People tend to talk about how they got started in photography or how long they’ve been doing it. Too often they talk about their awards rather than their heart.  A long time ago Scott Bourne talked about the importance of an artist’s statement. Whether you call it an artist’s statement, your about me section or any one of a dozen other appropriate titles on your site it’s about opening your heart. In Scott’s case he’s talking about his passion for photographing wildlife. While an artist’s statement is different from the about section of a wedding photographer, the sincerity and what needs to be shared is the same. Scott really says it best in this post below.

Corporations have “Mission Statements.” Artists have “Artist’s Statements.”

If you want to communicate with fine art buyers, galleries, museums and anyone who buys photography or for that matter, who sells it, you might want to consider creating an artist’s statement. This statement should help anyone interested in collecting your work understand where YOU are coming from. It should be about YOU not so much about a camera or a photo or a technique. To quote my friend Dane Sanders – “YOU are not your photography.” So tell us something about what it’s like for you to make a photo. Share your heart. That’s how you write an artist’s statement.

Rather than give you a checklist of what to include in your statement, I’m simply going to show you mine. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do this. I think you just have to write from your heart or be inspired by someone or something else who shares your vision. I re-wrote my statement last year when some comments I received on my images helped me to see what others were seeing in my work, but which I lacked the proper mirror to see. Here’s my artist’s statement.
_____________________________
Artist Statement

For me, wildlife art photography is about two connecting themes: extraordinary craftsmanship in terms of technical mastery of photography and a fundamental understanding of the dynamics of the nature behind the image.

At a deeper level, however, I pursue this art form because of its almost religious qualities.

One day, I can have a vision in my mind that represents a photograph I want to make. This vision exists only in my head and my heart – it’s a silent vision which has the power to bring me out into the field, month after month, year after year, for a chance to turn that vision into something tangible that I can share with others.

The other religious aspect of my work is focus and devotion to an idea over which I have absolutely no control.

I learn all that I can about the natural factors behind each photographic opportunity, but I never know how they will play out. My artistry focuses on the beauty of things which are random. Wildlife operates within its own free will. The bird flies its own path.

It’s different than working in a photography studio where I have control over the set, the model and the lights. As a wildlife artist, my gift is to know how to “show up prepared” to interact with beauty that I do not control. I must learn to be at peace with my subject on their terms, not on mine.

I struggle with finding the patience and the path. But when that struggle becomes the hardest, I remember my calling. I speak for the creatures which have no voice. Perhaps this is why the experience is so emotional for me.

Each time I get a perfect moment and capture that with my camera, I experience joy and sadness. I am joyful because the finished work provides me with a lifelong memory of a successful vision. But I also feel sadness that the pursuit is over.

After that moment, the cycle begins again, and I launch the pursuit of the next creative vision. I hope to share that vision well enough that others may someday wish to help speak for the animals too.

Scott Bourne

So, here’s the challenge…how do you keep building your network and find ways to stay on top of the constant flow of new ideas, techniques and technology?  What’s cool is there’s an easy answer…get yourself to a Smug! Just in case you’re not familiar with the concept and stolen right from the SmugMug site:

A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share your passion. It’s also how we can tell you what’s happening in our world and discover what’s happening in yours. SMUGs are a great way to connect with other photographers and add a few weapons to your creative arsenal.

Actually, the challenge runs much deeper than just building your network, your education and staying on top of what’s going on – this is about recharging your battery. You know how to focus your camera, but do you know how to stay focused on your goals and dealing with the day-in day-out challenges of business today? None of us do it well and before long you start to realize you’re spending too much time worrying about business and not getting out enough in the photo community. You start to get stale. Your creativity is stifled by just the effort it takes to run a business.

Everybody has the same issue. We’re all too close to our own business, so you need to get out once in awhile. Smugs are free and only cost you the time to be there and get involved. Even more fun is the opportunity to meet not just photographers from your area, but all of the Smugs at one time or another bring in special guest speakers. Roberto Valenzuela spoke at a Smug in San Francisco not long ago. I did a marketing program at a Smug in Detroit last year and will be in Jacksonville, Florida on June 26. Scott Bourne has brought in special guests to the Las Vegas Smug.

It’s a big country, but check out how SmugMug has it covered!

If you’re not currently involved in your local Smug, here’s the link. I’ve written a lot about SmugMug over the last few months and even ran a couple of great videos they’ve produced, but out of everything they do, what I enjoy and appreciate the most is the ability they’ve given us to stay connected!

