by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education
INSPIRATION EXISTS!
No doubt in my mind that this is very true. But the second half of the quote has to be in play also. I find inspiration all the time, partly because I am looking for it and partly because I am open to new thoughts and ideas on doing things. I came across this quote from Master Painter and artist Pablo Picasso and it rang so true.
“Inspiration Exists, but it has to find you working.” Pablo Picasso
I feel the Inspriration quote goes hand in hand with words often attributed to one of the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, but many variations exist “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
So may I suggest to you, take the quotes of Picasso & Jefferson and put them to work for you? See what comes of it! And, share what comes your way. Love to hear about your success! Share here….
Yours in Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | commercial photography, Lumix GX7, photography, photography education, photography gear
Serendipity. That’s a lovely word. It’s musical in sound. And can add musical notes to your photography and it comes around more often if you keep your camera close at hand all the time.
Having dinner at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona last night and came across this snifter sitting on the bar with beautiful light all around so I fired off a few frames. Love the colors. Enjoy the soft background. This would make a great illustration for a newspaper or magazine article about bars, cocktails or many other subjects. I am always looking for things like this for my stock files but also just to study light, shape, form and how the camera sees so if I need to create something like this for a bar or restaurant advertising image in the future I’ll have it in my arsenal.
‘Snifter on bar’ was captured with a Lumix GX7 and the f2.8 35mm to 100mm at 89mm iso 800 at f2.8 at 1/10 sec. The camera was sitting on the bar for support to keep the slow shutter speed from blurring the image. My GX7 is with me most of the time… And with the Think Tank small pouch on my belt I’ve got plenty of lenses too.
by successfulbob | architectural photography, black & white, Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education, photography gear
For some reason I found myself enamored with this railroad draw-bridge in Tampa, Florida. It’s just outside the museum I was hanging in and I liked the graphic lines and shapes that ran through the scene. I thought i’d run the camera through some of it’s pre-sets to explore different ‘looks’. Never used to be a preset guy but I’m liking the fact I can have a pretty well processed image straight out of the camera. Here’s a few…
Four different preset images from the Panasonic Lumix GX7 camera pretty much straight out of the camera.
Totally different feel with all of them. Having fun seeing what the camera can do.
Please be aware of a couple things. You must have the camera set to save jpegs. Shooting in RAW only will allow you to see the processing on the camera but when you download the RAW images and open them on the computer you will see the processed file for about 2 seconds and it will disappear leaving you with the RAW information only.
Now a wonderful thing is available here. You can get the best of both worlds by shooting RAW + jpeg. Then you have a finished processed jpeg and still have access to the RAW file if you want to process the image in a different way. My friend Kevin Ames of Ames Photographic in Atlanta says, “Friends don’t let friends shoot jpeg!” He is a big advocate of shooting in RAW because if you shoot jpeg only you are allowing the camera processor to throw away a lot of information from the file. If you shoot in RAW it has the most information and will allow your file to be even better in the future as more and better software is designed for processing images. I agree. But, I like the idea of working with and tweaking some of the setting the camera has available for immediate use hence I now do both.
by successfulbob | Lumix GX7, Lumix Lounge, people photography, photography
When I was in Florida teaching my classes for Lumix I ran across this gentleman and asked if I might make his image. He agreed. I used the Lumix GX7 because that’s the camera I have with me almost all the time when I’m out and about.
This turned into a little test because I wanted to see how the photo would look from the back-lit position I was in. What is the mood of the image with some small changes? I liked it but thought I wanted to see what the same subject would look like from a slightly different angle. The point is you can change the feeling of a portrait just by changing the persons position to the light, add a little direction for expression or hand position or any number of other simple changes by thinking about the final image. Here is a before and after…
Original capture of gentleman with cigar in the tropics.
Different angle. Different expression. Different lighting. Better? Not necessarily, but different for sure.
Please when making images in public ask for permission to create the photo. Even more important make sure you have permission to show the image online in a public place. Case in point I asked if it was OK to share theses images and lesson with you and he said it was OK but leave off his name.
On another note, make sure if you tell someone you are going to send them images from your shoot that you do so. When in Paris I told a couple artists at Monte Marte that I would send them an image. I received replies upon sending their images that 1000’s of people promised to send them photos but I was the first one to actually do so… Keep a good reputation for yourself and photographers who follow in your footsteps.
