Efficient Freedom

[by Charles Gupton]

I once had a strong disdain for franchises as a means of business ownership. It seemed to me to be a sell-out to a system that limited the freedom of an owner too much for my liking. Especially after I watched a photography buddy of mine give up his heart and passion for photography to explore, and eventually buy, a franchise business so that he could earn a stable income for his family.

Although I’ve not hit a point that I’m ready to buy a franchise, I’ve come to appreciate the value of having systems in place which allow me to have other people do repetitive tasks that distract from my creative idea generation and production. We all have basic duties such as billing, accounting, client follow-up, photo file backup, etc., which needs to be taken care of on a consistent basis but don’t require any creative brains cells to get completed.

Because I worked in the “solo-prenuer” mindset for most of my career, I found that I did most of the work myself. When I did delegate tasks to assistants, my directions were not very clear because there was no effective system in place to get consistent results until my assistants established them.

As it dawned on me that I needed more effective means of getting rote tasks completed, three different people – within a one-week period, no less – recommended the book “E-myth Revisited” by Michael Gerber to me. Having read it, I realized that great systems are less about limiting one’s freedom to work than they are about creating opportunities to be creative. Also, creative people need to see that systems require an ingenuity of their own and systems-oriented people often use creative process to manage and tweak their systems to make them more efficient.

I doubt that I will ever be a systems person by nature. But I’ve come to appreciate that a lot of my creative energy gets drained by a lack of reliable, repeatable systems to get the seemingly mundane tasks off my mind so that I’ve got the brain space to devote to the heart-centered projects that do fuel my life.

Charles Gupton photographs real people, really well, by understanding and telling the stories of his subjects and clients. Find his photographs at www.charlesguptonphoto.com and his writing at www.charlesgupton.com.

You Are Not a Photographer

[by Thomas Werner]

You are a producer, casting agent, editor, retoucher, creative director, manager, businessperson, curator, creative partner, educator and art director. You are a social media manager, pr person, advertiser, filmmaker, videographer, relationship manager, student, activist, and more….
 
I can hear people thinking, well, that is what a photographer is….no, these are just skill sets that you apply to being a photographer. A photographer takes pictures, creates imagery in some form, the other skills are what you apply to your art or business to make your self more successful. If your business is slow, or if you want to diversify, they are skills that you can apply to other fields, or other aspects of photography and your business. We frequently have the skills that we need to make a change, we just don’t recognize them, or how they fit together to make our businesses and ourselves more successful.
 
You are not a photographer, it may be the most important and enjoyable thing that you do, but it is only one part of what you can do.
 
Thomas Werner is a Curator, Educator and Lecturer. His new program “Rethinking Your Business” is an evening with photographers that helps them redefine themselves and their businesses. You can find out more about Thomas and his projects at Thomas Werner Projects on Facebook.com

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.

Expand Your Thinking

[by Sean Kernan]

The reasons to do it are obvious. The best way expand your thinking is to just do something. I suggest going to Paris.

Not that you’ll think more there. You might even think less, but your thoughts will all be new, fresh. With the micro-gravities (shopping, picking up the cleaning, all that stuff) removed from your life there’ll be room for a whole new set of experiences. Give your mind a little time and it will be thrilled to spend hours forming your new thoughts into a new you. Call it Traveler’s Rapture.

Can’t swing Paris this year? So take the afternoon and head for some place half an hour beyond your usual circuit. Park your car, leave the camera in the trunk (this is important), and start walking. Walk until you’re bored. Slow down. Sit. Listen to sounds. Make up stories about things you see. Use your imagination. Don’t go home for dinner. Stay until dark.

What do you remember in life? All those times when everything went just as planned? Of course not. So take this little trip right now and you can have an afternoon that you’ll remember all your life. And when you come home, you won’t be quite the same person that left.

Start to CUS

[by Charles Gupton]

Are you feeling the financial heat build along with the summer heat? Do you need to build some cool business and generate some cold cash?

