The Pictage Blog

Session Topic: Creating Images with Impact

Chris and Katie will explain how photographers create better images with greater impact by broadening their understanding in the areas of depth, lighting, and perspective. Those who employ these creative techniques set their work apart from an ever-increasing crowd of photographers. Those who find ways to add impact in the camera will create more memorable images than those who rely mainly on post processing techniques in an attempt to stand apart. Chris and Katie will talk about proven techniques to enable each photographer to enhance the impact of their own images while maintaining and developing their own sense of style.

Bio: Chris & Katie Humphreys

Chris got his unlikely start in wedding photography three years ago, when he met David Jay while shooting for his college newspaper. With Jay’s help and encouragement, Chris started Chris Humphreys Photography in the summer of 2004. He and his wife Katie have since expanded their home studio in Santa Barbara and now travel together, shooting weddings all over the United States, as well as internationally. Chris has been the recipient of multiple WPJA awards.

If you asked Katie as a young girl growing up what she wanted to be doing with her life, never in her wildest dreams would she have declared Wedding Photography. And yet, Katie is hard pressed to imagine herself doing anything else that would leave her feeling more fulfilled, inspired, and excited than she does each day.

**Get your questions ready and join us Here today at 4PM(pst). If you’re not already registered for the Pictage Forums, sign up here and check out the community today!

Upcoming Speakers:
Don’t miss other Pictage Partner Conference Speakers every following Wednesday from 4pm - 6pm Pacific Time

09-03-2008 Justin & Mary Marantz

What are the top 3 things you want attendees to take from your presentation?
1. A fire in them to go out to be the best.
2. I don’t want them to doubt who they are.
3. To laugh and feel alive with their photography.

What’s your favorite thing about Partner Conference Los Angeles?
You cannot beat the group of people that come together for 1 purpose, to pass on to those who want to learn.

What is the best advice you can give someone who has never attended a Pictage Partner Conference?
Please go, it will be the best investment of your time and money, especially with the amount of speakers you will hear, but also all the new friends you will make.

Besides your own presentation who would you like to hear?
Sara France, Robert Evans, Dane Sanders, Jared Platt, Joe Buissink, Mike Colon, and
Me Ra Koh.

PicBooks

Loren Scott shares with us a few tidbits about Pictage PicBooks. Check it out and let us know why YOU use them!

Loren is a versatile photographer, experienced with many different genres of photography, with a primary focus on high-end wedding documentation. Also well known for his fashionably-flattering maternity photography, Loren typically enjoys repeat clients where he is asked to document the pregnancy and birth after documenting the wedding. Loren Scott Photography is located in Murrieta, CA.

Video Produced by Cinematic Studios.

Liana Lehman’s presentation is all about “Money, Lies, and Photography.”

What are the top 3 things you want attendees to take from your presentation?
1) Some of the essential not-glamorous business actions every small business owner needs to take so that they don’t end up losing tons of money, owing years of back-taxes, and deep in debt.
2) How to price so you can still make money and be competitive (using the big equation and three pricing methods)
3) Common lies about money and photography we (and the industry) tell ourselves and how to overcome these.

What’s your favorite thing about Partner Conference Los Angeles?
The people of course!! Since it’s a smaller conference than many, it’s much easier to meet people and build lasting relationships. I met my core group of photography friends back at the 1st Annual Conference in 2005 and we’ve been getting together multiple times a year since. I wouldn’t be in this industry if it weren’t for these people!!

What is the best advice you can give someone who has never attended a Partner Conference?
Forget about sleep, spending time in your room, reviewing notes (at least until you get home) and Get Out There! Go to every dinner, session, and event you can … reach out to people even if you don’t normally and you’ll learn so much from just hanging out with other photographers!

Besides your own presentation who would you like to hear?
Definitely Robert T. Williams “Got that Sinking Feeling”. We’ve spoken at most of the same conventions for years and I’ve heard he’s amazing but haven’t had a chance yet to hear him. I believe he’s dead-on in the need to be unique and distinguishable (especially in this economy) and am interested in hearing his philosophy and take on the subject.

Session Topic: Leveraging Technology to Brand Your Business

Dane will de-mystify our times and offer tangible tools to help you sort through the value filters you need to make brilliant branding and marketing decisions without ever spending a dime on advertising.

Bio: Dane Sanders

Dane is in the midst of his fourth year of shooting weddings professionally and has been with Pictage since he began. He was one of the founding members of the now world famous OpenSourcePhoto Forum and has found his greatest joy in creating images around life’s most meaningful moments. Dane’s efforts have recently been recognized in such noteworthy publications as Professional Photographer and Rangefinder Magazines. He was also recently selected to be one of a handful of photographers highlighted in Lou Jacob’s upcoming book on Modern Wedding Photography. That said, he is probably most well known for his “Photo Minute” video podcasts that he began in 2006.

