book review – duChemin

book review – duChemin

Within the Frame – David duChemin

I’m a fan

I am a big fan of books. Well, not all books, but good ones. The book I wish to share with you is definitely better than good. I’ve been following David duChemin for quite some time. I enjoy his writing style and sense of humor. He has a way of sharing some big ideas in an understandable way without being ‘preachy.’

As you may have already guessed, I am particularly a fan of David and his writing. His latest book is Within the Frame – The Journey of Photographic Vision. It is a 10th anniversary edition and I’m glad he brought it back. This is a book that can be a help in getting your creative butt in gear whether you are a newbie photographer or a seasoned veteran such as myself. (I suppose you can read that as old, but I digress)

book cover duChmenin

Within the Frame – The Journey of Photographic Vision David duChemin

Creativity and Vision

David talks about vision and creativity in most of his writing. I enjoy his introspection and dedication to the photography world and the creative vibe therein. He shares ideas on how to accomplish some inner thinking in bite sized pieces that can be practiced and digested in as small or large a helping as one would like.

An Example

Here’s one paragraph from the book that appears on page 79 in the chapter titled The Artist and the Geek.

“The first thing to realize is that the creative process is not so simple that it can be reduced to a formula-go here, wait for muse, shoot brilliant image. It is not a reactive process dependent on a magic fairy appearing and beating you with an inspiration stick. Creativity is something you can actively work at, and the more closely you know your own process, the more reliably the muse appears. Having said that, I think we all know that some days just do not got he way we want, and we often chalk that up to being uninspired, or bored, or lazy. Probably the latter two.” – David duChemin

Conclusion

The paragraph above has so much about which to think, you can imagine how much you will get from the rest of the book! duChemin’s book is a winner on so many levels. I think it is the kind of book that will earn a long stay in your regular reading table. And, will also have a place of honor in your permanent photography book collection for review on a regular basis.

Yours in Creative Photography,     Bob

PS – Get the book. you’ll be glad you did. Within the Frame – The Journey of Photographic Vision

 

tuesday painterly artist – michelle parsley part one

tuesday painterly artist – michelle parsley part one

Tuesday Painterly Art
Michelle Parsley M.Photog, M. Artist, Cr., CPP

I had the pleasure of taking a Michelle Parsley full day Pre-Con class at Imaging USA this year. I was extremely impressed with her attention to detail and classroom style. If you ever get the opportunity to learn from Michelle, I highly recommend it. BTW, you can also work with Michelle online. Check out links to her education at the bottom of the post.

Hear now from Michelle below as she talks about her work and producing images for PPA’s International Photographic Competition. All Images © Michelle Parsley 2019 All Rights Reserved

michelle parsley image“For most of my client work, I create “pretty pictures” in either digital or traditional mediums. An
example of client work would be “A Study in Pastels”.

But when I’m given free rein to do anything I want — I love to tell stories with my images. I
believe storytelling is one of my artistic strengths and I find it especially satisfying when others
can easily see the story. I often employ this tactic in my competition images.

michelle parsley imageSometimes, I am compelled to tell a serious story — like in the image “Dear John”. Anyone
that has served in our armed forces can easily identify with this image.

michelle parsley imageMore often than not, I tell humorous stories like “Dinner and a Show”. What little one hasn’t
used a pot for a drum and sang at the top of their lungs? By giving him an audience of
puppies in a barn, it accurately reflects the realities of life with boys on the farm. (No — this
child is not one of my boys)

michelle parsley imageIn “Who’s Training Whom?” You can really get a glimpse into my imagination. I had the
pleasure of visiting the old Sheldon Church ruins in the Charleston, SC area with Tiffany Briley
of Charleston Photography Tours a few years back. I couldn’t help but let my imagination run
wild! What a giggle it was to have Julia Kelleher photograph her son based on my directions,
and create this fanciful image of a friendly dragon. The dragon was created by photographing
a plastic toy from several angles and frankensteining it together in Photoshop.

Continued next week!

Behind every artist there is a story and Michelle’s story began as a child when she would draw or paint with anything she could find (which got her in trouble on more than one occasion!). She has been creating hand drawn and hand
painted art for clients for nearly 20 years. Michelle is mostly self-taught in all the mediums she uses to express
her creativity. By combining her love of both digital and organic mediums, Michelle is uniquely equipped to both create and teach art. Michelle earned her Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) designation from Professional
Photographers of America (PPA) in 2009 which led her to enter her first International
Photographic Competition in 2010.

She has since earned the Master of Photography michelle parsley head shot art
and Master Artist degrees in 2014, diamond artist of the year in 2012, the
Imaging Excellence Award in 2015, Photographic Craftsman in 2017, Double diamond and the Imaging Excellence Bar in 2018.

