Responsive Web Design: A Primer

[by Blake Discher]

R.I.P. Wayne Miller: Member of the Family of Man and the Family of ASMP.

[by Carolyn Potts]

On May 22nd, 2013 the world lost photographer, Wayne Miller,  talented contributor to The Family of Man, which was one of the most popular exhibitions in the history of photography. We also lost a member of the photography family we know as the ASMP.

I learned a lot about Wayne Miller’s work via the Stephen Daiter Gallery which represents Miller’s work. Yesterday, gallery director, Paul Berlanga, shared the beautiful and well-worth-watching,  6-minute video about Wayne and his career.

Wayne was chairman of ASMP in the mid-1950s. As I read more about him on this site, I was struck by how many of the the same issues that ASMP is fighting for today, were the same ones that Wayne was also dealing with over 50 years ago.

Miller served ASMP during a time when there was heated controversy surrounding photographers’ rights and the economic threats they faced. Magazines would routinely have multiple photographers shoot an assignment and then decide who’d get paid for the coverage. Clients also expected that they owned everything the photographer shot. Sound familiar?

I was also surprised that Miller wasn’t part of my photography studies at the Univ. of Illinois–which was also Miller’s alma mater. I  knew all about a number of facets of his photo world e.g., his mentor, Edward Steichen; his photo agency, Magnum; and The Family of Man (and my mother may have even been reading A Baby’s First Year  which he co-produced with Dr. Benjamin Spock!). Yet it was only in 2012 that I became familiar with his work.  I’m sharing this today in case there are others who might also might not know the work of a man who shot with such tremendous skill–and such a clearly felt love of humanity.

Carolyn Potts, international photography marketing consultant, speaker and former photo rep, shows seasoned & proactive photographers how to get more work. Find her at www.cpotts.com , https://www.facebook.com/CarolynPottsCreativeConsultant and  Google +

My Dog is So Useful For Taking Pictures of Cats

[by Barry Schwartz]

My dog is so useful for taking pictures of cats.  I usually walk him without a leash, and when we’re out where there might be something interesting to take a picture of, I bring a camera.  That would be almost anywhere.

My dog, Whiskey, is rather interested in cats, and they in him. Living in Southern California, cats are out and about most seasons of the year.  It’s a good life.  Whiskey (full name, Powers Irish Whiskey) is a Wheaten Terrier, an Irish farm dog, bred to be a herder and ratter.  While cats are not rats, as far as Whiskey is concerned, it’s a difference without a distinction.

One of our favorite places to walk is Venice in a small sub-neighborhood of canals in a tight grid of modest lots with small front yards, perfect for viewing cats on their porches or in the plantings.  Whiskey doesn’t often get to look at cats so close, and while he’s appreciative of the access, the cats seem ambivalent;  they don’t run away (usually) but rather freeze in place and match him in interest.

This makes them ideal portrait subjects for me.  Whiskey is well-behaved, and if I ask him to stay where he is, he will do just that.  The cats do the same, and I don’t even have to ask them.  Whether or not they find Whiskey’s lack of movement reassuring, their hyper-attentiveness makes them great posers for me; stillness with lots of energy, like a good fashion model.  I’ve gotten any number of really great photographs of cats this way, and I can’t imagine how I would have done it otherwise: cats just don’t find me as interesting as Whiskey.  They have their agenda, I have mine.

This is all an accidental discovery.  I had no inkling Whiskey would be a great portrait facilitator, it’s not really what he was bred to do.  He’s never shown any real interest in my camera.  I don’t think cats care all that much, either.

It took me three cats before I figured out what was going on, and now it’s a well-traveled routine.  We all – me, the cats, and Whiskey – find the whole thing very exciting, and in completely different ways – which is exciting in and of itself.  We’re all engaged rather intimately in this temporary, highly energized relationship, each with our own agenda.  I get some good art out of it, which was my intention the whole time (predating cat photography).

If I could only figure out how to use my dog equally to help me in my professional life, I’d do nothing but brilliant, exciting work all the time.  But that would not be fair to Whiskey, who, like all dogs, sleeps 90% of the time (that’s part of his own job description).  It would be dangerous to depend on Whiskey’s presence as some kind of talisman or lucky charm to produce good work: what would I do when he’s asleep?  Professionals have to make good work even in the absence of dogs and cats; that’s the gig.

Whiskey’s assistance with the cats, though, is a solid reminder that you never know what’s going to help get the work out, you just have to stay alert to the possibilities, like a cat watching a dog.

Barry Schwartz is a photographer, writer, and designer in Los Angeles, who is already planning his next outing with Whiskey.

Working Your Creative Muscle

[by Selina Maitreya]

I’ve spent most of the last year bringing photographers back to their creative roots. Why? Because with all the focus on marketing, sales, and the huge effort it takes to stay in business, Creatives are reporting in that they are NOT feeling very creative.  If your creativity is waning you’ve got a problem, as vision is the value clients look for when hiring a commercial photographer.

Being open to creativity, making choices that  develop your creative muscle is key to your success.

I liken creativity to a muscle in your body. Your muscles always exist you just don’t see them. When you choose to put your attention on them, using a free weight to exercise them, you physically bring them into your awareness and over time your exercised muscle is strengthened and becomes very apparent to all. Creativity is a muscle. Your job and what a wondrous job it is, is to keep your creative muscle alive and well.

How do you do this?

Choose to spend time on this precious task.

• Surround yourself with art. See movies, museums, gallery shows, watch and listen to slam poets, and music.
• Provide quiet times for your being. Sit 3 times a day, close your eyes and breathe. Deep breaths that slow your systems down.
• Go to nature at least once a month. Being surrounded by natural beauty stimulates the senses and takes you outside of your local existence.
• Create test opportunities, challenge yourself with new ways of seeing.

If you find yourself shaking your head, and saying “this is too easy” or “I don’t have the time for this silliness”  think again. Qualified buyers in every area of our industry look for photographic artists, not just technical facilitators.  Defined and refined creativity is what separates pros from amateurs, and  great clients from low-ballers.  Mondrian  once said: “The job of the artist is simple.  The artist is a channel”.  I believe he was referring to artists being a vehicle through which the divine flows through.

Are you ready to step up to the responsibility of working your artistic muscle?  Or are you willing to settle for the role of technical facilitator?  The choice is yours, choose well.

Selina Maitreya was the first photography consultant in the U.S. Through her 1 on 1 consulting services, online teleseminars, books and lectures  she continues to guide, inspire and teach photographers world wide how to build businesses that meet their creative goals while building a business that will thrive.

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