**Get your questions ready and join us Here today at 4PM(pst). If you’re not already registered for the Pictage Forums, sign up here and check out the community today!

Upcoming Speakers:
Don’t miss other Pictage Partner Conference Speakers every following Wednesday from 4pm - 6pm Pacific Time

08-27-2008 Chris & Katie Humphreys
09-03-2008 Justin & Mary Marantz

Dane will be speaking on “Photographer - By Design.”

What are the top 3 things you want attendees to take from your presentation?
1. Become convinced, more than ever before in their lives, of the need to be distinct as a photographer and to stand out from the heard they stand in the midst of.

2. A tangible, real world picture in their minds of what standing out could actually look like for them in particular.

3. Finally, with the motivation driving and the picture clear, that each person would walk away with a tangible game plan to immediately make that vision a reality.

My hope is that these three things would become so real to attendees, that they will from then on be so dissatisfied with keeping the status quo that they will commit all they are and have to make their vision a reality.

What’s your favorite thing about Partner Conference Los Angeles?
I love being with other passionate photographers eager for connection, encouragement and bent on taking their businesses to the next level. Being around these positive enthusiasts is a highlight of my year. It inspires me every time I go.

What is the best advice you can give someone who has never attended a Pictage Partner Conference?
My encouragement would be to be intentional with your time, especially as you have the chance to get in conversation with other professionals. There’s so much going on, it’s tempting to follow the crowds not because you believe it will help you but because others are doing whatever it is they’re doing.

PartnerCon is one of those phenomenon’s that will have you if you don’t have it.

Besides your own presentation who would you like to hear?
That’s an awful question! I want to see everyone!! Robert Evans, Jules Bianchi, Mike Colon, Chris and Katie, Carlos Baez, Me Ra and Brian, Gene Higa, Sara France, Marc Weisberg, Denis Reggie, Mike Larson, Joe Buissink, Jared Bauman, Justin and Mary all come to mind immediately, but so do all the rest!

Choosing who not to go to is the hardest part about PartnerCon. I can’t wait.

Staying on Schedule and Keeping it Cool

How do you make sure everything stays on schedule on the wedding day? Jules Bianchi shares some jewels on how to keep it cool - especially when things don’t go according to plan.

Jules of Jules Bianchi Photography has led seminars at Pictage Partner Conference for the past 3 years along with workshops at the Digital Wedding Forum Convention in Las Vegas in 2006. She also started up Jules Cafe, where she helps out numerous other photographers with mentoring and hot tips. Jules is our Los Angeles PUG leader and has been featured in prestigious magazines such as Los Angeles Wedding Magazine, Bride and Bloom, the Knot, Your Wedding Day and Ceremony.

Video Produced by Cinematic Studios.

Describe your photography style or words that describe your brand?
I believe that my style is best phrased as Romantic & Artistic. I also bring a crazy/uber high amount of energy that I am naturally blessed with. I also combine the excitement and out of the box thinking that came from shooting extreme sports for many years and the entertainment/fashion/modeling industry.

What is a must read or must see?
I would suggest any photography or photographic art magazine out of Europe. They have fewer ads in them - which is very dissimilar to pretty much anything printed in the US. For a must see, I would HIGHLY recommend the following movies: Moulin Rouge, Matrix Trilogy, Amadeus, Love Actually, Shakespeare in Love, Ever After, Romeo & Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Original Highlander Movie, Prince; Sign O The Times, Joe Photo’s Show & Tell, Mike Colon’s 4 Day Experience, Gary Fong’s Getting Rich DVD series, The Photovison series DVDs with Ed Pierce, Jerry Ghionis; What Makes Me Click and pretty much any other movie or DVD series that will enhance your artistic creativity or vision.

For a book, I would recommend “Weddings of Style” by Assouline, David La Chappell’s books and if you’re into traditional or extreme sports, I contributed content & pictures for the cover of “Digital Sports Photography; Take Winning Shots Every Time” by Wiley Publishers. It’s a Number 1 seller on Amazon.

Speaking of books, I am a founding member of Fast Track Photographer with Dane Sanders - who recently published his book: Fast Track Photographer which is available for Audio download or to purchase as a book (http://www.fasttrackphotographer.com/). I have started listening to the audio book & it’s wonderful. Even though I have been in the industry for 2 1/2 decades, you can never learn too much on how to simplify and better your life. Like the old saying goes; “Knowledge is Power.” If you get a chance to check it out - it’s so worth it. And, this is saying a lot from me as most people that know me think that I can’t read as I rarely if ever pick up a book. LOL!

What are your work hours?
Currently I’m working from 6:00 a.m. to Midnight / 2:00 a.m. during the week and about the same or more on Saturday & Sunday for when I’m shooting weddings.

What is your favorite thing about Pictage?
The Product Selection and the ease of use for the album design online. Pictage has grown quite a bit in the years that I have been with them and even though there have been some growing pains as Pictage needed technology to catch up with it’s vision - it has been a great working relationship.

