A few years back I was having lunch with the late Don Blair and I asked the question – how do you make real money?  His answer was one word – SCHOOLS!

In pre-digital days, for those who remember film, it was almost impossible for a regular studio to break into the school market.  The “big guys” had it all locked up.  You needed special equipment, different marketing and definitely a different mindset than being a typical portrait-wedding studio.

 The school market isn’t something mom is going to photograph, but she is going to buy a package of her kid - no matter what it looks like!  I know I bought every packet for the first twelve years of each of my kids.

You no longer need big cameras on big tripods.  And you can speed up the process by hooking up with a lab that does school work.  They usually will give you the software you’ll need as long as you use their lab.  Even better and more important is that many good labs have there own seminars on “how to” capture and manage underclass photography.

So if you like working during the week rather than weekends and if you like making real money – look into the school market.

At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I’m pretty proud of the 80 page book my sons have developed.    How to Make an Extra Million Dollars is a complete book about the school market:   contracts, price lists and the bidding process.  Contact roch@romaguera.com for more information on the book and the lab we use.

I spent a week on the road with Lisa Jane during one of the early Hasselblad University programs.  Her dedication to the quality of every image and her quest to NEVER compromise has become her signature.    She sent me the following blog with the comment, “I decided to go ahead and send this image and story to you since I think it would work so well for the day before & Halloween. It is from my new book, Angel Kisses, which is available in any bookstore or signed from my web page. The only thing I did for the shot was to add a Nik’s glamour glow @ 60%, to soften it a bit.”

I’ve saved it until now, just after Halloween, but quite honestly, it’s a great story no matter when it’s told!

I had once seen a photograph of a beautiful grieving angel, a statue at a local Cemetery. Wanting to capture that magnificent image in photography, my assistant, Tessa, and I went there to seek her out. We only had an hour before we had to be back at the studio, but we found her just in time.

It was a cloudy day, and the outdoor light was really flat. But as we approached the angel statue, we saw a soft light gently begin to backlight her. Tessa looked at me, stunned, and said, “Do you see the light on her? Where it is coming from?” It was a mystery.

The angel’s hand had broken off, so I reached up to a magnolia tree to pluck a flower for her, and a flower fell right into my hand! Another small miracle. I gave our angel the flower, laying it over her hand to soften the image. We only had about ten minutes to photograph her, and as soon as we finished we both noticed that her beautiful light was gone. We immediately left the cemetery, feeling strongly as though we had been part of a beautiful, spiritual experience.

Back at the studio, I started developing the images that we had taken of our angel, whom we had begun to call Grace. And when I saw what became my favorite shot of Grace, I started screaming, unable to contain myself. Within minutes, my entire staff had run into the room to see what was the matter.

Speechless, I could only point to the tiny angel, made solely by God, that appeared in the trees above Grace’s head. I was so excited and moved that after twenty years of photographing angels I had finally been chosen to capture a real one! I could not wait to e-mail a copy of the image to one of my best friends, Rebecca, who is a very spiritual person and a photographer herself. I wasted no time sending her the picture of Grace and the amazing story behind it.

What I wasn’t prepared for was Rebecca’s reply. I had known that years earlier Rebecca and her grandmother had been in a terrible car accident. Her grandmother did not survive, and Rebecca could not escape the feeling that she was somehow at fault. Every year on the anniversary of the crash, she would pray for God to send her some sign that her Grandmother did not blame her, that she was safe in His kingdom, and that the accident was part of a divine plan. I didn’t know that the day that Tessa and I photographed Grace and I emailed the image to her was the anniversary of the terrible accident.

Also, her grandmother’s last name was Hill, and if you’ll look closely you’ll see the name Hill engraved at the bottom of the statue. Rebecca also told me, being from Louisiana, she always said her favorite flower was the magnolia.

Rebecca was so relieved and thankful that her grief could now become acceptance and that her heart could finally be at peace. More importantly, she knew that her grandmother was at peace as well, shining her light and love on Rebecca. God had spoken to her, and I believe that if we’ll open our eyes and ears, we can all hear His gentle whisper even in the darkest times of our lives.

The readers of my blog got some terrific ideas on lighting, creativity, marketing and even compassion.   From Joe Dallas talking about off-camera lighting to Aurora Onorato and her first experience with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, we covered a dozen or so different aspects of being a professional photographer.