When Michelle is not teaching, photographing, or painting, she enjoys a great cup of coffee, dark chocolate, and working on the family farm in rural Tennessee where she lives with her husband of over 25 years, their four children, four dogs, and an ever changing host of farm animals.

 

The class I took from Michelle – Photoshop Clone Painting

More Clone Painting Classes – All Clone Painting Classes

General Teaching site – Elevate Your Art

 

portrait pricing guidelines with steve bedell – part four

portrait pricing guidelines with steve bedell – part four

Portrait Pricing Guidelines with Steve Bedell – Part Four
Marketing Monday Guest Post

Here is Steve’s continuation from part 1 and part 2 and part 3 portrait pricing

Six: Wall portrait bonus

We all know the money is in the wall portraits and wall groupings. So from our initial contact right through the sales session that’s what we should be striving for. To drive that point home, I offer a discounted price of about 30% off on gift prints when they purchase a portrait 20 inches or larger. (Note: The discounted price is the price I feel I should sell that product for. If they don’t have a wall portrait I am just more profitable on the smaller prints)

pricing for profit graphic part 4


SEVEN: Albums

I know many photographers like albums. I am not a huge fan. You either have to take the time to do the layout or pay someone to do it (my choice). I know you can get big numbers from them but make sure you cover all your bases, including time, when deciding the pricing.

I prefer Album boxes. Make a few 5×7’s for peanuts, slide into 8×10 mats and put into the box. Pretty simple plus if you make an error in any image you just change out one print.



EIGHT: ALWAYS list most expensive product first

I’m firm on this one; this is pretty much an unbreakable rule. People read from the top down, left to right. Start out with that 40×60 for half a million bucks (you wish) and by the time they get down to that 16×20 for $800 it’s going to look pretty inexpensive. The mind works this way, at first they think ‘Oh my God, I can’t afford this’ to ‘Well, that’s more in my budget’. Start small to large and it’s an uphill battle.

It works the same way with your good/better/best pricing, always list the most expensive product first or right to left.



NINE: Session fees

OK, there’s a lot of wiggle room in this one. I know some VERY successful (Bradford) photographers who have no session fees. I know others who have very high session fees. Which is better for you?

Well, Bradford has a brilliant system where he has one background and I’d guess not much changing in the lighting. In my semi-retirement, I am doing everything from the consultation to the shoot to print delivery on location. That’s a significant chunk of time to be doing everything for free so I have a session fee of $300. That works for me, you may be different.

But there is another good reason to have that session fee. You don’t want to discount your products but the session fee can be used as a bargaining chip. You can do 50% off session fee promotions, free sessions for returning/good clients, etc. and not be hurting your sales average.



TEN: Payments

When we tally up the order we ask ‘How would you like to pay for that’. Most people either give you a check or a credit card and that’s the end of it. If they ask if they have to pay it all up front, we tell them they can pay 50% now, the balance when they pick up. 90% pay in full right off. I don’t offer payment plans, that’s what credit cards are for.



ELEVEN: Minimum orders

I’ve never had minimum orders. Why? I feel like they act as a barrier. Job one is to get people in front of your camera. People may not like the idea of having to spend a certain amount of money before even seeing the end result.
Have I ever been burned on this? Of course, but not that often. We are very comfortable with our photography and sales skills so we’ll put that risk on us.



TWELVE: Wall Groupings

You sell wall groupings by showing wall groupings. That is one of the big benefits of Proselect, Swift Galleries and others. Most can even let you show them on their own walls. If you go to the house during or before the shoot, you can take pics of the walls ahead of time. You can also ask them to do, some will, some won’t.

I price my wall groupings at a slight discount to buying the images individually. Why? I’d rather sell 3-5 images than just one. Most of the wall groupings I sell are Gallery Wraps.

Big tip: Use the templates from your lab. ACI has over 25 different templates and when you order them as a grouping the price is about 15% less than if you ordered them individually. Design your wall groupings ahead of time using these templates and you’ll be even more profitable.



THIRTEEN: Don’t use dollar signs or odd number pricing.

If you’re a low end studio, go ahead and price your work using dollar signs and odd number pricing. Example: 8×10 for $34.95. If you are trying to convey that you are a luxury product, use 20×24 for 1100. An Hermes bag is not priced at $4997, it is priced at 5000.
”

Steve Bedell has been a professional photographer for over 35 years. He has done weddings, portrait andsteve bedell head shot commercial work but now restricts his business to portraits only.

 Steve holds the Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees from the Professional Photographers of America and is a PPA Approved Print Juror.

He has been named the New Hampshire Photographer of the Year a record 8 times and in 2011 was awarded the New England Photographer of the Year title. His specialty is natural light portraiture.