What lens could you not live without?
My 15mm Fisheye. Coming from an Extreme Sports and Entertainment Industry background - that one will have to be buried with me as I’m not letting go from my cold dead hands.

How do you juggle your business and family/social life?
I’m supposed to juggle? I missed that memo! LOL! Katherine takes a very active role in assisting me with the business. I also have a couple of great Associate Photographers that work with us which really helps when I’m booked or would like to have some time off.

What workflow tools do you use?
I’m using Lightroom 2.0 with plenty of presets and CS3 with LOADS of actions. Have to keep it as simple as possible!

How long have you been a photographer?
I’m very excited to say that I’m wrapping up my 25th year shooting! We’re getting ready to launch our “Year of a thousand words” 25th Anniversary Celebration!

What was your very first job?
Since I grew up in the midwest, my first job was mowing the lawns in my neighborhood during the spring & summer, in the fall I would rake leaves and in the winter I would shovel driveways & sidewalks. Then I discovered being a paperboy and did that too, especially for the tips during the holidays. I have always had an entrepurenial spirit since I was a child.

Most listened to song on your ipod?
Rio by Duran Duran.

What is something you have learned this year?
I have taught myself a couple of new on-camera metering techniques that I thought up when I was in London for an Engagement Shoot with Erin & Philip. See it here!

What is a goal for 2008?
To actually decorate my office! I swear, the minute I have it all organized and tidied up, 3 days later it looks like a tornado hit it.

What is one thing we don’t know about you?
I have survived 3 near death accidents since I have lived in Southern California since 1993 and I was a model for Ralph Lauren for 2 years when I was younger.

Who inspires you?
God, my wife; Katherine, my two brothers: Jason & Tony, [b], Jessica Claire, Scarlett Lillian, Joe Photo, Mike Colón, Gary Fong and Keanu Reeves.

How do you get most of your bookings?
Whether we do a small wedding with a couple that has a more limited budget or a couple that has a blank check, we treat them all the same. It’s all about relationships and getting to know our couples like their family. Most of our couples turn into families and we have had the honour of sharing our lives together upwards of 10 years or more.

What is your primary way of marketing?
Word of mouth, Facebook, various wedding websites and our friends.

What blog do you stalk?
Currently I have Joe Photos, Mike Colón, [b], Jessica Claire, Scarlett Lillian, Gary Fong, F-Stop Beyond, Dane Sanders, and Strobist. I have a few pages open usually with plenty of tabs on them for me to stalk daily! Muah hah hah!

If you had a tagline, what would it be?
We currently have one, but if I was to change it, it would be a toss-up between; “Pain heals, chicks dig scars, glory lasts forever” from The Replacements with Keanu Reeves and “A man can change his stars” by the late Heath Ledger in Knight’s Tale.

Any words of wisdom to share…
Follow your heart and your dreams. I started shooting when I was a kid & have met several obstacles in my career and I will continue to evolve and change all the while keeping the dream alive. Know that for every positive thing you seek to achieve, you will be met with an equal and opposite negative force.

Thanks David! Here is some link love…
Site - http://esquirephotography.com/
Blog - http://esquirephotography.com/blog/
Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/people/David_Esquire/636655600
Twitter - http://twitter.com/EsquirePhoto

Congrats to Pictage photographer Mike Colón for being featured in the August issue of Professional Photographer Magazine!

The feature asks:
What do you absolutely depend on?
“My partnership with Pictage.  Pictage not only keeps my clients satisfied with timely fulfillment, they also free up my time to do what I love most, shoot!”

Thanks for the shout out Mike!

Chris and Katie’s presentation is on “Everything that is watched improves.”

What are the top 3 things you want attendees to take from your presentation?
1. First, it’s so easy to subconsciously assume that the success of our business is simply measured in dollars and cents.  But if our goal is to maintain continual growth, it’s got to be more three dimensional than that.  We want photographers to become consistently focused on three different areas of their business that they can watch that will lead to sustained growth: relationships, money, and time.

2. Beyond that, we want to empower photographers by giving them systems they’ll need to develop their business.  We see that development as having three steps: Watch. Analyze. Grow.

3. Finally, whether you’re an established studio or a new photographer, you can further thrive by systemizing your growth for the long term.  We want all photographers- regardless of what phase they’re in - to think long term in how they’re choosing to build and grow their business.

What’s your favorite thing about Partner Conference Los Angeles?
Seeing the sense of community and spirit of giving that so many Pictage members come together to share!

What is the best advice you can give someone who has never attended a Partner Conference?
Come with the excitement and expectation of developing new relationships!  Don’t be afraid of going up to new people and introducing yourself.  People WANT to meet others and build new relationships!

Besides your own presentation who would you like to hear?
Gene Higa-because he’s a master at setting himself apart and standing out in a crowd.  Also, Justin and Mary Marantz because they are two of the most genuine and sincerely caring people who have such a heart for photographers– it really inspires us.