Small Victories and Big Goals

[by Jay Kinghorn]

This summer, I completed my first XTERRA off-road triathlon. It was exhilarating and downright exhausting. Happily, I crossed the finish line muddy, tired and satisfied with my accomplishment.

The key to being able to complete the race was a 12-week, self-paced training program to prepare me physically as well as mentally for the big day. The plan gave me six detailed workouts per week with swim distances, running sprints and biking hills. Each workout was, in itself, a small victory on the way to the larger goal of finishing this tough off-road challenge.

Believe it or not, training for a triathlon and starting business as a professional photographer are not all that much different. They both take a great amount of dedication, drive and staying power. And, just like there were many paths for me to train for my race, the photography business also offers myriad ways to reach your goal. The hard part is sifting through those options and separating the paths that just put food on the table from the paths that actually advance you toward your ultimate business goal.

My best advice to anyone starting out is to first establish, as clearly as possible, your ultimate goal (to become the leading architectural photographer in Miami, to feel comfortable lighting portraits, to have a mastery of Photoshop, for examples), then break the path down into individual, manageable goals. If I had looked at my training plan at one huge plan and not a series of small victories, I may have given up just from the sheer number of hours it would take. Make sure you celebrate the small victories along the way. The momentum created by completing these individual steps will propel you onward toward photography success.

Jay Kinghorn is currently training for a far more grueling and difficult endurance sport than the XTERRA, parenting.

FedEx Days

[by Jay Kinghorn]

In 2005, an Australian software company, Atlassian, began an experiment they called FedEx days Their software developers were given 1-1/2 days to develop something “out of the ordinary” and show it to their colleagues at the end of the session.

Atlassian’s goal was to inspire their developers to break their daily routines, work with unfamiliar technologies and tackle a small project, often with a coworker. These FedEx days, patterned after Google’s 20 percent time for employees, has been widely emulated by other software companies and has repeatedly shown its value to these organizations through expanded skillsets, new collaborations and renewed excitement about projects.

As summer brings a dip in your client work load, consider implementing your own version of FedEx days. Have you been itching to try a new lighting setup, test a new software application or tinker with creating your own iPhone app? Dedicate time to tackling a small project and expanding your skill set at the same time.

I typically take my FedEx days at the end of the day on Fridays. My client work for the week is done and I take 2-3 hours to learn new technologies. I typically leave work on Friday energized and spend much of the weekend brainstorming ways I can incorporate this newly acquired knowledge into my business.

Become a Flash (video) Master

[by Jay Kinghorn]

Despite the recent dustup between Flash Video and HTML 5, the majority of online video today is delivered in the Flash Video (FLV) format.

To get the best video quality at the smallest file size, be sure to check out Robert Reinhardt’s Flash Video Bitrate Calculator. Not only does it help you determine which sizes and settings are optimal for use in your video compression software, but it also allows you to download your settings for use in Sorenson Squeeze and On2Flix software.

Tips to make your Web site iPhone-friendly

[by Jay Kinghorn]

For most photographers, their Web site is their #1 marketing tool. As a result, your Web site should be compatible with as wide an audience as possible. Increasingly, this includes mobile devices like the iPhone, Droid and iPad.

To make sure your Web site is mobile-friendly, follow these few simple rules:
Make it quick. Avoid long animations and optimize images to improve download speed on slower connections.

• Keep it simple. Reduce or eliminate Flash, Java and other technologies that aren’t supported on all mobile phones. HTML and JavaScript is widely supported across desktop and mobile browsers
• Keep it small. Mobile Safari opens pages at a default view of 980 pixels wide. If your site is wider than that, site viewers will have to scroll side to side. Simplify your splash screen to ensure it all fits on the opening screen.
• Keep it separate. Increasingly, companies are creating separate, mobile-friendly versions of their Web sites to accommodate mobile visitors. For some sites, this can be accomplished through the use of JavaScript and CSS, but for more elaborate sites, you may need to create and maintain a duplicate, mobile-friendly copy of your site.

Resources:
- iPhone WebDev: http://www.iphonewebdev.com Forums, FAQ’s and tips for optimizing or developing sites for the iPhone.
- SiteCatalyst NetAverages: Free subscription with purchase of Adobe CreativeSuite CS5, aggregates data from Omniture’s web analytics customers to show trends for desktop and mobile browsers
- iPhone/iPad Simulator: Register for the free iPhone SDK to download the iPhone/iPad simulator application to test your site. (Or, save the 2GB download by asking your friends to test your site for you and send screengrabs.)

