Once A Day photo postings now on Tumblr.
Did I mention there will be a photo posted once a day?
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Here is yesterday’s post:
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Got a call, accompanied with a neat little interview, from a reporter with Wired UK regarding my experience shooting NASA’s new Orion Spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin here in Colorado.
Not sure where the interview ended up, but this photo was recently featured in WiredUK.
Be sure to see more photos of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle on my Archive.
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As many are compiling their “Best Of 2011″ images for contests and what not, I had a great opportunity to photograph Denver’s own Best Of list for 5280 Magazine’s 2011 Game Changers issue. The issue ran in December and had a great look and design.
It was a challenging shoot with interesting portrait concepts. At my meeting with Photo Editor Sarah LaVigne and Art Director Dave McKenna, we discussed ways to best illustrate moving forward or making change. The idea we came up with was to shoot each subject in front of a white backdrop, but still show the surrounding environment.
Working within a tight budget and an even tighter deadline, I was somewhat limited on assistants and location scouting which made for, how should I put it, fun logistical moments. That said, I think we pulled it off rather well.
Beyond the shoot, it was great working with these fine people in my new home town of Denver. I had worked with Daniel Epstein and the Unreasonable Institute before and it was great to finally get his portrait. It is always great when you can work with actual makers of change within your community.
I’m sure this was just the first of many shoots with 5280 Magazine. They were great to work with and really do cool things with photography.
Laura Merage - RedLine Gallery
Daniel Epstein - Unreasonable Institute
Laura Merage - RedLine Gallery
Jörg Drews -Re-Inventing America’s Urban Water Infrastructure
Crissy Fanganello - Director for the Department of Public Works Policy and Planning and Denver Living Streets
Chris Gibbons (left) - CEO of West Denver Prep & Cynthia Gallegos - Executive Director of the Focus Points Family Resource Center
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Way back in February I was assigned a fantastic – and an equally important – story to photograph a bunch of guys recently exonerated in Texas. Many of these guys had been in prison for 15-30 years for crimes they didn’t commit. I can’t even begin to imagine.
It’s a story that is has become more and more prevalent as DNA testing becomes cheaper and more accessible for inmates in the prison system. North Texas has seen the largest number of exonerated prisoners in the country. The reason being Dallas DA Craig Watkins. Watkins has been an outspoken supporter of granting DNA testing in the state. It was a refreshing thing to sit with, talk, and photograph a person of power and influence who is actually working for the people.
I only had two days to photograph the guys, so the idea was to take portraits of each man. I felt that doing a close up of each face was the best option, as you can almost feel their stories just by looking into their eyes. After setting up my lights, I had the chance to listen to each of their stories as they spoke with the reporter for L’Express – Philippe Coste. As imagined, each story was heartbreaking. It’s stories like theirs which makes you really realize, and reflect upon your own freedom. It also raises serious questions on the justness of the legal system.
I was able to spend an extra day with one of the guys – Johnnie Lindsey. He was the 19th exoneree in Dallas Country. Johnnie was wrongly convicted of aggravated rape in 1981 and served 26 years in prison before being exonerated and being released from prison on September 19, 2008 when he was 56 years old. He invited me into his home where he showed off his piano skills on his brand new piano. You could see the pride he has in literally owning his freedom. You could also see what 30 years in prison does to a man.
When I asked what the strangest thing about being out of prison was, Johnnie told it was strange to hear cars beep at you when you don’t attach a seat belt.
This is a story I will remember for some time. I had – and still have – thoughts of making this into a larger documentary film. We’ll see where it goes. Also you can see the photos that ran in a slide show on the L’Express site.
Below is the clip from the magazine followed by my favorite portraits from the series and two quite moments spent with Johnnie.
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I’ve always wanted to shoot for Inked Magazine. Not only because they run cool photographs with cool layouts, but because I have always wanted a tattoo. I still don’t have one, but one day the right one will come to mind. I just know it!
