab, make the necessary

adjustments, select the AUTO settings, and

click the create-new-preset button (the +

icon at the top right corner of the Presets

panel). Preset saved, I can instantly preview

its effect on a selected image simply by

hovering over it.

I believe photographers get overwhelmed

by their workflow for one reason: They

spend too much time thinking about what

could be done to the image rather than what

should be done. Adobe Photoshop Light-

room helps you stay on track so you can

process 2,000 wedding photos in a couple

of hours.

These tools have freed my clients and me

to enjoy the wedding day.

You can find the presets that I use as well

as free videos demonstrating the power of

these presets at www.showitfast.com. �

Learn more about photographer andentrepreneur David Jay at www.davidjay.com.


THE GOODS

To preview apreset, you can

apply the presetand set the

Develop windowto a comparison

mode withduplicate or split

screens in avariety of

configurations.For a quicker

preview, moveyour cursor over a

preset name andthe Navigatorwindow at the

top left corner ofthe screen will

show a preview.

David Jay presents "Creating Freedom" in theWedding & Portrait track at Imaging USA inTampa, Fla., January 6-8.

Many photographers with excellent pigment

inkjet printers are uncompromising on print

quality, yet not when it comes to print finishing.

Perhaps they don’t know the available

options for protecting their prints.

Prints emerge from the printer dry to the

touch, but they’re not actually completely

dry. You may not get ink on your hands, but

it’s easy to permanently mar the print with the

oils on your hands, lint particles or scratches.

The best advice: Look but don’t touch for 24

hours if possible. When the print has cured

(dried completely) and the glycerol in the

inks has evaporated, it’s safe to handle and

you can add coatings to further protect it.

If you’re making several prints, do not stack

them until you place blank matte paper

between them to allow for proper glycerol

absorption. A telltale sign that the curing is

complete is the wavy appearance of the interleaf

papers, indicating that they have absorbed the

glycerol. Always let prints fully cure before

framing or otherwise finishing, because the

glycerol gas released can fog the print.

Manufacturers’ print longevity specifications

are typically based on the ideal conditions for

storage, mounting and display, not necessarily

your clients’ environments. Coating prints with

lacquer-based aerosol sprays is often recom-

mended by manufacturers to protect and ensure

print longevity. Sprays also eliminate gloss

differential on exceptionally high-gloss media.

I protect prints on resin-coated (RC) or

fine-art paper with Print Shield by Premier

Imaging Products. It works on any surface

without yellowing or influencing the natural

characteristics of the paper, increasing

display life by as much as 100 percent, and

making prints scuff- and water-resistant.

Print Shield is available in aerosol cans or by

the gallon for use with high-volume, low-

pressure (HVLP) spray guns.

There are also newer, more eco-friendly

products with different finish characteristics,

such as PremierArt Eco Print Shield. Water-

based rather than lacquer-based, they’re less

caustic. Available in gloss, satin and matte

finishes, they can give a matte surface a gloss

finish or a satin protective layer, and vice

versa. Eco Print Shield comes in quart bottles

or by the gallon, and can be rolled on or

sprayed on with an HVLP gun, and is com-

patible with canvas and fine-art or RC papers.

Eco products work well for gallery wraps

THE GOODS: PRINTS

You make flawless inkjet prints on top-qualitymedia, so go one step further to protect your work.BY BRYAN L INDEN

Grand finalePRINT FINISHING


FOR BEST RESULTSWhether you use an aerosol spray or an

HVLP spray gun, coating prints is quick

and easy. For consistent results, follow

these steps:

• Make sure prints and working

environment are free of dust and debris.

• Before spraying, mount prints

vertically so the spray doesn’t pool.

• Before finishing your print, spray an

empty area of the mounting surface from

a distance of 6 to 10 inches, so you can

see the diameter and pattern of the spray

and adjust as necessary.

• Spray at a consistent distance, using

a back-and-forth motion, overlapping

each pass by 50 percent.

Allow prints to dry 20 to 40 minutes,

depending on the requirements of the partic-

ular spray, then rotate the prints 90 degrees

and dry another 20 to 40 minutes.

©Premier Imaging Products

Albums | High-End Cards | Press Printed Books | Gallery Wraps | Professional Printing | Online Presentation

©2008 Collages.net Inc. All rights reserved. Photos ©2008 Tracy Hicks Photography and TriCoast Photography.

Make 2008 the best year in your studio’s history. Close every client you meet by letting them touch and see studio samples

of your entire product line – albums, press printed books, gallery wraps, and high-end cards.


CODY AND MIKE ARE READY FOR 2008. ARE YOU?

Make Collages.net your business partner in 2008, and you’ll be ready.

CODY CLINTON AND MIKE FULTON | TRICOAST PHOTOGRAPHY | LAKE JACKSON, TEXAS

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because the water-based formula won’t

crack due to stretching and won’t become

brittle with time. Water-based formulas

protect prints from moisture, light, humidity,

atmospheric contaminants, scuffs and

fingerprints. The brand new embellishing

gel Eco Elegance can add impasto and

brush strokes to your prints.

Spraying prints is not difficult. It can be

done in a spray room or, if you wear a good

painter’s respirator (about $30 at hardware

stores), in well-ventilated areas. Ventilation

is critical; there are ventilation fans and

commercial spray booths available if you

don’t have a space with adequate air flow.

Hang plastic tarps to catch the overspray.

To prepare to spray, I mount my prints

vertically on a piece of black foam board. If

the print has a border that will be trimmed,

I mount it with clips, especially good with

prints made on roll paper, which curls. To

mount cut-sheet full-bleed prints, I use

loops of large strips of low-tack masking

tape on the back of the print.

Delicate, fine-art surfaces like velvet and

watercolor paper are easy to flake or scuff.

Always spray art surfaces and canvas prints

to protect them. It’s a good idea to spray

prints in albums as well. Many labs offer

this service, but doing it yourself is easy

enough with a little practice. �

Tips for using Eco Print Shield atwww.ecoprintshield.com.

Epson, HP and other manufacturersrecommend PremierArt Coatings for theirmedia (performance certified by WilhelmImaging Research). For specs and purchaseinfo on Premier Print Shield, Eco PrintShield and the HVLP spray gun, visitwww.premierimagingproducts.com.

Bryan Linden is a photographer and digitalimaging expert, who presents workshops ona variety of subjects (www.lindenphoto.net).Linden is the vice president of Marketingand Sales for Album DS album designsoftware (www.albumds.com).


Premier Imaging Products uses this photo to show how a print can benefit from spray coatings. Theimage was halved, then mirrored. The right half was sprayed with three light coats of PremierArt PrintShield. The image was cured for 24 hours before water testing. The image shows the effects of thefollowing water resistance tests: (top) three drops of water placed on the print for 45 seconds, thenwiped away with a sponge; (center) three passes with a moist sponge; and (bottom) three drops ofwater placed on the print for four minutes and then blotted with a paper towel.

THE GOODS: PRINTS

©Premier Imaging Products

PUREPROFESSIONAL

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Editor’s note: Don’t miss Jeff Kent’s profile of Kevin Kubota on p. 112.

If you’re familiar with Photoshop actions, you know what a

valuable time-saver Adobe Photoshop Lightroom presets can be.

You can’t do everything you can do with an action, but presets are

still ultra-handy.

To create a preset in Lightroom, switch to Develop mode.

1. Adjust an image using any combination of settings from the

adjustment panels on the right (Figure 1).

2. On the Presets panel at the left, click the + button to create a

preset. You can select a folder first to save the preset into, or open

a new folder on the fly as you save the preset (Figure 2).

3. Check off only the settings that you used to create the

look, so you can combine the preset with presets with differ-

ent settings. Otherwise, when you apply a new preset that

contains the same adjustments, it will overwrite the previously

applied settings.

4. Apply the preset to another image by selecting the image

and clicking on the preset (Figure 3). You can preview the effect

by simply passing your mouse over the name of the preset. The

result appears in the navigator window. If you like it, simply click

the preset name to apply it to the image.

PRESETS POWER TIPS

Now let’s see how to put presets to use by creating a My Look

preset for import.

It’s a good idea to fine-tune settings to get a look you like,

then apply them automatically when you import images. It saves

time and gives you a starting point before doing any fine-tuning.

The following are settings we use for our basic look, which is

applied to all imported images by default; you can modify them

to your liking.

THE GOODS: TUTORIAL

Time-savingpresets

LIGHTROOM PRESETS MAKE YOUR LOOKPART OF YOUR AUTOMATED WORKFLOW

BY KEVIN KUBOTA, CR.PHOTOG.


All images ©Kevin Kubota

Figure 1

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

1. Add some Clarity, Vibrance,

and Saturation (Figure 4).

2. Set the tone curve to Linear to

have a predictable starting point for

future presets with a curve adjustment (Figure 5).

3. We love the look of a vignette on every image. If you do too, apply

it here. Remember, you can easily remove or adjust it later (Figure 6).

4. When you’ve finished modifying the settings, save the preset

as My Look, and click Check All to save all the settings. This gives

you a consistent starting point. We prefer to use Auto Tone as a

starting point, as it automatically sets the appropriate exposure,

recovery, fill light, black point, brightness, and contrast for each

image individually (Figure 7).

5. Use your My Look preset when you import images (Figure 8).

TURN ON AUTOSYNC MODE IN DEVELOP.

Here’s a secret trick. You can apply the same preset to multiple

images simultaneously in Develop mode by turning on the

AutoSync feature.

1. Switch to Develop and select two or more images.

2. Hold down the cmd/ctrl key. The Sync… button changes to

AutoSync (Figure 9). Click once on AutoSync

and it locks into AutoSync mode. Now, when

multiple images are selected, applying any

preset will affect every selected image at once,

helpful if you want to, for example, adjust the

color on several images at a time.

EXPORT AND SHARE

Once you’ve created all these cool presets, you’ll probably want to

reuse them on your other computers with Lightroom.

1. Select the preset in your list, right-click on it and hold to

bring up the contextual menu. Select Export… (Figure 10).

2. Save the preset to your desktop, copy it to the other computer,

and then use Import... on the other computer to bring it in. Easy!

There are many more great features that make Lightroom the

program of choice for a slick and sassy workflow. The more you

explore, the better it gets! �

Kevin Kubota of Bend, Ore., internationally recognized speaker andeducator, is the author of the popular “Digital PhotographyBootcamp.” The Lightroom tips printed here are from his latesttutorial DVD, “RAW Workflow for Lightroom,” available online atwww.kubotaimagetools.com.


Figure 6

Figure 5

Figure 7

Figure 10

Figure 9 Figure 8

Figure 4

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Sensing their Texas clients were looking askance at their young ages,the Sallees created a sophisticated and elegant studio environment forselling their high-quality wedding images. Sales soared.

Rising starsJB & DeEtte Sallee soar into the wedding photography stratosphere

hen they started dating in

college, JB and DeEtte Sallee

never anticipated opening a

studio of their own, much less

becoming near-overnight sensations

on the Dallas wedding photography

scene, or speaking in lecture halls packed

with eager pro photographers.

Yet four years after diving in head first,

the Sallees are among the brightest rising

stars in the pro-photo galaxy. They’re still a

bit baffled over how they got there.

Armed with a degree in photography, JB

started out as an assistant for Dallas wedding

photographer Fran Reisner. DeEtte, a psych

major with a photo minor, worked at David’s

Bridal. Toting a portfolio of images JB shot

while shadowing Reisner, the couple literally

went door-to-door calling on referred

prospects. Eager for experience, they said

yes to all manner of events, and soon had

nearly two-dozen weddings booked.