Summer Reading List

[by Jay Kinghorn]

There’s no doubt that the business landscape is tough for photographers right now. Still, every day, green shoots are appearing in the publishing and advertising industries that will allow well-positioned and technologically savvy photographers to make and impact (and a good living) as the recession subsides.

Here are a few books I’ve found valuable in thinking about my business, assessing the services I provide clients and getting through my to-do list.

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. I find new insight from this book every time I read it. Blue Ocean Strategy offers clear guidance to rethink one’s business to focus on untapped markets and new opportunities.

The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change The Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen. In researching the panel questions for the ASMP Copyright and The New Economy symposium this spring, I kept coming across references to this book citing it as an influential source for understanding why well-managed companies, who fail to change to meet new technological needs and client demands, fail. Sure enough, Clayton M. Christensen delivers, offering strategic insights for managing any business through periods of rapid change like we’re experiencing today and giving us both the strategy and the courage to make the leap from our current business model to the new model that will carry us into tomorrow.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: This is a book I find more valuable with each read. Allen’s GTD method is well proven and will help you focus on addressing both day-to-day tasks and your big-picture business goals.

Save and back up your Photoshop Actions

[by Jay Kinghorn]

Don’t forget to save and back up your Photoshop Actions. Should Photoshop crash, you will lose any unsaved Actions. More likely, unsaved actions can be lost when you reinstall Photoshop or switch computers.

To save your Actions, first group them into Action Sets then single-click on the Action Set within the Actions panel and select Save Actions from the flyout menu in the upper right corner of the Panel.

I recommend saving your actions immediately after creating or modifying your Actions and integrating them into your regular file backup routine. Losing the Actions you rely upon daily to process images can be a significant blow to your productivity.

Jay Kinghorn is a workflow trainer and consultant. His company, Kinghorn Visual helps companies use photos and video for marketing and outreach purposes.

Copyright & The New Economy: What I learned

[by Jay Kinghorn]

The Copyright & The New Economy symposium held on April 21st was, for me, an eye-opening event. As the moderator for Copyright and the New Economy, I did a lot of research leading up to the event. A common thread that ran through the research, the morning presenters and the afternoon panel discussion point to a publishing landscape for photographers that is radically different than today. This landscape, while challenging, holds tremendous promise for photographers willing to proactively seek out new opportunities and new ways of serving clients.

I’ve spent a good deal of time mulling over and replaying the kernels of information presented through the symposium, and here are a few lessons I’ve taken from the event.

- Be an explorer: Photographer Chase Jarvis seems to embody many of the traits I think will be essential for thriving in this new landscape. He’s willing to take risks and experiment in the services he delivers to clients and doesn’t tie himself to traditional notions of what a photographer should be if those notions aren’t serving him well today.

- Be a publisher: Brian Storm, of MediaStorm.org, clearly articulated his vision for the future of photojournalism-multimedia presentations that educate, raise awareness and generate profit for those sites willing to publish MediaStorm’s hard-hitting productions. Rather than looking at yourself as just a contributor to larger projects, consider expanding your vision to the big picture and “do it all.”

- Be your own advocate: Victor Perlman, ASMP’s General Council, traced the history of image licensing, describing photographers’ current situation as a convergence of several events. One primary cause is photographers abdicating licensing negotiations to stock agencies. Once photographers stopped controlling pricing negotiations, the market was ripe for commodification.

We live in a time of tremendous upheaval. Traditional industries are quickly collapsing and new ones are emerging. More content is being consumed than ever before. Though very few of us have a recipe for success in this new market, one thing is for sure, success is often based on one’s ability to adapt and as the ancient saying goes, fortune favors the bold!

Jay Kinghorn is a workflow trainer and consultant. His company, Kinghorn Visual helps companies use photos and video for marketing and outreach purposes.

Copyright and The New Economy

[by Jay Kinghorn]

For many years, the profession of photography has been based on licensing a photo for a specific use, often with precise definitions on how, where and what size a given image can be reproduced. 

Today, myriad forces, including client requests, microstock and Internet publishing are prompting photographers to rethink the traditional rights-managed business model and search for creative new ways of selling their photographic services. 

Tomorrow, I’ll be moderating a panel of thought leaders on how photographers can thrive in this new environment, what new business models they think will succeed and specifically, what role should copyright play in the equation. 

We’d like you to contribute to the conversation. What questions would you ask the panelists? What new opportunities do you see for professional photography? How does copyright law need to change or adapt to facilitate and protect these new opportunities? 

Please add your thoughts and questions in the comments field below. Or, send your questions via Twitter to @asmp. I’ll incorporate your suggestions into the questions I ask panelists. In the weeks that follow, we’ll post videos of the panel discussion along with the morning presentations available at ASMP.org. 

