Tom Page Photography

What's Up!

2010-11-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

Sorry for being such a lazy blogger... Just been a little swamped with so many oars in the water. Been trying to pick up the slack with design and production clients as well as building a reel of Video Samples and Recording, Producing and Engineering for two singer/songwriters in San Diego. Johnny C and I are starting from scratch and Steven Ybarra is tracking and mixing songs for a special release with me. It's a total blast and someday I'd like to explain how I think photography and audio recording are very similar disciplines.

I've been shooting quite a bit this summer and been all around the country. Shot this in Madison Wisconsin:

I love this kind of work. It brings back the challenges I faced when shooting large format film but allows me to solve with digital tools. Here's a shot from Virginia for the same client:

Coincidentally, Scripps Health Foundation contacted me to shoot some images for a brochure they were producing that presented some of the same challenges. I had so much fun delivering this image to them. It was exactly what they needed and far exceeded their expectations. It rained for four days before this shoot, all morning the day of the shoot, then it cleared up for us and proceeded to rain for two more days after. Someone was watching over us, for sure!

Lastly, my studio neighbors are the famous company ToeSox. We created some images together on location in DelMar for the packaging of their new Runners Sock:

We also shot in my studio for their new grip glove product that really helps with those killer Pilates Poses. Wish I could do this!

Anyway. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope to get the Yule Blog ready to go real soon. Until then, be blessed!

How to Save Hundreds on Photography #2

2010-03-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

Tip number one was a long post, and I apologize, but I think there was a lot of good stuff in there. Unless you've been working in photography for a long time or with photographers at a high level, you may not have been exposed to those concepts, simple as they may be. It's not a crime to lack experience. Having experience and not be willing to share it...?

Tip Number 2: Ask Around The Office
Whether you work in a design firm or the MarCom department of a major corporation, this is a technique that can help you or your company save money that's not necessarily being wasted, more spent as a matter of consequence.

When you have an impending need for a trip to your local commercial photography studio, check around the office. Perhaps you've got two executives who need updated business portraits, or you've got six products from a specific product manager. Make a general inquiry around the company. Does anyone else need anything photographed? If you tease just one more shot out from under the rug, you just saved your company, your business, your budget, a considerable amount of money!

Here's why. It doesn't matter how your photographer charges for his or her work. The first shot is always the most expensive. It takes a lot of time and effort to set up your first shot and so most photographers have a minimum fee. If you slide that extra shot into your scheduled shoot, you saved the need to book with minimum fee at some later date. No one else is thinking about it, but because you manage the photography acquisition and therefore the shrinking photography budget, this puts two feathers in your cap. You're looking for ways to save money on real professional photography and you are finding ways to get more great photography with the same money.

This is far more effective than the common way of dealing with the problem- -simply demanding the photographer shoot it for less. Then when the photographer won't (because the photographer can't), the scornful photo buyer shoots it "in-house." The products look soft and bluish, the CEO looks jaundiced and oily and everybody's business just got a little worse.

So the moral of the story is: get more for the same, not the same for less (or less for nothing). And don't forget to mention how you found ways to save the company lots of money at your next review!

How to Save Hundreds Dollars on Photography #1

2010-03-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Kickin' it Old School!
Have you heard that song, Girls on Film, by Duran Duran? How about Freeze Frame, by the J. Giels Band? Kodachrome by Simon and Garfunkel? I'm beating around the bush...

The big joke right now is, "Film? What's that?"
Well back in the day, every time you took a shot, you spent somebody's money. Large format film, like 8X10, cost $25.00 each sheet when processed, and even 35mm was a serious consideration. Both clients and photographers were keenly aware of this expense. The photographer and the client had a concrete interest in managing the cost of the photo shoot. But now that photography has been completely digital for a few years, the shear cost of shooting pictures has been forgotten. Consequently, so have the skills of organizing and preparing for a professional photo shoot. Here are some easy easy steps that will keep your shoot on track and generating the images you need in the least amount of time. And since time is money, especially when it comes to working directly with photographers, maximizing your time with a pro is good for you and your bottom line.

What's Really Different?
Before I start with the really short list, I have to say that our studio has noticed a disturbing decline in effective planning, pre-visualization and general understanding of how to interface with a commercial studio. As with any recessionary time, the complaint is that it's too expensive. But now, unlike any other time in history, cheap digital cameras provide a tempting alternative: "Why don't we just shoot this ourselves?"

