Carolina Photographer October 2015 by Fuller Royal

Executive Board Chairman Ellis Williamson Ewilliamson17@nc.rr.com

President Rose Mary Cheek rosemarycheek@charter.net

President Elect Ned Winn studiomail@nc.rr.com Vice President Adrian Henson adrian@adrianhenson.com

Treasurer Tim Hester tim@timhesterphotography.com

CAROLINA PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE is a monthly online publication of the Professional Photographers of North Carolina, Inc. Editor Rose Mary Cheek rosemarycheek@charter.net 828-322-2862 Sales & Business Manager Rose Mary Cheek Articles & Sales Submissions First of the Month Publication 15th of the Month

Secretary Danny Daniel useralex2493@aol.com

Executive Director Loretta Byrd Loretta@ppofnc.com

PPNC 427 Greenleaf Road, Angier, NC 27501 919-796-4747 www.ppofnc.com

Acceptance of advertising does not carry with it endorsement by the publisher. Opinions expressed by Carolina Photographer or any of its authors does not necessarily reflect the positions of the Professional Photographers of North Carolina, Inc. Association financial information available upon request.

Who Are We? The Professional Photographers of North Carolina (PPNC) is NC’s largest association for professional photographers. We are an affiliate of the Professional Photographers of America, led by an elected Board of working professional photographers. We are a non-profit, member owned association. We are a community in tune with each other’s challenges. Together, we help each other succeed. From a monthly digital magazine with numerous tips and techniques, to one of the state’s largest photographic conventions and trade show, competitions, seminars, and more, PPNC’s members are connected. An affiliate of

Contents From the Editor Page 4 From the President Page 5 Shoot Social,-Marie White PAGE 6 Winter Seminar Highlights Page 8 Shoot Social-Carolyn Temple Page 12 Print Competition-Tom McCabe Page 18 Carolina Photo Expo 2016 Highlights Page 20 Successful Entrepreneurs Do These 8 Things Every Morning Page 22 About PPNC-Angela Blankenship Page 24 Photographing Large People-Deborah Hendrix Page 26 Fall Seminar Photographs Page 28

On the Cover This months Editor Pick

Victorian Bride by Ken Tart

Fans of Professional Photographers of North Carolina

From the Editor Wow, what a great Fall Seminar in Marion, NC at McDowell Technical Institute. Chris Garner, Cathy Anderson, produced a wonderful lineup of speakers, plus a great opportunity to photograph at different venues with their Saturday shoots. Cathy lead a great hike, and many attended the newborn session at Sarah Jacobs' Studio. Be sure to look for images from this event in the magazine, and thanks to all who contributed their photography. Shoot Social events are continuing, so be sure to keep checking the Events listing on the PPNC Facebook page for times and places. PPNC continues to provide the best, up-to-date information for our photographers. With hands-on shooting, opportunities for fellowship, and the best education possible to a photographer. PPNC can't be beat! Rose Mary Cheek

PPNC Directors & Seminar Chair Eastern Directors

Angela Blankenship abphotography2008@gmail.com Marie White Marie@turnerwhitephotography.com Seminar Chair - Tom McCabe tommccabe46@earthlink.net Seminar is Mar 18-20, 2016

PPA National Councilmen Cassie Stone Janet Boschker Joy Batchelor-King

Central Directors

Deborah Hendrix porbydeb@gmail.com George Joell george@gpjoell3photography.com Seminar Chair- Renee McCardell info@mccardellstudios.com Seminar is Jan 23-25, 2016

Western Directors

Brian Allen puregrit@hotmail.com Cathy Anderson Fabulous.photog@gmail.com Seminar Chair - Stephen Dey photo@charlotteimage.com Seminar - TBD

