Are You Creating an Experience for Your Clients?

Posted on December 2, 2016 by ShutterBug
Intro by Skip Cohen

At Marathon’s MAP Getaway a summer or two ago, I got to hear Beverly and Tim Walden talk about their portrait business. One of the things I loved was the way they work to create an experience for every client. They’re NOT selling photographs, but family heirlooms,  clients aren’t coming in for a sitting, but an experience.

In my “Tuesday Tidbits” email yesterday from Walden Coaching, I received the post below. Beverly does an outstanding job of planting a seed that should take root with each one of you.

Regardless of whether or not you have a formal studio, her point is all about enhancing the experience. Remember too – 98% of the purchase decisions to hire a professional photographer in the portrait/social specialties are made by women!  So for any of you who might think her suggestions below are a little over the top – it’s time to pay attention to the demographics of your target audience.

From enhancing the in-studio experience to professional packaging, I love the way Beverly has given you some very specific ideas. You’re the only one who can elevate the value of your presentations, both in your packaging and in the experience each client has when working with you!

A big thanks to Beverly for allowing me to share her post this morning. There’s so much you can do to raise the bar on your relationships with your clients, and holiday time might well be the easiest to enhance!

​To find out more about Walden Coaching, just click on any image below.

With only a few days left before December rolls around, I thought I would share some seasonal, fun ideas to get you in the spirit of Christmas.

We love to pamper our clients and one of the best (and most fun) things we do is to elevate our everyday coffee center by adding some extra goodies. We purchase holiday flavored coffee, hot chocolate and Christmas themed tea (such as Chai) Keurig pods and stock our area with those. To add to that, we put cinnamon and nutmeg in sprinkle jars along with little marshmallows to add to hot chocolate.
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Other ideas to add to your coffee/tea/hot cocoa bar:

*Peppermint sticks
*Rock candy stir sticks
*White chocolate chips
*Chocolate chips both milk and dark
*Caramels
*Flavored syrups that don’t need refrigeration 

*Pretty disposable spoons that look like silver
*Christmas napkins (Home Goods has lowest prices I have found)

*Individually packaged cookies (we use Biscoff)

​

I love, love, love RIBBON, especially double sided satin ribbon that is wide and “sumptuous.” I use ribbon on orders we are delivering, whether a wall portrait or on a box. If you can’t tie a nice bow, with wide ribbon, you can tie a knot and leave a little hanging down and it’s really pretty as well.
​
I always order several colors that I can mix and match with our boxes and bags. The typical ribbon color combo is black (our box color), gold and brown. We have tissue paper that is black, brown and gold stripe. Our boxes are all black and our bags are clear so that the tissue adds the color. A sticker adds the finishing touch.

Picture

At Christmas, I tie red ribbon on the black boxes and use our special Christmas tags I design each year on the boxes and as hang tags on the bags.

As an extra sweet treat, I put Hershey’s Kisses into a sheer black organza bag and hang it from the handle of the delivery bag. Who doesn’t like a treat now and then? Above, you see silver kisses on the bag, but at Christmas, I like to use the red and green foilded kisses to add a festive touch.

I hope I have inspired you and given you some new ideas to use this year! I included links to the vendors we use in case you need them.

Have a wonderful week:-)  Bev

SkipCohenUniversity – SCU Blog

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What’s All The Fuss With Snap’s Spectacles?

Posted on December 2, 2016 by ShutterBug

If James Bond was a Vlogger, he would probably be wearing these. Newly-branded Snap Inc is basking in a glow of positive feedyback after releasing a limited number of their first physical product, fittingly called Spectacles. This pair of shades has been designed to incorporate lenses into the corners of the frame and a button on the end piece just needs one tap, and 10 seconds of video is captured by both lenses in a 115 degree field of view. The combined footage is wirelessly sent to your phone to be edited and uploaded to your Snapchat app. Perfecting ludicrous face filters put Snapchat on the map, but Snap Inc has put the customer back behind the camera. It’s a simple idea that has the potential and the popularity to be a big step for video and how we consume it.

