Janet Boschker Groupon: Part 2 Victoria Kelly Portfolio Kevin Newsome Missy MWAC
GALLERY GALLERY
Each month, Southern Exposure magazine will feature images from the annual affiliated judging. All images in the “Gallery� scored 80 or higher and have earned a credit toward the SEPPA degree (SPF). Loan collection images earn one additional credit.
Marci Sandler Blue Lagoon Patricia Mathis Romance on the Beach
William Grace No Way In
Michael Stratton Perfect Age
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Chairman of the Board
Mary Alice Ross maryaliceross@gmail.com
Delaware
President
Doug Peninger ncdoug01@triadbiz.rr.com
District of Columbia
1st Vice-President
George Singleton george.singleton6@verizon.net
2nd Vice-President
Anthony Rumley anthony@anthonyrumley.com
Secretary/Treasurer
Kevin Jiminez kevinjiminez@aol.com
Salon Exhibition Chair
Jessica Vogel jvogel@shelbywireless.net
Executive Director
Thomas McCollum seppa@comcast.net
***Don Engler Peggy Parkinson
Florida
***Bob Blanken Joe Tessmer ***Donna Campiz Kaye Newsome
Georgia
***Sally Jackson Jill Stringfellow
Maryland
***Vanessa Ard David Corry
Mississippi/Alabama
***Patti Ford Gil Brady
Southern Exposure Southern Exposure magazine is an online publication of SEPPA and is published monthly.
North Carolina
Editor Doug Peninger NCDOUG01@triadbiz.rr.com 336-883-7104
South Carolina
Ad Sales & Business Manager Thomas McCollum seppa@comcast.net 888-272-3711
Tennessee
Article & Ad Submission 5th of each month On-Line Publication 1st of each month
Virginia
SEPPA
2712 Marcia Drive Lawrenceville, GA 30044 888-272-3711 www.4seppa.com Acceptance of advertising does not carry with it endorsement by the publisher. Opinions expressed by Southern Exposure or any of its authors does not neccesarily reflect the positions of the Southeastern Professional Photographers Association.
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***Karen Goforth Janet Boschker
West Virginia
***Clark Berry Greg Martin ***Mac Brown Barbara White ***Sharon Younce Robert Holman ***Brent Kepner Christie Kepner
***state president representative
Additional information of state events within the SEPPA Affiliate can be found using the state links below. Please view their websites by clicking on the web address and you will be re-directed. Delaware www.delawarephotographers.com
District of Columbia www.ppsgw.org
Mississippi/Alabama www.ppma.net
North Carolina www.ppofnc.com
South Carolina
Florida
www.ppofsc.com
www.fpponline.org
Georgia
www.gppa.com
Maryland www.marylandppa.com
SEPPA is a regional affiliate of Professional Photographers of America and hosts an annual District Image Judging. To learn more about PPA, click the PPA Logo.
Tennessee www.tnppa.com
Virginia
www.vppa.org
West Virginia www.ppwv.org
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Doug Peninger: SEPPA President ncdoug01@triadbiz.rr.com
2012 Have you ever felt as though change was in the air? Did something in your gut continue to lead you to investigate new avenues? Did you just know, deep down, that things would be different in the near future? For me, those voices have been screaming for several months. No, I’m not psychotic or even “mental,” though some folks might disagree. A lesson, taught to me at an early age, was to always trust my”gut.” I always have and I’ve never been let down by the result. You know, to say it has been a difficult few years of business, for most folks, would be an understatement. We have seen so many changes. Everyone and their brother, sister, cousin, aunt and uncle has a digital camera and guess what, they are all “professionals.” We have had a rotten economy and no matter which side of the political arena you may fall, something has got to change. My hope and trust is that 2012 will bring about better days. We have all learned lessons during this difficult economic time and I trust we will each put those lessons to good use in the future. My instinct tells me that brighter days are ahead.
