James Veal on South Broad Street

To illustrate their profile of James Veal, Senior Market Advisor Magazine envisioned images that showed the financial advisor within his native Philadelphia.

Greg took James out of his office to capture him amidst the landmarks of the city. Philadelphia has many great buildings within walking distance of each other — the iconic City Hall and the historic Union League provided great backgrounds.

January 2012 cover of Senior Market Advisor Magazine, featuring James Veal.

From the median in South Broad Street, Greg captured a striking portrait that the magazine used for their January 2012 cover.

James Veal on the steps of The Union League

The steps of the historic Union League also afford a great setting for a portrait.

"Field of Dreams" from Penn Gazette, Nov-Dec 2011

Recently the Penn Gazette ran a long feature on Penn Park, the University of Pennsylvania’s recently completed development of twenty-four acres for use as a public park and athletic fields.

Greg was given the assignment to photograph for the article. The assignment gave him an opportunity to capture a place and the people using it.

To illustrate the many uses of Penn Park and show it from many angles, Greg visited the park on four separate days. He also photographed it from a helicopter to show how the park sits in relationship to Penn’s campus and Center City Philadelphia.

Joggers using Penn Park.

Penn Park is a welcome addition of green space to this section of Philadelphia.

Soccer practice.

Rainwater that falls on the artificial turf of the athletic fields flows into underground cisterns that will store 2 million gallons of storm water annually. This water will help irrigate trees and grass on the site.

Penn Park offers many ways of enjoying the trees and open air.

Penn Park supports a series of athletic activities.

Spread from Pennsylvania Gazette's article on Penn Park.

Penn Park sits between the Penn Campus and Center City Philadelphia.

For Penn Gazette’s coverage of Penn Park, photographs from the ground are not able to tell the entire story. Greg hired a helicopter to gain a higher angle in order to show the size of the site and how it sits in relation to the Penn campus and Center City Philadelphia.

Penn Gazette Nov-Dec 2011 cover

Getting good images from the air is an exercise in team work between the photographer and the pilot. To photograph from a helicopter it’s best to fly with the door off. The cabin is very noisy and once in the air the only way to verbally communicate with the pilot is through a headset. The pilot also needs to stay attentive to any instructions he may receive from air traffic control, so chatty photographers need to keep their talking to a minimum for the sake of safety.

Greg getting ready to feel the wind in his hair.

Prior to hiring a helicopter, Greg shot the park from nearby high buildings, like Franklin Field. The view from there has power lines and the railroad line is prominent. The limitation of shooting this project from the ground led to using a helicopter.

View from the top of Franklin Field, Penn's football stadium.

For all the complications, costs, and considerations, aerial photographs show angles that photography from the ground cannot. Satellite images, while showing a view from above, do not have the same spatial quality.

Penn Park in relation to the rest of Center City Philadelphia.

For more on this assignment, see our post about photographing Penn Park from the ground.

Lunchtime at Popeyes

The lead shot is a group of customers ordering lunch at the counter. This image had to fit to a specific tight layout and called for three professional models, a hair and make up stylist, and a wardrobe stylist. The location was only available for a few hours before the restaurant opened and actual customers started showing up. We photographed into a laptop so that we could immediately see the image in the final layout in Photoshop.

Franchise owners Amish and Ashish Parikh

The second image of the two franchise owners is an environmental portrait, a portrait that incorporates the subject’s surroundings into the image. The restaurant’s bright new graphics add visual interest.

Popeyes Restaurant at night

Our final image for the report was a twilight exterior architectural shot. We added strobe lighting to balance with the existing light.

All three images fit into a tight layout with curves and circles.

Continue to educate yourself.

V. Persistence

1. Always be learning new things and improving your skills.

Video and photography are crafts. Technology changes rapidly. Blogs, web sites, books, workshops, self-assignments, and talking with peers are all ways to keep educating yourself.

2. Keep practicing your art.

It’s hard to make a living and also do art. But do some art. Yes, making a living can be much harder than school. And you don’t graduate from making a living in four years, which is good and bad.

3. Know that there will be ups and downs.

If you don’t want to be a creative professional, accounting is a steadier business — no disrespect to accountants or the IRS.

4. Keep your head up.

Remember that the last two years have been the worst economy since the 1930s. Yet most people I know are still eating.

5. Don’t give up.

Persistence will eventually pay off.

Read the other parts of this series.

This is Part 6 of a 6 part series. Here is a link to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.

Take advantage of online tools for networking.

V. Networking and Marketing – 2 of 2

1. Use social media.

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can all be used to keep you in front of other people.

2. Send out post cards.

Always follow up a meeting or first project with a client with a postcard or at least a thank you email. I once worked with an assistant in Washington DC who sent promotional post cards to a list of photographers he wanted to work with. The cards were mock tabloid front pages with catchy headlines, like, “Photo Assistant Sets World Speed Record for Wrapping Up Extension Cords”. Corny, perhaps. But they led to work, since they were attention-getting and showed a sense of humor, which is a valuable commodity in our work-a-day world.

3. Send out promotional emails.

Yes, we all get too many emails. But I do send promotional mass e-promos once a month. It’s a subtle reminder to existing clients that I am still out photographing, and I have attracted new clients this way too. For a rookie, it can be a first contact with a potential client.

