Sadly that look lasted way too long , but you have to admit, it takes nerve to publish my own senior head shot, right down to the horned rim glasses hiding the unibrow!  ( Once a year you guys can handle it!) Fortunately, this look finally died and in the last ten years the market for seniors has exploded.

From the senior’s perspective, a portrait session is about capturing their personality and their interests. It’s about a photograph that reveals their personality!  What happens too often though is the photographer forgets about Mom and Dad.  You still have to provide a beautiful image and often, as good buddy Dean Collins used to say, “Beauty is in the eyes of the checkbook holder!”

In this short video with Clay Blackmore, Software Cinema, (coincidentally founded by good buddy Dean Collins) takes us through some terrific bread and butter senior poses. Sure, you have to meet the mindset of the client and create outstanding images, but you still need to know the basics. You need to understand lighting, posing and composition when the situation calls for a good solid portrait.

And if you think Clay makes it look easy here, think about what it might be like to attend his four day workshop in April! I don’t know of anybody who can teach this stuff better than Clay, giving you a whole new resource in your skill set from which to draw!

Looking to learn more? Check out Software Cinema’s complete lineup of the very best educators in photography!

The article will be out in June, but what I really thought about after hanging up the phone was what makes a great photographer?   We already know how clients define satisfaction and being happy with their photographer, but what about from the industry side?  How do we as photographers, manufacturers, advertisers and vendors define a great photographer?

1) Enthusiasm and Passion:  It has to be virtually unmatched.  Spend five minutes talking to Kirk and you know he sets the standard.

2) Willingness to Share: There can be no secrets.  Think about the best workshops/programs you’ve attended.  The speakers all shared their “secrets” – all presenting ideas that have worked to elevate their work and business.  The old expression of secrets to success are never held back and openly given to you for your own application and use.

3) A Thorough Understanding of Photography:   When Kirk picks up his camera there’s no hesitation in knowing the results.  It’s all thanks to his foundation in film.  And for those of you that think film is a four letter word, right up there with the “F-bomb” you’re missing the point. 

Kirk gets the shot the first time and his images look great, right out  the can!  He’s not spending hours cleaning up his images.  He even talked about teaching and taping up the back of the cameras, so his students can’t “chimp”.  Once their panic subsides, they’re able to pay attention to their subjects and focus on the expressions not the exposures.

4) Confidence:  I was blown away by the fact that Kirk only takes six images in each outfit.  SIX!  Not a couple hundred variations of the same smile – but six images in 3-4 wardrobe changes, with a presentation of 18-30 final images!   And every image is different – not a series of slight variations on a quest for the ultimate smile.   He knows he’s got the shot the minute he clicks the shutter and in those moments when he knows he missed it, because of a blink or maybe his exposure was off, he’ll re-shoot it.  

5) The Ability to Communicate:  In one 15 minute call I got everything I needed to write my assignment, because there wasn’t one second of hesitation with any of the questions I asked. 

So, go back to thinking about your favorite presentations and the photographers who you love to listen to.  They were passionate. They were confident.  They understood photography and the topic they were presenting and they could communicate.  Most important of all they were willing to share what they’ve learned to help you.  No secret ingredients – just a bunch of great people who believe in giving back.

I’ve often said I’m the luckiest guy in the photo industry.  I’ve worked with some amazing photographers and have an incredible network of talented friends and consider Kirk one of them.  He’s teaching this summer at Skip’s Summer School along with fourteen other industry leaders who all share the same passion.  (Sorry, couldn’t avoid the plug!)

Jim Collins, business author and theorist said it best:

The kind of commitment I find among the best performers across virtually every field is a single-minded passion for what they do, an unwavering desire for excellence in the way they think and the way they work. Genuine confidence is what launches you out of bed in the morning, and through your day with a spring in your step.

Yesterday’s Blog:  A big thanks to John Lemen and Barbara Lund Smith who gave me the author I was looking for.  In John’s words:  Most of it was written by Mother Teresa.  (No top dogs line in hers) The final stanza she wrote says “You see, in the final analysis it is between you and God: it was never between you and them anyway.”  Original title “Advice for Living Well”  (or at least that’s what the copy on my office wall says).

Moving on to other topics this morning – sorry, if you like continuity this blog just isn’t the place today!    There are three great programs all coming up starting this week and moving into May:

Sandy Puc’s Family Tour:  Sandy Puc’s last round of US cities are running right now through the end of April.  She’s then in Canada for five programs in August and that’s pretty much it for 2010.  If you have an interest in fine-tuning your skills in the children and family arena this is an incredible program.

