I know a lot of photographers are thinking about motion and video. This is a complex subject with many interdependent skills.  I recommend here several books that I personally use (or wrote) to keep my business running smoothly.

The Visual Story, Second Edition: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media
by Bruce Block
A great book that helps newcomers learn about composition, color, sequencing and more taught by an actual Hollywood film school professor.

From Still to Motion: A photographer’s guide to creating video with your DSLR
by James Ball, Robbie Carman, Matt Gottshalk, Richard Harrington
The first and most comprehensive guide to creating video with a DSLR camera.  This title focusses on translating photography knowledge into the motion field.  It also focusses on professional outcomes that satisfy real-world challenges. This is a book and video sold together.

How Video Works, Second Edition: From Analog to High Definition
by Marcus Weise and Diana Weynand
A solid overview of video technology.  If you want to understand the why behind video (and the answer is often a long, convoluted process of engineering) this book makes that easier.

Professional Web Video: Plan, Produce, Distribute, Promote, and Monetize Quality Video – by Richard Harrington & Mark Weiser
This is a thorough look at how we produce web video.  This is one of the easiest areas for photographers moving into video to explore.  There are lots of opportunities to create compelling one-off videos or even ongoing series with the web in mind.

Lighting for Digital Video and Television, Third Edition
by John Jackman
A detailed book with lighting strategies for video.  As a photographer, you likely know a lot about lighting, this will help you translate that knowledge to a different acquisition format.

Color Correction Handbook: Professional Techniques for Video and Cinema
by Alexis Van Hurkman
The most detailed guide about color and video.  You’ll learn how to fix common problems as well as enhance your images with color grading techniques.

An Editor’s Guide to Adobe Premiere Pro
by Richard Harrington, Robbie Carman, and  Jeff I. Greenberg
If you are looking to edit your video together, this book and video collection will help you maximize your investment in Adobe Premiere Pro as well as other applications in the Production Premium or Master Collection suites.

Richard Harrington is the founder of RHED Pixel, a visual communications company in Washington, D.C. You can read Rich’s blog at www.RichardHarringtonBlog.com as well as follow him on Twitter @rhedpixel. To learn more about time-lapse, HDR, and panoramic photography, explore www.3Exposure.com. If you’d like to check out his books, just swing by his Amazon page.

As I wrote the title for this blog post, I realized that many of you are not turning pages you are “Kindling “your info these days.

Regardless of the delivery, here are books that I suggest you consider owning.

Do The Work – Stephen Pressfield
A great follow up to The War of Art – more quick easy to digest and totally powerful words on creative process and progress.

The Zen Of Creativity – John Daido Loori
Don’t be fooled! Given to me as a gift from one of my clients, this fabulous book contains much truth for those on the path of spirituality and for those who are firmly grounded here on earth!

The focus is on cultivating your artistic life and it’s a beautiful book to read as you calmly explore a different realm of creativity.

buy.ology – Marin Lindstrom
The subtitle says it all: Truth and Lies About Why we buy. Learn about yourself here, but most importantly learn about your clients. They are your consumers and this book puts across some compelling information about when and why we buy.

 Prayers to The Great Creator – Julia Cameron
OK everyone this book is a collection of Julia Cameron’s (The Artist’s Way) affirmations and prayers that she has written/channeled over the years with creative people in mind. I had the great pleasure and honor to sit with Julia last spring for  a weekend retreat and personally thank her for her work and this book in particular. If you are open to using affirmations and prayer as tools for your personal and creative flourishing this is the book for you.

Just Kids – Patti Smith
LIFE – Keith Richards
OK we all need a little if not a lot of Rock and Roll in our life and these two Auto- Bios are so well written and fun to read. If you are old enough to have grown up with these two greats (as I am) or are young enough to know their names but not much more, do yourself a BIG favor and get these books and enjoy reading about these very interesting Artists knowing that relaxation is a key part of taking care of you, and taking care of yourself is always good business!

