So I contacted Renaissance Albums to see what they had to offer. We chit-chatted for a bit, and I truly felt confident in using them for my wedding albums. Next step was to confirm what I heard by seeing it in person ( I know….”Photographerzilla”, huh?). Hey, I know my couples are very picky….as am I! So while up in NYC for Melissa and Rob’s New York City engagement pictures I stopped by Renaissance. It was nice to finally put faces to names and their voices. Renaissance’s factory was very impressive and the tour allowed me to see what all the hype was about. There were no huge machines pumping out cookie cutter books or outsourcing to foreign countries! There were actual people working at a series of workstations. The rolls of raw hide leather, the razor blades and q-tips, and the humidity-controlled room were true representations of hand-made albums!

Renaissance says: Renaissance’s SoHo Book is a contemporary coffee table album designed for showcasing full-page prints. Unique and unrivaled in presentation, the award-winning SoHo Book uses seamless page craftsmanship to generate its distinctive style. The SoHo Book is available in a selection of Silks, Leathers, Luxesuede, Metal Cover and Pure Acrylic Cover.

Humbled Eyes Photography says: SoHo Book is freaking awesome! The Silk Brocade cover options give my couples a unique alternative to the traditional leather look. These albums are built from scratch and are completely customizable! You want three cut-out windows…..sure, why not! You want a specific size to fit a book shelf…..sure, why not!

Renaissance’s Chai Silk Brocade covers are amazing!

The flush mount pages are thick and sturdy.

The flush mount panorama page spreads give plenty of space for layout design of multiple images and text!

Renaissance says: Galleria Album is a handcrafted, reversible mat album, designed for hand-trimmed images to be mounted in flush matted pages. Each image is set in one of our custom designed mats and has an accent lining. The Galleria Album is available in a selection of Durapelle, Leathers, Luxsuede, Metal Cover and Pure Acrylic Cover.

Humbled Eyes Photography says: Galleria Albums offer a simpler, cleaner and more contemporary way of showcasing your wedding photos!

The Galleria is beautiful with its clean lines and simple design.

A variety of print sizes are used to tell the wedding day story.

Check them out: Renaissance Albums

~Rob

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Many thanks to the thousands of Photographers who have supported the Digital Wedding Pro series since its inception in 2006. Thanks to you all it has been one of the top selling instructional DVD series available for Wedding Photographers today.

As our way and www.digitalweddingpro.coms way of saying thank you we are offering this special for those who have yet to hop on board and are new to the industry. $299 blowout special gets you ALL 5 DVDs in the series! Thats a savings of over $200!!

Simply click the image of DVD #3 below to take advantage of this special promotion. Remember you are getting all 5 DVDs!

Visit: Wedding Photography Training for more info.

Also keep in mind that titles of your entries are very important. For example, all my entires are very specific. Dupont Country Club wedding, Riu Ocho Rios Jamaica wedding or Jamaica wedding photographer are very specific! You have to think about what your prospective clients are searching for. Most search 3-4 word phrases this is where your specific titles and links come into play. Brides are more likely to search Destination wedding photographers rather then “Janet + Chris 5/25.”

Cheers,
Rob
Humbled Eyes Photography

So after shooting a lot of event photography and wedding photography over the years I finally found the right batteries for my flash!  The new Sanyo 2700 mAh AA NiMH Rechargeable Batteries are absolutely ridiculous.  The Sanyo 2700s last four times longer than standard alkaline batteries and the recycle time per set of photos so fast.  I’ve seriously shot a whole wedding with one set of batteries in my Canon 580EX II.  By the end of the night I still wasn’t waiting for the “red light” and the flash “lighting bolt!”

~Rob Nicholson

~Robert Brault

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Most photographers are moving toward flash websites and loving the idea of updating it themselves! New flash sites allow us to use very user friendly Control Panel and add new pictures from our recent weddings! This is great because we don’t have to wait several weeks for our web designer to “get around to it.”

For example, BluDomain.com offers many flash templates with the option of adding a calendar. When I first launched my website I thought is was a very cool idea and had put my calendar up. My thinking was that this would let brides know if I’m already booked for their dates. This would save me time as I didn’t have to email them back telling them I’m booked. The bride could save time and (after some tears of course) she continues her search for another wedding photographer. This made a lot of sense to me…at the time.

After about six months of having my calendar up on my website, I only had two brides actually contact me to ask if I could refer any other wedding photographers. Also I had several brides contact me and say, “My friend ’so and so’ said I needed to contact you! She loved your photos but saw you were booked for her date!” So I started thinking about whether I should have my calender up or not.

Sometimes I like to use a more simplistic decision making approach. In the book On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin created a Pros and Cons list to see if he should marry. I decided to take the same scientific approach of this great naturalist. Basically I developed a pros and cons list for having a calendar on my website. Simple but very effective.

Here is my list:

Pros:

• Save me time since I don’t need to email the brides when I’m already booked.
• Shows brides what venues I’m shooting/shot at.
• If brides see that my calendar is filled up, they will feel more confident and expedite the booking process.

Cons:

• Never get to talk to the brides to try to book them on some engagement pictures.