Well first, the best tool you have in your arsenal is right between and slightly above your ears. So you understand that Canon 5D is great to have around the office, but it is to high-end photography what the Easy Bake Oven is to a commercial kitchen. The good news is, you'll use the 5D to save time- and therefore money--on ALL of your future photo shoots. But when your clients see a digital camera and some flood lights in that empty cubicle and queries, "hey, can't you just shoot it with that?" just remind them that you are not a photographer and photographers are not designers. There are plenty of photographers out there making that point for you everyday, so why don't we all focus on our gifts?

So the Real Preamble...
Here's how it's been going with a couple of my key clients: I get an email or text with an urgent request to send someone over to pick up some product needed to be photographed. When we get there, we're handed an overflowing box of products pieces and parts to take back to the studio. No notes. No list. No layouts. No instructions. So, we get on the phone and ask directly for instructions, a shot list and "please, please please, can we have some layouts?" The answer we get is they don't layout anything until they have final images. And please hurry because we need to get this job printed. This could never fly in the days of film. Film and processing was really expensive. Shooting film took a lot of time. But now, since it's digital, it really doesn't cost anything, right? Wrong! The clock is ticking and all photographers charge real money for planning your shoot if they have any intention of staying in business.

Let's Save Some Time and Money!
How to Plan for Your Photo Shoot:

1) Create a Shot List with Priorities and Variations
This is a list of every shot you need or hope to get out of the shoot. If we're shooting products, every product should be mentioned on your shot list. List any and all variations of the shots you need or would like to explore. You should indicate which shots are critical and which are possible variations. Some of my action apparel and shoe clients provide us with a list of every shot in an Excel matrix of every variation required. These are ALWAYS accompanied by example images shot previously by us or other photographers for angle and light matching. (These examples function as layouts and the client provides them so we are not making assumptions on their behalf. Peoples jobs are on the line with some of these accounts, so pros don't let other pros guess about what is required.)

This is incredibly important because it helps your photographer to sort out what needs to be done and develop an efficient production plan. You can't shoot willy-nilly. If you have big things and little things and they all have to look the same, you don't want the camera moving up and down and back and forth. It's going to look like your boss' step son shot it over spring break. The worst case scenario is your photographer spends four hours shooting your hero beauty shot, strikes the set to shoot accessories, then gets a call from you saying,"um...oh yeah, can you shoot both sides of that bike? I don't know which way I want to use it yet." Guess what? You can live with what you've got or pay for another half day to set it up again. Turning the bike around while everything is set up is far more efficient and therefore, less expensive. So why not plan for it?

2) Create a General or Rough Layout
This may be a step you're not ready or willing to take. From a photographer's point of view, it's far easier to create great shots if you know how they are going to be used. (Full page vertical, half page horizontal, web page on the left side, etc...) If the new shots are going near or next to older shots, they should look similar, they should be composed and positioned in specific ways and the lighting should match. They only way the photographer can know these things is to see a layout of some sort. Even if you don't have a layout, you should give examples of past shots to match lighting, perspective and lens selection. All critical details for a successful shoot.

The worst thing you can do at this stage is say, "just shoot it a whole bunch of different ways." This is a production killer and it clearly states to the photographer that you don't know what the heck you're doing. If you've got a list and you want the photographer to play a little, that's different. I've got one guy who says that every time and I always have a great time with it. But it's always after the main shots are in the can, so to speak.

So if you bought a digital camera thinking you'd shoot some stuff yourself, I suggest you shoot rough images and create your rough layouts with those shots, then call a pro to shoot using your shots and layout as a guide. This will speed the process up and save you tons of money. You'll have clean, consistent, well lit shots for your final project in a fraction of the time- -and you're well into the project by the time you call the photographer, not waiting for shots so you can get started. The photographer can "plus" your direction instead of spending all his time and energy coming up with everything from scratch. Huge difference!

3) Communicate and Be the Leader
We notice people are increasingly uncomfortable in conversation. Dozens of unanswered calls and voice mails, but a text answered immediately with a text. What up with that? Get comfortable talking about your work, your project and your ideas on the telephone and in person. Email and text is great for short quick exchanges, but people need to interact directly to be effective. In our studio, we have great respect for clients. Some of the best direction from art directors sounds EXACTLY like this, "I'm not sure what we need to do here. What do you think?" You're hiring a pro, it's their job to help you solve problems. That's great leadership right there. That's what we need from you.

4) State Your Exact Deadline
Banish this phrase: "Get it done as soon as you can." What in the world does that even mean? Do you mean when I CAN get it done? Do you mean you need it first thing in the morning? Do you mean it IS or IS NOT important? Keep your photographer on task and if you can attend the shoot, do it. Take your laptop and work from the studio during the shoot. The work will be better and the job will wrap sooner.

