Spring 2013 by Alexandra Niki

spring 2013

ALSO: SMUGMUG HQ// PHLEARN// CANON 6D// VIDEO EDITING// "TANK MAN" BY JEFF WIDENER// EQ RENTAL 2013 GUIDE// STEVE MCCURRY

WEDDING INNOVATIONS $7.99 US/CAN

DIY-RETRO WEDDINGS, NEW TOOLS AND TRENDS, AND ADVICE FROM INDUSTRY LEADERS.

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HIGHLIGHTS Page 162

Page 52

Page 20 PAGE 20

Page 132

Behind the Biz: SmugMug, the family who works together, stays together A look inside the genuinely fun (family) life at the SmugMug office.

PAGE 52

Camera Corner: Canon 6D

Michael Corsentino’s field test of the Canon 6D.

Page 76

PAGE 76

PAGE 132

History: “Tank Man” by Jeff Widener

Jeff Widener discusses his famous photo and what led him to photojournalism.

5 Industry Experts: Jasmine Star, Kevin Kubota Lee Morris, Roberto Valenzuela, Scott Bourne Wedding photography experts share the trends they’re seeing coming up.

PAGE 148

Resource EQ Rental Guide 2013

Some of the best places for gear and deals in the country.

PAGE 162

Page 148

Waiting and Wandering: A portrait of Steve McCurry

A brief biography of an iconic-image maker.

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CONTENTS PAGE 8 YOUR ESSENTIALS 8 10 12 14 182

Masthead Editors’ Letter RE:Sourced Shoot Talk Directory

PAGE 20 BIZ 20 28 30 32 34 35 36 38 40 41

Behind the Biz: SmugMug, the family who works together, stays together. Going Pro: Part VI –The art of customer service. Graph-ic: Fallen Heroes Get Smart: Plearn as you go. Photography education online. SocioMediaPath: Qubeey in beta form. Tips: 5 ways to woo a client. Sell Yourself: The Evernote workflow. Trend: Manufacturers play retail. ProPinion: Marc Asnin on book publishing. Tips: Photography for online dating websites.

Page 36

Page 43 TECH 43 50 52 56 58 62 66 69 71

Gear & Gadgets How To: Wet plate collodion photography with Jolene Lupo. Camera Corner: Canon 6D. People in Motion: Sound is half the soul. Gear Heads: High-end lenses. Deconstructed: Fog juice. Ask the Geek: The roadmap to event editing. Photo-Video Dad: Shooting video with your kid. DYI: Make a DSLR viewfinder.

Page 62

Page 76 IMAGE 76 88 94 98 102 114 116 118

History: “Tank Man” by Jeff Widener. Breaking In: Food photographer Lucas Zarebinski. Editor’s Pick: 354. The Experiment: Playing with time, by Isabel Martinez. Photographers of the Week Winners: Rick Wenner, Barnaby Kent, Sally Sargood. Contest: EDU 2013 Speciality: James Ambler, ex-paparazzo. Photo Pro-File: Rebecca Handler

Page 125 FOCUS 125 132 135 137 139 141 143 144 145 146

Page 125

Wedding Innovation - Green Wedding Shoes 5 Industry Experts: Scott Bourne, Kevin Kubota, Lee Morris, Jasmine Star, Roberto Valenzuela Interlude: Wedding apps. Interlude: In a flash, your photos could be lost! Interlude: Top photo labs. Interlude: Brian Marcus on lighting. Interlude: Top book publishers. Software: Kubota Image Tools review. Software: Want more in your Arsenal? Cidder: A photo-centric registry.

Page 148 FEATURE 148 162

Resource EQ Rental Guide 2013 Waiting and Wandering: A Portrait of Steve McCurry

Page 174 ARTS 174 180

Book Club: Imogen Cunningham, Heart Soul Detroit, Scene, Color Rush, Margaret Bourke-White Movies for photographers: A closer look at director Wong Kar-Wai.

Page 174

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EDITORS IN CHIEF Alexandra Niki, Aurelie Jezequel CREATIVE DIRECTORS Alexandra Niki, Aurelie Jezequel ART DIRECTOR Alexandra Niki DESIGN Rachael Tucker TECH EDITOR Adam Sherwin CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS 354, James Ambler, Michael Corsentino, Benjamin Edwards, Mark Gordon, Rebecca Handler, Barnaby Kent, Leah Kua, Kevin Kubota, Jolene Lupo, Isabel Martinez, Kristen Marie, Steve McCurry, Lee Morris, Greg Neumaier, Sally Sargood, Jasmine Star, Roberto Valenzuela, Rick Wenner, Jeff Widener, James Worrell, Lucas Zarebinski CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Andy Adams, Janet Alexander, Marc Asnin, Aimee Baldridge, Scott Bourne, John Christopher, Skip Cohen, Michael Corsentino, Matthew Fennell, Charlie Fish, Katharina Gadow, Chris Gampat, Raquel Gil, Ross L. Hockrow, Tom Kray, Kevin Kubota, Isaac Lopez, Brian Marcus, Lee Morris, Alexandra Niki, Stephanie Nikolopoulos, Toni Palumbo, Jean-Paul Pretat, Liana Rivas, Amber Schadewald, Adam Sherwin, Jasmine Star, Roberto Valenzuela, Alison Zavos CONTRIBUTING ILLUSTRATORS Thomas Bloch, Kelly Kaminski, Megan Padden, Emil Rivera, Shirley Hernàndez Ticona, Anne Wilson COPY EDITORS Janet Alexander, Katharina Gadow, Tom Kray, Liana Rivas INTERNS Marcus Cedeno, Katharina Gadow, Raquel Gil, Marlot Hoevenaars, Tom Kray, SunMin Lee, Toni Palumbo, Quentin Petit, Liana Rivas, Ellen Shewmaker PUBLISHER - REMAG Inc. DISTRIBUTION - info@resourcemagonline.com ADVERTISING Alexandra Niki - alex@resourcemagonline.com Adam Sherwin - adam@resourcemagonline.com

Resource Magazine is a quarterly publication from REMAG Inc. info@resourcemagonline.com SUBSCRIPTIONS: $45 in the U.S., US$55 in Canada, and US$70 globally. For subscription inquiries, please email us at info@resourcemagonline. com or go to our website and look for the subscription link: www.resourcemagonline.com SPECIAL THANKS TO: John Champlin/ LUX-SF, Mark Chin, Landon Garza and Patrick Liotta. We welcome letters and comments. Please send any correspondence to info@resourcemagonline.com The entire content of this magazine is ©2013, REMAG Inc. and may not be reproduced, downloaded, republished, or transferred in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved. For more info and your daily dose of Resource, please visit our website: www.resourcemagonline.com And check out RETV, Resource’s easy to read online video platform: www.ResourceTelevision.com FIND US ON NEWSSTANDS ACROSS THE COUNTRY! EASIER YET, GET YOUR ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION AT www.resourcemagonline.com AND NEVER MISS AN ISSUE!

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CONTRIBUTORS 6.

2. 1. Jolene Lupo: Known for her

haunting imagery and meticulous attention to detail, Jolene Lupo has collaborated with photographers Mike Falco and Richard Solinger to create Tenement, a wet Plate studio in Brooklyn, NY. They will soon release a publication featuring tintypes from their recent trip through the Mojave Desert. www.Tenementstudio.com

2. Brian Marcus: Brian Marcus

continues the photography legacy of his father, Fred Marcus. Brian is a regular speaker at conferences worldwide, conducts workshops and, as a recognized expert in the field of wedding photography, has had his work featured in numerous magazines and blogs. www.fredmarcus.com

3. Michael Corsentino:

is an award-winning photographer, American Photo 2013 Top Ten Wedding Photographers nominee, writer for Photoshop User Magazine, Shutter and Resource Magazine, speaker and workshop leader. Shooting digitally since 1999, he made his first exposure when he was 12 years old and hasn’t put his camera down since. www.michaelcorsentino.com

3. 4. James Worrell:

is an advertising and editorial photographer who uses simplicity, color and humor to interpret concepts and make powerfully graphic images for his clients. His fine art training, coupled with a Midwest can-do pragmatism and work ethic, make commercial photography a perfect fit for him. www.jamesworrell.net

5. Mark Gordon: a digital tech by trade, has made a cameo appearance behind the camera for this issue’s piece on SmugMug. When not on the loose in San Francisco, Mark can be found working with his team to equip productions with digital capture and retouching services worldwide. www.g10capture.com

6.Marc Asnin: renowned documentary photographer, has been published in Life, Fortune, The New Yorker, The New York Times Sunday Magazine and Stern. He’s been exhibited across the United States and Europe and has received numerous accolades. His work has appeared in books such as The New York Times Magazine Photographs. www.marcasnin.com

Mark Gordon shot by Michael O’Neal – Marc Asnin shot by Ella Asnin

EDITORS

letter

“Sick as a dog.” “The dog ate my homework.” “It’s raining cats and dogs!” “It’s a dog-eat-dog world.” “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” “He’s in the doghouse.” “Throw it to the dogs.” “Who let the dogs out?” “Dog is man’s best friend…and woman’s.” One of our favorite sayings is, “Qui va à la chasse perd sa place, quand il revient, il trouve un petit chien.” Which means, “Who goes hunting will lose his place, when he comes back, he finds a little dog.” Looks like this happened to us at Resource: the two adorable faces above have stolen our hearts. These cutie pies are our dogs, Battle and Gitzo; we seem to always be in the trenches, but when we come for air, we’re met by these lovable monsters.

Resource has been on an upward growth, working hard to get you better design, better content, better website and much more. We have lots of BIG plans for this year and we hope that you’ll keep following us. One thing to start you off is retail (resourcemagonline.com/retail), which is our online shop. It’s offering all the great Resource magazines and products, but will soon open up to many exciting new things.

First of all, yes, this was all just an excuse to put cute photos of our puppies in the magazine, but there is a larger lesson to be learned here. That is, it’s important to have some way to unwind, even when you’re out hunting for the next great photo. The little one, Battle, is the office mascot. He’s with us everyday, barking at the neighbors and pissing in the hallway, but every now and then when I need to breathe, I chase him and play and run. It’s the little lighthearted and humorous things that get me through stressful days. When Aurélie gets home, Gitzo greets her as if he hasn’t seen her in months and jumps on the bed so she can pet him. And then he lies down next to her while she works late at night, proofing an issue. Whether it’s petting a dog (or cat), feeding squirrels, dancing in the stairway, or throwing knives, it’s important to find a way to lift your heart and remove your mind from every day stresses. Creativity will flow from there.

This issue’s Focus section is dedicated to Wedding Innovations. We know not everyone is a wedding photographer, but if you have not been following, weddings have moved above and beyond the standard and formulaic to become personalized, individual affairs. Photographers have followed suit and have gone to new levels, creating beautiful images that rival what you see in some magazines—we wanted to celebrate that. Stay tuned for next issue’s Focus, which will be created by photo students for photo students! Very exciting! Till next time,

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RE:SOURCED Skip Cohen University: SKIP IS BACK, and Resource was there to witness and

Meanwhile, at the Resource office:

WPPI: The Wedding and Portrait Photographers International show preceding our first

In case you are wondering what we have stewing in the pot, you're in for some top-secret treats.

document the launch of SCU! There were lots of friendly, familiar faces there—a perfect illustration of the community Skip has built over the years, first with his Skip’s Summer School educational programs and now with SCU. In an age where education is moving toward a digital existence, Skip is maintaining the perfect balance between online, community, and live workshops and classes with the support of some the best educators behind him. Take a look at our videos of SCU at www.resourcemagonline.com. Check out all the great courses offered at www.skipcohenuniversity.com. And, most of all, don't miss the SCU Harlem Shake—search it on YouTube!

Wedding Innovations Issue ever? Come on! How could we not be there to make a scene, shake some hands and hunt for the newest products on the market. As usual, there was an abundance of attendees, exhibitors and after-show parties. Adam and Alex from Resource spoke about "How to expand your photographic brand" at the Livebooks booth; Resource was nominated by FRAMED Awards for Best Website AND Best Photography Magazine, and we made a whole lot of new friends!

Our new office toy, gifted to Adam by Skip Cohen, is a flying FUCK. This ingenious contraption has our interns dipping and dodging, then wondering whether their boss gives a flying fuck or is a flying fuck.

Hush Hush at Resource:

Resource Leak #1: We have MAJOR developments happening in the very technologically advanced world of digital publications. We can't say more, but stay tuned for an upcoming announcement. Resource Leak #2: There has been some "talk" about some possible partnerships on the rise. Our competitors would send in spies if they knew what this was about, but for the moment we’ll keep all of this hush hush. Resource Leak #3: retail, our online shop is now open with some great photo-centric essentials. You'll find subscriptions, back issues, t-shirts and more. But trust us when we say, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Icon Guide:

EDU2013 Update: Only one month remains for a chance to make your dream of becoming

a professional photographer a reality with our EDU2013 Contest. Resource has teamed up with a select group of the nation’s top photographic companies, including our three new sponsors, Epson, NEC display and Wacom, to offer a professional-grade grand prize package valued at $30,000. There’s still time to join the other 3,000+ submissions (Open until midnight May 1st, 2013): www.resourcemagonline.com/edu2013contest/

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

Here’s an explanation of what the icons you will find throughout the magazine mean. Enjoy the Resource multimedia experience!

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SHOOT TALK: Words and Research by Tony Palumbo

Our Shoot Talk this quarter features the latest photography gear as well as important events from the Winter. The timeline will guide you through some of the standout breakthroughs and must-attend shows.

Brings 35mm Film Scanner to your smartphone | jan 14,2013 Lomography strikes again. Thanks to its Smartphone Film Scanner, you can now photographically scan your 35mm negatives using your phone. The company financed it through Kickstarter, asking $50,000— and raising close to $300,000!

Nikon announces new 1J3 and D5000 lenses | jan 7,2013

01J a n u a r y

Nikon introduces new lenses for the 14-megapixel Nikon 1 J3 mirror-less camera and 24-megapixel Nikon D5200, including a NIKKOR 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 VR and a NIKKOR 10100mm f/4.0-5.6 VR .

Anti-Photography glasses | jan 29,2013 Don’t want to be photographed? Professor Isao Echizen, from Tokyo’s National Institute of Informatics, creates glasses that emits an infrared light not seen by the human eye and makes it impossible for the photo to be processed.

Fujifilm unveils the X20 and X100s, boasts “the world’s fastest autofocus” | jan 6,2013 The main draw of both cameras is the incredibly fast AF (0.06s), and their ability to shoot full HD video at 60fps. And they have the retro-chic look we love.

Lomography Launches BeLair X 6-12 | jan 11,2013 Lomography continues to champion analog photography in this digital world of ours, with its Belair, a new, cool-looking medium format camera. You can shoot in 6x6, 6x9 or 6x12. Whoever predicted the death of film evidently never talked to Lomo.

Instagram’s Largest Upgrade since Its Creation | jan 13,2013

Neo Studio and Resource Magazine throw a New Years Resolution Party | jan,25,2013 Everyone has a laundry list of good resolutions come January 1st: every new year is a chance to start anew, to better ourselves and our lives. NYC photo studio Neo Studios and Resource Magazine join force to celebrate the optimism of the new year, asking people what their resolution was for 2013.

Instagram 3.2 comes with a new Willow filter; a new Instagram-themed shutter and shutter release buttons; a preview of the most recent photo on the camera roll, and easy access to look up the last photo.

Pentax Announces Retro-Styled Camera, the MX-1 | jan 7,2013 Pentax joins in the vintage look trend and releases the MX-1. The camera features a sleek metal body, a fast lens, a 12-megapixel sensor and a maximum sensitivity ISO of 12800.

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THE worlds thinnest and lightest FilterS | jan 30,2013 Cokin launches their new filters, Pure Harmonie. Compatible with all lens caps, the filters are very durable and have a shallow profile to prevent vignetting. They are extremely lightweight and come in UV, Circular Polariser and Neutral Density variety.

Photo: ÂŠ Helge Kirchberger, Austria www.visualdope.com

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SHOOT TALK: Photography Exhibit at Aperture NYC. | feb 1-9,2013 The exhibition features beautiful prints of six of the most important photographers working today-William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Ryan McGinley, Martin Parr, Terry Richardson and Stephen Shore. Each photographer shot with the same camera, the Fujifilm X-Series; though the tool was the same, the resulting photographs represent unique and personal expressions.

PHOTOGRAPHER Olivier Voisin DIES | feb 24,2013 Lomography’S NEW INFRARED | feb 6,2013

Lynx World’s first point and shoot 3D camera | feb 4,2013 When photography is not enough, Lynx A captures objects, environments and movements in 3-D. Perfect for architecture firms, and video games and movie programmers. And only $1,800—a fraction of price of devices available now on the market.

The LomoChrome Purple 400 film turns greens into magenta and can be developed with C-41 process. You can use it on all 35mm cameras.

French freelance photojournalist Olivier Voisin dies from injuries sustained in Syrian, while he was covering the conflict. He was 38. Syria is one of — if not the most — deadliest countries in the world for journalists today. Twenty-eight journalists died there in 2012, while others are held captive.

01F e b r u a r y

Photoshop Touch COMES TO SMARTPHONES | feb 27,2013 MAGNUM PHOTOGRAPHER, Paolo Pelligrin FACES CONTROVERSY | feb 23,2013

Instagram brings photo feeds to the web | feb 6,2013

Kodak SeLLs its Digital Imaging Patents | feb 4,2013 Kodak sells its patents for $527 million dollars. The sale is a major step on the company’s restructuring plan.

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

Instagram has cornered the market on mobile photo sharing—being bought by Facebook only reinforced its dominant position. They now move to the web, rolling out web profiles and photo feeds, giving photo junkies one more option to get their image fix.

While working on a photo series documenting Rochester, NY, Pellegrin took this portrait, which has received many awards and recognition… and a fair amount of bad press: turns out the caption was misleading and the image was somewhat staged. This controversy coincides with rising concerns about the blurring l i n e b e t we e n e d i to r i a l a n d documentary or photojournalism.

After the success of its tablet app, Adobe releases a new version of its famous (and infamous) editing software specifically built for phones. Now you can retouch on the go for just $4.99.

Vimeo + Vivoom. Vivoom = Better-Looking VIDEOS | feb 28,2013 Vimeo reinforces its position as the pro video makers’ choice by adding “Looks,” a new video-editing tool that adds effects and filters to your videos to make them look more polished. “Looks” is powered by GenArt’s Vivoom; this partnership marks a first for Vimeo.

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SHOOT TALK: Dove Beautify Action released for Photoshop | March 8, 2013 As part of its Real Beauty campaign, Dove releases a Photoshop action that pretend to give skin a glow but in fact remove layers of retouching to ask the question, “Why retouch something that is already beautiful?” Nice idea but wrong target since professional retouchers don’t download random free actions and only follow clients’ requests.

VIMEO ON DEMAND | March 12, 2013 At South by Southwest, Vimeo unveiled its new self-distribution service, Vimeo On Demand. The Service, which is available to all Vimeo Pro users, gives creators a simple way to sell their work directly to their audience and keep 90% of the revenue (after transaction costs).

First Polaroid Fotobar Opens in Florida | March 1, 2013 Digital is great, but there’s no denying the appeal of the printed photograph. Answering that need is Polaroid. At its Fotobar, people can print their digital images onto the famous square format (other options available). Other locations, from NYC to Vegas, are scheduled to open in 2013.

Canon unveils a 35mm Sensor that can see in the dark | March 4, 2013 From starry sky to a room lit with just an incense stick, the CMOS sensor can capture images that would be otherwise completely dark. Each of its pixel measures 19 square microns in size—which is 7.5 times the size of the pixels found on the Canon 1D X DSLR’s sensor!

