Randomness - Networking

Networking

I'm not sure why, but it seems like lately I've been getting a little better at networking. Yes, it was one of my 2010 resolutions, so I'd better be making some progress, right? Well, I finally feel like I'm getting there.

Take, for instance, last night. I've been working with CRAVE Denver, a guidebook and network for local women-owned businesses, doing photo shoots for their upcoming book. Because CRAVE isn't just about a book, but about building networks, there are occasional parties where all of the women in the book have a chance to meet each other. I was asked to take some photos at last night's event. It turns out the only other guy around was the DJ/dance instructor. Let me tell you, these events are amazing! No, I'm not just saying that because I'm the only guy in a room full of women. What's amazing is the way these women network.

As I made my way through the crowd last night taking photos and meeting local business owners, one thing kept coming up in conversation. The atmosphere and attitudes were all about helping each other. No one was snobby, no one was mean... everyone was so nice! If there were two people who did the same thing, they were talking to each other as friends, not as competitors. This couldn't have been more clear than with my fellow photographers.

I would guess that there were at least 10 different photographers at the event last night. What really struck me was how we all felt comfortable with each other. We weren't comparing how many shoots we'd done this year. We weren't seeing who had the cooler business cards. We weren't talking gear to see who had the biggest lens or most expensive camera. None of that. Instead, we talked about what we shoot, who we know and how we might be able to help each other. We actually networked!

As Belinda and I were driving home, I mentioned to her how nice it was to talk to other photographers and not get into a competition over who has the best gear. There was hardly even any mention of Canon vs. Nikon! Let me tell you, that's a minor miracle. With that many photographers in the same room I'm surprised we didn't break off into cliques based on camera manufacturer, secretly talking trash and giving the other groups dirty looks.

Of course, Belinda wasn't surprised. She says that's the way women's networking events work. It's not about who has the best, or the most, or the whatever. It's about "how can we help each other." I like it! It's so refreshing. I walked away from the event last night feeling very positive and energized. I made quite a few good connections that I hope will blossom into fruitful working relationships. I'm aware that meeting people is the easy part of networking. The hard part comes in maintaining contact and keeping the connections alive. Something tells me the people I met last night will be able to teach me a thing or two about doing that as well.

Tech Tuesdays - Lowepro Exchange Messenger Bag

After working a few events where I needed to swap lenses often, I knew something had to change. Here's the situation: You're at an event, you plan on using 3 lenses, your bag is stored someplace that's inaccessible during the event and you're wearing slacks. What do you do? Sounds like you need a bag that's a lot smaller than your camera bag but still holds enough that you don't have to worry about not having something.

When faced with this situation, my first thought was to get a Shootsac. I saw Jasmine Star using one of these while working a wedding and thought it looked like the perfect solution. Unfortunately, I needed one on short notice and couldn't find anyone here in Denver who sold them. Thus began my quest for the non-intrusive-yet-highly-functional bag.

Julia and Jaden Part II - Denver Family Photos

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might remember me writing about Julia and Jaden last year. Well, I got a phone call from Stephanie, their mom, again this year asking for another photo shoot. Everyone was a year older, but no less full of energy. In fact, the dog had just been to the vet and was enjoying her freedom so much we couldn't even get her to sit still long enough for more than one or two photos!

We had another beautiful October day to shoot. This year, we went for something a little less green and more autumnal. The colors have been beautiful this year, so finding a good location was not hard. The girls were dressed in matching dresses from a wedding earlier in the year. They were both flower girls, but unfortunately did not get a good photo, so the goal of the day was to get a good photo for their holiday card.

Apparently, it's now a tradition to go a little crazy at the beginning of the photo shoot (it's happened two years in a row, so I'm calling it a tradition), so the girls didn't want to do anything serious at the beginning of the shoot. That was fine, as I don't mind some goofy photos. Kids should be kids once in a while!

After they got a little energy out of their systems, we changed locations and got some nice photos. We even got Stephanie and the dog in for a few photos! I knew I was pressing my luck with the reserved, nice photos and pretty soon they just couldn't sit still and got goofy again. That's when I knew the shoot was over. As we were walking back to the car, I asked the girls to skip ahead of me and got a few wonderful photos of them skipping along, hand in hand.

I had gotten the shots I had come to get, as well as a few extras. I'm sure Stephanie will look at them years from now and fondly remember a beautiful October day spent with her daughters before they were all grown up. I'm sure if we keep shooting every year, I will look back at them and recall sunny afternoons and silly girls, which will make me smile.

To see more photos from their shoot, click here.

How Not To Do Things - Cooks Source

There are certain people and organizations you don't want to mess with: The Mafia, North Korea, Dick Cheney... and NPR? Yes, don't mess with NPR. If you need an example as to why, look no further than the recent story concerning Cooks Source.

OK, so maybe NPR didn't break the story, but I still like to give them credit for helping to spread the word. That's where I heard about it. What's the story? Here's a quick summary: Cooks Source, an ad-supported magazine, has apparently been lifting content from the internet and publishing it. They have given the authors credit, but not the source publications like Martha Stewart, The Food Network and NPR. Cooks Source claims that since they were able to find the articles on the internet, they are considered "public domain" and are therefore not protected by copyright laws.

You might be wondering what this has to do with photography? Copyright is a huge issue with photographers who make their living with the photos they take. There are hundreds, if not thousands of stories about photographers who have found their images being used without permission. They might be used to illustrate a blog post or to advertise a product. Regardless, they are being used without permission and are typically violating the photographer's copyrights.

Copyright is a hot topic in the photography community. The combination of digital photography and the internet makes it too easy to copy and paste an image for whatever purpose you please. Most people are unaware that just because you have the ability to copy something doesn't mean that you have the right to copy it. This is exactly what happened with Cooks Source.

