Admitting failures

The Legal Handbook is DONE and danged did I learn some good stuff in there. I've got the Consent to Photograph and Publish all set up (aka. Model Release) but I want to get it done on some better paper and hopefully stored in a small folio (even just checkbook sized) for ease of travel, not getting crumpled, as well as professionalism.

I'm DYING to get to the farmer's market this Saturday morning and shoot a bit, but I'm not sure I'll do it on my own. I'll have to see how weekend plans work out. The D50 with the 50mm (not sure which one. 1.8 or 1.4?) is perfect for that, since it's small enough to not scream 'PROFESSIONAL' but still a step above the G10.

I've moved on to 'Mastering Nature Photography' which is really much more THE book I've been needing than I expected. It even talks about (when I get to those chapters), scouting out locations, dealing with the overwhelming choices available to you in nature, etc etc. Sporting events are cake next to this -- you focus on the athlete(s) and tune out the rest (except the background if you have any control over that). Nature photography? It's like dropping yourself into a psychedelic stew and trying to pick out the best ingredients to use. Let's not even get into composition or anything else.



Speaking of which . . . yes I admit it. COMPOSITION IS MY ISSUE. I've had enough of a 'natural' eye that I could compose a pretty decent photo. I rarely 'center' shot images and had some sense of aesthetics. However, I had a lot more to do and work on. The rule of thirds I understood for foreground/midground/background, but NOT as a grid for composition.

How did I miss learning that? *sigh* so be it. I'm aware of it, working on it, learning more, and yes . . . ordered a book about it. And another nature photography book.

Frighteningly enough, ALL my free time is spent reading these books. Tv shows? That's what dvrs are for (even when 88% full). Mail? Unopened on the sofa. Pets? Pet and snuggle them WHILE reading books. Breaks at work? Reading time. I think you get the idea of how self absorbed I've become in this. Many other things have been flung aside, unfortunately not all of them good.

Two nice days ahead, so I'll at least have a chance for some fun IR outside (strong light needed!) as well as perhaps some macro in my mini 'garden' out front before I mulch the heck out of it.

your first love

I got my baby back!

D50 all nice and cleaned and inspected and such. Thank you Nikon!

General check and clean (hahaha, after all those horse shows AND Moab? they must have been cursing me...)
Replaced rubber grip (oh neat!)
Cleaned CCD (eh?)
Repaired SC 201117 (eh eh?)
Checked exposure, shutter release, TTL Flash and aperture lever.

And can I say it's SO SMALLLLL????!?!? danged. still, love this baby and no reason to ever give it up.

Books galore!

Another book down, another one started. I might be devouring these, but also taking notes as needed and processing a LOT of this information for my own use.

This time, it's "Legal Handbook for Photographers" which had the benefit of being a thin book. But once I got into it, I'm finding it rather facinating. Then again, I did enjoy that Business Law class in school too and we had a full fledged Law Book for text in that class.



John Shaw's "Closeups In Nature" is done with and left me with an urge to crawl around on my hands and knees outside and see what I can photograph. It's an excellent book although he takes time to go over the basics, there's also a good reason for that. Regardless if you know the basics of photography, you need to understand how it changes when you get so close to your subject -- or start magnifying at 1.5x or more.



I did find a NEW book coming out from the 'Understanding Exposure' writer that's specifically about macro work. This will be fun/good since it'll be updated for the digital age and not go on and on about Kodachrome 65 vs. 25 usage (okok I admit that got a tad old). I'll have that at the end of this month and will review it asap to share on dgrin as well as update the book reviews there. Of course, that's only next week so it's not that far away.

Books and more books and geeks galore

Various stats:

D50: with Nikon and basic level review/repair approved and in progress

Finished reading: "Profitable Photography in the Digital Age". GOOD book and all the business geekery I needed, as well as more information on some important topics (model releases, copyrighting, marketing, etc) that I really needed. Oh, I don't agree 100% with him and I can see how C. said the author is rather full of himself (erm, or implied as much). He definitely has strong opinions but he backs them up with solid facts. Mostly his entire chapter on web models doesn't take into account the existence of services like SmugMug. For shame!

