|
|
July 2009 archive view all recent posts |
 |
|
|
Jul. 28, 2009 - Misc |
The [ b ] School on Facebook
|
|
|
|
|
Jul. 30, 2009 - Industry News |
| Hey folks,
Yesterday on Twitter I saw that PDN (Photo District News) was running a little poll asking: Who Are the Most Influential Living Photographers? I am certain that they are looking for names like Annie Leibovitz, Greg Gorman, David LaChappelle, Mark Ellen Mark, Mark Seliger, etc... true icons on the photo industry. But being the trouble maker that I am, and realizing that the new "influence" is social media... I just wanted to test my theory to see what kind of influence I actually have? Now I know I have some influence, and I have been working really hard to do my best to help other photographers the best I can, but I really didn't expect these results: |
| Yay! I was the leading vote getter yesterday thanks to all of you fine people!
Now here's the thing, I really do think it's kinda lame how they set up surveys/contests like this. The fact that anyone can vote 10x per day seems unfair, because people like myself, can ask their friends & followers to vote multiple times as I did, and as you were kind enough to oblige... but that doesn't seem fair right? But my theory was correct, that having a big following in social media, by definition, means that one has influence. I'm sure if one of the big wigs named above, cared enough by this little contest, they could rally their troops and win this thing in a landslide. Having said all that, if I have actually influenced your business in a positive way, I humbly ask you folks to keep voting for me as I would love to appear in the 30th anniversary issue of PDN next January. I am not doing this to stoke my own ego, but rather I'd love to get more exposure for the [ b ] School, as the more people that join our community, the better the place gets for everyone. You can vote up to 10 times per day, and you can put "Becker" on all 5 lines. I know some folks voted for "the becker" or "thebecker" but I'd like to consolidate all my votes into one name... Becker. I have no idea how long this contest is going for, but feel free to vote every day until they stop counting. Please retweet a link to this post and the PDN contest. You can cut and paste the following (exactly 140 characters): Please RT: help @thebecker get into PDN, vote for him 10x a day here: http://bit.ly/KwQqD details here http://bit.ly/BbUcW (via @thebschool) |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 29, 2009 - What's Happening |
No joke people, the stuff I learned from Lawrence that day has already helped me so much. (A lot of his tips and advice were working into my new blogsite). Seriously, click the logo below to go to read the entire post and then be sure to sign up for their mailing list to find out when they are bringing the SEO workshop to your neck of the woods. |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 27, 2009 - Featured Members |
| Name: Chris + Allie Bartelski - The Reason
Location: The Dirty South, ATL or Hotlanta. Take your pick... Atlanta. Website Blog [ b ] School profile Follow Chris Follow Allie How long have you been in business? Allie had been shooting weddings for about 4 years under the name "Allie Marie Photo" and wasn't booking that many each year. After both of us read Dane Sanders' "Fast Track Photographer" and became members of the [b] school, we decided to rebrand. the reason was born 6 months ago. Since rebranding - taking everything we learned at the [b] school and from Dane - we've gone from 5-8 weddings a year to 26 for this year - and 10 bookings for 2010 already! How did you get into photography? Allie always had an interest. When a friend asked her if she could take a few pictures of their small beach wedding while on vacation, she fell in love. Chris joined forces because he wanted to spend more time with her. Little did he know, he too would fall in love with the art form. Tell us how networking with other photographers has affected your business. Being able to find photographers who are on the same path we are on is the best thing that happened to us. Finding out that there were others who were willing to teach us and not be smug about it was a huge step in our business going forward. We hope we're able to give back as much as we can! What is your favorite part about shooting weddings? You get to see people at their happiest! It's a huge honor to be part of their day - to get to work with the bride & groom as closely as we do... and even make new friends along the way. What's your favorite piece of equipment these days? The new Nikon 50mm f1.4G. This lens is so good that after using it at one wedding, we went out and bought a second. We kept fighting over who could use it! Now we each have one in our bag. Another piece of equipment we love are our Alien Bees setup - two strobes and their cybersync wireless triggers. This setup dominates what we do during receptions. What is your favorite iPhone App? Allie : Pandora Chris : TwitterFon and Tweetmic. How else would I communicate with the world? Please tell us something personal about you so we can get to know you better: Chris used to be in a band, and was the lead singer. When he met Allie, he totally pulled that card... It worked. :) She's a sucker for musicians. The song "the reason" on our website is Chris and some of his old bandmates. Chris also recently pocket dialed a potential client while driving, and proceeded to sing a 4 minute made up song about Allie on her voice mail. When we met her for our client meeting, first thing she said was "you have a great voice." Chris turned bright red, but she still booked us! Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5 years: Two answers. Even though Nikon doesn't really have a solution that can compete with 5D Mark2's video capabilities, it's coming soon. We'll jump on the bandwagon when it stops by the Nikon station. Second, we hope the west coast way of doing things becomes THE way of doing things... East to west. North to south. Who's your favorite vendor in the industry? How important is your blog? Our website has become more of a business card, but the blog is where the real magic happens. It's a great way to be on someone's radar almost daily. It shows our potential clients that we are a healthy, growing and creative business. Nothing is more important than being real. How has Facebook and/or Twitter impacted your business? The beauty of tagging gets our work on the pages of all the bride's friends the moment we upload a gallery to Facebook. We get SO much interest and business from Facebook and word of mouth. About Twitter - again - it's about being real. We follow any brides that are on Twitter and they follow us. By the time we get to their wedding day, we might as well be lifelong friends. Also, keeping a current and entertaining Twitter account naturally leads to build a core group of fans. There is a great book called "Tribes" by Seth Godin that talks about the power of Twitter and building a core group of fans. Favorite thing about [ b ] School? Besides the obvious referrals with like-minded photographers, the simple fact that we've made life long friends. It's awesome to have a few photographer friends you can bounce business ideas off of, but it's even better to have friends that are dealing with the same issues you are. Our little group of [b] schoolers often talk on iChat. It's good to know that we can talk about other things besides photography - of course photography DOES dominate the conversation. We're actually going on a quick vacation with Pat & Maya Laurent and Cailyn Huston at the end of this month! Are there any workshops or upcoming GTGs that you'd like to plug? At the moment there are no real workshops that we are involved with, although I would like to give ATL a shout out and plug Zack Arias' One Light Workshop and DVD. We're are also trying to get more Atlanta Metro based photographers together for GTGs and mini workshops, so if you are local to us send an email to info@thereasonilove.com. Tell us what you like about the attached favorite photographs: |
| We love this picture because it showcases the butter cream sauce that is the Nikon 50mm f1.4G.
|
| We love what Nik Software SilverEfx Pro enables us to do in the b&w conversion process.
|
| This location in the Bahamas was gorgeous. This photos brings back good memories of the cruise. You get hired to be the photographer, but by the end of the trip you're a close friend... and then you almost feel bad taking money from them... almost.
|
| Nicole was the first model we shot professionally. She's got the best attitude, and has become a dear friend.
|
| We're really happy with the way this shot turned out. Most sparkler shots tend to be very orange and flat. This is very colorful... and we love us some color.
|
|
|
|
|
Jul. 23, 2009 - Industry News |
| Inspired by friend of the [ b ] School Dane Sanders, Becker will be hosting Live Chats every Thursday at 4pm PST (The times and schedule are subject to change, so please be sure to follow @thebschool on Twitter for the latest info).
Each week will alternate between, free, open to the public chats, and private chats aka Study Hall for [ b ] School members only and will require a password. (You can get the password on the Homeroom page of the [ b ] School... see photo at the bottom of this post) The public chats will be free form in nature, where you can ask Becker questions about any topic at all. The members only chats will be focused around a specific theme and will also feature guest speakers from time to time. If you aren't able to watch the live broadcast, replays will be posted inside of the [ b ] School classroom the following day. Upcoming Schedule: July 23rd: 2pm - Free to all. Tweet your questions by replying to @thebschool (Special time) July 30th: 4pm- Members only. Chat with Joe Photo about finding inspiration and networking. |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 21, 2009 - What's Happening |
| There are two upcoming [ b ] School get togethers and I'd love to meet as many of you as possible. I'll be shooting weddings in Seattle and Atlantic City in early August (sorry, there aren't any slots open for 2nd shooting this time), but instead of just flying home on Sunday, I am extending my trip to meet some new photo friends. All photographers are welcome, you don't have to be a member of the [ b ] School (although why wouldn't you want to be?!?!)