SEPPA Rep. Loretta Byrd

From the President Last month I spoke of achieving success and the highway to success. This month, I would like to touch on the many benefits that PPNC offers that can help you with achieving your goals. Some important member benefits when you join PPNC is free registration to Carolina Photo Expo, and depending on your category of membership, seminar registration is included for the year. You'll receive our digital magazine 12 times a year with articles, diagrams, and tips on how to improve your photography. Your business will be listed on our website to help you grow. You get access to the back issues of our magazine: almost a â&#x20AC;&#x153;college degreeâ&#x20AC;? in photo education. You also get important network with technical experts and fellow photographers at events. Our Shoot Social Networking (actual hands-on-photography events) are a great opportunity for education. Of course, to improve your work, you can enter our digital photography judging held at selected seminars. Be sure to enter our premier photo judging at the Carolina Photo Expo, where you can receive recognition and awards. A very important thing is the camaraderie with like-minded photographers to help you embrace and grow your creative talents. You find they will become some of the best friends you'll ever have. With that, you will become inspired! Nothing helps you take your photography to the next level than to see great photography, learn the techniques and push yourself to create your next masterpiece. We have great opportunities to volunteer at events where you'll make lifelong friends, and last but not least an opportunity to apply for a scholarship to attend the week-long East Coast School. Finally, what we all achieve is success. Success for our organization, which in turn passes on success to each and every one of us. A desire to be better, to become more like a team. As my Grandson, Davis, would say, "It takes teamwork to move forward in life," and that in turn, brings success. Respectfully, Rose Mary Cheek

By Marie White

On September 27, a Shoot Social was held in Pink Hill at Turner-White Photography all about Print Competition.

from this year’s Expo, I decided that many of this year’s new members as well as some other members might also be having the same experience.

The reason I chose Print Competition as a topic was simply because we were all freshly back from the Carolina Photo Expo and our annual North Carolina State Print Competition where we all either competed or watched our fellow PPNC’ers compete and even some win some really amazing awards with their work. It made me remember my very first experience as a new member as I heard of print competition. I was in awe as I walked though the displayed images and saw such beautiful work hanging with ribbons and gold corners. I wondered about how on earth I would ever have images THAT beautiful and how could I have an image hanging on that wall. After coming home

Adrian Henson was kind enough to volunteer to present his program on “Mastering Print Competition.” I was amazed at how many people came from all over the state for a short afternoon of learning. In fact, the studio was completely packed with people. Adrian taught us all about what the judges are looking for in a Merit Print, but aside from that, it is my hopes that we were able to de-mystify print competition to any one who is afraid of entering, or doesn’t quite understand what the whole thing is all about.

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A Photographic Day of Adventure Eastern Shoot Social by Caroly Temple On Sunday, October 25th, a small but very adventurous group of PPNC members and their families set off for a very unusual Shoot Social experience that lasted from 9:30 in the morning until the sun went down and covered around 115 miles of traveling. There were no models, no formal instruction, and no program presented. We set out on a Photo Safari with four carloads of individuals that were ready to experience and envelope themselves in the Down East culture, lifestyle, and scenic vistas of the coastal areas of Carteret County through the lenses of their cameras. Our journey began with an organizational meeting on the campus of Carteret

Community college from which we left and journeyed to an unscheduled stop on Atlantic Beach where the local fisherman’s tradition of a “Mullet Run” is about to occur whenever the conditions align. The fishermen will take boats out to surround a school of mullet with fishing nets from the beach. Once the school of fish is surrounded, the ends of the nets are connected to the old 1940’s tractors on the beach that will pull the nets filled with the fish in to the shore where the fishermen will gather them up for the

market. This style of fishing is unique to this one spot in North Carolina. We then went to Beaufort where we had four separate stops to photograph the fishing trawlers and other boating scenes in that beautiful city by the sea. With the owner’s permission, we were able to go onto the private property of the “fish house” along Taylor’s Creek (that is now a private museum to the fishing lifestyle of a coastal waterman) to get some close up details of the old time equipment used in the

food items straight off of the local fishing boats. Afterwards, we went to the Harkers Island harbor, which is one of the most scenic harbors to be found. Following that, we journeyed to the harbor in Marshallberg to photograph the boats and to explore the remains of an old boatyard and the remains of some old ships abandoned to the damages of time.

fishing industry.

The next stop on our agenda was the private property of a waterman in Smyrna where we had permission to explore all of the fishing and boating equipment and to photograph the pristine view across the bay. We did not stay long there because of the local inhabitants (mosquitoes).