Your Computer: A low paid, yet highly productive assistant

[by Jay Kinghorn]

What if you could pay your best assistant $1.87 per hour to process your images for you? Consider this: A fully loaded, new MacPro with a stunning Eizo monitor, pro-rated over the three-year life of the equipment costs you less than two bucks an hour.

It is tempting to save money by delaying the purchase of a new computer, monitor or software upgrade. However, in the long run, the productivity costs of waiting for files to process or making an extra round of prints because the color isn’t right, far exceeds the cost of having the right equipment.

Once you have the right equipment, the next step is putting it to work for you. What steps in your workflow can be automated using Photoshop Actions or presets in Lightroom or Aperture? I’ll bet there are more than you think. Automating even small steps makes you more efficient, minimizes errors and allows you to focus on the creative areas of your image processing. Do the skin tones look right? Does the light need to be warmer? These are the questions you should be asking.

The repetitive, mind-numbing tasks like resizing images for a client; that’s work for your electronic assistant.

Why Multimedia Is the Future of Photography

[by Jay Kinghorn]

As the mobile phone begins to replace the television and personal computer as the primary screen for interfacing with the Internet, and print continues to decline in popularity, this shift will impact the way photographers create photographs. While a two-page magazine spread can contain a rich array of subtle tones and fine details, the relatively low resolution screen of a computer or a mobile device cannot. To have impact on a small screen, a photograph must be tightly composed, cleanly lit and catch the viewer’s attention immediately.

Unfortunately, these small screens remove much of the subtlety that makes photography such a powerful medium. To bypass the limitations of the small screen, my guess is photographers will adapt to the technological limitations of mobile screens by using a series of images to tell a story, instead of relying on a single, all-encompassing photo.

Photographers who take time to rethink their compositions, lighting and visual storytelling options will be better suited to succeed in all mediums, regardless of the twists and turns technology throws at us.

Computational Photography

[by Jay Kinghorn]

As we close the book on the first decade of the 21st century and look forward to the next 10 years, computational photography looks to make the greatest technological impact on the craft of photography as we know it.

Computational photography is a broad, if imprecise, term most often used for any imaging techniques that expand upon the normal capabilities of a digital camera. Common examples are High Dynamic Range (HDR) photos or panoramas, the outcomes of which are digital photographs that could not have been taken by a traditional camera. Less established technologies allow a photographer to set focus and depth of field on their computer instead of in-camera.

Most examples of computational photography use multiple images to enhance the quality, or flexibility of a single image. For example, when using a high ISO setting in low light, a camera will automatically capture a quick burst of images. The image processing software (either on-camera or on the computer) compares the content of the images, separating detail from image noise. The noise is discarded and the detail preserved. Other techniques still in the lab use still photos taken at regular points during a video clip to improve the detail, tonal range and quality of video footage, or allow an artist to relight a scene in post-processing to tease out hidden detail.

These technological improvements should be embraced as they come to light, because they will allow photographers to capture, create and publish photos in new and even more compelling ways. While the tools of the future of photography are important, ultimately it’s the creativity and artistry that’s applied to them that will help people tell stories that continue to move, engage and inform.

Looking forward, a photographer’s ability to exploit new opportunities and assimilate new technologies into their workflow will be a defining characteristic of the future of photography. The profession of photography will be less about being a technician and more about being a visual artist fluent in the language of color, shape line and light who communicates across mediums with greater facility than any technician ever could.

Blogs and Your Business

[by Jay Kinghorn]

About six months ago I began blogging regularly and I can safely say it has become one of my best business planning tools. When establishing an audience online, you are constantly striving to provide that audience with meaningful, thoughtful, useful information. In turn, you’re committing yourself to thinking deeply about your craft and staying ahead of the information curve. This thought process is incredibly valuable as it helps you clearly articulate what your business’ role is in your field and the value you bring to your clients.

Perhaps more important, it helps you constantly see your business from the client’s perspective, which can only help you provide better, more targeted services.

It’s helpful to answer these questions when planning your blog presence and the unique content you’ll bring to your clients.
- What information does my audience need?
- How can I provide that information?
- What is my true expertise and how can I use it to help clients?

If you haven’t already answered these questions about your business, then this is a better time than ever to start.

Some of the practices I employ when writing blogs:

1) Passing on an interesting news article or link: Don’t just recycle it and send it out just as it came in. Instead, reference the article and put it in a context that applies to my readers and what it means to them professionally.

2) Original works: Try to address challenges you know your audience faces. If you are writing about something of interest to you, tie in why it’s important to your readers.