But for me, I got a little bonus I never anticipated.   It was simply confirmation that I may well be the luckiest guy in professional photography.  I have an incredible network of friends and associates and most important of all, they never slow down…they never stop trying to learn more themselves…and they never stop giving!

So, to Ralph, Deanna, Joe, Scott, Ron, Greg, Dane, Bambi,Karen, Jasmine, Aurora, Barbara and Lisa Jane (coming on Monday along with one more from Ralph) thank you for who you are as photographers, friends and educators!   There was a lengthy discussion on the DWF forum about use of the word “rockstar” a few weeks ago.  Apparently a couple of people felt the word is being abused.   Well, each of you are in your own way a rockstar and naturally YOU ROCK!

Thank you for being so willing to share the passion!

From that point on, the friendship with Barbara just took off.  She’s written two books for Amphoto on Keepsake Photography and a year ago launched a new process she named Auratones.   What I find so fascinating about Barbara is her constant enthusiasm – although she’s a great photographer she’s really an amazing artist, constantly on a quest to find new techniques and materials to print on.  

Even more fun is that every time she finds something new to do with an image her enthusiasm is right up with what Thomas Edison’s must have been when he got the first light bulb to work!  She’s even created her own vocabulary, calling her work “Photo Fusion” and will soon be launching online Photo Fusion video workshops.  Regardless of your photographic specialty, do yourself a favor and sign up for her  newsletter or visit her website at  www.bsmithphotography.com.

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, trying to make a digital image look like a painting is fairly commonplace.  Witness canvas wraps, and Photoshop layers that emulate the often grungy look of painting, where texture, intentional drips, and even “accidents” add texture and evidence of the artist’s hand.   

My friend Amadea Bailey is a renowned painter.  She recently sent out a newsletter documenting the progression of one of her pieces, and the concept of layering really hit home.  The artist often lays down a primer coat of gesso, may pencil or charcoal in a quick sketch, then builds up paint slowly, over time, layer by layer.  

Photoshop layers can be used much the same way, and to much the same effect, and help to add a sense of depth.  They can look pretty impressive on screen, but the problem (at least in my eyes) is that they’re still flat when printed. They lack true depth, texture, dimensionality.

So why not use a photograph as the basis of a “real” painting…as a digital sketch, so to speak?   You may not be able to draw, but as a photographer, you’re an artist at heart.  If, like me, you love the tactile sense of surfaces like watercolor paper, canvas, and board or if you’re drawn to the allure of art supplies like brushes, palettes, and paint, you can now use your photos as the basis for all kinds of mixed media pieces.   Helping you along is a growing list of products that can be applied to all manner of substrate — even wood and metal — using transfer methods and digital “grounds,” then adding acrylic paint, incorporating collage, found objects, and/or wax (photo encaustic). 

I’m constantly looking for ways to lift my images off the page and take them to new heights.  Inspired by an original Orotone made by Edward Curtis (The Vanishing Race, circa 1904) , I set about trying to come up with a digital equivalent and developed the “Auratone,” the name in part an homage to Curtis with a play on the chemical symbol for gold (Au).   Since its introduction just three years ago, photographers have submitted Auratones to numerous contests (and won!), sold them at galleries and art fairs, and added them to their list of products and services.

The process has to start with a spectacular image, this one from Bambi Cantrell.  The next steps are relatively simple.  I print the image on a specially coated transparency sheet, then apply AuraToner (my secret sauce!).  Total time from start to finish is less than an hour, excluding drying time.  This isn’t a process to be used on every image, but what an incredible gift or product for the right client, and it makes your work unique! 

I have been getting such incredible feedback on the Auratone process that I decided to take it one step further.  I recently added Auratone jewelry kits to my own list of products and services.    I hear so many photographers who are trying to make themselves look different, worrying too much about competing with “Uncle Harry”.  Well, PhotoFusion is virtually unlimited in what we can do with an image and if you enjoy being an artist more than a technician, you’ll have a lot of fun and at the same time grow your business!

I’ve known Aurora Daley for a year, meeting at Photo Plus Expo when she was working in the NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep) booth.  At that time she’d only been in business for a little over 2 years.   Right out of the blocks she was giving back and  I really liked meeting a relatively new photographer involved in a charity, which my friend,  Sandy Puc, helped to found.

It takes a special kind of person to be involved with NILMDTS, but as Aurora talks about at the end of the following post, how could you NOT be there to support this kind of need from a parent in pain.  