After leaving Beaufort, we ventured to Harkers Island to have an enjoyable lunch at The Fish Hook Grill, where we had a wonderful meal with fresh sea-

The two harbors in Davis were visited next. These harbors are off of the main highway and are not often photographed because only the locals know 13

of their location. These small harbors really show the spirit of the traditional Down East waterman and his equipment and lifestyle. Our journey through the great salt marsh highway took us to the busy harbor of Atlantic and was the final stop in our photo safari. This harbor is also “off the beaten path” and not photographed as much as the Harkers Island Harbor. It is one of the largest harbors and it is rich in the old style fishing vessels and equipment of the small family owned fishing and shrimping operations.

It is very interesting to see the photos of the areas that we visited through the eyes of the different individuals on the safari. Everyone has their own unique vision of what they experienced during our day of discovery and it reflects in their captured images. It was a great day filled with photography, fellowship, great food and fun. 14

Print Competition by Tom McCabe

Print Competition – Why it matters So, you want to enter into Print Competition? It’s stressful, requires a lot of time in preparing your images for what? A merit? A little recognition? Your clients have no idea what that means, so why bother? I entered Print Competition the first time in 2009, four years after I joined PPNC. In that first foray into that world, I actually had an image merit. I was ecstatic! Then came the following years. Kinda dry until 2012, when I had two more images that merited. There were disappointments in the years between, to be sure. Since then the number of merits has grown until in 2015, at Imaging in Nashville, I received my Master of Photography Degree from PPA. But what was the difference? What happened during that time to bring about more successful years? Well, for one thing, and probably the most important, I worked with mentors who had been successful in Print Competition. The guidance I received from them made all the difference. So what is Print competition, anyway? It’s not 18

really me against you, although for the top awards it is. It’s really more me against me; you against you. An approach to how you can be better this year than you were last year. Will all your merits make any difference to your clients? Not likely. However the quality of your images will, and that is the reason to engage in Print Competition. I’ve not met anyone in PPNC who harbors secrets to success in any endeavor that they are not willing to share with anyone who asks. That includes the success in Print Competition. Print competition really boils down to a sharing of knowledge and ideas about art and photography in the sense of raising the bar for all of us. The knowledge and ideas come not only from those who will mentor you and help you down the

path, but from the judges as well, as you sit through the judging – something I highly recommend – and listen to them as they judge the images. You will certainly not agree with everything the judges say about an image, particularly your images, but I guarantee you will learn from each of the judges’ comments and critiques. Learning is what we are all about. Classes are one thing, and a very valuable thing. Print Competition, however, is not just sitting and listening. Print Competition throws you into the arena and places you in a position to use what you are learning in other venues. Here is where you are tested to verify what you are learning. Here you learn by both triumph and disappointment. Success never grows on its own. Success needs a challenge to grow; it needs occasional disappointment to see its own value. There is no better place to gain this in the world of photography than by entering Print Competition. Don’t be intimidated by what others are doing; be inspired by what others are doing instead. In looking at the 12 Elements of a Merit Print, put out by PPA as a guideline, realize that at best only one

element is objective, and that is Technical Excellence. The rest are subjective and at the interpretation of the judges. Understand this and accept it for what it is. You will learn something from each judge, whether you agree with their scores or not. So in conclusion, I urge each of you who haven’t entered Print Competition to do so. For those of you who have entered and succeeded you know the feeling. Pass it along! For those who have entered and haven’t succeeded, keep going! To quote Winston Churchill: “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Keep those fires lit!

Pete Rezac Black and White by Rose Mary Cheek

HIGhl

I was so excited while reading the November issue of PPA’s Professional Photographer Magazine and came across a 5 page spread about one of our Pre-Con Speakers, Pete Rezac who is scheduled to speak at our Carolina Photo Expo, August 2016. www.carolinaphotoexpo.com We are so excited to have teacher of Pete’s caliber coming to teach an all day pre-con class. Pete’s class will be on his specialty of Black and White photography. This is something you need to put on your to-attend list. Be sure to check out Pete’s work on his website at: www.peterezacphotography.com.