Well, before you get frustrated and start to cuss, why not CUS instead! CUS is an acronym for Courage, Urgency and Shamelessness.

Courage does not indicate a lack of fear, but a willingness to move forward in the face of it. It also doesn’t mean that one should act foolishly or without a thoughtful strategy. Too often we can over think and “what if” ourselves out of taking the steps we need to make our ideas successful.

Urgency means that a task requires immediate action or attention. There are often tasks that we need to give attention to that are critical for our success, but we just don’t want to face them. By designating one or two of those items every week as “urgent,” we can trim down that endless “to-do” list into actionable items. Every item that gets done builds the confidence to get the next one completed too.

Being shameless indicates a boldness or audacity in one’s work. How often do we allow what others might think about us to stand in the way of doing great and significant work? Is there an area where you need help to break your inertia and move your business forward, but are afraid to ask for help? Don’t let embarrassment stand in the way of your success. As a creator, you have great gifts to contribute. By holding back and being reticent, whom are you serving or helping?

So, while others are waiting for the heat to break or vacations to end or school to begin or whatever the excuse-of-the-week is, take a deep breath and start to CUS your way to a profitable summer.

Charles Gupton photographs real people, really well, by understanding and telling the stories of his subjects and clients. Find his photographs at www.charlesguptonphoto.com and his writing at www.charlesgupton.com.

Here Comes Summer …

[by Susan Carr]

I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. We often think of summer as down time for marketing and sales, but in this tough economic climate, these areas of our business can’t really afford any time off. Yes, you can take a vacation, but do not take three months off from promoting your business. With this in mind over the next two weeks, the Strictly Business Blog is going to focus on practical marketing and sales ideas for these summer months. We hope they help you plan a productive period for business promotion.

In these lazy days of summer, most of us have fewer commissioned assignments, so my suggestion is to use some of your time to photograph for yourself. Whether you photograph in your studio or out in the world, create pictures that come completely out of your interests, passions or ideas. We all have things we have thought of pursuing photographically, a place or subject, well, dig those ideas out and go for it. How about dedicating a day a week or three consecutive days a month to this task? Whatever formula works best for you, make the time focused; if you are working in your studio, resist checking email or if your plan is wandering a park or neighborhood with your camera, consider turning your cell phone off. By setting aside time to create, when September rolls around, you will have new portfolio pieces or perhaps even the start of a significant personal project.

How is this promoting your business? We sell creative services, and if we do not nurture that part of our job, we will have little to offer the commissioning client. Our success depends on being distinctive and we cannot achieve that without actively engaging in creativity. My advice for the summer, grab your camera!

Susan Carr is a Chicago based photographer and ASMP’s Education Director. She is currently working on a book, “The Art and Business of Photography”, scheduled to release in early 2011.

Volunteer

[by Sean Kernan]

If you’re not busy enough with work and also too busy trying to find some, try this: volunteer. Take some of that time and give it away.

Be a Big Brother or Sister, coach a kid’s team, mentor a child. take your charming dog to a nursing home every week. There are so many people in this world who need help, and it shouldn’t be hard to reach out and find a few of them. It’s probably best to do something that involves real human connection, though working at some kind of wider-ranging effort like fundraising would be fine too.

When I’m busy at a job I feel energized, but there’s often a little ambiguity in the mix, and I find myself asking if the world needs me to urge it buy another thing. But I know that the volunteering I do is unambiguously right and good. And having one clearly good thing in my life seems to re-balance everything else.

In his book, The Gift, Lewis Hyde talks about the huge importance of the things we pass around our society as gifts with no compensation. We can’t sell love or hope or compassion or so many of the other things that make us human. But giving them away brings enormous returns.

Take Back Your Power

[by Judy Herrmann]

At the SB2 conferences a couple of years ago, I noticed that many photographers were exhibiting the classic signs of mourning.  Back then, most were still in denial but many were grappling with a sense of helplessness, paralysis and loss as they faced what they perceived as the death of a profession they loved.

