Saturday Morning Cartoons

Here is my favorite "What the Duck" comic from this week. Rock on Aaron! "What the Duck" is an online comic strip created by Aaron Johnson. I just love how Aaron's wry sense of humor reflects the current state of the photography industry. But what really freaks me out sometimes when I read his strip is how much they reflect whatever situation I'm currently experiencing too...whether it's working with clients or desperately trying to stay on top of technology like Facebook or Twitter or a host of other things that all add up to being a professional photographer.

The genius of his strip is the way viewers can interact with Aaron and his comic character. Folks are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc. Aaron also allows viewers to suggest titles for his individual strips, and post photos of their own plushy and stuffed W.T. Duck working or hanging out.

Get the Goods: SmugMug Packages and Coupons finally on the way!

SmugMug's chief marketing guru Jeff Jochum confirmed that packages and coupons are in "final tests now." He admitted that it was a "major fail" that the features promised two years ago have not come to fruition. Yeah! I knew my good ole' SmugMug would come through!

Jochum made the announcement last night during Denver's first SMUG. He said it was the second largest group behind Orange County, and I know several other folks that were planning to show up but couldn't make it.
As the local company rep, Jochum said he wants to make our area SMUGS be business oriented, and completely focused on how to make money at photography. To that end, he spent the evening challenging us to take on "photo" fusion for sale product and indirect marketing. Fusion is video that can include stills and sound.

I've been playing around with creating slideshows with Animoto, but I have yet to make an actual video with my camera. I did find out last night that apparently my G9 has high resolution video capture -- a feature I've never used. The presentation showcasing videos such as this one created by Bebb Studios was incredibly inspiring and made me imagine how I might tell my own client's stories through video.

"Still photography is great, but sound and video imagery can evoke emotion," Jochum says.

Check out Vincent LaForet's Nocturne shot entirely with a prototype Canon EOS 1D Mark IV:

Get Connected: Attending Denver's first SMUG

Tonight I will be meeting some old friends and making new photography connectings at the first Denver SmugMug User Group meeting, affectionately known as a SMUG.

I love reconnecting with buddies to see how their businesses are flourishing, including Chester Bullock of Chester Bullock Photography, Maria Mitchell of Life Clicks Photography and Katie Humphreys, of the dynamic duo Chris Humphreys' destination wedding photography team. Katie and her husband Chris, along with Sara Frances & Karl Arndt, are the leaders of the new Denver SMUG.

Silicon Valley SmugMug User Group (SMUG)

The first Denver SMUG will feature Smugmug's chief marketing guru Jeff Jochum. Jeff will reprise his Igniting Fusion presentation at this month's meeting. Featuring incredible videos videos by Bob Davis, Robert Evans, JVS, Chris MacAskill, The Bebbs and The Bui Brothers, as well as the NEWEST video from Vincent Laforet's SmugMug project in Hawaii - Igniting Fusion was a big hit at this year's Collision Conference, hosted by the LA Film School, a few weeks ago.

Now you can finally put a face to all those strange usernames on the Dgrin Forum. I'm "thenimirra" and I'm looking forward to meeting you.

The First Denver SMUG meeting is:
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 | 7:00-9:30PM
Blake Street Tavern (map)
2401 Blake Street (@ 24th)
Denver, CO



SMUGs are FREE and open to everyone who loves photography.

After the initial launch meetings, local volunteers will take over as SMUG Leaders. They will organize and announce monthly SMUGs times, locations and topics.

Want to find a SMUG in your area? Check out this link and sign up for the email list to get meeting updates.

Want to start a SMUG in your community? Contact Jeff so he can help you get one going. Jeff Jochum: smugs@smugmug.com 310.773.0770 Twitter: MugToMug

Robert Scoble at the Silicon Valley SMUG

Instructor's Tip: Get Motivated

Photo by Russ Burden
I hope you enjoy this week's "Instructor's Tip" by one of my favorite instructors, award winning nature photographer Russ Burden. To learn more about how Russ captured the above image, join him on one of his photo tours. Visit Russ Burden Photography to get more information.

Get Motivated
Every photographer I know has experienced a period when, at one time or another, hits the wall and needs to create distance between themselves and the camera. Call it a lull, rejuvenation period, or simply time off, it’s necessary to maintain creativity. These periods of down time are normal and should be taken in stride. But what happens if these lulls of a few days evolve into a week or even longer. Then it becomes an issue. If this happens to you, try some of the following techniques to get re-motivated.