There isn't going to be a formal workshop or anything like that, but feel free to bring your cameras and go ahead and ask questions you may have for me. Bring a plethora of business cards as this will be a great chance to meet some other photographers from your area. Please leave a comment below if you plan on attending AND PLEASE WRITE DOWN WHICH CITY YOU ARE GOING TO IN YOUR COMMENT. Also, it's so much easier paying the check at these things if everyone brings cash, so please stop by the ATM before you come. Thanks! Atlantic City, Sunday, August 2nd @ 7pm Tun Tavern Two Miss America Way, Atlantic City, NJ 08401 Phone: 609.347-7800 |
| Seattle, Sunday, August 9th @ 7pm
Palomino 1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 350 Seattle, WA 98101 Phone:(206) 623-1300 |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 21, 2009 - What's Happening |
| I'm coming back to Canada eh!
Calgary, Alberta November 14th & 15th (same 1 day workshop, two chances to see it) Early bird special: If you sign up before August 5th, it's only $100 Canadian Dollars! <-- that's not a typo folks. I thought they forgot a zero. Click the image below for more details and to sign up: |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 20, 2009 - Featured Members |
| Name: Louis Torres
Location: Albany, New York & New York City Website Blog [ b ] School profile How long have you been in business? 6 years. How did you get into photography? When I was a sponsored skateboarder in Brooklyn, NY we ran into a girl who was a sick photographer but she would NEVER take photos of me. Never knew why...!? If she took photos of someone doing a backside wallride, I'd do a no handed frontside wallride which was harder. Nothin'...! (turned out that she liked me and was SHY about taking my photo...! How crazy does that sound..!!) In my frustation, I mentioned wanting a camera that you can change lenses and two weeks later, she bought me my first 35mm SLR at age 15 and its been history ever since. Tell us how networking with other photographers has affected your business. Other than thinking that I always have the answers, I realized that I don't. Hahaha...! I'm kidding..! The B School has been awesome, I swear that I learn something new every single time I log in. Whether it's with interior lighting techniques that I've picked up from someone else or what lenses other photographers use in certain situations that just make sense, it's by FAR the absolute BEST $10 I spend every month. That followed by a Venti Caramel Macchiato w/ a Double shot on the side....! What is your favorite part about shooting weddings? The fun I have with meeting new people, trying my hardest to take beautiful photos that crush the previous wedding photos that I took (just a personal thing) and just partying all night long. How could you NOT have fun when everyone is enjoying such a festive event. What's your favorite piece of equipment these days? Wow that's a fun question...! : ) Canon Mark III + Canon 70-200 IS f/2.8 - That's my absolute FAVORITE combo right there. What is your favorite iPhone App? Bloomberg, because I use to be a bond trader but I'm certain that it'll be replaced by the HOPEFULLY soon to be, B SCHOOL iPod App...! : ) Please tell us something personal about you so we can get to know you better: Was a semi-pro skateboarder as a kid, eventually transitioned and became a professional inline skater with 8 sponsors and missed the first X-Games by two weeks..! Argh..! Have been playing guitar for 20 years (just heavy heavy music), have opened up for bands like Biohazard, Warzone, Leeway, Cromags and Clutch, grew up in Brooklyn writing Grafitti and was almost killed by a train, TWICE..! Lucky is an understatement, I'll have to tell you the story. Later became a stockbroker then a bond trader and studied for my CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) before throwing my arms in the air and just walked away from the world of Suit Wearing Finance. Wedding Photography took over...! : ) Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5 years: Not sure if things will progress to photographers shifting to combining video/photo into one model but I'd love to see every photographer have a blog, have video on their site and just share the things they've learned. Life was horrible when I started because no one wanted to help but things have changed and I LOVE that...! Who's your favorite vendor in the industry? Hahahaha...! Absolutely BEST vendor is Erin from the Birch Hill. She has single handedly built my business to a level that I had no idea I'd reach. She's the sweetest thing ever and the emotions I have when I think of her are undoubtedly too huge to mention. How important is your blog? Are you kidding me...! 100%....! My entire business revolves around my blog...! In fact, I have a redirect and just came up with a new domain that I send everyone to. Forever Platinum Blog How has Facebook and/or Twitter impacted your business? Twitter is cool to keep tabs with everyone but FACEBOOK has been the second most popular method I use to build business. I'll facebook a bride, I'll shoot her wedding, I'll tag her, she'll share the photos with all her friends and sure enough without fail, I'll have someone ask if I could shoot their wedding. BY FAR one of the BEST and without a doubt the cheapest marketing tool that I use. If it didn't work, I wouldn't bother but heck yeah for 2009 and Facebook being here..! [ b ] my friend Favorite thing about [ b ] School? Everyone man, everyone is just really cool, down to earth, awesome, personal, outgoing and I'm jealous that I'm not in California, although my father in law just bought a condo in San Diego so I might have to change that soon and go there often...! Who's in San Diego and when are we having a Torres B School GTG. Hahahaha....! Are there any workshops or upcoming GTGs that you'd like to plug? I've been building my workshops online but they're free for everyone. Check it out when you get the chance...! The more hits I get, the more interest I'll have in building that puppy up even more...! : ) Louis Torres Workshops Tell us what you like about the attached favorite photographs: |
| Just looks classic, love it.