01M A R C H

WHAT’S COMING UP IN Q2 MARCH 30-APRIL 30, 2013

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behind the biz By Amber Schadewald Photos by Mark Gordon

ilicon Valley companies love to dangle perks in front of their employees, but too often these benefits appear more like candycoated business ploys than gifts. The more they dish out—meals, on-site trainers, happy hours, fancy toys—the more dependent the worker becomes. Arrive early for breakfast and stay late for a workout, another report, and a couple more emails. Working until 10 p.m. doesn’t feel as bad when you get cake. But in the rare case of SmugMug, the flashy extras are a reflection of a genuine interest in the employees’ wellbeing and all stem from the creation of an all-inclusive extended family.

SmugMug, a customizable, digital photo-sharing service for photographers of all skill levels, hit the net in 2002. Strolling around their Mountain View, CA, office, the vibe is ostensibly cushy: the breakfast shelves are stocked with juices and granola bars, a chef prepares lunch on a daily basis, and a barista serves afternoon espressos. Five dogs roam around the modern, quirky space, and there’s an on-site gym. Meetings take place on purple leather couches and oversized bean bags, and everyone stutters when declaring job titles due to the flexibility of their roles. But the parallels to burgeoning start-ups and overbearing tech companies don’t extend far past the lunchroom—SmugMug continues to hold ground as an independent company that sincerely values its employees. “Yes, we’re spoiled, but we work hard for it,” says Ops Engineer Travis Theune, wearing a proud grin and a SmugMug sweatshirt. It’s nearly 2 p.m. on a Tuesday and the energy level is refreshingly calm and positive as people casually wrap up their conversations and head back to their desks. The previous hour was spent in the communal dining room, chatting and feasting like one big, happy family. Chef Beth Nichols and her two assistants provided a feast of health-conscious dishes: spicy sweet potato soup, pork chops, coffee-adobo rubbed tuna, mushroom and spinach rice served in an open-face squash, three kinds of salad, and a deep bowl of fresh fruit. Plates were stacked impressively high as people settled at the picnic tables, forks moving fast, hounds circling. The term “lifestyle company” gets thrown around a lot to describe businesses with these kinds of perks, but Head of Community Development Katherine Cheng ensures that SmugMug’s appeal goes beyond appeasing appetites. Honesty, trust, and respect—real, human-to-human, family-minded philosophies—are here to sustain the sugar high.

Founder Chris “Baldy” MacAskill and his son Don started SmugMug a decade ago, immediately hiring from the family tree, finding spouses, children, brothers, and sisters to fill the company’s growing needs. Since moving out of the MacAskills’ kitchen and into the digital photography spotlight, the business has grown to about 100 employees, split almost 50/50 between those who are on-site and those who work remotely. The company’s feel-good, family-operated mentality has not only stuck, but extended—literally: an odd proportion of the staff is related by blood or marriage. Within the population of those working at headquarters, there are five married couples. The cubicles aren’t a hotbed for romance though: all the couples were hitched before being hired, but after one fell in love with the job, their significant other applied for the party.

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SmugMug: The family who works together, stays together An inside look into how SmugMug avoids Silicon Valley company stereotypes to create an extended family and a home away from home.

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“It’s been recommended that when we hire someone, we should start asking for their spouse’s resume,” laughs Strong. Beyond the wedded, the SmugMug staff is also really social, and not in that generic weather-weekend plans-water cooler kind of chatter; they hang out both on and off the clock. From yearly company-wide vacations, to monthly photo walks, weekly movie nights at the MacAskills’, and weekend photo shoots, this is a tight-knit group with legitimate bonds. “I actually don’t think I have too many friends outside of SmugMug. Maybe that’s strange?” editor Steph Theune asks herself, pondering the thought for a brief second before shrugging it off. “The MacAskills are close and it’s admirable. That carries over into the company environment and it’s really fun. Some might think these dynamics could drive a person nuts, working with spouses, siblings and parents, but even with its challenges, it works.” Theune, a former avid SmugMug customer, joined the company as employee number 34 in 2008. Her husband Travis was hired three years later and has an office just a few doors down from hers. Back when the couple lived in Mountain View, entire days were spent in the office—voluntarily—from breakfast to late-nights in the TV room.

BIZ: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 25

“We didn’t own a TV at the time. And all our friends were here.” Community Manager Michael Bonocore was initially excited to come into the office only twice a week, but a few months in and he’s already looking for a place in Mountain View. “I didn’t anticipate how much I would love being here,” he says, highlighting the spontaneous photo shoots and the bonus of having his boxer, Rocky, at his side. “It’s amazing. Everyone is so passionate. And the goofy, funny ideas never stop coming.” From special birthday treats to surprise cubicle decorations, the SmugMug staff is great at making people feel like people—not robots chained to their desks. Controller Ivan Makarov loves that his wife and three kids periodically visit for lunch, and he gets especially animated when asked about the photography equipment shared between employees. Is all this too good to last? “We’re really growing,” Makarov says, noting the influx of hires in recent weeks. “Who knows how long we can do this.” While it’s easy to understand how a company’s family vibe could weaken because of growth, SmugMug’s strong ethics seem ready for the challenge. If there’s any truth to the saying, “the family who works/eats/plays together, stays together,” it seems like SmugMug’s future concerns will only be expanding the menu.

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2 cyan 85 magenta 76 yellow

- all images must go to the bleed - no text should go past the margin

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going pro

BIZ

The Art of Customer Service (part 6) By Skip Cohen - Illustrations by Shirley Hernàndez Ticona

here are simply too many companies who treat customer service as an afterthought. They think of it as a reactionary process to a challenge posed by an upset customer. But think about your favorite places to shop or your favorite restaurants—great customer service is about the entire shopping experience. Sadly, many small business owners will learn this the hard way. As a photographer, you’ll work hard to create amazing images, but miss the mark on the service side. Great customer service is all about exceeding your clients’ expectations. It’s about delivering better images than they ever thought possible, delivering them early, and creating more perceived added value. My introduction to customer service on the corporate level started at Polaroid in the 70’s with the introduction of the Polaroid SX-70. The cameras were running around 300% defective! Many of the challenges we dealt with at that time became a huge part of my educational process in consumerism for the rest of my career, right up to this very minute.

1. EMPATHIZING WITH A COMPLAINT. A couple of years ago, I had two returns to Eddie Bauer that I put together in one shipment. I received credit for only one item, so I called Customer Service. Within seconds, the representative I spoke with had me totally disarmed. “I can’t blame you for being upset. Let’s see if we can get the problem resolved and we’ll stay on the line until we get it fixed!” Right off the bat, she listened to my problem, let me babble for as long as I needed to whine, and then gave me the assurance she’d get it resolved.

2. HANDLE PROBLEMS QUICKLY. The same customer service rep not only processed the credit while we were talking, she insisted I stay on the line with her just to make sure it went through. In addition, she sent me a $20 gift card to apologize for the mistake. It’s a double win–she solved my problem and will get me placing another order with the gift card. She exceeded my expectations!

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3. BE PROACTIVE INSTEAD OF REACTIVE. While out of town last fall, we had dinner one night at Ruth’s Chris. A week later I got a hand-written note from the waitress thanking us for our patronage—think about the goodwill she created for the entire chain.

4. FAST FOLLOW-UP Totally frustrated with CVS’s pharmacy when I lived in California, I wrote to the president of the company. Within a day or two of him receiving the letter, I got a call from their regional manager. He apologized and told me what they were going to do to fix the problem.

5.WHAT NOT TO DO! At the other extreme was a restaurant in Akron, OH, a couple of years ago called Crave. We arrived early and were about to be seated at a very small two-top in the middle of the “runway.” When I questioned the hostess and commented that I had specifically requested a nice quiet table when I made the reservation a week earlier, her answer came in two ugly parts: “I’m sorry, there’s no notation of that here!” And when we said we didn’t want that table, she conferred with her associate and came back with, “I’m sorry, there’s nothing we can do, we’re fully booked tonight!” There are a dozen other approaches she could have taken, including, “I’m sorry for the mistake. Let’s get you a drink on us at the bar, and I’ll set you up at the next table that opens.” Instead, she first suggested I was lying and then called my bluff. In the end we left and went to another restaurant.

Shirley Hernàndez Ticona: www.unchililin.com

Building Loyalty: how to turn a customer’s negative experience into a positive one. Five lessons learned in customer service from companies that did it right. And wrong.

About the author: Author of six books on photography, including “Going Pro”, which this article series is based upon, Skip Cohen has been a fixture in the photographic industry for his entire adult life. He’s served as President of Hasselblad, Rangefinder/WPPI, and in 2009 founded Marketing Essentials International. His exciting new venture is SkipCohenUniversity.com, with a faculty that represents the "Who's Who" in photographic education.

X E A SY I S O T N IS DOW H T L I O B SE TO U N A C SO, LET’S U IPS YO T ICE: R V E R B E M S E T M A E E R TO OR G R F N IO T A T EPU BU I L D A R

1>>

When you’ve got a challenge with a customer, don’t question the legitimacy of their complaint; just listen.

2>>

Handle their problem on the first contact whenever possible. I know some issues take a little research, but the key is to be prompt in finding a resolution. The longer you drag it out, the more complicated it gets.

3>>

It’s our nature, mostly due to the conditioning of horrible companies like Comcast to expect a fight. They’re the “Dr. No’s” of service, but you’ve got here an opportunity to set your own standard. In fact, be aggressive in your efforts to solve consumer problems.

4>>

Stay away from email and use the phone. If you keep smiling through the phone call, it’ll come across in the tone of your voice. This is about empathy with the consumer, along with establishing trust and sincerity.

5>>

When you get a screamer, all it takes is one comment to neutralize a good part of their behavior: “I don’t blame you for being upset. Let’s see what I can do to help solve this.”

6>>

Last on the list, you don’t have to always give the store away, but you need to come up with solutions that have value to the customer.

ONE OF THE GREATEST QUOTES ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE COMES FROM GANDHI:

“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us; we are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work; he is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business; he is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.” Remember, in today’s Internet world one angry customer can have an impact on thousands of other potential clients. You can’t make everybody happy all the time, but the effort you make will help set a standard of excellence and build your reputation. Great customer service isn’t about having all the answers; it’s mostly about listening and making sure your customer understands that you understand their frustration. It’s about a special tone in your voice that says you care. It’s about eye contact when you’re talking face-to-face, and most important of all, it’s simply about having heart!

BIZ: GOING PRO-“The Art of Customer Service (Part 6)” Page 29

graph-ic

Fallen Heroes

Research by Toni Palumbo - Graph by Megan Padden

info-graph

IMAD ABUZAHRA RAFAELE CIRIELLO

PHOTO JOURNALISTS

REMI OCHLIK PAUL JENKS

CAUGHT IN THE LINE OF FIRE DIJILALI ARIBIDOU MADJID YACEF DIJAMEL BOUHIDEL CHRIS HONDROS TIM HETHERINGTON ANTON HAMMERL JEAN REMY BADIO

WILLIAM BIGGART BRIAN BRITTON LUIS EMMANUEL RUIZ CARILLO ELISEO BARRON HERNANDEZ GREGORIO RODRIGUEZ HERNANDEZ

JORGE AGUIRRE JORGE IBRAIN TORTOZA CRUZ

FREDDY ELLES AHUMADA

4% FEMALE

96% MALE

KEN OOSTERBROCK ABDUL SHARIFF

LUIZ ANTONIO DA COSTA

40% FREELANCE

32%

FOREIGN

SAMSON SOYI

BYRON BALDEON JULIO AUGUSTO GARCIA ROMERO

68%

JOSE LUIS CABEZAS

BOSNIAN

NATIONALITY

COLUMBIAN GERMAN

FRENCH

GEORGIAN IRAQI

HAITIAN

KENYAN PAKISTANI MEXICAN

SOUTH AFRICAN

VENEZUELAN

SWEDISH

BRITISH AMERICAN YEMENI

CULTURE

FILIPINO SPANISH SOMALI

26%

13%

COVERAGE

INDIAN LEBANESE ITALIAN

NIGERIAN RUSSIAN PALESTINIAN

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45%

POLITICS

BRAZILIAN ECUADORIAN CANADIAN

CORRUPTION

AZERBAIJANI

WAR

ARGENTINIAN

CRIME

AFGHAN ALGERIAN

HUMAN RIGHTS

LOCAL

13%

BIZ

COUNTRIES KILLED IN NAMIR NOOR ELDEEN DMITRY CHEBOTAYEV FALAH KHALAF AL DIYALI SAFA ISMAIL ENAD KARAM HUSSEIN ABDEL SATTAR ABDEL KARIM

ALEXANDER KLIMCHUCK ADREI SOLOVIEV

LAYAL NAJIB

VALDMIR YATSINA FELIX SOLOVYOV CYNTHIA EBAULM

SOURCE OF FIRE PARAMILITARY GROUP POLITICAL GROUP UNKNOWN FIRE

JAMES P. HUNTER AZIZULLAH HAIDARI

CRIMINAL GROUP MILITARY OFFICIALS GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

JEPON CADAGDAGON REYNALDO MORNAY GENE BOYD LUMAWAG

MOB VIOLENCE LOCAL RESIDENTS

ZAHRA KAZEMI

TYPE OF DEATH

ASHOK SODHI PRADEEP BHATIA

FABIO POLENGHI ABDULKHAFAR ABDULKADIR MARTIN ADLER HANSI KRAUSS DAN ELDON HOSEA MAINA

PHOTOJOURNALISTS KILLED PER YEAR

45% MURDER 17% DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT 38% CROSSFIRE/COMBAT RELATED

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

COVERAGE

18% TAKEN CAPTIVE 4% THREATENED 10% TORTURED

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

BIZ: GRAPH-IC-“Fallen Heroes” Page 31

get smart BIZ

“I want to help people realize they can make a living being creative, doing what they love, and help them to compete in marketplace, instead of giving up on their dreams." aron Nace tells me he just had a thought the other day, “It takes millions of dollars of sponsorship to be a professional race car driver, so the odds that the best race car drivers are actually driving cars is small, but with soccer, it just requires a ball, so the best soccer players in the world are professional soccer players.” I’ll spare you the suspense to avoid any confusion—this is a metaphor about the accessibility of resources within the photography industry, and Nace is determined to not only level the playing field, but also widen the racetrack.

Created by Nace and his friend, Ethan Davis, in 2011, Phlearn is a daily photography and Photoshop show, and a predictable portmanteau. Think about it. Inspired by Gary Vaynerchuck’s Wine Library TV, a daily wine web video series (we had never heard of it either), Nace and Davis developed Phlearn initially just as a side project out of their house in North Carolina. Why specifically Photoshop? “At the time I started, it was the most powerful image editing software—and it’s still the most powerful,” Nace says. Teaching himself post-processing through the archaic method known as trial and error, the website’s founding can be traced back to Nace’s own dubious path to photography. Born in Hawaii, Nace was twelve years old when his family moved to North Carolina. Entering the fifth grade, Nace describes he was well behind his peers, “I’d never taken an English class.” Jumping forward, Nace recalls an immediate post-graduate uncertainty over his degree in product design, “I thought I wasn’t going to make money in it.” He enrolled into dentistry school, only to realize halfway through that he was fooling himself, and left the country to travel through South America. He bought his first camera—an Olympus E510 DSLR—and upon his return home, decided to pursue his newfound hobby more seriously. Soon after creating a Flickr account, Nace’s compositing work began receiving a lot of attention from people asking how he was creating his images, including future business partner and friend, Ethan Davis. While many might withhold sharing their trade secrets, Nace reasons, “It’s not a threat to me to share my knowledge.” Within six months of teaching live classes online, the demand for Nace’s tutorials grew into a business that required moving production to a studio; then as of last year, moving to a studio in Chicago; and by now, the company has settled into a new 4,000 square foot facility to accommodate its six-member staff. Over a quarter-million people watch at least one Phlearn tutorial every month, and over 400 are free to watch, including new five free episodes a week. The whole production process of a single episode—from set-up to editing—lasts five hours. Pro products are surprisingly budget-conscious, ranging in price from $9.99 to $124.99. Amidst the ever-expanding market of online photography education Nace believes that Phlearn distinguishes itself through, well, himself. “I personally respond to episode comments and twitter messages as the public face and someone you can relate to.” Even the images used in the majority of the Phlearn video tutorials were actually shot by Nace. Being as involved as he is, Nace hopes to help young people avoid the mistake he made. “I want to help people realize they can make a living being creative, doing what they love, and help them to compete in marketplace, instead of giving up on their dreams.” Awwwwww....

Phlearn as you go. Photography education online. By Janet Alexander - Photos courtesy of Phlearn

Hundreds of free, professional photo and Photoshop tutorials, with a personal touch. Phlearn’s co-founder, Aaron Nace, talks about his own start in photography and why he founded Phlearn. RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

THINGS YOU CAN LEARN ON PHLEARN

1>>

Learn how to master the pen tool, dodge and burn, create highlights, color, sharpening and more for professionally polished flawless finishes.

Retouch Anything

2 >>

Explore an endless gallery of stunning sets, imaginative scenes and creative photo illustrations, which serve to prove photography's endless possibilities.

Get Inspired

3>>

Make your budget work for you by becoming your own full-service handyman/ woman, creating your own custom-built set, fisheye lens, light modifiers and more.

DIY

4 >>

With the right tools and proper step-by-step planning, realize how to transform what you're thinking into exactly what you envisioned.

Turn your idea into a reality

5>>

Photography is the art of capturing light. Enough said.

Light it Right

6>>

You can be a technical master, but if you can't manage your talent, no degree of photography know-how will compensate for an uncooperative subject.

Model Manners

BIZ: GET SMART-“Phlearn as you go. Photography education online” Page 33

sociomediapath

Qubeey In Beta Form

By Isaac Lopez

“No more constantly visiting websites, emails, and blogs looking for the things that matter to you in your daily life but instead having those things look for and find you no matter where you are or what you’re doing, even if you are in the middle of an Excel document.”

BIZ

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

4 Ways to have better Client Relationships

tips

o, it’s a Sunday afternoon. Football season is over and now there’s absolutely nothing good to watch on TV (except, of course, for the occasional “Law and Order: SVU” marathon). But you have absolutely nothing to do—I mean, it’s a Sunday—so you find yourself in front of the TV anyway, watching really bad infomercials with F-list actors acting out dramatizations of problems that don’t exist. You’re sitting there thinking “OK, as someone with an IQ over 25, I’ve NEVER had a problem keeping my towel on my body after a shower. I DEFINITELY don’t need this towel with sleeves.” (This really exists, sadly.)

Creating a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist is what the folks behind Qubeey (pronounced “Q-B”) have done. Qubeey is an “interactive communications platform” that can be downloaded to your desktop, mobile device and tablet, to combine every conceivable use of the Internet (web browsing, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, instant messaging, video chatting, etc.) into one place. Let’s delve into Qubeey’s web browsing functionality. Here’s a quote from them explaining it: “No more constantly visiting websites, emails, and blogs looking for the things that matter to you in your daily life but instead having those things look for and find you no matter where you are or what you’re doing, even if you are in the middle of an Excel document.” Now, I know things have gotten ridiculous in terms of how lazy modern-day society has become, but I’m sure that we’re not at the point where we’ve deemed opening up a browser so we can check up on the things that matter to us the most (read: TMZ) to be “too much work” (and if we are, then my God, we’re screwed). Qubeey pushes content to you based on the channels you follow on the platform—featured channels right now include those run by comedian Bill Maher, rapper Akon and all-around stand-up guy and star role model for today’s youth*, Chris Brown. (*Denotes an insanely sarcastic remark.) Now, what about the platform itself? Well, I wanted to test drive the desktop version of Qubeey. Long story short, after three days of attempting to sign up, being faced with instructions to click a download link that didn’t exist, and visiting a “support” section that only consisted of instructional videos to use a platform that I couldn't download, I learned from—get this—a retweet on Qubeey’s Twitter (@GetQubeey) from MMA fighter Alden Halpern stating, “The free membership was sold out” as of January 18th, but it will be “available to all within the next 10 days.” As of the time of this writing (February 10th), nothing.