Get yourself involved in a Smug – being part of something bigger than just your own business in the photographic community is only a click away!

On June 8-9 I’m doing two days of my marketing workshop for professional photographers. It’s a free webinar, but you have to register at www.creativelive.com in order to attend. Thanks to a whole bunch of sponsors we’ve got some pretty slick door prizes to give away as well. Nik Software, SmugMugPro, Album Epoca, WHCC are all coming to the party and I’ll be giving away a scholarship to Skip’s Summer School. All the doorprizes, or should we call them “cyberprizes,” will tie into the tweet stream during the webinar.

We’ve also got some fun prizes for those six brave souls who give up two days to be in my audience. A live audience makes the presentation itself so much more effective, but even more important they’ll represent the typical profile of professional photographers, part time or full time, who deal with so many of today’s biggest marketing challenges.

During the two days we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about building an effective website, becoming your own publicity machine, creating a marketing calendar, identifying your key demographics and ways to establish a stronger reputation in your community and that’s only the beginning!

Here’s the link to enroll!

See you in Seattle…or in cyberspace!

Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.

Ingvar Kamprad is credited with the quote. He’s the founder of Ikea and I remember hearing stories about him when I was with Hasselblad. He lives a quiet unassuming life and back then he was still riding his bike to work. Well, his quote got me thinking a lot about so many photographers I’ve met.

New photographers especially seem to have a horrible time just forgiving themselves for mistakes made along the journey of becoming a professional. They beat themselves up and I’ve even met a few who decided the road was too hard to travel and just walked away from photography as a profession.

The truth is the quote applies to everybody, no matter what kind of business you’re in. It’s only when you’re asleep that you make no mistakes, take no risks and live a life that’s safe with your head buried in a pillow under the blankets. You’ve got to take risks to grow your business. You’ve got to take chances along the way and experiment with new techniques. You’ve got to spend money to make money and there are probably a hundred other snappy one liners we’ve all heard over the years.

So, stop worrying about making mistakes. Take the risks, but do it with the commitment to do your very best every time. Work to expand your skill set, so that with each mistake you make it becomes part of the learning process. Here’s one more perspective:

As you begin to take action toward the fulfillment of your goals and dreams, you must realize that not every action will be perfect. Not every action will produce the desired result. Not every action will work. Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right. Motivational author, Jack Canfield

Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease, but the truth is, any disease that changes a loved one is horrible, regardless of what it’s called. My mother’s Alzheimer’s has progressed and it’s getting harder and harder, but there are these priceless moments when she smiles, holds my Dad’s hand or just shares a memory with us that are priceless.

I’m not looking for sympathy, just begging everybody to remember to cherish each day. Things can change when we least expect it, but as photographers you have the ability to give each client a gift – their memories captured forever and sharable with future generations.

We moved to Sarasota to be able to spend more time with my folks and of all the things I’ve ever done in my life, the move was the most important and the one decision I cherish the most. So, hug your Mom today, your kids and your spouse.  Take the time to make every day Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Life is simply too short and one thing we can never get back is time.

The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone else and produces the best results.

As usual, a lot of the quotes I find really get me thinking about our industry. When you think about it everybody has the same gear. Everybody has access to the same client base. Every client has a variety of the same needs, deal with the same emotions and are pretty much interested in the same thing, capturing special memories to last a life time.

Those are all the same ingredients, but what every photographer doesn’t have is the same skill set, the same vision and same level of creativity.  Scott Bourne in a recording for an upcoming podcast said recently, “It’s not about the gear but about your vision!”

This is a short post this morning with a simple point…what do you need to do to upgrade your skill set? How can you, as the “chef” create something unique each time you pick up your camera?

I absolutely understand how hard it is to decide on what programs to attend these days. Everybody seems to be on the road and then there are webinars and videos. In the end you’re buried in a barrage of programs, topics and everybody is telling you theirs is the “must attend” program of the year.

Well, as much as this post this morning is absolutely self-motivated, this is about what you’ll get out of this year’s Summer School.