That first year, says JB, they weren’t yet

working with their ideal clients. “We were

just happy to be in business,” he says.

After struggling through the first year of

so-so wedding gigs, the Sallees began

asserting themselves about what they could

provide and showing their more innovative

work. The results were fantastic, almost

instantly bringing in higher-end wedding

bookings. They set up a home studio and

sought to attract sophisticated brides.

A couple of years later, the Sallees moved the

business into a storefront studio. They had

perceived that mothers of the bride looked

askance at paying a premium for such young

All images ©JB and DeEtte Sallee

WWEDDINGS By Jeff Kent


photographers—JB was 25, DeEtte just 22

when they began—who were working out of

their living room. In the stylish Las Colinas

area of Irving, Texas, they created an elegant

environment with a gallery, chandelier and

marble fireplace.

Within 18 months, bookings increased

dramatically and overall sales skyrocketed.

Bridal and engagement portrait sales

jumped by more than 500 percent. In Texas,

pre-wedding formal portraits are a big deal.

The Sallees’ elegant retail space was a

critical component in booking the full

package of portrait and wedding coverage.

Of course, fancy trappings only work when

the product is excellent. From the first, both

photographers focused on creating images

bursting with exuberance. The Sallees have

been able to invest in better equipment, and

their shooting techniques have naturally evolved.

They still create the kinds of images that speak

to them and to their clients, and that’s about

as far as they ponder the issue. “Clients have

always told us that what we do stands out

from other photographers,” says JB. “We

always listen to the client, especially when

she tells us she loves our style!”

In wedding photography, says JB,

“Personality is most important to the clients

we’re dealing with. We’re targeting people

our age, people like us, who go for an upbeat

personality. They want someone who will be

fun at the wedding, who will try different

things and give them something extra—

actually add something to the day.”

These days the Sallees’ youth is working

to their advantage. A few stuffy parents may

waver, but most brides and grooms fit squarely

into their peer group. They understand one

another and form immediate connections.

The rest follows naturally.

After only four years, the couple has

WEDDINGS

WEDDINGS

become nationally known for their award-

winning albums and progressive shooting

style. JB attributes those awards to their

focus on delighting their clients. “Everything

we enter in competitions was originally done

for clients. We don’t make things specifically

for competition. Judges like that.”

Indeed. After scoring a perfect 100 on an

album in their first year of regional competi-

tion, the Sallees have been receiving invitations

to speak at industry events, including Imaging

USA in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8. At their

first presentation, JB and DeEtte looked out

over a standing-room-only audience. Every

appearance has followed suit.

It’s no real secret, though. It’s the talent,

the personality and the stringent commit-

ment to the work. “We put a lot of hours

and money back into the business,” says JB.

“We’re constantly buying new equipment,

advertising in magazines, learning new

techniques, and thinking of ways to improve

our work. Honestly, when we started, we

never had any desire to compete. We just

want to get better and better and better. We

never want to stop learning, and that has

made an enormous difference.” �

To see more from the Sallees, visit www.salleephotography.com.

Be sure to attend JB and DeEtte Sallee'spresentation "Weddings: Sallee Style" at ImagingUSA in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8.



Frank Donnino’s studio has faced a number of challenges the past fewyears, but regardless of the roadblocks in his path, Donnino continuesto adapt and improve his business—and increase his profits each year.

One step aheadBusiness success means changing with the times

hen we last checked in with

photographer Frank Donnino

of Boynton Beach, Fla., he was

reaping a windfall with his first-

year baby portrait plan. His gross

sales had ramped up by more than 500 percent

in five years, profit margins were higher, and

cash flow was healthy, thanks to the plan’s

3-, 6-, 9- and 12-month-old sessions.

Life has a way of challenging success. Since

then, January 2004, Donnino was forced out

of his studio by difficult landlords. He worked

through Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne while

operating a temporary studio in his living

room. Then he built a new studio, moved

his entire business, and asked his clients to

follow. They did. Business is still booming.

Part of Donnino’s enduring success owes

to the relationships he builds with clients,

and part to his commitment to continuously

upgrade the business. After 28 years, Donnino

knows how to ride the highs and lows, how

to adapt to circumstances, like the current

economic downturn in South Florida. “Right

now in South Florida, as in other parts of

the country, we’re going through a terrible

time with the mortgage situation,” says

Donnino. “People are losing money in real

estate and it’s hurting the overall economy.”

With everyone feeling the crunch, he

adopted a new direct mail sales piece, created

by a member of Donnino’s personal Master-

mind online forum. The piece includes a gift

card with an assigned cash value of $250,

equal to the price of one portrait session and

one 5x7 gallery print. Clients can apply the

WPORTRAITS By Jeff Kent

All images ©Frank Donnino

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1

3

4

2

65

1-08 albumsinc-ID.indd 1 11/30/07 1:36:12 PM

gift card toward a collection of images, a baby

plan or any of Donnino’s other packages. So

far, the response rate has been 11 percent.

When we spoke, Donnino’s schedule was

full for the next two months. “The cards

have been very successful,” says Donnino.

“Because of the perceived value of the cards,

people don’t simply throw them away. We

are getting more people in the door, which

gives us an opportunity to sell them

something. It’s a play off the old free sample

thing; get them in the door and then sell.”

Donnino embraces the growing trend in

the boutique studio experience. “It’s the biggest

change I’ve seen in the portrait industry in

recent years,” he says. “Women are our

target market. They are typically the ones

making the buying decisions on child and

family portraits, so it makes sense to create

an experience that caters to women. It can

be done on any budget. You just have to sit

down and think about it.”

Donnino hired a design consultant to

“boutique” his studio, including an

investment of about $6,000 in new paint,

furniture and finishings. He’s also using

marketing materials created by Sarah Petty,

CPP, herself a successful boutique studio

owner (and PP marketing columnist, see

p. 38), and updating and coordinating his

packaging. He’s planning a high-end mailer

to target upper-income families, and raising

prices to rev up sales averages on children’s

sessions from about $600 to $1,000 per. He

anticipates making more top-end package

sales ($3,000 to $4,000), and getting an

ample return on his boutique investment.

“You have to up the prices when you

undertake a project like this,” says Donnino.

“The specific pricing will depend on your

market and your clientele. You have to price

PORTRAITS

buckeye.indd 1 11/30/07 1:41:16 PM

where you feel comfortable, but you have to

know how to sell the big-ticket item. If it

looks expensive, it should be expensive.”

Such an upward shift in pricing needs to

be made in increments, says Donnino, if you

want to maintain your current client base

while courting higher-end buyers. “It doesn’t

have to happen overnight. As you gain more

high-end clients, you can control your

business volume by raising prices. You will

lose some clients who’ve been with you for

the longest time, and that hurts. But the

returns will ultimately make up for those

losses. You need to be careful not to push

away your base too quickly. You can’t drop

what’s making you money until the new

product line is entrenched,” says Donnino.

One way he’s eased the transition for estab-

lished clients is by offering year-long package

pricing. Donnino sells his four-part baby plan

on a monthly payment plan with certain photo-

graphic products available at different times


PORTRAITS

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of the year. Clients get the multiple sessions,

a choice of prints and photo products, and

the option to pay the charges monthly. It

makes expensive products affordable, says

Donnino. “The plan is something people are

used to, like paying off credit card balances

in installments. Sure, some people default,

but the benefits far outweigh the risks. The

system has improved our cash flow because

we have payments coming in every month,

even during slow times.”

As the economy fluctuates, Donnino

continues to adapt, increasing his business

each year regardless of the situation. He

gives tremendous credit to the mentors he’s

found in other PPA member photogra-

phers and his webmasters Shirley Lund

and Stephen Denas.

“One of the most important lessons

I’ve learned from these pros is to act like

every client who comes through the door

is the last client I’ll ever have,” says

Donnino. “Treat everyone right. Give

them the best product you can. If you

do that, you’ll always be busy. You’ll always

be successful.” �

To see more from Frank Donnino, visit himonline at www.frandtheartist.com.


PORTRAITS

Frank Donnino presents "Diapers to Dollars,Profit in Baby Photography," at Imaging USA2008 in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8.

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Cliff Mautner spent the first part of his photographic career shootingnews assignments for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Ten years ago, he branched into wedding photography and he never looked back.

Front page newsCliff Mautner is hot on the trail of blushing brides

fter a 15-year career as a photojournalist

for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Cliff

Mautner, of Cliff Mautner Photography

in Hagenfield, N.J., found himself in

a role he thought he’d never play,

that of wedding photographer.

“I used to joke about shooting weddings,”

laughs Mautner, who shot over 6,000 assign-

ments for the Philadelphia Inquirer in just

about any location you can name. “Back in

the day, wedding photography was a very

stodgy form of the craft.”

Turned off by formal poses and forced

smiles of brides and grooms, Mautner pre-

ferred the excitement and spontaneity of photo

assignments. No matter how terrible the light-

ing or location, Mautner had to nail the image.

“My job was to go and make really good

environmental portraits,” Mautner says of

his early assignments. “Eventually I got to

where I could assess a situation in about 30

seconds and compose the image in my head.

It took hundreds of these to get my feet

under me, but I did develop a skill set that

enabled me to see things quickly.”

Beginning at the paper as a stringer,

Mautner got the assignments no one else

wanted, like photographing six newsworthy

Philadelphians a week for the “Neighbors in

the News” column. He earned $25 per picture,

plus mileage, but this was exactly the training

he needed to develop his eye for light.

“The only natural gift I have is my ability

to see and utilize light,” says Mautner.

“Photographers don’t get to choose the time

of day, the couples, the weather, none of the

conditions we perform under. I learned to

AWEDDINGS By Stephanie Boozer

All images ©Cliff Mautner

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make bad light into good light to create a

texture, a dimension and a mood.”

As a full-time Inquirer photographer,

Mautner’s first big assignments were a) a

meeting of the German American Police

Association, and b) a gathering of breast-

feeding La Leche League mothers. “My

editor had a great sense of humor,” he

laughs. He moved on to cover everything

from presidential campaign stops to

spelunking to heart-wrenching images for

the charity Operation Smile, whose

volunteer doctors perform corrective

surgery on underprivileged children with

facial defects (www.operationsmile.org).

He considers that assignment, which took

him to Liberia, one of the most meaningful

in his career.

WEDDINGS

“Photographers don’tget to choose the timeof day, the couples, theweather, none of theconditions we performunder. I learned tomake bad light intogood light to create atexture, a dimensionand a mood.”

marathon.indd 1 11/30/07 1:55:07 PM

“My career at the Philadelphia Inquirer

enabled me to meet people and see places and

things that the average person wouldn’t see

in a lifetime,” he says. “The social awareness I

gained through some of the brightest minds in

journalism helped me become well-rounded.”

After much coaxing, Mautner agreed to

photograph a wedding and was surprised at

how much he enjoyed it. “The moments

were there to be made, and that’s what I do.

Capturing moments is at the root of it all,”

he says. Realizing he had an edge with his

photojournalist’s eye, Mautner started shoot-


WEDDINGS

full color.indd 1 11/30/07 1:45:34 PM

ing weddings for an area photographer, and

eventually he went solo.

“I don’t pawn myself off as a photojour-

nalistic-style photographer,” says Mautner. “I

think it’s a silly buzzword, except for those

that truly do beautiful wedding photojour-

nalism. If I had to describe my work, I’d say

it’s an artistic interpretation of the day, with

the best of some traditional aspects mixed

in. I try to capture the essence of who the

couple is and allow that to come through

naturally.”