Join A Camera Club: Camera clubs are organized by photographers for photographers. Depending on the club, meetings are held once, twice or even three times a month. Their purpose is to promote photography through competitions among the members, hold instructional shows on different aspects of photography, and run organized field trips to photogenic locations in and around the area of the club. If you’re not familiar with the concept and you’d like to check one out, search the internet for “photography clubs” in your area.

Give Yourself an Assignment: A sure fire way to get yourself revved up is to develop a photo theme in which you’re interested. It may be one you’ve already started but want to expand on or it may be something completely new and different. Pick a topic that won’t require long drives so you don’t use the drive as an excuse to not pick up the camera. It can be broad based like macro photography or more specific like parts of a car, architectural details, motion, etc. Create a schedule you can adhere to but not too rigorous to become a burden. Try something new such as portraiture, flowers, still life, etc.

Snap Away: Buy a digital point and shoot and go for short walks around the neighborhood. Take pictures of everything you encounter but try to add a new twist to the images. Try unique angles, experiment with flash, get in close, lay down on the ground, use slow shutter speeds to convey motion, etc. When you get back home, download the images. You may find a shot that really clicks.

Vacation Time: Nothing gets the creative juices flowing more than going on a photo tour. I’d love to have you join me. Plan your 2010 trip now.

If none of the above get you going, here are a number of other ideas that may peak your interest.
a) Take one of the classes I teach for the Digital Photo Academy. If you’re not in Denver, the classes are offered in 20 cities around the country.
b) Take a photography course at a local college in your area. If there are none, look to see what your local camera store may offer with regards to instruction.
c) Devote time to playing with Photoshop and try a new technique.
d) Buy a photography instructional book and try some of the techniques explained in it.
e) Plan to shoot the same location during all the seasons showing how it changes.
f) Enter a photo contest. If you win, it will motivate you to shoot more.
g) Shoot everything as an abstract. It will force you to look at the ordinary in unordinary ways.

Take a class with Russ or a fellow Digital Photo Academy instructor in your area, check out the Digital Photo Academy. I took Russ' intermediate and advanced courses last year, and he continues to be a strong source of knowledge and encouragement as I progress in my photography.

Growing Pains: Obsessed with SEO for Photographers

For the past two weeks I've been completely obsessed with Search Engine Optimization for Photographers. A lot of people think SEO are techniques that ensure my website comes up first when you type in the company name. But that's not right. When you search for "Picture Your World Photography," either my blog or my business website are usually among the top three listed search results. But that assumes potential clients already KNOW my company name. What I really should be striving for with SEO is making sure that my website ranks higher in searches on Google and other major search engines when leads type in probable searches such as "Denver Photographer" or "Denver Wedding Photographer," etc. etc.

I knew it was something I had to get up-to-date on quickly when I started noticing description tags that appear at the top of some photographer's web pages. You've probably seen them too...."John Smith Photography, New York-based wedding photographer..." or "Jennifer Smith Photography, Atlanta's premiere lifestyle's photographer," yada yada.

When I looked up my business website for www.pictureyourworld.net, all mine had for a description was this: var ssConfig = { AlbumID: '3505170',AlbumKey: 'f3ta9' newWindow: 'false', transparent: 'true'. What the heck? It took me a while before I realized it was coding from my bio page on my SmugMug site. That description is the only way clients have of knowing what my business is about and why they should hire me. Needless to say, I was totally blowing it by not having a valid explanation of who I am and what I shoot.

So far, I've been slowly implementing some techniques I found in the The Moments4Ever Photography SEO Starter Guide. Those include creating unique page titles, using description meta tags and keyword meta tags in my html page layouts.

I thought their directions were pretty clear cut, especially for a SEO noob like me. I was able to add new page titles and descriptions to both my blog and my website.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

I had to laugh when I read this "What the Duck!" I have been targeted twice for one of those "fund forwarding schemes" -- once while I was renting rooms in my house on Rooms.com and another time when a scammer contacted me from a referral ad on PPA. So far, I've been able to wise up to the scams before any serious damage was done.