Mitche Graf and Ken Sklute:  It’s the Left Brain Right Brain Tour and it kicks off on April 25th in Boston.  When you look at the ad for the program, make sure you scroll to the bottom to see what happens in our digital world when their two faces are combined!   It’s a little scary, but if you really want a wild ride, hit their program and see what happens when you put their concepts together!   They’ve both been personal friends of mine for a lot of years and there’s an incredible about of information bouncing around in those two heads to help you fine tune your marketing and photographic skills.  Mitche and Ken also have done past guest posts here in the blog.

Escalate Live 2010:  The brain child of my great friend and motivator, Dane Sanders, he’s brought together some terrific speakers with Becker, David Jay, Jasmine Star,Jerry Ghionis, Jessica Claire and Jeremy Cowart on May 17 and 18 in the Los Angeles area.   This is a pretty amazing group with Dane speaking as well.  It’s happening at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach starting at 9:00 a.m.

GoingPro2010:  My very good buddy Scott Bourne and I just recently kicked off GoingPro.   Between the two of us we have an incredible base of experience in professional photography and an even more amazing network of friends and associates.   Combine all of that expertise with great enthusiasm and some terrific partners and you’re looking  at an educational program running all year long to help emerging professionals do the job a whole lot better, the way it should be done with professionalism and delivering a quality product with perceived high value.    We’ve also signed a contract for a new book with Random House, GoingPro, which is just part of this amazing project.   Stay tuned to the website and sign up to follow the events of the coming year on facebook at http://twitter.com/goingpro2010.  

Skip’s Summer School:  This week is the last opportunity for the first level early bird discount registration of $199.  April 1st it moves to $249 and then $279 from June 1st to the program.  We’ve got an amazing line-up this year with a faculty that’s just unbeatable.   But best of all – how many programs did you attend at the last big convention where you had to wait in line to get in or worry about even getting a seat?   This year, like last, we “own” the entire third floor of the MGM Conference Center.  I’m guessing, but I think that’s over 80,000 square feet – so everybody has not only a place to sit, but a place at a table – we’ll be setting it up classroom style and we will NOT oversell the space.    You’re going to need a recharge in August, just before going into the fall season – here’s your chance to pick up new ideas on weddings, children’s portraiture, pet photography, marketing, lighting, high school seniors, photojournalism, business and even a little boudoir!     And all while networking and enjoying Las Vegas when the cost is the very lowest of the year (MGM code is SSS005 for the $79/night rate).

Check out the schedule and the speaker line-up.  It’s all on the Skip’s Summer School site!   See you in Vegas!

You’ve heard me talk before about how we don’t have Monday’s in this house – so Happy First Tuesday everybody – make it a great day and a terrific week.

I’m convinced, as are thousands of professional photographers, part of the answer is in diversity in your business model.  It’s tough to be a one trick pony in this economy, but a little diversity brings in new clients, new applications and challenges your skill set.

Have you thought about the high school senior market?  You don’t need the entire school system, just a handful of enthusiastic seniors.   But you need to do it right – and nobody does it better than Larry Peters , Ralph Romaguera and Fuzzy Duenkel , just to name a few.   Check out the look and feel of their images – all different, but each with his own style.  You can catch all three of them on the speaking circuit and it will be well worth your time to pick up ideas on how to get started with seniors.

Years back I spent some time on the road with Larry through a Hasselblad University program.  One of the techniques Larry was using at the time was to photograph a half dozen or so seniors free of charge and then send them out as his ambassadors.  It’s marketing brilliance at its best.  These kids had a blast – they worked with one of the finest photographers and they wrapped up their high school years with a portfolio that captured their personalities.

It was a LONG LONG (notice the use of double “longs”) time ago that I had my senior shot done.  And, I want extra points for having the nerve to share the image here!

Notice how the glasses hid the unibrow.    My left ear used to stick out even farther than the one you can see, but that’s the way it was.  The photographer came into the school and sat us down one at time, knocking off the entire senior class in half a day.  Photographs came in an envelope with the usual combo of 8×10’s, 5×7’s and wallets.  Everybody’s images looked exactly the same.

Today, it’s all about personality and capturing who the subject is as an individual.  You still have to know how to do a more traditional head shot, but for the most part it’s about the interests of the senior.  It’s about capturing who they are more than how they look.  It’s about their hobbies, friends, achievements and their aspirations.

Most important of all, think about the impact you might have on a future client.  In most cases a full portrait session for a high school senior will probably represent the subject’s first truly professional photographic experience.  If you do it right, it might just open the door for future business from Mom and Dad or the student themselves, when they get married or have other needs for a professional photographer.

Check out the story of one of Don Blair’s seniors 20 years later!  I wrote about it in an earlier post last year.  He absolutely remembered Don and was actually excited to see him again.

Photographing seniors and doing it well expands your skill set, forces you to learn and understand lighting/posing, even photojournalism and best of all gives you an opportunity to fine tune your creative skills!  It’s a new year with lots of the same challenges, but it’s not about survival of the fittest any longer.  It’s about survival of the most diverse and most creative.