Karen Howlett-York ProSelect

IGHTS Love, Design, Style, Vision Selling your Art with ProSelect Develop your natural talent for interior and graphic design with the use of ProSelect. Learn the basics of decorating and design—From color and tonal harmony to wall gallery collections of multiple size images, single image display with framing and matting and accessories such as books, cards and boxes. Karen York will help you gain the knowledge and skills you need for enhancing your photographic art and paintings. You will not only learn the basics of interior design, but proper wall portrait sizing and designing with harmony and styles to match any home, ProSelect has the tools you need to create amazing in-person sales presentations to your clients where you can see it to believe it. In the class, we will discuss how to analyze your clients’ preferences, needs, goals, and budgets to develop a collection for their home. With this program you can show your clients the vision you have from their images right in their own home and give them choices without the guesswork. Show appropriate framing and/or matting and many ideas for all their favorite images. You are the artist. Your clients are looking to you for advice. You must learn to help your clients get the most from your portraits so they can enjoy them for many years to come. This is where you can take your artistic ability to the next level and create an heirloom display from your portraiture.

In our class you will learn how to -import your images correctly into ProSelect -create a slideshow with music -learn the skills and methods of successful selling -properly photograph and measure rooms to add in

room view

-design an album, image box set and cards using

mats and templates

-layout matting of with multiple images -design your own multiple image mats and pages -create a price ordering system for your products and

different session modules

-learn how to make an invoice easily for your clients -export final order to lab -export to web media So be sure to put this class on your to-attend list at www.carolinaphotoexpo.com

Successful Entrepreneurs Do These 8 Things Every Morning you get bogged down in what your inbox is shouting, take the time to set your own personal priorities for the day. This will help you keep focused on what is actually important instead of falling victim to what your email says is most pressing.

We know it’s hard to get out from under the covers when the alarm goes off, but making the most of mornings is more important than you might think. How many successful business people do you know who sleep in? Exactly. Believe it or not, our willpower is greatest in the early a.m., and our bodies even experience a surge of cortisol about 20 to 30 minutes after rolling out of bed, giving us an extra boost of brain power. Trust the evidence — CEOs, government officials, and entrepreneurs all rise early (sorry, night owls) and have been found to be more proactive and productive for doing so. Check out some other morning habits that will help you keep your business on the up and up.

Whether you prefer reciting oms or affirmations or taking a jog around the park, meditation and exercise help clear the mind to keep you focused on the day ahead. It’s also a good time for daydreaming about future achievements. This kind of positive visualization, even if you only do it for one minute, will improve your mood and outlook about the day’s workload.

No snoozing

Eat a healthy breakfast

The snooze button is tempting, but don’t give in. Oversleeping equals a frazzled morning, which sets the wrong tone for the day. If rising and shining is a perennial problem, it’s time to examine your sleep hygiene. Most experts recommend adults get between seven and nine hours a night to stay healthy and alert, so if you need to get up at 5 a.m. (ouch), that means you need to hit the hay at 10 p.m. at the latest. Avoid reading email until you’re out of bed

It may sound counterintuitive, but hear us out. Before

Exercise or meditate

Protein, fruit, vegetables, and even a cup of tea or coffee will fuel your morning. Consider it the necessary brain boost to get you going. Set goals and priorities

Take Monday mornings to set the week’s goals. Then, before you head to the office, take stock of what needs to happen that day. Make a list and jot down notes about the top three things you need to accomplish when your mind is clearest and sharpest. While in the shower, make a mental map of what

the day ahead will look like. After all, this might be the only quiet, uninterrupted time of your day. Then, when things start to get hectic, you can refer back to this list and recalibrate. Check in over your morning cup of Joe

Now let’s get down to business. Look over email, take a peek at social media, and make checking in on metrics with Square’s Dashboard (yes, there’s an app for that) one of your best daily practices. At a glance, you’ll be able to see the prior day’s sales as well as other important data that may influence your to-do items. Tackle tough things first

We all have that one thing on our to-do list that we’re absolutely dreading. Here’s a pro tip: Do the least desirable task first. You’re more equipped to handle a tough assignment first thing when your brain has the most energy. And then you can cross it off your list. Not only will it make the rest of the day easier and more pleasant, but it also starts you off with a real sense of accomplishment. Be habitual and consistent

Create a morning routine and stick to it. Habits help your mind and body reset in preparation for the tasks ahead. That means waking up at the same time every day — yes, even on the weekend (we’re looking at you, Sunday sleepyhead). Now that you’ve been awakened to the benefits of productive morning habits, get after your day.