• It all starts with your website review. I’ve been amazed at how many people missed that in the initial description. Essentially it’s a $250 consulting makeover review of your website with some good add-ons, but it’s included in your registration.  I’m doing website reviews because I didn’t want attendees to have to wait until August to start getting a benefit from being part of the Summer School family.  I’ve done about forty of them already, averaging about an hour each. From the feedback I’m getting every review session is creating new things to think about and several photographers have already begun to make some of the changes we’ve discussed.  Your website is your storefront and unfortunately most photographers just built it because they knew they needed a website and never really thought through what they were going to put in it.
• This year’s sponsors are an outstanding group and tied to the value of the educational benefit are some gifts that keep on giving with a 40% discount code on your SmugMug support for a year, but you can only activate the benefit after I’ve given out the code. You only get the code after you’ve had your website review. Along with SmugMug will be other companies with soon to be announced Summer School discounts.
• This year’s faculty and topics may be the most relevant yet, although I admit it, I say the same thing every year. However, this is our first program that’s this intense.
• Summer School is a network builder. After a year, there are 108 photographers who are involved in a Facebook forum started by the attendees themselves and that’s one of the most valuable things about Summer School. This is about working together and forming a bond to help each other. Watching the conversations on this page has been remarkable with everyone literally helping each other with new ideas, solutions to problems and support all year long.
• Why Chicago? First was the request from past alumni to do something more centrally located, but second is what happens when you do a workshop like this outside of Las Vegas. This is about total immersion photography and teaching. Every attendee is going to have the opportunity to really dig in to their challenges and leave with a whole set of new solutions and expanded skill set, not to mention friendships with some of the most outstanding photographic instructors in the country. Remember, we will NOT allow more than 20 people per hands-on program.
• Resource Magazine is in the house! It’s the hottest magazine in photography right now and if you haven’t seen their digital issue, here’s the link for the extended free look. This magazine is outstanding and the senior management team are going to be with us through the entire program. And, some of you just might find yourself published or be part of a story on this year’s Summer School program. One thing Resource brings to the table is your chance to really meet some of the most talented people in publishing.  And here’s the video Adam Sherwin from Resource Television produced following last year’s Summer School.

• The cost for Summer School attendees to attend WPPI next year for a full registration, including all platform programs and events is only $75, which in itself is approximately a $200 savings. Even more if you’re not a WPPI member.
• If you’re an alumni the May 1 early bird deadline was dropped a few weeks ago, giving you more time to figure out the scheduling and book your trip to Chicago and still save $100 on registration.

So, what you take home from Summer School, as sappy as it might sound, is a series of life-changing experiences in building your skill set, marketing and business, networking and even film-making. This is about expanding your network, your experiences and being part of something far bigger than just your business.

Summer School is an experience that goes all year long and it starts with that first conversation we’ll have over your website. Yeah, I’m excited about Summer School and while I know it’s not easy for you to figure out the schedule, make all the arrangements, get yourself registered and book the hotel, I can promise you’ll never be disappointed.

Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

This isn’t about the politics of war, but about helping the families of our military personnel stay connected.

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

While that’s their short version, I’m still a huge fan of the longer video as well. Just in case you missed it in last year’s blog link here it is again.

I found one more favorite quote that I love about giving back.

“It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.” Albert Einstein

As a photographer you’ve been given an incredible gift, your skill set. There are so many ways you can give back with photography. I’m sure proud of the crew at HeartsApart.org and what they’re doing to give back!

When I was a kid, and I’m sure all of you have the same story, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. The sad part for me is that I still haven’t grown up and there are days when I still don’t know what I want to be! That’s fine for me, but it’s not fine if you’re a professional photographer and your site reflects your confusion when a potential client comes “into the store” for a look at the merchandise.  So, here are some tips for your website galleries:

• Spend some time soul-searching and decide what you want your business to look like. You might have several different specialties you really enjoy and that’s fine – just think it through for your website.
• Once you’ve decided what you’re primary specialty is going to be, that should be the first gallery on your website. If you lead with weddings then you can anticipate getting calls on weddings. If your focus is high school seniors, then that’s your lead business. Whatever you lead with is going to wind up being your profile as time goes on.
• In terms of the graphic design elements on your site, everything should follow the same theme as your specialty. For example, I was on one site of a photographer who wants to focus on kids and sports. The potential market is huge, but the first image you saw was a landscape shot. While the image was beautiful, it had no relevance to what he wanted his core business to be.
• Limit the number of images in your galleries. You don’t need to show everybody everything you’ve ever photographed. Bambi Cantrell often uses Tiffany’s as an example. Walk by Tiffany’s and you’ll see just a couple of pieces highlighted in their windows. They don’t show you their entire inventory, but they do show you some of their most beautiful pieces. I personally believe that 10-20 images in each category are enough.
• Don’t give your visitors too much to choose from. For example, my vote is to just break weddings into two parts, “Engagements” and “Weddings”. Everyone knows how a wedding plays out, but I was on one site recently that broke it out into ten different galleries: Getting Ready, Details, The Ceremony, Leaving the Church, The Kiss…it became maddening! After each section, in order to get to the next gallery you had to go back to the home page and open the next gallery. Make it easy on your potential clients. Don’t make them mine for images.
• I’ve written this so many times before – make every image in your galleries  a “wow” print. If they don’t “wow” you they don’t belong in your gallery. Think of it this way…every image has to at least be better than what Uncle Harry can shoot. Don’t repeat images of the same subject. Show a variety of techniques. When you shop in your favorite department store they show as much variety as they can. However if you went to buy clothes and they only showed one style and in only one color you’d never bother to shop there again!

