My First Cover - Photo From An Event At The Smithsonian

In May of this year I was honored to be part of an event called Pens and the Post that was held at the Smithsonian Postal Museum. I attended as an exhibitor. For those of you who don't know, I collect fountain pens and fountain pen inks. Much to my wife's dismay, I have amassed a huge collection of vintage fountain pen ink bottles from the 1920s-1960s. Most of them still have usable ink in them. I even wrote a book about ink called Vintage Inks.

Since I've become known as "The Ink Guy" in fountain pen circles (yes, you should be very jealous), I was asked to host an ink table at this Smithsonian event. At my table I discussed the history of ink, had displays of vintage ink bottles and even had different samples of vintage ink that people could write with. The program was a huge success and was lots of fun to attend, both as an exhibitor and as an attendee.

Of course, I couldn't just go to an event like this and not take any photos. The day of the event was a little too busy for me to get any good photos, but the night before the event I was in event photographer mode. No longer was I "John the Ink Guy". Instead, I was "John the Photographer"! By the end of the evening I felt like I had snapped some good photos that could be used to promote next years event. With that done, I put my camera in the bag, geeked out about fountain pens and really enjoyed the experience.

A few weeks after the event I was contacted by the editor of The Pennant, a magazine published by The Pen Collectors Of America (PCA). He had seen some of my photos and wanted to use a few in their upcoming issue. I said sure, sent him the images I had shot and went on with business as usual.

Just about a week ago he contacted me and said that he sent a few copies of the magazine to me. I figured they'd show up while I was out of town, which they did, so when I got home yesterday and saw a package sitting in my mail, I knew it was them (the fancy writing on the address label also helped me figure out who it was from). When I opened the package and took a look at the magazine, I couldn't believe it. He had used one of my photos on the cover! I was expecting a few photos in the middle of the magazine (which were there), but I wasn't expecting a cover! Sweet.

To see the original image that was used for the cover, click here.

Randomness - Telemarketers

Telemarketers

I got a phone call from a telemarketer the other day. It kind of caught me off guard, as I don't know the last time I got a call like that. It's been years. So, she just dove in and started telling me how great Comcast Digital Cable is. She must have talked for a solid minute before saying, "So let's go ahead and get you signed up." I kindly told her I wasn't interested, which launched her into telling me all about the great channels they offer, "so let's go ahead and get you signed up." When I said thanks, not interested, we don't watch TV she asked what type of movies we like to watch and started rambling off a list of movie genres. I finally just said I was not interested, said goodbye and hung up.

I hate being rude, but come on! That's some high-pressure sales. OK, maybe not used-car sales high-pressure, but still intense, like drinking from the proverbial fire hose. Even when you want to stop you can't!

It got me thinking about my retail days. I never pushed anything on anyone. I was Mr. Nice Guy. I helped the customer, I informed them, I made suggestions, but ultimately it was their decision and their money. Treat people how you'd want to be treated. If I go out to buy something, I'm much more likely to purchase something from someone who treats me with respect and answers my questions than someone who pushes a product on me and can't wait to close the sale.

So, how do I apply this experience to my business? First, I have to start selling something. Sure, I offer prints and products, but I don't actively sell them. I try to let them sell themselves, but without any kind of sales meeting, it's pretty hard. That's all going to change in 2011. I'll hold sales sessions, but they won't really be about selling something. They'll be about getting feedback, figuring out what people want and showing them what their options are. No pressure, no expectations, just information and examples. The last thing my customers want to hear is, "So let's go ahead and get you signed up."

The Friday Fix - 9/24/10

I've been in Atlanta for most of the week and for some reason I haven't been listening to much music. I've spent a lot of time just sitting (on the bus, the airplane, at the airport, on the MARTA and at the hotel), but didn't actually listen to any music until this morning. Actually, that's not entirely true. I went over to the mall yesterday to sit and do a bunch of writing and planning and the muzak almost drove me crazy! Seriously, did the world really need a modern muzak twist on "The Girl From Ipanema"?

This morning I sat down to edit some photos, but I checked Facebook first. My brother had made a comment yesterday about Bob Seger, which instantly got "Night Moves" stuck in my head. I saw what everyone else had to say about Bob, but for some reason this morning I got Journey stuck in my head instead of Bob. I just had to hear me some Journey, but I didn't have the album on my laptop, so I started scrolling through what I had with me. Something had to satisfy this craving!

I'm not sure why, but I stopped on Editors. They would do. Although they sound nothing like Journey, they were exactly what I needed to hear this morning. I first heard them on WOXY (RIP), and then heard them live at Monolith (also RIP). These guys put on an amazing show! What was even better was seeing them hanging out listening to other bands at Monolith. On stage, they're kind of intimidating and intense, but in the crowd they were just young guys hanging out having a good time. Very good memories from that first year at Monolith! And, as it turns out, great music for editing.