3) Blog often. There are so many blogs out there. Don’t just expect your readers to stay with you just because you’re there. They will stay only if you regularly provide interesting, useful information.

4) Gather data on the success of your blog posts through analytics. This will give you insight into what your readers find interesting and helpful.

Writing your blog thoughtfully and with your clients in mind will reap big rewards. You’ll be able to clearly articulate your business purpose and produce better better work for your clients, because you’ll have a better handle on what your clients need and want.

For a great recent article on blog posts, read this from problogger.

Five Boosts for your Photoshop Workflow

[by Jay Kinghorn]

Much of my consulting and training work with clients results in a faster, more consistent workflow and more time in my clients’ days. Below is a list of seven things you can do to speed up your image processing and take control of your workflow.

1) Actions: If you perform a step more than twice, automate it. Actions are simple to learn, quick to create and highly efficient. I frequently make job-specific actions to ensure consistency from file to file or job to job. Even small tasks like flattening layers or opening specific dialog boxes is faster when you assign a function key to an action. There’s nothing like processing an entire job by pressing a few keys and having Photoshop do the work for you.

2) A graphics tablet for retouching: If you perform your own retouching you owe it to yourself to invest in a graphics tablet. Not only will your retouching be more accurate, but you’ll save boatloads of time on your retouching.

3) Camera Raw Presets: Many photographers perform the same set of corrections for every camera raw file. Add five points of contrast, seven points of saturation and so forth. Save this information as either a preset or the default for each of your cameras. Better still is to create a DNG profile for your camera. These steps will apply a series of baseline changes to each raw file as they’re loaded into Adobe Camera Raw. You will likely need to perform shoot-or-scene specific corrections on top of the baseline correction, but you’re starting from a better baseline than the default settings in ACR.

4) Metadata templates: With the specter of Orphan Works legislation perpetually looming over the horizon, it pays to make sure your copyright information is stored in the metadata of every photograph in your collection. The best strategy is to enter this information early and do it automatically. Whether you use PhotoMechanic, Bridge or Lightroom for your initial edit, be sure to build, and apply, a metadata template to insert your contact and copyright photo in every image as it is downloaded to your computer.

5) Productivity plug-ins: Plug-ins can be a productivity black hole. “Hmm, should I use the mossy rock or brilliant sunrise filter on this image?” That said, productivity plugins can often remove noise, improve sharpness, enlarge images or eliminate backgrounds faster, and with better quality than doing it by hand. Here are a few of my favorites:
Noise:
- Noise Ninja

Upsizing/Enlarging:
- Genuine Fractals
- Blow Up

Cut-out/Background Removal:
- Fluid Mask

Sharpening:
- Sharpener Pro
- Photo Kit Sharpener

Be a Professional with dpBestflow

[by Jay Kinghorn]

Today, many photographers find themselves having to justify their creative fees and post-processing fees to clients. After all, it seems everybody these days has a digital SLR and a copy of Photoshop and thinks they can do it themselves. The truth is, your relationship with the client only begins with creating a compelling image. It is complete when the image is successfully reproduced in its final format.

Clients rely on you to know how to provide them with digital files that meet their technical needs and are delivered on time. With how quickly our industry is changing, you must make sure to use best practices for your digital workflow to stay organized, maximize image quality and keep clients happy.

The dpBestflow project, is a great guide to what works in digital photography workflows. Whether you need a high-level overview of best practices to compare your current system against or detailed info on a given topic like file-naming or backup systems strategies, dpBestflow puts this information right at your fingertips. Now it’s easier than ever to optimize your workflow so you can deliver creative projects to clients that meet both their creative and technical needs. Here are a few tips from dpBestflow that you can apply today.

3, 2, 1 backup strategy
Losing your images due to fire, flood, malfunction or theft would be catastrophic. Ensure  the safety of your files by storing them in at least three locations, on two different types of media with at least one copy stored off-site.

Raw Power
Use your raw image editing software to perform as many of your image corrections as possible. This gives you the best image quality and eliminates much of the need for destructive pixel editing.

Special Delivery
When delivering files to clients, be sure to include a Read Me file; a text file explaining the processes used in creating the file, including the color mode, ICC color profile, file size and image resolution, along with licensing rights and usage information.

Use an RSS Reader for Easy News Gathering

[by Jay Kinghorn]

Blogs are a tremendous source for information, ideas and insights. However, they can also be a tremendous drain on your time and productivity. If you subscribe to more than a handful of blogs or news feeds, an RSS reader like Net News Wire (Mac), FeedDemon (Windows) or Google Reader is essential to quickly sift through a large number of blogs and find the valuable posts hidden within.