Here is my favorite "What the Duck" comic from this week. Rock on Aaron! "What the Duck" is an online comic strip created by Aaron Johnson. I just love how Aaron's wry sense of humor reflects the current state of the photography industry. But what really freaks me out sometimes when I read his strip is how much they reflect whatever situation I'm currently experiencing too...whether it's working with clients or desperately trying to stay on top of technology like Facebook or Twitter or a host of other things that all add up to being a professional photographer.

The genius of his strip is the way viewers can interact with Aaron and his comic character. Folks are welcome to link, post, copy/paste, or save the strips to their own sites, blogs, forums, newsletters, etc. Aaron also allows viewers to suggest titles for his individual strips, and post photos of their own plushy and stuffed W.T. Duck working or hanging out.

Guest Blogger: Photographer Jeff Clemons reviews AlienBees vs. Calumet's "Genesis" Lights

Today, I'm happy to introduce my readers to guest blogger Jeff Clemons. Jeff, 28, owns Caught My Eye Photography in Hesperia, CA, and has been shooting for 15 years, and professionally for the past four. He shoots with a variety of gear but tries to stick to his roots with Canon. Jeff is a photography colleague as well as a 4-wheeling buddy of mine on the Colorado4x4.org forums. Clemons initially posted this product review on the Shutterbug forum. But he has given me permission to reprint his review here. Thank you Jeff for taking the time to do this and your willingness to share what you've learned!

I bought some AlienBees studio lights a while back and found myself wanting more. I was going to just buy more Bees, but after doing some shopping, I found Calumet's Genesis 200 2-Light Kit and after hearing good reviews on them, I bought a couple.

We'll start this review off with the AlienBees.

This is the "Beginner Bee" kit that you can get through Alienbees.com.
It includes the B800 flash unit, reflector, shoot through or bounce umbrella, light stand, sync and power cords and a carrying case for the flash unit.

Back of the unit...

This flash is pretty nice. Build quality is nice and the fit and finish on everything is top notch. The power is controlled via the slider in 1 stop increments. The modeling light can be turned on, off or can track (dimmer switch like) to match the power output. It has a standard 1/8" sync port and can also be fired via the optical slave which can be seen next to the sync port. The optical slave works OK on this unit. I'll get more into that when I get to the Genesis. The Beginner Bee kit sells for $359.

This is the Calumet Genesis 200 kit.
It includes the Genesis 200 Flash unit, reflector, shoot through or bounce umbrella, light stand, sync and power cords but no carrying case.

Back of the unit...
Again, a well built, nice unit. First thing you will notice on this unit is, no slider.It's digitally controlled, which I've come to REALLY enjoy. It has the same stop range as the Bee, however, it is adjustable to 1/10th of a stop which is really nice for precision light work. This light also has an audible beep when it's charged and ready to fire. It also has an optical photo slave as well as a 1/8" sync port. Price for this kit is $199 for the 1 light kit or $369 for the 2 light kit(I bought the 2 light kit).

Biggest thing you will see between these two lights is a pretty substantial price difference. Where as with the AB kit, you get one light and all the gear for $359, you get twice the amount of gear with the Calumet for 10 bucks more. There is a power difference between these two lights to be fair...the AB800 is a 320 watt second light were as the Genesis are 200 watt seconds, but honestly, in a small to medium sized studio, they will both give more power than you'll ever use. Both are built well but IMO, the Genesis feels like a much higher quality light, especially the accessories it comes with.

The umbrella on the Genesis is about 8" bigger in diameter and obviously constructed of higher quality materials than the AB. The slave sensor on the Genesis is of much higher quality and it picks up the tiniest of flashes. In comparison, the AB slave takes a good amount of light to trigger. That's a moot point if your using cable or wireless sync, but it's a nice feature regardless. The light stand with the Genesis are lightyears ahead of the AB in terms of fit, finish and build quality. Take a look at the size difference. The Genesis is bigger in diameter and feels much more solidly built than the AB.

AB stand...


Genesis stand...

Flash performance between the two is pretty much indistinguishable, other than the AB offers a little more power. Again, not a big deal unless you really need it, and alot won't. The Genesis does seem to give a more consistent flash output and white balance at low power compared to the AB.

Don't get me wrong, the ABs are great lights, but dollar for dollar, they don't hold a candle to the Calumet Genesis kits. For the same amount of money, you're getting twice the lights and equipment. For budget studio lights, these are the ones to get hands down! I've had mine for a week now and have used the crap out of them so far, and they haven't missed a beat. Keep an eye out...the AB's might be going up for sale here soon!