Ten years into his second career,

Mautner’s covered about 600 weddings,

averaging 55 to 60 yearly. In February 2006,

he bought a 90-year-old church and con-

verted it into a dream studio. The 2,000-

square-foot space has 14-foot ceilings, the

original beech hardwood flooring, and lots

of old brick. It boasts a 13x15-foot bay

window that bathes the studio in beautiful

natural light. Mautner added a two-zone

lighting system on rails and state-of-the-art

sound and projection systems.

He was the first wedding photographer

to test the Nikon D3 digital SLR, and his blog

commentary generated an impressive response,

getting 250,000 page views the first week it

was posted. In addition to shooting, Mautner

devotes time to speaking and teaching for

Nikon, and helping fellow photographers’

lighting and style development.

“With all the teaching and speaking and

representing,” says Mautner, “I’m still a

photographer who shoots each and every

weekend. I love what I do. It’s not just what

I do for a living, it’s in me.”

Despite his initial reluctance, Mautner

says now he’s exactly where he wants to be.

His photojournalism experience was the

perfect training for wedding photography,

and his style and demeanor attract brides

from all over. Above all, he wants to

continue creating beautiful images. “After

all,” he says, “you’re only as good as your

last wedding. �

Visit Cliff Mautner online atwww.cmphotography.com.


Cliff Mautner presents “Standing Out From the Crowd”at Imaging USA 2008 in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8.

WEDDINGS

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A D i v i s i o n o f G e n e r a l P r o d u c t s , L . L . C .

lobal warming is the environ-

mental issue of our lifetime.

The skeptics have conceded, the naysayers

quieted. The earth is heating up, dramatic

changes coming.

For James Balog, scientist

turned professional pho-

tographer, it’s impossible to

ignore the problem. His career began in

geomorphology, the study of landforms and

the processes that shape them, but he

realized his future would hold endless

statistical analysis, computer modeling and

number crunching, and that he’d rather

experience nature than tabulate it.

Balog’s affinity for photography began

during the climbing trips he took in the

White Mountains of New Hampshire, while

he was studying at Boston College. He would

go on to scale peaks in the Alps, the Himalaya

and the Rockies, all the while building his

skills in nature photography. When he

abandoned his career in science, Balog

began taking magazine assignments to

shoot documentary photographs. He moved

on to large-scale book projects on such

topics as big-game hunting, endangered

species and the rapidly disappearing old-

growth forests of North America.


The Extreme Ice Survey team is capturing changes on a global scale."I want to help people understand the reality of the moment we're in,"says James Balog. "Photographers are like the antennae of civilization."

Chilling effectJames Balog documents the accelerating glacial pace

By Jeff KentNATURE

All images ©James Balog

G

Balog sees his career as a braided river, its

channels crossing and re-crossing like the waters

of the shifting flood plains of Alaska. The

constants have been the disparate influences

of science, nature, mountain climbing and

photography. When they converged,

everything made sense. “Looking back, my

career has been one big organic outgrowth of

all these elements coming together.”

Balog’s current pursuit is the Extreme Ice

Survey (EIS), a project that began with a

couple of assignments to photograph glaciers.

He’d been studying the effects of retreating

glaciers for several years, and thinking about

how to cover the topic photographically. The

New Yorker asked him to ship out to Iceland

to capture glacier images, and he jumped at

the chance. “It completely transformed my

conception of how to photograph climate

change,” says Balog.

“I suddenly realized how you could photo-

graph [so as] to animate these glaciers. The

key was the termini of the glaciers. … In Iceland,

you get these huge tongues of ice, with intricate

shapes, and you can really feel the depth of

the ice,” he says. “Looking at the glaciers from

the bottom turned the paradigm around for

me. I went from the typical approach of photo-

graphing glaciers in their upper sections,

where they are scenic and beautiful, to

shooting at the bottom, where they are

changing, moving, melting and disappearing.

To me, this was a revolutionary change of view.”

Balog realized that the best way to

document the glaciers’ fading story was

through time-lapse photography. Here,

things get difficult. Balog and a team of

other professionals, including researchers

and volunteers, set out to place 25 elaborate

camera setups in glacial regions of

Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, the U.S. Rocky

Mountains and the Alps. They would

capture one image per camera, per every

hour of daylight, over this vast territory.

“Nobody who’s not working with satellites

has ever been so ridiculous as trying to

capture something of this scope,” says Balog.

In setting up the cameras, Balog and his

team have flown, trekked, dog sledded and

climbed into some of the most remote, forbid-

ding environments on the planet. Powered by

solar panels, the camera contraptions weigh

more than 70 pounds and require meticulous

(continued on p. 102)


NATURE

Professional Photographer: From a

photographic perspective, what have you

learned from your experiences working on

the Extreme Ice Survey?

James Balog: I’ve come to appreciate the

camera like I never have before. Sure, we

all know that cameras are a great way to

preserve memories. But this project has

given me a new appreciation. When I pull

out a flash card from one of the cameras,

I think this landscape is gone. The only

place it’s preserved is on that flash card.

That’s an amazing thing. They will never

be the same—at least not in our lifetime.

That is not hyperbole, it’s truth. Looking

through the camera has forced me to under-

stand that truth. For two years, I just shot

ice in cool shapes. Not until this summer

did I finally understand what I was seeing.

One of the most wonderful things

about photography is that it makes you

stop, be there, look, look some more, see

the thing, and feel it. Looking at blocks

of ice would be the last experience you’d

think would evoke some sort of feeling.

But they have really come alive for me

through the forced concentration of the

photographic process.

How do you see this project, and your

images, within the broader context of the

movement to reverse climate change?

We’re going to play a substantial role in

helping people understand the reality of

global warming. So much of the global

warming story has been told through

computer models and when hurricanes

hit or in miniscule changes to the sea

level. But when you see the changes in

front of you in pictures, it’s alive. The

camera makes all the difference.

What is the potential of photography to

influence decisions about the future of

our planet?

I’ve believed for a long time that photogra-

phers are like the antennae of civilization.

We are an integral part of the sensing

mechanism of the human animal. We’re

out there feeling in the darkness, trying

to see what’s around us and reveal what

hasn’t been revealed before. Not all pho-

tographers work that way, but to me

that’s one of the central elements of

photography. I would like to think that

passionate, involved photographers

would be looking at the world and trying

their hardest to speak about the

important things that are going on today.

What would be your message to other pho-

tographers who want to make a difference?

There’s no easy path. You have to take

tremendous risks. You have to wake up

in the morning and say, “I’m going to do

what needs to be done.” There are so

many environmental projects out there

today and no one is doing them. There

could be at least five major projects on

coal. There are lots of stories about climate

change. These can be portfolio stories.

Even if you can’t find a client who is

willing to pay for it, sometimes you just

have to do it anyway. I have never been

able to describe in advance to prospective

clients why they should fund these

things. You just have to say I’m going to

shoot the picture and get on with it.

NATURE


PROJECT TALK WITH JASON BALOG

©Extreme Ice Survey

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Lifelong Connections.

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(continued from p. 98)

setup. Inside protective Pelican hard cases,

Nikon D200 digital SLRs on Bogen tripod

heads are mounted to a configuration of

aluminum and steel anchors that are

secured by stainless steel aircraft cable guy

wires. Electronic timers trigger the shutters

every daylight hour, factoring in the

seasonal changes. The images are recorded

on flash cards that are retrieved at certain

intervals. The camera rigs must endure

extreme cold—temperatures below minus-

40 degrees Fahrenheit in some locations—

brutal winds up to 170mph, tremendous

snowfall and frequent avalanches. If every-

thing works, Balog will collect more than

300,000 images, to be presented in a variety

of media that will vividly illustrate the

constant and irreparable retreat of the ice.

The first rigs were placed in March

2006. For the mostpart, the complicated

engineering has held up, and Balog is

thrilled with the results. “The cams are

capturing incredible things,” he says. “You

could look at the landscapes day after day

and have a sense that something has

changed, but your brain doesn’t really hold

the memory. The time-lapse recordings

show the changes in vivid detail, in a way

that the human mind can’t preserve.”

Funded by philanthropic and research

organizations, the Extreme Ice Survey is

one-half documentary of the globe’s

disappearing ice, one-half public outreach.

Balog has planned television shows, media

coverage, traveling museum exhibitions and

a lecture series. “One of the biggest tragedies

of this generation will come when our

children look back and ask, ‘What were you

thinking?’” says Balog. “So with the EIS

pictures, I would like to create the forensic

evidence that will let them know that

somebody at least was paying attention. I

want to help people understand the reality

of the moment we’re in, not stick their heads

in the sand and say they didn’t know.” �

To see more from James Balog, visitwww.jamesbalog.com. Learn more about theExtreme Ice Survey atwww.extremeicesurvey.org.

NATURE


After Hurricane Katrina, nearly all of John-Michael Hannan’s contactsin the New Orleans wedding industry were gone. He consideredmoving, then thought again. This is the place where he belongs.

Building backIn post-Katrina New Orleans, John-Michael Hannan builds anew

t’s all about relationships for wedding and

portrait photographer John-Michael

Hannan of Metairie, La. In Hurricane

Katrina’s horrific wake, his house was

destroyed and his business ravaged.

Colleagues and friends beseeched the New

Orleans native to relocate to Texas, where the

photo industry hums with prosperity. Facing

the stark reality that nearly all his contacts

in the New Orleans wedding industry were

gone, Hannan considered moving, then

focused on his priorities: first, his family. He

chose to apply his boundless energy, fierce

determination and deep affection to rebuild

his house, his business and his community.

Two-and-a-half years after one of the

worst natural disasters to hit the nation,

Hannon’s business is picking up. It’s far

from normal, but then, these days in New

Orleans, normal is relative. Hannan has a

new house, with a 24x36-square-foot

camera room illuminated by a north-facing

7-foot window. Using the carpentry skills he

learned as a teenager, he rebuilt not only his

own house and studio, but the homes of

family and friends as well.

It was carpentry that got Hannan into

photography in the first place. In high

school, he’d help build a studio for a

wedding photographer. He peppered the

photographer with questions about the

equipment until he taught him lab work.

Before he was 18 years old, Hannan was

running the lab and shooting weddings.

Later, working in a professional photo lab

in New Orleans, Hannan realized he was at

least as good at photography as the professionals

IWEDDINGS By Lorna Gentry

All images ©John-Michael Hannan

whose film he was processing. He joined PPA

and gained enough confidence to open a

studio of his own, John-Michael Photography.

“I surrounded myself with mentors from

PPA,” he says. “I went to all the meetings and

attended the Texas School of Professional

Photography. They taught me everything,

from basic to advanced photography. Without

PPA I would have had to learn on my own

through books, and I can’t learn that way.”

The business grew through referrals and

relationship marketing, and getting to know

everyone in the wedding industry in New

Orleans, one of the most popular destina-

tion wedding locations in the country. For 15

years, Hannan averaged about 120 weddings

annually, shooting with two other photogra-

phers. Now he books about 40 weddings a

WEDDINGS

year, in part because of Katrina, but also

because it’s more manageable. “I scaled back

by steadily raising my prices.”

About 30 percent of his clients find Hannan

on the Web. “The phone does not ring a

fraction as much as it once did,” he says. “We

used to get 10 calls a day requesting bridal

consultations. Now it’s five to 10 a week.

Brides are doing their homework on the

Web now. Photographers all over the country

tell me they’re upset because they can’t get

brides in their doors. Last year I got 30

leads from two bridal shows I did, and was

lucky to get four of them in the door.”