Cooks Source is certainly being made an example of and this is only the beginning. Right now, retribution is coming in the form of posts on their Facebook Page. In the time it's taken me to write this, another 200 people have already "Liked" the page. You can be sure that every single one of these people has done so to taunt or chastise Cooks Source.  What's in store?  Probably the end of the magazine and possible monetary compensation to anyone who had work stolen.

Unfortunately, copyright infringement happens every day to artists, writers, photographers, musicians and others who depend on their creativity to make a living. Hopefully, this Cooks Source debacle will generate some awareness about copyrights and make people think twice before stealing someone else's hard work and creativity for their own personal gain.

Oh yeah, since this is titled "How Not To Do Things", I guess I should make a quick list of how not to do things. Thanks to Cooks Source for the inspiration:

• How not to get 3500 new Facebook fans in less than 24 hours: steal other people's work.
• How not to get mentioned by NPR, Time, Boing Boing, CNET, CNN, The Guardian, etc...: steal other people's work.
• How not to apologize: steal other people's work and then tell them they should thank you for editing it to make it better.
• How not to stop the bleeding: create a new Facebook page for "the readers" and tell everyone that "untruthful posts will be considered libelous".
• How not to publish a magazine: steal other people's work.

Rebecca - Boulder Children's Photos

Good things come to those who wait, right? If that's the case, then the photos of Rebecca's daughters should be amazing! Rebecca let me know way back in April that she wanted some fall photos. At that time, her youngest daughter, Samira, was almost 1 year old and hadn't had a formal photo shoot yet. By the time we shot with the fall colors in October, she was almost 1.5 years old.

The original plan was to shoot up in a canyon outside of Boulder. The original plan was also to shoot a few weeks earlier than we ended up shooting to catch the colors when they were at their peak. When I went up into the canyon on the day of the shoot, the colors were pretty much gone, so, with an improvisational Hail Mary, we decided to shoot on the University of Colorado campus and hope for some color. Fortunately, there was lots of color and many more locations for photos than we would have had in the canyon.

Samira took a bit of time warming up to the camera. Her older sister, Stella, took advantage of the opportunity to get some extra photos while her sister was being shy. Pretty soon, though, they were both goofing around and hardly noticed I was there. This is one of my favorite times to photograph children. When they forget you're there and just act like kids, it's possible to capture some truly authentic images. Posed, smiling photos of children are always nice, but I love a good photo of a kid being a kid.

As is always the case, once the kids decide they're done with photos, the shoot is over. Samira lasted over an hour, which is excellent for a kid her age. We sat down, had a snack, then headed back to the car. Fortunately, she got a second-wind before we got to the car and I was able to take photos for a bit longer before we parted ways.

So, do good things come to those who wait? Let's see... The weather was gorgeous. The location was beautiful. The light was perfect. The girls were wonderful. And the photos? According to Rebecca, they're "amazing". Just what I was hoping for.

You can see more photos from the afternoon here.

Randomness - Salad

Salad

Salad isn't something that you normally get really excited about. Sometimes, though, salads are fun.

Belinda and I always look forward to our salads. I don't think it's because we really love salad (OK, Belinda does but I don't... it wouldn't be my choice for my last meal), but we really love salad nights. A salad is something we make together. It represents teamwork. It's always different, depending on which veggies we got in our vegetable share. It's also one of the few things Belinda helps me prepare.

If I'm grilling meat or making soup, she's nowhere to be found. But, as soon as I pull out a head of lettuce and some carrots, she's in the kitchen, putting on an apron and kicking me out of the way! Never argue with a woman with a knife in one hand and a salad spinner in the other.

I love cooking, so it's no big deal that Belinda doesn't usually help me cook. Long ago, we determined our kitchen was a "one-butt kitchen". If there's more than one person in there trying to cook, that's one butt too many. Somehow, though, we make it work when it's time for salad, which is a good thing. I don't think a salad I made by myself would taste nearly as good.

Tech Tuesdays - Book Review - "The E-Myth Revisited"

I had heard great things about Michael Gerber's book The E-Myth. Great things like "I stayed up all night reading it". Successful, young photographers like Chase Jarvis and Jasmine Star have endorsed it. So, I figured I'd give it a shot, but instead of reading the original version (which is from the 1980s), I decided to read The E-Myth Revisited, since it's supposed to be a "new and totally revised edition". Should be the same ideas but with more computers and less fax machines.

For some reason, I just could not get into the book. Usually, this is a bad sign. If I'm not into a book within the first 10-15 pages, I usually just cut my losses and move on, but with this book, I was determined to read it and see what the fuss was all about. As I read on, I started to get into it, which is why I can actually write a review. You didn't think I'd post a review of the first 15 pages that just said "boring", now did you?

The way the book is written is fairly unique for a business book. As you'd expect, the author discusses his techniques, methods and ideas, but each chapter is framed within a conversation with an exasperated business owner. The author meets a woman who bakes pies and just can't figure out why she's working so much and not growing her business. Their conversation carries you through the ideas the book presents and gives them a practical application so you, as the reader, get to see the concepts applied to an actual business instead of just discussed as hypothetical concepts. It's a clever concept that not only helped me to get an idea of what was being discussed, but also broke up the monotony of just reading a business book.

So what about the content of the book? I have to admit, I didn't find The E-Myth Revisited as groundbreaking as I'd hoped. There were times where I was very inspired by what I was reading. The ideas all seem sound and seem like they can be applied to any business. I'm not sure what was missing for me. Maybe it's that I don't feel ready to make the major changes suggested by the book. Maybe it's because there weren't many ideas I could immediately apply to my business. I can't quite put my finger on it. Something tells me that if I go back and read it again in a year, I'll be much more excited. Maybe I'll even stay up all night reading it!