Elegant & Sophisticated

I am continually impressed with the offerings and features from liveBooks. Michael Costuros is doing a great job running the shop. I was looking at their platform for a client about six months ago and going back over to their website now I see they have really expanded their community channel. I think you will enjoy their interview section, especially the one with Harry Benson.

Listening to Harry and seeing him holding that large, classy print of Jacqueline Kennedy, I felt a longing for the days when great photography was the smile of a mind-boggling subject.

Deep and Deeper

I received this note from Kelly Sonora today:

Hi Jain, We just posted an article, "100 Useful Tips and Tools to Research the Deep Web". I thought I'd bring it to your attention in case you think your readers would find it interesting.

Thanks, Kelly. This is a great resource. Photo people will find this post on the Read Write Web useful, too. It describes and provides links to some of the Deep Web visual resources available.

What's the Deep Web All About?

A while back, I mentioned The Deep Web, and how most all photo researchers know how to use it when it comes to finding images. Several people asked me what that is all about so I thought I'd explain a little more.

The Deep Web has also been called the Invisible Web, Deepnet or the Hidden Web. It is not the commonly seen Web that is driven (indexed/crawled) by search engines. According to some reports, the Deep Web is estimated to be several orders of magnitude larger than its counterpart, known as the surface Web.

What all this means is that the Deep Web provides a way to find databases on the Internet. Researchers can access any topic, such as photography as a broad category and then on to wildlife photography as more specific and so on as they drill down to find databases dedicated to imagery of their current research subject.

Since it is invisible, you will have to do some sleuthing to find it ;-). Give it a try sometime. And thanks for asking!

More Free Tips!

If you haven't been listening to the radio shows on Inside Digital Photo, now is great time to head over there! It's all free, and you'll get the latest news, in-depth interviews, product reviews, live event coverage and tips featuring special guests. Host Scott Sheppard interviewed me for his Oct 4th program where I give some tips and insights about how to develop and market book projects. The show is about 40 minutes long, and I'm in the second half around 19 minutes if you want to slide ahead.

Pay Isn't the Best, But...

Today I discovered Vewd, "a documentary photography magazine continuing the tradition of storytelling through a visual medium."

I sense that founder Matt Blalock is honestly passionate about photoj. Overall, Vewd is well done and provides another decent platform for image story circulation. My only hesitation is the exposure of your ideas without very much return, unless you bang the hell out of your page clicks. From their FAQs (emphasis mine):

Question: Do I get paid?

Answer: Of course! If we choose your work and feature it, we pass on to you a large portion of our advertising income. We wouldn’t be able to have a site without the advertisers and we couldn’t have it without you! Pay isn’t the best, but we like to think it beats giving your work away. We pay you depending on how many people look at your gallery. Our current rate is $2.50/1000 views - we pay via PayPal or a check monthly. There is a minimum balance of $35 for a PayPal payment and $50 for a check.

Is it clear enough that per click payment is calculated via unique views? I hope if you click on Morgan Hagar's photo here, he will get some cash!

Blow Up or Grow Up

What a crabby day it was yesterday with my frustration over PDN's articles, a stock market meltdown and photographs of political candidates turned into horror shows on a magazine’s expense account. Navigate on your own, if you must, to Jill's manipulator site to check out her latest handiwork that is spawning heated comments from every corner of the photo industry. We can bet memos are furiously circulating that explain how portrait lighting for name clients should only be from the top and left in the manner of history’s great master painters.

Everyone is brain stretching for the best headlines; any substance beyond that is immaterial. As long as you hit a news cycle, claim a million hits in one day or show up as a hot topic on the coolest photo blogs, it would seem you've made it in this business. Really, this is getting pathetic. Tomorrow, I'll return to actually trying to help people as much as I can.

We Don't Get Fooled Again

PDN's "The Book Issue" arrived last week with headlines promising to bring insights into the mysterious world of photo book publishing. From Perfect Book Proposals to 7 Rules for making a book you can be proud to show and to revealing 15 of the Most Influential names in the biz, readers were eager to plunge into articles that would crack the code for landing coffeetable book mega deals.

For unpublished photographers there couldn’t have been even the remotest “Ah Ha” moment while reading Edgar Allen Beem’s seven steps piece:

1. Have excellent scans
2. Hire a designer
3. Get a sample of the paper from the printer
4. Go on press
5. Be ready to give control of the cover to the publisher
6. Don’t submit photos you don’t want published
7. Don’t get into a shouting match or “throw attitude.” (I note for this final tip, Beem allots only two sentences and it seems to be the most critical of all.)