Randomness - A Teaser From Atlanta

Atlanta

I'm currently sitting in a hotel room in Atlanta. Before flying out here, I picked up a book, The Zen Of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder Kabani, at the library. I pretty much read the entire book on the plane and took copious amounts of notes.

You'll hear a lot more about this book in the future. I'm hoping I'll be able to write something like, "I read this book 3 months ago and it completely changed my business. I don't know how I ever survived without it!", but we'll just have to wait and see. Regardless, it's a pretty amazing read and I'd recommend it to any business owner, even if you don't know the first thing about My Face or Tweety.

Also, I just want to say this: Atlanta, you are hot and muggy, but I can manage. Please be nice to me during my photo shoots. This photographer isn't used to the humidity!

Tech Tuesdays - Hama Lens Hood

I had been looking for a good Gegenlichtblende for my 50mm f/1.4 for quite a while. Oh, sorry. Don't speak German? Neither do I, but that's what my Hama lens hood is called on the packaging.

So, as I was saying, I had been looking for a lens hood for my 50mm lens for a while. Although I love some good lens flare, there are times you just want to keep the sun off of the lens. Considering this is the lens I use the most and I’m usually shooting outdoors in natural light, a hood would be a good thing to have.

Imagine my surprise when I walk into a camera shop in Victoria, British Columbia of all places and find a whole rack of lens hoods! The shop, Lens and Shutter, had all kinds of goodies, but most were just a little to expensive considering the exchange rate. The Hama hood was only $15, so I figured I’d go for it.

The hood screws into your lens’ filter thread, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility between lens brands. It’s got a collapsible rubber hood that acts as a bumper for your lens when extended or collapsed and takes up very little space when collapsed. I think it’s a brilliant design!

The big question is: Does it work? So far it does! I’ve found situations where the lens might have been hit by some sun without the hood, but with the hood there’s no light on the lens, giving me better color, contrast and saturation. Of course, lens hoods don’t work miracles and I’ve still got to be careful when I’m shooting into the sun or when the sun is right out of frame.

I’ve also found that the hood doesn’t show up in the photos. The packaging says it can be used for lenses with a focal length of 45-55mm, so my 50mm is right in that range. It’s also got an filter ring built in, so it’s still able to accept filters or lens caps.

I don’t think my Hama lens hood has left my lens since I purchased it. At $15, it’s one of the best deals around. It protects my lens, it shields it from glare and it takes up very little room. Once I got home and did a little research, I found out I got a great deal as well. B&H sells their Hama lens hoods for $25 each. I almost saved enough money to pay for an extra meal in Victoria! Almost.

The Friday Fix - 9/17/10

My Facebook post for Monday morning read: "Ever have one of those mornings where you just know it's an 80s music kind of day? That would be this morning." That pretty much explains this entire week. I started out with some Dexy's Midnight Runners and Toto and ended with The Cars on Monday. On Wednesday I listened to a lot of current music with an 80s vibe like Phoenix and Ladyhawk. Today I was rocking out to We Are Scientists, who only have one song that sounds like it's from the 80s, but they're just as much fun as Boy George to sing along with. The 80s... gotta love 'em!

Stella

There are times when the forces of the universe work together to create golden opportunities. Maybe a butterfly was really flapping it's wings in some rainforest on the other side of the globe or maybe it was just a good photo session. Either way, I'm so happy that I got to spend some time with Stella and her family!

I've known Stella's parents, Shane and Amber, for quite a while... Amber since high school and Shane even longer. Shane and I grew up together. We used to get into all sorts of trouble together. Somehow one of us (usually me) always ended up getting hurt, but we never held a grudge or placed blame. It was just the way things worked. The fact that they made the trip up to Denver from Pueblo (a 2-hour drive each way) to get Stella's 6 month photos taken shows what good friends they are.

Amber warned me that Stella was the cutest baby I'd ever see. Stella is definitely a super-cute baby, but here's where the stars aligned or that butterfly flapped around or I just got lucky. I had a new technique that I wanted to try, Amber brought a bunch of cute hats for Stella, Stella had just gotten her first tooth and she was in a good mood! When all of these got put together, we got some amazing photos of Stella.

I think one of my favorite moments of the day came when Stella was just about done. Shane suggested we give her a random object to hold for a few photos. He went out for a minute and came back with a curling iron (cool, of course). When Amber asked why Shane wanted a photo of Stella with a curling iron, he just replied, "Because it's funny." It was pretty funny (and cute) and Stella definitely thought it was interesting.

I can't wait to meet up with Stella again for some more photos. Maybe I can talk Shane and Amber into something before the end of the year. If I do, you'll hear all about it!

Here's a short slideshow I put together with photos from Stella's session:



You can see more photos from the shoot here.