Started reading and 1/2 way through Shaw's "Closeups in Nature". Good stuff if a tad outdated -- but aside from chapters about qualities of film, it's a solid primer. I also found "Understanding Close-up Photography: Creative Close Encounters with or without a Macro Lens" which releases at the end of this month. So something NEW but a part of the same 'Understanding' series as 'Understanding Exposure'. Ideally that means it should be a 'winner' but I'll get it and see.

I also totally geeked out and found "Mastering Nature Photography: Shooting and Selling in the Digital Age". One, it's a 'new' book again (digital age) and it written in EXACTLY the way I like. Short concise groupings of topics, much like a solid lecture on the topic. There's an accompanying CDROM of images which I rather prefer to the excessive images other books have. I flipped through some of the more 'popular' ones and it was a 1:9 ratio of text to images. I totally 'get' learning by example, but most of it was the same thing over and over again while just saying what settings were used. Um, educate a bit more? Pontificate a bit less?

So I'm reading too much these days and loving every moment of it. And yes, still taking notes on the things I want to remember again for later. I need to reactivate/use my Amazon affiliation account a bit and unlock the 'books' page of my website. Why not, right? The visitors to my site are as much other photographers as they are potential clients.

not bad for a G10 !

the Art of the Market

My education continues. Marketing was the theme of last night's reading with some good ideas percolating as I took notes and read on.

Pull and Push marketing tactics -- and I can definitely see ones that are of both types, such as a flyer or mailer sent out that includes a promotional offer -- entice them to come to you next.

Whatever plan for marketing I take, I'm definitely going to stick it out for the long run, so this takes thought and time. Getting future value out of this is more important than anything else. In some ways, I can see how this is already working within the horse show groups out here. People are seeing my name (my business name) and connecting it with the quality of photographs I do. There's finally the start of a connection there -- and at least this book says a minimum of 5 exposures is needed to implant your name into someone's mind.

So to break into architectural/real estate photography? Flyers alone won't do it. I'll need to find out what trade magazines/etc they have out here and advertise in there. GET MY NAME OUT THERE.

Also a GREAT justification for mass quantity purchases of postcards, etc. Use them. Twice. Three times. Don't assume they'll read them the first time and not loose them or toss them away.

Course, I find it hysterical that this book feels the need to emphasis the tailored marketing approach. Then again, that's so obvious to me -- yet I do NOT see other people doing it. More of a 'I do photos' approach to everything. If you had that person's flyer with someone else showing off real estate photography and you were a realtor…. which would you go to first? duh.

Remaining relevant in your marketing is obvious to me, again. However, a few other ideas hit me as well. Real estate photography is appealing because I can arrange it in the afternoons and on free days. Realtors work all day, so it's not like a person who doesn't have as much time, etc etc.

Course, using my own animals as 'models' (and hitting up the neighbors for theirs too!), I can very very easily put together a 'pet portrait' portfolio and advertise …. in veterinary offices. Duh. That's so obvious I'm ashamed. But do I want to pursue this and the world of crazy pet owners? Erk. I'm not sure. But if I charge enough per session (time limit) ….. hmm. It's worth considering. Pets look good regardless of the time of year. (unlike horse commissions when fuzzy winter fuzz looks like shit).

Also - Sirens. It's a limited *known ahead of time* crowd. Individual mailers ahead of time? Plus packets in the reg packet? And cards available? I can definitely do this 'wrong' and just get photos for Sirens itself, or I can do this RIGHT and get some income (perhaps enough to cover the cost of the trip) from sales of images (even giving 50% back to the non profit). Shall consider/discuss/ponder.

So I will e-mail Janice and find out about Utah Real Estate newsletters/associations that have advertising. Not everyone has to be using a 'professional' group, right? ? ?