Jessica Gordon admits in the short opening of her article on the perfect pitch that “…there’s no exact recipe” for a proposal. From there, she writes carefully about three impressive projects but none of which are surprising in terms of being published. We hear more of the same: landing a deal is less about the proposal and more about the notability of the photographer, personal connections, imagery excellence and marketplace value of the subject matter.

Next we get to the Influentials. While the cover promises this will be people—hey, maybe people we can actually talk with or find through our LinkedIn Network—unfortunately, when we reach the article, the inside headline now includes organizations along with people, and they “shaping” photography book publishing. Well, that certainly opens the topic to a few extra signatures. So our people list now mentions a cool bookstore owner in Colone, a few foreign indie publishing houses, the publisher at Aperture who used to be an editor and probably doesn’t take calls from us anymore, an award-winning London designer and so on. It is interesting that not one literary agent makes the list, that Amazon does (huh?), and “Photographers Who Self-Publish” manages to squeeze in (let’s note there are many companies in this category with ads in the issue). Actually, I think PDN writers think Martin Parr is the most influential person because he is mentioned like fifteen times in this article!

The issue’s most helpful bit of information is found in Holly Hughes’ editor letter: “Photo book publishing is full of paradoxes.” PDN’s online story, “Marketing Moves that Sell Books” by Kelly Ebbels is leaps better because here is the heart of the entire matter.

The Image Buyer's Mindset

In May, an opinion on Val Gelineau's Blog is one we've heard bantering around for awhile: "Why pay $500.00 for an image when I can buy one for a few dollars?" Do editors believe that if image history isn’t that important, why pay for it? Are we at a point where we are going to just let this mindset become acceptable? Is this why PhotoShelter announced yesterday they will soon stop licensing stock photography on behalf of the shooters they serve?

A photographer friend just received her quarterly sales statement from a big agency. The amount was so much drastically lower than the previous quarter, she thought accounting had made a mistake! The agency's response was something like this: "We had good sales in this quarter, but the average price per image has dropped by even more than 25% because Getty and the like are dropping prices plus the new microstock sales are so low. We had some big deals but these are many images at a low fees. This is not necessarily why you have a low payment, but with the stock industry in such tough times, it would be partially the reason for a decline."

It often feels gloomy and doomy yet there are solutions. The demand for new photography is just as great if not greater than before. If you are willing to compromise a little in tough times and know how to provide clients with usage rights they find attractive, you will keep working. Meanwhile, I purchased this image from Fotolia for Blog use. The least I can do for the photographer is to provide a link to his/her/their website.

More Things You Might Not Know

1. The most successful photographers don’t turn over their entire take to the client.
2. They also don't publish their best frames until years later.
3. SEO is not a new corporate title acronym; it stands for Search Engine Optimization.
4. There is something called the Deep Web and most photo researches use it to find images.
5. I accept credit cards, checks or EFTs.
6. NPOs can and do absolutely pay for photography.
7. On average, 20 percent of your images will bring you 80 percent of your income.
8. The gas tank icon with a hose on the left or right does NOT always tell you which side your car’s tank is on. Darn it!

What Pressure?

The last few days I've been writing about an insignificant issue: To have or have not comments on a Blog. Then I ran into technical difficulties!

There will come a time, most likely during the biggest shoot of your life, when technical problems arrive like mosquitoes on your son's banana-smeared face. Your sim card won’t register, your notebook isn’t booting, your extension cord is too short, and that new assistant kicked the hair light you spent too much time positioning. Need I go on? Your subjects are twitchy, the magic light is over, the stylist is on her PDA writing a new invoice, and your fingers are swollen. Whatever: Something is broken.

So just how Zen will you be in a technical crisis? First, broadcast that you need to tweak something. Don’t explain, don’t complain and above all else, don’t apologize. Just make your announcement with big enthusiasm! Then quickly set up an amusement. You will have better ideas, but I am talking about simple and fast. Throw a hat in the middle of the room/street/studio. Dole out some playing cards and challenge folks to see who can flip a card right into the hat. This silly time waster will hold folks' attention for about 8.5 minutes. If you need more time to fix your problem, divvy up the parking meter change and let the betting begin. Still not ready to shoot? No table limit.

Get up now to add a roll of quarters and a deck of cards to your Pelican Top Loader.

Stand Tall

The annual Tall Ship weekend was in full swing yesterday at my nearby port of call, Dana Point. I roamed around the harbor and enjoyed the reenactment events, buccaneer costumes, booming cannons and colorful talking birds.

This also gives me a chance to mention that my good friend and owner of Nature Picture Library, Helen Gilks, recently acquired and has revamped Bluegreen Pictures where you can find all things marine! Helen and her staff are actively growing the collection. If you shoot in this category, don’t hesitate to inquire about representation. I also encourage buyers to bookmark this site for excellent coverage of ocean life and more.

