Chairman of the Board
Doug Peninger dpeninger@SEPPAonline.com
President
George Singleton gsingleton@SEPPAonline.com
1st Vice-President 2nd Vice-President Secretary-Treasurer Salon Exhibition Chair
Kevin Jiminez kjiminez@SEPPAonline.com Mary Fisk-Taylor mfisktaylor@SEPPAonline.com
Delaware
District of Columbia
***Anthony Maril Joe Tessmer
Florida
*** Sandra Pearce Kaye Newsome
Georgia
*** Spencer Smith Jason White
Janet Boschker jboschker@SEPPAonline.com Jessica Vogel jvogel@SEPPAonline.com
*** Paula Mignagna
Interim Executive Director Rick Gibbons ExecutiveDirector@SEPPAonline.com
So uther n E x posu r e
Souther n Exposure magazine is an online pu blication of SEPPA and is published monthly. Editor V ictoria Kelly vkelly@SEPPAonline.com 919.480.7110 Ad Sales & Business Manager Rick Gibbons ExecutiveDirector@SEPPAonline.com 336.687.1943
Maryland
Mississippi/Alabama
*** Michael Busada David Corry
*** Andrew Lamb Gil Brady
North Carolina
*** Bruce Williamson Janet Boschker
South Carolina
*** Patty Hallman Gregg Martin
Article & Ad Submissions 5th of every month OnLine Publication 20th of each month SEPPA 3710 North Main Street High Point, NC 27265 336.687.1943 Ac ceptan ce o f a d v e r t i si n g d oe s n ot c a r r y w i th i t en do rs e m e n t b y t h e p ub l i sh e r. Opi ni o ns expres se d b y Sout h e r n Exp osure or any o f i ts aut h or s d oe s n ot n e c e ssa r i l y refl ect th e p osi t i on s of t h e Sou theaster n Pro fessi on a l P h ot og r a p h e r s A ssoc i at io n .
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Tennessee
*** Kristi Thomas Barbara White
Virginia
*** Kevin Hurley Robert Holman
West Virginia
*** Pat Dodd Brentv Kepner
*** state president SEPPA representative
Delaware
Mississippi/Alabama
District of Columbia
North Carolina
www.ppsgw.org
www.ppofnc.com
Florida
South Carolina
www.fpponline.org
www.ppofsc.com
Georgia
Tennessee
www.gppa.com
www.tnppa.com
Maryland
Virginia
www.delawarephotographers.com
www.marylandppa.com
SEPPA is a regional affiliate of the Professional Photographers of America and hosts an annual District Image Judging. To learn more about PPA, click HERE.
www.ppma.net
www.vppa.org
West Virginia www.ppwv.org
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SEPPA State of Mind
It’s time to dig those blue suede shoes out of the closet...we’re finishing our summer road trip to the southern states of Mississippi and Alabama. Mississippi might best be known as the birth place of Elvis Presley in Tupelo. But did you know that in 1963 the University of Mississippi Medical Center accomplished the world’s first human lung transplant? You might also be fascinated to know that the first nuclear submarine built in the south was produced in Mississippi. Mississippi, the “Magnolia” State, was the 20th to join the United States on December 10, 1817. Alabama, the “Yellowhammer” State, joined the United States on December 14, 1819, making it the 22nd state.
And, Mississippi was the first state in the nation to have a planned system of junior colleges. (Who knew?) If you’re into sports you’ll be interested to know that the first football player on a Wheaties box was Walter Payton who hails from Columbia. The city of Natchez was settled by the French in 1716 and is the oldest permanent settlement on the Mississippi River. Natchez once had 500 millionaires, more than any other city except New York City. (I’m wondering how many were photographers!) Did you ever wonder how the teddy bear got its name? In 1902 while on a hunting expedition in Sharkey County, President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt refused to shoot a captured bear. This act resulted in
“It’s time to dig those blue suede shoes out of the closet...we’re heading down south to Mississippi and Alabama.”
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the creation of the world-famous teddy bear. In 1884 the concept of selling shoes in boxes in pairs (right foot and left foot) occurred in Vicksburg at Phil Gilbert’s Shoe Parlor on Washington Street. Did you know that the lovely Faith Hill (married to Tim McGraw) is from Jackson? (One of Jackson’s claims to fame is the fact that it’s Mississippi’s largest city.) You might also be surprised to know that Sela Ward (CSI: New York) is from Meridian. Once you cross the state line into Alabama, you’ll be interested to know that Alabama introduced the Mardi Gras to the western world. The celebration is held on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins. Not to be outdone by those nuclear subs in Mississippi, Alabama workers built the first rocket to put humans on the moon. The town of Enterprise houses the Boll Weevil Monument to acknowledge the role this destructive insect played in encouraging farmers to grow crops other than cotton. The group “Alabama” has a fan club and museum in Fort Payne.