Let me know which portrait you prefer by leaving a comment on this post.
Yours in photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote, photography education, success education
I wish I had a name to attach to today’s quote… That Anonymous person sure had a lot of attributions!
It is so indicative of people who become successful… When I talk to people about the success that I have had in my career, and my life in general, they often despair at the possibility of having that success for themselves. They only see the somewhat finished movie that I present to the world and compare that to their everyday life. The secret is to work hard and put in some time.
Success is what happens when 10,000 hours of prereation meet with one moment of opportunity.” Anonymous
“Picture this…” (in your best Rod Serling voice playback) “… a simple duck upon the water, sitting placidly and quietly. What we don’t see is that the seemingly restful fowl has webbed feet churning madly beneath the surface to keep him in place.” (end Roddo’s voice)
It takes work to be successful. Time of course. But, the work is not actually hard. It is ongoing with each piece layered on top of the one before. When you first start the journey seems insurmountable because there is so many steps to take. The cool thing is when you put a plan in place and start moving those webbed feet one push at a time not only do you stop being pushed downstream you find equalibrium followed by steady progress upstream.
“WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH PHOTOGRAPHY BOB??”
Ah, so glad you asked… Better imaging, better business and a better life all come from going one step at a time with the end journey in mind. You have to put in the time. What you’ll find is that the end goal keeps changing as you move closer and realize it wasn’t as far away as you thought. Want to be a better photographer tomorrow? Start learning and practicing new techniques today. Want a better business? Learn new sales techniques. practice them until they become second nature. Set a path. Work toward the end goal. If you find as you get closer it’s not where you thought it was going take a detour…
Sometimes having another set of eyes watching and helping you plan can be a huge help. When we are too close to a problem we often can’t see the forest for the trees. Need some help finding a path? Check out my coaching. Let’s talk for an hour… If you don’t feel it’s a help there’s no charge and no hard feelings. Get in touch and see if I can’t be of help on your journey. Yours in photography, Bob
by successfulbob | marketing, photography, photography education
“Bob that press release stuff doesn’t work!”
I hear this all the time when I try to share with fellow photographers one way to get your business name out there. Press releases can, and do, work. But, you have to work at it. You need to write the release in the correct form for the media in which you are trying to get placement. You need to know where to send the release, because the proper person who makes the decisions needs to see it. And, send it to more than one outlet. And, send them out on a regular basis because not every release is printed. Add artwork like your head-shot, illustrative images and captions.
How about getting to know your local editors? Inviting them to lunch? Asking how you might be of help to them? If someone knows you personally there’s a better chance your release will be printed
Here’s an example of how the press release worked so far… from this release
Image of Kudos newspaper printing of press release for Bob Coates’ receiving PPA’s Elite Plus Award 2014
Online printing of Press Release in PhotoClique
I will take the published versions of my work and share them in my studio, republish them on the Internet and make copies to use to help let clients know they have made a good choice in selecting me as their photographer. FYI, any images that appear in an article I recreate for distribution because scans from newsprint and magazines are a bit icky. Also after a scan I will add a curves layer and make the whites whiter and blacks blacker. This helps with the bleed through from the porous paper and makes look better and easier to read.
There’s no free lunch. You do have to work to build relationships. Get your writing skills up to par. Follow through. I feel the effort is more than worth it because when the articles appear in print, even if you penned the info, the result is name recognition you can’t get through a paid advertisement.
If you need some help finding reasons to generate press releases fro your photography business, writing them, finding how to distribute them or need some general business help contact me about some coaching opportunities at great rates.
Yours in photography… Bob
by successfulbob | Uncategorized
Wandering the Gulf Coast beaches in between speaking gigs in Sarasota and Tampa. Ran into this sign on Longboat Key… By the time I read all the ‘NO’s!’ I figured this is no fun…
Just playing… I understand the need.
by successfulbob | kudos, Uncategorized
I don’t want to share this story because it highlights what a bonehead I can be… But – it’s a story that should be told none-the-less.
I placed my iPad in the seat pocket in front of me upon boarding the plane because I knew I’d be listening to music or reading from it during my flight from Phoenix to Tampa.