|
| A raw emotion of a Bride who's around the corner from getting married. Love moments like this
|
| These guys were so deeply in love that it immediately became a favorite because you can see what they felt.
|
| These girls all grew up together in Canajoharie, NY and were so much fun to work with that I had to show this shot. They've ALL become really great friends of mine and have since captured two other weddings from this one. Erin and Lyndsay which are both on my blog
|
| These two were great actors... you look at me, you look somewhere down there, was the dialogue. Hahahaha... Love working with couples who just get photography. |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 15, 2009 - Image |
| One of my favorite books on branding, The Brand Gap, has been made available as an online web presentation. It's awesome. Enjoy!
More books from Marty Neumeier: Zag The Designful Company All of his books are designed to be read on a short plane ride. Inspiring stuff. |
|
|
|
|
Jul. 13, 2009 - Featured Members |
| Name: Dale Benfield
Location: Fayetteville, Arkansas Website Blog [ b ] School profile |
| How long have you been in business?
This is my 11th year, which makes me a dinosaur in the wedding photography industry, I suppose. I shot film for many years! How did you get into photography? My dad owned a photo lab while I was growing up, so printing was my first "real" job. I won a photo contest when I was a senior in high school, and then I started photographing all my pretty friends. That, along with working at a newspaper, paid my way through college. Tell us how networking with other photographers has affected your business. Most of all, it has made me fall in love with my job. There was such a negative aura in Northwest Arkansas when I got here. Since I've recruited many members to the [b]school, we've scheduled GTGs and have become friends. Because we booked up 2009 way back in January, I've been able to pass on 10-15 weddings to my friends, and has already resulted in a return-referral for my top package! What is your favorite part about shooting weddings? My favorite part, hands down, is forming relationships. I'm a people person, and a real goofball, so getting to know my clients, fellow wedding vendors, and fellow photographers is what does it for me. At the [ b ] Party in Vegas, I found out that [ b ]schoolers know me as the "Benny Awards guy" which is a perfect example (see the video inside the classroom) of what I'm talking about in terms of cultivating relationships with clients and vendors. What's your favorite piece of equipment these days? I've been fortunate enough to never be in debt, and have always had money for "toys." My current favorite is the Canon 85mm f/1.2L II. Not only has it helped my style evolve, but also set me apart from other photographers in my area. What is your favorite iPhone App? That's like asking who is my favorite kid. For social networking: TwitterFon For standing in line at the post office: HoldEm For the shower every morning: Pandora To bootleg a Jason Mraz concert: iTalk When I'm in Vegas (or anywhere) and can't choose a restaurant: Urbanspoon Please tell us something personal about you so we can get to know you better: I play just about every musical instrument. I learned to play the guitar and piano throughout elementary school and played saxophone in a ska band (and an emo band) throughout high school. I've written a dozen or two songs and still play and perform regularly. Meredith is an amazing singer, so we're quite the team. Also, I had a bitchin' mullet from kindergarten until 9th grade. I kept it because the girls loved it. :) Where do you see the industry heading in the next 5 years: This isn't breaking news, but I see tons of new photographers entering the industry to help battle unemployment rates and help with additional income in a difficult economy. Because of this, I'm excited to see creativity being pushed to the limits! Also it's more important than ever to: 1) network with other photogs and vendors 2) learn about business and marketing and 3) worker smarter AND harder. Who's your favorite vendor in the industry? My favorite vendor is Mpix. They print great, have insane turn-around times, and are super cost-effective. More importantly, though, they understand a photographer's needs; they're very innovative and continue to develop products that fit my clients' growing wants/needs. BTW, I have a video on some unique uses for mpix products inside the [ b ] school classroom. Check it out! How important is your blog? I've updated my blog everyday in 2009! Because I keep content fresh, and post on a