Next week I’ll be launching a new series here on the blog - the H2Series: how to information to help you take your skill set to the next level. With the help of some good buddies, Clay Blackmore, Scott Bourne, Doug Gordon and Matthew Jordan Smith,  David Ziser (and that’s only the beginning) I’m going to be featuring the very best in how to content. 

Over the past year the number one fastest growing request has been for more “how to” information. I’ve talked a lot about how technology and trends are constantly changing.  Well, content on any blog needs to change as well.  So, this week I want to feature a collection of videos and images that will help highlight what we’re about to create to help you grow as a photographer and diversify your skills.

01-IMG_6104aaaaThis first video was actually a piece Clay did for Profoto.  I know it’s a commercial and Profoto is a terrific product, but pay attention to the quality and diversity of Clay’s images. There are actually 41 images that pop up in less than 2 minutes!  These images represent the foundation and diversity Clay brings to the Skip’s Photo Network team.

When I first met Clay, I was just starting out on the professional side of photography at Hasselblad and Clay was Monte Zucker’s assistant.  We’d see each other at various trade shows and then a road show here and there and the friendship and respect for his work just kept growing.

I wrote in a post a year ago…”Try playing the “three degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon” game with Clay’s name.   Over and over again, just about every icon in the industry is going to some how link back to Clay.  He learned an incredible amount from Monte, but then, the more he learned the more he started to develop his own style.  Today, without question, you can’t name the top 10-20 photographers in our industry and not have Clay some where on the list.

But the most important lesson Clay ever shared had nothing to do with photography, but giving.  He was teaching on a Hasselblad University program in the early 90’s and got on the topic of giving when somebody thanked him for the information he was sharing.  I’m probably going to screw up the quote, but not the sentiment, as he said, “Don’t ever worry about how much you give, because it will always come back ten times over!”

Enjoy this short video and then join us next Monday for the launch of the new H2Series!

Obviously I’m excited about this new direction for the blog. This is about expanding education and giving you more information to help you grow as a photographer.

William Arthur Ward, one of the leading inspirational writers once wrote: The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.

The teaching team at Skip’s Photo Network, whose skill set we’re about to explore, will very definitely demonstrate and inspire!