Fast forward to eleven oh five PM when I wanted to read my iPad before going to sleep. I reached into my briefcase and received instead of the iPad that sinking feeling in my stomach. Instantly but not wanting to acknowledge the fact (and after frantically looking in between everything and tearing the briefcase apart) I knew I’d left it on board the plane.
Made some calls the following morning and no one had turned it in to the Tampa airport as yet but they now had my number and would call me if it was turned in…
Not having a ton of hope I awaited the call from Tampa. None was forthcoming.
Here’s an incoming call from California and it’s Brenda Powell the SMF Shift Manager in Sacramento asking if I am missing an electronic device. “Can you identify it?” You betcha’!! Red covered iPad with lot of images, books and music on it.
Turns out the plane had a full service turn-around in Sacramento and the cleaning crew turned it in and the staff worked their way through my iPad, found my email and tracked me down to return it. I want to share this story ’cause most people only pass on bad experiences and the cleaning crew and rest of the staff deserve to be recognized for their honesty and following through helping with the recovery of my stuff…. Even if I was stupid enough to leave it behind. Cheers to US Airways!
by successfulbob | fine art photography, photography, photography - art quote, photography education
ARRRGHHH!!
I hear you say when I tell you this mornings photo art quote is going to involve marketing and business. Please don’t be bummed – or afraid. If we don’t have the commerce, unless we are trust fund kids or have a sponsor, our art won’t get made…
“Art career goals make your career happen. To see far is one thing, to go there is another.” – Constantin Brancusi
Brancusi was a Romainian born sculpture artist and his words in the above quote should give us pause for thought. You can have all the vision in the world but if you don’t act on it you ain’t goin’ nowhere.
So this morning take a few moments to think about where you want to be with your art five years from now.
Go ahead think about it…
Spend a bit more time thinking about it.
Good! Now write it down these thoughts you had, Getting them down on paper starts to make them more have more weight. Become more real to you rather than some ephemeral dream.
Start the next step right away. If you want to be at a certain level with your art sales in five years where do you need to be in two and a half years? Where do you need to be in one year? How about six months? Next month? Ahhh, now we are getting to it. What do you need to be doing tomorrow and next week to get you started on the proper prosperous path?
Well what are you waiting for? Get to it! Set some goals.
Your in photography and art. Bob
by successfulbob | Uncategorized
Well imagine that!
I received an award from PPA that I didn’t even know existed. (I guess it’s because they just instituted this year) Here’s the press release I’ve sent out…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Photographer Enters the Elite
Earns Highest Membership Level from Professional Photographers of America
Sedona, Arizona – Bob Coates of Bob Coates Photography in Sedona has been named to receive an Elite Plus membership from Professional Photographers of America (PPA).
Starting this year, PPA began offering Elite and Elite Plus memberships to its more decorated members. Coates is one of few to earn the prestigious Elite Plus membership. Out of over 26,000 members only twenty-two have earned this designation, yet another milestone in Bob’s illustrious career behind the camera.
“We are encouraging photographers to be more and grow sustainable businesses and,” said Kristen Hartman, director of member value and experience for PPA. “Mr. Coates continues to raise the bar in our industry and has certainly earned his place among the elite.”
Coates qualified for Elite Plus membership through continued education, image competition and a continued quest for excellence.
“This award has special meaning to me because it isn’t something you strive for, it’s awarded for overall performance in staying on top of the industry as well as giving back,” Said Bob. “It was quite a surprise when I was notified about the award as this is this first year it has been bestowed on members. I’m extremely proud.”
The new membership level comes with special benefits and perks, including significant savings, reserved only for the elite.
The status will be awarded on an annual basis. The only way for a member to lose their status is if they dropped their membership. To view Elite and Elite Plus membership level requirements and benefits, visit ppa.com.
About PPA
Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest international non-profit association created by professional photographers, for professional photographers. Almost as long-lived as photography itself, PPA has roots that date back to 1869. It assists more than 26,000 members through protection, education and resources for their continued success. See why photographers love PPA at ppa.com.
Contact: Bob Coates
bob@bcphotography.com
www.bcphotography.com www.successful-photographer.com