Aside from the exclusive vending machine drop offs and glamorous guerilla marketing, what makes Spectacles stand out even more is how these unique SnapStories are viewed. The camera shoots a circular video which can be viewed from any rotation in an interactive manner, finally doing away with the landscape vs portrait video debate: Why not both?

snap spectacle rotation

The wide angle lenses shooting at 60fps sit right at eye level (obviously; it’s in a pair of sunglasses) and can record about 100 ten-second snaps on a single charge. What and how Spectacles captures content is worth noting. Very few cameras are good at imitating how we perceive real-life, but while recording with your face don’t forget to use your hands. Interacting with the people, places and pets around you is what these shades were made for. They grant an intimate and experiential perspective for the viewer and push the creator to focus outwards. Bye-bye selfies.

Despite being dubbed a “toy,” Spectacles’ simplicity seems to be winning people over. It’s not a venture into VR or a sci-fi style hud capable of multiple actions, instead it’s a camera and we all know how cameras work. The attention to detail has also added an extra element of fun. The spinning LED circle that shows others you’re recording is engaging and it’s a clever touch, just like the colors the glasses come in; bright blue, black or neon pink. It hasn’t reached a wide audience yet but despite its current exclusivity Spectacles will certainly have an impact on how people use snapchat in the future. Maybe I should get out more but the rotating video view is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while. Even if the spectacles are left behind for bigger and better things, the rotating video view is an innovation worth considering in the long run.

spectacles-3 spectacles-1 spectacles-2

Snap Spectacles are causing a stir because they are ticking a lot of boxes in terms of wearable tech. Do you look like a tool wearing them? Not particularly. Are they easy to use? Too easy. Is it practical everyday? Just as practical as your regular shades and Snap have announced that Spectacles will come with prescription lenses so.. Yes. If it’s just an $ 130 toy with an incredible marketing campaign, so be it. But this could be the first wearable camera people actually want to wear. That’s big.

Find out more on Snap Spectacles here.

Resource Magazine

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Throwback Thursday: PhotoAlley.com, John Sexton and Anasazi

Posted on December 2, 2016 by ShutterBug
The image above hangs in the hallway of our home and is one of my favorite prints. The print is of the Anasazi ruins by John Sexton. How it got here is also one of my favorite stories to share, and perfect for a Throwback Thursday this holiday season.  

In 1999, after twelve years as president of Hasselblad USA I left the company to become President of an Internet community and photography retail site, PhotoAlley.com. With equity in the company, this was going to be my ticket to living on my own tropical island. However, when the Internet imploded in 2001, I was lucky to have enough for a small glass of tropical punch.

Before going out of business, PhotoAlley had incredible traffic. The concept was all based on building a community, anchored in photographic education, with an online camera store. The Internet was exploding and I wanted to do something new. I decided to do an online auction as a fund-raiser for charity. I called John Sexton, who was on our advisory board, and he was kind enough to donate the print above for the auction.
 
Sixteen years ago an online auction was a relatively new concept.  The bids started climbing and in a very short amount time we were at $ 850! I was ecstatic this first auction would get that kind of response. It meant we had collectors in our audience who knew the value of a John Sexton print. That also said to me they knew the value if I let them steal it at $ 850. I put in my own bid under an alias name at $ 900. I was determined to get our bidder to at least $ 1000.

Well, here’s a Throwback Thursday lesson going back to an expression everyone’s grandparents have shared – “One in the hand is worth two in the bush!” My buyer walked away at the $ 900 bid, and I wound up buying the print myself for charity. When somebody in the company asked about how the auction went, the embarrassment alone was enough for me to never forget that lesson from my grandparents so many years earlier.

Picture

As I’ve learned over and over again on “Why?” the creativity and beauty of the images is what draws us in, but it’s the backstories that keep us there! And, there are few things more fun to share than a backstory involving one of the world’s most recognized artists.

Which brings me to a fun close on this Throwback Thursday. In looking for the Anasazi print above on John’s website I came across the perfect holiday gift for so many of you, even if it’s just a gift you’re giving yourself!

On John’s website he’s offering a December holiday special print of “Trees in Snow.” The discount is substantial, especially when you consider the value of a numbered limited edition print and the price going up as less copies become available. The description of the value/sale is:

“This 11×14″ silver gelatin print is offered in a limited edition of 100 signed and numbered prints, plus ten Artist’s Proofs. When the edition is sold out no further prints will be made for sale in any size. Though my open edition 11×14″ prints have a retail price in galleries of $ 1,000, the special introductory price for this Darkroom Edition limited edition print is $ 800 – a 20% discount. After December 31, 2016 the retail for any remaining unsold prints will increase to $ 2,000, and will escalate as the edition sells.