The Birmingham Airport opened in 1931. At the time of the opening a Birmingham to Los Angeles flight took 19 hours. Alabama is the only state with all major natural resources needed to make iron and steel. It is also the largest supplier of cast-iron and steel pipe products. In 1995 Heather Whitestone was crowned the first Miss America with a disability. The United State Army Chemical Corps Museum in Fort McClellan contains over 4000 chemical warfare artifacts. Remember Kate Jackson from Charlie’s Angels? She’s from Birmingham, as is Emmy Lou Harris. Hank Williams is from Georgiana. Mississippi and Alabama, photographically speaking, share a website at www.ppma.net and is headed up by president Sharon Edwards. Mississippi has 2 directors on the leadership team, Sue Elam and Aaron Adams, and Jim Soloman rounds out the directorship from Alabama.
In 1902 Dr. Luther Leonidas Hill performed the first open heart surgery in the Western Hemisphere by suturing a stab wound in a young boy’s heart. The surgery occurred in Montgomery.
Alabama is also home to Van and Mary Lee Blankenship, a past SEPPA president and former editors of Southern Exposure.
Have you ever wondered where state sales tax began? To help fund education, Alabama instittued its state sales tax in 1937.
And this finishes our road trips into the southern states. Join us in September to see where we’re going next!
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Competition driving you crazy? Lew Everling, Cr. Photog, CPP www.leweverling.com
So the competition is driving you crazy? Embrace them, and turn the tables! When the competition is driving you crazy, they feel none of your angst, but YOU have a couple of options. Most choose to simply complain about the situation, rather than change the situation and create a plan of action.
Lew Everling (“Lewbie”) is, hands down and by far, the coolest guy in the Midwest. A guru in the world of social media, his way of thinking outside the box has helped his studio survive and thrive in a down economy.
I’m often reminded of the battle between airlines British Airways and the young upstart Virgin Air. British Airways was truly a giant, and Virgin a thorn in their side, and of course Virgin could say the same about British Airways. British Airways spent lots of $$$ on a discounted airfare week for trans-Atlantic flights to New York, with deeply discounted pricing to take market share and hopefully squelch the upstart Virgin and bring back some of the former British Airways clients. Virgin, however, fought back: they simply ran strategically placed ads, spending a small fraction of what British Airways was investing, encouraging everyone to fly British Airways for the week of xx/xx/xxxx but to remember to fly Virgin the other 51 weeks of the year for service, style, and comfort every day. They didn’t bad mouth them, or disparage their competitor in anyway, they simply stated what they did best! Virgin wasn’t afraid to embrace their competitor--their stunt created more of a headache for British Airways as the increased boost in calls and overloaded customer service centers created booking errors for a grossly understaffed airline. Just imagine the delays, and headaches for a company that was already
“Sometimes we just need to step back and look in the mirror...embrace the competition and turn the tables!” Page 18
plagued with poor customer service. Sure enough flyers came back to Virgin with more new faces than ever, so when we find ourselves complaining about everyone with a camera, or the latest cell phone with umpteen megapixels, or someone selling a disk, why not look in the mirror and ask yourself two questions: What did I do to drive them away, and what can I do differently to get them back? Maybe we gave our clients a reason to leave, or we forgot the service after the sale. How long has it been since you’ve asked your clients what they want? Have you ever asked them what they want? Maybe you just picked products that YOU like and chose a selection based upon that, and not what your target market wants. Maybe you’ve limited yourself because you simply love a lab, but because they’ve failed to innovate it’s held you back! We are in business to sell our talents, it really is not for us to decide what they get or should want, or how they choose to preserve those memories. And, really, it isn’t up to us to decide if one day they will regret not having a print. In a previous article I mentioned the hairdressers that have been fighting this battle for nearly 70 years, the battle is never ending yet successful salons continue to prosper, despite the fact supplies are sold daily to millions through retail outlets. Heck the daguerrotypist didn’t like the tin typists there will always be a struggle! Tattoo artists, mechanics and construction trades even bakers fall into these areas as well. There is not one area that doesn’t face competition on many levels. I’ve been so lucky to meet many photographers during my travels, once with a long
time friend he complained of the local merchants no longer supporting him, I listened to quite a long rant about how they were going to another photographer nearly 40 miles from him to another town we shall call XYC. Then suddenly a bit later when I appeared with a 6 pack of local craft beer, he says hope you didn’t buy that down at ABC’s you know you can get that a $1 cheaper over in XYC! In my case not being from the area I would have had to searched forever for the correct store, would have spent close to the amount of the 6 pack to drive that 40 miles, and would have been out 2 hours of my time at least all to save a $1. Seems a bit much to me, I could have had 2 of the 6 packs from the local ABC store, made a connection with a local merchant, who I’m sure has at least 3 friends to tell about me as well. The entire conversation was a tough pill to swallow as this entire conversation took place less than an hour after his initial complaint about locals not supporting him, and I find out he’s not even supporting them! Even if I have to pay a buck or two more for buying something local, I just look at it as advertising, its the real social network face to face and not online. Sometimes we just need to step back and look in the mirror, if you can’t then have an outside consultant come in and observe. Take their comments with construction to make yourself better they have no reason to not help you see yourself in a new light. Many have diverse experiences that will help you build a better you. Don’t let your competitor drive you crazy, they don’t feel a thing!