*** I cannot do these all. I have to decide where my time + effort is going to go and where my ROI (return on investment) will yield the most LONG TERM results.

And do I 'invest' more into the horse show photography? My sheer presence, signs, t-shirts and the onsite set up should be enough. I think? This IS the core of my business right now, so I should ponder on this a bit longer.

Clean like a baby's bum... erm or not

Tonight, I sat down to clean dust and such from the lenses and cameras.

A rocket blower? not enough.

Amazon.com later and on Friday I'll have the brushes I need. sigh! just when you think you have everything!

Something new, something creatively unleashed

IR Photography!

learning and redirection

1. Hmm. If YOU had a personalized photography instructor, what would you want to learn?????

2. new url to redirect to this blog! http://www.catspawphotoblog.com yehaw :)

Working on my weak areas.

Eeeexcellent. EXACTLY what I need and I suspect many willing participants for me at the barn:

http://www.equinephotographers.org/courses/portrait.php
"The Art of the Equine/Human Portrait"

Things I have learned:

IR Photography, or at least the basics. Expect a lot more of this from me soon!

The wide and wonderful world of masks in Photoshop. Including color masking, near/far, merging focuses and other cool techniques (some of which are CS4 only).

How to set up, take a deep breathe, and really try to STUDY the scene I have. *Then* decide which lens/camera to use to capture what it is that I see.

How to check the ISO. A lot. And then exposure compensation (which on the G10 just LOVES to get misdialed. Grr).

I've also gotten quite excellent playing with my f-stops. F-stop professional, thank you very much. I want something, I get it. I like this power, and it all comes from knowledge.

I'm still not shooting *great* shots, but they are there. They are coming. A few can be done simply from judicious cropping and playing with colors in LR or CS3/4. I'm rather curious to see what sort of shots I can pull out the more and more I work with Lightroom and Photoshop.

I've also learned about fill flashes, especially outdoors (who'd have thought?) in shadows, in close ups, as well as in macros.

March, the second half.

It's the second half of March, officially, which means it's time for me to amend the business plan. Again.

I rather enjoy doing these, as they are half status updates, half statements of intentions and half a list of goals accomplished. Yes, I know those halves don't add up.

I think the biggest things are to define the degree of wedding experience I want to get as a second shooter -- or as a primary shooter who does NOT specialize in portraits. Realistically, I have no time for this until autumn/winter so it is likely to stay on the back burner. Exceptions to this would be if I scrapped all of my own plans to show this summer and only did photography. I'm also likely to burn out completely.

Important but also for the fall/winter is membership into ASPP (American Society of Photoshop Professionals) and the classes that they offer. I have a lot of basics to do along with my own work and assignments. I cannot utilize everything they have to offer until I do my 'homework' first, so this is a longer plan.

Immediate needs are selling off excess equipment and deciding on a tax accountant. Yes, doing that. I know of so many who screw things up, but I'm shaky enough on my depreciation calculations and how I should set things up the first year to know that I'm better off seeking a pro. Now, a good pro? That's a question to debate.

Plans and projects.

Registered a second domain -- www.catspawphotos.com is my primary, but it's easy to think of catspawphotography.com, so both are now there with a redirect from the new to the old. Easy peasy. I love technology :)

There's a show coming up on the 4th -- I'd like to enter OR take photos but I'm not sure which is even possible right now. I'd contact them w/ the offer, but then if I get offered a ride to the show, I'll want to SHOW and then…. Yeah. Obligations are not fun.

Showing percentile is looooow. So I'll see if they need/have a photographer and go from there. Jumper show, so those are always a blast :) Unless it's raining :P April 4th could be ANY sort of weather.