I’ve talked a lot about the importance of being involved in your community.  Scott Bourne, in his guest post last week, talked about your Artist’s Statement being from the heart.  Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of Guerilla Marketing, talks about building your business in the community by giving back.

The bottom line is, Aurora walks the talk.  She’s made a solid effort to be involved in a charity that is perfectly aligned with her heart and her skill set.  She’s using photography to help make the world a little better place – so thank you Sandy Puc for helping to start NILMDTS, thank you Aurora Onorato for doing an incredibly poignant post and thank you to the 8,000 photographers in 25 countries who are now volunteers in Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.  

The quote on the NILMDTS home page says it all…

“You make a living by what you get.  You make a life by what you give! ”  Winston Churchill

I began my journey with Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep at the very same time I began my business, in October of 2006, but it wasn’t until July of 2007 that I got my first call to duty.  I received an e-mail that made me stop in my tracks:

“Dear Aurora,

My name is Weihua, I am currently 34-weeks pregnant with a baby girl, whose name is Teodora. This is our first child after our 15 years of marriage, but unfortunately we found out in earlier March that our daughter has a genetic disorder called full Trisomy 18.  I joined a wonderful online supporting group organized by the Trisomy 18 foundation, through which I knew about the NILMDTS, and saw many pictures those angel photographers took. I also found your name and your website. With much gratitude, I wonder if I can have your professional help to capture some important moments of Teodora and us together when she comes…”

I wrote her back immediately and told her I would be honored to share in her daughter’s brief life, and invited them to come to my home for a maternity session, as the greater part of their journey with Teodora was Weihua’s pregnancy.  They took me up on my offer, and were so sweet and appreciative. Even in our first meeting I was amazed at their strength.

Some three weeks later, Dora decided to enter this world; she cried when she was born, and her parents got to hear their baby girl’s tiny voice. They got to give her a bath and dress her and hold her…parent her.

I arrived about 45 minutes after her birth and photographed the many friends who came to help them celebrate the life of their little Dora. Little more than two hours after she entered this world, the doctors came in to check on Dora. They let her parents know that she had in fact left us…  I watched Dora’s father Youjun, a very stoic and quiet man, comfort his wife. And the very moment he began to lift his hand from her shoulder and take a step back, several of Weihua’s girlfriends swooped in and began to wipe her tears and hold her as finally mom let herself go and sobbed. 

While I continued to photograph, I couldn’t help but be moved at this moment as I silently cried behind my camera. I continued to document the occasion watching Weihua stroke the side of her daughter’s face and as she gently lifted Dora’s eyelids to gaze just once into her daughter’s eyes.  After some time, mom was ready and called me over to take Dora for her formal portraits. While I was photographing Dora, Weihua said, “I know this will sound somewhat strange, but I don’t think ever in my life I have ever felt so much love in a room before.”  And she was right; the amount of love in compassion in that room that day was so incredible I can still feel it. After we finished and I packed up my gear, I asked if I could hold Dora again and say my goodbyes to her. As her mother handed her to me she told her this: “Dora, this is your Aunt Aurora; she’s an angel just like you,” and I told her I was honored to be thought of so.

Youjun helped me out with my things. He insisted on carrying something and waited with me for the valet to deliver my car.   He then gave me the biggest hug in the world before putting me into my car to return home and thanking me several times.

I attended Dora’s services almost a month after she left us, which were kindly donated by the funeral home. There were easily over 100 people there to support Weihua and Youjun, and Weihua gave quite possibly the most beautiful and gracious eulogy. What a kind and gracious woman - she never ceases to move me when she speaks. They have also created a beautiful memorial page for their daughter.

Weihua, Youjun and I keep in touch, and I am happy to say that this June I was so honored to photograph Dora’s baby brother Daniel.  Words cannot express how wonderful it was for me to get to share in more beautiful family moments with this incredible family.

Volunteering for the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep organization has given me some of the most moving and incredible moments of my life,  as I get to share in the most intimate moments of these families and help them to remember their beautiful children.  

I often give my time to help continue to recruit more fellow volunteers, and I think one of the most common questions I hear is “How do you do it?”  And I tell people over and over again that, that isn’t the question, but rather “How could I not?” As a mother myself I can’t imagine not doing this for another family; it’s such a small thing for me to do it for them, and it means the world to them.

What makes her message so unique?  Her spirit, passion and drive.   She fell in love with the photographic process at her own wedding and if you know Jasmine, you know there’s nothing she does halfway.   Changing her direction from law school at UCLA, she set a standard to be the very best.  She shoots from the heart…teaches from the heart and markets from the heart.  She does nothing half-baked with one of the most active blogs in professional photography.