Doug Peninger SEPPA President Editor
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The SEPPA Board of Governors, at the 2010 meeting in Franklin, TN, approved the all new SEPPA Degree Program. The Southeastern Photographic Fellowship is now a reality! You can earn your new SPF Degree in two categories. The orange ribbon is earned with a concentration in print credits, the purple ribbon with a concentration in service to the organzation. The requirements for both options are completed with education and/or service credits. You may also achieve both Degrees, signafied by a purple and orange ribbon. SEPPA will post the Credit Chart and submission forms at a later date. Be sure to check back. All events, beginning April 1, 2010 will be eligible to submit for credit.
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SOUTHERN EXPOSURE JANUARY 2012
Shop 12 21 24 25
Millers White House
Michel Company Academy Productions
Learn 6
Attend
Janet Boschker Groupon: Part 2
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Victoria Kelly Portfolio
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PPA Happenings Kevin Newsome Missy MWAC
“Courtney” by Anthony Rumley
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Florida School VPPA Maryland
PPSC/Lamarr School PPNC
GPPA Tennessee PPA
Janet Boschker
www.northlightphotography.com jbnlight@aol.com
When last we spoke, I shared how I had used Living Social and Groupon to launch a new income stream for my business – the Shoot and Share class (that is thriving). With the success of the first Living Social Deal under my belt, I was contacted by Groupon and asked if I would like to be a featured business for them. Since the class had just run a few weeks prior I thought “What the heck, I’ll give it a try with an offer of photography!” Sounds like the words of a crazy person, right? I mean, we have all seen by now the offers of “2 hour photo shoot and 100 images on cd for only $49” and grimaced, right? Hmmm… what to do…. I told the representative that I would absolutely not do a cheapie session and give away the images for free and thought that would be it, but to my surprise, the woman said that was ok, she had worked with a studio in Florida and they had success with an offer of a session and print credit. I spoke to that photographer and was impressed that she was a PPA Master Photographer and happy to share her experience with me. They had successfully worked with Groupon and were planning to use them again. Wow. This was the first positive thing I had heard, All I knew of were horror stories where the business was overwhelmed with phone calls and bargain hunters and that they would never use Groupon again. And so it was that I, yes I did, took a leap of faith and launched my photography Groupon.
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So, how did that work out for me, you ask….. well, I am going to tell you that all things considered, it wasn’t bad. My offer was this: One hour studio photography session and $100 print credit - $69 (value up to $250) OR one hour photography session on location and $100 print credit $89 (value up to $350)… I sold 39 sessions. Well after the 187 class slots I sold on Living Social my first time out, I have to say I was both disappointed (don’t they get how good I am? I am a Master Photographer and this is a GREAT deal!!!!) and delighted ( YAY!!! I won’t have to work myself to death for nothing – I knew this wasn’t going to work out!) The deal ran in August, so I can give you some real numbers on how it has worked for my business – it’s pretty interesting.
Janet Boschker continues on page 10
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Janet Boschker continued...
Of the 39 sessions sold, I have photographed 16 in the last quarter of the year – of the 16, 4 were returning clients and 12 were new clients that most likely would never have come to me, since my business has been built entirely on referral. Of the 12 new clients, 4 ordered nothing over the value of the Groupon. The average sale of the 8 that have placed an order was $413 ( highest order at $1500, low of $20), compared to the average sale of returning clients at $600 (high of $800, low of $500). Groupon takes half of the sale price of the deal, my check from Groupon came in 3 payments and totaled $1721.49 bringing the total income to the studio to $7276.49. Not too bad for this economy and no out of pocket advertising costs. Plus I have 23 sessions out there that have to be redeemed by the end of March 2012, not a bad thing to have in the first quarter of the year…. It wasn’t all fun and games, I found myself having to justify my prices ( I made sure that the “fine print” of the deal stated that 5x7s begin at $80 and 8x10s begin at $120) so I made sure that when I scheduled a session I sent a price list to the new client to look over before they came in so they would know what to expect and we could have that conversation early. I know this is completely opposite of how we have all learned to do business, but for me, it was a good experience – it opened my eyes to the fact that in this economy and the rapidly changing industry that we find ourselves in, we simply must get out of our boxes and do things differently to promote our photography. Will some of the new clients I photographed become my regular clients? I don’t know, but today I received the following email which leads me to believe there is something to this new way of advertising that should not be overlooked.