Selina Maitreya is a consultant to photographers worldwide.  Signup for her new 3 day video “Why Photographers Fail”, and learn how you can succeed  at: www.selinamaitreya.com

 


Like many businesses, our company is in the midst of adapting to a changing world by finding new ways we can support our clients and new avenues for income. One of the challenges we face is pinpointing which of the many ideas we’ve explored are the best opportunities with which to move forward.

Fortunately, The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, was released this fall. The Lean Startup is a methodology for minimizing the risk involved in starting any new venture. At the core of the Lean Startup Methodology is the need to treat your business like an experiment that should be tested and refined repeatedly through customer feedback. The idea of this methodology is that the process of testing and refining eliminates the guesswork and quickly refines your product or service, your positioning and your marketing efforts leading to quicker success while minimizing the risks associated with a new venture.

You can listen to a 30-minute interview with the author on the IT Conversations podcast Website.

Jay’s heavily highlighted, dog-eared copy has rapidly become his reference for developing new services with his company, Kinghorn Visual, Inc..

James Taylor – Timothy White.
As a long time fan (I saw the original Troubadour shows with Carol King in 1970), seeing how an artist can maintain the quality of their work and continue to grow as an artist for a real, real long time provides a perspective I find more than helpful.

The Log from the Sea of Cortez – John Steinbeck.
This is a record of a 1940 research expedition in Baja California run by Steinbeck’s good friend Ed Ricketts, the model for “Doc” in Cannery Row and other books.  Ricketts was the real deal, a respected scientist.  These days, particularly, photographers often sail into uncharted waters professionally – but you still need chops to do a good job.  These guys had chops.

Anything whatsoever by John McPhee
McPhee has written non-fiction for the New Yorker since the 1960s, and is still at it.  A writer’s writer, he’s considered a role model by many, including the New Yorker’s current editor, David Remnick.  The man has written about everything from birch-bark canoes to pirates to chefs to geology (for which he won the Pulitzer), and knows how to tell a story.  Reading McPhee, you can see his people skills at work in “real time” in the service of his job. Good people skills are a requirement to produce any kind of work, and any series of photos – commercial or editorial – has got to have some kind of narrative going on.  Even a single portrait, if it’s any good, has got to tell some kind of story.

Don’t Tread on Me, The Selected Letters of S. J. Perelman.
Perelman was one of the great “comic” writers of the first part of the 20th century, writing stories, essays, plays, and screenplays, including for the Marx Bros.  Calling his use of language “creative”, is to put a slur to the meaning of “creative”.  The book took me a year to read because I couldn’t bear to finish it.  Perelman saw things with an original mind, yet could communicate to anyone, clearly, what he thought.  That’s what I strive for every time I pick up a camera.

The Life of a Photograph – Sam Abell.
Best known as one of the great National Geographic photographers, Abell earns his stature by making photos that transcend ordinary documentary work but remain totally faithful to the exercise.  No small feat.  In this book and in his appearances and workshops, if you’re lucky enough to attend one, he reveals his work processes – both technically and aesthetically – with a specificity that is startling, energizing, and clear-headed.  No small feat, either.

Barry Schwartz is a photographer, writer, and designer in Los Angeles who tries not to compare himself to his role models but fails every day.   www.barryschwartzphotography.com

Those lazy hazy days of summer yearn to lure you into complacency.  C’mon, they whisper, soft and low, lie out by the pool, read a trashy novel or two, relaaaaaax.  And before you were self-employed…Aaah, those were the days and that was the life.

Now, though, we are on,  24/7, 365.  So here are a few of my summer kickstarting favs, guaranteed to rev you up and get you going, even when that clear cool water is calling your name:

Poke the Box
The ubiquitous Seth Godin, master of the short, quippy bookform, trains his eye on taking initiative.  The mix of case studies and exhortations may get annoying at times but I can almost guarantee you’ll want to pick yourself up and do something radically innovative by the time you turn the last page.

Making Ideas Happen
Behance Network founder, Scott Belsky, interviewed creative teams and innovative leaders with impressive track records not to discover how they come up with ideas, but to learn, instead, how they manage to implement them efficiently and consistently.  Be sure to check out the related blog, which is dedicated to helping creative people make our ideas happen.