About PPNC By Angela Blankenship

Did you take a look at September’s Carolina Photographer Magazine? (killer job as always, Rose Mary) 97 pages! What made up the majority of those pages? Images of members at CPE. It totally showcases one of the great benefits of PPNC... friends. We all share the same goal – to create beautiful images. This common goal actually increases the chance of finding a friend in the organization. Developmental psychology examines how we change over our life physically, cognitively and emotionally. Friendships are created at different times in our lives for different reasons. In childhood, we make friends due to proximity and gender. We tend to befriend those who are physically close to us (neighbors, classmates) and are the same sex. In adolescence, our friends serve us during our process of identity formation. We evaluate our friend’s behavior in order to determine our own values and beliefs. As adults, we are busy. We often don’t make very many new friends. When we do, it is during times of change in our life. Maybe photography is a new venture for you after retirement, maybe it’s a second career or it’s your first. We make friends during times of transition be-

cause in adulthood, we are looking to learn something from someone else. We seek out those who we think can help us with the newness of our life circumstances. Someone who’s been there before, just a couple steps or pretty far ahead of us. We think they will give us some guidance to make our transition easier. They will understand us. This so fits PPNC. You could say this would be true of other professional organizations such as PPA, but this does not happen everywhere. PPNC is special. It’s personal. It’s local. The friendships made here last because we have several opportunities for interactions at the Shoot Socials, Seminars and CPE. Frequent contact is needed for friendships to grow and continue. Because we are all in the same region, we have common experiences. There is a good chance when you need it, a fellow PPNC’er will be there to help you. We are not strangers. You are not walking into a room of strangers. Since we have common interests and goals, it’s much easier to strike up a conversation. There is a great variety of photographic genres represented (portrait, wedding, sports, events, landscapes, commercial, etc) so you are bound to find someone who is interested in the

same subfield of photography. You will probably find someone who is just a little more advanced than you in your chosen specialty. Someone who can guide you and get excited with you about your successes. I can think of several PPNC members who have become my fabulous grown-up friends. These friendships often take on a mentor/mentee role, also. They can be your sounding board – someone who won’t get tired of hearing you talk about photography. Imagine that! I am so glad I was STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to join PPNC by other existing members (maybe bordering on cultish encouragement? ; ) I can not imagine how lonely the past 7 years in business would have been without PPNC. I’m SURE I would not have progressed as much, both in business and photography, if it wasn’t for the support, advice and encouragement I have received from the group. I love sharing my experiences with non-PPNC members so they can see some of the benefits of the organization. I so understand the enthusiasm those cult members, ummm... PPNC members, had for this group. I believe I’m now one of them ; )

Photographing Large People By Deborah Hendrix

The first thing to acknowledge here is that large people know that they’re large. As with any body type (skinny included) their body image may cause them to believe that they’re either larger or smaller than they are. You can tastefully discuss body image with those clients which is something I may be inclined to do with any type of person. Understanding how a client feels about their body is always a great thing to know. And if they’ve scheduled a photo session, they’re probably already pretty confident people. As a society, we try to find ways to make people look smaller and we think that smaller = more attractive, but this doesn’t need to be our primary focus when shooting large people. Making them appear comfortable? Now that’s important. And I agree, laying on the ground is usually a no-go. Here are a few tips I’ve found helpful:

correction in Photoshop to see if there’s any barreling that you don’t notice on first inspection. 2. Don’t shoot from a low angle. 3. You can shoot from higher up looking down, but beware that this is a way overused tactic for photographing larger people so throw in lots of other types of framing, not just this one. 4. You can use one subject’s body to shield another (if one is lighter than the other) 5. Obviously, you have the option of not photographing their whole body. Try different varieties of head-and-shoulders shots, but beware that they may feel that you’re saying that they’re unattractive if you don’t also provide them with body shots. Your job is to photograph them like you would anyone else so don’t think you’re doing them a favor by completely ignoring their entire body.