If you’re looking for a little help in the process, check out SmugMug. Last week’s post on Matthew Jordan Smith’s new site, built by SmugMugPro, got a lot of great feedback. Read the post and you’ll see what I mean.

As you mouse over each of three galleries on Matthew’s site the topic comes up. It’s neat, clean and the simplicity is stunning. His site does exactly what he needs – it presents his work and every image has the “wow” factor!

Here’s the bottom line. You can’t be in business today without a website. Your website is your storefront, studio and at times even your office. Make the experience for every client memorable and you’ll have them coming back over and over again. And last on the list, remember whatever you put up doesn’t have to be there forever. If down the road your interests start to change, your website can morph along with you!

It was the PPA convention in Orlando and I had a meeting with Dean and his right hand, Tony Corbell. We were all at the Peabody Hotel and I had spent the morning at the pool. I went straight to a meeting in the coffee shop still in bathing attire and t-shirt. It may not have seemed professional, but it was summer time and most of the photographic industry was poolside.

To this day, Tony and I still laugh about that first meeting. It was one of the only times in their lives that Dean and Tony had ever put on suits. They showed up, dreading a meeting with some knucklehead named “Skip” from Polaroid, imagining that Hasselblad was about to move to aisle 7 in Kmart. After all, what could a guy from Polaroid possibly have to offer the number one professional camera company in the world?

Well, they were there in jacket and tie and I was there in flip-flops, cut-offs and a tank top. I know I at least had a legal pad and pen with me to look professional.  Thank God first impressions don’t have to rule relationships the rest of our lives! In all honesty, I don’t remember a thing about that first meeting except I knew I’d just met two people who were going to become important in my life, but I could never have guessed they’d both become two of my very best friends.

This summer Tony Corbell is teaching two days at Skip’s Summer School’s Hands-on Intensive program. Since that first meeting, almost 25 years ago, there are few people I’ve learned more from. Tony is typically referred to as the King of Lighting and there’s nobody that teaches it better.

The video below really demonstrates Tony’s passion for photography, for lighting and for never compromising on quality. Even better is the way he teaches and the fact that he’s never said “no” to anybody who ever needed help. I love this short video on his philosophy, but there is an important qualifier. First, if you’re thinking about taking his hands-on workshop at Summer School, both days, August 6 and 7 are already half full. We will not allow any workshop to go over 20 people.  Second, Tony went to work on getting in shape and he’s back to his fighting weight, having dropped 140 lbs over the last three years. I couldn’t run this video without sharing a more up to date head-shot!

While a big part of the importance of Summer School is about improving your skill set, a bigger benefit is expanding your network with some of the finest instructors in professional photography today. Right at the top of the list of somebody who should be in your network is Tony Corbell!

This year’s program is in Chicago, August 5-8, and the instructors are outstanding. Tony Corbell, Clay Blackmore and Calvin Hayes, Roberto Valenzuela, Michele Celentano, Kevin Kubota, Jerry Ghionis, Bobbi Lane and those are just for the hands-on segment. Ross Hockrow and Jeff Medford will be doing film making and rounding out the platform programs are Catherine Hall, Scott Bourne, Melissa Ghionis, Sal Cincotta and a special panel discussion on couples working together in photography with Kevin and Clare Kubota, Vicki and Jed Taufer and Bob and Dawn Davis. Plus,there are two lunch programs featuring this year’s sponsors and the senior management team of Resource Magazine.

Everybody has lots to choose from when it comes to education these days, but there’s nothing that compares with Summer School. See you in Chicago!