The Pictage Blog

Thank you to everyone who participated in the 11th round of “Admired by Beckstead,” our twice-monthly David Beckstead image contest! We are so excited to announce this round’s winner…

The first place winner is Kevin Wynn with the following image.

David’s comments on the winning image:

“This composition has great story-building components. It has two compositional panels that tell different stories yet works together to tell one complete story perfectly. The b&w really helps eliminate color depth and keeps your eye focused on the stories and not the extra color elements that would distract. Another way of saying it: b&w flattens the depth on this shot and I think that was needed to draw us into the story.  Depth can cause distraction.

My only critique of this shot is the very dark vignette. A lighter vignette would accomplish the same “focus” points and help lead your eye to the two stories yet give you a better feel for the rooms.  Great shot and nice b&w treatment!!”

Second place goes to Chantz Hough.

David’s comments:

“B&w really enhanced the line structure of this shot! It creates a stronger circular/Golden Spiral composition for the viewer.  The abstract qualities of the water, clouds and trees in the background are very cool!! Great choice to go b&w and the dress really ‘pops’ with perfect tonality separations. Nice!”

Third place goes to Nicole Goddard.

David’s comments:

“Love the ‘vibe’ on this! The b&w treatment was perfect to highlight all the great gray tonalities.  B&w help draw your eyes to her facial expression. Fun!”

Honorable Mention goes to Aileen Bigelow Reilly.

David’s comments:

“Great use of light and b&w!”

Honorable Mention also goes to Spencer Clark.

David’s comments:

“Love this shot and how it draws you into the hands. My problem with it is the post production blocked up the blacks to the point that there is no information in the guy’s tuxes. None! This would draw down a bunch of points in print competition. Go back to the original file and pull back on some of your post production. That would help a ton!”

Written by Pictage member and Mississippi based photographer Will Jacks.

Photo by David Wittig.

I’m lucky.

I got to see a side of PartnerCon that many of you didn’t see.

A side that makes me believe that what happened the first week in November was not just a photography convention, but the start of a movement.  As I drove home Thursday night, six and half hours up Highway 61 to the Mississippi Delta, I brought a little bit of the week home with me — both literally and figuratively.

Photo by Spencer Clark.

Five photographers from all over the country converged on three Delta towns to photograph three different weddings, and to bask in the glow of the previous week.  We chatted about what we’d experienced.  We laughed.  We spoke of our inspirations.  We shared our fears.

We learned from each other.

At it’s core, that’s what New Orleans was for all of us — a chance to learn from each other.  From the most grizzled veterans to the photographers just entering the business.  From the “art” folks to the “business” folks.  We all learned from each other.

Photo by Andry Sander.

But here’s what I saw first hand, and maybe some of you saw it too.  We also learned from the city, and the city learned from us.

I watched a group of photographers unpack the images that would be the Contrast show. I watched the gallery owner — tense as we arrived — loosen as we began to unwrap the work.  I heard this man ask, “So you guys are all wedding photographers?” , and then saw him examine a print and raise his eyebrows approvingly as we answered, “Yes.”  I watched him engage in the work, and make this show as much his as it was ours.

Then, a few hours later, all of you filled the gallery with inquisitive, thoughtful conversation. You broke down a huge wall coated with the graffiti of wedding photography stereotypes.  The wall that is decorated with the slander of self indulgence, lack of knowledge, and stunted creativity.  We opened eyes with the work we hung, but much more importantly, you opened minds with the commanding and intelligent presence that you had. We all stood tall and proud as wedding photographers and showed that we are not what many assume us to be.

Photo by Chris Williams.

Photo by Carlton Phelps.

I watched a team of photographers cross the river to Gretna at 9 AM Thursday morning to begin unpacking backdrops and light stands and computers and hard drives and memory cards and batteries and camera gear — whew!  I watched them sort out a way to make it work, only to fear that it would all come crashing down only 15 minutes before it was to begin.  Then I felt the energy of a busload of volunteers emptying, and knew that together we would somehow find a way to honor the families we would meet that day.

Photo by Rick King.

Photo by Erin Saldana.