If you’re a collector or interested in helping somebody else get started with their collection, this is an outstanding opportunity. Just click on either of John’s images in this post to connect to the Ventana Editions online store.

In the mean time, I’m wishing all of you the perfect Throwback Thursday. Take the time to find an old image or two and then cherish the backstory that goes with it. Even better, use the story on your blog to remind your target audience of the value of photography!

​Happy Throwback Thursday!

SkipCohenUniversity – SCU Blog

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6 crucial keys to taking photos in the snow before it melts

Posted on December 1, 2016 by ShutterBug

Everyone loves Autumn.

There is always a delicious smell in the air. Everything pumpkin flavored is out (if you know what I mean). The trees are luscious and full of gorgeous color.

But after the peak of Fall comes that lull that isn’t quite as exciting to shoot in… when the trees are bare, dead, and void of color. But then comes Winter! And as much as I despise the bitter cold temps and driving in the snow, I absolutely love shooting in the snow. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when heading out to take photos in the snow.

1. Keep warm

Growing up in the Midwest, we are lucky to experience all four seasons. However, we also get the extremes of those four seasons. I love the snow (as do my children), but there are times when it’s just too cold to be out in it. We get days when the windchill is 30 below and must stay inside. But on the more mild days, we love to venture out. And subjects willing, I will have my camera in hand.

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure both you and your subject(s) are dressed appropriately for the weather. I can not emphasize this enough. This is true for both client sessions and when going out with your own children. If your subjects are cold and miserable, it will show in your images, and it’s just not safe. So please be smart and bundle up!

Also, you want to stay warm yourself. And if you shoot in manual, adjusting your settings frequently is much easier without cumbersome gloves. So find a warm pair of gloves that also allow you to easily maneuver your fingers to adjust your camera settings. Target has these gloves right now.

photo of boy eating snow by Amber Walder

2. Watch your histogram

It’s very easy to overexpose and blow your highlights when shooting in the snow, especially on sunny days. You want nice, bright snow, but not so bright that you lose detail. I still meter off my subject’s skin (face), but make sure to watch my histogram to make sure I’m not clipping the highlights of the snow.

Also, the snow will act as a natural reflector (bonus for all of us natural light shooters!). So you tend to get nice, brightly lit subjects even on overcast days (which are very common here in the winter). But again, watch that histogram!

Learn how to read your camera’s histogram here.

family portrait with dog in the snow by Amber Walder

3. White balance

White balance can be a little tricky when taking photos in the snow. Often, when you upload your images to the computer, they end up looking really blue. I love a warm image, so when I process my images it’s easy to go too far the other direction and end up with images that are too yellow, red, and just mucky-looking.

There are a couple easy fixes for this.

One would be setting custom white balance in camera. This is a quick and simple way, but one that I unfortunately rarely take the time to do. Another is by adjusting white balance in post-processing. You can do this in Lightroom, ACR, or Photoshop. Use the color sampling tool and click a few points on your snow (points in even light), and adjust your color/tint sliders as needed to make those points read true white. Then take a look at your overall image and see where you are at. Occasionally if my subject is looking a little too cool for taste, I will selectively color-correct their skin with a color balance layer. Then I will add a layer mask, invert it, and paint only on their skin with a soft white brush. This way, only their skin is warmed up, and the snow remains untouched.

pic of kid playing in snow by Amber Walder

4. Color

I already discussed a little on white balance when processing my images, but lets talk a little about color.

SOOC (straight out of camera) shots can come out a bit dull, especially on overcast days. There are a few ways you can add a little pop to your images.

One way would be to increase the blacks to add a bit more contrast. You could also add a touch of saturation/vibrance to the scene, such as your subject’s coat, trees in the background, etc. Another way to add a little pop to your image is by adding a soft light layer in Photoshop – duplicate your background layer, set it to “soft light”, and lower the opacity to taste. This can add great depth to the image as well. And finally, a little color play can do wonders. I like to photograph with colors that will make the scene pop a bit more and allow my subject to stand out against the bright white scene. Whether it be a pretty soft pink, muted neutral tones, or a bright vibrant blue, an isolated subject with a pop of color among a blanket of white looks amazing in an image!

photo of boy smiling and sitting on a pile of snow by Amber Walder

clickin-moms-forum-membership-discount

5. Protect your camera

Extreme weather changes can have an effect on your gear so protecting that gear is very important!