He has written hundreds of articles for photo publications, taught classes and workshops nationwide and produced several lighting DVDs. His private newsletter, EPhoto, reaches over 2000 photographers. Steve was a regular contributor to Shutterbug magazine.

imaging USA 2019 – atlanta, ga part two

imaging USA 2019 – atlanta, ga part two

Imaging USA 2019 – Atlanta, GA Part Two

Find Part 1 here

I mentioned networking in my last post as a reason for attending Professional Photographers of America’s Imaging USA. Let me add that it is a great time to recognize the achievements of your fellow photographers.

American Society of Photographers – Fellowship

One of these events is the American Society of Photographers Banquet. There is more networking, of course, but so much more. ASP has worked very hard over the past couple years to become more inclusive and make the awards banquet something to really look forward to. There were two new ASP Fellows Ella Carlson and Kristi Elias. While their images and papers have not been posted as yet on the ASP site you can get an idea by checking out other ASP Fellow papers (ASP Fellows)

Kristi Elias photo One of twenty-five images submitted by Kristi for the Fellowship. See the rest of her images and read her paper for more of her fascinating photographic journey! Image © Kristi Elias – 2019 All Rights Reserved.

ella carlson imageHere’s a link into Ella’s exquisite world of Aliens used in attaining her Fellowship.
Image © Ella Carlson 2019 All Rights Reserved.

Eligibility to apply for the ASP Fellowship requires that an individual hold at least one of the PPA Master degrees, be a current ASP member in good standing, AND have acquired 15 additional print merits AFTER receiving their degree during contiguous years of ASP membership.

The applicant must complete a minimum of three consecutive years membership in ASP prior to application. A thesis/personal paper of at least 2000 words providing insight into their photographic or artistic journey, influences, philosophies and passion that make them the photographer or artist they are today.

The applicant must also submit a portfolio of 25 exquisite images characteristic of his or her finest work that is a visual representation of their written paper.

Recipients of the Fellowship must maintain membership in ASP and PPA.

American Society of Photographers – Educational Associate

Steve Clark earned his Education Associate. (read Steve’s paper here) The ASP Educational Associate is conferred on those special individuals who actively participate and promote the ideals and philosophies of the organization beyond the initial recognition given with their acceptance into the Society. It is available to all active, life, honorary life and international members of the Society that hold a PPA Craftsman degree.

The ASP Educational Associate requires that an individual hold the PPA Photographic Craftsman degree, be a current ASP member in good standing, AND have acquired 30 additional speaking, teaching, or writing merits AFTER receiving their degree during contiguous years of ASP membership.

The applicant must write a paper of at least 4000 words of individual research and thought that demonstrates the applicant’s mastery of the field and supports a position for a new idea, development or trend. (read other ASP Associate papers here)

Hmmm. This post has gone on for a while guess I’ll be adding a part three to these Imaging USA posts.

Yours in creative Photography,      Bob

imaging usa 2019

imaging usa 2019

Imaging USA 2019 – Atlanta, GA

Professional Photographers of America held it’s ** sesquicentennial anniversary convention in the headquarters city of Atlanta, GA. It was a great convention!

imaging usa logosouthwest wing over cloudsWinging toward Imaging USA Atlanta

The programs were well thought out and helpful I particularly enjoyed the Pre-Convention class with Michelle Parsley on Clone Painting with Adobe Photoshop. This is a technique to create more painterly looking images with a brush-like feel to them. Learning how to set up the brushes in Photoshop to mimic the feel and application of paint was incredible. This is one of the things on which I am working to further the artistic feel of my work as a Lens Based Artist.

scott stratton keynote ppa 2019

Opening Keynote with Scott Stratton – Great start to the convention!!

The other program that caught extra from me attention was from Chris Knight. I already had his book The Dramatic Portrait which I thought was well written and informative.

PPA Council

It was also time for PPA Council to meet. I am a member of Council and have been for a number of years. This is where the rules and By-laws are adjusted when necessary. Sometimes there are issues of which members are divided. This was one of those years with a few issues needing some discussion. Passions were shared and the vote was taken. This led to the creation of a new degree based on wedding images. The designation is M.Wedding.Photog. I look forward to the time that members will be able to earn this degree and use it to help promote themselves to clients showing that they have extra dedication to improving their work.

Friends Like Family

PPA’s convention is also a time to renew friendships and network with fellow photographers. People often ask why I still go to conventions instead of learning what I need to online. I’ve found you learn almost as much, if not more, in the hallways and over a beer in the bar as in the classes. In addition, you can not pick up the phone and ask a video a question!!

Yours in Creative Photography,        Bob

More from the convention in the next post.
** means 150 years!