- I’ve booked several e-sessions with couples whose dates were already booked.

• Never know who would have contacted me.

- Keeping track of these couples’ info is very valuable! It helps me understand who my clients are.

• Never know how they found me.

- Understanding where they came from to get to me is valuable, too.

• Never know how many brides are actually contacting me and willing to pay for my services

- Let’s say that 10 brides a month are inquiring about my wedding photography. This helps me better understand my demand and essentially helps me price my wedding photography accordingly.

• Never allow me to refer to other photographers.

- My referrals come from brides and other photographers! So it is important to strengthen my relationships with other photographers.

• Never know if my efforts are paying off (ads, links, referrals and leads.)

- I do have one magazine ad, many links and pay for some online directories. So I NEED to know if these are worth my investment.

• Never get to start a relationship with the couples.

- Wedding photography is all about relationships and I like to create a relationship with all couples that contact me. I want them to say to their friends, “We wanted Rob Nicholson of Humbled Eyes Photography…but he was booked! You need to call him!”

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Summary:

Wedding photography is about building relationships, building referral networks and understanding how and where you fit in to this “crazy wedding game.” Having a calendar up limits you from gathering information and understanding your business!

~Rob Nicholson

M. Gerber - Art Director

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The best way to make contact to magazines or major book publishers…

Photographers get involved in projects with book publishers or editorial in magazines through a variety of ways. In my own experience as art director, it is through word of mouth. Somebody knows somebody who knows somebody. I went to a college that was well known for photography and I knew a lot of photographers that I still keep in touch with and use periodically. If a photographer does not have many contacts in design or editorial and wants to try and break into it they could send samples of their work to the Art Director of the publication or publishing company. The photographer should contact the art director/art department as opposed to the publisher because it is the art director who suggests the style photography to the publisher or editor. They should contact art directors directly, sending them samples of their work via emailed jpegs and a website link or even by sending a simple postcard. The Art director keeps these samples filed away. When a project comes up and a photographer is needed they will go through their files of samples and portfolios and can suggest certain ones to the editor or publisher. Who gets chosen for a project is based on the photographer’s portfolio and what style they are skilled in most. (exercise, food, nature, portraits, architecture, etc)

Art directors of magazines are easy to find in the first few editorial pages of any magazine. Then a photographer can send samples to the address of the company to the art director’s attention.

To contact a book publisher’s art director, a photographer can most likely look up the company’s site online and get the proper address and information for where to send samples. Or they can call the main publisher’s number and ask for the name or email of an art director for a certain imprint. That is how a photographer can get specific information as to where to send portfolio work.

Once a photographer is signed on to work for a publisher they need to ask if specific company guidelines exist for how to submit photography. They need to be sure to ask the art department for any and all information and specs before starting the project. All images should be at least 300 dpi if digital and to the correct size the publisher or art director requires. If they are images that will need to be scanned or retouched, more time may need to be built into the schedule. The photographer should let the designer or art director know the process in which they work and how much time they will need. Many art directors will also ask you to leave extra bleed around a photograph in case the photo needs to be cropped in a certain way. This way the designer has the freedom s/he needs to make an image work in a certain project. This is the kind of information a photographer will need to get at the start of a project before it is too late and there needs to be a re-shoot.

If models are involved in a project, model releases are needed for every photograph. If it is a minor who is in the photo a parent or guardian will need to sign a special minors release form. Many publishers have their own release forms that the photographer is responsible for getting signed by all necessary parties. They may not be able to use their own release form.

If a photographer is chosen to work on any food related projects, in magazines or cookbooks, it is wise for them to have a food stylist they feel comfortable with that they can bring along with them. The photographer will also be responsible for renting a studio and organizing everything involved unless the editor wants to help or give additional guidance at the shoot. Most likely an art director or designer will be at the shoot with the photographer to make sure all photos will work within the design concept and page layout.

A photographer should always make sure a contract or agreement is in place before starting a project. The contract should mention a “kill fee” so that if a title is postponed or is no longer going to be published the photographer can get paid for any work that has been done so far.

Most important, being an art director, deadlines are VERY important. If photos are late, a book has less time to be designed and prepared and is at risk for being printed late. If a book misses its pub date it can lose many important sales from buyers. And no matter how great the photography is the photographer may not be asked to work on other titles. And in a magazine if photos are late, they will most likely not end up in the magazine at all.

~ M. Gerber

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Summary:

Getting your photography published really helps boost your reputation, portfolio, confidence and exposure.  Do your homework and make sure you follow the submission guidelines.

~Mike Colon

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Wedding photography is said to be one of the most difficult of all the photography specialties. How do I build my wedding portfolio? How can I break in to the highly competitive wedding industry? Do I assist another photographer for a couple years first to get experience? Do I need to go to school? Am I doing this for the money or do I really like weddings?

Things have changed enormously in regards to wedding photography. Traditional Wedding Photography, just like film photography, are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Some argue that Traditional Wedding Photography is here to stay and “timeless.” 8-track tapes are still “timeless”, right?