"Mr. Photographer, I need final images by the end of the day, Friday. I plan on assembling this Saturday. I need proofs on my client's desk Tuesday morning."

Now we're working together and you're leading the way. Now, I know exactly what to do.

5) Give Feedback and Say Thank You
You know you're supposed to do this, because your mom told you to. But listen, this is truly a win win. Saying thank you has a powerful long lasting effect that makes good people want to work WITH you and work FOR you. It wins them to your side. You should also give honest feedback about how things went for you. The response you get will tell you reams about the individual you're dealing with and their maturity. You need to know who you can trust and rely on when you land that huge account. If there was something that didn't quite go the way you think it should have, just put it out on the table. Keep it professional.

At the end, say "Thank You!" You are the buyer, and the seller needs to know what your experience was like. If your photographer freaks out and keys your car, there are literally thousands of others ready to climb over his dead body to get your good business.

I hope this helps you save hundreds of dollars every photo shoot.

New Stock Shots are Ready!

2009-07-24T15:05:00.001-07:00

In April, I got together with my good friend Nancy. She was a highly sought after model in New York City when I was learning to ride a tricycle. She's a vivacious and beautiful woman of 70 years now, and still loaded with energy and zest for life. We know each other through our church in La Costa, and this little shoot is the keeping of a promise we kept making to each other. It sounded something like this: "we should get together and do a shoot sometime!" "Yeah, that would be a blast! Anytime!"

Well, we finally stopped being superficial and just got it done! It truly was a blast! Check her out! Can you believe she's endured 7 decades of this cruel world? When Nancy showed up at my studio yesterday to review these images, she came bouncing though the door like Tigger in shorts and flip flops. Her natural blond hair was bouncing in tiny ringlets all around her shining smile. She looked just like Farrah Faucet, I'm tellin' you! And what a delight of a person! She spends most of her days serving others in one way or another. Her latest great mission is the North County center for Foster Care Training, which incidentally, lost all of it's California State Funding due to the multi-billion dollar budget shortfall. You are the best, Nancy!

If you're looking for an incredibly talented model in the senior demographic, let me recommend this lady to you. She is my good friend but if you click on any of these shots and look at the series, you can see that she can bring the magic to your shoot.

When we decided to make this shot available as stock, I promised Nancy the proceeds from the first sale. She didn't want it but I insist. Isn't she fabulous!

What is AntiStock?

2009-04-27T21:50:00.000-07:00

It's simple really. AntiStock is not stock photography. It's created and cataloged like stock photography, but there are two distinct differences. First, the imagery is produced with the intention of being 100% exclusive to the client. Secondly, the images are created specifically for the client, the client's market, the client's brand and the client's overall marketing strategy.

I created AntiStock for a Pentacostal Church in Chula Vista, California just last month. There are lots of sappy images in the Royalty Free stock photo marketplace that Lighthouse Church could have purchased for about 15 dollars each. But if you know anything about the Pentacostal denomination, it is to Christianity what Esspresso is to Hot Chocolate.

They want nothing to do with sappy because their worship is deep and powerful and their experience, like their congregation, is real. They want you to see their people when you look at their website, brochures, powerpoint presentations, worship cds and web videos. In short, they want consistency in their image, their brand and their message clear through to the Sunday Morning Experience. The First Edit from this shoot yielded 1400 images to draw upon. Within the first week, the client and their ad agency had downloaded a dozen high resolution images directly from their secure gallery on my website.

I created Anti Stock for an Ohio based company named VersaSpa, a division of MagicTan sunless tanning systems. This was a very productive two day shoot in Oceanside California where we created more than a hundred unique images for immediate marketing needs, future marketing needs, including updating product shots, packaging photography, and hero shots of their primary product, the VersaSpa Tanning Booth. Most of these shots included their gorgeous spokesmodel who flew out from Ohio for our two day marathon AntiStock shoot.

Their First Edit is a password protected gallery on my site that includes nearly 2000 images. Another secure Invitation Only gallery houses their final selection high resolution images that have been carefully processed, photo retouched and made print ready. Their graphics departments, both in Oceanside, California, and Cincinatti, Ohio can access and download these images 24/7 by simply logging in and selecting the shots they need to work with. No ftp protocols, no waiting for FedEx to bring DVDs. Once downloaded, they archive their final images in their system as Digital Assets, otherwise known as AntiStock photography.

If you have any questions about AntiStock- -what it is, what it isn't- -please don't hesitate to contact me. As one of my clients recently told me, "I've got too much at stake to risk using pictures from microstock agencies. The cost of hiring a professional photographer to produce unique and exclusive images is a drop in the bucket compared to what I have to lose. It's money well spent and a good investment."