By Aurelie Jezequel Wining and dining clients is not enough in this hyper competitive market. Here are things to do to further client relationships.

1 2

Well now. After a beta-test closes, you might not want to tell people to download something that no longer exists. (To be fair, there is a very obtuse paragraph on their front page, saying that the beta is over. But then why still allow people to sign up?) Finally remembering that there’s a mobile app, I took to the App Store and downloaded it on my iPhone. Success… right? Nope. The app needs a LOT of work done. From distorted, pixelated graphics to me not receiving any Facebook notifications, having comments in Facebook threads not be collapsed—leading to a lot of unnecessary scrolling—and not being able to tell if someone retweeted a tweet on my Twitter feed or if by some act of evil I accidentally started following Glenn Beck (spoiler alert: it was a retweet), it was quite honestly a mess. I can only hope that Qubeey’s desktop version wasn’t nearly as bad. Unfortunately, I’ll never know. Qubeey is planning on releasing an updated version soon (the mobile app was in beta testing as well), so one could only hope that they do a much better job next time around. Go ahead, Qubeey, make my day.

PROS:

Pros and Cons Combines all of your social networks in one place, good for companies who want to make sure their target demographic see their content.

CONS: Very buggy and poorly designed mobile app, zero notice about the desktop version being unavailable, promoting the fact that a known woman beater is one of their celebrity early adopters.

3 4

Don’t be afraid of the phone. Even if you end up leaving a message, talk to your client; don’t just rely on emails and emoticons.

Find common ground. Use social media to learn about who you’re shooting for. Chitchat is not a waste of time: this is how you brake the ice, how you connect on an individual level. Being all business all the time is boring—clients hire people they relate to.

“Own your sh*t.” If you made a mistake, own up to it. Don’t obfuscate or blame someone else. And quickly find a solution.

Follow up meetings with a handwritten thank you note (if a job, add a little memento). Getting snail mail is a welcome break from the daily email onslaught!

BIZ: SOCIOMEDIAPATH-“Qubeey in BETA Form” Page 35

sell yourself

The Evernote Workflow By Liana Rivas - Photos by Greg Neumaier

Ta ke c o n t ro l o f yo u r i n fo r m a t i o n . The Evernote app organizes, indexes and makes your notes searchable across your PC, tablet and smartphone. You can never be too organized. As a photographer, knowing how to keep it simple is the key to keeping it together, and those in the know, know Evernote. This free (yes, free!) app is available for iOS, Blackberries, Windows and Androids, as well as for Windows and Mac computers. It synchronizes your assets, i.e. documents, notes, files, etc across all your devices—changes you make while working on your tablet are carried throughout your desktop computer, phone, and the Evernote Moleskin notebook. The free version already does a lot, but Evernote Premium takes it to another level, for just $5 a month (or $45 a year). Among the additional features are and offline access, so you can edit and manage your notes even without Internet access, and a 50MB capacity (as opposed to 25MB on the free version). In addition to the app, the company offers other programs to simplify your workflow.

Ever wish you could save a client’s website or an important link on your computer and return to it later on your phone or tablet? Evernote’s Web Clipper allows you to save anything from the web—

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

1>> NOTEBOOK

texts, links, images, websites— and view it on your mobile device. D i g i ta l d ev i ce s a s i d e , Evernote has partnered with Moleskine to create an Evernote Moleskine notebook, which allows you to transfer written notes onto the Evernote app for safekeeping and simple synchronization throughout devices. With easy to create Notes, you can effortlessly keep track of rented equipment, client requests, payments and invoices. You can create different notebooks for different types of notes, so your client list can be kept separate from your location scouting one. The app also increases your cell phone camera and mic capacities as it allows you to record notes or post images into notes. Everything is seamless and integrated.

TIPS TO PROCEED: • •

With dark colored ink, jot down information. Use the Smart Stickers, provided with the notebook, to tag and organize posts. Place stickers as close to the entry as possible. •

1 • •

•

Lay notebook on a flat surface; pull the green bookmark so it lays flat between pages. Tu r n o n P a g e C a m e r a (only available on iOS devices). Fit the notebook post into the frame provided on the app, tap the camera button on the bottom center of the screen. Review your shots. Approve the ones you like by pressing the blue check mark on the lower right hand side of the screen. Evernote will then upload your notes, make them searchable using tags and will organize them using the Smart Stickers.

Greg Neumaier: /www.gregneumaier.com / Evernote: www.evernote.com

Looking for an easier way to keep track of business cards and your ever-expanding Rolodex? Evernote Hello to the rescue! Info can either be manually entered or, if a business card is provided, scanned in. Information from Facebook and LinkedIn profiles are pulled and automatically added. You can also import co n t a c t s f ro m p re ex i s t i n g address books and wirelessly exchange information. Do you want to add more than one person at a time? If you’re all under the same roof, you can create a ‘meeting’ through the Hello Connect feature, which lets you exchange information with groups of people.

TIPS TO PROCEED:

BIZ

TIPS TO PROCEED:

2>>

MOBILE DEVICE 2

• In the Evernote app home page, click on the All Notes tab. To create a new note, click on the + sign on the top right-hand side of the screen. • On the top right-hand portion of the screen, there will be a picture of a camera, a microphone, the letter I, and an arrow inside a box. • Click on the camera to take a picture or insert one from your camera roll; choose to record audio by selecting the microphone; edit information by pressing on the I icon, or share a note via social networks, email or text message, by pressing the arrow icon. • If you’d like to favorite the note for offline use/edits, click on the star icon found next to the title of the note. • Once done, click on the close button on the upper lefthand side of the screen. • Notes get synched across devices once an hour. If you’d like to manually sync notes, click on the arrows on the upper right-hand side of the screen on the main page.

• Add notes to your Evernote account by clicking on the +New Note icon on the top, right-hand side of the screen. Just like the mobile version, you can add text, audio or images to a note, or share it by selecting the proper tab. • You can edit what you wrote by simply double clicking on the note.

3>>

COMPUTER

• S y n c y o u r c o n t e n t throughout your devices by clicking on the arrows icon on the upper left-hand side of the screen. • Download the Evernote Web Clipper to save web pages or highlighted parts of pages you’d like to come back to.

BIZ: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 37

trends of now

By Chris Gampat â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Illustration by Anne Wilson

Manufacturers Play Retail

BIZ

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

ow should retailers react when their brands, vendors, or authorized U.S. distributors set up their own retail channel and sell directly to customers?” wonders out loud Henry Posner, Director of Corporate Communications at B&H Photo Video Pro Audio. “I used to think this was a low-priority issue since they sold at MSRP* while we could easily sell below that, but the rise of ‘unilateral price’ rules means retailers are obliged to sell at the same price point, sometimes negating one advantage of shopping with us.”

Anne Wilson: www.annewilsonillustration.co.uk

While pop-up shops were traditionally contained to the holiday season, they now appear randomly through the year. It is a common marketing tactic that is seen often in fashion—and now, more and more in the photo industry. Some manufacturers even decide to build shops to last, offering specialized services that traditional retail channels can’t necessarily match. The original trendsetter for this business model was Apple, who opened stores with full customer support, Apple Geniuses and some of the best store designs around. The company has continued to thrive despite the crumbling economy and regularly reports very large profits—indeed, the move to retail has been very successful for them. In the case of Fujifilm, the company crash-landed into New York City last December, complete with media invites, parties, drinks and an Instax photo booth. However, the temporary store’s highlights were the X Series cameras and lenses, which Fujifilm touts as the crème de la crème of its imaging division. “The Fujifilm X Series pop-up store was scheduled during the holiday season as a way to raise brand awareness among consumers in an ideal location–SoHo in New York City–during one of the busiest retail times of the year,” explains Manny Almeida, Senior VP and General Manager of Imaging and Electronic Imaging of Fujifilm USA. “It was specifically created for the New York City audience to use and experience X Series digital cameras firsthand, and see their amazing ability in large, high resolution prints.” While the Fujifilm shop headed back to the North Pole after a short couple of days, other brands choose to stay. Take Lomography for example— the company that has worked on reviving and keeping analog photography alive through its emphasis on simplicity and by breeding its own culture. “Selling through your own channel is always a no-brainer if you can find the right business model for it. You make the highest margins on your sales, and it is the best way

to build a brand, because you can control the way your products are presented to the public and communicate with your community more effectively,” points out Liad Cohen, General Manager for Lomography USA. “You have more control through your own store than through a third party retailer. We get to give people the secondary support that they might not get at a retailer.” To further engage customers and develop a following, Liad advocates communitybuilding exercises, which can be more easily set up when working within your own stores. Case in point, Lomo offers workshops, parties and other events that teach customers how to use their camera and encourage them to share their images on their community website. While the company has stores in almost every major U.S. city, Cohen still sees strength in working with retailers, as he believes that they are ultimately a necessary step to reach a wider audience. “We couldn’t possibly reach the same amount of people as Urban Outfitters or other big retailers

that have a diverse audience. […] Running your own stores is a much more challenging business model, with a more complex structure and often very high costs, but when it’s sustainable, it helps you give customers a more complete, and hopefully more inspiring, experience.” “For a company like Lomo, which has a niche market, I think their stores can enhance brand awareness and expose them to folks who otherwise might not see them—and in fact, in Lomo’s case, might not even know of them,” tempers Posner. “Personally I don’t see this as a threat to our business model yet, but I’ve learned not to be surprised about much anymore.” As for Foto-Care, a NYC photo store, they go beyond mere retail and offer training on the items they sell; they don’t believe these shops to be a threat either. “Most of our sales are in store... I have not noticed a decrease in our sales or walk-in traffic with the temporary addition of these popup shops,” explains Linda Drummond, FotoCare General Manager. “In our line of business, MAP** pricing must be adhered to. Even with manufacturers selling directly to consumers, pricing is normally the same, as are any available rebates.” In the long term, Drummond believes that it is not a good strategy for manufacturers to open brick and mortar stores as they can reach

more customers by having numerous dealers in multiple cities and benefit from the dealers’ online presence. “Setting up their own stores would, in my opinion, limit their sales.” Some retailers agree. “First off, let me make it clear that we are opposed to manufacturers’ owned and operated stores. We aren’t opposed to the competition, but we feel that retailers make a considerable investment for their business partners (the manufacturers) in order to sell from brick-and-mortar locations. Manufacturer stores directly conflict with that business model,” explains Brian Cooney, Calumet Photographic Product Marketing Manager. “The bigger question goes to the consumer: are you better served by a singular brand message, or can a Canon shooter learn some new tricks or techniques from a Zeiss, Tamron or Metz product that a Canon product may not offer? There is a reason that all these other products exist on the market. Someone’s need wasn’t met; someone had a better (or cheaper) way of accomplishing a certain task.” Cooney says that it is a retailer’s job to make sure the consumer understands that a photo-specialty store has more to offer than a manufacturerowned, one-message shop. But some manufacturer stores are just meant to be special purpose shops. Recently, Leica opened up a shop in NYC to compliment their dealer network and grow the brand in North America. Not coincidentally, their move into retail corresponded with the expansion of the Leica Akademie, which provides specialized demonstrations, workshops, consultations and support for professional photographers. “Leica stores are a fantastic way of celebrating photography; they give customers the unique opportunity to experience our products in an inspiring atmosphere, being surrounded by the work of great Leica photographers in the gallery and through photo books. They create a completely immersive experience into the world of photography, perfect for Leica enthusiasts, professional photographers and new customers alike,” states Roland Wolff, VP of Marketing and Corporate Retail. It seems that manufacturers venture into the brick and mortar world not solely to sell, but to give users better customer support than they feel many third party retailers can provide. And when we consider how fast technology moves and how many brands a retailer’s sales force needs to be familiar with, it makes a lot of sense—not everyone can possibly explain specifically why the X Trans sensor creates such noise-free images at higher ISOs for instance. As the landscape continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how both retailers and manufacturers adapt to the market.

BIZ: TRENDS OF NOW -“Manufacturers Play Retail” Page 39

pro-pinion

BIZ

Marc Asnin on Book Publishing Words by Marc Asnin - Illustration by Emil Rivera

reating a book, like photography itself, is a process, a dance so to speak. It’s not an exact science, and it's not just art. It's not something that can be replicated or imitated and still remain authentic. It has to come about organically, and the creator has to put the work itself first and disregard the "product." It's a give and a take, a collaboration and a compromise. From choosing a designer to editing images to using text and typography to support my story, making my book, Uncle Charlie, has showed me how important the relationship is between designer and photographer. And I've learned first-hand how incredibly crucial it is to pick the right publisher, not just a big name.

When I started the Uncle Charlie project, I never intended for it to be a photo book—the end result would in fact have been very different if I had started out with the idea of creating a book. After twenty-five years of photographing and interviewing my uncle, I simply knew I had enough truly great material to create a book I would be proud of. The next step was figuring out how to take this work and give it structure, narrative, cohesion and its own voice. I wasn't sure how to get there and I didn't quite realize just how much of a collaborative process it would be. I looked for a designer who had created work that inspired me and had a personality I could work with. I saw a photo book called Chernobyl Legacy that was designed by Giorgio Baravelle of de.MO and absolutely fell in love with the design. I reached out to him with the intention of feeling him out, and we had instant chemistry. I knew this would be the designer I'd work with—Giorgio was my guy. Four years after us meeting, Uncle Charlie was well on its way. We had a dummy book that was truly impressive. The design was just right, reflecting the narrative of my uncle's words. The images had been culled down and edited to tell a tight visual story. The only missing piece was the publisher. Looking for a publisher is an endeavor that brings with it many opinions and pressures. Everyone knows a great one, everyone

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tips has a suggestion as to whom you should use. The mounting and implied pressure is, "You've come this far. Don't blow it by choosing the wrong publisher." I had the opportunity to work with a few big names and there was clearly pressure to accept—I mean, how could I turn down "So-AndSo"? But the trade-off was less creative freedom over the final product and subjecting what had been an intimate process to a large machine to "manufacture." I decided, instead, to stick to what had taken me through this entire dance in the dark thus far... finding the right dance partner. Enter Roberto Koch of Contrasto, a mid-size publishing house in Italy. He gave me incredible freedom and leeway to create the book I wanted to create. Going to Milano on press and working with his staff was a genuine pleasure and memory I'll never forget. These were the right people to work with to finish Uncle Charlie. The process has remained unapologetically familial and intimate, all the way through publication.

Photography for Online Dating Websites

By Janet Alexander Illustrations by Rachael Tucker

Putting your best face forward on the Internet means having a great profile picture, especially for online dating websites. Take a good profile picture knowing what makes a good profile picture and become virtually irresistible. WHAT TO PHOTOGRAPH

Marc Asnin: www.marcasnin.com / www.unclecharliebook.com - Emil Rivera: www.lariverola.net

So here I am now. Uncle Charlie is in the hands of the public. It's been nominated for many awards, received a lot of recognition, and I couldn't be more satisfied, both with the book itself as well as the journey entailed in its creation. So what do I do now? After going through this entire process,

•

Pictures of you in a place or setting that is relevant to who you are mean you’ll already be looking comfortable in your element.

•

An action shot of you doing your thing appeals to being natural and offers insight into who you are.

•

For woman, looking directly into the camera makes for a more effective headshot, while for men off-camera gazes garner more virtual attention

WHAT NOT TO PHOTOGRAPH

putting all the pieces together and successfully completing this "dance in the dark," I want to offer what I've learned to other photographers, to encourage and inspire them to realize their own artistic vision. Giorgio and I are going to be teaching a workshop, Producing a Photo Book: From Design to Publication, hosted by NYCFotoWorks in New York City in June. Over two days, we will break down the entire process from beginning to end, delving into each person's project, their end goal and how best to navigate the dance ahead of them. Creating a book is an inspiring journey, and one that allows artists to express their unique process and vision with each step. As my mother once said to me, "At least we danced a beautiful dance together."

•

Avoid studio or otherwise formal looking photos—i.e. no prom pics!

•

No “glam” shots. Ever.

•

Selfies. Unless you’re someone who has as many duck lips self-portraits as you do selfies, in which case... good luck.

HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH •

This may be counterintuitive, but the camera flash is not your friend. Harsh shadows have never been a good look on anyone, outside the pages of VICE magazine.

•

It should go without saying, but put yourself in focus. Cameras set to low f-stop numbers result in a shallow depth of field that feels more intimate and personal.

•

Top-down angle shots are flattering to the female face, accentuating the eyes, while sliming the jawline.

BIZ: PRO-PINION-“Mark Asnin on Book Publishing” Page 41

SPRING PICKS

// GEAR AND GADGETS

BOKEH MASTERS KIT By Chris Gampat - Photos by Greg Neumaier

Remember the shaped bokeh in the bus scene in the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World movie? It was done with the Bokehâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Masters Kit. Couple a fast lens (f1.8 or faster) with the attachment and all youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll need to do is swap out the disks to get the specific look that you want. This works magically with mirror-less cameras as well! $24.95 www.bokehmasterskit.com

F U J I F I L M I N S TA X M I N I 8 Point, snap, and print! That’s how simple Fujifilm’s new Instax Mini 8 cameras are to operate—no wonder they’re the life of the party! The lens extends out of the body to turn it on, and you’ll just need to set the exposure setting based on your environment. You can choose from lots of cool colors too. From $85 to $170. www.fujifilm.com

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Greg Neumaier: www.gregneumaier.com

Is it a lens or a mug? Show off your love of photography by getting your daily caffeine fix from a lens mug. The mugs look and feel like real camera lenses—and are one of the awesomest things you’ll drink out of on this side of the darkroom. Canon 70-200mm f2.8: $30 Canon 24-105mm F4: $24 Nikon Original: $30 Nikon Extra tall: $35 www.photojojo.com

LENS MUGS TECH: GEAR AND GADGETS-“Spring Picks” Page 45

Faux tilt-shift is for Instagrammers! Lensbabies are the real deal and have been used both for major advertising shoots and as simple fun accessories. Attach the nifty little shifter to your DSLR or mirror-less camera and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be able to tilt and shift the focus in nearly any direction. $399.95 www.lensbaby.com

L E N S B A BY C O M P O S E R P R O W I T H S W E E T 3 5 RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

LAST CHANCE TO ENTER S U B M I SS I O N S C LO S E M I D N I G HT MAY 1ST, 2013 http://resourcemagonline.com/edu2013contest/

When using the unassuming La Sardina camera, people might not even think that you’re some sort of professional. With a fixed 22mm f8 lens and 1/100th shutter speed, your only variable with this film camera will be the flash power output. Add some black and white film and you’ll be ready to capture the human condition. $61.99 www.lomography.com

LOMOGRAPHY LA SARDINA WITH FRITZ THE BLITZ RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

F I F T H

A N N I V E R S A R Y

E D I T I O N

MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY LOS ANGELES 2013

WIDE ANGLE:

EXPLORING NEW PHOTOGRAPHY FROM LOS ANGELES AND BEYOND

www.mopla.org

// HOW TO

WET PLATE COLLODION PHOTOGRAPHY WITH JOLENE LUPO Interview by Janet Alexander – Photo by Jolene Lupo and The Tenement Collodion Collective

WHEN SHOOTING WET PLATE COLLODION YOU WILL NEED TO COAT, SENSITIZE, EXPOSE AND DEVELOP THE PLATE WITHIN A MATTER OF ABOUT FIFTEEN MINUTES. IF YOU’RE SHOOTING IN THE FIELD, YOU WILL NEED A PORTABLE DARKROOM ON HAND. 1. Prepare your plate. This step only applies if you’re shooting onto glass. Clear glass will create a glass negative and black glass creates a positive image (ambrotype). The edges of the plate will need to be filed down, and the surface should be polished until it is pristine. You can also shoot onto pieces of tin that have been japanned black (ferrotype), or purchase pre-coated and pre-cut sheets of aluminum from a trophy supply shop. The plate can be held by one corner with two fingers, or held in your hand with three fingers.

