Social Media Etiquette

If they had only told me 8 years ago I would be spending much of my day telling the world my actions, thoughts and daily life I would have laughed.

I mean who really cares if my daughter’s hamster has escaped…AGAIN!?  Or what I am making for dinner or where the kids and I have gone on a field trip.  But it seems they do.  These things make me human.  They allow others to see that I have a life outside of photography.

All of this social media does not come without a price. Seldom do I run into an FB/Twitter follower who won’t ask about my daughter’s hamster or that dinner recipe I posted the night before. I am always amazed at the stories and silliness in my daily life that others find interesting enough to remember.  At the end of the day I am fine with letting my clients into my daily life.   Mainly because I really like my clients. They allow me into their homes and lives so it seems only fair.  I feel that it truly does build the bond between us. I also know what is going on in their life often and we become even better friends.

You have to be “ok” with all of this though and you also have to know how to use ALL of your privacy settings. Personally I have tons of FB friends who are fellow photographers. Many of them I do not know.  I make sure to set all of the folks I do not know into a “group” that allows me to block them from seeing most of my personal family photos. Why? Because I am still protective over the little bit of privacy I have left.  I do not see a need for those I do not know to see every family photo.  I also make sure to hit off of the “location” settings that will allow everyone to see where I am every minute of everyday…ughhh.  Really getting to know all of the options within the privacy settings on Facebook is a must. Making the decision to use your facebook friend page as a business link or a real friend link is something you have to decide early in the Facebook game as well.

Facebook etiquette is a subject I would like to touch on. These are my personal rules and they each have a reason.

• No purging off of your “friends” list unless you are finding real life friends. To go on another photographers friend list and just start hitting “add” too all of their friends, assuming that all of their friends are photographers, will annoy the heck out of them when you try to add that persons sister, parents and clients. Personally this is the reason why I now have my friend list hidden from folks I do not know in person. One to many e-mails from my family asking “who is this person and why do they want to be my friend?”
• Did you start a Fan page for you studio? Did you know that adding a bunch of other photographers isn’t that great of an idea…especially if they are in your area. I learned this lesson recently when a local photographer became a “Fan” and began purging my client list.  It happens.  Not everyone is trust worthy and I would never have dreamed that this sort of thing would or could happen. If someone hits “Like” on my page I am more than happy to have them but I am NOT going to send out request to every single friend I have to join my page. I prefer my fan page be real fans and real clients.
• Watch what you say on other photographers pages. Often they have clients as friends and they really don’t want you posting that a picture “looks strange” or something just totally inappropriate. If you have something negative to say follow your mother’s advice and just don’t say anything at all.
• Did you block someone from seeing you main wall? Hey that is rude. If they are worthy of being your “friend” but not worthy of seeing your wall/ status updates you need to just delete them from your friend list. That is much more polite and not half as shifty as the whole “banning them from viewing your wall”. Basically it is like saying “Hey I want to spy on you and watch everything you are doing but you are so not cool enough to see what I am posting.” I tend to instantly delete these people.  They are a waste of my stats. Sounds hardcore but I don’t need to beg someone to let me see their wall. Either they want me as a friend or they don’t. I am moving on
• Side note on trying to keep folks from seeing your status updates. Within your settings when you post a status update you have the option to hide a single update from a person or group with the little drop down arrow beside “share” so see there is really no reason to block your wall feed in the first place if you have something you would like to hide from someone. Unless of course it is your child…I do block all children from seeing my wall/status updates. I can’t control what other adults say so hence why I do block the 16 and under crew most days.

At the end of the day I am not sure I remember what life was like before status updates and tweets.  The friends I have made online have become friends in real life often and I love that!  It is nice to stay connected with folks and it is even nicer to take a break every once in a while from it all!

Now off to play some Farmville! (by the way…if you don’t like having all of the games folks play on FB in your newsfeed you have the ability to hit the “hide” button beside the applications post and “hide application”. Poof….no more annoying games posts in your feed

Design Trend & Freebie: Oodles of Doodles

You may have been doodling since grade school but in the past few years the doodling concept has exploded in today’s pop culture. I’m not talking about simple kid doodles but sophisticated doodles that are showing up in tons of merchandise, advertising and countless other visual places. The doodley look is youthful, whimsical and at the same time edgy and urban as well. This design trend speaks to today’s teen demographic and is perfect for Senior Portraits. The next time you are shooting a senior portrait think about adding this cool doodle background from The Drop Shoppe to add a bit more pizzazz to your images.