Still honing his Internet skills, Hannan

admits his Web site could be stronger. But

he’s confident that solid photography trumps

Web wizardry in clinching contracts. “My

Web site guides brides to my online gallery.

I’m known for taking normal everyday

locations and situations and making them

extraordinary. Photographers with a couple

of years of experience tell me they think they

need to move to places like Hawaii, New

Orleans or big cities to get exceptional shots,

and that’s not true. They can do it in their

hometowns. It’s all technique. They need to

learn the skills to do it.”

Hannan teaches about a dozen wedding

and portrait photography classes a year at

PPA events and affiliated schools. He also

teaches photographers how to do what he

does best: build relationships. He has a knack

for holding onto bridal clients as their families

grow. After 27 years of wedding photography

in New Orleans, he’s now photographing his

clients’ children’s weddings, a new

generation of photo customers.

Hannan is a stickler for “old school” pho-

tography, basic techniques seemingly unknown

to the digital generation, he says. In Hannan’s

workshops, students don’t even open Photo-

shop on their laptops. “Today’s photogra-

phers shoot first and fix it later. But you

have to light, shoot and crop it properly

first,” Hannan instructs. “In my classes, we

meter properly and learn to do custom

white balance instead of relying on the

auto mode.” Photoshop is for fixing what

you can’t fix in-camera, like erasing under-

eye bags, he says. The difference in the

final prints is what separates the amateurs

from the professionals.

Hannan went digital five years ago.

After using medium-format Bronica

cameras for 20 years, he made the leap to

digital with the Canon EOS 5D and Canon

EOS-1D Mark II cameras. “Once I

understood that the same basic principles

applied it wasn’t hard. I was a precise

shooter with film, and it was second nature


WEDDINGS

graphicstudio.indd 1 11/30/07 1:51:58 PM

to me. It took a year before I was able to

achieve as good or better results with

digital. I got comfortable once I learned

how to make a one-step custom white

balance that gives me consistent results.”

Three Canon lenses—the 16-35mm

f/2.8L, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, and EF 70-

200 f/4L—are indispensable, he says,

adding flatly, “I couldn’t live without them.”

As for lighting, Hannan uses Larson Soff

Boxes on Photogenic lights. And when he

does need Photoshop, he launches CS3 on

his Apple iMac with a 24-inch monitor.

When the New Orleans levee broke after

Katrina hit, Hannan’s home, located just a

mile away, took in 6 inches of water, destroying

much of the equipment in his studio. The

PPA Charities Katrina Relief Fund was a

lifesaver while he waited for woefully

inadequate insurance compensation.

Hannan is optimistic about the city,

although he knows it will take years for New

Orleans to be going strong. “I’m a firm

believer in not getting stuck in ruts. The

only difference between a rut and a grave are

the dimensions. Change is good.” �

See John-Michael Hannan’s gallery atwww.john-michaelphotography.com.

A freelance writer based in Atlanta, LornaGentry has covered the professionalphotography industry for 15 years.


John-Michael Hannan presents “Kick It Up aNotch,” a program in the Essentials track, atImaging USA in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8.

WEDDINGS

SENSE &SENSIBILITY

For Kevin Kubota,success came bylistening to bothhead and heart

BY JEFF KENT

All images ©Kevin Kubota

verything in my career has been guided by littleintuitive bursts. I just think, ‘This is going tobe the future,’ and I go for it.” So says Kevin Kubota, Cr.Photog., the well-

known wedding photographer, marketing expert, educator, and digital

imaging tools developer. He’s nearly ubiquitous at industry events, andis the U.S. rep for the popular AsukaBook

album company. You might assume Kubota’s

motivation is financial, but a closer look

reveals that he follows a path of inspiration.

Kubota entered professional photography

about 18 years ago. Living in Los Angeles at

the time, he shot actor and model portfolios

for about three years before moving into wed-

dings. The switch was instinctive, as so many

decisions would be over the years. Kubota

liked the photographer who shot his wedding,

so he asked if he could follow him on a job.

After that one gig, Kubota went solo,

developing his style as he went. He wasn’t

aware of PPA or any other trade organiza-

tions, and hadn’t taken any classes in wedding

photography. Without anyone to guide him,

Kubota created a style of his own. It caught

on. Kubota’s bookings increased and he

acquired more upscale clients.

About 11 years ago, again trusting his

instincts, Kubota moved to Bend, Ore. Going

from the showbiz capital of the world to a

town of 35,000 was an enormous transition.

Would he have a great enough client base

locally to support his business?

He concentrated on marketing and design-

ing a dynamic Web site. He built an online

image sales system with a shopping cart feature.

He promoted to clients’ wedding guests and

out-of-town visitors. Instead of shrinking in the

smaller environment, his business prospered.

Gaining recognition in the industry,

Kubota began teaching seminars, and Nikon

asked him to become a Nikon-sponsored

convention speaker. Students began asking

for further information, take-home lessons,

readymade tools. Kubota produced an

Adobe Photoshop training CD and began to

release a series of his own Photoshop actions.

Sold as Artistic Tools and Production Tools,

the actions are runaway best sellers.

These days, Kubota shoots about 15 to 20

weddings a year, and a few portrait sessions

and commercial jobs. The rest of the time

he’s on the lecture circuit or presenting his

products and AsukaBook at tradeshows.

The key, he says, is his ongoing love affair with

his work, deep respect for fellow professionals,

and the drive to continue to improve.

We caught up with Kubota to ask his

opinions on the creative and business sides

of professional photography today.

Professional Photographer: In today’s

market, how can photographers innovate in

ways that separate them from the masses?

Kevin Kubota: I think photographers tend

to find other photographers whose work

they admire, and then emulate their style. If

you want to have a unique style, you need to

step out of this model. It’s better to be inspired

by others than to emulate them.


When I give workshops, I discourage

people from standing over my shoulder and

copying what I’m doing. I encourage them

to push themselves to develop their own

styles. Look at the big picture of what the

instructor is saying. Look at concepts. Go

beyond writing down the f/stops and shutter

speeds the instructor uses.

How do you step out of your box and follow

your passion? Listen to your intuition when

you’re photographing. That has worked well

for me from day one. If an idea pops into my

head, I suggest it to the client. I don’t think

about it too much; I just try it. Your true

creativity comes from your intuitive side.

Once you find that unique style, how do

you market it?

I like to do an exercise in my classes called

key wording. Print seven images that best

represent what comes from your intuitive,

creative space. These are the kinds of images

you would always make if you could. Look

at them and come up with three key words,

then have others look at them and give you

three key words. See what the common

denominators are. People are often surprised

at what they learn. A light bulb goes off, and

they realize that they never thought of them-

selves in a certain way. Maybe that’s the

photographer they’ve really been all this time.

Use those key words in your marketing.

Everything you produce should support those

words, from the music you play during a session

to the studio décor to your marketing pieces.

Get those thoughts out there and then start

drawing the right kinds of clients to you.

What other ways can photographers accom-

plish that objective?

It takes a general honesty about who you

are as a photographer. Once you’ve

developed your business to a certain point,

you need to identify the clients that are

right for you. You need to be able to tell

‘‘’’

It takes a general honesty about whoyou are as a photographer. Once you’ve developed your business to acertain point, you need to identify the clients that are right for you.

people that maybe they’re not the right fit.

Have the guts to display the images that

support your key words, not just the images

you think will sell. The images you love

should be the images on your walls. If an

image is powerful to you, you shouldn’t

make excuses for it.

There’s a client out there for every

photographer and every type of style. The

challenge is convincing those clients that

you’re true to that style and a good match

for what they want.

What’s your prediction for the next major

issue pro photographers will face?

It’s going to come back to the core: customer

service. It’s going to come back to good

business practices. Good business and good

service will distinguish those who will be

successful and stay in the game. Photographers

who have gotten into this line of work for

the wrong reasons will fall off.

I believe we need to keep educating

ourselves on the creative side. How will we

push ourselves and expand our perspectives?

Overall, I think our focus will move increasingly

to the non-technical side of photography.

What keeps you inspired day in and day out?

Doing what I absolutely love and nothing

else. I love teaching. I love getting feedback

from photographers who say they used my

actions and they’re making better images

and more money. I love getting out there

and shooting. I love being able to give some-

body something valuable. I wish everyone

could derive the same kind of joy from their

work. I wouldn’t trade it for anything else

in the world. �

To see more from Kevin Kubota, visitwww.kkphoto-design.com orwww.kubotaimagetools.com.

Don't miss the presentation from Kevin Kubotaand Doug Gordon, "See It Happen, Make ItHappen: Two Approaches to WeddingPhotography," at Imaging USA in Tampa, Fla.,January 6-8.

For more info on the premier conference andexpo, visit www.imagingusa.org.

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OUT ONTHE TABLE

John Harringtonshares everything

he has learnedabout business—

and leavesnothing out

BY JEFF KENT

All images ©John Harrington

When John Harrington started out in

freelance photography in the early 1990s, he

was lost in a sea of confusing business

issues. The Washington, D.C.-based

photographer had launched into editorial

shooting straight out of college, landing a

job as a staff photographer for The World

and I magazine. When the magazine went

through cost-cutting measures and

downgraded Harrington to part time, he

decided to start a freelance business doing

editorial and commercial images. But how?

The most disconcerting part of the mystery

was that no one would help him.

“There wasn’t a single photographer who

would talk about it,” says Harrington.

“Everyone told me I should figure it out on

my own. I decided that if I could figure it

“If you are not proud of your prices, and you don'tstand behind them, people will question them.”

out, I would tell every person who’d listen. I

would share with other photographers. I

would be as transparent as possible about

how I run my business.”

Harrington learned the business

through trial and error, and diligent study

in the school of hard knocks. He shared

what he learned. He talked openly about

pricing and licensing and hourly rates. At

first, photographers seemed to be taken

aback that he was divulging such prized

information, but he began to gain a

reputation as a business expert. Emerging

photographers would seek him out, and

before long, photographic organizations

asked him to give seminars.

Harrington’s business has expanded into

a full-service outfit offering everything from

editorial portraits to event coverage to wed-

ding photography. He continued to share

what he learned, and he wrote a book, “Best

Business Practices for Photographers”

(Thomson Course Technology, 2006). His

Web site features a pricing calculator so that

both clients and other photographers can

see his pricing structure.

Next he entered the blogosphere. Last

January, Harrington started to record his

observations on the Photo Business News &

Forum (photobusinessforum.blogspot.com).

Several times weekly, he posts comments,

videos and other info about finding success

in professional photography. By the end of

the year, the blog was getting about 40,000

page views per month and growing at a

10-percent clip.

The success of Photo Business prompted

Harrington to start a second blog, Assignment

Construct (www.assignmentconstruct.com),

backfilled with case studies of actual jobs.

He’s uploaded more than 100 of them so

far, including images, details on lighting,

pre-and post-production, and project

assessments.

(Continued on p. 130)

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John Harrington keeps the spiritof sharing alive with these lessons

1) Never underestimate the value you

bring to the project. Far too many people

negotiate themselves down. Don’t put

your price out there and then say, “If that’s

too high, let me know.” If you are not

proud of your prices, and you don’t stand

behind them, people will question them.

2) Never quote a price over the

phone. Verbal quotes sound negotiable.

If you tell someone that you’ll work up a

quote and send it on, the price seems

more legitimate. Get off the phone, think

about the job, and then prepare a real

estimate. Put the numbers in writing;

it says you put serious thought into

the project.