2. Pour a puddle of salted collodion upon the center of the plate and gently rock your hand to guide the substance into all four corners. Once the plate has an even coating, pour the excess solution off one corner back into the bottle.

As the ether evaporates out from the collodion, it will become more viscous; after about 30 seconds of sitting on the plate it will create a rippled effect on the surface. It is now ready to be placed into a bath of silver nitrate.

4. After a 3 to 5 minutes immersion, the plate will become sensitized and must be removed from the bath under dark-light conditions. Clean off any excess collodion and silver that has accumulated on the back of the plate and place it in your film holder with the collodion side facing the lens.

5. The film holder can now be placed into the pre-focused camera and exposed. It is imperative that it remains wet (hence the name “wet plate”) so you have about 5 to 10 minutes to nail your exposure and get back to the darkroom. In sunny conditions, outdoor exposures can be instantaneous, while indoor exposures can take several minutes.

6. Back in the darkroom, remove the plate from the film holder and cover it with a ferrous sulfate developer. Watching closely, determine when the plate has developed fully and pour off the developer before the s hadow details become too apparent.

Jolene Lupo: www.Tenementstudio.com

7. Rinse thoroughly with water to stop development and remove excess chemicals. 8. Once washed, remove the plate from the darkroom to be fixed. It will visually remain a negative until placed in a fixing bath of either ammonium thiosulfate or potassium cyanide solution.

After a few minutes of fixing, thoroughly rinse the plate to remove any fixer. Residual stains on the surface of the plate can be carefully cleaned off with a wet cotton ball.

10. After the plate has dried, varnish it over a heat source. Most collodion photographers use a solution of grain alcohol, gum sandarac and lavender oil. This process is traditionally done over an open flame, although many contemporary collodion photographers prefer electronic sources (such as a hair dryer) to keep the evaporating grain alcohol from combustion. The resulting image is one of a kind and archival.

R CONFUSED? WATCH “PRINT IS NOT DEAD” EPISODE 1, PART 2 ON OUR EASY-TO-READ VIDEO PLATFORM, RESOURCETELEVISION.COM TECH: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 51

// CAMERA CORNER irst, it needs to be said I've decided to write this review, or rather field test, from the perspective of one photographer to another. There are plenty of nitty-gritty tech reviews and model comparisons available online and in print for the super technically inclined and I have listed a few that I've found helpful at the end of this article. That kind of detailed technical information will also be available in my forthcoming book, the Canon 6D Digital Field Guide. Here, I'll focus on my experiences shooting with the Canon 6D in a real-world shooting situation and discuss the new and upgraded features that I feel will have the most value for the majority of photographers. My hope is that the things that matter to me will matter to you. One of the first things I look for in a camera is and Photos aWords full frame sensorby with a large pixel count and Dr. Elliot McGucken frame rate. APS sized sensors don’t do it for me due to the effect the crop factor has on lens focal lengths and depth of field. With its brand new 20.2 megapixel CMOS sensor and adequate 4.5 fps frame rate, the Canon 6D delivers. It isn’t super fast, but for work that doesn’t require action-stopping speed, it’s perfectly acceptable. Sensors are kind of like film stocks and I’ve been hooked on the image quality and Canon CMOS look since I first shot with the Canon 5D. The 6D is no exception and produces gorgeous RAW files that look great in both Lightroom 4 and Capture One Pro 7. The 20.2 megapixel files have more than enough resolving power for all but the most demanding applications. The Canon 6D is the long awaited evolution of the 5D and slots nicely between the 5DMKII and the 5DMKIII, sharing many carryover (5DMKII) and trickle-down features from higher-end MKIII and 1DX models. With each product cycle, these cameras get less expensive and offer more bang for the buck. At just under $2,000, the Canon 6D is a pretty compelling piece of equipment, given its full frame sensor and robust feature set. If not used as your main camera, it would make a great second camera or backup.

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CANON 6D A REVIEW BY MICHAEL CORSENTINO Words and Photos by Michael Corsentino

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Michael Corsentino: www.corsentinophotography.com

The 6D is the smallest and lightest Canon DSLR ever available with a full frame sensor. It’s 6.9 ounces, almost half a pound lighter than a 5DMKIII. While a half a pound doesn’t seem like much, ounces add up on long shoots. The lighter weight was immediately evident, yet the build felt solid and the ergonomics were hand-in-glove. As much as I hate to admit it—coming from a life of heavy, tough as nails pro bodies—my hand and arm ache after an eight to ten hour day shooting. I can definitely see the 6D working well as a relief pitcher in those situations. The 6D’s silent shooting mode is also a welcome feature in many situations. During the shoot pictured here, I was using two off-camera 600EX-RT Speedlites and an ST-E3-RT transmitter to control them. Everything worked flawlessly, was a pleasure to use and gave me maximum flexibility with my off-camera Speedlites. Prior to the 6D, I would have had to spend an additional $1,400 (minimum) for a body that offered full compatibility with the new Speedlite system. The 6D definitely makes things a whole lot more affordable. Think about it—for the price of one 5DMKIII you can get a 6D, two Speedlites and an STE3-RT transmitter! One thing I do miss is having a flash exposure compensation button on the camera’s body to control FEC—on the 6D you have to dig into the camera’s menu system. Not a deal breaker, but worth mentioning. Another pleasant surprise was the responsiveness of the 6D’s AF system in low-light situations. The upgraded AF system was a tad slow but had no problem locking focus once the sun set on our shoot. The 6D has a host of other great new features that I didn’t get to

use during this shoot, but are definitely worth listing. The camera has built-in wireless sharing that social media users will love and GPS capabilities that nature photographers may find useful. Wireless printing and camera-to-camera file sharing are also in the mix, as well as improved low-light ISO performance and the world-class 1080 HD video we’ve all come to love and expect. I do wish there were two card slots one for a CF Card and one for SD card instead of a single SD slot (fortunately the 6D accepts even the newest Ultra High Speed Cards). But these are small quibbles. I do appreciate that the 6D shares the same battery as my 5DMKII & 5DMIII—thank you for that Canon! All in all, I found the Canon 6D a solid, well-performing camera that delivers beautiful RAW files at a very affordable price point. From one photographer to another, I can tell you that the 6D definitely has a place in my gear bag. Many thanks to the team at borrowlenses.com for making a Canon 6D available for this review. Additional resources: www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-6D-Digital-SLRCamera-Review.aspx www.kenrockwell.com/canon/6d.htm www.kenrockwell.com/canon/6d/vs-5d-mark-iii.htm

TECH: CAMERA CORNER-“Canon 6D” Page 55

//PEOPLE IN MOTION

SOUND IS HALF THE INTERVIEW WITH DAN BRICKER ON THE ART OF RECORDED SOUND By Matthew Fennell – Photo by James Worrell

Never fear, fledgling videographers. You can save yourself the pain and earache of hearing your production dubbed “amateur” by knowing just a few simple terms, renting the right type of gear and respecting the place of sound in filmmaking. We went to Brooklyn-based, professional production sound mixer Dan Bricker for help. HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE SOUND DEPARTMENT? It’s funny, actually. When I was in film school, I had taken a strong interest in cinematography, but I always dreaded the sound classes. What was the deal with this myriad of cables, buttons and switches? I barely made it through my first sound classes, but when my teacher asked if I wanted to grab a beer one day, I said, “Why not!” Over the course of a few too many, I really found myself in awe of my teacher’s passion for sound recording and for all of the intricate roles of the sound department. What I discovered that night is that sound is half of a film, and capturing it perfectly on set gives a certain inexplicable life to a film’s soul. Without it, you don’t have a movie. SO, WHO ARE ALL THESE SOUND PEOPLE ON SET? The sound department is a relatively small department in the film world. It consists of the department head (the sound mixer), who is responsible for monitoring the audio coming in from both the boom microphone and the wireless mics attached to the talent. He is also responsible for making sure the director, script supervisor, producers and whoever else, has a wireless headset so they can listen to the dialogue during a take. On top of that, he should be taking detailed sound reports and organizing the audio files for the postproduction house to process. We then have the boom operator, a job I consider to sometimes be harder than sound mixing. He’s the guy we always see in behind-the-scenes videos, holding a microphone attached to a heavy pole, which is extended way out over the entire scene. It’s an extremely physical job. The operator should also have a good grasp on what lines are being said, be able to read body language to know when an actor might ad lib or move in a different way from a previous take, and they have to be aware of every light on set so they don’t cast a shadow.

Finally, we have the sound utility. They act as a Jack-ofall-trades to the sound department. They help run all the necessary cables and headsets, and pick up any slack needed by the mixer. Occasionally, they will be used as a second or third boom operator. LET’S SAY IT’S JUST US SHOOTING WITH NO CREW. WHAT GEAR WILL GIVE US THE BEST RECORDING? There are so many brands, but for recorders and mixers, I always trust Sound Devices. They have never let me down, and they’re rugged when your gear takes a beating in the field. As for microphones, I’m a Sennheiser guy. Mixers can have lengthy debates about microphones, but it all comes down to taste and personal preference. I will trust my Sennheiser MKH 50, 60 and 70 directional mics any day. A solid sound package will run you about $30,000, but there are options if you are on a small budget. Pick up a Zoom H4n recorder, a decent shotgun mic, a boom pole, a few cheap wireless units and some good headphones, and you can have a starter sound package for under $5,000. WHAT ARE FIVE SOUND TERMS WE ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW? “Roll sound” – That lets you know when to press “Record.” “Sound speeds” – When you yell this, everyone on set knows to be quiet and that sound is recording “Boom’s in frame” – The mic has dropped into frame during a take and the boom operator needs to raise it or work out a different position. “Waiting on sound” – Something you never want to hear on set. It means that every other department is ready to start shooting except for sound. “ADR” – Automated Dialogue Replacement is the process of dubbing over the recordings in a studio setting. As a production mixer, you are trying to avoid as much of this as possible. ANY ADVICE FOR THOSE NEW TO THE WORLD OF SOUND? Sound can be very ominous to someone first starting out. You have to pay attention to levels, define mic placements, avoid casting shadows over the actor’s face, etc. I have one simple rule when recording: as you are listening during a take, ask yourself, “Does it sound like a movie?” If the answer is “Yes” then you are on the right track!

James Worrell: www.jamesworrell.net

You hear it time and time again: Photographer purchases DSLR. Photographer believes him or herself to now be a Videographer. Freshly minted “Videographer” produces arguably a beautiful piece of moving image. Except for one glaring problem—there it is, practically slapping you in cochlea—the video sounds awful.

SOUL

TECH: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 57

// GEARHEADS

HIGH-END LENSES By Chris Gampat - Photos by Greg Neumaier

As cameras improve, so too do lenses. These days, many photographers are looking for innovation and demand something different that will adapt to their needs. With technology moving at a faster pace than ever before, it is an extremely exciting time to be a lens maker. While many lenses stand out, there are some that go above and beyond in serving what a photographer needs. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a list of some of those gems.

O LY M P U S 75 M M F 1 . 8

Recently rated by DxO Mark as the sharpest Micro Four Thirds lens currently made, the Olympus 75mm f1.8 dons an all-metal exterior and a fast aperture. It will render a 150mm equivalent field of view on a Micro Four Thirds camera like the Olympus OMD EM-5 or the Panasonic GH3. Make no mistake thoughâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for the size, this is a heavy lens. Thankfully, it focuses extremely fast due to the MSC motors inside. The focal length and lens were designed for portrait photographers aiming for the 135mm field of view (though this lens is longer than that) and can arguably be considered the go-to headshot lens for the system. Due to the more telephoto field of view, not very much will be in focus if the lens is shot wide-open. The Olympus 75mm f1.8 retails for $899.00. www.olympus-global.com

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SIGMA 35MM F1.4

Sigma’s new 35mm f1.4 EX is the company’s first entry in their newly branded Art lenses, which are typically fast prime lenses. For years, there were no autofocus alternatives to Canon and Nikon’s lenses, but Sigma’s initial contender is quite the muscle-bound bruiser. It is sharp wide-open, contrasty, and keeps distortion and chromatic aberrations down to a barely visible level. Other characteristics include class-leading sharpness, an absolutely stunning exterior, and a fast aperture. It is highly recommended for the wedding photographer, event photographer, street photographer, documentary photographer, or photojournalist.

Greg Neumaier: www.gregneumaier.com

The Sigma 35mm f1.4 will set you back $899.00. www.SigmaPhoto.com

FUJIFILM 14MM F2.8 Fujifilmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new 14mm f2.8 is a big lens with serious image quality. It features a metal exterior, fully manual aperture ring, and a very special focusing ring. If users want to manually focus the lens, they simply need to snap the focusing ring back and a fully working depth of field scale is exposed. Using the scale, they can then zone focusâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a method used by many street photographers and old masters like Bresson to capture candid moments. This lens renders a 21mm field of view on the Fujifilm X series cameras thanks to the 1.5x crop of the APS-C sized sensors. The focal length is a preferred choice for many landscape, documentary and wedding photographers who want to use an X series camera as a backup body. The Fujifilm 14mm f2.8 costs $899.00, and will most likely be in the camera bag of nearly any serious X series camera user. www.fujifilm.com

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ZEISS 55MM F1.4 The Zeiss 55mm f1.4 marks the start of a new lineup from the famed company. The lens was designed to be used with high megapixel full frame Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras (like the D800E). Engineers were given total freedom to develop optics that are nearly devoid of chromatic aberration and vignetting. The company promises that wide-open performance at f1.4 will turn as sharp or sharper than many other lenses at f5.6. The lens also features some of Zeiss’ trademarks: a metal body, a smooth focusing ring, an accurate depth of field scale, and a sprinkle of micro-contrast to make your images pop even more. Based on sample images we’ve seen, the lens renders images with vibrant, jaw-dropping colors. The 55mm f1.4 is targeted toward the very high-end photographer, and will have a matching price tag. Expected release date: 2013. www.zeiss.com

TECH: GEAR HEADS-“Let there be (LED) Light” Page 61

// DECONSTRUCTED

FOG MACHINE By Tom Kray – Photo by Greg Neumaier

You were assigned to photograph that band you love, at their huge, sold-out show. They invite you to hang out with them backstage, you’re taking pictures, laughing and generally having a great time when the lead guitarist, who is an amateur Rube Goldberg machinist, crushes his hand with a mallet, attempting to make toast. Earlier, you had casually mentioned that you also played guitar and now the whole band is looking at you. Your camera is traded for a Gibson and you’re whisked on stage, the lead guitarist gives you the thumbs-up (or maybe that’s just how his hand is bandaged) as the sicklysweet smell of fog creeps up your nose. You can barely hear over the rumbling crowd. The drummer counts you in, the curtain pulls away, and as you play the first notes huge lights flash all around you and smoke rolls into the cheering crowd. But that’s where the fantasy ends because you can only play the first few bars. So, maybe you’re not really a photographer turned worldrenowned rock star, busting out the opening lick to Johnny B. Goode for thousands of screaming fans, and the blinding stage lights are actually just some of your old strobes you rigged up to pedals. That’s OK, because the rock star fog is one hundred percent real and you should probably turn it off before someone thinks you’ve set your building on fire and calls 911. Artificial smoke has been around a long time; so long in fact, the Internet has no idea when the first fog machine was built (or doesn’t care—officially making it the only unnecessary thing the Internet refuses to record for posterity). But what the Internet does know is it’s ridiculously cheap, there are any number of machines producing varying volumes and types of smoke and there are photographers out there doing some really cool stuff with it. For example, Gregory Crewdson, whose photo shoots look more like film sets, often employs smoke to enhance the surrealist elements of his images.

I N G R E D I E N TS Fog juice is made from just five ingredients, and only four of them are hard to pronounce. They are:

TRIETHYLENE GLYCOL

MONOPROPYLENE GLYCOL

DIPROPYLENE GLYCOL

Did you actually read all those or just skip over the big, science-y words to this sentence? Well, if you had you would have noticed that four of them end in Glycol and the last one is just fancy water. So, unless there are any chemists reading this, it’s really like two ingredients. Unlike the strains of glycol in anti-freeze, which Wikipedia describes as being both, “sweettasting” and fatal if ingested (it will literally kill you with how delicious it is), the variations found in fog juice are totally safe and no test has found any ill effects from breathing in the compound. Still, despite it being sold as juice, we don’t recommend drinking the stuff, no matter how thirsty you get.

“ L E G I T I M AT E U S E S ” Besides helping you live out your adolescent fantasies of being a rock star, there are tons of what spouses and mental health professionals call “legitimate and healthy” uses for the case of fog juice you’ve got stashed in the closet: CREATING AN ATMOSPHERE DURING A SHOOT.

BUTYLENE GLYCOL

SHOWING OFF DIFFERENT LIGHTING EFFECTS. USE IT AS YOUR SUBJECT (SMOKE INSIDE BUBBLES—YOU’RE WELCOME). TESTING AN AIR CONDITIONER’S FILTER.

HAVING A TOTALLY BITCHIN’ HAUNTED HOUSE. STARTING A NIGHTCLUB IN YOUR BASEMENT. PRETENDING YOU’RE A WIZARD. A CTUALLY BEING A ROCK STAR.

Greg Neumaier: www.gregneumaier.com

DEMINERALIZED WATER

FINDING EXHAUST LEAKS.

TECH: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 63

THE ROADMAP TO EVENT EDITING // ASK A GEEK

By Ross L. Hockrow - Images courtesy of CineStories

I am first and foremost a scriptwriter, followed by a director, and I also happen to be pretty handy on the editing board. I may be young compared to teachers at WPPI, PPA, and other conventions, but I’ve been around the education block. When I attend other educators’ programs on video editing, what I see is, ”Press this button, use this shortcut, here’s how I did this, here’s how I did that.” So I thought I’d give you a roadmap—instead of looking at a confusing clutter of timelines, I’m going to walk you through, step by step, on how I edit an event, every time. Let this be your GPS guide to success. I’m basing this article on a recent wedding film we did: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLUeB-PQwIg. The wedding was shot by two people, each with a DSLR camera, two lenses and a monopod, and one slider between the two of us. For audio we each had a road microphone attached at the top of our camera and a Zoom H4N running into the mixer during the wedding. Before I get into the editing process, let me say that going in, of course, we had a plan. You always need a plan—if you “spray and pray,” it will most likely not work in your favor. Our plan was to use the audio from the ceremony as the narrative. The couple had chosen five words (love, family, kindness, faith, and commitment) to be the underlying meaning of their day. A family member would stand in front of the congregation and speak about their chosen word. We would capture it all, and later cut the 45-minute ceremony down to a four-minute film. 432 gigs of footage later, we’re ready to edit. About the Author: Ross L. Hockrow is a Washington DC-based videographer. He shared the stage with Clay Blackmore and Jeff Medford on Photo Fusion Revolution, the first photography tour to teach filmmaking ever. He was also part of Get In Motion, another first-of-its-kind event where he and Jeff Medford visited 41 cities teaching filmmaking and storytelling. His 2013 fall tour, Out Of Order, will focus on storytelling and the entire post-production process.

STEP 1 (before Step 1, I used PluralEyes to line up all the audio from the ceremony) Below is the timeline of the full ceremony, lined up with all the zoom audio. For an event I think it’s important that you do this first to prevent having to search later. (Note: if the story is a narrative, like a short film or a commercial, it’s not as essential.) Searching for a three-second audio sound bite from your 45-minute ceremony can produce a few gray hairs, raise your blood pressure, and may cause seizures depending on the brightness of your screen. In other words... don’t do it.

I do this first so I can pick clips from the timeline (above), move clips around, and cut things up. I’m basically reliving what happened; I watch it all the way through and I pick out the parts that I think are relevant to my story. Now is not the time to be stingy—if you like it, keep it. There will be plenty of painful moments later when you cut things you love. Your goal here is to cut the 45-minute extravaganza into ten to twelve minutes of beautiful moments that have no connection to each other... yet!