Do the Work
Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, provides a short, engaging and energizing book aimed at vanquishing resistance and freeing you to begin and complete your creative work.  The introduction promises that “Where butts need to be kicked, we shall kick them. Where kinder, gentler methods are called for, we’ll get out the kid gloves.” And the book delivers on that promise.

Self Promotion for Introverts
Though targeted at introverts, Nancy Ancowitz’s marketing guide is ideal for anyone who’s not comfortable promoting themselves.  Use the first three books to get yourself moving, then let this gem of a book help you spread the word of your fabulousness.

Now, obviously I’ve already read all these books or I wouldn’t be recommending them. So what am I counting on to keep me going this summer?  My reading queue includes: Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment: the Art of Changing Hearts, Minds and Actions, Gary Vaynerchuk’s The Thank You Economy, Chris Guillebeau’s The Art of Non-Conformity, and Hugh MacLeod’s Evil Plans:Having Fun on the Way to World Domination.

Judy Herrmann loves great books almost as much as creating photographs and using her blog, seminars and consulting services to help photographers and other small business owners earn a living doing what they love.

I am often asked by photographers which books I recommend to learn video.  There are several, but I wanted to offer you my top choices that I think are most helpful.  The links will take you to Amazon where you can read reviews and the publisher’s description as well.

The Visual Story, Second Edition: Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media
by Bruce Block
I recommend this book to nearly every one.  I used it in several college classes that I taught.  This book does a great job of helping you understand composition, sequencing images, and more.  It also has a series of recommended films to watch along with exercises.

How Video Works, Second Edition: From Analog to High Definition
by Marcus Weise and Diana Weynand
If you want to understand what all those pesky terms mean, this book is a great edition.  Learn the intricacies of how video technology actually works, but in a simple writing style.  This book is a helpful reference as you come across terms that aren’t familiar.

Color Correction Handbook: Professional Techniques for Video and Cinema
by Alexis Van Hurkman
This book offers a richly illustrated look at fixing color as well as creating a look.  Just as photographer’s rely on Photoshop or Lightroom, so do video professionals use software as well.  This is an excellent look at the complexities involved.

Producing Great Sound for Film and Video, Third Edition (DV Expert Series)
by Jay Rose
While this book gets a little geeky, it does help you make your productions 50% better.  Talk to any pro video person and they’ll tell you audio is half the picture.  This book helps you get better sound and fills in essential gaps in most people’s knowledge base.

From Still to Motion: A photographer’s guide to creating video with your DSLR
by James Ball, Robbie Carman, Matt Gottshalk, Richard Harrington
Yes, I am a little biased.  This was the first book written on DSLR Video.  It also was written specifically with photographer’s in mind.  Several pro photographers consulted on the project and contributed.  A team of four authors shows you how to plan, shoot, edit, and deliver professional video.  It also includes six hours of video training on the DVD-ROM along with hands on project files.

Richard Harrington is the founder of RHED Pixel,  a visual communications company in Washington, D.C.  You can read Rich’s blog at www.RichardHarringtonBlog.com as well as follow him on Twitter @rhedpixel

The Creative Process Illustrated

[by Charles Gupton]

Would you like to have the chance to get a peek into the process of some of the most respected creative minds in the advertising business today?

In the book, The Creative Process Illustrated: How Advertising’s Big Ideas are Born, you’ll have that opportunity.  The authors approached nearly 300 top creative directors, art directors, and writers in the advertising industry with a specific set of questions and criteria. They then produced profiles of 35 individuals with both written and illustrated versions of their creative process as well as additional observations from creative partners and some examples of their finished ads.

The book begins and ends with a few chapters detailing an overview of the creative process. Ironically, I found these over-written in an uninspired, textbook-ish style. However, I still found these chapters to be insightful and even helpful in a few client discussions.

But the reason to invest in this book is the illustrations and descriptions of the creative process. Although each one is very personal, there are universal applications throughout most all of them that speak to that often solitary journey we make on a constant basis.