When Todd Weinberger, the creative director at Inked, gave me a call to shoot pro-snowboarder Janna Meyen-Weatherby for their sports issue, I was super excited. I did a bit of research on Janna, but couldn’t find too much beyond a few old images (and a bunch of pics of her snowboarding). So, not knowing exactly what to expect, I knocked on her door in Breckenridge and took her to an old mining museum. Janna was damn cool…and damn tough. She plays hockey too. I’m glad she didn’t check me!
Here are some images I liked as well as the clip.
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So, yeah, the conclusion to this three part series comes late. Way late. Three months late. I got side tracked with mountains and photo fun. Sorry.
In Part 2 of the series I discussed developing a portfolio, defining your vision, and presenting yourself online. So great…I now had a portfolio. I knew what it is I wanted to shoot and how to create a presence online. But what next? I don’t care how good your images are, simply having a website does not create work and get the phones ringing. This brings me to possibly the most important part of running a successful photography business: Marketing and Promotion. At the end of the post will be a fancy list of links to my favorite marketing resources.
To begin, my main philosophy on marketing is that NO ONE METHOD will get you work. To me, successful marketing comes from putting your name out there as much as possible. Successful marketing is simply being that photographer an editor, art buyer, or creative directer thinks of first when they need a project shot. Come to mind first, and you will likely get a call. This post is not about how to land one-on-one meetings, participate in conferences, or how to gain attention through social media.
That being said, I know many successful photographers who say they have never marketed before. “It’s all word of mouth,” they insist. I have to argue they have likely done more marketing than they know. Simply making friends and having a strong presence in the social media world are all great examples of Marketing and are easy ways to drive people to your site.
After wrapping with Jasmine Defoore, we established a year long marketing plan. I try to reach as many people as possible, so my marketing is fairly far reaching. I send out an emailer newsletter every 2-3 months. Some send emails every month…I think that is too many and can overstep the line. My newsletter contains news about recent assignments, upcoming projects, and general news about my life (I try to include something personal to let people know I have a life as well!) Since emails are cheap, I send 4,000-5,000 emails each time to a large group of selected recipients. One thing to always include on an emailer are many links driving back to your site, blog, or other gallery. A Call to Action is a must. Click here to sign up for my Newsletter.
I also send post cards 3-4 times a year. These are generally small (I especially like 6X8 cards as 5X7 seems to get caught in the mix.) These cards have one photo on front, one on back, and help drive people to my site.
Once a year, I create an extra special mailer package which I send out to a very select group of my “Favorites”. These are people who I most want to work for and whose opinions I value most. Two weeks ago I sent out 15 packages. I made specialized boxes with foam inside containing items from my recent photo project in Naples, Italy. The box included a 35 page Blurb book, a DVD of the documentary, a biscotti, and a hand written note. I’m quite pleased with the box and the response I got from editors. Many very much liked the package.
I often hear that mailers are no longer needed in the digital age. As with my Portfolio Book, I believe mailers are more and more useful as emails become the standard.
In addition to these marketing methods, I make a trip to New York City for personal meetings twice a year and I keep up with my facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as much as possible. Oh…and I also try to actually take photographs on occasion. As I said, I don’t think any one of these methods will get work. But over time, a combination of everything in a comprehensive marketing campaign will result in more work from better clients.
Oh, yeah! If you have other marketing techniques I didn’t mention? I’d love to hear about them.
My Promo Box:
My Blurb Book:
My last emailer sent out in September:
Marketing and Promotion Resources:
Agency Access: Great service for contacts, emailing (with great statistics), and all around email helpers. Their blog is also a great marketing resource.
Blurb: Make your own badass book…and then send it to editors!
Seth Godin: All around marketing wiz.
No Plastic Sleeves: Check out some awesome promos on their blog.
Jasmine Defoore: Consultant and marketing extraordinaire.
Paper Chase: Where I get my mailers made. Great selection of mailing materials.
Moab Paper: I print my images using Moab paper. Great stuff.
APhotoEditor: Great advice for marketing and photography.
Photoshelter Blog: Photoshelter is my photo archive. Their blog has great information on SEO and marketing.