STEP 2 Look at the timeline below—it’s starting to shrink just a bit. Testimonies from family members that I feel make the story strong are on the left, and on the right are the wedding vows. Those vows are almost fifteen-minutes long, so at some point they’ll have to be deleted; I keep them for now, both to remind myself that they need to be included somehow, and because I want them out of the way—right now, I am focused on the “five word concept” identified above. Step 2 is still all about cutting down what’s on the left to something manageable. This film will be four minutes when it’s done. To the couple, every word is important so I need to be sensitive to their needs, while remaining mindful of my ability to tell a story—above all, decisions should be based on what’s best for the film.

STEP 3 I continue to chop what’s on the right. Those five words are my focus right now. However, music is a big deal. How do I know what to pick? Let me say this about music and the selection process: DO NOT SETTLE. Music is emotion. Another thing about music to keep in mind: NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU LIKE. I listen to hard-core rap. I love Jay-Z and Young Jeezy, but I have yet to hear a song that would make a good wedding music from the Def Jam crew. You need to step out of your comfort zone.

The first decision is whether the music should have lyrics or not. Lyrics can help tell your story, but they can also take over and end up being the storyteller, which I would call is “the easy way out.” Lyrics tend to be more appropriate for something along the lines of a music video montage, as opposed to something with a lot of dialogue. My film will be dialogueheavy so I chose no lyrics since it’s quite difficult to have a narrative and singing at the same time. The only time you should really edit to music is when working on a music video; otherwise, the story should take precedent. Now, this doesn’t mean you should edit a film and then place music under it and call it a day. I’m not saying that at all. What I’m saying is that once you’ve created a good narrative base and picked music, you should then go back and formulate the edits to hit the peaks of the music. I’ll show you this step later.

STEP 4 STEP 5

I start to groove here. My narrative is shaping up quite nicely as I cut more lines, move things around, and tighten up my story more and more. The vows are still hanging out on the right, reminding me of their existence, while the music has been moved out of the way because it doesn’t really work with the narrative I’m starting to formulate.

// PHOTO DAD

SHOOTING VIDEO WITH YOUR KID By Adam Sherwin

USING YOUR KIDS’ “I-OBSESSION” TO HELP TEACH THEM THE BASICS ABOUT VIDEO.

On the left of the timeline is my narrative taking shape just a little more, without a single clip of B-roll there yet. This is literally the video that matches with the audio. Until I’m fully confident that the narrative is close to completion, I don’t place an ounce of B-roll. (This isn’t to say we don’t change things up until the last minute, but you want to get that base down to as “final” as possible.) Think of the narrative base like the structure of a building; once it’s in place, trying to change it will be difficult. B-rolls act as the windows, siding, and decor of the building, while the music is like its electricity. You can either be an electrician (i.e. pick music, cut to the beat, let the music dictate your pacing), or you can be an electrical engineer (create your story base and then pick music that best compliments the pace you have first envisioned—this way, you are truly creating the flow and pace without any musical influence). As you can see here, I’ve picked a new music track and placed it to the right; I’m not ready to put it in yet but I am confident that this will be the track that makes the final cut. Another thing to notice is a new cluster of B-roll clips: I browsed through all of my footage and identified relevant B-roll that fit my narrative. This doesn’t mean I’ll use it all, but I place it on the timeline because I’m starting to not only narrow down my final piece, but I’m also starting to narrow down the materials (the clips) that I’m going to be working with from here on out.

STEP 6

For those of us fortunate enough to have been blessed with the ability to create a decent image, we have the chance to share our kids’ obsession and their interest in technology. No, not by joining them in a round of Minecraft, but by showing them that an iPhone or iPad can be used more than just for playing video games. Enter, Photo-Video Dad—or Mom depending on who wears the proverbial photographic pants in your family. I’m putting it out to all you photo/video parents to go out and help your kids shoot a short video using your iPhone, iPad or whatever handheld device you prefer. This should be their idea while you can help by teaching them about storytelling through exposure, camera angle and editing. Let them explore, create and develop their ability to see the world in a different way. To make this even more interesting I’ve teamed up with Polaroid to giveaway a new Polaroid XS100 Extreme Edition Waterproof Sports Action Camera and Mounting Kit. The winning video we’ll be chosen by me and shared on the Resource Magazine site and the Polaroid blog. Submissions will be accepted until midnight May 31st 2013 and can be sent via a YouTube or Vimeo link to contests@resourcemagonline.com. By creating little photo and video projects that you and your kids can do together, we create a gateway to the quality time we want to spend with our kids—you know what they say: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! Come back next issue when we announce the winner and introduce another photo-video project for you and your kids. Polaroid XS100 Extreme Edition - HD 1080p, 16MP, Waterproof to 30 feet Valued at $159.99

I delete the old music, and drop the new one in under the narrative. Even though nothing is formulated just yet, I want to see if the feel of the music and story were a marriage. Ladies and gentleman, we now have two marriages taking place.

ST E P 7 This step is all about formulating the narrative I’ve created to the music. Again, let me point out that no B-roll has been added to the narrative yet. We are still creating the base—I want you to realize how much time I spend on this and how important it is.

ZOOMED IN

1. I JUST DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH RELEVANT NARRATIVE TO FIT. I need to identify the peaks in the music as I want them to match the crescendos in my film. If you’ve watched the video you know there are some funny parts and some deep parts. Storytelling is just like anything in life—too much of anything will hurt you. If you’re too funny, then the film won’t have that much emotion; if you’re consistently deep, the emotional bits lose their impact. The key is to have the perfect balance between laughter and heart-wrenching moments. When you get good at finding the balance, you’ll be able to exit a funny moment and seamlessly transition into a powerful one, and the viewer will follow right along. The more of a roller coaster ride your film is emotionally, the more impactful it will be to a viewer. A good example here is right after the B-roll of the New Orleans Saints: we go from a funny moment into one of the most emotional moments of the film. What do you notice? The music steps into overdrive. The piano picks up speed and transitions into a whole new level. I purposely arranged those two moments back to back in order to highlight the piano’s increased speed. This step is all about doing just that—finding the power moments in the film, and moving them to be in sync with powerful moments in the music. As you can see from the zoomed-in timeline, there are holes in the story. Literal holes where there is no footage. I left them there for a few reasons:

This shouldn’t be taken literally.) You have to understand that the order in which the film is shown at the end is nowhere near the order in which it happened—it’s OUT OF ORDER. I rearrange what words I have to portray a more emotional meaning, which means some things don’t fit in certain spots and must be cut.

2. I LEAVE HOLES FOR SILENCE AND B-ROLL. Silence can sometimes be golden. When I’ve created an emotional moment, I want to let that sink in so I leave the film silent for a few seconds. If you follow a very powerful moment with more narrative, the viewer’s brain has moved on to the new thought, leaving some emotion behind. It’s like in stand-up comedy: you must leave pauses in your act so the audience has time to laugh. You don’t want them laughing over your next joke, do you? The same idea holds true for something emotional like this—let them feel the moment before you move on.

3. IT

MAY BE A GOOD TIME TO CUT INTO CASUAL AMBIENT CONVERSATION. There’s a great deal of ambient audio in the film—you even hear music from the reception at times. This makes the film feel “alive.” It's important to value audio as much as the visual during the shoot so you have the option to cut into the ambient conversation.Moving on, you’ll also notice I have no ending—we’ll worry about that later. For the next few steps I’m not even thinking about an ending; I’m more focused on making what I have the best it can be. Endings are the easy part; it’s beginnings that we all struggle with.

// DIY

STEP 8

HOW TO MAKE

YOUR OWN DSLR

VIEWFINDER

Step 8 is about filling the holes in the narrative. As you can see I did just that: there was a gaping hole in the middle of the timeline, which I filled with one long clip (I’m a fan of one takes, but it wouldn’t fly in a film this short). Filling these holes is very similar to building the base of the narrative, and in fact it is part of building the base. Eventually I’ll drop a B-roll, or even a second camera angle on a lot of these clips, if possible.

By Toni Palumbo - Illustrations by Kelly Kaminski

WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Ruler, pencil or pen, black paint, paintbrush, glue gun, x-acto knife and scissors, hole punch, 1/4” thick braided black sewing elastic, 3.25% magnifying reading glasses, 8 1/2” x 11’” piece of corrugated plastic board or other material, 4” x 4” black foam board

Measure height and width of your LCD screen. Take your corrugated plastic and measure out a rectangular box in the center using the measurements from your LCD screen.

Next, draw four flaps coming out of the rectangle; make them so that they will fold in to make your viewfinder. Cut out the center rectangle, making sure not to detach one of the flaps.

Once it’s cut out, fold the sides up and hold the viewfinder to your LCD screen to see if your LCD screen can be fully seen. Paint it all black. Once paint is dry, glue it together.

Trace the smaller end of viewfinder on black foam board—this is where the lens will go. Pop out one of the lenses from the reading glasses.

Make an imprint using the lens in the black foam board and cut out a shape to fit the lens. Glue the lens onto the viewfinder.

Use a hole punch to punch a hole in the four bottom corners. Place the elastic through the holes and around the front of the camera to fasten the viewfinder.

STEP 9

This is where the narrative is really starting to take shape—there are less holes in the middle. We still have an ending to worry about, but I now have two clips that I believe will be part of a good ending; I’m just not sure exactly how to build to it yet. As my film starts to take shape, each time I browse for B-roll or review footage, I view clips in a different light. A clip’s meaning is all about the context in which it’s placed. For example, the clip of the couple cutting the wedding cake may not seem like much during Step 4, but at Step 9, I have a clearer understanding of what I’m creating, what everything means, and how to utilize clips that may have seemed useless earlier. If you compare the last two zoomed timelines, you can see that I’ve added a few B-roll clips to help keep the film more visually stimulating. This will keep happening on every step. I also keep taking pieces from the vows. Step after step, I keep the vows on the timeline to remind me to use them. While I wanted to use them for the narrative (it’s an easy way to add emotion), I just couldn’t make them fit. So, what to do with them? Turn them into B-roll! It may sound crazy that the most important part of the wedding now becomes B-roll, but the fact is vows are a double-edged sword: they are usually very important to the couple, but they make for a pretty anti-climactic image if you ask me. While the words are powerful, it’s really just a shot of someone’s talking. Even if the shot is cinematic, well lit, and looks good, we can only stare at it for so long before it becomes stale. What I chose to do instead is to include the key narratives on top of the key matching dialogue, which transform two mediocre moments into a single powerful one.

TECH: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 71

STEP 10

All the blue audio tracks on the bottom half of the timeline are for ambient audio. As I mentioned before, ambient audio is very important but I want you to actually see how often I use that technique. A tremendous amount of B-roll has also been added. What I had wasn’t enough so I spent time reviewing all the clips again. For an event, you should go through the footage at least three times. You can try and do it all at once by taking notes and identifying key clips, but your outlook on the clip’s meaning will certainly change. It’s not so much the clip itself but the context in which it’s used that matters. The most important part of this step is to create the beginning of the film. I always edit two beginnings. The first is from when I start editing to help me get in the flow. (Editing is a flow; if you don’t have a flow while doing it, your film will suffer from lack of rhythm. I always tell people to listen to hip-hop so they can learn flow, but we all have our ways.) The second beginning comes together later and is the “real” one. There will certainly be times you nail it on the first try, but you have a better sense of how to introduce your film once you’ve seen its middle. Don’t spend too much time trying to get the intro perfect the first time around; instead, get something on the timeline quickly and go from there. After your film has taken shape, you can go back. You’ll have a higher success rate that way, and believe it or not, it will save you time in the long run.

STEP 11 Now is time to finalize the ending. If you watched the film, you surely remember the shot of the New Orleans Saints: after the cake was cut and the audience started clapping, I faded the sound of the crowd cheering from the Saints’ video. Then I cut to the Saints’ celebrating to end funny. I knew my client wouldn’t be a fan of this but I had to take a shot. It really doesn’t matter that the ideas was vetoed—what matters is why I chose to do this in the first place: I wanted to show that the Saints were celebrating for the couple, and to bring in something that happened in the middle of the film and place it at the end. I thought it was perfect and funny, but no one agreed—you need to have tough skin in this business, and you can’t be attached to any one idea no matter how crafty you think it may be.

STEP 12 I am doing some clean up here. I have the film pretty much completed with a few minor (but they feel like major) tweaks still to be made. I am also leveling out all the audio to be perfect levels: - 6db for the dialogue (the main track). - 9db for the music. The music is already mixed perfectly but sometimes it can drown out the sound of the dialogue, so to be safe, drop the levels just a tad if you’re planning on having music and dialogue run simultaneously. - 12 for the ambient noises that are relevant, i.e. the voice of someone talking that is not the main source of audio or a prominent sound effect you’d like to draw attention to. The best example is the New Orleans Saints clip, which plays at -13db: you clearly hear the sound, but it doesn’t overpower the music or the dialogue. - 22db for street noise. It may seem really low, but it’s perfect. Street noise is one of those things that really bring a film to life, but you don’t want the viewer to pay attention to it. Let them hear it without realizing it. During this step I’m going through each clip making sure the sound matches the levels mentioned above. If one of the four sounds drops out at any given time, I’m adjusting the other three to be a little louder to make up for it. The audio tweaking stage is about making sounds come in and out seamlessly. When cutting video, I always say, “CUT IS KING.” But with audio, cutting will get you nowhere—you need to have fades, either gradual fades or power fades. In the audio crossfade folder you’ll find three fades. The Exponential Fade gradually fades the audio to silence, which is perfect when fading in or out of a clip. The Constant Gain and Constant Power do relatively the same thing—you’ll want to select one of these when crossfading two different audio clips.

STEP 12 CONT' They both fade the audio out but it never hits silence until the clip has ended. If you fade out a clip with either of these, it will sound as if the clip cuts off in the middle of the fade; it never lets the fade go silent. When fading between clips you never want the audio track to go silent as it may be perceived as a mistake.

STEP 13 I browse through the vows one last time to see if there’s anything I missed, and then I delete all the floating clips that were on the right. Now I have a clean timeline with only the edit.

Another tip for cleaning up is to condense tracks: as you can see, the bottom audio track now exists solely for that very last clip. There really is no need for an extra track on the timeline only to hold one audio clip. One thing you can do is to move the clip to another track, right click on any of the audio tracks to bring up this menu (above); click on “Delete Tracks” and another menu will appear (below). All you need to do is check the boxed labeled “empty video” and all the empty tracks will be deleted. It will not affect any track with a video or audio clip.

STEP 14 You want color to be the very last thing you do. Far too often, after you color correct your film, you’ll need to tweak something, so I recommend using non-destructive color, in-program color correction methods that allow you to continue making edits after the color is done. There are a few ways to do color correction with CS6. If you understand color and you’re in a rush, you can use the existing Adobe color correction tool in the program. A longer but more accurate process would be to use the new Adobe Speed Grade, which will give you more control over your clips’ look and feel. It’s one of the most powerful color tools out there, but it takes time and knowledge of the program. Most of all, like other advanced color correction tools, it’s destructive—once you send a project to Speed Grade, you can’t send it back to Premiere. If you’re not ready for something so advanced, or need a same-day edit, not to worry, there are a few solutions for you. Tiffen has a plug-in called DFX, which is a must for beginners and pretty valuable even for advanced colorists. It offers a cool feature that allows you to split-screen the color process to see the changes you’re making in real time. The program also has a wide variety of effects, such as adding in a reflector or gelling your lighting. As much as pre-sets can feel cookie-cutter, it’s certainly better than leaving a clip untouched. They can be a good starting point if you want to get more involved in color correction.

This is a good way to condense down the timeline and make it easier to v i e w t h e e n t i re project, especially when working on a small screen. It also makes color correction easier because you can readily see which clips are actually in use.

The best way to learn color is to do it. Eventually you’ll understand what’s happening in your image and you’ll be able to use any color correction program. This is my process every single time I edit an event. The more you do it, the faster you get. The faster you get, the more money you make, and so on and so forth. The narrative base concept I’ve created will help you get away from a blank timeline—there’s nothing worse than sitting down with 500 gigabytes of footage, a blank timeline, and no plan. You must have a plan before you start editing. The reason we aimlessly build a timeline first and not try to methodically build a film from scratch is because it’s easier to modify something that exists than to create something from nothing.

The Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG

The Fast, Wide, Prime, Redefine First announced at Photokina 2012, the Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM is the new champion in the fast, wide, prime class. This full-frame lens raises the bar for wide-open performanceâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;offering razor sharp details on a razor-thin focal plane at maximum aperture, with gorgeous background blur. The first lens of the Art line in the Sigma Global Vision, this lens is beautifully crafted inside and out with exceptional attention to detail. The hand feel is rocksolid, from the redesigned AF/MF switch to the wide full-time Manual Focus ring and the newly designed rubberized lens hood. Inside, the Hypersonic Motor is fast and extremely quiet, thanks to an enhanced algorithm. And the brass lens mount, FLD and SLD lens elements, Super Multi-layer Coating to reduce flare

A look inside the Aizu Factory.

G HSM

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and ghosting, and the use of Thermally Stable Composite all add up to a lens that is focused first and foremost on quality. It is designed specifically to meet the demands of today’s super high resolution cameras– and, of course, the photographers who use these and expect the utmost quality in their images. The floating inner focus system provides extremely high optical performance, even when very close focused. With a minimum focus distance of just 11.8 inches at 1:5.2 magnification, this lens excels at getting up close and personal with the subject! Nine rounded diaphragm blades make for beautiful background blur–bokeh–at all apertures, because when it comes to the most breathtaking and expressive of photographs, oftentimes what’s not in focus is just as important as what is. Truly, this lens is designed to complement the vision of the most creative and demanding photographers. And each and every Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM manufactured is individually tested on the A1 MTF device at Sigma’s factory in Aizu, Japan for the utmost in quality control–ensuring every lens made is of the same soon-to-be-legendary sharpness that makes this lens so extraordinary. The Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM truly redefines its category. For photographers who demand the ultimate in image quality in a wide, fast, prime, it has to be Sigma.

TANK MAN 1989, TIANANMEN SQUARE, BEIJING, CHINA By Jeff Widener - Words by Charlie Fish For seven weeks in the spring of 1989, student protesters occupied Tiananmen Square, located in the heart of Beijing. Their cries for more freedoms and government reform soon gained widespread traction, spurring sympathizers and support across more than 400 cities in theÂ country.

ÂŠ Jeff Widener Associated Press

However, a crackdown soon ensued. Party members who were in alignment with the cause were ousted. Martial law was declared, and more than 300,000 troops were deployed in Beijing. Between June 3rd and 4th, armed troops opened fire on unarmed civilians and protesters in the Square, resulting in what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. In the aftermath of the riots, China instituted an immediate silencing of all discussion surrounding the events. Foreign journalists were kicked out of the country, and all forms of discussion or remembrance of the protests within China have been banned ever since. The death toll remains unofficial, with numbers ranging wildly from the hundreds to the thousands.

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

IMAGE: HISTORY-“Tank Man” Page 77

jeff widener: www.jeffwidener.com

On June 5th, 1989, one day after the violence, as a column of 35ton battle tanks barreled along Chang’an Avenue, a lone man carrying two shopping bags stood on the avenue, determined to halt the procession with nonviolence. From the nearby Beijing Hotel, Associated Press photographer Jeff Widener snapped but a handful of images from his sixth-floor vantage point. It was a blur of activity, but a resulting image has gone on to symbolize one of the most significant and widely recognized moments in recent history. Resource interviewed Jeff, whose eloquent retelling of the events surrounding that fateful day is candid, gripping, and harrowing. To this day, no one knows what became of the “Tank Man,” and many Chinese have never seen any of the images or videotapes from that day.

Part One: The Making of a Photojournalist EARLY INFLUENCES. I had a rather unconventional childhood. My father, Don Widener, was a city newspaper editor in Southern California and later an award-winning producer at KNBC in Burbank, CA... One day my father brought a LIFE magazine photographer friend, Leigh Wiener, to the house to make some family portraits. Leigh opened a battered leather bag and my eyes popped open. Inside was a toy store full of camera bodies, lenses, filters, light meters, motor drives and boxes of yellow Kodak film. I never forgot that sight, and the early seeds of photography formed.