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“Hello Janet, I am sure you do not remember me, but you photographed my husband, Chris, and my wedding on February 16, 1985 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, when you were with Phil Aull. I have been trying to locate you. Earlier tonight, I was talking with my friend, Ann (who was also in my wedding) and she told me you did her daughter, Mary Carlisle’s, senior portrait. It was beautiful. She also told me you had a Groupon offer. She had just missed it, but she gave me your contact info. Chris and I would like to talk with you about scheduling a time over the Christmas break to take some family photos. Both of our children, Christopher (23) and our daughter, Collins (21) will be home, Thursday, December 22 through Thursday, January 6. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. I hope that we can work something out.. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
What do you think?
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Victoria Kelly
So...the Christmas holiday has come and gone and you got what you really wanted: a shiny new iPad. You’ve spent countless hours picking the “just right” collection of apps for your new gadget... let me recommend another. My iPad has become a business tool that I simply can’t be without--it’s my studio phone, my credit card processor, my project manager...and now, with the Portfolio app, it’s a magnificent showcase for my images. I’ve been watching Portfolio since it first made its debut in the app store. The reviews for the early versions weren’t that spectacular so I held off adding it to my collection. It’s a bit pricey at $14.99, and if I’m going to make that type of investment it needs to perform! And perform it does. I was immediately impressed that I can load images from my iPad directly, from my Mac and my Dropbox. The first thing I did was create logos for the app--landscape and portrait-drag them into my Dropbox on my Mac and then populate the logo boxes in the app on my iPad. Pretty simple.
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vkelly@victoriakellyphotography.com www.victoriakellyphotography.com
I was anxious to create my first gallery--so I navigated to a folder on my Mac with web images for my HS seniors, again using my Dropbox and in less than 2 minutes my first gallery was done. In short order I had created 3 galleries...so I figured I’d better spend a little time getting to know the app better and working out how to best integrate it into my business.
Here are several things I found impressive: •On each image in any given gallery, I can rate it with up to 5 stars AND make notes. (This can be invaluable if you’re a wedding shooter and a prospective bride is telling you what she likes! There’s also the option of emailing the ratings and notes in either HTML or PDF format.) •The developer has included the option of “turning off” galleries I don’t want seen. Again, an important tool if you’re wanting to JUST show specific work to a prospect. •The slideshow function gives me the capability to pull songs from my iTunes library...and will fit the gallery images to the length of the music. •Once I get the images loaded, I can edit the gallery and put the images into any order. •I can lock a gallery, configure the metadata and can lock the entire management interface so that a client can’t inadvertently change a setting. •There’s also the capability of creating a custom thumbnail for each gallery. Victoria Kelly continues on page 26
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Focused by whcc is the premier resource for photo related product templates in our industry. We offer an ever-growing line of high quality templates created by some of the photographic industry’s most talented and creative designers and photographers. Impress your clients with professionally designed press printed cards, books, or studio marketing pieces without having to spend all your time behind the computer. All focused templates are fully customizable Photoshop PSD files and are easy to use. Simply drag and drop your photos directly into the template.
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July 15th ~19th 2012 Hanson Fong Jen Hillenga Ken Sklute Louis Tonsmeire Jr. Phil Scarsbrook Clark Berry
Business, pleasure, and a lot of learning! Classes start July 15th 2012 on the campus of the University of South Carolina in the capital city of Columbia South Carolina. Register now at:
www.thelamarrschool.com
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Victoria Kelly continued...