Comments, Please?

I (think) I now want to turn on comments! A few months ago I was trying to decide if I should do this or not. What changed my mind? Emails from readers suggesting mine is not a Blog if it doesn't allow comments.

What does ProBlogger say about that? I have tried to turn comments back on. I checked all the right boxes but according to the terrific Blogger Help boards, since I have customized my template, I will need to scrap my changes and start over. Ugh! Could you possibly just continue to email me direclty with your comments? Does this all mean I am not a Pro Blogger? Am I only ***Sniff*** an Amateur?

Pop Quiz Time

I am not sure I know the answer to this question anymore: How is professionalism measured in this business?

Have you sold any of your images for one dollar or less? Why did you do it!? To what lengths will you go to be considered a professional? If you even once received income for a photo are you calling yourself a pro? If you only have a photosharing website, have never been hired for an assignment, don't have an agency or rep, are still paying off your first strobe kit and don't know how to use a radio slave, why can't you stomach calling yourself ***GULP*** an Amateur?

What if you had a sale on a microstock site or a relative paid you to take photographs of some event or their business? Does that justify the pro credential? To join some associations, you must state that your primary income is from photography and submit tearsheets. But association enrollments are down. The bar has been lowered so there are more people calling themselves professional photographers than ever before.

I am not all worked up about this. I am, however, shouting out to everyone who truly wants to be considered professional, "Please do not sell--or allow agents, assigns, associates or affiliates to sell on your behalf--any of your images for a dollar." To lighten up this post, here is an amusing quiz you can take from PhotoPreneur to find out if you have what it takes. Question #13 might be the tipping point. Oh, they give us another moniker to consider: Hobbyist.

Don't Rely on Random

I'm seeing too much random shooting. That tells me properly prepared shot lists are a thing of the past. Clients are operating under budget pressure and a belief that the image they need already exists somewhere or they can call a favorite pro to create it for them. The shot list is not necessarily the photographer's job, either. It boils down to laziness on the part of editors, agents and creative directors. Did your last assignment editor provide you with a carefully researched and detailed list? Or did you just jot down notes during a distracted phone conversation? Does your stock agency write a personalized list based upon your area and style? Or do you receive the generic quarterly news blast: “We currently need Mexican Ports of Call, Active Seniors, China, Green Businesses.”

Photographers must have specific shot lists, tailored for their capabilities, for every situation they shoot. A photographer told me he was going to cover a surfing competition. I asked him, “So what are you going to shoot?” He looked at me like I was nuts. Then he realized he didn’t have any plan in mind. Within twenty minutes, we had written a wonderful shot outline, including potential uses for the images. His excitement level went from flat to tremendous. Demand good shot lists from the people who pay you for photography. Get help to make your own lists stronger.

You Mean They Didn't Catch Bigfoot?

"NEWSWEEK's Sarah Kliff spoke with Long about why the credibility of photojournalism has fallen, whether or not doctored photographs are more likely to get caught these days, and how photographers can reclaim the public's trust."

Warning! Warning!

I heard many things are not working for you right now either. It’s a dreaded case of too much stuff and not enough space. We are not alone. This is the good news after weeks of tackling tech problems. Spring cleaning came and went; tons of once loved attachments and software without probable cause bit the cosmic dust. When you can't see stars in the blogosphere it's time to take a break anyway.

While all the sweepers were working, there was time to catch up on reading and writing thank you notes. Do you have a box or two of classy note cards in your office? You certainly need these. It is a wonderful practice to mail a personalized note to a deserving soul every week or so. Even if your favorite client hasn't called you for two years, rather than blasting them with an eNewsletter or your latest postcard/flyer/slick promo/fridge magnet/wall calendar, sending a note card on the finest paper (with postage to match) is sure to make them feel less cranky.

For some ideas, try Red River Paper company. You don’t necessarily need to use a photograph but if you do, don’t go glossy or use an artsy technique if that is not your style. Just your name embossed is fine. Use the best ink pen you can afford. It can’t hurt to take a practice run on what you want to say first if you aren’t good at spur-of-the-moment sentences or writing without spellchecker. You will need a basis for sending someone a card in the first place. “Can you believe it has been a year since the photo show in Denver? I thought I’d drop a note to say hi and hope all is well with you. Maybe I’ll see you in Albuquerque? Trust you had a great summer!”

Going up?

Certain phrases bug people. I often use the term "elevator pitch" but I think I'll drop it now. Here is a pitch-dedicated website allowing 60 seconds to make your case for startup funding. Some of these ideas were stale when the Romans were eating lions.