An RSS reader aggregates all the unread blog posts from your favorite blogs into a single window. This allows you to quickly skim the headline of each post and read only the articles you’re most interested in. If you’re really tight for time you can flag articles, or pull them into a clippings folder for later reading.

Here are a few links to get you started:
Newsgator
Google Reader
Best RSS Readers

Lightroom Tip: Save Your Metadata

[By Jay Kinghorn]

Save Lightroom’s metadata back into the original files by selecting images, then, from the Metadata menu, select Save Metadata to File. Alternatively you can use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+S (Mac) or CTRL-S (Win). This writes metadata into JPEG, TIFF, DNG and PSD files and writes metadata into XMP sidecar files for Camera Raw files. This helps to ensure your metadata always travels with your photos and helps you recover quickly should your Lightroom Catalog becomes corrupted.

Free As A Part of Your Business Model

As Gail Mooney pointed out, Chris Anderson’s new book “Free” is causing quite a stir. Evidenced by the lasting effect Anderson’s observations and predictions in “The Long Tail” have had on business and culture, it is likely “Free,” the idea that businesses need to think about giving things away for free via the Internet in order to make money,  is a concept that is here to stay. What is uncertain is how photographers can adapt to, and take advantage of the “Free” model. Musicians, using MySpace and other online tools, give away streaming music tracks to cultivate a larger following and sell more tickets at their next concert. Mr. Anderson provided free access to “Free” online for a limited time to generate more speaking engagements and sell more books. While these techniques are effective for their respective businesses, they do not correlate well for most photographers who are selling business to business instead of business to consumer. And, in an age where photographers are still working to communicate the value of professional photography, what would giving it away for free communicate to businesses?

Here’s an idea. I think we can all agree that giving away a photo as free stock is generally a bad idea. So, instead, give away free e-books of your latest photo project to sell limited edition copies of the book,  fine-art prints, or to serve as a powerful, yet inexpensive marketing tool. Can this “free” strategy also be successful in generating one-on-one relationships with clients—most photographers’ ultimate goal?

It remains to be seen if photojournalists and fine-art photographers will be able to use the tools of “Free” to galvanize followers of a cause or patrons of the arts to fund a book project, documentary film or traveling exhibition. Certainly the concept of “Free” will challenge the business models of not only photographers, but also the businesses comprising their primary client base.

Photoshop Quick Tip: Maximize Photoshop File Compatibility

In Photoshop’s preferences, under the File Handling tab, be sure to change the Maximize PSD and PSB File Compatibility from “Ask” to “Always.” Although this makes your file sizes larger, it ensures your layered Photoshop files will display correctly in other imaging applications like Lightroom, InDesign, Microsoft Expression Media and Extensis Portfolio.

Are Your Photos Protected?

If your studio were to catch fire right now, would your digital photos be safe? Many photographers make the mistake of backing up to two separate hard drives, only to leave both hard drives sitting on their desk. This protects against a hard drive failure, but does nothing to protect against fire, flood or theft.

To ensure you’re adequately protected, store your files in at least two physical locations. One option is to rotate a set of drives off-site, e.g. one at your studio and one at home. A second option is to use an Internet-based storage site, like .Mac, Mozy or Amazon S3 and store your photos on an industrial-strength server cloud.

Storing your entire image library on a server cloud may seem ideal, but the bandwidth needs for uploading gigabytes of photos, along with the monthly storage costs, make this prohibitive for most photographers. Still, you can use this method to upload your most valuable images along with your business correspondence, contracts and e-mail correspondence very inexpensively. Given the consequences of a catastrophic loss, off-site backups may be the most valuable and least expensive insurance policy available for your business.

What Photos Do You Really Need in Your Image Library?

After shooting digitally for many years, many photographers have amassed prodigious collections of digital photos, often surpassing 100,000 or 200,000 images. These photographers now find themselves struggling to organize, manage and backup this immense image library effectively.

Unless you’ve invested tens of thousands of dollars in an enterprise-level asset management system and server system, you’re likely to find any database program slow, unwieldy and crash-prone. All-in-one applications like Adobe Lightroom and Apple’s Aperture begin to slow with large libraries above 40-50,000 images and even dedicated asset management systems like Extensis Porfolio or Canto Cumulus struggle with 100,000 images.

Rather than investing in more robust asset management applications, ask yourself “What photos do I really need access to?” Often, by saving older jobs and outtakes to external hard drives on a regular basis, you can slim your image library considerably. This saves you money on storage space, makes photos easier to find and your image database quicker to search.

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