I wandered outside, exhausted and emotional and worried that the small space inside was not enough to allow all of you to have the experience that you wanted to have, and  I saw Leonard.  Then, I saw many of you.  And you were smiling.  And you were giving.   And you were listening.  And you were teaching.  And you were learning. And I was so damn proud to be witnessing that.

Photo by Enna Grazier.

Photo by Chris Williams.

I visited many, many times — via email, via phone, via text, in person — with the Pictage crew that made this happen.  And so on Tuesday morning, I not only saw Jim Collins give the perfect opening speech (aided, of course, by the brilliance of Ron Dawson), I saw weeks of pushing and prodding and encouraging and worrying all come together — at just the right moment — in just the right way.  I saw a man validated in his journey to reconnect a community that had been drifting apart.  I saw Scott Anderson, Lisa Allen, and Emily Engle marking their mental checklists everyday, fearing that at any moment the wheels would come off the wagon.  When it was finally over, I saw three people proud that not only did their plans work out, but also proud that they successfully brought together a group searching for someone — someTHING — to follow.  And they gave us that thing to follow.

Our dreams.  Our hopes.  Our passions.  Each other.

I saw a gathering that was more than a photography convention.  I saw a moment.  An historical moment. A moment that years from now just might be seen as the start of a time where the walls of photographic misconceptions began to come crumbling down, and the statement “I’m a photographer” is all you’ll ever need to say.  (That was spot on Jim Collins.  Spot on.)

Photos by Spencer Clark.

I saw a week that I will never forget.  A week where I learned more than I ever thought I could learn.  A week in which I reconnected with old friends and made many new ones.   Hugged more folks than any family reunion I’ve ever attended.  Cried at least once a day.  Laughed at least a thousand.  Smiled until my cheeks hurt.

Now that I think about it, I bet you saw that side of PartnerCon, too.

So that makes us all lucky, I guess.

Written by Pictage member and Ohio-based wedding photographer Brian Palmer.

Images are courtesy of Brian Palmer (below), they have all been featured on his blog for different days of the 365 Project. Click on the image to take you to the post of that day.

If you haven’t seen Day 1 of my 365 project, then the title of this post probably doesn’t make much sense, allow me to explain. The ‘Dock’ is a metaphor for the ‘sidelines’ of whatever career you are wanting to jump head first into, for me that career is photography.  

Zack Aries, a talented photographer and One Light instructor from Atlanta Georgia, wrote several blog posts about a photographer, who went by the alias of B, in July of this year that was stuck on the ‘Dock’. ‘B’ was a part-time shooter with a full time day job and family to balance around his love for photography, but was ready to throw in the towel since his skill level stayed stagnant for the past year. The outpour of support to B was incredible, between Zack’s blog (where he posted B’s email), and Facebook, there were several hundred comments, all positive, supporting, and offers to help B as well as others who felt they were in the same situation. There was a follow post about how to take the next step (i.e. step off the Dock) in our careers, my next step was the 365 Project.

Now, let’s rewind about 60+ days back from today, I decided to join a 365 Project started by Tasra Dawson, who was challenged by Scott Bourne, of Photo Focus, to improve her photography 300% in a year. This feat could be accomplished by shooting and posting one image, reading a page in the camera manual, and viewing an accomplished photographer’s work every day for a year [weekends included!].

The cool thing about this challenge is that Tasra invited other photographers to join the journey with her, which is where I entered. My reasoning to start this project with Tasra was:

1.       To stay fresh and engaged with my craft by shooting as much as I could during and after the wedding season.

2.       To streamline my creative process and workflow to be more efficient.

3.       To do something different that I had ever done before and that was out of character for me.

With a considerable amount of days already into the project, I can say it is one of the best projects that I have undertaken and the hardest! In the early weeks, I struggled to balance family life, work, photography, blog post, and making time for my photography business. Days where I either had to work late or needed do errand running were difficult to get a shot for the blog. But with a lot of patience and help from my awesome wife Perla, who assist with setups, shootings, and grammar checks, this project has been a success.

For the future of my 365, there is no telling what will come next, but this project has completely re-energized my love of the craft and willingness to try shooting compositions I normally would not attempt in the past.  It’s just remarkable what you can come up with when you only have 24 hours to make something out of nothing. Additionally, you may rediscover what inspired you to start shooting in the first place, for me it was capturing nature on a film medium to share with anyone willing to take 5 minutes to look. Now with digital photography and the internet, I can reach a larger audience.