You might be asking yourself why I would use THIS app instead of the inherent Photos app that comes with the iPad. The interface on the Portfolio app is lovely...AND I can brand it with MY logo, effectively making it a seamless extension of my website and my blog. And let me mention, again, how simple it is to load images, especially if it’s linked to a Dropbox account. Now, here’s a tip for this app: you can certainly use this app in portrait or landscape mode...but I want to use ALL the real estate on the iPad...so I’m using a combination of full screen horizontal single images or a collage of several images on a horizontal background. Put your shiny new iPad to work--start your new year with a splash--after all, you’re in the image business-and doesn’t your work deserve the best electronic platform you can provide? (Victoria’s going to ImagingUSA and would love to hear from you. She’ll be in the trade show in the PPA Affiliate School booth.)
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Based on surveys of current market prices, the amount of equipment insurance being offered would typically cost the photographer $350 or more annually. Interestingly, that is more than the entire cost of PPA membership. The benefit could not be possible without the collective buying power that comes from being part of the world’s largest association for professional photographers. PPA to Buy Equipment Insurance for Most Members
“Quite frankly, this is the advantage of being a PPA member,” says David Trust, PPA’s CEO.t
New benefit gives members a $15,000 policy cov-
PPA to Buy Equipment Insurance for Most Members
ering photographic equipment and computers.
New benefit gives October members3,a2011—Professional $15,000 policy covAtlanta (PRWEB) ering photographic equipment and computers. Photographers of America (PPA) today announced (PRWEB) October 3, 2011—Professional aAtlanta landmark decision that will help protect its memPhotographers of America (PPA) today anbers’ businesses and put hundreds dollars back nounced a landmark decision thatof will help protect members’ businesses and hundreds intoitstheir pockets each year. In put a move never of dollars back into their pockets each year. In the industry, abefore moveseen neverinbefore seen inPPA the(www.ppa.com) industry, PPA (www.ppa.com) revealed that it will for revealed that it will pay for $15,000 inpay equipment $15,000 in equipment insurance coverage for insurance coverage for eachand of itsLife Professional each of its Professional Active members living in the United States. The decision addsStates. yet Active and Life members living in the United another unmatched membership benefit to a list The decision adds yet another unmatched memthat already dramatically outpaces any other photographic bership benefitorganization. to a list that already dramatically outpaces other photographic organization. The policy, any called PhotoCare, covers photographic equipment losses up to $15,000, including up to $5,000 for certain computer equipment. PPA The policy,can called covers photographic members alsoPhotoCare, purchase additional equipment insurance and general liability policies equipment losses up to $15,000, including up to through Lockton Affinity, PPA’s exclusive insurance $5,000 forThat certain computer equipment. PPA mempartner. coverage will come at a significantly reduced ratepurchase negotiated by PPA. equipment However, no adbers can also additional insurditional insurance purchase is necessary to receive ance and coverage general liability policies through Lockton the initial paid for by PPA. Affinity, PPA’s exclusive insurance partner. That “Most photographers have tens of thousands of coverage will come a significantly reduced rate dollars wrapped up at in gear and computer equipment that is critical to their businesses,” says Don negotiated by PPA. However, no additional insurDickson, PPA president. “This PhotoCare benefit ancephotographers purchase is necessary receive the initial helps protect to their livelihood and is absolutely essential. Our members need this.” coverage paid for by PPA.
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“Three things come together to make this possible,” Trust continues. “First, our size gives us the ability to negotiate with strength, which means members get the best benefits in the industry. Second, our notfor-profit status means we aren’t just trying to make a buck—we exist to give back to the industry. And third, as an association we are healthier now than at any time in our 142-year history, so we have the ability to make a gigantic commitment back to our members.” It is also worth noting that at no time does PPA receive any royalties based on additional insurance purchases, even though royalty programs are common in the association world. PPA actually pays for the insurance coverage for each member who enrolls…and receives no income or royalty in return. “Most associations are looking for royalties as operating revenue,” says Scott Kurkian, PPA’s chief financial officer, who headed the negotiations. “Lockton asked us if we were interested in a royaltytype program but we told them, ‘No thanks. Just give our members a better rate.’ And to their credit, they did.” Andy Osborn, Lockton Affinity Producer, adds: “We worked with an insurance carrier to tailor the PhotoCare policy specifically around the needs of professional photographers. We are excited to partner with an association so committed to the well-being of its members and look forward to a long and healthy relationship with PPA.”