FINDING PHOTOJOURNALISM. While attending high school, a photo instructor named Harry Ibach spotted me wandering the hallways with a beat-up Topcon Auto 100 camera. Harry offered to enroll me in his photography class and I accepted. This was my first taste of darkroom basics with developing and printing, but after time I realized something was missing. The class was mostly fine art while I was more interested in photographing people. During the 1972 presidential campaign, I rode my bicycle to a campaign rally held at a shopping mall. I sneaked past the press ropes and, after getting kicked out multiple times, a sympathetic news photographer hid me from the Secret Service and I photographed Senators George McGovern and Ted Kennedy. The series of images produced my first photography award in the 1972 Los Angeles Photo Center competition. Appropriately, it was in the photojournalism category. One day, Ibach showed the class the work of Czech photographer Josef Koudelka. It was a revelation—this was the direction I wanted to go, and it would have a profound impact on my work to this day. For me, his work captured the human condition more than anyone I had seen.

WHAT IT TAKES. I realized early on that I would have to earn my way in the world. My passion for photography was all consuming and I had to earn enough money to buy camera equipment. At age fifteen I managed an illegal night-shift job at a Jack In The Box restaurant. The hours were long; I often fell asleep in class. I hated the job, but flipping burgers brought in a new lens every two weeks. While other teens were making out in the back of their Volkswagens, I was riding around on a Schwinn bicycle with a 500mm lens over my shoulder. To be a successful photojournalist, there can be no doubt—especially these days. It takes an incredible amount of commitment and luck to make it.

IMAGE: HISTORY-“Tank Man” Page 79

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

IMAGE: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 81

RESOURCEMAGONLINE.com

SEEING “TANK MAN” AMONG THE GREATS. The photo of a lone man stopping a column of tanks during the 1989 Tiananmen uprising has become my signature image. But at the time, I was suffering from a severe case of the flu and a massive concussion, and really did not think much of the image. Though the photo grew in stature through the years, I became a bit ambivalent. Backtracking to 1971, while thumbing through the pages of a Time–Life photography book, a strange sensation befell me. Something told me that maybe, just maybe, I would some day have a great image like the ones in that book. In 2005, I was on the Internet and spied an AOL link headlined “The 10 Most Memorable Photos of All Time.” As I scanned the link, there was Nick Ut’s Vietnam napalm girl, Eddie Adams’ Saigon photo, the Kent State shootings, the Hindenburg crash from the 1930s, and even Buzz Aldrin standing on the moon. Then a familiar photograph appeared of a lone man standing in front of a column of tanks. A grin overcame me, and I think at that moment I finally realized I had something special... an iconic image.

ON EXPERIENCING GREAT MOMENTS.

“To be a successful photojournalist, there can be no doubt—especially these days. It takes an incredible amount of commitment and luck to make it.”

Sometimes I feel like one of these interplanetary space probes that shoot away at the solar system but take years to transmit all the data. The period leading up through the 1990s was a blur of nonstop airline flights and long queues at customs. Major world events became commonplace; nothing was out of the ordinary but, now looking back, I would have to say that some of the more memorable moments were: hitting seven Gs while flying inverted in an F-16 fighter jet. Asking astronaut Buzz Aldrin during a private breakfast what it was like taking off from the surface of

IMAGE: HISTORY-“Tank Man” Page 83

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“I thought that the man in front of the tanks was going to screw up my composition.” the moon. Narrowly escaping a kidnapping by the Khmer Rouge during UN sponsored elections in Cambodia. The blackness of night in Hanoi as a cyclo peddled me to dinner. The multiple street demonstrations. The sheer awe of the Kobe earthquake in Japan, and the ash-buried Ford dealership in the Philippines following the Mount Pinatubo eruption. The bar nights with colleagues in Phnom Penh as gunfire crackled in the distance. Helping Dennis [Thatcher] with his point-and-shoot at the request of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a private boat trip on the Chao Phraya River in Thailand. Getting in a scuffle with a French photographer as Princess Diana giggled. Then there was the Pope arriving in the jungles of Papua New Guinea in his white jeep, arms outreached as natives beat drums and sang in Pidgin. I got choked up during the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympics when Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame. Standing on the South Pole while covering the National Science Foundation… This is only a small sample of what I have seen. Luck has played a major role in much of it.

Part TWO: THAT DAY GETTING PAST CUSTOMS AND INTO CHINA. As the Southeast Asia Picture Editor based in Bangkok, it was my job to cover stories in the region. After being denied entry into China, I decided to fly to Hong Kong. I told the U.S. Embassy that I had lost my passport and they issued me a new one without previous Chinese immigration stamps. I then went to a small travel agency who organized a tourist visa for me. New York headquarters requested I carry in supplies and equipment, which concerned me—tourists don’t normally carry 600mm lenses and picture transmitters around in their luggage. Just as I was about to reach the customs official in Beijing Airport, a loud commotion rang out at the end of the counters. An old lady with a live chicken was arguing and yelling, so I slipped my baggage cart past the counter, through the sliding doors and out to a line of waiting taxis.

THE MOUNTING TENSION. For a week my routine was to arrive at the Tiananmen Square at sunrise and document the pro-democracy supporters. I recall how organized they were and sensed their excitement and hope. This would soon change. On the late evening of June 3rd, 1989, an AP reporter and I peddled our bicycles to the Square, and I told him that I had a bad feeling that night. This was confirmed when a toothless old man later walked over to me, chattering something, and opened a heavy dark jacket. Inside was a large blood-soaked hatchet. He looked like the proud owner of a recently captured trophy fish. The fate of the victim was uncertain but unpromising. Minutes later a burning armored car came down the Chang Ahn Boulevard near the Great Hall of the People. Protesters followed and jammed steel barricades into the treads. My camera flash was low on power, and that situation became one of the most frustrating moments in my career. CONTINUE READING “PART 2: THAT DAY” ON PAGE 188

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FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER LUCAS ZAREBINSKI Interview by Aimee Baldridge — Photos by Lucas Zarebinski

There’s a kind of photographer in this world who will make you want to trade your lunchbox sandwich away, sharpen your knives, and book a reservation at Per Se: the food photographer. We’ve all been titillated by this tempter’s stock in trade—glistening sauces, toothsome fruits, crickets encased in glossy lollipop . . . wait, what? Today’s most cutting-edge young culinary shooters are showing us a new angle on tastiness. So we asked one of them what it takes to be in the business of putting deliciousness on the page these days. Polishborn photographer Lucas Zarebinski talked to us about how he got into the business and what helps innovative shooters do their best work in this competitive field, and gave us some insight into what young photographers coming from abroad will find in American work culture. WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND IN PHOTOGRAPHY, AND WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER SCHOOL? Just community college. I didn’t go to art school because it was a little expensive, and I didn’t want to have that debt. Community college was just enough to start assisting other photographers. School will teach you only so much. After that, it’s really about what you have to offer. As soon as I got my degree, I went to California and started assisting. I did that for four or five years, and then moved on to become a digital tech. I had a job at a food studio in Los Angeles and worked there pretty much full time for about three years. I learned about food photography clients and stylists. Then the studio went out of business, and I decided that after five years of being in L.A. it was time to go somewhere else, so I moved to New York. DOES WHERE YOU’RE BASED MATTER IN FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY, OR CAN YOU DO IT ANYWHERE? It really depends on whom you want to work for and what kind of people inspire you. All of the photographers that I admired were in New York, as were the food stylists that I liked, who were doing edgy, innovative things. Basically, there wasn’t amazing crew in L.A.—or maybe I just didn’t find them. I don’t think I’d be able to work as much in California as I can work here. There are jobs

in L.A. to shoot food, but not the kind of jobs that I was after or the kind of photography that I was after. It was not as edgy or innovative. It didn’t push the boundaries as much. You have to know what kind of work you want to do and look around and see where you can get hired for it, where people do it, and then move to that area. SO BEING A ROU N D COL L E AGUES TO COLLABORATE WITH IS A KEY THING FOR YOU? You won’t get a good picture unless you have a good team. It’s about teamwork. If you have a good stylist, a good concept, good lighting, good props, it all comes together. If you’re looking to do certain things and you don’t have people to help you make your vision even better, you won’t get those photos, even if you’re capable of doing it. You need to have a good team to help you achieve it. WHAT KINDS OF CLIENTS ARE YOU WORKING WITH THESE DAYS? Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Details, Ladies’ Home Journal, The New York Times. There’s some advertising, but it’s mostly editorial. CAN YOU MAKE A LIVING SHOOTING FOOD FOR MAINLY EDITORIAL CLIENTS? I don’t just shoot food. I shoot jewelry, still life, product. I do a lot of catalog work. WHAT KIND OF FOOD IS HARDEST TO MAKE LOOK GOOD? Polish food. There’s no color and it’s pretty bland-looking. It tastes amazing, but it’s difficult to make it look interesting and tasty. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOOD TO SHOOT? I like shooting sweets, like cakes and donuts. I like to shoot liquid a lot now too. I like the ability to freeze it in time. You don’t see frozen liquid every day; you’re not used to it, so it’s sort of magical. HAVE YOU EVER PHOTOGRAPHED ANY REALLY UNUSUAL FOODS? Maggots. They were alive. It was for a fishing story in a hunting magazine. They needed a picture of maggots on a piece of ice. Can you call that food?

I GUESS IT’S FOOD FOR FISH. WHAT ABOUT FOR HUMANS? There are the lollipops with bugs in them. They eat them in South and Central America. HAVE THERE BEEN THINGS ABOUT AMERICAN WORK CULTURE THAT HAVE SURPRISED YOU? The United States is a country where there are no limits. Whatever you want to do, if you really want to do it, you are able do it. There’s no segregation because of race or caste or the place where you were born. A lot of people from other countries were limited to certain things in the places they came from. When you come here, you realize that you can do whatever you like. After a while you also realize that everybody is overworked. People don’t really have time or even want to have time to enjoy what they work for. They’re so busy thinking about working that they forget to enjoy themselves. They put themselves in so much credit card debt that they can’t even think about enjoying anything. They just have to work hard. People from other countries, like in Europe, work a certain amount of time and then enjoy the rest of it. So here, you can be whatever you’d like, but you have to really be careful so you don’t get into that mode where you work too much, especially in New York. WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT WHAT YOU DO? The freedom, and being my own boss. Creating images and making something out of nothing, making my vision tangible—that’s a very rewarding feeling. If people see it and appreciate it and get excited about it and hire you to do it, then that’s really satisfying. WHAT DO PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW IF THEY WANT TO GET INTO FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY? First of all, I would tell them not to do it. It’s a very difficult business to be in. You never know what’s going to happen. One year might be good and another might be bad, so you have to be ready for that. You could easily make a living doing something else. But I also believe that if you tell someone they shouldn’t do something, they should tell you,

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“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m going to do it anyway.” That’s the kind of attitude you need if you want to be successful, because it’s very difficult, and it takes time, and you need to be strong. It takes a long time to be able to make a decent living out of it. In terms of what people should know, any aspiring photographer needs to find himself through the photos and show himself through his work. It’s about really digging deep and bringing whatever you have in you to your pictures. And hopefully it will be something amazing that, combined with business skills and a type-A personality, can lead to an original style that people will be willing to pay you money for. Before the Internet, people didn’t see as much. Now they’re used to seeing so many different things that it’s extremely difficult to come up with something new and original so that you have a niche. That said, it’s not impossible. Maybe you need different tools, a different vision, a different approach. That’s true in food, product, or any type of photography. Find what’s original in you, and show it through your work. If you don’t know how to do it, then take more pictures. DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF WISDOM FOR ASPIRING FOOD PHOTOGRAPHERS?

The “Breaking In” series asks successful young professionals in photo-related fields about what it took to get into their line of work, what it’s like to make a living doing what they do, and how they made the transition from student days to working life. You can find more “Breaking In” articles and a wealth of other resources for photography students, educators, and emerging pros at MACOn-Campus.com.

Luca Zarbinski: www.lucaszarebinski.com

Make it look tasty.

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Resource is teaming up with Phase One and DF Studio for a monthly contest that gives readers the chance to experience some of the most cutting-edge gear on the market. Upload your shots to Resource Online to be entered to win a shot at all of the following: • A complete Phase One Medium Format Camera System to use for a month to experience the professional favorite first-hand • A free copy of Capture One Pro 7, the ultimate RAW conversion software • 1-year of DF Studio, the latest in cloud-based management and storage • A handmade 24x36 digital print of your best image captured with the Phase One IQ system courtesy of Gotham Imaging NYC It gets better: The work you create with the Phase One Camera System will be featured on Resourcemagonline.com, a gallery show featuring all 12 winners and be considered for a Phase One or DF Studio ad campaign. We’ll choose one winner per month for a year — that’s 12 chances to win! For more information and to upload submissions, check out the contest page at:

resourcemagonline.com/p1-df-contest To get started enter our contest link in your browser or scan the QR code. You’ll be invited to join our VIP contest list and shortly after receive a link to submit your photos. Submit up to 5 photos per week. Each month the editors of Resource Magazine will chose a winner to receive this incredible prize package and feature your work on our website for everyone to see. For a full list of contest rules and submission guidelines please visit: resourcemagonline.com/p1-df-contest-rules

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354 ABOUT THE ARTIST : 354 is a Belgian’s photographer’s collective based in Brussels with Kevin Laloux and Maxime Delvaux. 354 mainly works in two sectors, architecture photography and advertising. The collective not only realizes comissioned work but also personal work with recurring themes such architecture, l a n d s ca p e t ra n s fo r m a t i o n , a n d powerful history in some places. We also worked together with architects for the Luxembourg pavillion at the Venise Architecture Biennale. « Box » is a photography project using cardboard boxes and doll house furnitures to recreate cinematic scenes which allow the viewers to create their own story.

354: www.354.be

WHY I LIKE IT, BY ALEXANDRA NIKI, EDITOR IN CHIEF: While free-lancing as a prop stylist, I had mainly worked on advertising jobs, so rather than seeing clever, hyper-real images as a type of photography that I personally really liked, I tended to judge them more on their commercial merit. Of course, years at Resource Magazine have expanded my view of photography beyond what I knew through work or personal interest. Something about this Box series gripped me. Naturally, the props stylist in me appreciated how technically well-executed the images were, but even beyond that, conceptually, I love how the series smashes the imaginary world of a child’s cardboard fort together with the harsh realities of adulthood. The project highlights lifelong growing pains through a series of finely crafted and deeply twisted worlds.

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“I LOVE HOW THE SERIES SMASHES T H E I M AG I N A R Y W O R L D O F A CHILD’S C ARDBOARD FORT TOGE THER W ITH THE HARSH REALITIES OF ADULTHOOD.” ALEXANDRA NIKI, EDITOR IN CHIEF

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PLAYING WITH TIME THE IDEA OF QUANTUM BLINK

By Katharina Gadow – Photo by Isabel Martinez

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE IDEA FOR QUANTUM BLINK? It stemmed from the following line of thought: it has been long theorized, by philosophers and scientists alike, that the Flow of Time is an illusion, that Time is but a sequence of nows which we continually connect like links in a chain. One day, I found myself reading about a neurophysiologist who in the 1980s discovered that our brain activity oscillates at an average rate of 40 hertz per second, and how—according to quantum mechanics—this translates into forty conscious moments per second. This piece of information led me to wonder about what things might look like if that hiccup, that blink, that ubiquitous flicker was made visible. I began to think about those fissures, tried to imagine them, and pondered over what could possibly reside in the gaps between instants of consciousness. T E C H N I C A L LY, H O W D I D Y O U C R E AT E THESE IMAGES? I work with film; the slicing is analog and is the result of in-camera masks. There was a lot of experimentation with countless materials and plenty of trial and error before I could successfully achieve the results I was after. The negative itself has the stripes, hence the irregularity on the edges and slight overlap which becomes more apparent once the image is printed larger. When seen in person, the images appear to shift and change depending on the distance and the angle from which you look at them—an illusion of volume may become apparent, while other times it may seem as though there are three images at play.

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WHERE DID YOU TAKE THESE PHOTOS? I shot some in Canada, others in France—location is rather irrelevant though. Ideas and compositions were preconceived and/or staged. As you work, each step informs the next; you think about each image, draw sketches, plan it out, and make it happen. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THIS SERIES? In this series I attempt to articulate something in between the freezing of time—that so often characterizes photography—and its constant passing. I allude to temporalities that are fluid, hypothetical, and imprecise. The photographs in this series are composed of two exposures taken instants apart. The striped pattern allows me to bring two images together, while at the same time keep them somewhat separate; they are mixed but not fused onto one another. Each photograph holds a brief sense of continuity, almost like an animation, slightly cinematographic. Though they provide a notion of movement and progression, you cannot tell which of the two starts it and which one ends it. MANY OF YOUR IMAGES ARE DISTORTED IN SOME WAY; WHY IS THAT? Perception is a recurring theme within my practice, and has become a foundation for me to explore ideas that reflect on notions of time, space, concurrence and duration. As an artist, I am interested in the aspects of experience where the real, the known, and the imagined collide. Spatiotemporal relations are predominant subjects, and I often employ non-linear narratives, super-positions and juxtapositions in the creation of my images. For this reason, experimentation and process are at the forefront of much of my work, at times resulting in ambiguous narratives and hybrid exercises—from the gestation of the idea, to the research, and to the making of the piece itself, though not always in that order. ANY NEW SERIES YOU ARE WORKING ON? I am currently working on a body of work that encompasses many subdivisions: making objects that are then photographed: distorted photographs, there may even be a video component to it.

Isabel Martinez: www.immartinez.com

While Isabel Martinez says that any country is great for photography, Canada—Toronto to be more specific—is where she now lives. The incredibly vibrant art scene there, coupled with her desire to pursue a graduate degree in Fine Arts at the University of Guelph, spurred a move from her native Chile in 2001. Although she admits missing her friends and family, her involvement in the Toronto art scene continues to validate and reinforce her decision to move north. Since her shift in countries, she has been focusing her work on the concept of time. Her newest series, Quantum Blink, showcases her rare talent.

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PHOTOGRAPHERS OF THE WEEK By Janet Alexander â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Photos courtesy of the artists Everyday we choose and present on our Facebook page a Photographer of the Day, who is then responsible for garnering as many Likes as they can to become the Photographer of the Week and get a write up on our website. A week later the fandom ends, and with it so too does the Internet fame. We thought it might be nice to revive the titleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s glory for three photographers from this past quarter beyond our virtual wall and into the pages of Resource.

RICK WENNER JANUARY 3RD

www.rickwenner.com

Born, raised and still living on Long Island, NY, Rick Wenner has never strayed far from familiarity. He spent ten years working as the Art Director of his family’s bread manufacturing company before he eventually “found photography” through shooting material for his design work. Shooting right after working nine to five in the office, or on the weekends, putting in as much time as he could to develop his photography, Wenner became bored shooting by himself and began seeking out portrait subjects. “Those first photos absolutely sucked, but I loved the interaction and challenges of shooting a portrait. So I dove in and tried to teach myself as much as I could.” Since then, it’s become the focus of his image making and earned him the coveted Photographer of the Week title. Rick warns, “A career in portraiture is a career of problem solving,” and ultimately, advises, “Get off your ass and shoot.”

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BARNABY KENT DECEMBER 9TH

www.barnabykent.com

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Growing up in a small Suffolk, England, countryside village, Barnaby James Constant Kent–yes, his real name–grew up in a, “very expressive and artistic house,” he says. Barnaby was influenced early on by his father, a photography hobbyist. “I just picked up Dad’s old camera, took several photographs and decided that’s what I wanted to do.” He is currently studying at the University of Brighton to earn a B.A. in Photography and explains, “I guess you could say that at the moment I photograph ethereal, yet real moments.” Often, this comes in the form of double-exposure images, which Barnaby admits he came to accidentally. “I had a dodgy Praktica camera; I didn’t treat it well and it leaked light and didn’t roll on film very well, but every now and then it would produce a couple of really beautiful accidental double exposures. I started to consciously make them after then.” For Barnaby, no time of year is more fitting for his photographic approach and style than summer. He describes, “My favorite thing to photograph is over the summer when you just keep a camera in your back pocket and photograph life.”