There are several products in the store to help you get in the doodle-rific spirit like these A Touch of Whimsy Doodles from Carrie and Holly’s Whimsy Borders.

Inspiredology.com has some fantastic doodle inspiration that is worth taking a look at. Check out their Freedom of Doodle article to spark some creative ideas.

Last but not least to help your designs, enjoy this freebie Doodle It Set that contains 7 different doodle elements – so go get your doodle on! Link will expire on 9/27 and then product will be available in the Pink Ink Studios store.

Photography Trends – Trash the Dress

Photo from istock.com and taken by Alena Ozerova

Trash the Dress is a trend gaining in popularity these days but it originally started in 2001 by Las Vegas wedding photographer John Michael Cooper. This photo trend also goes by the name Rock the Frock and Fearless Bride. Trash the Dress is a fun concept that consists of a photo shoot taken in an environment where the dress is literally going to get trashed. Photo shoot locations examples are: the beach, city streets, rooftops, garbage dumps, fields and abandoned buildings. The locations and ideas are endless; you just need to think creatively to suit your client’s styles and personalities. This edgy concept of Trash the Dress is fresh and unique because it’s shows the bride or couple in a situation that isn’t the “norm” and is more playful.

Typically these photo shoots are not shot the same day as the wedding and some brides don’t want to ruin their precious wedding dresses so they opt to buy another dress to trash. So the next time you shoot a wedding for a client maybe you’ll convince them to get a little trashy and have some extra fun in their dress.

July Design Trend Watch & Freebie

Following trends and staying current is one of the keys to a successful business. It’s important to stay on top of consumer trends and to strike when the iron is hot. Trends help keep your business stay relevant to the times.

I recently noticed the return of the peace sign & symbol in the design world although I’m not sure it really ever went away. It seems everything from clothing to home decor to jewelry is decked out in these fun loving peace icons. Even many major companies like Target, Pottery Barn Teen and Old Navy just to name a few have a ton of retro peace related products in their stores. Pottery Barn Teen has some great peace related ideas that would make awesome props for your photo shoots including pillows, 3D peace signs and various backgrounds.

So the next time you need to funk up your photo shoot or designs maybe you’ll consider incorporating some peace icons into your next project. And to help your designs get groovy you can download my Peace Symbol Brush Set for FREE! Link expires August 26^th. (Link has expired!)

I hope you enjoyed this Design Trend Watch report for July. Be sure to stay tuned next month for more pop culture trends to help your business stay up to date and in the know. If you spot any cool trends you want us to feature please leave a comment on this post.

A Personal Touch

Long before I officially entered the realm of professional photography, I was into anything crafty.  If it was available at the local craft store, chances are I’ve at least dabbled in it once.  One of those hobbies that I had long ago was making my own greeting cards with rubber stamps.  I have shelving in my garage with my once well used supplies that are now covered in dust.  It was while browsing Etsy a couple of weeks ago with a search for “custom stamps” that I came upon Meagan’s store, Brown Pigeon.  To say that I was blown away by her custom stamps was an understatement.  But when I saw that she offered custom stamps which I loved because they’re all hand carved, a light went off in my head…….a custom stamp for my photography business.  I know, I know…..I’m not the first.  But when you find a great person to work with that will give you that authentic handmade quality you’re after in a product, Meagan is the one to go to.  I sent her my logo and within a few days, she had sent me a proof of what she had hand-carved.  To put it simply, I love it and I think it’s a great, yet small investment (only $35 plus shipping for my custom stamp-prices vary depending on size, amount of letters, etc.) to make my packaging stand out…..

(photo from my point and shoot since my camera’s sensors are being cleaned this week)

I plan on using my stamp on my chocolate boxes from DNL Photo Packaging, my kraft paper gift bags from Bags & Bows and maybe even make some thank you cards to throw into each box to add a personal handwritten thank you note!  If you’re interested in working with Meagan, be sure to head over to her Etsy store by clicking on her shop header below……she’s super quick and great to work with!

If you know of another great vendor that makes handmade products that other photographers can use, why not let us know so we can share with everyone!!!