Today, it’s clear that far too many of my colleagues have graduated to the anger phase and that anger is doing as much damage to our profession as the recession, changing technologies and changing markets combined.
In Vein of Gold, her 1996 sequel to The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron wrote: “When we are angry or depressed in our creativity, we have misplaced our power. We have allowed someone else to determine our worth, and then we are angry at being undervalued.” I’m willing to bet that every single one of us either is that person or knows that person.

Looking for a silver bullet?  The magic answer?  Here it is:  the one thing that’s going to help you survive as a professional visual communicator is your creativity.  I can’t tell you what your career is going to look like – that’s up to you – but I can tell you that without creative vision, creative thinking, creative problem solving, creative strategies and creative approaches to building your business in the “new economy” you’re not going to make it in this field.

If you’re one of the angry ones, all I can say is Get Over It.  Find help, find hope, find whatever shot in the arm you need because if you allow your anger at these irrevocable changes to get in the way of your creativity, you are walking roadkill. If you’re not one of the angry ones, if you’re still hopeful, still open, still looking for what’s possible, I congratulate you.  Foster your creativity – nourish it, protect it and don’t let the kill-joys near it – for it is the key to your future.

Your Number One Asset

[by Carolyn Potts]

Do you know what is the most valuable asset you possess? You need a lot to run your photo business, but what is most deserving of protection?

Hint: Its not your camera gear. Nor your computer hardware and software– or even your image archive or your portfolio.

It’s your creativity. It’s what sets you apart from every other photographer; it’s the distinguishing value that is added to any great image you create. Without it, you could be replaced by a machine.

Ironically, this extremely valuable asset can’t be covered against loss by an insurance policy.It’s up to you–and only you–to take precautions that you don’t lose your creativity.

Are you spending even half the amount of time and effort that you take to protect your other business assets from loss? You probably back-up your images on multiple drives on a regular basis. Your gear is probably protected by good security systems when it’s not actually with you. Your office probably has fire, flood and theft  coverage. You want to protect your business, so you’re prudent. And you’re responsible.

Why is it so important it is to keep your creativity safe? Without it you probably don’t have much to offer any client since creativity is an essential for problem-solving. Clients hire you because they have a problem they need solved; usually ones they don’t have the creativity to execute as well as you.

So what are you doing to PROTECT your creativity? Do you know what keeps it vital and alive?

What was your mental state when you had your last great idea for a portfolio piece? Wasn’t it when you were relaxed, open, and receptive? I suspect you’ll also say it was when you “weren’t even trying”… it just “came to you.”

Do you know under what conditions your creativity is at risk? Are you aware of how negative emotions such as fear, anxiety, and worry significantly diminish the flow of intuition? Intuition is what most often guides you in what is necessary to take a shot from good to great.

In the current sea of negative emotions swirling in the photo business, are you pro-active enough to wear a “mental life-preserver”? That is, do you have an effective strategy to keep your intuition afloat? Can it be saved it from drowning in the swells of fear and anxiety?

Here are some time-honored, extremely well-researched, and very effective strategies to protect your most valuable business asset: Meditate. Spend time in nature. Pray. Jog. Swim. Politely refuse to spend time on the pity pot with those who continually spread evidence about how horrible things are. Be grateful for what you DO have. And finally, volunteer to help those who have less than you.

Defining Yourself By Your Vision – Not The Camera

[by Gail Mooney]

I’ve been giving quite a few presentations lately for ASMP – “Should I Be Thinking About Video”.  One thing I’m finding is that there are always a couple of people in the audience who think that buying a DSLR hybrid camera will get them in the business of video production.  Part of that perception comes from the way camera manufacturers are marketing these “HD” cameras and part of that comes from photographers wanting to believe that these hybrids will allow them to compete in the world of commercial video production.