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SALLY SARGOOD DECEMBER 3RD

www.whereissally.com

Australian born and based travel photographer, Sally Sargood may have the most original backstory we’ve ever heard. Sally was twelve years old when she witnessed her idol Princess Diana make an inaugural landing into her local airport. She remembers turning to her mother declaring, ”I want to be a photographer,” simply and honestly rationalizing, “because they are the one’s who get closest to Princess Diana.” Sally accumulated years of varied experience working in a wedding portrait studio, a print lab, and even sales and marketing, before her first international vacation in 2001 to New York City finally marked her decisive turn to photography. Shooting from the World Trade Center just a week before 9/11, Sally realized her photographs went beyond a personal album. In addition to her Canon 5D Mark II, Sally often shoots with her iPhone and openly defends her method. “The iPhone is so discrete that I find photographs are more true to life.” Sally now works as a photography business consultant and travel photographer. Based on her experience, she thinks, “The most common challenges for photographers are confidence and persistence. Those who succeed stick with it, make changes, adapt and move forward.”

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EDU 2013 A CHAT WITH THE JUDGES By Janet Alexander – Photos courtesy of the artist

Alison Zavos is a curator and the Publisher/Managing Editor of the photography blog, Feature Shoot, which showcases work from both up-and-coming and established photographers. Since launching in 2008, the site has accumulated an archive of over 2,000+ international photographers and won LIFE.com’s 2011 Photo Blog Awards as “The Web’s 20 most compelling, most consistently insightful and surprising photography blogs.” Zavos is also an active member of the photography community at-large, reviewing portfolios for organizations such as ASMP, APA and The Art Directors Club, and speaking on various panels discussions. She has curated numerous shows; a recent one, “Come Together” was at FotoWeekDC in November of 2012, and “Anew: Seeing Beauty in Everyday Objects” was shown at the United Photo Industries gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Her track record of service and commitment to photography education make Zavos a fitting addition to our panel of judges.

ALISON ZAVOS FEATURE SHOOT

CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU SEE PHOTOGRAPHY GOING, EITHER STYLISTICALLY OR TECHNICALLY (OR BOTH)? The Instagram craze seems to be dying down a bit, but I would say that’s been the biggest shift stylistically that I’ve seen lately. I’d like to see more photographers experimenting with different cameras and creating unique styles and effects so that not everything looks the same. But this is just what I’d like to see, not really what’s happening. WHAT DO YOU THINK SCHOOLS SHOULD BE TEACHING TO PHOTO STUDENTS? HOW SHOULD THEY PREPARE THEM FOR THIS COMPETITIVE FIELD? AND WHERE DO YOU SEE THE SCHOOLS LACKING AND/OR EXCELLING? Critiques are important, as are editing, marketing/social media and writing (with emphasis on how to talk about yourself and your work without sounding like a pretentious jackass). However, I don’t think schools can totally prepare students for entering the editorial/commercial photography field. I think that is done by experiences outside

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In 2006, Andy Adams founded FlakPhoto.com, an online art space that celebrates the culture of image-making by promoting the discovery of artists from around the world. Along with his online presence, he has also master-minded “The Future of Photobooks,” a cross-blog conversation about the impact of Internet culture on photographic practice, and “100 Portraits — 100 Photographers,” a digital exhibition of portraiture that has shown in galleries and festivals in the U.S. and abroad. He has recently teamed up with the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design to produce “Looking at the Land — 21st Century American Views,” a webbased survey exploring the evolving landscape photo tradition. Adams’ enthusiasm and goodwill for all things photo-related and his support of emerging, or otherwise unseen, artists made him an ideal choice as a guest judge for our student-based contest.

ANDY ADAMS THE FLAK PHOTO NETWORK

CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU SEE PHOTOGRAPHY GOING, EITHER ST YLISTICALLY OR TECHNICALLY (OR BOTH)? the classroom—mainly assisting working photographers on shoots and/or in their studios and making connections in the photo world. Schools are great for helping students fine tune their portfolio and getting the work where it needs to be, but if you are unwilling to hustle upon graduation—online and offline—then you’re going to be lost. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN JUDGING OR LOOKING AT IMAGES? Apart from the basics (lighting, composition and so on), I like images that tell a story and I like to see original ideas and subject matter. WHAT IS A WINNING IMAGE IN YOUR MIND? Magical and inspiring. Something that I’ve not seen done before.

I’m fascinated with the rise in smartphone imagemaking and with how photo-sharing apps have changed the way we see the world (and the subjects we place before the lens). The creative spontaneity these apps lend to 21st century picture-making is important, and even more significant is the way we share those personal visions with the world. Digital images aren’t fixed objects—they’re fluid points of conversation with enormous opportunity for audience participation. That potential for human connection may be one the most significant markers of this moment in the photographic history.

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JAMES AMBLER EX-PAPARAZZO By Liana Rivas – Photo by James Ambler

As the demand for celebrity pictures in the U.S. grew, Ambler was reassigned to New York to work for Splash News and Picture Agency, a paparazzi agency. What newspapers and magazines were looking for, he explains, were photographers who knew covert methods and got soughtafter candid shots. Paparazzi would often work in pairs, using a spotter to keep a close eye on the subject, while they hid somewhere, ready to take the shot. Having to shoot from clandestine locations was only half the fun, Ambler says, who relished in the cat-and-mouse game he often found himself in with bodyguards. “It’s the best feeling in the world when you get pictures of a celebrity and they have absolutely no idea you are there. You have security guards running around, trying to find you, looking in the wrong places, and you’re just sitting in your car, snapping away,” he chuckles. “But if you were spotted, that was it—game over. It was a different style of photography than what it is now.” The “now” Ambler refers to is the in-your-face, get-the-shot-no-matterwhat attitude paparazzi have become infamous for. While the new school paps are ruthless, the old-school guys played by the rules, respected their fellow photographers and their subjects, and were rarely spotted. The change, Ambler states, came from stresses due to the recession: about five years ago, magazines started to get less advertising dollars, which meant photographers weren’t getting the amount of money they were used to, which made them act more aggressively. To make matters worse, the market became oversaturated, with an influx of people who had been lured to paparazzi life with hopes of fast money, further diluting the cash pool. The influx, Ambler says, happened because, “Anyone with an iPhone can be a paparazzi nowadays. You can be at a night club and see Kim Kardashian falling down some stairs, showing off her knickers, and take a picture that makes you five or six grand.” The “newbies” also don’t follow the unwritten rule about “jumping a job.” Ambler explains, “If you saw a photographer standing on a corner watching something, the etiquette was you wouldn’t then watch in to see what they were shooting, because that’s jumping someone’s job.” But that rule is long gone: “It’s just a dog-eat-dog world now. People are pushing boundaries; the desperation for pictures is getting to be too much.” That much is true, as evidenced by the recent death of a paparazzo who was hit by a car while trying to catch Justin Beiber smoking marijuana. Ambler says, “Because of the money, that guy lost sight of all other senses and stepped in front of a moving car, and that’s the end of him. Twenty-eight years of age, that’s shocking.” But is it really? Paparazzi have been known to do outrageous things, including crashing into stars’ cars, jumping over fences and gates,

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hiding out for several hours (or days), and getting bold when public figures fight back. But while everyone is busy blaming the people behind the cameras, Ambler thinks stars are the careless ones. “If the celebrities are drunk, driving fast because they don’t want photographers to follow them, they’re putting not only themselves and the photographers in danger, but also members of the public.” He isn’t so keen on the societal impulse of using paparazzi as scapegoats, either. “We get a lot of shit. It makes my blood boil when people label us as ‘professional stalkers.’ There’s this whole misconception that we’re out to kick little girls in the shins and pull people’s hair and bully them. I think that is the case for a few, but there are actually a lot of good photographers who are just trying to earn a living. The real question is, why is society so obsessed with watching people’s lives?” This obsession with celebrities has exploded in the past few years, due in part to our tech-driven world where news runs on a 24/7 cycle. Enter the catch-22: while people view paparazzi as despicable, they are just fulfilling the public’s ever-growing desire for glimpses into celebrities’ lives. Ambler states that there are changes coming to better protect public figures from the few paparazzi who use unorthodox, even harassing, methods to get their shots. “The industry is going to have a massive change; privacy laws are really becoming a lot stricter.” The laws in the U.S. are not as strict (yet), and to many, being a paparazzo seems like an easy job, but there is more to it than most people think. You have to research who is in town and develop relationships with magazines and newspapers so they send tips your way. Sitting for extended periods of time, eating an unhealthy diet that consists mainly of junk food, and smoking, Ambler says the life of a paparazzo isn’t the glam-filled one we believe it to be. “Unfortunately, being a paparazzi photographer is one of the most tiring jobs you’ll ever do. You can spend ten hours staring at a door, so intently that you can’t even change the radio station for fear of missing the person. A lot of the day is spent sitting and watching and waiting.” While the lure of money may get some photographers to pack up their gear and begin hunting celebrities, Ambler warns this life isn’t and shouldn’t be permanent, and isn’t for everyone. When asked what words of wisdom he would impart on anyone thinking of becoming a paparazzo, Ambler states, “Don’t do it! Go back to school and become a lawyer instead! I don’t think any self-respecting photographer would say, ‘I want to become a paparazzo,’ but I think there’s a lot to be gained by going back to the old-school ways of working for a decent newspaper, and being a really good features photographer. It’s also about learning how to build up your base skills—the true element of being a great paparazzo is to be a good photographer and to study your art. And make sure you have a backup plan, because you’re going to need it at some point. When it all gets banned, you’ll still have to make a living!”

WHAT IS HE DOING NOW? “I run a studio, called Fly Studios NYC, where we shoot fashion, portraits and headshots. I also started Paparazzi Proposals, which plays off the skills and the glamour of the paparazzi. We help guys plan their marriage proposal, and photograph it without being seen, so they can surprise their fiancée the next day.”

www.flystudionyc.com / www.paparazzi-proposals.com

Often despised for their aggressive, take-no-prisoners attitude and their wanton disregard for the privacy of their subjects, paparazzi have come to be known as the parasites of the entertainment world. The term immediately brings negative connotations whenever it appears in magazines, on TV or even in conversation—but it wasn’t always like that as James Ambler, expaparazzo turned proposal-planner/photographer, explains. Originally wanting to be a war photographer, Ambler says he entered the profession by accident. He would often have to stake out lawyers or bankers for a story, but what would really happen, he says, is something he never thought would. “You’d suddenly spot a celebrity coming out of a hotel, and you’d be like, ‘Well, hang on a minute!’ You’d take their picture and it’d fetch you £25,000! It sort of evolved into something that I never wanted it to be,” he recalls.

IMAGE: HISTORY-“Eminem” Page 117

REBECCA HANDLER AND THE LENTICULAR IMAGE By Janet Alexander – Photos courtesy of the artist

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“NAKED FORREST” AUGUST 31ST, 2012 I arrive at Rebecca’s East Williamsburg residence at 9:47 a.m. for a 10 a.m. call time. Shoot preparations have already been underway for the past hour, with two of Rebecca’s assistants, Natalie and Cari, testing equipment and picking up food, respectively. “Hey, can you socialize this?” Rebecca asks her third assistant, Kelly, who is apparently responsible for capturing behind-thescenes photos for Rebecca’s Twitter, Facebook, website, Instagram, Vimeo, and tumblr. Meanwhile, a fourth assistant, Josh, is taking a final inventory of gear. In spite of the delegations, Rebecca maintains a decidedly juvenile demeanor. “I guess fuck it—it is what it is—the sun is being an asshole,” she exclaims in response to Cari mentioning the ominously overcast sky. Rebecca has lived in this house for four years and has been shooting out of it for the past two. Her studio is her office is her bedroom. “A studio is more legitimate, but I have everything I need here, and it’s more comfortable and chill,” she says. Taking a look around the living room, Rebecca’s work is displayed as photography canvas prints on the sun-yellow walls of her living room. It’s a subtle commentary on the artistic merit of photography that I’m not sure even Rebecca herself recognizes. One by one, the models arrive, and as the 10:15 departure time approaches, Rebecca introduces her motley crew to me. I learn that today marks the sixth time she is collaborating with “makeup artist extraordinaire,” Jennifer Lombardo, a native New Yorker with more than fourteen years of experience and an impressive list of celebrity clientele. I can’t help but notice how the five models seem to vary widely. “Not that many people will get naked without being paid,” Rebecca says. Other essential criteria for the casting call were, “not too long of hair, symmetry and small breasts.” The pervading mood is about as relaxed as can be expected, considering that in less than two hours about half of us will be painting the naked bodies of the other half. Rebecca gushes, “This has never been done before; it’s going to look amazing.” Like nearly all of her work, Naked Forrest is an experimentally creative indulgence in which, “everything has a purpose,” yet has also been spontaneously inspired. In this case, Rebecca received for her birthday two years ago a flip lenticular print, which instantly appealed to her predilection for the kitsch and retro aesthetics of the ‘50s and ‘60s—she addresses me as both “doll” and “hun,” non-ironically. I’m in the passenger seat of Rebecca’s car, along with Natalie, Josh and “photo equip”—listed on the call sheet as though it were a passenger itself. We’re driving an hour and an half upstate to Harriman, a village located in Orange County, NY, just roughly sixteen miles north of Suffern where Rebecca grew up. Alluding to her Rockland County suburb, she begins, “I came from under a rock,” and after a brief pause, abruptly concludes, “I left when I was able.” Before I follow up, Rebecca mentions, “My family supports me, but they don’t understand what I’m doing.” At the age of fifteen, her parents bought her first camera—a fully manual Minolta X-700—and although she didn’t know how to use it, she took to photography immediately and began working in her local camera store to eventually save up $200 to purchase her own dark room. “I was that girl who carried her camera everywhere,” she recalls. Her enthusiasm carried through a steadfast, self-taught development. “I hid out in the dark room of my high school most of my senior year,” she sheepishly giggles to herself, before off-handedly mentioning that she won a Kodak camera competition, but quickly admits, “I don’t even know why I won.”

By the time she was completing her second year at State University of New York College at Purchase (SUNY Purchase) studying fine art, Rebecca was unimpressed and underwhelmed by her program, which largely consisted of sculpture classes. “It was artsy-fartsy, but not pushing the bar, and there was no business aspect,” she chides. Looking to escape her disappointment, she took a month-long trip to Spain that ignited her photography in an unprecedented way. “I came back with so many pictures that the photography department asked me to contribute to their show.” Rebecca shifted her focus onto photography, becoming obsessed, she describes. Ultimately, her boredom at SUNY culminated with her transfer to the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. Rebecca went through three cameras over five years, encouraged by how the school, “promoted the sort of weird shit I was doing.” Invigorated by a newfound personal and artistic freedom, Rebecca created Ruby Bird Studios, but soon after graduating in 2005 with a BFA in Photography, the business failed to fully materialize. “San Francisco was not a good market for my photography—they were all about lifestyle.” Disconcerting as it may have been, the weird shit Rebecca was doing then has since proven to be a trademark of her imagery, with today’s shoot being no exception. As she explains, “This shoot was inspired by a David Benjamin Sherry art piece—a nude human in a studio covered in stripes.” Rebecca had worked with Sherry when she was a digital retoucher and mentions, “His agency thought he was pushing too far, and I defended him saying that he was entitled to his vision.” At first assisting a studio manager, Rebecca “bs’d” her way into a Junior Retoucher position at the New York studio of Dutch-born photographer, Hans Neleman. Moving on as a Senior Retoucher at retouching and CGI “super boutique,” Impact Digital, Rebecca explains, “I eventually became Managing Retoucher, but it became too much work, with not enough time in the day, and I wasn’t sleeping.” Over the next five years, she gradually transitioned into freelancing, dedicating less time to retouching in favor of more photographing. The landmark moment in her burgeoning photography career came in October of 2010. Aesthetica, a UK-based, bi-monthly art and culture magazine, interviewed her as, “a newcomer to the international photography scene,” and used an image from her Vintage series for their cover, which she credits for inspiring her to pursue photography as a career. “I started to believe, ‘OK, maybe I can do this.’” Shortly thereafter, Broncolor requested an image from her Mug Shot series to advertise their Senso light. “By photographer Rebecca Handler” would appear in the lower third, but for Rebecca, “I didn’t see myself that way; it was uncomfortable, so I said to just put my name.” Rebecca suddenly pulls over to the side of the road onto a dusty clearing of gravel. “This is it,” she says. As we wait for the two other cars to arrive, she explains that we are going into a forested pathway beyond the street’s visibility. She deliberately scheduled the shoot on a workday in order to minimize the likelihood of being disrupted or noticed by passers-by. Rebecca directs the models to follow Jenn, who’s begun unpacking MAC clay-based Chromacakes. Speaking from her background in sculpture, Rebecca remarks with a playfully devilish smile, “Models are like creatures—they’re my creation.” She talks candidly about liking to have control, often working as her own art director believing that, “Design draws attention away from the image,” and admits, “I’m a nightmare for stylists.” Rebecca’s work is most often described as “young, edgy and hip,” but she claims that her images reference the past to feel classically timeless. “I’m not looking to be original, I’m just looking to be who I am,” she says. It sounds quotably cliché, but on-set Rebecca seems to be genuinely confounded with herself, expressing a serious commitment to her professional success—“I will not

IMAGE: PHOTO PRO-FILE-“Rebecca Handler” Page 119

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let a shoot fail; that is not an option”—while donning pigtails and a purple streak of Chromacake under each eye. “Ultimately, I’m learning to be a boss,” she says. Rebecca positions each of the models on a different plane of distance to create the illusion of depth essential to a 3D stereoscopic image. Unlike conventional 3D images that require wearing 3D glasses, the change in viewing angle that is necessary to perceive three dimensions of a stereoscopic image is smaller, i.e. it consists of more images. As the camera swings in an arc, it captures one shot for each degree that it moves. Using a Canon 7D, Rebecca crouches beside her tripod and proceeds to manually rotate the camera through ninety-nine tedious degrees of rotation, while Natalie counts each shutter snap aloud. The imprecision is an extension of the rough-and-ready quality of Rebecca’s workflow, which accepts, “Not every shoot is for the portfolio.”

Rebecca Handler: www.rebeccahandler.com / Refined Sight: www.refinedsight.com

NOVEMBER 16TH, 2012 It is mid-November, six weeks later, when I meet Rebecca’s printer, Robert Baumeister, at his Midtown studio, Refined Sight. Rebecca was researching 3D lenticular printers—“I read shit and I’m a Photoshop person,”—when she found him a little more than a year ago. Robert immediately took a liking to her work, explaining, “I love the color saturation; she has a style.” Using a $10,000 Israeli software called HumanEyes, he is attempting to pioneer, “lenticular as fine art that is a retro-revival, not kitsch,” since Rebecca opened up a new creative area for him. Not only is she the only photographer he personally works with, but Robert has yet to charge her for any of the experimental projects on which he’s consulted. She comes to him with ideas, and he tells Rebecca what is possible based on his six years in 3D image production. Robert explains, “Every lens has a ‘pitch,’ meaning, a viewing distance.” Unfortunately, the pitch is off in the Naked Forrest image, because there is too large of a gap between shots. Hoping to salvage her vision, Rebecca asks if frames from a combination of takes can be mixed and matched. Robert pauses, before sealing the fate of the Naked Forrest shoot. “That’s never been attempted before,” he says definitively. It’s a case in point made, “The only way to do it, is to be in love with it,” Robert concludes. Fortunately, Rebecca organized a second shoot at her apartment in October—a flip lenticular beauty shot of a snow queen character, complete with falling paper confetti snow, which printed successfully. “Simple is always what works best in the end,” Rebecca admits.