The only thing more impressive about Jasmine’s rise to stardom (pun definitely intended) is her integrity, passion for the craft and willingness to share all the “secrets”.   I consider myself one of the luckiest guys in professional photography.  I have an amazing circle of friends and network of associates and while Jasmine may be one of the newest and youngest, that doesn’t change the value of her friendship and what I’ve learned watching her career grow.

A month ago I met with a bride and discussed the layout of her wedding day and the wonderful things she had planned. When we discussed the timeline of her day, I asked if she had given consideration to the idea of a First Look–an opportunity for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony and share those first moments as husband and wife together. Christina and Mike hadn’t thought too much about it, but were open to hearing more…. 

I often receive this question from other photographers as well: Why do so many of your clients opt to see each other before the ceremony?  After our meeting, I came home and calculated that 73% of my couples opted to see each other before the ceremony…which I think is AWESOME!  I don’t push my clients one way or the other, but I do use my personal experience to describe why I think it’s in the bride’s best interest.

When I speak to clients, I am first and foremost a bride. I was a bride before I was a photographer, so my opinion is based on my personal experience. I chose to see my husband, JD, before the ceremony on our wedding day and it was the best decision, ever! Our wedding was small (28 people), but our First Look was the only chance we had to spend time alone on our wedding day. When we saw each other, it was if that moment was carved out just for us. Away from guests, details, and things that might have distracted our attention from the gravity of the moment. Just he and I ready to commit ourselves to each other. 

Many brides worry about forsaking the moment the groom first sees his bride walk down the aisle, but I think it’s just as special having seen JD before the ceremony, if not more. Because we saw each other before the ceremony, I was SO much more calm and relaxed. I descended the aisle looking at JD, but at the same time looking at my friends and family surrounding us, and appreciating the moment of my parents giving me away. It was as if I was truly in the moment, and not just focusing on the man at the end of the aisle. 

The best part of a couple seeing each other before the ceremony is that it lends to a much smoother layout for family pictures, cocktail hour, and beautiful sunset pictures of the bride and groom after the ceremony. If a couple requests a First Look, I also encourage them to plan for family pictures and bridal party pictures beforehand. Com’on…how many people want to miss the cocktail hour? Not many. By capturing formal photos before the ceremony, it frees the family and bridal party to mingle, catch up with out-of-towners, and simply enjoy the mood of the day. Some couples opt to spend cocktail hour with their guests as their time is so limited during the reception, or some opt to enjoy time alone. 

I prefer a bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony, but–truthfully–it doesn’t matter to me either way. More than anything, I want my brides to be happy. I simply explain their options because I know they’ll make an educated decision. Often times brides think there are rules to weddings, e.g. “ You cannot see groom before hand. You must throw the garter. You cannot be seen as a couple until the Grand Entrance” and the list goes on and on.  

I believe there should only be one rule: Do What Makes You Happy.

“So, is Bambi your real name?” I asked.  She got quiet and the room temperature dropped about twenty degrees. “Okay, let me understand this – so you’re an adult with a name like Skip.  So where are Wally and the Beav?  Is Skip your real name?”   That set off the friendship and absolutely earned my instant respect.  Her three books that we wrote together, The Art of Wedding Photography, The Art of Digital Wedding Photography and The Art of People Photography have all been best sellers in the professional photographic market.

But it’s not her incredibly diverse skill set that makes Bambi so amazing, it’s her loyalty to her friends and the manufacturers who support, or maybe I should say, fight over her, combined with her constant quest to push the edge of the technical envelope.  She’s always trying something new.

Recently there was a discussion on one of the forums about use of the word “rockstar” for photographers.  Well, Bambi Cantrell is a rockstar and one of only a handful of photographers who can pack the biggest ballroom at any convention, standing room only and not one person will leave before she’s done.

I had the wonderful opportunity of teaching last week at the Julia Dean Photographic Workshops in Venice Beach, California.  The school provided me with three wonderful assistants, one of which was Elizabeth Huston.   Elizabeth is a great example of what the photography world is really all about.   Put creativity and artistry together and blend in a ton of incredible humility and you have Elizabeth.  She sat each day in the course, taking notes, asking questions, and when needed became my “schlepper.” 