Everyone wants a magic formula to catapult them into the spot light and help their career take off, or that one picture that sends them to stardom. I think it only comes along when you’re ready for it because you are the magic formula; with any craft, dedication and hard work are never un-noticed. Take on personal projects to better build your foundation, contribute to online communities, network, network, network, and just be you. After all, you spent all these years being you; it should be the easiest person to be.

Keep shooting everyone!

Brian Palmer

Check out Brian’s 365 Project journey on www.brian-palmer.net.

Brian recently posted on the Pictage forums about the 365 Project.

PartnerCon has been over for more than a week, but you’ve probably noticed that the buzz, inspiration, and community love is thriving. We are more than thrilled with this year’s turnout and want to once again say thank you for joining us for the BEST event we’ve ever had!

I think all of us walked away with something powerful and we challenge you to spread the word AND spread your work.  Share what you learned and who you met with photographer friends and fellow PUG members.  Post your photos among the almost 700 on our Facebook page and/or share your blog posts on the forums.

These are just a few by the following photographers in their own post Partner Con blog posts and also on the “PartnerCon NOLA 2009- Your Blogs, slideshows, and Facebook” on the Pictage Forums.

Great slideshow by Grant Oakes – http://grantoakes.com/partnercon/

Shawn Reeder of Shawn Reeder Photographer and Music

Frank and Elizabeth of Sweet Life Photo

Erin Saldana of Erin J. Saldana Photography

Tasra Dawson of tasra365.com.

Christine Lee Smith of CLS Photography.

Visit this thread on the Pictage Forums for more blog posts featuring even more amazing images and even video blogging from NOLA.

Written by: Elizabeth Villa (Pictage Blog Team)

(editor’s note: Partner Conference New Orleans recap post coming soon.  In the meantime…)

Open Forum- What is it? Are you on it? Why? Why not?

“OPEN Forum, is an online resource and networking site for small business owners. The site is designed to forge meaningful business connections and provide practical, actionable information and insights from influential bloggers, industry leaders, and savvy entrepreneurs. In addition, the site will aggregate relevant online small business conversations from Twitter.”

-American Express Press Release 2009

When I was introduced to the Open Forum I immediately questioned whether or not it had the potential to be a resource for Pictage users as small business owners. The Open Forum is much like the Pictage forums in that it is a community of small business owners just like yourself, learning from each other. It hopes to give small business owners the tools to connect and collaborate and grow. But here’s the catch, you have to be an American Express card holder to receive “all” the perks…

But what is it exactly? It’s a collection of resources for small businesses, in the form of blogs and other articles from experts such as Alltop’s Guy Kawasaki and Mashable’s Pete Cashmore in addition to conversations in the actual forum. Major topics in the idea hub are managing, marketing, and innovation. Open Forum is a new way to look at business, an attitude of sharing with your business community rather than keeping strategic secrets. It might serve as an opportunity for you as photographers and small business owners to get a different perspective by joining a community of other small business owners that are in different industries. But as I mentioned before, if you are not an American Express card holder you can only use Open Forum as a resource for advice through blogs and other articles. Is that alone worth checking it out?

So, I’m curious. If you have American Express, are you interested in joining the Open Forum? If you do not, do the blogs and articles and expert advise benefit you enough to visit? If you haven’t heard of it, take a second to get familiar with it. The following is a video I found introducing Open Forum and explaining all of it’s features, most specifically as it benefits American Express card holders. Below is an article posted on Open Forum earlier this year, and can serve as an indication of what is available for non card holders.

This article was written by one of my favorite bloggers, marketing guru and successful entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki. He frequently posts his articles on the Open Forum relating to small businesses, marketing, and more specifically social media.

For the complete article visit Open Forum here.

Meet Denver based photographer Grant Oakes. Grant’s session titled “Perception is Reality” will be Wednesday, November 4, 2009 at 8:00 AM. For more information such as the Katrina Photo Shoot, speaker bios, and schedule visit www.partnercon.pictage.com. In the section below, Grant shares a little about his background, his session, who you should attend, and what he is most excited about for this year’s Partner Conference.