3) Recognize your strengths and

outsource the rest. You shouldn’t have

to learn all the legalese necessary to put

together a contract or the intricacies of

the tax system. Hire a lawyer to create a

basic contract that you can adapt, and

outsource your accounting as well. Focus

on making pictures, interacting with

clients and growing your business.

4) Don’t act like a know-it-all. Even

Tiger Woods gets coaching. Seek profes-

sional counsel when needed. If you don’t

know something, admit it and move forward.

5) Be professional in your commu-

nications. From e-mails to contracts to

thank-you notes to phone etiquette—

your clients’ first and lasting perception

of you is based almost exclusively on

how well you communicate.

6) Recognize the critical component

of family. It’s easy to put off domestic

relationships when making pictures is

what you love to do. Find the time to be

with your family and don’t let resentment

build. A successful business means

nothing if it destroys your home life.

6 CRUCIAL BUSINESS TIPS

“You shouldn't have to learnall the legalese necessaryto put together a contractor the intricacies of thetax system. … Focus onmaking pictures.”


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napp.indd 1 11/30/07 2:01:37 PM

(Continued from p. 126)

“All of this has grown out of a desire to help

other photographers,” says Harrington. “I

enjoy doing the blogs, and I get a great deal

of feedback privately thanking me. That is

rewarding in itself. I am glad to know that

I’m helping.”

Even so, Harrington feels there are

many photographers in need of business

proficiency. “Many photographers don’t

take into consideration all the costs

associated with their business, and as a

result, are doomed to fail,” he says. “It’s not

just that they aren’t deducting enough

expenses on their taxes; they are basing

their rates on something that’s not a real

calculation. They are not factoring in such

costs as professional dues, insurance,

utilities, subscriptions and other things they

purchase to operate the studio. They don’t

charge enough, and they don’t save enough.

When tax time rolls around, they owe the

IRS more than they should, money that

they don’t have.”

Harrington is optimistic about the future

of professional photography, largely because

of the environment of sharing and collabora-

tion that exists today. “The Internet has pro-

vided a broadening of communication,” says

Harrington. “Plus, people are starting to

understand that for the long-term profitability

of the industry, it’s important to talk about

these issues. That bodes well for the future

of the profession. I only wish I had those

resources available when I started!” �

For more information on John Harrington, visithim online at www.johnharrington.com.

John Harrington presents ”The Business ofPhotography“ in a pre-convention program (Jan. 5)at Imaging USA in Tampa, Fla., January 6-8.


A master’s

At Imaging USA this month, Professional

Photographers of America presents The

Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank E.

Cricchio, M.Photog.Cr., Hon.M.Photog.,

CPP, F-ASP, Hon.F-ASP, a member of the

prestigious Cameracraftsmen of America

and recipient of the 2004 Leadership

Award, presented by the United Nations

Photographic Council.

Cricchio, a past president of PPA as well as

the American Society of Photographers, opened

his first studio of photography in Port Arthur,

Texas, in 1958 (www.frankcricchio.com). Since

then, the internationally lauded portrait artist

and author has garnered just about every award

and citation in professional photography. But

dearer to his heart is his reputation as a teacher,

mentor and friend to fellow photographers.

Cricchio has been a technical consultant

and instructor for Fujifilm USA for the last

10 years, and continues to conduct his own

seminars and workshops. Recently, Cricchio’s

long-time friend Don Dickson, M.Photog.Cr.,

CPP, of Don Dickson Photography in

Plainview, Texas; PPA Board Member and

director of the Texas School of Photography,

asked him to reflect on his career.

Don Dickson: When did your interest in

photography begin?

Frank E. Cricchio: It was 1944 when I took

my first image with a Sparta box camera. I

was 11 years old. With a Kodak ABC devel-

oping kit, I made my first print from this

“I took my first image with a Sparta box camera. I was 11 years old. I made my first print in the bathroom of my parent’s small home.”

camera in the bathroom of my parent’s small

home. The impact of seeing the image appear

in the developer remains with me today.

What was your first studio like?

It was 1958 and I can still see my first customer

walking into the front door of my studio.

That was an exciting moment. The studio

was small, 15x30 feet, which included the

reception area, work area, and camera room.

Whenever I had an appointment, I’d move

things out the back door to make room. When

it rained, I had to cancel the appointment.

What is the favorite portrait that you’ve

created and why?

This is going to be the hardest question to

answer. The images I’m partial to are those

taken in adverse weather or low lighting

conditions. These images have an unspoken

emotion attached. Although I do not consider

myself a figure study photographer, the two

I’m proudest of are images of the female form,

taken outdoors. One was taken in the sand

dunes with the sun setting low in the sky and

strong winds blowing the model’s hair back—

not ideal conditions to make photographs,

but of the three I was able to make, one was

perfect. She hit a perfect pose and the sun

rimmed her body with pencil highlight. The

impact of this image stays with you.

The second image was taken late in the day.

We were working in the forest and came across

a carved-out log with a golden burnt-orange

coloring inside. The model was lying on her

side in the log and the low light was coming

from above and highlighted her body to

accentuate her beauty. This image required

two additional exposure stops to compensate

for reciprocity and the low sensitivity of the

film to the blue light of late day.

What do you predict in the industry in the

next 50 years?

Who can say for sure? But looking back to

1839, the birth of photography with Louis

Daguerre’s Daguerreotype process at the

Academia des Beaux Arts et Science, Paris,

we’ll have the same excitement for an image

in some form of art.

It wasn’t true back in 1839 when people

said photography would make everyone an

instant artist, and it’s not true now. Fifty

years from now the capture technique will be

different, but the art will remain the same.

The one thing we can predict is that the style

will change with each generation.

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Who was or is your mentor in photography?

Leo Stern of Kansas City was the teacher

who inspired me the most. I was a student

at Winona School of Photography in Winona

Lake, Ind., where Leo was the lead instructor.

He took me under his wing and polished my

lighting for classical portraiture.

Paul Linwood Gittings studios would be

the second. I would drive 100 miles to Houston,

Texas, to look in the display windows of his

studio and study the lighting of his dye

transfer images.

Who do you admire and why?

I admire those who are quiet geniuses,

those who go about their everyday life

improving our profession and our society. It

is those who dare to dream who make a

difference in the world. They are

everywhere amongst us. Not all of them get

recognition for their accomplishments.

‘‘’’

What advice can you give the new

photographer just starting out?

A young photographer must remember that

greatness does not come from living in a

large city or having the greatest amount of

education. It comes from being dedicated to

your dream, making a plan to reach your

goals and never giving up.

I always tell my students to do three

things: Give credit to those who taught you;

teach someone else what you have learned;

become better than your teacher.

What projects are you currently working on?

Learning all there is to know about Photo-

shop. Now, to do it will take me another

lifetime. I’m presently challenged to teach with

my Photoshop mentor, Don Emmerich

[M.Photog.M.Artist.MEI.Cr., API, F-ASP]

at the Texas School of Professional Photog-

raphy, and I want to make him proud of me.

Any plans to retire?

I do not plan to retire. My dream is to be able

to teach someone something the last day of

my life. I admire Frank Christian from Canada.

I witnessed him teaching to a full auditorium

the week before his death. He had to sit and

rest between thoughts. But he was as brilliant

during his last lecture as he was at his first.

My dream is to follow in his footsteps and

those who have taken their time to teach me. �

Frank Cricchio will receive the LifetimeAchievement Award at the Awards and DegreeCeremony, Tuesday, January 8, at 6:45 p.m.,at Imaging USA. All are welcome to attend.


[My first] studiowas small, 15x30 feet,which included thereception area, workarea, and cameraroom. Whenever Ihad an appointment,I’d move things outthe back door tomake room. When itrained, I had to cancelthe appointment.

142-143 coop.indd 2 12/5/07 1:09:58 PM

142-143 coop.indd 3 12/5/07 1:10:13 PM

Howard Schatz and hisremarkable life aquatic

B Y S T E P H A N I E B O O Z E R

LightPools of


that Howard Schatz is willing to get to the

bottom of. To explore and perfect in front of

his lens. To dissect and understand, and

above all, to delight both himself and his

audience. Schatz has spent years studying

how various fabrics, textures and bodies

behave underwater. How light reflects and

refracts. How his camera translates beauty

through that simple combination of

elements that is so essential to our being.

Over his photographic career, Schatz has

published 17 books, each exploring various

elements of humanity, from a luminous

series on redheads to delicate first images of

newborns to his probing underwater work.

His latest release, “H20” (Bulfinch Press,

2007), is his third devoted to water, an

infatuation which began innocently enough

in 1992, while shooting hoops in his pool

back in Marin County, California.

“When the ball bounced on the water, it

splashed, and I learned I had to wear

goggles,” says Schatz. “Having on goggles

meant I could open my eyes and see

underwater, see a whole new world.”

The idea was born. For the next six

months, Schatz turned his indoor pool into

a lab, experimenting with exposure and

lighting, methodically noting what worked,

what didn’t, and what surprised him. Using

rangefinder cameras, he slowly worked out

the subtle details of composition, focus,

water clarity, color, film, subject, lighting,

and shadows, and how these elements

ilk gracefully rippling underwater. Tinybubbles clinging to submerged cheeks, lips and eyelashes. Hair curling and winding as water

ebbs and flows around it, over it, through it. These are things

worked with him or against him.

“My first pictures were blue, cloudy, out of

focus, underexposed, and awful,” says Schatz.

“But I slowly figured it out. I learned about

making the water look clear, controlling the

light, about focus and composition. I began

to make pictures that I had control over, the

pictures that I had in my mind.”

From there, Schatz discovered that he

needed a special kind of subject. Someone

who could move gracefully underwater, and

handle the challenges that water poses. Models

had to have more than an interesting look.

They had to understand buoyancy and control,

feel comfortable opening their eyes underwater,

and understand how to gracefully hold or

release air from their lungs. Immediately,

Schatz thought of dancers.

“The adversary for dancers is gravity,” says

Schatz. “They leap, and gravity pulls them

down. But underwater, they’re weightless.”

Katita Waldo, a prima ballerina with the

San Francisco Ballet who had been a

previous subject for “Seeing Red: The

Rapture of Redheads” (Pomegranate

ArtBooks, 1994), instantly sprang to mind.

“I called her up and asked if she could

swim,” says Schatz. “The first pictures I made

of Katita underwater literally took my breath

away and brought tears to my eyes. I came

up gasping. She could perform and express

motion slowly, beautifully, confidently, with

control, and not be pulled down by gravity.”

This early work evolved into the book

“Waterdance” (Graphis Press, 1995). Buoyed

by his success and consumed with the idea

of an underwater studio, Schatz took on

beauty and fashion underwater projects,

creating enough images for “Pool Light”

(Graphis Press, 1998), his ninth photography

book. Though he was quickly becoming a

master of his aquatic realm, Schatz increasingly

felt the confines of his pool. He needed a

pool designed not for recreation or parties,

but one with a single purpose as an under-

water studio. One he could light from any

angle, and use any equipment he needed.

With that concept in mind, he and his wife

and business partner, Beverly Ornstein,

moved to New York City in 2001, then pur-

chased a home in Connecticut, and imme-

diately set to work on the pool studio. It was

completed in 2002, and Schatz wasted no

time. He was in the pool at least one day a

week, sometimes two or three, often working

late into the night. His passion and curiosity

were insatiable.

“This pool wasn’t for swimming or

basketball, just pictures,” says Schatz. “I

started making all the images that I had in

my mind, images that I couldn’t make at the

pool back in Marin.”

To find models, Schatz and Ornstein

began casting. They looked at thousands of

potential bodies and faces. As part of their

evaluation, each model had to swim the

length of the pool underwater.

