by successfulbob | black & white, commercial photography, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, musician photography, photography, photography education, success education
He was wailing on the guitar.
Strangely enough it was in front of the stucco wall in back of my house. Light reflected from the red rock gravel underfoot. I kept cheering him on and on!! A crowd of one exciting the performer in him until I knew we had the intense performance look we wanted for the back of his latest guitar CD cover…
Robin Miller with his new CD Electric Atmosphere a collection of guitar music. He signed the insert with the same image, “Bob, Thank you for your awesome talent.” Robin Miller – Here’s a link to check out his music. Very cool!
But wait. This job was secured because I now have a camera that accompanies me almost all the time… I ran into Robin at work playing his music at Tlaquepaque Village (yeah it took me a long time to learn how to say that name too) In an offhand way he asked if I was available to create a musician portrait photo for his next CD. I quickly changed some settings on my Lumix GX7 camera… SQUARE CROP. ILLUSTRATIVE ART SETTING. ADJUST TO BLACK & WHITE. Fired off a few frames. Showed Robin the look I had in mind for him. A smile spread across his face from ear to ear and we agreed to shoot the final image back at my place. The rest as they say is history…
How many times have you been without a camera because it was too much of a PIA to carry around? Mine is my new constant companion because of the small size and quality of the file and glass… WAHOOOO!
Oh, and I just happened to have my camera with me to catch this shot of Robin with the finished CD…
by successfulbob | fine art photography, photography, photography education, success education
Poking around in other genres of art helps me find clarification for my art thoughts. This week it’s writing and John Steinbeck is the author of today’s Photo/Art quote… “In art the subject upon which you concentrate is unimportant; it is the quality of your concentration that counts.”
Think about it. What makes you go ‘WOW!’ when you see an image? Often it doesn’t even matter what the subject is. But the lighting or angle or treatment that makes us see the it in a new way. This was brought to light when I was speaking in Grand Rapids to a photo group and threw myself a challenge… Take a found object and turn it into a piece of art. I found a paper clip and informed the class of my objective and received looks that ranged from “He’s out of his mind!’ to “There ain’t no frickin’ way!”
About a third of the way into the exercise I was getting ready to believe the nay-sayers and give up. Perseverance won the day and the paper clip turned into what you see here in this link.
My challenge to you today is to take something simple, whether it be a scene, an object or a person and through your skills concentrate and work it until you have an image that makes people either see it in a new way or go “WOW!!” Good luck.
by successfulbob | photography, photography education, success education
The stallion’s ebony mane flew like feathers in the breeze created by the speed of his flight across the desert plain. It’s the quintessential image of freedom. Witness to the energy of one ‘horsepower’ moving with grace I felt a charge welling up inside… And I was moved. Almost lost the shot I was so entwined in the moment. But, I didn’t. Slowly I squeezed the shutter and captured the moment to share with you in the hope you get a taste and feel what I feel when viewing this power.
Horse galloping in a Monument Valley box canyon.
I’ve always had an interest in the power of equine movement. Now, I’m starting to learn how to share the experience through the written word, as well as the visual, so others can understand my emotion in the moment. You can learn to share in an engaging way too.
If you want to make money in your business you need to entertain your customers. Writing in an emotional and visual manner will move people to sales because they read your message and understand.
Here’s some help for you. I ran into Jenika via her blog ‘Psychology for Photographers and Other Creatives’. I bought her ‘Irresistible Words’ class & I feel my writing is now encouraging my guests to hang around and really understand what I am trying to share.
You can get in on the good words too. Save fifty bucks if you order Irresistible Words between late Thanksgiving evening through Cyber Monday.
Or if you want to get the Irresistible Website, normally $159, it will be $109 Save fifty bucks
Or you can go for ‘The Business Library Pack, which includes both for $299 – Save OVER one hundred bucks off regular retail price for both items!
The cool part about Jenika’s deals is this… You get 30 days to check out the material.
Why? Because sometimes it’s hard to decide what education to invest in, because you can’t be sure beforehand whether the education will help in the way it says it will help. Jenika is insanely dedicated to making sure that this information helps as many people as possible, so try it risk-free. Check out her web site to see how she will happily refund your money.
by successfulbob | architectural photography, photography, photography education, success education
Light rain misted the Atlanta restaurant my friends brought me to see. I ran outside and took a few moments getting my hair wet to photograph the brick building from several angles and went back in to laughter, swapping stories, enjoying food and downing a Guiness or two.
Original capture. Obviously the light under the overcast, rainy day was pretty flat.
Back in the office I downloaded the image and went to work to give the image an old world painterly quality.
Here’s the finished art piece I sent.
Send an email to the owner with a copy of the image and receive this response, “Oh my GOD!!!! I will call you – I want to talk to you about this as soon as possible – when is a good time to catch you by phone? Let me know the best number to reach you…….
Best, AK”
A few attempts at communication and all was quiet… for a year.
Back to Atlanta for some PPA biz and I made a canvas of the image to take to AK and the sale was made. We are working on some details right now but she wants to use the image as the restaurant’s signature image for marketing on the web, in the restaurant, on menus and T-Shirts.
Two questions for you… Do you do work on speck? And, do you follow through?
By the way, the owner didn’t think I was being pushy for continuing to follow up. She thanked me profusely!
by successfulbob | marketing, photography education, success education
“Hey! What does your bill say??!! I’m not sure I read mine correctly…”
That was the cry when our checks were presented. Smiles passed from face to face around the table as each person read the message in the presentation folder…….
Have a great night…
You could feel spirits lift as everyone tried to figure out what was going on. We had requested separate checks. So we each got one. Even the person who had taken the waiter aside and asked to pick up the tab had an extra smile on his face because of all the laughter washing around the table.
The smooth move by our waiter cost him only the time to jot the extra notes and pass out the fraudulent checks to the group.
Which begs this question… What small thing can you do that would delight your clients in a big way that would have them sharing YOUR story?? As evidenced by this savvy server you don’t have to give away the store to bring a smile to your customers.
Got some ideas to share?
by successfulbob | photography, photography education, success education
Week one. Really good intentions. Two or three posts for my blog as I promised to do each week. Yeah success! Week two. Procrastination. One post. Avoidance. Not sure what to write about.
Week three. I’ll get to it tomorrow or the next day…
“Oh, Sh%$!! It’s been two months since my last post… Again.” Sound familiar??
Okay, how to break the cycle?? I found an answer.
I came across this girl named Jenika who claims a web site called ‘Psychology for Photographers’ that will help in creating web site posts with interesting content that pulls clients in. And, it won’t be hard to do.
“HA!” is what I said.
Then she pulled me, a skeptic, in. In a very short time of poking around on her blog. I liked her info enough to lay out some cash, and now I like it even more. Here’s a link to learn about ‘Irresistible Words’ An amazingly helpful way to learn to create content.
Here’s the deal. I came in late to share this with you so you only have until November 6 to get this ‘Irresistible Words’ course for only $119 bucks. After November 6 it’s $249 and word is it will never be available for $119 again.
But, even if you read this on the 7th of November or later it’s still worth the $249 and I encourage you to get it anyway. You will be shocked at how well this stuff works. She gives you 30 days to try it out. If it’s not your cup of tea – she refunds your money. So what’s to loose??
Click here to view more details
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