I guess you could say that I accidently became a wedding photographer.  In 1977 a couple of my friends were getting married and since I was a decent amateur photographer I volunteered to shoot heir weddings.  Word spread and before long I was doing about 5-6 per year fro friends and relatives.  Fast forward to 1993, I came to a crossroads in my career.  I was getting rather tired of working the weddings instead of attending them and told my wife I was going to quit doing them.  She told me to purse it more seriously instead of just passively.  I mulled that thought over for a while and thought, “why not?”.  I started investing in seminars, equipment and advertising and within a few years was filling up my calendar rather nicely.  In 2001-2002 everything was going great, we had just completed building a custom home complete with a presentation room, studio and production area then everything changed.  The company I was working for shut it’s doors and I was forced into a full time photographer situation, now it was sink or swim.  It’s amazing what you can do when faced with adversity.Today I’m extremely thrilled with what I get to do, the passion has not abated one bit.  I want to get even more involved in the industry and maybe in a small way help shape the direction it’s going.

Also, from 2003-2005 I conducted a series of workshops called the Digital Pow Wow to help photographers make the transition to digital capture and now my newest workshop is a 2-1/2 destination wedding photography program that is a real wedding!  The next one is May 17-19, 2010 in Cancun.

It’s a well know fact we wedding photographers can get into a rut and spend an extreme amount of time in what we do, just get by and then burn out.  I have sought a route that will allow me to work let and actually enjoy my family.  My wife of 21 years and I have the privilege of raising 2 of our grandchildren and we owe it them to provide the time, love and nurturing they deserve.  I want to share some very valuable information with those that come to my program that they can apply to their business model that will make an immediate impact on their revenue.

It’s not about the work, it’s not about the art, it’s not about post production.  It’s only for those that are already good photographers that want to make more money but can’t seem to get it no matter how good they are.

This is my first Partner Con and trip to New Orleans.  I’m look forward to meeting some of the other Pictagers that I’m met on the forums and to experience the whole Partner Con thing.  Jim Collins is also a big draw for me.  It’s not often you get a CEO that has passion for the craft, enthusiasm about the industry and a sense of humor to boot.

See some images courtesy of Grant Oakes below.

Greetings from an accidental storm chaser:

As you know, I have been traveling, teaching the Lightroom Workflow Workshops over the last few weeks and I just finished one in Houston, Texas today (Thursday, October 29th).  I planned my workshop tour to coincide with Pictage Partner Conference, in New Orleans.  But, with a few days to myself, I thought I would swing up to visit my family in Shreveport, Louisiana.  Have you seen the weather lately?  An absolute nightmare of a storm has spread itself directly up my path with tornados touching down all over Shreveport.  So, while my family hunkers down in a closet amidst storm sirens, and with road closures everywhere, I am left half way between Houston and Shreveport in a Best Wester Hotel watching an HBO encore of George Clooney’s “The Perfect Storm.”

Will I make it to Shreveport?  Not tonight?  Maybe tomorrow…  maybe not…

Will I make it to New Orleans?  Without a doubt.  I wouldn’t miss it, but I may be hitching a ride in a tornado.

I am looking forward to speaking at the Partner Conference.  My lecture is entitled “The Photographer’s Eye,” in which I will discuss five unique attributes of the art and craft of photography which set us apart from the rest of art world.  It will be a great opportunity to take a break from the business discussions and immerse ourselves in the medium and renew our excitement and love for the act of photography and elevate our thinking.

Why should you come to hear my lecture?  Because this lecture is a fantastic lecture for photographers of all levels that will inspire and energize you.  Because, it’s like a photographic sermon that will leave you shouting Amen!  Because I am always lecturing at the same time as Joe Buissink and if you don’t wear your glasses, or if you come with sleep in your eyes, we kind of look the same!

I look forward to seeing everyone there!

By the way, I already have my umbrella.

Jared Platt will be speaking on Wednesday, November 4th at 10:10 AM. For more information such as the Katrina Photo Shoot, speaker bios, and schedules visit www.partnercon.pictage.com.