Trust also lauds PPA’s board of directors for its part in making PhotoCare available. “This requires a massive financial commitment, which means completely reworking how we approach our budgeting,” he explains. “This would not have happened without a board of directors that cares about its members. No other board that I know of would agree to such a commitment without also attaching a dues increase, but that is exactly what ours did. This is what it means to be PPA. It is what makes this association special.” PhotoCare is available to U.S.-based Professional Active and Life PPA members. In order to activate the policy, members must log in to www.ppa.com and opt in. Instructions are provided on the site
Imaging USA 2012: Big Ideas for Photographers in the Big Easy The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans will host an international convention and trade show for professional photographers, January 15-17, 2012. Professional photographers require education and inspiration to thrive, and Imaging USA has what they need. Registration is open for Imaging USA 2012 (www.ImagingUSA.org), the world’s longest running professional photography conference featuring three full days of intensive artistic and business education January 15-17. It’s that art and business education combination that helps make Imaging USA such a powerful presence in the photography industry. Not only do attendees find the help they need to improve their photography skills, but they also learn how to make more money with it.
“If you are a professional photographer—or want to be—you cannot miss the opportunity to attend Imaging USA. It will do more for your career than any other show,“ adds Don Dickson, president of Professional Photographers of America (PPA). “With so many speakers and programs, it’s amazing what you can learn here in a matter of days.” Photography classes focus on different specialties and “tricks of the trade” geared towards improving business and photographic skills and use of technologies. Some of the industry’s biggest names appear as instructors, including Joyce Tenneson, Mark Bryant, Ed Pedi, Julieanne Kost and more. Classes run all day with breaks in between so attendees can visit the Imaging EXPO, a trade show where hundreds of the industry’s leading vendors showcase their products. “It feels as though you have the opportunity to talk to almost everyone in the industry at one show,” notes Dickson. No description of Imaging USA is complete without a nod to the abundance of photographer-to-photographer networking opportunities. “Imaging USA can feel like a family reunion on top of the education and inspiration,” says Dickson. “I have friends from all over the world that I enjoy visiting with each year at Imaging USA.”
Other notable features of Imaging USA 2012 *Annual Photography Exhibit *Special Events *Pre-Convention Photography Courses *Specialty classes for sport and event photography. *Evidence Photographers International Council Education and Cerification Class Registration is open to all professional photographers and several options are available, including full-convention and one-day passes. A special Join & Go promotion includes a free full-convention registration for new professional active members who join PPA prior to the show. For more information about Imaging USA or to register for the conference, visit www.imagingusa.org or call 800-786-6277.
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GALLERY GALLERY
Each month, Southern Exposure magazine will feature images from the annual affiliated judging. All images in the “Gallery higher and have earned a credit toward the SEPPA degree Loan collection images earn one additional credit.
Donald Aittama Beach House
Heather Bjoershol Where’s My Joyful Noise?
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e y� scored 80 or e (SPF).
Sandra Pearce Waiting for Delivery
Joe Campanellie Reflection
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Kevin Newsome Southern Exposure is proud to welcome back our very own Kevin Newsome. His negotiation tactics are impressive and iin the end, Kevin always wins. (Just Kidding)
Major news networks and magazines have editorial features. SEPPA is lucky to have our very own Kevin Newsome. Kevin is featured each month as he gives us his latest rant. Some things may hit home, some may be surprisingly poignant. When it’s all said and done, it’s just Kevin’s opinion and he thought he should share it. We, at Southern Exposure, hope you will enjoy this month’s installment of “A Few Moment’s With....” This month, Missy MWAC. (Click on the title, Missy MWAC, and you will be linked to the video.
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