1. Use a telephoto lens or the longest zoom that you have. This will compress the shot and keep it from suffering from widening distortion. Experiment with the distortion

In posing families, try the ‘huddle’ and ‘squeeze in’ poses, which eliminates full body shots Ava weighed over 200 lbs. How to make an overweight high school senior or anyone as far as that goes look thinner using different techniques. Proper clothing Chat sessions Variety of poses Higher Camera angle Good lighting

Deborah says "I loved working with this high school senior". Ava told me how wonderful I made her feel, by my comments as I clicked the shutter". Comments like, "awesome, come look at this image", I would say. "Now, let's just turn a bit this way or that". She placed a $1300 order. She and her Mom were very pleased with the images.

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• A DVE RT I S E M E N T •

New Members

Martin Bankhead Catherine Davis Ed Hall James Kesler Laura Kesler Kevin King Yasmin Leonard Suzy Lewis Melissa Mckinney Paul Page Shannon Page Corey Rittlinger Andrea Thomas

Why Should You Join the Professional Photographers of North Carolina?

1. Free registration to Carolina Photo Expo and, depending on your category of membership, seminar registration is included for the year. 2. Receive our digital magazine 12 times a year with articles, diagrams, and tips on how to improve your photography. 3. Listing on our website to help you grow your business or sell your photo art. 4. Access to the back issues of our magazine, almost a â&#x20AC;&#x153;college degreeâ&#x20AC;? in photo education. 5. Network with technical experts and fellow photographers at events. 6. Shoot Social Networking (actual hands-on-photography events) 7. Enter our digital photo contests held at selected seminars. 8. Enter our premier Photo Salon competition at the Carolina Photo Expo to receive recognition and awards. Also, winning awards help grow your standing experience with friends, family and customers; even getting your images published in our Carolina Photographer magazine. 9. Camaraderie with like-minded photographers to help you embrace and grow your creative talents. 10. Become inspired! Nothing helps you take your photography to the next level than to see great photography, learn the techniques and push yourself to create your next masterpiece. 11. Opportunity to volunteer at events and make life-long friends 12. Opportunity to apply for a scholarship to attend the week-long East Coast School.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN PPNC

The Value of Membership • Annual Carolina Photo Expo with Nationally Known Speakers Sharing the Current Trends in Photography with one of the largest State Trade Shows in the Southeast. (PPNC members attend for free) • Three seminars per year packed with education • East Coast School Photographic Workshops is a week-long event held each year with classes taught by top instructors from around the country, with classes from beginner to advanced. • Scholarships to East Coast School • Photographic print competitions – an excellent way to gain invaluable knowledge • On Line Membership Directory that is accessible to thousands of potential clients • A digital monthly magazine packed with ideas from posing and lighting to business and marketing • Private Print Critiques – Advice from a Master Photographer on how to improve your photographic images • Quarterly Shoot Socials – Networking and learning with other PPNC members in your trade area • Referrals – PPNC makes many referrals over the year. Once you become a PPNC member, our staff can refer your studio to potential clients. • Degree Program – The steps it takes to earn the PPNC Associate Fellowship and Fellowship degrees are symbols of quality and will strengthen your skills. Earning a PPNC degree is a way of telling potential clients to call you and not a competitor. • Networking – PPNC members develop friendships and relationships that last a lifetime. A fellow PPNC member is always available to help in times of crisis. • As a member of PPNC, you automatically become a member of the regional Southeast Professional Photographers Association, providing you with even more access to information and technology.SEPPA produces a monthly magazine full of information plus a biennial convention and trade show free to all PPNC members. • Insurance - Insurance for home based and store front studios (errors and omission and property)