I hope that all of you are well and enjoying the nicer weather!  I thought that I’d just give you all a mid-month check up!  I received this email from the Pictage blog today and it really reminded me why not only the guild is important to us all, but why sharing our ideas, and continually learning is so valuable in our trade!  Let’s keep up the good work and take a little time today to do our homework as Olympia talks about in today’ http://blog.pictage.com/ post.  I’m looking forward to seeing all of you next month for our Adobe Lightroom discussion!

Written by Olympia Flaherty

“That means I’m a photographer right?”

Let’s go through the check list…

Camera – check

Artistic flare – (so they tell me) check

Love of photography – check

Desire to capture memories, moments and freeze love in time so it can be revisited again and again – check and check

That means I’m a photographer right?

Sure, if by photographer you mean, a person that sometimes holds a camera and presses the button on the right.

But not necessarily in the business of being a photographer. And therein lies the difference. When you get to this point, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep going, nor does it mean that you haven’t got a chance, or that you are audacious for assuming you can start out. No, keep going, hold on to your hopes and push forward you will achieve success if you do. But if you’re starting at the bottom, like I did, you need to really like the taste of reality (learn to wash it down with a cold glass of humility) and you must have a plan.

I started my business four years ago. No money as collateral, a D40x, a Dell laptop with a heinous virus, Picassa and a Html website from Homesites.com. Not the ideal way to begin, but there were mitigating circumstances, and this was all I had left. So I pushed, REALLY hard, and made it work. I didn’t have any illusions as to what I was. I was desperate.

I identified my market. Who in the hell would want me as a photographer? Broke people like me. And so began the first 6 months of my photography career, shooting and burning my life away at roughly 75 shoots a month at $50 a piece, sometimes more but rarely. Overhead was minimal, So I was making it.

I was working a lot. I shot homecomings hand over fist, a job lot $75 for me and a DVD, NOT by the hour. Which meant I could spend up to 6 hours from 2 in the morning waiting on delayed buses. But I couldn’t leave because they could be there any moment. So I stayed, drank coffee, made friends and waited. What is that worth?

By the end of 6 months, I was the in thing on Lejeune Yard sales, talk about big time, and I had a steady stream of referrals coming in. Big fish, little pond, big head. Don’t get me wrong. I still didn’t even begin to assume that I was up there with the big name photographers. I was still very tentative to even call myself a photographer. But I was comfortable, and I had stopped moving forward. Complacency is born by success.

“I had lost sight of my plan.”

It came time for my sons school pictures. I kind of scoffed somewhat when I was asked to come help get everyone ready. School pictures. That style is so not my photojournalist style, yada yada.

As I sat there watching the woman from the School Picture studio set up her lights, backdrop and equipment, in about a minute. Adjust the lighting speedily and begin cranking out, perfectly flat lit images of bratty kids, one after the other. I had to take a seat. Life had tapped me on the shoulder and was offering me slice after slice of reality. “Thank you that was lovely, but I can’t stomach another bite” I protested as I downed my glass of humility.

What I realized was, I can’t do what she does. I am not proficient enough with my gear to do what I had originally scoffed at. So what am I worth? In my head it was a fait acompli that I would just be able to arbitrarily charge more, sooner or later. But in reality, to maintain constant business, in higher income brackets clients would have to identify me as someone who is able to consistently give high quality images. My clients knew I was nice, I was loyal and they’d have pictures. That’s it.

“If I didn’t get back on track, I would be stuck here, shooting and burning.”

When I came home I did my first ‘after action’ report, on a shoot that I had done the day before. I wrote the pros and cons, and what I would do again, what I would do differently, where I was lacking and needed to fix. I watched Youtube videos, I saved and went to seminars, and I trolled the internet looking at photographers identifying what I liked, whose work I identified with and why. I was constantly measuring and qualifying my work, so that when I raised my prices, it was truly in line with where I was ability wise and I never felt a bump. My work automatically attracted the next level of client.

If you’re going to be a photographer, you have to put checks and balances in place. You have to have a method of measuring yourself, against your competition, against your peers. You have to develop ways to assess yourself so you can progress. You have to identify how you’re going to pay for all this because as nice as I am to my UPS guy he won’t just bring me a Mac for the fun of it, or a D700 for that matter.

I write lists. Millions of them. I have lists of goals for all stages. Every day I make myself take time to watch one tutorial, read three blogs and research a term or technique I don’t know. Daily homework. So that my D700 becomes useful at other things besides a paperweight. So that when I am faced by lighting challenges I have some idea as to how to tackle it. I have only a small cache of things I can do by memory. Everything else I have to talk myself through. That makes a difference to my response time, and my ability to adapt to the unforeseen and a difference to what I am worth.