“That’s easy if you’re comfortable,” says

Schatz. “If someone went in and came up

right away, I knew it wouldn’t work. But

once I found the ones who were comfortable,

I trained them, taught them how to manage

their bodies, breathing, and eyes underwater.

There was a huge majority of people who

were not able to do this kind of work.”

After five years, Schatz had made close to

200,000 frames of subjects in the water.

He worked with models and dancers,

members of the cast of Cirque de Soleil’s

“O” from Las Vegas, and Olympic

synchronized swimmers. With his next

water-themed book in mind, Schatz edited

as he worked, narrowing down his list of

favorites and eliminating anything that

didn’t completely embody his vision.

“We got it down to about 1,000 pictures

and worked on them,” explains Schatz, who

enlisted the help of Ornstein and three

highly esteemed photo editors. “We worked

on composition, color, all sorts of things. I

wanted to make the pictures fulfill my

fantasy, to show what I wanted to say, what

was in my heart and mind.”

The result is “H20,” a multi-faceted

collection representing Schatz’s experi-

mentation. From the contortions of nudes

into letters of the alphabet, to playful beach

balls hovering in the water, to the pageantry

of the Cirque de Soleil, each turn of the

page reveals the artistry and ardor of

Schatz’s inquisitive mind.

“I like chance and the unexpected,” says

Schatz. “I photograph to surprise and delight’’‘‘I wanted tomake thepictures fulfillmy fantasy.

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myself. That’s why I do what I do. When I

can do that, it makes my life rich and happy.

I experiment a lot. All of my work has to do

with finding new ways to see things.”

Schatz began his professional career as a

physician, specializing in retinal problems.

He spent years helping his patients see better,

writing textbooks, teaching and researching

breakthroughs in medicine.

“I had patients with serious problems, but

it was challenging, interesting, and rich,”

says Schatz. “I loved my patients and I loved

writing, and making new discoveries. But I

had this other part of me.”

Realizing his need for creative explora-

tion, Schatz took a sabbatical from his

practice and moved with Ornstein to New

York for a year. He never looked back.

“I believe medicine has given me many

tools,” say Schatz. “It’s allowed me to

understand methodology and testing, in a

scientific way. I also had a care for my

patients and learned to behave in such a way

that the patient felt better, felt they were with

the right person. That helps me with the

portraiture, knowing how to get the most

from [someone] and get them to relax.”

It’s clear that Schatz’s bedside manner sets

his subjects at ease. You can see it in his

work. Schatz’s boundless fascination with

people feeds his amazing ability to create

honest, true, emotional portraits of just

about anyone. The Works In Progress section

of his Web site shows just how diverse his

subjects are. From pregnant women splattered

in paint to studies in projected light bathing

nude bodies to showcasing the strange and

unusual in American counterculture, Schatz

doesn’t shy away from anyone. He follows his

curiosity wherever it leads, whether it’s put-

ting anti-gravity boots on gymnasts to study

motion or setting up a booth for portraits at

San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair.

“I think you can get inspiration from every-

where,” says Schatz, who never goes anywhere

without a pad of paper and a pencil. “When

something sparks, I write it down. Most of the

time, things don’t go anywhere, but some are

worth exploring. The studio is a laboratory and

anything is worth trying. Opposite of medicine,

where it’s important to behave perfectly, in

photography I try to make mistakes.”

As for the future, Schatz hopes to continue

to surprise and delight himself, whether in

the water or elsewhere. “I still have many

ideas I want to try, and so many things to

explore,” he says, not wanting to commit

himself to any one idea. “I want to climb this

creative tree and try a fruit on each branch.” �

To see more work by Howard Schatz, visitwww.howardschatz.com.

Don't miss Howard Schatz's dynamic SuperProgram presentation at Imaging USA in Tampa,Fla., January 6-8.

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Current EventsFebruary 1-5C: PP of Michigan, Marriott Ann Arbor/Ypsilantiat Eagle Crest Conference Resort; Scott Green,248-318-5182; [email protected]; www.ppm.org

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PPA EVENTSProfessional Photographers of America (PPA)has a proud tradition of providing its memberswith outstanding educational opportunitiesthrough its annual events, PPA-Merited classesand its PPA Affiliate School Network. Don’tmiss out on the vital knowledge you’ll gain atthese events! For information on PPA events,call 800-786-6277 or visit www.ppa.com.

January 11-13, 2009Imaging USA, Phoenix

PPA-Approved ContinuingEducation SeminarsPPA members receive both merits and the best-published prices.

February 3-10C/E: A week in Cancun with Bob & EdnaLloyd; Krystal Hotel, Cancun, Mexico; 217-627-3511; [email protected]

February 6C/E: Extreme Portraiture: The Great North-west Edition; Tacoma, Wash.; 630-761-2990.

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February-MarchC/E: New Hampshire PPA Photofestival2008; 603-627-7563; www.nhppa.com;[email protected]

March 3-8C/E: Painter Panache Master; Jeremy Sutton,San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971;www.jeremysutton.com

May 5-9C/E: From Traditional to Digital; JeremySutton, San Francisco, Calif.; 415-626-3971;www.jeremysutton.com

July 12-18C/E: Copan Honduras Study Abroad Excursionwith Paul Wingler, Suzette Allen & Jon Yoshinaga;800-483-6208; [email protected];www.suzetteallen.com/copan

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calendarSubmit your organization’s convention, work-shop, seminar or exhibition dates to ProfessionalPhotographer at least six months in advance.Editors reserve the right to select events to beannounced on these pages, and to determinewhen announcements will appear. Editors arenot responsible for conflicting or incorrect dates.For readers’ convenience, each event is identifiedby a code preceding its name: C=Convention,W=Workshop, S=Seminar, C/E=Approved PPAContinuing Education Seminar, E=Exhibit. Sendall Calendar of Events additions or correctionsto: Sandra Lang, Professional Photographer,229 Peachtree St., NE, Suite 2200, Atlanta, GA30303; FAX: 404-614-6404; [email protected].


PPA members receive both merits and the best-published prices.

February 10-14Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash.; Sam Gardner;360-961-2887; [email protected];www.ppw.org

February 24-28Bahamas International School of Professional Photog-raphy, Nassau Beach Hotel, Nassau, Bahamas;Kenneth Love, 242-393-5683, [email protected];www.bispp.com; Rick English, 508-595-0075;[email protected]

March 30 - April 2International Photographic Arts School, Mariott Hotel& Conference Center, Indianapolis, Ind.; JanellSpencer, 812-384-3203; [email protected];www.apag.net/ipasschool.html

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May 18-23Imaging Workshops of Colorado, Breckenridge, Colo.;Jeff Johnson; 303-921-4454;[email protected]; www.coloradoworkshops.com

June 1-5Kansas Professional Photographer School, BethelCollege, Newton, Kan.; Ron Clevenger, 785-242-7710,[email protected]; www.kpps.com

June 1-5Mid-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 8-12Illinois Workshops, Grafton, Ill.; Bret Wade, 217-245-5418; [email protected]; www.ilworkshops.com

June 8-13Great Lakes Institute of Photography, NorthwesternCollege, Traverse City, Mich.; Greg Ockerman, 313-318-4327; [email protected]; www.glip.org

June 15-20West Coast School, University of San DiegoSan Diego, Calif.; Kip Cothran, 951-696-9706; [email protected]; www.prophotoca.com

June 22-25Golden Gate School of Professional Photography, MillsCollege, Oakland, Calif.; Julie Olson, 650-548-0889;[email protected]; www.goldengateschool.com

June 22-26PP Oklahoma School, St. Gregory’s University,Shawnee, Okla.; Glenn Cope, 580-628-6438;[email protected]; www.ppok.org/school.html

July 13-17Image Explorations, Shawnigan Lake, BritishColumbia; Don MacGregor, 604-731-7225;[email protected]; www.imageexplorations.ca/

July 20-25PPSNY Photo Workshop, Hobart/William SmithColleges, Geneva, N.Y.; Linda Hutchings, 607-733-6563; [email protected]; www.ppsnysworkshop.com

August 4-7Long Island Photo Workshop, Sheraton Hotel,Smithtown, Long Island, N.Y.; Jerry Small, 516-221-4058; [email protected]; www.liphotoworkshop.com

2008 PPA-AFFILIATED SCHOOLS

April 12-15C: Heart of America, Mid America Center, CouncilBluffs, Iowa.; Stephen Harvey, 620-624-4102;[email protected]; www.hoappa.com

April 13-15C: Montana PPA, Billings, Montana; ScottFairbanks, 406-761-2059;[email protected]; montanappa.org

April 14S: Connecticut PPA, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cromwell,Conn.; Harvey Goldstein, 203-430-8276;[email protected]; www.ctppa.com

April 21S: PP of Massachusetts; Steve Meier, [email protected], www.ppam.com

April 26-29C: New Hampshire PPA; North Conway,N.H.; Lorraine Bedell, 603-743-5732; [email protected]; nppa.com

April 27-29C: PP of New Jersey, Bally’s Hotel & Casino,Altlantic City, N.J., Leslie Meltzer, 866-985-4300; [email protected]; wwwppanj.com

June 15-16C: PP of Oregon, Mt. Bachelor Resort Bend,Ore.; Arlene Welsh, 800-370-5657; [email protected]; www.pporegon.com

June 16S: PP of Massachusetts; Steve Meier, [email protected]; www.ppam.com

June 22-23S: Kentucky PPA; Embassy Suites, Lexington, Ky.; Randy Fraley, 606-928-5333; [email protected]; www.kyppa.com

September 12-15C: PP of Oklahoma, Radisson Hotel, Tulsa,Okla.; Ted Newlin, [email protected];www.ppok.org

September 13-16C: PPA of New England, Sturbridge, Mass.;Roland Laramie, P.O. Box 316, Willimantic,Conn. 06226; [email protected]

October 3-7C: 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 5-6S: Kentucky PPA; Hyatt Regency, Lexington,Ky.; Randy Fraley, 606-928-5333; [email protected]; www.kyppa.com

October 20S: PP of Massachusetts; Steve Meier, [email protected]; www.ppam.com

October 26-27C: PP of Iowa, Airport Holiday Inn, Des Moines,Iowa; Chris Brinkopf, P.O. Box 108, Sumner, IA50674; 563-578-1126; [email protected]

November 9-10C: PP of Ohio, Hilton Easton, Columbus,Ohio; Carol Worthington, [email protected]

Future EventsJanuary 31 - February 3, 2009C: PP of Iowa, Airport Holiday Inn, DesMoines, Iowa; Chris Brinkopf, P.O. Box 108,Sumner, IA 50674; 563-578-1126;[email protected]

February 20-23, 2009C: PP of Oregon, Mt. Bachelor Resort Bend,Ore.; Arlene Welsh, 800-370-5657; [email protected]; www.pporegon.com

February 26-March 4, 2009C: PP of North Carolina; Sheraton ImperialHotel, Durham, N.C.; Loretta Byrd, 888-404-7762; [email protected]; www.ppofnc.com

March 28-31, 2009C: Heart of America, KCI Expo Center, KansasCity, Mo.; Stephen Harvey, 620-624-4102;[email protected]; www.hoappa.com


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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEJack Reznicki, Cr.Photog., API

2007-2008 PPA President

news from the world’s largest professional photography association | Professional Photographers of America | www.ppa.com

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Reading Newsweek to catch up with the week’s news, I came across a short obit for Alexandra Boulat, a 45-year-old French photojournalist contributor to Newsweek and Time and a founding member of the well-regarded photojournalism group “VII.” Suddenly, I felt a real loss—even though I can’t say I really knew her work. Why the sadness? Our profession lost a talent in her prime. She probably wouldn’t show up on most PPA members’ radars, and I feel more at a loss for that because I believe we are in the fraternity and sorority of F-stops, shutter speeds, and pixels. We are a community, a family of photographers.