The simple fact is – these DSLR’s have lowered the bar on the entry level into video production – and you may find yourself competing with every other still photographer (pro or amateur) that has $2800 to spend. People tend to lose sight of the fact that shooting video is not the same mind set as shooting still images.  I think differently when I shoot video.  I see differently and I communicate the message or story through this motion medium using the best tool toward that end. While I too love that shallow depth of field that you get when shooting with a DLSR, the image is just one part of the video production process.  You are also defining your vision through sound and the art of editing.

The problem is if we define ours by our tools – then we are diminishing the value of our creativity or our vision in the process.  We aren’t placing the value on what is unique in all of us – our vision. At the same time we’re placing too much value on the tool – in this case the camera.  As technology accelerates the production of more sophisticated cameras that are cheaper and easier to use – and we’ve placed our value on being the technician – we’re in big trouble.  Because ultimately anyone with a vision who has the “ability” to realize that vision, can put together a crew of technicians to facilitate their vision or idea – and do it cheaper these days because of technology.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Professional photographers get defensive when a potential client places no value on what is unique about them (their vision) and approaches them with the attitude that if you won’t work for the prices they dictate – they will just find another photographer.  But what they are really saying is that they feel that they can “just” find another camera operator. The problem is that these photographers haven’t presented their vision and because of that they are perceived as being interchangeable. That’s not a good place to be and never will be.  And for that reason when a professional still photographer comes to me and says that they are interested in getting into video and asks the question “What video camera should I buy?” I gently tell them – well sometimes not so gently tell them – it’s not about the camera.

How does one define what they are?  Great question that has a lot of answers, as it should.  Technology is amazing – but it’s the human part of the process that excites me because we’re all so different in how we see.

Taking A Personal Day

[by Paul Bartholomew]

I tend to feel guilty on non-shoot days if I’m not in the studio working on something.  Maybe I’m afraid of missing that important call or email, but then again that’s what an iPhone is for isn’t it?  On the other hand, maybe I’m missing the point if I’m not concentrating on my personal work and checking my messages all the time?  Probably.

So how can a photographer finally put time aside and forget about business for a short while?  I think it comes down to just doing it and getting used to it.  Set time aside in your schedule and try to stick to it.  If a photo shoot comes up then reschedule your personal day but don’t cancel it.  You don’t need an agenda and it doesn’t have to be related to your professional work.  Perhaps you may want to pursue another specialty or work with video?

My personal days have been about food photography yet most people know that I’m an architectural photographer.  I find it as a nice balance and different way of thinking.  It’s refreshing and keeps me in touch with my passion for the culinary arts.  What would you like to pursue as personal work?  Don’t worry if you don’t know yet because these things take time.  The important thing is starting somewhere and finding your way.

Robert Frank Tweeting?

[by Sean Kernan]

Living in this blizzard of Tweets, I have to remind myself that doing really creative work requires a certain amount of silence, even boredom. There has to be space in which things can occur, and if you are constantly talking about what you are doing, you can’t really listen, at least not as much as you need to do deep work.  (Which is maybe why my earliest work was so lose and prolific. After all no one was chasing me to do other projects then. They didn’t know I was alive. Which was more desirable than I knew at the time.)

The first question that seems to pop up around about any creative idea seems to be, How can I support/sell this? It’s a fair question, but perhaps it shouldn’t be the first question.

Although it seems a bit cloudy just now, photography is an amazing mirror, and it can reflect the most subtle and broad phenomena. It still amazes me when a single still image, resonates it a way that takes one into other lives, other worlds, atmospheres, things that can’t be said any other way. Take a look at Roy deCarava’s Hallway. Try to say something about it. The closest I got was when I tried to write a poem about it, but believe me it wasn’t as powerful as the picture. It is a kind of photograph that I think can you can only get to by first being quiet. That’s how it works on the viewer too.

There’s a time to show, to promote, to “monetize”, but it’s not all the time, and it’s not the creative time.
Think of that old Zen koan. It may be that if a tree falls in the forest it makes no sound, but the tree sure knows things have changed.