variety of topics (some personal, some for clients, and some for photographers) I reach just under a thousand people every day. Those aren't @thebecker numbers, but it's a pretty good network. I've booked shoots as far away as Paris, France because of my blog! How has Facebook and/or Twitter impacted your business? Facebook: Most of my internet referrals come from Facebook. Meredith and I have personal pages: facebook.com/arkansasweddingphotographer and /arkansasweddingphotography, a group page, and a fan page - all have over 1000 members! We've reached out to brides we would have never reached otherwise because we tagged images of them. Also, and you can see this in the [ b ] School video I did about using facebook for your business, we reach out to wedding vendors to generate referrals. Twitter: @dalebenfield From a business standpoint, I use twitter to keep myself in my clients' minds. Whether it's putting up teaser photos from an engagement session, or replying, re-tweeting, or direct messaging them, we can stay in constant contact. From a client's perspective, I'm very reachable, and that goes a LONG way. For photographers, I also try to post tips (like what to do when it rains and your client has driven 3 hours to get to you) and link to current, relevant internet articles. Favorite thing about [ b ] School? I have three favorite things about [ b ] School: My first favorite thing about [b]school is that it has made my life as a Fayetteville photographer much better. We've been able to change the mindset locally by arranging GTGs and become friends, instead of competitors. The dark cloud has lifted! My second favorite thing about [b]school is that I get to share the love! I love to teach (I also teach college photography) and this lets me do it on a grander scale. My third favorite thing is that I've made a lot of new friends and have connected with photographers all over the world. Some of us have become pretty close! What is the best advice you can give a photographer new in the industry: Take a sales or marketing class and a communications class. You've got to be able to market yourself and communicate with others, or you'll be out of business fast. Tell us what you like about the attached favorite photographs: |
| The most inspiring part of this wedding was that the couple also photographed weddings. Creatively, I really pushed myself to be fresh and new for them. This shot has great flow and energy to it because of the low angle (not many people look this good from below!) and the fact that it was the millisecond before the actual kiss... so much potential energy, as I like to call it.
|
| After I took this shot, I knew I could die happy. This Minneapolis groom found me through my blog and hired me to photograph not only his Paris engagement portraits, but also his proposal! After shooting both, Meredith and I were on such a love-high! We floated around the city for the rest of the week. This shot is very Henri Cartier-Bresson, yes? I love that the world keeps going except for the couples' kiss.
|
| This shot has a built-in lesson; don't be afraid to ask! Because Katy and Mike saw each other before the wedding, we had already taken a lot of couple portraits. However, as the rain poured down on our way to the reception, I asked if the bride minded taking a few more portraits in downtown St. Louis. It was here that we got our most amazing shots. The saxophone player saw us coming and started playing here comes the bride. I of course wanted to make the shot with him in it. This shot-that-almost-never-happened is one of my favorites of 2008.
|
| Another shot from Europe, this couple was photographed in Versailles. I love every pixel of this image, from the little bird to the people in the background to this bride's expression. For me, it's probably the closest thing to a perfect image that I'll ever take.
|
| Here in the South there is a fabulous tradition of shooting the bridal portraits weeks before the wedding. This shot is more like the bridal un-portrait. There's no tradition in this shot... I even let her show a slight bit of her tattoo. With this shot I was able to create something the bride and her grandmother would proudly hang on their respective walls.
|
|
| page
1
of 2 |
 |
 2010: January February March April May June July August 2009: January February March April May June July August September October November December 2008: January February March April May June July August September October November December |
RSS posts: 350, comments: 6,235 visits: 1,576,958, page views: 3,904,138 |
© 2010 the [b] school, all rights reserved. - blog by infinet design