“My images aren’t as flawlessly edited as my peers.”

I make roughly $5.00 an hour sometimes, because editing can sometimes take me so long. My creativity suffers at times because I have to concentrate on getting the standard shots and my market doesn’t allow for 2nd shooters. But that doesn’t mean I can raise my prices, to compensate. My final images are still worth what they’re worth. It’s not my clients problem that I have to spend more time on them. It’s my lack of experience.

It’s something I have to fix for my business to support me and still grow, it has to be in business. All of this is hard to admit when you have pride the size of Everest. Once I longed for the day when I would have two big cameras and be able to use them efficiently; where I could wander around affecting an air of nonchalance with some kind of cool camera chick who makes art. That was my pride talking.

“The reality is that I would like to be a good photographer who makes art, never nonchalant about it, always excited about it, always learning, still in business.”

www.belvederestBritney Kirby Fullgraf has been a professional photographer for only three years, but she has already made an impact on the industry. Her unique business model has attracted the attention of photographers across the country, including a number of noted professionals. Britney credits many PPA mentors for her success and says she has been overwhelmed by help, support and encouragement.

In February 2009, she began teaching The Boutique Studio for Private Schools. Britney’s high end approach to private schools teaches photographers to steer pre-qualified clients to their regular, private studios. Her workshops have enabled a number of photographers to secure their own schools…two of whom now photograph an entire franchise of private schools in the DFW area. Britney has hosted a number of photographers in Central Florida, as they have studied and observed her actual school shoots and other operations.

Her other workshops and programs include Focus on Sales and Social Networking for Photographers and she assists a number of photographers in growing their businesses, through her private consulting services.

Britney received the 2009 Distinguished award for the Professional Photographer’s Guild of Mid-Florida, based on print competition. She is an Honorary Trustee for PPA Charities and participates heavily on the national and state level with vendors and other speakers, as they help support Operation Smile. She serves on the board for Professional Photographers of Mid-Florida.  Britney is sponsored by BayPhoto.studio.com

The Power of the Classics”

An  advanced study and exploration into

the Fine Art of Portraiture

Presented by

Gabriel I. Alonso

M.Photog.Cr.  F -TPPA

Program Description

This presentation is designed to achieve two goals: To re-kindle the fire in the heart of the experienced portraitist who has been in the trenches and needs a fix, and to bring the intermediate level professional up to a higher level of expertise.

The vehicle to get there is the same for both, the rediscovery of the vast knowledge contained in classical portraiture. From the masters of the renaissance to today’s industry leaders, our craft has changed little – except for the tools we use.

“How can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been” and “The more things change, the more the stay the same”. These are the two themes that will drive this class into a better understanding of our craft.

Mother and baby should be home by Wednesday, September 2. Congratulations, Mayfields!

First of all, I need to apologize for not thanking Marlo for treating us to pizza last night. She graciously offered to provide it for our enjoyment. Thanks, Marlo.

The guild voted to change our meeting night back to the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Beginning with our July meeting we will start our new (former) schedule.

June will be our last meeting at Accurate Image. Many, many thanks to Bob Smith for hosting our meetings for so long. Watch for news of our new meeting place.

We have a new website and webmistress. Sarah Hess and Bob Smith are designing our new site. It is still in development, but you can get a preview of it now. Just log into www.hotppg.org and you will be redirected.

If you want to be included on the website, be sure your dues and paid and you have your information to Sarah no later than Friday, May 1st.

More details later. Check the website regularly for updates. Thanks.

Michael LiBassi
3121 Maple Avenue
Waco, TX 76707
254-732-5233
817-269-4641 cell

We are happy to announce that our new vice president, Sarah Hess, in all her generosity has volunteered to start a new website for our guild. Please email the following information to Sarah Hess

This new website will have many perks, including advertising for our members, and front page exposure for print competition winners!

We need the following from every member by May 1st 2009 or you will not be included on the website!

1. One picture that you want to represent your business, it must be jpeg format, 72dpi, and 6×9 inches.

2. One small paragraph, describing your business, why people should use you, and any information you feel necessary to market yourself on the HOTPPG website.

3. All contact information including but not limited to: email – website – physical address? – phone numbers

We need this information from all existing members by may 1st 2009!

Any questions regarding the website please contact Sarah Hess

Sincerely,
Jenna Mayfield
HOTPPG Secretary
254.716.2010