IMAGE: PHOTO PRO-FILE-“Rebecca Handler” Page 121

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WHAT’S A LENTICULAR IMAGE? A lenticular print is specially designed to work with a lens that consists of individual disc-shaped pieces of synthetic material that produces a particular curvature and thickness, called lenticules. Each lenticule acts like a magnifying glass, enlarging each portion of the image to a relatively unique degree, so that in concert, the lenticules create the entire range of an image’s visual perspective. Because our eyes view graphics at slightly different angles, the lenticular print creates a sense of depth while our brain processes the multiple perspectives in a single 3D image. The lenses are manufactured in various sizes that dictate the overall effectiveness of depth perception. Planning for this kind of image is labor-intensive, expensive, and requires specialized craftsmanship. Because 3D lenticular photographs cannot be retouched, design is crucial to a successful outcome; the image must be appropriately suited to be compatible with the lenses.

IMAGE: PHOTO PRO-FILE-“Rebecca Handler” Page 123

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Leah Kua: www.leahkua.com

CELE B R AT I N G N E W WAYS O F G E T T I N G H I TC HED

FOCUS: XXXX-“xxxxx” Page 125

Kirsten Marie: www.iamkristenmarie.com

“I WANTED THE BLOG TO BE ALL ABOUT PERSONALIZING YOUR DAY, AND ONE WAY I SHARED WAS TO WEAR SHOES THAT WEREN’T THE TRADITIONAL WHITE.” - Jen Campbell

It’s hard to imagine these days, but in 2008, when Jen Campbell started her blog Green Wedding Shoes—named after the colorful footwear she wore to her own wedding— brightly hued shoes were, as she says, “pretty unique.” Even just a few short years ago, most brides wore white from veil to heels. Campbell says, “I wanted the blog to be all about personalizing your day, and one way I shared was to wear shoes that weren’t the traditional white.”

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By Stephanie Nikolopoulos Photos by Leah Kua and Kirsten Marie

The traditional white dress and church ceremony are being shelved as more and more couples opt for a unique, themed wedding.

e o h S WORLD A GREEN UNFOLDS

Campbell recalls, “Green Wedding Shoes started as a place for me to share my design ideas and rad California vendors. It was mainly inspiration boards, trend posts and spotlights on great photographers and designers. With the growth of the site, we now share unique, creative and personal real wedding features, DIY projects as well as trend posts, styled shoots and honeymoon locations.” Campbell runs the blog with her husband, Jason, whom she met while working at a company that developed websites

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Leah Kua: www.leahkua.com

“AS STYLISH AS WEDDINGS MAY HAVE BECOME, THEY ARE NOT FASHION SHOOTS: PHOTOGRAPHS THAT CAPTURE THE LOVE AND JOY OF THE COUPLE AND THEIR GUESTS ARE WHAT STAND THE TEST OF TIME.”

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Leah Kua: www.leahkua.com

ARTISTIC SHOT OF THE CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN WON’T MATTER AS MUCH AS THE ONE OF THE RING BEARER STICKING HIS HANDS IN IT.

and online campaigns for films—Jason was vice president and Jen was art director. After marrying a few years later, Jen created GWS to fill a “gap” in the blogiverse. The LA-based site became so successful that it soon turned into full-time jobs for the husband-and-wife team. As weddings have become more individualized, gone are the days of the standard chicken-or-steak dinner. Case in point, GWS offers thematic inspiration boards like “Vintage Carnival” and “Punk Rock Glam.” Campbell says creating a memorable experience for guests “can happen through the food (food trucks are becoming popular), the music and the venue (selecting a place that is unique such as a barn, art museum, fave restaurant, etc.).” A DIY approach permeates weddings today. “People really want to be involved in the planning and designing of the day,” explains Campbell. “With DIY elements, they can put their own spin to their wedding. Lots of couples say working on these projects was their favorite part of the planning.” Shows like Say Yes to the Dress and Ace of Cakes fetishize wedding props, and photographers have followed suit by taking stunning photos of gowns hung on customized hangers that say “Mrs.” and artistic shots of table numbers. This is all great news for vendors looking to capitalize on this lucrative market. But while décor and props make a wedding feel more personal, photography that is too focused on the objects and not the people will fall flat outside a service article. Staged still-lives are less work for a photographer—it’s easier to get a great shot of the bouquet sitting pretty in a vase than when it’s being tossed into the air—but unless the bride

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is Imelda Marcos, the average couple isn’t going to care about having photographs of their shoes by their tenth anniversary. Likewise, the artistic shot of the chocolate fountain won’t matter as much as the one of the ring bearer sticking his hands in it. As stylish as weddings may have become, they are not fashion shoots: photographs that capture the love and joy of the couple and their guests are what stand the test of time. This may explain why photo booths have recently become so popular: they are fun and ensure that the couple doesn’t end up with just one shot of their friends and family in an awkward “YMCA” pose. “I think couples want to make sure they get lots of fun photos from their guests, and this is a great way to do that—plus I’ve seen some pretty creative backdrops!” says Campbell. Campbell likes to remind couples that you don’t need a fortune to make your dream wedding happen: “By sharing weddings from all types of budget, we hope to inspire people.” Even when the U.S. wedding industry was down 4.1% in 2011, it still racked up $53.3 billion in spending, according to The Wedding Report. The average wedding cost was $25,630—to put this in perspective, last year the poverty threshold for a family of four was set at a yearly income of $23,050, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Bridal books and magazines suggest budgeting around $1,500 to $3,000 for wedding photos. When it comes to a couple selecting a photographer, Campbell suggests, “I would look at a bunch of different photographers to see what type of style you prefer, if you prefer film or digital, etc. Once you have it narrowed down to a few, talk to them. You want to make sure you get along with them since they will be with you for

“I LOOK FOR UNIQUE AND PERSONAL WEDDINGS—WEDDINGS THAT HAVE LOTS OF HANDMADE DETAILS, GREAT FASHION, A GREAT STORY AND A UNIQUE VENUE. I’M ALSO LOOKING FOR GREAT PHOTOGRAPHY. SUBMISSIONS THAT HAVE BOTH ELEMENTS ARE THE PERFECT FINDS.” -Jen Campbell the entire wedding day!” Photographers should keep in mind that, while a couple may want an editoriallooking shoot, most aren’t models used to being photographed, so making them feel comfortable is still one of the most important aspects of their job. From wedding blogs to social media to Google search, people look online whens searching for vendors. Therefore it’s crucial that wedding photographers not only have a strong portfolio on their website but that they also establish a presence on social-media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter, and create relationships with bloggers who share their aesthetic. For Green Wedding Shoes, Campbell says, “I look for unique and personal weddings—weddings that have lots of handmade details, great fashion, a great story and a unique venue. I’m also looking for great photography. Submissions that have both elements are the perfect finds.”

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INDUSTRY EXPERTS

EXPERTS SHARE HOW THEY’RE USING THE NEWEST GEAR AND LATEST TRENDS TO MAKE THEIR WORK STAND OUT IN THE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY MARKET.

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By Jasmine Star, Kevin Kubota, Lee Morris, Roberto Valenzuela, Scott Bourne - Portrait illustrations by Ana Event-Or, Illustrations on Scott Bourne’s page by Thomas Bloch

Anat Even-Or: www.anatevenor.com

MEET THE EXPERTS At the onset of her mother’s battle with brain cancer, Jasmine Star dropped out of UCLA Law school and picked up a Canon Rebel film camera—a gift from her boyfriend six years prior—to photograph her mother’s chemotherapy. Jasmine married her boyfriend, and her mother made a miraculous recovery. It was a wakeup call for Jasmine. As she explains, “I rather fail at something I love than succeed at something I hate.” Learning from photo blogs, video tutorials and practice, she first worked on her own. In 2007, her first year working professionally, she shot thirty-eight weddings. Jasmine and her husband now photograph together; both use a Canon 5D Mark III. www.jasmine-star.com Kevin Kubota’s published works include the award-winning, Kevin Kubota’s Lighting Notebook: 101 Lighting Styles and Setups for Digital Photographers, published by Wiley, and Digital Photography Boot Camp: A Step-by-Step Guide for Professional Wedding and Portrait Photographers, by Amherst Media. Kevin was named one of the “Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World” by American Photo magazine, and is listed as a Nikon Legend Behind the Lens. www.kkphoto-design.com

Jasmine Star

Kevin Kubota

Lee Morris started his career as a professional wedding photographer in 2005. Since then, he has become most well known for founding the website Fstoppers.com and producing behind-the-scenes videos featuring all genres of photography. In 2013, Lee released How To Become A Professional Commercial Wedding Photographer, a fourteen-hour tutorial on wedding photography, which explores all aspects of running a wedding photography business. www.rlmorris.com Roberto Valenzuela is a wedding and fine art photographer based in Beverly Hills, CA. He is a 70-time international award-winning photographer and a three-time international first place winner. His photography workshops and speaking engagements are held worldwide. He is the author of the top-selling photography-training book, Picture Perfect Practice. He was named one of the top wedding photographers in the world three years in a row by Junebug Weddings. www.robertovalenzuelaphotography.com Scott Bourne is a digital media pioneer and has been involved in photography for more than three decades. His wildlife images have appeared in countless books, magazines, newspapers, television shows, galleries and websites. He’s the author of five books, including Going Pro, co-written by Skip Cohen. His business acumen and marketing skills have brought him to lead workshops and talk at major photo events, such as CreativeLive.com, MacWorld and WPPI among others. www.scottbourne.com

Lee Morris

Roberto Valenzuela

Scott Bourne

TALK ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE WEDDING INNOVATIONS FOCUS: 5 INDUSTRY EXPERTS - “Talk about their favorite Wedding Innovations” Page 133

JASMINE STAR

SOCIAL MEDIA ACTS LIKE ADVERTISING Social network sharing is the new word-of-mouth, in advertising for my work. Clients share my photos on Facebook, effectively marketing for my photography business. They also often aggregate the images from the ceremony using a hashtag, which gives me even more exposure.

EVERYONE IS A PHOTOGRAPHER The reception photos are becoming largely the result of the guests, instead of the wedding photographer. Guests are integrating themselves into the documentation of weddings more than ever before. They shoot behind the scenes photos and videos of me photographing the couple. With so many ways to capture images, not to mention how photography has practically become second nature, no one hesitates to snap shots of friends, themselves, and the couple at such a momentous occasion.

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INTERLUDE THE BEST WEDDING PHOTO APPS FROM FUN APPS FOR GUESTS TO APPS THAT WILL HELP PROS, HERE ARE A FEW OPTIONS WE LIKE. Sun Seeker - $8.99 This app helps you track the sun—found a great spot for a portrait but don’t know when the sun will hit it? Now you know.

WedPics- Free

THE LOOK Couples want an ethereal, filmic quality to their images. Getting this look is best accomplished by shooting in the early morning or late afternoon light, shooting from above or below the average eye level, and slightly underexposing. Also using at least a 50mm telephoto lenses, though longer is better, reduce saturation, increase contrast, and adjust your focus for a shallow depth of field.

No more chasing guests down to get their photos after the big day: they can now be all in one place. Wedding guests can share their photos in a personalized album and post them on Facebook and Twitter throughout the event. 5 custom filters are available to add to the fun. www.wedpics.com

WPPI 2013 Wedding & Portrait Photography Conference + Expo – Free WPPI 2013 just wrapped, but you should stay on the lookout for this app for next year: it will definitely help you find your way around. Get the schedule and list of workshops and panel discussions on your phone, and never miss a thing.

www.ozpda.com/sunseeker_ iphone.php

The Wedding Photographer – $4.99 Ideas for poses, tutorials and before-and-after images, courtesy of New Zealand wedding pro, Perry Trotter. w w w. p e r r y t r o t t e r. c o m / theweddingphotographer

Second Shootr – $6.99 Store clients’ info, preplan your shot list, keep track of tasks before and after shoot. The app’s internal alarm will remind you of timely events—no more fumbling around, trying to catch up with the wedding planner! www.secondshootr.com

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LEE MORRIS

GEAR -TAMRON 24-70MM 2.8 VC Now that every DSLR shoots HD video as well as stills, many wedding photographers are adding some sort of video service into their packages. I personally take video clips of key moments and include them into my slideshows. These video clips are extremely easy to capture and really improve the production value of my slideshows, which in many cases are my most valuable advertising and selling tool. For a video to look “professional,” the camera often needs to be stabilized but I am not able to carry around a tripod everywhere during a wedding. This is why wedding photographers have been begging both Canon and Nikon to release 24-70mm 2.8 lenses with optical stabilization. While the two major brands have yet to release their own version of this “dream lens,” Tamron swooped in and created the very first full frame, 2.8 lens in this zoom range. The lens is well built, fast, sharp, and has some of the best optical stabilization I’ve ever seen. With it, I can shoot video while hand-holding the camera and get footage that is incredibly stable. Since buying this lens, my Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 hasn’t seen much use! www.tamron-usa.com

SLIDESHOW Every wedding photographer needs a way to quickly and easily show the best images from each event. In most cases, the guests are not going to be interested in scrolling through hundreds of pictures one by one. While most photographers these days have a blog, a simple blog post can be a bit boring. I’ve found that the best way to get people excited about viewing an event is to create a video slideshow. If I can choose the best images and set them to music, I can capture anyone’s attention. Over the years, I’ve used a lot of different types of slideshow software and found that most of them were too expensive, too complicated or too slow. Animoto.com has changed everything by creating a web-based slideshow service that can also accept video clips. In just a few minutes, I can create an emotional slideshow that is so good my clients can’t help but share it. Animoto is also constantly coming out with different themes, which completely change the look of your slideshow. It’s now possible to create a product that looks custom-made, when in reality it only took you a few minutes to throw together. I’ve found that these slideshows are probably the most valuable type of advertising that I do; I can even sell physical copies after the event. Whether you use Animoto or another type of software, I believe slideshows are a must for every wedding photographer. www.animoto.com

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When I started shooting weddings eight years ago, nobody had heard of a photo booth. Today, some of the top photographers in the world are known specifically for them. Most of my clients are interested in having one; I’ve been flown across the country to shoot a wedding just because people, “loved the photo booth, and nobody around here was doing anything like it.” The exciting thing about wedding photo booths is that there isn’t a single way to build one. Mine involves shooting guests on a pure white background, but I’ve seen other photographers truck in a giant couch for people to sit or lay on. I’ve also seen photographers create old fashion photo booth boxes that take multiple pictures over the course of a few seconds. Anyone getting into wedding photography should have some sort of photo booth available to rent. If you’re interested in how I set up mine, I give that information away in our wedding tutorial found on Fstoppers.com/weddingdvd, but I highly suggest creating a photo booth that is unique to you. If you can create a one-of-a kind product, your clients will be happy to pay a premium for it.

By John Christopher, DriveSavers Senior Data Recovery Engineer

WEDDING PHOTO BOOTHS

INTERLUDE

IN A FLASH ...

YOUR PHOTOS COULD BE LOST

The wedding day—the most important day of a betrothed couple. Your mission? To capture those magic moments as beautifully as the couple will remember them. But what would happen if you lost all the images? The wedding would be just a faint memory—and your life would likely be in danger when the newlyweds find out! Fortunately, DriveSavers, the industry leader in data recovery services, shares a few tips here to help prevent data loss. AVOID UNCLE MURPHY. Uncle Murphy isn’t a relative. We’re referring to Murphy’s Law and the adage, “If anything can go wrong, it will.” Bearing that in mind, backup your camera cards as soon as possible. You could backup during the meal service at a reception. (Do you really want to take shots of cousin Joe with a mouthful of mashed potatoes?) Swap out your camera’s memory card for another and transfer the images to your laptop. SHOCKING, JUST SHOCKING. Sometimes customers tell us they’re unable to access their hard drive due to damage caused by a power surge. Most people own surge protectors, but electrical problems can still occur when a computer abruptly shuts down during a power loss. An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) guards your equipment better than a surge protector and includes a battery backup, which allows the computer to gracefully shut down during a power loss. IT’S NOT “IF” BUT “WHEN.” Data loss is a reality of our digital world. If you accidentally delete an image, get an error message or are unable to view images from your camera card or computer, there’s still a good chance the images can be recovered. Contacting a certified, secure, professional data recovery provider will give you your “best shot” at retrieving the critical files.

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KEVIN KUBOTA

INSTANT SHARING

Let’s face it, we live in a “show me artsy images NOW!” society–like it or not. While using an iPhone to professionally capture an event remains a novelty, we still appreciate the ability to be the first one on the block to post cool photos from a shoot. After all, if you’re not the prima poster on Facebook, then, who cares, right? So, what if you and your pro DSLR could truly be a walking hotspot, image-posting, first-to-share, cutting-edge photo maven? Wireless transmitters for DSLR cameras have been around for a while, but they’ve been expensive and buggy, at best. Now, there is something small, easy to use and reliable—the CamRanger. Attach the pocket-sized device to your camera strap, plug your camera USB cable into it, and you are now a wireless photo beacon. Fire up your iPhone or iPad and every image you take pops up on screen. Tweak it with your favorite app and quickly share it with your social media cronies. You could set up a dedicated Flickr page or Instagram stream for an event you’re photographing and project there live images from this stream. Sharing images from your “real” camera is now nearly as easy as with your cell phone camera. www.camranger.com

SHOW PEOPLE’S PERSONALITY.

Photo by Kevin Kubota

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Beautifully processed images are becoming ubiquitous, rather than the exception. Any two high-level photographers could compete on image quality, lighting skill and marketing appeal—and the race would be close. So, what else can you do to differentiate yourself from the pack? Today, I see a glimmer of–and need for—more individuality in our client imagery. Photographers are discovering that an image drenched in the client’s distinct personality will not only sell better, but will be 100% unique and incomparable on the apples to oranges scale. One of the best ways to ensure a closer connection with your potential and present clients is to do a little investigative interview work beforehand. Your goal is to build a relationship (foremost) and to find elements of their personality that you can incorporate into your image making process. Rather than using the same pose and setup that thousands of photographers have also downloaded, ask your client what they love to do, where they hang out and what props they can bring to tell the story of who they are. Even a traditional wedding family portrait can be made fun and unique with a little conversation, forethought and extra effort. You are then competing on an entirely different level. I believe this is a trend with a long shelf life and one worth following–or leading.

INTERLUDE TOP 5 PHOTO LABS

Benjamin Edwards – www.benjaminimages.com

By Toni Palumbo

THE REBIRTH OF SPEEDLIGHTS

Once upon a time, photographers hauled studio strobes and accompanying burdens to their wedding locations for studio quality portraits. Small oncamera flashes, or speedlights, were fated to lowly fill-light status or FOC (Flash On Camera) table shots. Today, speedlights are finally being relied upon for creative lighting, achieving the cachet they rightfully deserve. Editorial and commercial photographers have exploited these compact powerhouses for years, but only recently have they been fully utilized for creative lighting at weddings. Since wedding photographers need to travel light and be able to move and setup quickly–much like editorial photographers– speedlights are the perfect solution. Factors contributing to the adoption of speedlights include: 1.

The availability of faster recycling and longer lasting batteries mated to more efficient electronics.

A plethora of light modifying accessories for shaping and sculpting. Some of my favorite modifiers include the Rogue Grid by ExpoImaging, the PocketWizard Plus III wireless transceivers and the small Octodome with speedlight mounting bracket from Photoflex.

The abundance of education on how to use these tools.

One of the photographers I admire who is really using speedlights creatively at weddings is Benjamin Edwards. His thorough understanding of his lighting tools enables him to create dramatic images in less time, and with less gear, than photographers would typically imagine. A little light and a little effort go a long way.

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FOCUS: 5 INDUSTRY EXPERTS - “Talk about their favorite Wedding Innovations” Page 139

ROBERTO VALENZUELA

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