4. Make cold calls with warm leads.

Call places you are interested in working with. It can be better if you have a referral: “Charles Gonzalez suggested I call.” If you get a live person on the phone, explain briefly why you’re calling and find out if they are hiring or use freelancers. Many times you will be shunted to voicemail. If that happens, always leave a message. Follow up a live call or a voicemail with one of your great post cards or emails.

Read the other parts of this series.

This is Part 5 of a 6 part series. Here is a link to Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Benson Photo Promotional Package

IV. Networking and Marketing – 1 of 2

Answer this question:
What is the one thing no business can do without?

Answer: Customers.

In the spirit of perpetuating your business, this section deals with finding and retaining customers.

1. Network with your peers

Networking is a fortunate side effect of interacting with your peers, clients and colleagues. You should work to cultivate a large and diverse network. When a peer is called for two jobs on one day, he or she can refer you to one of them. Return the favor. And through the grapevine you may learn who is great to work for and who is difficult to work for.

2. Network within your industry.

Go to an ASMP meeting. I’m focused on the still photography world, but I know there are equivalents for other professions.

3. Have a 30-second elevator speech in your brain

When you meet people – possibly in an actual elevator, but more likely in a networking situation – you will need to explain who you are and what you do in 30 seconds or less. Prepare a short speech for any situation. An example: “Hi, I’m Jane Doe. I’m a  graduate of the Acme School of Art and I work as a photo assistant. I recently got to fly to Los Angeles and assist on an annual report shoot. It’s amazing how long it takes to create one photo.”

Practice your short speech with your roommate so that when you run into an important person that you’ve been dying to meet at a film screening, you don’t mumble and sound like a sophomore on a first date.

4. Ask for someone’s business card.

If you meet someone and cannot get a card, jot down their name in your phone or in a notebook as soon as possible. It’s not too difficult to later use the Internet to gather their contact details. Put that information in your contact database. It is potentially very valuable, which is why one of the leading client relationship management (CRM) programs is called GoldMine. Once you have contact info, write the person you just met an email – then friend them on Facebook and/or LinkedIn.

5. Volunteer at your alma mater on phone solicitation night.

Meeting and connecting with older people who went to your college is one way to network, and giving back to your college can be a positive experience.

6. When you meet new people, remember Dale Carnegie.

Dale Carnegie wrote a book in 1936 called “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. The Big Idea of this book was that people love to talk about themselves. So, when you meet someone new, focus the conversation on what that person is interested in. Pretend you are Terry Gross on Fresh Air and interview them. Listening is better than blabbing.

Read the other parts of this series.

This is Part 4 of a 6 part series. Here is a link to Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3, and Part 5.

Paul Stankard examines one of his creations.

Paul Stankard is one of the preeminent American glass paperweight artists. With fire and a patient hand, he breathes life into detailed botanical and ethereal forms that are eventually encapsulated inside crystal.

We were fortunate to visit him at his home and studio to shoot images for a feature story in American Style magazine.

Paul delicately adds fine detail to a glass leaf.

During the shoot Paul, his daughter Katherine, and master assistant David Groeber demonstrated aspects of the glass-working process. Glass is very sensitive to timing and temperature. Greg documented the action while staying clear of flames and annealing ovens.

Paul and master assistant Dave Grober encapsulating a botanical in clear glass.

Throughout the day Greg shot several different environmental portraits of Paul, so that the editor at American Style would have options in laying out the story. Paul’s beautiful home and studio provided many opportunities for photographs.

Paul in his home, which is on the same property as his studio.

There is currently a retrospective celebrating Paul’s fifty years of work showing at the Wheaton Arts center in Millville, NJ. The show runs until May 8, 2011.

Two of Paul’s finished glass botanicals that are in his own collection.

It is important to have a filing method for your records.

III. Accounting

1. Keep track of money in and money out.

2. Invoice promptly.

3. Keep track of who owes you money.

4. Create a filing system to save crucial paperwork.

5. Hire an accountant.

6. Don’t forget about taxes.

7. Separate work and play.

Read the other parts of this series.

This is Part 3 of a 6 part series. Here is a link to Part 1, Part 2,  Part 4, and Part 5.

Look for Part 4 next Monday.

Luc Renambot’s plugin Dossier de Presse works by giving Lightroom the ability to automatically upload exported images to your WordPress blog. Lightroom has an excellent Export function that allows for saving presets and the real power comes in combining the power of these presets with the Dossier de Presse plugin.

Lightroom Export dialogue using Dossier de Presse plugin

Once Dossier de Presse is installed in Lightroom you can create a new Export Preset using the plugin. First set the “Export To” dropdown to “Dossier de Presse” and then fill out the rest of the export parameters to set the size, compression, and sharpening of the image to export. The final panel requires entering the address of the blog and then a valid login and password.

Selecting multiple images in Lightroom for WordPress Export

Selecting multiple images and then choosing the correct Export Preset makes very quick work of uploading images directly to the WordPress Media Library. You can skip the steps of exporting the images to some temporary folder, navigating through the WordPress web interface to the Media Library, finding the export folder through the upload dialogue, etc. With Dossier de Presse the images will be comfortably waiting in the Media Library ready to be inserted into your next blog entry.