Adobe CS5

So as we’ve all heard by now, CS5 will be released in a little under 2 weeks!  I still haven’t updated to CS4 myself since I had my workflow down in CS3 and didn’t feel the need too, but now that I’ve seen some of the previews over on the Adobe website I think that it might be time for a change.  Head on over here to check out this great video that shows some of the new features

http://cs5launch.adobe.com/?PID=3154956

So now the question is will you be updating your Adobe products this year?!

Tutorial | Skins @ Gelaskins.com

Here’s a quickie video tutorial for you on using the new skins in the store today and working with gelaskins.com to upload and purchase for your favorite phone and MP3 models. To watch in HD, click here.

Customizing Skins for Gelaskins.com from Pink Ink Studios on Vimeo.

Increasing your Sales

While surfing the web and checking out the latest news from Alltop photography today, I found this article which lists 7 clever ways photographers use coupons to increase sales from Photoshelter.com….

1) One-Day Discounts on a Special Theme
Sara Wolfram is a wedding and portrait photographer based in California. As soon as the coupon feature was announced, she set up her first promotion.

“I launched a special “Valentine’s Day Discount” for all my family photography clients, to help motivate the slower buyers that I’ve been waiting on for orders,” she said. “It was so easy – I didn’t have to worry about configuring anything in the PayPal/shopping cart area, I just filled in a few blanks in the Coupon area and… Voila! I sold $375 in photos in one day! I love it.”

2) As part of a follow-up “Thank You” campaign
Kevin N. Murphy, a portrait photographer in Seattle, jumped on the coupon feature as soon as he learned it was available.

“I emailed a client a 10% off coupon as a ‘Thank you’ because they had gotten in touch with me that day about their pictures,” he said. “Within an hour of emailing them the coupon code they had placed a $100 order!”

Murphy said that he had shot their portraits over a year ago but the customer never finished with the ordering process.

“I don’t think there was really any problem, but in a family with two kids something had always interrupted them,” he said. “The coupon was just the nudge they needed to complete their order.”

3) Reconnecting with long-inactive customers
Scott Indermaur is a freelance photographer in New England, and is often hired to shoot several events each year, yet these events rarely produce print sales from the participants. He used a coupon to change that.

“I sent out a coupon to about 100 people [via email] and I had and made a sale,” he said.

The coupon he created was good for 20% off and the customer said that she wanted to use the coupon again with another order next week.

“The images she wants are from 5 years ago and are not live,” he said. “So, I will make 2 older events live and extend her coupon (or issue a new one) for a week so she can purchase more.”

“I’m sure this sale would not of happened if it wasn’t for the coupon,” he said.

4) Making promo cards more “valuable”
Karsten Moran is a commercial and editorial photographer in New York City. For the past three years, he has been shooting the Trek Across Maine, a fundraiser for the American Lung Association of New England. This year, he plans to work coupons into the mix.

“I am planning on handing out coupons on the backs of Moo cards this year as an incentive and attention-getter,” he said. “I expect (hopefully) that the coupons will give potential print buyers an extra reason to hold on to the cards.”

5) Quick and easy one-off discount tool
“If I have a customer I want to give a discount to, for whatever reason, I can now deal with that online with a special coupon for them instead of over the phone,” Indermaur said. “Therefore, taking less time.”

Moran says that he uses coupons for this reason as well.

“I used it to provide a discounted reprint to a client,” Moran said. “It was convenient, and allowed me to reduce the cost of a single purchase, without reducing the retail value of my product.”

6) Pushing “pending sales” to complete the process

Joel Strickland is a commercial and automotive photographer in Melbourne, Australia. He saw the coupon feature as a way to convert those “Pending Sales” into completed orders. Within a week of the coupon feature’s availability, he created his first one.

“I sent a message out to all pending sales in my shopping card for a special offer for 50% price reduction,” he said. “I converted one sale through to a final sale, and I am hoping to use them more and more in the coming months.”

7) Incentive to build a mailing list
Adrian Young is a documentary and editorial photographer in Bangkok, Thailand. Part of his marketing efforts involve maintaining a mailing list. It can be a challenge to get people to sign up to receive emails, so providing incentives can help increase sign-up percentages.

“I have only had the coupon in place a couple of weeks now,” said Young, “Though no sales yet with the coupon, it has helped me see a rise in people signing up for the email list.”