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“A is for...android” Victoria Kelly, Cr. Photog., CPP, F.Ph. www.victoriakellyphotography.com
I like shiny things. Nothing gets me more excited than unwrapping a new gadget...and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a new computer, a new tablet or a new phone, I’m hooked from the first whiff of “new” wafting from the box. But before I get started on this month’s tech talk, here’s a bit of the backstory: several years ago I was firmly committed to my PC (yes, PC!) and Blackberry and was reasonably sure that my Blackberry would be going into the afterlife with me.
Victoria is back this month talking the tech about her shiny new smartphone. Turns out that “A” is for Android, too!
And then along came Vista. Photoshop and Vista refused to play well in the sandbox. I had Adobe on speed dial, followed by Microsoft. I was saving my work every 30 SECONDS to avoid total disaster. And one day, I’d had enough. I marched myself into the Apple store and bought a Mac. While I was totally immersing myself in the Apple environment, I began to realize that my beloved Blackberry really didn’t want to sync with my shiny new Mac. There were workarounds and third party solutions, none of which I found really graceful. So I kissed my Blackberry goodbye and invested in another shiny thing...my first iPhone. So I’ve been totally Mac happy for the last few years. And most of the articles I’ve written for this column have, admittedly, been from my Mac perspective. Until now. I received an email from a longtime reader who chastised me for not giving equal time to the Android environment. And, I had to concur, he was
“Nothing gets me more excited than unwrapping a new gadget...i’m hooked from the first whiff of “new”.” Page 28
right in his comments. Today I’m sharing with you that my newest shiny thing is a Samsung Galaxy S4 and this month’s tech talk is focused on how Apples and Androids really can play nicely together. First off...let’s start with a few of the obvious goodies about the S4. I like the larger footprint. It still fits in the back pocket of my jeans but I’m totally enjoying the bigger screen. I like being able to configure my Home screen with apps and widgets. The call quality is good. Now, being the geek that I am, here’s what I did to make my S4 totally mine: I installed the Kii keyboard and made the keys larger so that when I’m texting I have a better chance of sending something intelligible. I also installed Nova launcher which I use instead of the launcher that shipped with the S4. There’s also a companion app to Nova launcher that shows the “unread” count for Facebook, email and a few other apps.
would have to migrate to Google calendar and retrain my studio staff. Not to worry, though...I found a nifty little sync program (SmoothSync for Cloud) that takes my iCal data and sends it to my Google calendar on the S4. I like the way the contacts app works on the S4. I have mine configured to bring up my “favorites” list first and have the “envelope” icon set to send a text instead of an email. AT&T is my carrier and I will even own up to liking the AT&T messages app because it shows me ALL activity--texts, calls and voicemail in one place. All in all, I’m liking the S4. It does indeed play well with my Apple gadgets and I can honestly say now that “A...is not only for apple...but android, too!”
Most of the apps that I have on my iPhone have Android counterparts. Here are my important ones: Moe’s (I have kids!), Starbucks (gotta have my chai tea!) and the Loop (if you’re a PPA member and you haven’t migrated to the Loop, you’re missing out.) And that brings me to the calendar. I love my iCal. So I was a little worried, thinking I
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“ The Dury’s staff consists of actual photographers... ” Ever since I bought my first item from Dury’s almost 4 years ago, I have trusted no one else with all of my equipment needs. The Dury’s staff consists of actual photographers with a vast array of technical as well as performance knowledge and they are quick to help me find the right solutions for all of my shooting needs. A few months ago, it was time for me to upgrade cameras and the staff at Dury’s showed me the new Canon 5D Mark III. Simply put, the new Canon 5D Mark III is the best camera that I have shot with to date. I now have the capability to shoot at extremely high ISO’s with little or no noise as well as up to 6 frames per second with a very quiet shutter. Not to mention, the new autofocus system works flawlessly even in the most trying situations! This camera will make even the most discerning photographer very happy as the files that come out of the camera are simply breathtaking.
Jairaj - Kevin KJImages.com
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