Too often, though, we divide ourselves up into rigid specialties: “No, I don’t want to go to that lecture—it’s a wedding lecture. I only shoot portraits.” More’s the pity.

PPA stands for “Professional Photographers of America,” not just one or two photographic specialties. We all do the same thing—whether a war photojournalist, a wedding photographer, an advertising shooter, a family portrait specialist, a forensic specialist, etc. (Although war and wedding photographers could be grouped together, judging by the similar stories I’ve heard about “shooting under enemy re.”) We all capture what we see, making a permanent record of what is a eeting moment. We deal with emotion, and we capture that emotion in a xed image.

And as members of this photographic family, we should know our history…our

“ancestors,” so to speak. I used to tell assistants that the late Art Kane’s studio

was next door to mine and got blank stares of non-recognition. How can you not study your own profession’s history and the giants that went before us…not just in your specialty or area of interest? All photography history is worthy of study.

In the late ‘60s, I followed Larry Burrow’s images in Newsweek as he covered—and was himself killed in—Vietnam. I learned about and became friends with the late, great Monte Zucker. I’ll be giving an award at Imaging USA to Frank Cricchio, who’s contributed greatly to PPA and photography. And a friend of mine, commercial and ne art photographer Howard Schatz, will give the Super Program in Tampa. They are all different branches of the photographic tree. While it’s a very large and diverse tree, everything (including us) is connected and related.

I look forward this January to one of photography’s greatest events for gathering and sharing what we know—PPA’s Imaging USA. While many see it as just a convention, I see it as a coming together, a great gathering of the clan. And as Imaging USA has evolved, it is a true family gathering with all our various branches represented. We have added commercial programs for the CPI members and co-located with SEPCON for sport and event photographers. Another trade association, the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) will also be providing speakers. The forensic photographers of EPIC will gather for the rst time under Imaging USA and learn about blood splatters. Adobe will have a digital track; Microsoft will have

a theater; and loads of photographers will be getting their hard-won ribbons and accolades at the awards presentation. There will be wonderful parties and a sold-out tradeshow where photographers from all corners of the world will be looking, learning, and sharing.

As for me, I’ll be right in the middle of it all, appreciating the different hues that make up this wonderful family. I’ll also say a small prayer for Alexandra Boulat, a distant cousin in a sense, a member of this family, a fellow photographer.

Jack Reznicki, Cr.Photog., API2007-2008 PPA President

TODAY JANUARY | 08

A PHOTOGRAPHY FAMILY© Rod Brown

© Dick Goodan

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2007 AN-NE AWARDS WINNERS


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The results are in…those who entered the 2007 AN-NE Marketing Awards competition have duked it out to produce winners and nalists. Judged on effectiveness, professionalism, and a host of other qualities, the AN-NE entries were tough to score. Sometimes less than a point separated the winners! Listed below are those who fought their way to the top:

BEST E-MAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNWinner: Wendy Rouleau Portraits by Wendy Buford, GA

Finalists: Sandy Puc’ Expressions Photography Littleton, CO Loreen Liberty TLM Studios Devens, MA

BEST FAMILY & CHILDREN CAMPAIGNWinner: Laura Novak Laura Novak Photography Wilmington, DE

Finalists: Sandy Puc’ Expressions Photography Littleton, CO

Dan Brody Dan Brody Photography Bryn Mawr, PA

BEST IMAGE MARKETING CAMPAIGNWinner: Sarah Petty Sarah Petty Photography Spring eld, IL

Finalists: Julia Woods Portrait Life Washington, IL

Ann Markley Ann Chase Photography Woodinville, WA

BEST USE OF MULTIMEDIAWinner: Paul Owen Paul Owen Photography New Berlin, WI

Finalists: Mona Kay Sadler Adrian Henson Photography Alliance, NC

BEST HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR CAMPAIGNWinner: Sarah Petty Sarah Petty Photography Spring eld, IL

Finalists: Julia Woods Portrait Life Washington, IL

Jeffrey Richardson Richardson Studio Bloomington, IN

BEST WEB SITEWinners: Wendy Rouleau(tied) Portraits by Wendy Buford, GA Farrah Braniff Farrah Braniff Photographs Houston, TX

Finalist: Jeffrey Woods Portrait Life Washington, IL

BEST WEDDING CAMPAIGNWinner: Christa Hoffarth [studio] South Lake Tahoe, CA

Finalists: Albert Lewis Mulberry Photography Truckee, CA

Peter Holcombe Peter Holcombe Photography Lafayette, CO

BE A WINNER YOURSELF!

The 2008 AN-NEMarketing Awards are earlier this year, due July 1, 2008. Rules will be online in February, but you can start getting ready now.

Named in honor of AnnMonteith (AN) and Marvel Nelson (NE), both PPA past presidents and marketing gurus, this competition helps you take a closer look at what your customer sees before they see you: your marketing.

See how you stack up against your peers in 2008.

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Roman Cooper from Saginaw, Mich. was the lucky winner of the 2007 Graduate in the Driver’s Seat Sweepstakes, overcoming about 20,000 other entries. Thanks to entering the sweepstakes with Randall Tucker at Hicks Studio, Cooper received the cash equivalent of a 2007 Jeep Wrangler Sahara.

Hicks Studio offered the Graduate in the Driver’s Seat Sweepstakes as a member of the Sweepstakes Marketing

Cooperative, a member program produced by PPA and SEP. Along with the Graduate in the Driver’s Seat Sweepstakes, members also offered a Family Destination: Disney Sweepstakes and/or an Escape to Paradise Cruise Sweepstakes (the winners of these two sweepstakes will be announced in January 2008). This exclusive member-only bene t enabled photographers to conduct campaigns with prizes and a pro t-building strategy that they couldn’t offer on

their own. And it paid out for Randall Tucker and Roman Cooper!

In fact, PPA and SEP members can join the 2008 Sweepstakes Marketing Co-op to possibly see the smiles on their own clients’ faces if they win, too.

Visit www.ImageSweepstakes.com for more information and sign up before January 31, 2008.

GRADUATING WITH SMILES AND MONEY


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WHY SHOULD I BECOME CERTIFIED? David Mithofer

OUR FIRST SWEEPSTAKES WINNER

Most questions don’t have an easy answer, but this one does: to make more money. Certi cation is an excellent marketing tool and a great way to justify your prices. When a consumer opens the phone book or searches online, there are literally hundreds of photographers listed. You need a one-sentence reason for that consumer to consider you, and

“Certi ed Professional Photographer” is an excellent reason.

It’s true that you must sell your consumer on your prices, portfolio, and personality. But rst, you have to get them in the door…and certi cation can help. Independent studies indicate that certi cation is the most widely recognized credential. It makes sense, as certi cation programs can be found in many professions. If your prospective

client is a teacher, a technology professional, an accountant, etc., they are intimately familiar with certi cation and what it means about the quality of your work. And these are the types of clients you covet. Those that understand certi cation are usually professionals with disposable income! So while not every consumer understands the value of certi cation, most of your free-spending clients do.

Certi cation can also help justify prices. You have overhead, and you need to charge a certain amount to make the job worthwhile. Explaining to clients that you undertook a rigorous testing process, administered by an independent commission, may be the information that convinces them that you are more than worth it.

Consider this: Everyone knows that CPAs make more money than non-certi ed accountants, but it wasn’t always so. Accountants wisely explained the dif culty and importance of certi cation until consumers became conditioned to pay more for a certi ed professional. You can do the same.

So if you’re making enough money, I don’t recommend certi cation. Why pay the fee? If you want to increase your revenue, though, certi cation is one of the most important steps you can take.

AFFILIATE COMMUNICATORS GET RECOGNIZEDChances are, people stay connected to local and regional organizations thanks to a newsletter, magazine, or Web site. But these publications don’t produce themselves! Have you—the editors and Webmasters—been thanked?

If you are in charge of these publications, you should enter the 2008 Af liate Communications Competition.

All PPA Af liate editors and Webmasters are invited to participate in this competition, designed to encourage excellence in Af liate publications and to recognize the individuals who spend their time and energy editing, designing and maintaining these publications in order to keep their members informed. You’ll earn an achievement merit if your entry is accepted into the competition and an additional merit if you win!

Get the recognition you deserve. Entry forms are available at http://competitions.ppa.com. Entries must be received at PPA no later than Friday, February 22, 2008. If you have additional questions, please contact PPA at (800) 339-5451, ext. 226, or e-mail [email protected].

163-166 ppatoday.indd 3 12/5/07 1:02:44 PM


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CONVERSATIONS ON OURPPA.COMDo you have any money left after all the holiday presents? If so, how about buying your studio something nice? Create a shopping wish list. Then ask your peers on the Open Forum at OurPPA.com which item is the most important. That should help you narrow down your decisions at any time!

http://www.ourppa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8975

You have until the end of January to give even more to your clients…so don’t forget to sign up for the 2008 Sweepstakes Marketing Co-op at www.ImageSweepstakes.com.

• Join the 2008 Co-op for only $100 per sweepstakes/studio location (the only fee paid to PPA and SEP).

• Get the right to offer prospects a cruise, a car, and/or a Disney vacation (along with other prizes)…without buying the prizes outright.

• Presto—you have created an event, giving you something to talk about in promotions!

Just imagine the excitement and publicity your studio will receive if one of your clients or prospects wins. Join by January 31, 2008 to be eligible. Sign up at www.ImageSweepstakes.com.

ADD PRIZES TO YOUR PROMOTIONS

AFFILIATE SCHOOL SPOTLIGHTTEXAS SCHOOLApril 22 – May 2, 2008 | College Station, TexasContact: Don Dickson [email protected] 806-296-2276Web site: www.tppa.org/school.htmTuition: $435 PPA members (meals included) $520 non-PPA members (meals included)Course Information: We will have 34 classes—from Hanson Fong with Weddings to Helen Yancy with Painter—and over 1,000 photographers at this unbelievable school. Registration starts January 3 at 12:00am (midnight on the 2nd). Many classes ll up fast, so register early and come enjoy the fun and education in Texas. Check out the Web site listed above for course details.

M.A.R.S. (Mid Atlantic Regional School of Professional Photography)May 4 - May 9, 2008 | The Grand Hotel, Cape May, New JerseyContact: Adele Bastinck [email protected] 888-267-MARSWeb site: www.marsschool.comTuition: $1025 (all inclusive, including hotel accommodations, meals, tradeshow, parties, etc.)Course Information: The Photoshop Edge You Need — Suzette Allen & Jon YoshinagaPortraiture - Seeing the Light — Carl Caylor Painter - Fundamentals for Photographers — Jane Connor Weddings - Mastering the Techniques — Hanson Fong Zen and the Art of Portrait Photography — Randy McNeilly Portraiture and Marketing - A Master Class — Michael Redford Creative Compositions with Nature — Tony Sweet Advanced Photoshop — Eddie Tapp

SUPER MONDAY MADE EASIERIt’s easier to search and easier to see up-to-date content...it’s Super Monday online! New in 2008, the Super Monday booklet will be located in the PPA Education Guide Online (www.ppaEdGuide.com). Now when

you want to nd the nearby April 2008 classes, all you have to do is visit the Web site and search via state, category, instructor, etc. No more page ipping, although you can print it out if you really want to.