To sell:
10-20mm Sigma DX lens
77 mm B+W cir. Polarizer.
Older Sigma zoom
Any other older Quantaray lenses
Older Nikkor zoom?
BOTH Nikkor DX lenses. One is 12-24, the other is 80-300.
80-400 Nikkor FX lens.
Lowe Pro sling bag? Haven't used yet to find much use.
Older Tamarack backpack .. um … where ever that is off at.
Green LowePro trekker backpack -- to be replaced by Crumpler backpack.
Older but still new Nikon remote (no need for 2).

~~~~~~~~

Otherwise last week was a crushing blow to my lack of creativity, which is a huge relief. I forgot to grab a camera yesterday as I ran errands, but I found myself eyeing walls and fences and debating composition. This? Is EXCELLENT and has been missing in my life/brain as of late.

I imagine the warmer weather has a LOT to do with this as well, since it's such a huge difference to shoot in the sun instead of the snow. I'd love to get back to Antelope Island again, as well as tromp around on some of the side trails (snow boots!) of the canyons.

Longer trips require more planning and thinking. Fortunately one I wanted to do : the San Rafael Swell & Capitol Reef , is one I'll be doing with my parents later this year. Perhaps not as much freedom to take off with the camera, but still a lot nice accommodations and eating.

Hmm. Where else can I venture too?

Learning to let go ...

I've done a lot of photographic study in the last week, as well as evaluating aspects of my business model. Who knew Customer Service would be one point I skipped over? Alas, I'm starting implementation now, but will write out some SOPs later on as I get a better idea on the level of customer interactions I have.

I've also looked into professional design of my website. I adore SmugMug, however their defaults are quite cluttered and hacks and such aside (I've used many of them so far), have left me with a workable website, but nothing outstanding.

And you know? I'd LIKE to have outstanding. While also an investment into the company, any investment requires due process and serious thought. My current perspective is that I need to see an increase in sales before jumping through such a step -- except I DO know what events I have booked for the year and an improved website will only make sales that much easier and come in faster. Chicken. Egg.

The use of the camera in the last week has meant that some lenses have been thoroughly explored and every aspect utilized … while others have languished untouched. Those untouched ones (including my once beloved 10-20mm Sigma) are due next for a review. There is redundancy in the FX and DX lenses, but it will be very rare to have the same focal length on the same bodies at the same time. I'm more likely to have a telephoto on one and a fixed prime on another, or at least two different fixed primes (20mm & 85mm).

* The 80-400mm is a nice lens but the speed is a factor, although the slowness is focusing is the biggest problem. This is not a speed event (horse show) lens, nor is it a wildlife lens. In fact, I'm not sure what good it is for at all, but that one I will be selling no doubt. I got nearly nothing decent out of it this last week and I suspect that wasn't just my ineptitude. The 70-200mm with a 1.4 TC on a bright sunny day will give me *almost* 300mm (280mm) and I'm more than find enough cropping horse jumping photos for the shots that I need.

* The extra 77mm Circular Polarizer can go as well. I can hand off the extra step-up ring as well if I'm feeling nice.

* I need to play with the 10-20mm again. When I used this, I used it at either 10 or 20. Rarely in between. I've the 20mm fixed now, which is awesome. And the 8mm fisheye. A non-distorted 10-14mm range is needed for architectural photos, but I'm NOT currently into those. And the 10-20mm is DX, which is really the death bell on it. I dislike selling knowing I only have to turn around and place that $$ elsewhere, but I'll see how that goes. *checks* and nothing seems to actually exist that isn't DX. I think my 20mm is going to be strong enough, especially on a FX body.

* So having said that, I have the older Sigma macro telephoto that should go. I haven't touched it in over year.

* I can't see using more than 2 bodies at any event, so the need for the 18-200 DX Nikkor is rather useless even as useful as it was as a lens. Fine. GONE.

* then there's the two DX lenses I picked up in error. I'll review details on both and see if either serves a purpose that my current bunch does not.

**** I *would* love the 14-24mm FX Nikkor but I still think the 20mm takes the market on that one. I did well with that choice. I can *want* it, but I don't *need* it. With the 24-70mm, I don't need anything else in there.

Post-weekend and the steps ahead