Even though this book is not heavy reading, the ideas can carry some heavy weight.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., Charles Gupton photographs real people, really well. He loves listening to others’ stories and relishes the challenge of telling those stories visually. He is, after 30 years in this business, more excited than ever about creating images that communicate, while also ensuring that his subjects and clients come away with a remarkable experience. cg@charlesguptonphoto.com , www.charlesguptonphoto.com , www.charlesgupton.com

The Personal MBA (by Josh Kaufman) crams an entire biz-school education into one remarkably well-written book, covering all of the major concepts in brief, while providing best-of resources for further educating yourself in your areas of interest. Get an overview now, and choose your business-improvement projects (and reading) for fall! Similarly…

100 Best Business Books of All Time (by Jack Covert & Todd Sattersten) sketches out the main takeaways of the best of the biz-book canon in short, enjoyable summary reviews, broken out by category (e.g. enhancing creativity, operating a business efficiently, being more productive). I ended up adding a good 15 books to my own “to read” pile after finishing this one!

The Happiness Project (by Gretchen Rubin) chronicles the adventures of the author (who is, full disclosure, a friend) as she applied reason to the question of how to become a happier person, turning her life into a year-long science project. Wonderful writing and plenty of fun, easy experiments to try out yourself.

Improv Wisdom (by Patricia Ryan Madson) shows you how applying the rules of improv can enhance your life and your creativity. As an old improviser myself, I swear: it really does work, but it never feels like work. And it’s a fun-to-read book, to boot.

The Career Clinic: 8 Simple Rules for Finding Work You Love (by Maureen Anderson) collects the stories of several dozen people who found their way to new (and sometimes unusual) lines of work via circuitous routes. Fascinating and compulsively readable, it’s also really inspiring in times of great upheaval, like the one we’re living through now.

Colleen Wainwright is looking forward to bringing her breezy (but not mindless!) talk on marketing to several ASMP chapters this coming year, and getting a whole lot more reading done on airplanes.

A great way to get inspired and to exercise your imaginative vision is to slip outside photography altogether.

Which is why I recently disappeared into Isaac Babel’s Red Cavalry short stories for a few weeks. I lived in the grind and the confusion and the human-ness of partisan warfare. The experience raised lots of questions about myself and about humans and what we do.

Babel is a master at making his stories seem like they were torn out of a larger work…which in a way they were—the Russian Revolution. There is always a sense of continuation before the beginning and after the end of each story. He places a reader in the middle of things, which was just where he was.

Can you do this with your photographs?

Photographers tend to think of photography as fact-based, but we can learn so much when we go looking into imaginative forms. Fiction, in particular, has a way of dealing with atmospheres and sounds and smells, the whole sense of presence that compliments and animates histories. Babel is aware of all the senses at work in a scene…as are really good photographers. That is what gives them their resonance, even if the reader never fought a war on horseback.

So, The Red Cavalry Stories, Isaac Babel. (They’re available in an edition that also has the marvelous stories about the Jewish gangsters of Odessa. Make it a double feature.)

And if this seems frivolous and off-message, remember something: using our imagination  and exercising our vision is part of the photographer’s job, just as much as organizing files and making cold calls. So if it helps you to think of it as work, do it.

And if you want to do something really interesting, try writing a short description of a place you’ve never been. Don’t try to write it well, just write it down. You’ll be surprised.

Sean Kernan spends his time making photos, videos, and teaching creativity. He sometimes acts like he knows everything, but he doesn’t. www.seankernan.com.

There are a lot of resources out there on business that unless it’s about a photography business, we don’t seem to want to pick it up…  I have news for you.  If you’re not treating your business like a business, then you’ll likely be out of business soon.   There’s a great book that has nothing to do with photography – other than it’s a business.  It’s called “Think Like Your Customer” and it’s a must read.

This book changed how I approach my clients.   If you aren’t looking at what your client thinks and needs, you’ll always be seen as wanting something.  Are you a cost to them or a solution?  Until you can see things from their perspective, you’ll always just be a seller to them.   Start thinking like your customer.

Todd Joyce is a recent Past President of ASMP and specializes in conceptual people photography for advertising. See Todd’s work at joycephotography.com and contact him at todd@joycephotography.com