Remember: classes are updated often, so keep checking back at the website to see what’s new.

163-166 ppatoday.indd 4 12/5/07 1:03:03 PM

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HASSELBLAD OWNERS: David S. Odess is a factory trainedtechnician with 30 years experience servicing the Hasselbladsystem exclusively. Previously with Victor Hasselblad. Freeestimates, prompt service, reasonable rates and a 6 monthguarantee. Used equipment sales. 28 South Main St., #104,Randolph, MA 02368, 781-963-1166; www.david-odess.com.

CANVAS MOUNTING

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

COMPUTER/SOFTWARE

SUCCESSWARE®—Studio Management Software availablefor both Windows® and Macintosh®. Recommended by AnnMonteith, the nation’s foremost studio managementconsultant. Call today for a FREE SuccessWare® Tour 800-593-3767 or visit our Web site www.SuccessWare.net.

Learn how you can revolutionize customer and ordertracking and ignite your marketing fire with customizedsoftware that knows what’s going on in YOUR business—even when you don’t! More professional photographerstrust Photo One Software, powered by Granite Bearthan all other studio management software combined! 5Powerful Guarantees: 5 days to customize your PhotoOne to match your studio; personalized phone training foryou and your staff; 75 minute no-hassle guaranteedsupport call-back time; 365 days of unlimited support andusable upgrades and a 365 day unmatched money backguarantee! Zero-Risk. Only $299.00 deposit gets youstarted. Call 888-428-2824 now for your free workingdemo or visit www.photoonesoftware.com. Photo One,Building better businesses, one studio at a time.

DIGITAL

DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHERS—Kessler Color producesSTUNNING images from digital files. Try our rapid FTP siteand get a FREE 16 x 20. New Service—E-Vents fromKessler Color. Get 8x10 units for [email protected]. 800-KES-LABS.

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EDUCATION/WORKSHOPS

DIGITAL PAINTING FORUM. The Digital Painting Forum,hosted by Painter Master Marilyn Sholin has thousands ofinternational members and over 50,000 post about Corel®Painter, Essentials, and Photoshop.Forums includetutorials, brushes, digital painting, art, and the business ofcreating, marketing and selling digital art. This forum hasa small subscription fee that is well worth the educationgained. www.digitalpaintingforum.com

WALL PORTRAIT CONFERENCE. April 20th-25th, 2008. Sixday Wall Portraiture concept to completion. The original wallportrait school. Has changed the lives of many! Emphasis onpublic acceptance, concepts, sales, portrait finishing and more.Yakima, Washington, 509-248-6700, www.wallportrait.com

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

DIGITAL PRINTERS; FUJI-NORITSU; MINILABS; NEW& USED, FACTORY AUTHORIZED. INSTALLATION ANDTRAINING. FINANCING—$600 UP. DELIVERY—INSURED.WWW.DIRECT-RESOURCES.COM; 877-318-3015.

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED: Assistant photographer for contemporaryphotojournalistic wedding coverages in Orange County, CAarea. Must have digital equipment. E-mail John [email protected].

PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERNORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN

Harmann Studios is a progressive portrait company withmultiple locations with emphasis in seniors, children,families, sport, and school photography. We have been inbusiness for more than 45 years and have unlimitedresources to make our portraits stand out. We are seekinga candidate with 5 years of portrait experience, goodorganizational skills, exceptional understanding of DSLRcameras, and most of all, a fun and adaptive personality.Health, vacation, and flexible scheduling are just some ofthe benefits we offer. Please send resumes and sampleimages and sample images to John Harmann [email protected].

INCORPORATION SERVICESINCORPORATE OR FORM an LLC today! Your art isa business. Treat it like one. The Company Corporation canhelp you incorporate or form a limited liability company in aslittle as ten minutes. We are fast, accurate and affordable.Provide additional credibility to your photography studio orbusiness at the fraction of the cost of using an attorney.Call 1-800-206-7276 or visit www.corporate.com today!

LAB SERVICES

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ClassifiedAdvertisingCLASSIFIED ADVERTISING RATES

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HAND PAINTED OILS; Transparent, Deluxe, and CanvasStretched up to 40x60. A complete photo art lab servingphotographers since 1965. Traditional and Digital printingservices. Fiber based B&W up to 30x40. Giclee Fine Artprints. Restoration. Free estimates & pricing guide. 800-922-7459 Venetian Arts www.venetianarts.com

SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHERS The most versatile sportsprogram available. Digital or film, quality & service is ourmotto. See www.sportsphoto.com

MARKETING

REVEALED: HOW TO GET MORE REFERRALS ANDREPEAT BUSINESS THAN EVER BEFORE! Studiesshow you can see a 10, 25, EVEN 100% INCREASE inreferrals and repeat business by ‘staying in touch’ with aclient newsletter. But who has the time? Photographersusing my unique, “DONE-FOR-YOU” NEWSLETTER systemreport spending only around 60 minutes on their newsletterand getting $750-$18,500 back every month! See foryourself… Request your FREE Special Report and SamplePackage at www.TheStudioNewsletter.com to learn more.

PHOTO RESTORATION

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PHOTO SUPPLIES

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PRESENTATION BOXES

BOXES—FREE SAMPLE PRESENTATION BOX—FROMTHE ORIGINAL BLACK BOX MANUFACTURE—Fastdelivery, Finest quality 4"x5", 5"x5", 4"x6", 8"x10",11"x14", 16"x20", 20"x24". AUFENGER BOX, 4800 COLLEYAVENUE, NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 23508; 757-440-1147(phone); 757-440-1149 (fax); 888-440-1146 (toll free).www.aufengerbox.com

PRESENTATION BOXES available for immediate ship-ment; 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 BUYDIRECT AND SAVE. Complete line of Print and Proofboxes. Hinged presentations. Better Quality, Lower Prices.Product mfg in our own plant. Customize with logo, andchoose colors with ease. Tissue included! Call 401-725-3646 for free samples. H-B Packaging Group 575Lonsdale Ave. Central Falls, RI 02863 www.h-bphoto.com.

RETOUCHING

WHEN YOUR NAME is on the line, nothing but the best will ever do. Our retouchers know what you need: fastservice, a retouch that looks like the photo was neveraltered and the lowest prices in the industry. If you demandthe best log onto www.retouchup.com and your first 10retouches are free just to prove our claims—the best—thefastest and the least expensive or call 888-700-3686.

SALES AIDS

BOXES—FROM THE ORIGINAL BLACK BOX MANUFAC-TURE—FREE SAMPLE—Fast delivery, Finest quality4”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

CREATIVE FRAMES…Designed frames for the professionalwedding, portrait and school photographers. Our framesare manufactured here in the USA. Visit us atWWW.CREATIVEFRAME.COM to see our full line.

5000 POSTCARDS $149 UV Coated5,000 Business cards for $60.00

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STUDIO FOR SALE

IDEAL OPPORTUNITY FOR CREATIVE, ARTISTIC PERSONOR COUPLE. Ten year old business grossing over$500,000 with increasing sales and high end clientele inLittle Rock, Arkansas. 4,000 square foot garden studio withupstairs apartment on over an acre of rapidly appreciatingland. Families, children, and senior portraits with no sports.Contract wedding photographers in place. Few or noweekends required. experiienced staff in place. Great realestate investment as well. Owner will train. Net $100,000+your first year. [email protected]

CHARMING, well respected NORTHERN CALIFORNIAfull service portrait studio in a cute country town whichhas always supported a photography studio. Originallyestablished in 1996 as strictly a wedding business,expanded based on consumer demand. PHENOMENALvisibility on primary Business Route in the downtown area.No competition for 25 miles. Recent recipient ofdowntown beautification award from Chamber ofCommerce. Growing high school senior, photo restorationand commercial markets. Successware, Roes and LLC inplace. Strong web presence (www.ricecreekphoto.com).Regional and national advertising in place. Selling due to death in family and relocation. Owner will assisttransition. 100% turn-key. $90K negotiable;[email protected].

Studio established in the PITTSBURGH PA area for over 20 years, with a great image and a very large client base. Owner is PPA Certified, Master Photographerand Photographic Craftsman. Wants to slow down. Will train and is willing to work for new owner to main-tain continuity during transition. For information call 724-789-7371

STUDIOS WANTED

COLUMBUS CAMERA GROUP, INC. buys whole studiosor any part including cameras, film, darkroom, long roll,lighting, and misc. No quantities too small. Call 800-325-7664. Ask for Eric.

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ive years ago, photographer Joan

Brady became a volunteer tutor for

foster children in a group home in

the Washington, D.C., area. Having no

children herself, she was surprised at having to

persuade the kids to do their homework.

One day she brought in a point-and-shoot

digital camera and dangled the promise of

taking pictures as an incentive. The children

not only did their homework, but took on

extra reading as well.

Brady quickly realized that photography

was a novel experience for these children. While

she had grown up being photographed by

loving parents, these children had no one to

make pictures of the significant moments of

their lives. “There is no photo album that

captures their first day of school, first lost

tooth, first report card,” says Brady. “The

pictures that help them remember mile-

stones and reinforce their sense of impor-

tance in the world simply don’t exist.”

Brady began producing small photo albums

for each child in the group home. She pho-

tographed them doing things they enjoyed,

and included pictures of the people who

were important to them. Every time she

added a picture, the kids got excited.

Brady’s work with foster children led to

an association with the Wednesday’s Child

program produced by NBC4, the NBC affili-

ate in Washington. Every Wednesday, local

newscaster Barbara Harrison introduces a

foster child or group of siblings to the TV

audience in hopes that a viewer will step for-

ward to adopt.

Sponsored by Freddie Mac, Wednesday’s

Child also gives the kids dream days with such

activities as visiting the National Zoo, taking

an ice skating lesson, visiting a theme park,

touring a CSI lab or shooting hoops with NBA

players. Brady goes along to photograph the

children throughout the day. Her intent to

provide keepsake albums soon expanded to

providing digital images and photo books to

social workers, who show them to adults

looking to adopt. “Last year, one adoptive parent

told me that when she saw the photo book,

she knew those were her children,” says Brady.

Brady says that getting involved is as easy

as offering your services. “Anyone who has

the time and the heart, I urge you to contact

your local family services agency and see if

there might be an opportunity for you to

make a child feel valued,” she says. “I have

met the most wonderful kids, photographed

the most moving adoption ceremonies, and

been witness to some heart-wrenching sto-

ries. People often ask me how I happened to

become the photographer for Wednesday’s

Child. My answer is simple: I offered.” �

To see more by Joan Brady, visit www.joan-bradyphotography.com. Learn more aboutthe Wednesday’s Child program atwww.adopt.org/wednesdayschild.

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.

Share your good works experience with us by e-mailing Cameron Bishopp at [email protected]

good works |

Fostering loveONE PHOTOGRAPHER’S MISSION TO HELP CHILDREN

©Joan Brady

F

914-347-3300Profoto-USA.com

“I’ve built my business on wedding and portraiture, but these days my

studio is diversifying and having fun photographing children. We keep

both our sets and lighting simple. This allows me to concentrate on the

subject and build good rapport. Profoto makes lighting so easy that it’s

intuitive. The selection of light shaping tools lets me sculpt the light

exactly the way I want it to be.

Today, shooting digital, consistent color and light output is more

important than ever. With Profoto, there is never a concern.”

BAMB I CANTRELL

PASSION OF L IGHT

© Bambi Cantrell

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Professional photographer 2008 01

Education

Transcript of Professional photographer 2008 01