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Back when I was filming video for the Unreasonable Institute in May, I found myself inspired by the many young entrepreneurs who truly had developed business that were affecting or had potential to affect huge populations of people. I noticed that many of them did not have proper images for their sites, so I offered to take head shots and portraits for them to use on their websites, press releases, and other PR related items. Here are a few of my favorite portraits from the shoot. Below the photos are descriptions of their ventures as well as links to their websites…go check them out!
Moses Sanga & Raj Janagam
Morris Matadi
Hemant Nitturkar & Gaurav Manchanda
Saba Gul
Tiago Dalvi & Megha Agrawal
Scot Frank
Moses Sanga: ECO-FUEL AFRICA LIMITED – to stop deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Impact Area: Agriculture, Clean and Green Technology, Climate Change. Website: http://www.ecofuelafrica.com/
Ran Janagam: Cycle Chalao! -Establishing Bicycle Sharing Systems in the places where they are needed the most. Operating in: South Asia. Impact Area: Civic Participation, Clean and Green Technology, Climate. Website: http://cyclechalao.com/
Morris Matadi: Initiative for the Development of Former Child Soldiers (IDEFOCS). Restoration of peace & security in West Africa through Former child soldiers’ rehabilitation & reintegration. Operating in: Sub-Saharan Africa. Impact Area: Agriculture, Children and Youth, Conflict Resolution. Website: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46358845641
Hemant Nitturkar: JUGNU – Facilitating first generation entrepreneurship in India. Operating in: South Asia. Impact Area: Enterprise Development, Financial Inclusion. Website: http://unreasonableinstitute.org/profile/hnitturkar/
Gaurav Manchanda: One Degree Solar – Energize & Empower. Operating in: Central America & Caribbean, East Asia and Pacific. Impact Area: Clean and Green Technology, Climate Change, Consumer. Website: http://www.onedegreesolar.com/
Saba Gul: BLISS: Business & Life Skills School – Entrepreneurship training for girls previously driven by poverty to pick work over school. Operating in: South Asia. Impact Area: Education, Enterprise Development, Fair Trade and Organic. Website: http://www.bagsforbliss.org/
Tiago Dalvi: Solidarium – We fight poverty by connecting local producers with major retailers through an innovative and inclusive network. Operating in: South America. Impact Area: Consumer Awareness, Fair Trade and Organic Products. Website: http://www.solidarium.com.br/content/default/
Megha Agrawal: Unreasonable Institute Director
Scot Frank: One Earth Designs – Community Inspired Innovations. Operating in: East Asia and Pacific. Impact Area: Children and Youth, Clean and Green Technology, Climate. Website: http://www.oneearthdesigns.org/
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Back in May I photographed NASA’s next space craft for manned missions in space for the German magazine Der Spiegel. Orion, as it’s named, is being built and developed by Lockheed Martin here in Colorado. The space craft certainly looks like an old throw back to the early Apollo crafts, although this one is much bigger. I believe Orion can carry up to six passengers. One big change in the program, is that this craft is not only going to be used for transporting people, but also carry service equipment and will be built with additional capabilities. Pretty cool I say. I also photographed Senior Manager of Mechanical Engineering for Lockheed Martin Space Systems and the Orion MPCV Program Paul Sannes.
Read more on the new craft on NASA’s site.
Be sure to see more photos of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle on my Archive.
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I had another really fun shoot for Fast Company Magazine back in May. This was my first shoot for the magazine after my move to Colorado. Trying some new lighting techniques with my business portraits. I was very pleased with the outcome. Read the story on Brian Parsonnet’s Ice Bear air conditioning units which use ice to store energy for commercial use. Cool stuff.
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Since arriving back in Colorado, I’ve been able to enjoy more than one assignment in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This assignment was for a little travel story for the French magazine Le Monde. I had high hopes of venturing out into the country horseback riding with cowboys, but alas the magazine had a specific shot list that I had to stand by. Surprisingly, the city was empty! I had a tough time finding people in the locations I needed (much of the shots were in anticipation for Frontier Days). So, I enjoyed landscapes, stuffed animals, and eating bull testicles instead.
Find more Cheyenne, Wyoming Travel Photography on my Archive.
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