What I didn’t know until the end of the week was this quiet woman is an amazing photographic artist.  An artist with an amazing vision, and way of capturing uniquely the world around us in a very abstract way.  Her work will be soon be featured in one of the prestigious art galleries in Los Angeles.  I just had to share some of the images with everybody. 

I found her images creative, inspiring and the artwork made me see the world of photography in a whole new light.  I am so in love with the creativity the world of digital imaging has endowed us with!  Each day, I am inspired by artists and photographers alike, and marvel at the way in which the two worlds have collided.

And one more great lesson I learned working with Elizabeth.  So often we draw the wrong assumptions about people we meet.   I had assumed, because Elizabeth was assigned to assist me, her skill level was probably junior to mine.  How wrong I was and how wonderful to have an experience to expand my horizons and find myself becoming her student!

I remember having a long discussion with Dane about the time slot for his program at the convention last year.  He was concerned over the time and size of the room and worried that enough people might not come to fill it.  Well, they not only came, but it was standing room only and he had to do an encore presentation the next day.

What makes Dane a success and a leader as a professional photographer?  It’s very simple – he puts more weight on focusing on his family, friends and giving back to the industry and community than he does on focusing his camera.   As simplistic as that sounds, pick up a copy of Fast Track Photographer and you’ll see what I mean after the first twenty pages.  

 The very last line of Dane’s book says it all and couldn’t be more sincere, ” I am excited about what you will become!”

From Fast Track Photographer, with Dane’s permission:

When a bride is looking for a photographer, she will commonly say something like, “photography is really important to me.”  For the vast majority of brides, what that means is remembering the day well is important to them and they see photography as the vehicle for making that happen.

Remembering the day well through photographs means they want those images to elicit feelings they want to have experienced or actually did experience on their wedding day.  If the images are bad, of course, this will get in the way of the bride experiencing those feelings.  But this is important to remember: the images do not have to be museum pieces either.  The important thing is that they fulfill the function for which they are designed.  That is, they work for the bride, not for you.

Think of it like a song that brings back a flood of feelings.  A ten thousand dollar sound system isn’t required to bring those feelings back.  The sound just needs to be good enough.  And, since most people don’t have a trained ear, even if it were on a great stereo, the experience wouldn’t be much richer.

Brides (and most people, really) know the difference between good photography and bad photography.  But very few know the difference between good photography and great photography.  So if your focus is more on being a brilliant photo artist than being a vehicle for feelings, you’ll need to do some refocusing.

Last August, very early into my life in Blogdom, he wrote a particularly frank piece about getting started in this industry.  It’s ironic that Greg’s guest post as part of Blog Fest 2009 would be about inspiration, because Greg’s love for photography, his passion for learning and his dedication to his friends is a constant inspiration for me!

In my short time in the industry I have been to several workshops put on by photographers with various skill levels.  Regardless, they’ve all had something I could take from their workshop.   They’ve all had a common theme…they’ve talked about inspiration, the source for their energy and drive.   

Everyone, has that special something that inspires you.   It’s unique to your personality and nobody can tell you what it is or how to find it.   There are some common things you can do when you’re in search of inspiration.  You might look at someone’s work you admire, go to art museums, read the bridal magazines, etc.   For me, it’s music – not sure why, but music has always had a profound effect on my photography style, as well as so many other things in my life. 

 All of my Photograph Like A Rockstar workshops were motivated by music. In fact, the motivation or “inspiration” behind the entire teaching tour…MUSIC!   Music has always been a major part of my life. In my iTunes account I curently have almost 3,500 songs. If I were to play them one right after the other, I would have music 24 hours a day for just over 11 straight days!   But it is the artistic quality of music that draws me in. 

Music, like photography, has no boundaries. You do not have to understand the words to feel the message or to be moved by the sound. You do not have to know the person singing or playing to be inspired by the lyrics. An example of how this would apply to what I am doing is the attitude of music. Rockstars have an edge, an attitude. It is with that edge and attitude that I try to approach every photograph.  

Sometimes the words might motivate what I am doing.  For example: From the soundtrack “8 Mile”: “if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you every wanted…in one moment…would you capture it…or just let it slip”.   Shouldn’t that be the motto of great wedding photography?

Music and photography are such powerful tools. They both convey an emotion, a message or a moment in time. So when I am talking about a “Rockstar” tour…what I am talking about is also the attitude of music.  The attitude that I have been inspired by and the attitude that I have been able to put into my passion.   What is your inspiration?