SmugMug gets a listing under the Popular tab. The comments on the pitch start off great and then begin to fizzle. So SmugMug's avatar, Don MacAskill, feels compelled to explain that he did the video as a favor to "Mike and the guys at TechCrunch," and that he's not looking for investors. I think we should see Mike's pitch to Don asking him to do the video.

July Mentoring Assignment

The June Mentoring Assignment prompted several interesting comments, such as this one from Chris DeLellis, President of Art Life Images:

“As a stock photography company owner, I was enthralled by your calculation of the license fee for the shoe client and your scenario and teachings on Rights-Managed licensing. I ask you to continue in this vain as you may be one of the few voices out there expressing the true or proper value of the work, on top of the fact that you obviously really know your stuff.”

This month, you are the photographer. The client is a manufacturer of upscale aromatherapy and bath and body products. Their Marketing Director found you through the shoe company's ad agency after seeing your "Cinderella" photograph. He needs an estimate for shooting one model with their products in a four picture mini-story. You’ve said that your creative fee is $3500/image plus expenses. You retain copyright; they can use all four images exclusively for one year in any application.

But the client wants to own the images. You've explained that a buyout or work-for-hire agreement is four times your creative fee (a total of $56,000). He’s allocated $25,000 for everything (rights and expenses). What he needs most beyond the initial ad campaign is flexibility over the next five years to use the images in product packaging and collateral materials for their distributors.

Think about what rights you can provide within their budget. What can you manage for $6250/image total? Is there a way to cut down on expenses? What about the model’s fee? Can you shoot all four images in one day, maximizing assistants and stylists? Consider your options under territory of use and exclusivity. Work out several scenarios on paper including the rights transfer language needed for your final agreement.

June Mentoring Assignment

Now that we have a photo selected for our shoe client, this month we need to calculate a usage license.

For purposes of this quoting exercise, you work for the stock agency representing this image, which falls under a Rights Managed agreement. Your agency receives 60%; the photographer receives 40% of the total license.

The art buyer has told you (under the radar) that the pick-up photo budget for this advertising campaign is USD $18,000. They have asked for Industry Exclusive for North American (NA) footwear companies. He’ll need to see your breakdown for each usage so he can present it to his boss who will determine what she may want to adjust or drop. But everyone really loves the photo ;-).

Your task: Determine the costs (break it down) for all six elements of usage. Can you get to $18K without one usage being under priced if it was a standalone quote?

1. Three consumer and three trade magazines, single placement on any interior page, up to full page image, one insertion per publication, one year, total circulation all magazines up to 12 million
   
2. Art display, up to 4'x6', one version, in-store poster at 150 locations, two years
   
3. eNewsletter usage, three electronic issues, six months, total 2 million circulation
   
4. Company website, home page for six months up to ½ screen, home page spot/link for six months up to 1/8 screen, secondary pages for one year, up to ¼ screen
   
5. Web banner ads, all Internet distribution formats, multiple placements on any pages, size up to 300 x 600 pixels banner, single version, two years
   
6. Trade show presentation, projected display at booth, single placement on screen, looped, up to full screen image, single version, any quantity of shows up to six months

You can use online pricing or other tools to check each individual license. There is no deadline or winner, but if you have questions or want to show me what you came up with, my contact info is over on the left. As always, should you or any of your force become caught or killed....

That’s $10,800 for the stock agency and $7,200 for not having to figure all of this out.

Twilight Zone Galleries

There is a method to the madness of naming online galleries. Most photographers name slideshows based on common search engine terms. They use sticky labels: Lifestyle, Travel, Portraits, Architecture, Advertising, Corporate, Editorial, Food and Fashion.

So when a potential client plugs into Google: Architectural photographer Alexandria, Virginia, they are going to find you. Right?

In the above search today, Dana Hoff, who has a sponsored link, shows up in the top three, even though he is based in South Florida. His gallery categories include most of the stickies I mention. A client would need to drill down through many pages of results to find a decent (IMHO) architectural shooter in Alexandria. Showing up on a search depends on proper metatags, regular resubmission of your URL, tweaking flash code so it can be crawled and so on.

For those who don't give a doubletruck about being found by Google-handicapped clients, consider these catchy gallery names:

Welcome to Compton (Albertina d'Urso)

People You've Probably Never Met (David Cassidy)

Until There Were None (Krista Steinke)

Flower Boys (Aaron Vincent Elkaim)

Chairs (Cara Phillips)

How did I find these hip sounding galleries? By keyword searching on stock and community sites and then following the photographer's name into their own world. But for practical purposes, the old standbys work for clients who use standard shooting categories to find you. When they land on your site to see your Food gallery you might as well lead them straight to it.