Mozart in the Barn

[by Sean Kernan]

I’m just back from doing a creativity seminar for photographers and art directors at General Mills. In gathering my thoughts for it, I considered how the kind of eye-opening and thought-provoking work I do with people might really be justified in business terms. Of course, I think the value is obvious, and so did the folks at General Mills, since I was going at their initiative. But I’m sure it would be tough arguing the point to the accounting side at a lot of companies, particularly in a downturn.

The day before the workshop I stopped in at the Minneapolis Art Institute and spent a few hours among their fantastic collections. And as I was leaving I noticed the donor list by the entrance. There at the top—General Mills.

I doubt that such philanthropy really generates enough revenue there in the company’s home town to cover the donation, and nothing at all outside of town. But there it was. Set against ROI is this idea that there are returns that can’t be measured in dollars, but that effect the community, which comes back to effect the donor. It’s a circle. (Or maybe it’s fractal, I’m not sure.)

I wanted to express this for my workshop wrap-up, but if you can’t measure it, it is also hard to express it in words. Then it came to me!

“Happy cows give more milk.”

It was a good laugh line for our group, but it is also a clear and quick analogy. The more rounded and balanced the rest of our life is, the more that we will be present and focused at work. Conversely, a whacked-out life will mess things up on the job.

It all weaves into a circle. True in the corporate setting, true for free-lancers as well. It adds up to a good argument for consciously making our lives rounder, more balanced. And who is that up to? Guess.

Work Begets Work

[by Susan Carr]

I had the privilege a few years back of hearing photographer Ken Josephson speak at the  Society for Photographic Education Midwest Regional conference. While discussing his own struggle with blocks in creativity or direction, he clearly stated his own mantra, “work begets work.” These three simple words have hung with me and continue to ring true.

The most difficult times for me, as an artist, are those periods between projects. It frequently takes me a while to know when a given personal project is complete, thus, the creating new work slows gradually, the emphasis shifts to exhibitions or other outlets for the project and my lack of producing new work sort of creeps in unexpectedly.  Ideas for new projects start brewing, but the day-to-day work of making a living and getting my existing images seen takes over. Then, what feels like all of sudden, it will hit me that the real love of my life, making photographs, is being neglected.

I moved to Chicago four years ago. Relocating my home after 25 years was a daunting task and my move coincided with the completion of a significant personal photography project. Between actively exhibiting this body of work – a documentary project of home interiors – and settling into a new home and business community, I didn’t think about photographing beyond my commercial client work. Fast forward to this year, I acknowledged that my own photography needed to become a priority again. I simply feel lost without it.

My idea is to photograph my new home, the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park. I struggled with how to get started. I predictably tried to answer the why and how of the project before I initiated the work. Then I remembered Ken Josephson’s lecture. Work begets work. The process of creating work is the process of discovering the why and how. I wasn’t going to solve anything unless I simply walked the neighborhood camera in hand.

I am happy to say that this past spring and summer were productive. I walked miles, shot many rolls of film (yes, film for this work) and slowly the project is taking form. My advice for anyone struggling with their own vision is to simply get to work, pick up a camera and stop asking yourself so many questions.

Make It Your Own

[by Paul Bartholomew]

I think most photographers struggle with direction and style from time to time especially when starting out. It’s a never ending process, at least in my opinion because I think artists are constantly striving and moving in different directions. This constant striving is very fluid, you may try to predict where you’ll be 10 years from now but if you hold on to that idea in your head too much, it may also hold you back.

What do I mean by being held back? Sometimes we tend to get tunnel vision as we become inspired. This is fine and it’s good to experiment with new styles but also take that influence and make it your own. I guess it’s a part of evolving, but what I’m trying get at is developing your own style and not trying to replicate someone else’s style. I’m constantly looking at the work of photographers from the past and present. Of course I have my favorite photographers and gravitate toward them but I also try to find more. Other incredible influences may come from many kinds of artists such as master painters from all kinds of styles. A trip to an art museum once in a while will help and also buying books. I’m an addict when it comes to books and I tend to have them all over the place because I’m always looking through them for ideas.