Source- http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/03/7-really-clever-ways-photographers-are-using-coupo.html   Article written by Grover Sanschagrin

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Certainly something to think about until the temperatures rise and photographers in colder climates can photograph outside again!!

Color Correcting in Adobe Lightroom

This quick tutorial will show you how to color correct your images in Adobe Lightroom. Don’t go hating me, okay!? Now, I’m not saying actions and presets are ALL bad. I’m just saying, think twice before you think they will “fix” your images with their pre-set color popping. They won’t. They are there to artistically enhance your shots (minus the production ones set up to make some things easier and faster – like digital fill flash or sharpening). Never use them to fix what you may have done wrong in the first place – like exposure issues because it will vary from image to image. If you learn to color correct for your camera and lighting situation, you can do it fast and consistently. After all, that’s what we want our clients to see. Consistent images reflecting YOUR style (not someone else’s). Then, you can apply the fun actions and presets to give them a little something “different” for fun!

Color Correcting in Adobe Lightroom from Pink Ink Studios on Vimeo.

Gear Review ~ Canon 85mm 1.2L

I can remember well the the day I purchase my very first L glass lens years ago…the 24-70mm 2.8L.  I just kept asking myself if I was making a huge mistake?  After all can a lens really matter that much?  Isn’t it the camera that is supposed to make the biggest difference?

I learned very fast after purchasing the 24-70mm that the lens did indeed make a HUGE difference in the quality of an image.  Since then I have added to my L glass collection at about 1 lens a year, unless it was a camera upgrade year.  Two years ago though I just had to see what all the buzz around the 85mm 1.2L  lens was but couldn’t afford the very high price tag.  I wondered how in the world a lens could be that expensive?  Why?  Could it really be worth that amount?  At that point I was rolling into wedding season so I decided to rent one for a month.  I fell in love instantly and shot at least 80% of each of my weddings that month with just that lens.  The one month rental turned into a two month rental and a two month into a three.  At the end of the 3rd month I sadly shipped that fabulous lens back to the rental store.

For the last two years I have dreamt about that darn lens.  Finally late this Fall I decided to sell my 70-200mm 2.8L and put the money towards the 85mm 1.2L .  I am no longer contracting weddings at this time (just second shooting) so the 70-200mm was just sitting in my bag.  I shoot about 80% of the time with my trusting 24-70 and the other 20% with my 50mm 1.2L but I knew if I had the 85mm I would be using it for all of my outdoor sessions and even indoor if space/room allows.

So now I have this fabulous amazing dream lens and I can honestly say that the almost $2000 price tag, for me, is worth it.  I love fixed lenses.  Be forewarned though, as with all fixed lenses, there is a learning curve.  When I first started shooting with fixed lenses I can remember being so frustrated with the focus and how fast things fell out of focus.  I shoot wide open around 2.0-3.0 most days.  I practiced and practiced and the payoff has always been these amazingly sharp images that a good fixed lens can deliver.

I really have to say that this lens even set on “auto white balance” seems to pick up the correct balance of  a bit better than any other lens I own.  I am sure this Spring I will be fine tuning my 5D with a custom function setting that matches this lens and that will help even more in getting consistently good SOOC images.  Always my goal in order to have less editing involved with each image.

Image #1

The color is a bit off on my daughter but I was focusing on the pup.  This dog is ridiculously hard to catch.  This lens is perfect for shooting her because it is super fast!

Canon 5D Mark II  85mm 1.2L F/ 2.0

Image #2

Again I am hooked on the images where the sharpness falls exactly where I want it too.  I was going for focusing on Spike in this one.

F/2.2

Image #3

The hardest part about shooting a fixed lens with more than one subject in the frame is getting both subjects in focus.  It really helps to have them set up on the same level/distance from each other.  I try to shoot them straight on if I want them both in focus.  Of course I do bump the aperture if more than 2 folks are in the shot but I am hooked on the blurred out backgrounds that a wide open setting gives me.  With often shooting in homes and locations with things going on in the background this is a very helpful tool!

F/2.2

So is it worth $2k?  For me, yes.  My suggestion is to always rent a lens you are thinking of first.  Try it out and see if it fits your shooting style and needs.    For me this lens and the limited need for PS after a session really make it worth it for me.  So far really all I have had to do is my traditional bump in highlights, a bit of color and call it a day.

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