Royalty Free Photography and The Creative Eye photographers cooperative.

2009-04-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

When the ASMP decided to assist the organization of the cooperative agency called Creative Eye, the first giant objection I had beyond the sad attempt at a creative name, was the fact that the organization was absolutely, concretely, opposed to having a division of it's stock photography represented as Royalty Free. Granted, these were the early days of the stock photography revolution and digital photography was pretty much in it's infancy, but to me, the writing was on the wall. The only companies making decent money in the stock photography business were PhotoDisc, Corbis, and Digital Stock. All of these companies were getting the lion's share of the market with their CD collections of Royalty Free images organized by theme. Bandwidth on the internet was still too narrow for most people to permit digital delivery, but that was obviously right around the corner and images were going to be available fast and cheap 24/7

To make things worse, Creative Eye was struggling. Initially, membership was relatively inexpensive and many of us jumped onboard. It was a beginning to bringing to the profession of photography something it still needs to this day: Unification. But when the banks pulled funding after 911, CE was in Dire Straights. They reached out to the community with the bad news of what it was going to take to keep the ship afloat: Nearly $800.00 from every existing member just to get through the next two quarters. That's when I wondered out loud, why are we not offering Royalty Free Stock Photography? There is a hungry hungry market for this product. Thousands of photographers are willing to produce it and accept the ridiculous commissions of 20 cents on the dollar. Further, when companies like iStockPhoto offer discounted credits and other promotional incentives, the artist is the entity who ultimately pays for the promotion, while the agency makes sometimes more than 80% of the proceeds. How many photographers would've jumped at the chance to earn 75% of the proceeds had Creative Eye jumped into the market offering what the market wanted more than anything to buy? I say that CE's money problems would've ended abruptly!

One of the amazing things that PhotoShelter has brought to me as a business owner is that now I have an all encompassing e-commerce solution that allows me to earn 90% of the proceeds of any sale. 10% goes to PhotoShelter for the e-commerce fee, but that's it. All I need to do is promote and populate my stock photo galleries and I can choose which images are Royalty Free and which will be Rights Managed.

I still wish Creative Eye would have flourished though. The Profession of Photography needs a unifying element to bring community, consistency and best practices to this industry.

So what's the deal?

2009-04-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

I had this strange client interaction over the course of the last month. A fairly young ambitious web designer approached me to shoot some images for one of her new "Big" clients. Right out of the gate, she's promising lots of repeat business and another big shoot just weeks down the road. This always makes me nervous because we don't know each other yet. She hasn't seen any of my work beyond the online portfolio and I've not yet created one successful image for her. But the promises spew forth. Sadly, I know I've got to watch the chess board and think a few moves ahead of someone I'm hoping will be a long term friend and business partner. She either doesn't know what she's doing and will need educating- -which is the easy part, or she knows exactly what she's doing and will need to be fired.

Well, it turns out to be a little of both. A few weeks later, I get a call asking for prices on another shoot. Immediately, these prices are too high and I was told I should consider lowering them for this phase of the relationship. So we start to negotiate and it's clear that the only arrangement that will be acceptable is if I PAY THEM for the privilege of creating image that will help them make money. I'm being sarcastic, but that's how I see it when the fees dip below my overhead.

The next call I get proposes that I charge them money to train their warehouse personnel to shoot photos. Now they need two kinds of photos: high end images to run in the banners of their website, and simple product shots of expensive wine bottles. I offer them every kind of solution I can imagine and prices that would floor you, but she, my client, will hear none of it! I'm being unreasonable she says. Further, I being temperamental and overly sensitive about giving away 25 years worth of experience and education. She says she teaches her clients all the time how to handle their own design work and when they screw it up, she charges them to fix it. I've heard enough!

I had to fire her. Bad manners, bad ethics, everything that's wrong with small business. Do anything to get the work no matter who it hurts, including yourself.

So here's the big question: has photography for you boiled down to who's got which camera? Do you think that it you had the right combination of equipment, computer and software that the actual photographer, the artist, the craftsman, is obsolete or unnecessary? While it's true that technology today will allow you to simply point and shoot and get fair results, you still need a great photographer. In fact now more than ever! If mediocrity will serve you fine, then do it yourself. But if you're building a business and selling a product of a service or even yourself. You better find a professional photographer that can lift your image out of the visual mire.

Okay! Rant complete!

Here's a fun link:

http://yourclientfromhell.com/

Take the test and take out the trash!