Hi, I’m Liana.  While many refer to me simply as “liana banana”, I was married in April of this year, so I’ve officially changed my last name from Lehman to Hall!  I’m based out of the Atlanta GA area which is great because my focus is destination weddings and it’s easy to get around from here.  While destination weddings is our specialty, we also photograph plenty of Atlanta weddings and lifestyle portraits.  When I’m not shooting, I’m teaching Photo Business Boot Camps and traveling.  Right now I’m one of the only working pro wedding photographers certified to teach the not-fun business stuff to other entrepreneurs.  It’s a lot of work, because I don’t have any “down-time” but so rewarding to be able to do both!

I thought I knew what it was like to plan a wedding because, before I started shooting weddings, I assisted a wedding planner and knew the industry well.  What I found out this past year, while planning our own wedding, is that I had NO IDEA how stressful it can be – and how wrong I was about some things before.  Being on the OTHER side gave me a whole new appreciation for what our clients go through, and things we can do to make their experience SO much better.  There are some things about the wedding industry that drove me CRAZY during the process, things I noticed could be better, and I hope that I can share these insights with others during my session at Partner Conference.

If you want to know all the things your clients may not be telling you, come to my session.  In the past year I’ve had tons of friends and even my little sister who also got married and I was able to pick their brains for dos and donts as well.  It’s crazy how similar our experiences were – and how the industry falls short in making the process easy and enjoyable.

The people, and the chance to do something great by giving back to the community.  Partner Conference is always like a big reunion and the perfect place to meet new friends in the industry.  If it weren’t for those I’ve met at Partner Conferences since 2005 (yes, I’ve been to all!)  then I probably would not be in business today.  Running a photography business can be such hard work, frustrating, and even lonely at times.  It helps to know you have a network of photographers who support, encourage, and stand by each other.  This is the first year we are given the chance to use our talents to tangibly impact the community around us during the Partner Conference.  I know it will mean a lot to be able to help the families who were effected by Hurricane Katrina. Giving back may just be one of the most rewarding experiences of all!

Liana will also be bringing her wedding albums, designed by her and printed by KISS.

Liana teaches the not-fun-stuff every photographer needs to know in order to be profitable in business.  She is the ONLY professional wedding photographer in the USA who teaches managerial accounting, finance, and business planning to other photographers in a small group, hands-on environment.  Join her in Austin in November or Atlanta in January for her next Photo Business Boot Camp!  www.BananasEDU.com

Meet Miami based fashion and wedding photographer Carlos Baez. Carlos will be speaking at Partner Conference this year but beyond that he will be hosting an “Exclusive VIP Nudoir (sm) Photography Workshop” while in New Orleans. This workshop is only open for 10 people and will be taking place on November 3rd from 9 to 12 PM.

One attendee will win a copy of Carlos’ DVD “See the Light”, a $150 value. For more information, registration, and payment visit Carlos’ blog here.

Carlos’ speaking session is titled “Rated MA: For Mature Audiences Only” and will be taking place on November 3rd at 10:10 AM. Watch the video below for Carlos’ very own explanation of the session and why you should plan on attending.

Rated MA: Mature Audiences Partner Con Promo from CARLOS BAEZ on Vimeo.

For more details about Partner Con, speakers, and schedules visit www.partnercon.pictage.com.

Partner Conference is so close! If you are as excited as we are, join us in our countdown by posting it to your own blog through the HTML code below.

<object type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” data=”http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/files/countdown/countdown.swf?co=01007D&bgcolor=DDE6FF&date_month=11&date_day=03&date_year=0&un=PARTNER CONFERENCE NOLA&size=giant&mo=11&da=03&yr=2009″ width=”500″ height=”160″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/files/countdown/countdown.swf?co=01007D&bgcolor=DDE6FF&date_month=11&date_day=03&date_year=0&un=PARTNER CONFERENCE NOLA&size=giant&mo=11&da=03&yr=2009″ /><param value=”#DDE6FF” /></object><img src=”http://www.oneplusyou.com/q/img/bb_badges/countdown.jpg” alt=”" style=”display: none;” height=”1″ width=”1″ /><div>Created by <a href=”http://www.oneplusyou.com”>OnePlusYou</a></div>