When shooting outdoors in the winter, there is an extreme temperature change from the outdoor air to the indoor air. Coming indoors to a warm “moist” heat from the extreme “dry” cold, can quickly cause condensation to build in your camera and/or lenses. I try to reduce this risk by exposing my camera to the temperature change slowly. Before I go back indoors, I will put my camera back in my bag and then leave it in my car or garage for a little while before bringing it straight into my house.

The same goes for when you are actually shooting outside. If you try to keep your camera warm by putting it in your coat (but you are warm/sweaty under your coat), that more humid body heat is going to heat up the camera/lens and can produce condensation as well. If you want to keep your camera a little warmer while out, stick it in your camera bag!

Also, batteries tend to drain a little faster in the cold. Always try to remember a back-up battery or two just in case!

pic of boy in a truck jacket and boots walking in the snow by Amber Walder

6. Get creative

Winters can be long here in the Midwest. I’m sure many of you can relate! The days are short and we get cooped up inside for way too long. We may get bored from days on end of shooting indoors. And many of us get into a creative rut. Trust me, I’ve been there!

But get outside. Try something different. Play with it. Overcast days or golden hour. Make snow angels with your kids. Throw some snow up in the air and capture it falling against a golden backlit sky and see the flakes make the most beautiful bokeh. Go out while it is snowing. This is a favorite for my kids. A fast shutter speed can capture those beautiful flakes falling mid-air (this is best done with a colored background – building, row of trees, etc – to make sure those flakes show well against your background and it’s not white on white). Try out that new Lensbaby. Practice some macro shots of snowflakes. Just get out there. There are so many options in the winter to keep your creativity flowing!

backlit photo of kid throwing snow by Amber Walder

After the peak of Fall comes a lull that isn’t as exciting to take pictures in - the trees are bare, dead, and colorless. But then comes Winter and snow!

The post 6 crucial keys to taking photos in the snow before it melts appeared first on Clickin Moms.


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Creative Landscape Photography eBook Announcement

Posted on November 30, 2016 by ShutterBug

To culminate more than a year of work, Spencer and I are very excited to announce the release of our first eBook, Creative Landscape Photography: Light, Vision, and Composition. This 149-page Level 3 book dives into the creative side of landscape photography, including everything from finding subjects to composing difficult scenes. There are some exciting details below, so we encourage you to keep reading:

First, let’s address something important – as a whole, eBooks have a poor reputation. They are often free, short books intended to expand mailing lists rather than convey useful information. Spencer and I have worked hard to make sure that Creative Landscape Photography is different.

It has taken countless hours to plan, write, edit, rewrite, and perfect all the topics that we cover. The final result is one of the most comprehensive discussions on creativity that you will find in a book about photography, whether in print or online. This is not a quick or cheap eBook.

Screenshot 2016-11-29 09.18.09

1) Specifications

How does Creative Landscape Photography measure up? Here are some of the product specs:

  • 149 pages, totaling over 40 thousand words
  • 138 photos and diagrams
  • A .PDF file available for download and use on most portable devices (79 megabytes).
  • Access to a Photography Life customer forum, where you can ask us questions about any topic (not just this eBook) and receive quick, personal responses from the two of us.
  • $ 14.99 price, with a two-day discount of $ 9.99 for Photography Life readers. This price expires at 11:59pm Eastern time on Friday, December 2nd.

Feel free to ask in the comments below if you have any questions about the specifications!

eBook 1

Photo by Nasim Mansurov

2) Why This Book Stands Out

Most books about photography are entirely about the technical side of things rather than the creative process. Of course, these are also useful topics to learn – no one starts taking pictures with a full knowledge of focusing, exposure, post-production, and so on (which is why Photography Life covers them so extensively).

At the same time, technical information isn’t the most important part about photography. Instead, great landscape photos succeed because of their creativity. They tell intricate stories, brim with emotion, and show us new, beautiful places for the first time.