I'm still in process of uploading images from this last weekend as well as going along and creating a 'best of' album'. Apparently running 5 uploads from 3 different computers kills your net connection. Who knew? After last night, I know. I am starting with the horses and as time permits, I'll go through the last several years of photos and pick out the better stuff, post process as needed, and go from there.

Print wise, I decided on the ones to have for 'display' at events, so I just need to process those files and order them. Also decided on the two prints to get done *everywhere* to show quality issues between the printers SM offers and Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Albertsons, Inkleys and even Harmons. THAT's a project I'm rather curious to see how it turns out. I think I'll print 5x7 but crop big (not 100% but close to it) so the details really come through. These will also include my first metallic images from EZ Prints and Bay Photos, so I'm extra excited to see how THOSE turn out :) The 'display' ones at the show are going to just be lustre since I'm self-laminating them as the frames have no glass (lighter, less dangerous and on clearance at IKEA that way).

Page 1: EZ Lustre & Metallic - cat
Page 2: EZ Lustre & Metallic - flowers
Page 3: Bay Photos Lustre & Metallic - cat
Page 4: Bay Photos Lustre & Metallic - flowers
Page 5: self-print: cat & flowers
Page 6: Walgreens & Inkleys - cat
Page 7: Walgreens & Inkleys - flowers
Page 8: Walmert & Target - cat
Page 9: Walmert & Target - flowers
Page 10: Albertsons & Harmons - cat
Page 11: Albertsons & Harmons - flowers

I did finish the pricing plan yesterday, although the 'multiple gallery' implementation …. Yeah. Not so smoothly there. I'm not pleased at the idea of going gallery by gallery, but I think getting off the mini and onto a full screen will help, as I might have been mis-selecting some of the choices.

And I'm danged if I can find the Portfolio level pricing. THAT's hidden away somewhere good and secretive.

Otherwise the to do list continues to get chipped away and grow at the same time. Looking into Etsy, I don't believe printed canvases will pass the 'handmade' muster, which makes me wonder about collages …. Which I rather like the idea of. Ooo! So I'm going to get some canvas and materials and use some of my own prints (must get printing again) to see how creative I can be. This also has the potential to be much cheaper, so I'll see how it goes. There's also the possibility of painting the canvases first, but that's definitely later down the road. Etsy continues to be a work in progress.

Oh and the lensbaby? All it took was a call to the company -- who had the items in stock -- and mention that my local store had nothing and was reporting no delivery until June and BAM! Two days later, they had my order in and were fully stocked. It's nice to be an enabler. I should get a discount for helping them restock there! Ha.

Business Models and giving away for 'free'

This was an USDF teaching clinic for lunging assessments as well as lunging riders (that part is today, which I have to miss). Intriguing to learn about although photos of horses going around and around and around and around and …. Lots of circles, ok? I tried to be as inventive as I possibly could, but it definitely took a toll on the mental boredom (and sleep deprivation) after awhile.

I'm still working on my pricing model and business model, but these clinics are difficult -- the demand for photos is low and I'm much more interested in getting traffic TO my website. I have photos that I'm not even sure some people are aware of. With such a small horse community, it's easy to eventually get photos of nearly everyone -- but you have to GET them to come visit.

There's a good hack to change the 'buy' button into a download button for the website. I'd love to have both though -- download abilities for smaller versions (with watermarks) and purchasing larger ones. Alas, the hack *changes* the button from one to the other, and I'd prefer to do both. So for now, downloads are limited to right-clicking on images and making sure that they are available (although limited in size).

These clinics also make me think of the Siren's conference. For whatever reason, my mind skipped over to the topics of website traffic flow, costs, etc. I think a very similar model to the clinics but with a provision that 50% of any 'profit' from photography sales goes back to the Siren's folk (since they ARE non profit and therefore this will help them put on next years conference). Which also makes me think that perhaps I should get some business cards together JUST for the conference. Especially if I can get a card or flyer (or postcard size) into the registration package for the attendees (limited to 600). Hmm. In this case I just want my efforts to be appreciated by all who attend. Sales are so very secondary.