Today we hear many buzz words like Photojournalism, Documentary or Lifestyle wedding photography. With that, there are many ways to get started in your adventure of becoming a wedding photographer. Most will assist, 2nd shoot and then start their own businesses. Some go to school for photography and decide to shoot weddings. Others will cross over from Fashion Photography or Editorial Photography to the wedding game. There are also those hobbyist photographers who love photography! They start shooting families’ and friends’ weddings and events. These “weekend warriors” have full-time jobs and shoot part-time. Eventually they may go full-time upon retirement from the 9-5 grind, or leave their jobs once they feel confident they can make it as a Professional Photographer.

There are many, many ways to become a successful wedding photographer. What ever route you take, you must do your homework first! My background is in scientific research, and I’m a firm believer of it in order to lessen the risk involved with any business venture. Anyone can take pictures…but, not everyone can create and maintain a successful business. You’re probably familiar with lighting and perspective, but what about your niche market and overhead? I’d recommend stopping by your local Small Business Development Center or SCORE. Your taxes pay for those services, so why not use them? They have many resources and contacts that will help you get started!

Hints:

• Relationships - Create and maintain relationships within the community, the couples, their fam and friends and vendors. Very, very….very, very, very, very important. You have to be a people person and like people!
• Passion - If you don’t honestly love wedding photography…don’t do it. I see so many other photogs shoot weddings for some extra money.
• Wow Factor - Make sure that your couples RAVE about you every step of the way. An extremely satisfied client will help you book more weddings than a magazine ad or web ad! Gary Fong talks a lot about the importance of “Rave Marketing” in his instructional DVDs. He makes a lot of sense with his theories.
• Pricing - Don’t be afraid to charge accordingly. Don’t be the low-end photog who shoots a wedding for $800 then gives away the CD of unedited dig negs. This is terrible for the couple, your studio and the whole wedding photography industry! Remember that you are an artist.
• Niche - “Find your niche and scratch it!” You will need to decide who your clients are. The more specific the better. Understand that you can’t shoot everyone’s wedding. My website and blog help me screen the couples. This way, the couples who contact me are a lot like me and that has been key to my success so far!

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Summary:

Find your yin and yang of being a Professional AND a Photographer.

~Rob Nicholson

Davila, Tony; Marc J. Epstein and Robert Shelton (2006). Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It.

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When we hear the word “innovation” one would think of NASA’s new intergalactic solar optic telescope! Maybe even new DNA analysis breakthroughs which resulted in solving a homicide from 40 years ago. As seen on CNN and BBC, they are known for highlighting monumental ground breaking news. Innovation definitely does not have to be world changing breakthroughs by any means.

In the business world innovation and creativity have resulted in breakthroughs as well. You might even see the big Fortune 500 companies risking their stock holder’s profits to try something new, despite the Board of Directors acting as the overly protective and proud father. Not allowing “little Junior” to do anything stupid and mess up the family’s reputation. There are some exceptions though, like Google. Even though Google went public in August 2004 and is now one of the Big 500, Google was founded on the idea of innovation and creativity. Even today their brand image is all about innovation. Another company that has seen great success by doing things a bit different is Dogfish Head Brewery. Both companies were founded by individuals who had a burning passion for what they loved and knew they could improve it.

In my experiences as a Professional Wedding Photographer, most of my clients choose me because they want something different. I knew I needed to set myself apart from my competition. There are many ways to be “one-of-a-kind.” I’ve heard many other photographers say, “I’m not good at business.” As if “business” is everything other than actually taking the picture. There are many things that I am not good at, too. Like paper work, Excel and budgeting. These are all things that I outsource to other professionals who specialize in those things. Most artistic people rely heavily on the right side of their brains. They lack the analytical left side of the brain that give us Artsy types the stereotype of being in la-la land and day dreamers. For the most part this is true. We’ve all met the Artist who is so “far out there” that it’s hard to have a conversation with them!

Don’t be afraid of infusing some of your creative genius into your business, though. Remember that even though we are photographers, we are small business owners as well. Think about our title, Professional Photographer. Our title is a two part title. Anyone can be a photographer. What about a Professional Photographer? I’ve been a photographer since I was a little kid. While in the Navy I realized I wanted to live my childhood dream of being a Professional Photographer. Instead of going to Art School I decided to learn about business. Fortunately I was also fascinated with the concepts of running a business. This would be a fun way for me to learn about Entrepreneurship while still doing something I am extremely passionate about.

For example, marketing is one of the areas I absolutely love! Other than shooting pictures, marketing is one of my favorite things to do. Whether it be Personality Marketing, Internet Marketing or other flavors of Creative Marketing; this was the greatest way for me to set myself apart from other photographers. This allowed me to use my creative juices to improve my business. On the surface marketing goes hand and hand with advertising. Just like spaghetti and meatballs, right? Marketing is an umbrella term that encompasses business decisions in order to identify and satisfy customers’ needs, and hopefully create a long lasting relationship. The way I look at it is like making friends. Similar to high school, if the other kids like you then you will have many friends. On the other hand, if not a lot of people like you…you may need to pay people to be your friend…like Advertising!

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Summary:

You are a creative professional and should infuse your “art” in all aspects of what you do! Make your business duties an extension of your creative genius.

~Rob Nicholson