Many photographers – even those who have taken pictures for a while – have mastered the technical side of things, but their photos still aren’t as good as they want. That’s the main problem that we are aiming to fix.

This book will not teach you about exposure. It doesn’t dissect technical settings or post-processing tricks, and it hardly mentions camera equipment at all. Instead, it covers the entire artistic side of landscape photography, starting with the basics of light and color, then moving to advanced topics like vision and composition.

Throughout the eBook, we also go into behind-the-scenes detail on our best photos and describe the specific reasons why they are successful. Even more importantly, parts of the book cover our bad photos, including exactly what went wrong and how we fixed the problems in a later shot. Very few books about photography do this, but it is one of the best ways to learn how to take your photos another step further.

Finally, this eBook will continue to grow as time goes by. As we take new photos, we will write additional case studies; when we use new creative techniques in the field, we will add more and more chapters about them. Everyone who buys the eBook will have access to all the new additions, completely free of charge.

eBook 2

Photo by Spencer Cox

3) Content and Sample Pages

This book is divided into five main chapters:

  • Light and Color
  • Forming a Vision
  • Composition
  • Case Studies
  • Continuing to Improve

A screenshot of the index appears below:

Index

Along with the index, here are a few more sample pages that show the layout and style of the eBook:

Introduction

Perspective

Case Study

4) Potential Questions

Why isn’t the book also sold in print?

We are hoping to release a printed version if there is enough interest in the eBook. For now, the PDF format has several advantages. You can read this book almost anywhere – your tablet, phone, laptop, or desktop, whether or not you have wifi – as well as receive updates as they are written. The layout of the book is very easy to follow, even on phones or tablets with small screens. (When you open and close full screen mode on a computer, the PDF automatically switches between single pages and a two-page spread, depending upon your device.)

What qualifies the two of you to write this book?
No matter whose eBook you read, this is a very important question to ask. Anyone can publish anything online, and there are quite a few non-experts out there who try to write expert-level books about photography. Keeping that in mind, there are a few points to support our decision to write this book together. Hopefully, for one, our library of articles on Photography Life shows the quality of work that we always take care to provide. We pride ourselves on offering the best possible content, whether in the form of an article or a book, and Creative Landscape Photography is no exception.

However, the most important measure is simply whether or not you like our photos. If you don’t like someone’s work, we do not suggest you listen to what they have to say about photography – you might learn the opposite of what you want to know! You can see our landscape photographs at the following links: my photos and Spencer’s.

Finally, a book like this succeeds only if it provides valuable information in a clear, readable way. That was our goal, and that is why we chose to write Creative Landscape Photography together.

Is it accurate?
Quite a bit of research has gone into Creative Landscape Photography. This book isn’t just a product of our own thoughts – as much as possible, it is based upon proven concepts and techniques used throughout history (in photography and other visual art). However, the concepts in this book are inherently subjective. We cover what looks good and how to get your photos to that point. Not everyone will agree on these topics, and that is completely understandable. That said, the information in the book is as accurate and verifiable as possible. If you ultimately have questions about something that we wrote in the book, or even something that we didn’t, you’ll always have access to quick replies from us on the private Photography Life forum.

Other Questions?
If you have questions about the eBook, please feel free to leave a comment below.

eBook 3

Photo by Nasim Mansurov

5) Our Guarantee

You will learn a lot from this eBook – about light, vision, composition, and creativity – even if you have been taking landscape photographs for decades. We stand by that statement. Our confidence in Creative Landscape Photography should be clear. In fact, we will refund the full purchase price to anyone who asks – and it doesn’t matter why you want your money back. Perhaps you didn’t learn anything, or you thought the book covered a different topic, or you never got around to reading it in the first place. No matter what, we will issue a complete refund. We don’t want you to pay for this book unless you know it was worth it.

Finally, it is important to mention that Photography Life doesn’t pass any of your personal data on to third parties, and we never will.

eBook 4

Photo by Spencer Cox

6) To Purchase

You can purchase the eBook as a .PDF download through the link below:

There is a 2 day sale price of $ 9.99. After December 2nd, it will return to the typical price of $ 14.99.

Thank you for supporting Photography Life. Our readers are the reason why we can complete long-term projects like this, and we hope to do many more in the future.

The post Creative Landscape Photography eBook Announcement appeared first on Photography Life.

Photography Life

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