We are a product of all artists before us. We take influences and integrate them into our own work. Making mistakes and going through the pains are part of growing. Making mistakes shouldn’t be thought of as negative but a part of progression. If you think of it, not making mistakes may be worse because you may not be pushing your limits enough. Perhaps staying in the safe zone.

Just some thoughts.

What If ?

[by Sean Kernan]

In your wildest dreams, what would you do, you stopped take pictures, starting today,?
What would you do your thoughts didn’t have to express as photos, or even be visible?
What if they could be verbal or sonic, or could just streak through consciousness like shooting stars, like those peak experiences we’ve all had that have nothing to do with photography?
What would you do if no one else could see what it was you were doing or knew what you were thinking?
If it didn’t have to “come out?”
If you could sing images, or just make words or sounds or colors?
If it didn’t have to somehow make money?
Or add to some definition of yourself?
What if you just got off alone and thought of a list of things to do that would knock you out, surprise you, even scare you a bit?
What if you somehow isolated yourself and did that, for a week or two, or however it took to interrupt your habits of thinking, seeing, and doing.
Then if you even took pictures…what might they look like?

Lessons from Childhood

[by Judy Herrmann]

My daughter, Julia, judges books by their covers.  At 2 ½ she walks through the library and says “I want the baby blue one” or “That one, with the dog.”

She recently checked out a story called Franklin Goes To the Hospital in which a young turtle with a cracked shell is afraid the x-ray will show how scared he is on the inside.  Dr. Bear assures him that bravery isn’t about fearlessness, but rather “doing what you have to do, no matter how scared you feel.”

As children we all heard variations on this theme in countless books, stories and movies.  As adults, though, fear often paralyses us – stopping us from being able to clearly see what we have to do, let alone actually doing it.

Producing creative work that comes from deep within you is scary.  Putting that work out for the world to see and respond to is scary.  Being self-employed is scary.  Taking risks is scary.  Adapting to change is scary.  Doing none of those things, though, is even scarier.

My partner, Mike and I, are in the process of reinventing our visual style for the 5^th time in 20 years.  I don’t mind telling you that I’m scared.  Will anyone like it? Will they point and laugh? Are we tapping into something new and cool and wonderful or have we completely lost it?

So I’m taking Dr. Bear’s advice and doing what I have to do even thought it’s scary.  And, you know what?  Now that I’ve made that commitment, there’s a growing bubble of excitement and exhilaration that’s slowly but surely drowning out the doubts.

And in doing this process again, and again, and again, I’ve come to recognize that the one begets the other – you don’t get that excitement and exhilaration without pushing yourself through the fear.  I’ve also grown to understand that it’s when we’re NOT scared that we’re in real trouble.

A Week Focused on Creative Thinking

[by Thomas Werner]

This is an artists statement from an exhibition at my gallery a few years ago. The only time that I used an artists statement in promoting an exhibition was this one. I came across it again the other day and think that it addresses something essential about our work and wanted to share with with you.

Artist Statement – Gabriela Maj

There once existed an idea that articulated the human capacity for a particular type of transcendental experience. An experience in which nature, at its most fierce, most violent and most monumental would allow for a brief glimpse of the divine. It was an idea that offered the possibility of the most utterly private experience. It was about enlightenment, about the soul and about beauty in its most painful of definitions.

Today we are left with residue. Dead philosophers, old poems.

Nature is harnessed, we are irreverent. These images were created in quiet homage to an old idea.

Get Out of Your Routine

[by Thomas Werner]

Take 6 friends, drive into the forest, desert, to the ocean, a lake, and just photograph each other all day….feed off the energy, creativity and community, and do not worry about the outcome of the shoot.

Quick Tip for Creativity

[by Paul Bartholomew]

Most of us heard about getting outside opinions when it comes to our portfolios. What about our creative ideas and notes we keep? Try finding a creative partner to share your ideas. You never know what someone else can bring to the table and perhaps you can help them too.

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