Day: July 3, 2011

Are you passionate about something?

by Stanley LearyPhotography
If you are passionate about a topic and are a communicator–I challenge you to create a blog. The whole process will make you a better communicator for your clients. Let me tell you how I came to this conclusion.

I enjoy making connections with people.  While I struggle with the social skills to connect with folks, my wife thrives in making connections.

Over the years I have discovered my gift of telling stories and teaching. Teaching seems to be my best gift.  I am not sure if I am a good teacher because I know how to get the message across (from years as a journalist) or my obsessive-compulsive behavior. 

Maybe it is a little of both.  I don’t like giving up and will work at being sure if a person wants to understand something I know about, then I will work at it until I find a way to help them understand.

1I have been taking some time thinking about connecting with audiences. I bought an iPad this week because one of my clients has started to issue these to their people to use.  I found out that I needed be sure the work I was producing was working on it. 

This was a difficult buy for me to do. I would have rather bought a tablet that played flash files so that everything that is on the web would work on the device. But the reason I was buying the iPad was to ensure that my audience was getting the messages I was creating.

There are other things that I have learned to do so that I could connect with an audience. A few years ago I dipped my toes into blogging.  I learned how to post a photo, video and text. 

Just in the past few months I decided to dive into blogging.  I am posting three times a week and slowly building a larger audience.  I am using analytics to see how often my blogs are viewed.  I am using analytics to see how long someone watches a slide show.  Do they watch all of it on average?  I am doing the same now with videos.

The analytics show me that more and more of the audience is using smart phones and tablets to view my blog. 

As my blog continues to adapt by posting images that are viewable on more devices like the iPad and iPhone more folks are returning to read the posts.

I am also fascinated as to what things are more popular than others.  If I post a how to article with a list of points I know it will get a better audience than just a photo with a small caption on something I saw.  This is also true with the videos.

My top blog postings of all time are here in descending order:

Variety is the spice of life               1,010 Pageviews
Jealousy, Selfish Ambition & Envy     760 Pageviews
How to be critiqued                        385 Pageviews
Good photographers play…              374 Pageviews
Three Stages of Composition      343 Pageviews

My top videos are:

Learning to see light                     2,016 views
Café Justo (Just Coffee)                523 views

pageviews
I like seeing how I am connecting to the world

Because I am blogging 3 times a week, I now understand things that I didn’t before.  I understand how difficult it is for my clients to connect with their audience. 

My challenge is simple for those involved in communications, if you are not creating content for a passion of yours where no one has to approve of your material how are you going to be able to help your clients?  I believe every professional communicator needs to create a blog.  The exercise will help you be more valuable to your clients.

Model Releases: Easing the pain on getting them

by Stanley LearyModel Releases
The model can read the release before signing.

These are tips on how to get model releases and what I can do to obtain them. Let’s start with how you ask for a person to sign a model release. Less is more when asking someone to sign a model release. I always start with the reason I am making the photos. I am here at the university, helping them with their recruiting materials. Can I take your picture? Once they say yes, I will follow up with question two. Can you sign a model release that permits the university to use your photo? At this point, I find it best not to open the can of worms. I let them open the can of worms if necessary. 95% of the time, people will sign the model release. For those less than 5%, I talk about what their signature allows the university to do with the photos and what most likely could be some possible uses of the images. For example, “The school will put these into their database of photos and then use them for things like their website, recruiting printed materials, posters, billboards and maybe as part of a TV ad, for example.” 

This is an example of the model release on your device.

At this point, only a handful of people in my career have said no to permitting the use of their photos. 

What not to do 

I have been with a couple of my clients who wanted to handle getting the model releases signed. Many use a similar technique to the one I outlined above. However, I have had a couple who do a better job talking people out of signing a release than talking them into signing one. “We are here today doing a photo shoot for the school. Stanley, here is the photographer working with us to make these photos. He does a great job of getting great images for us. We have a model release we would like you to sign. The model release gives the school the right to use the photo however we choose. For example, we may use it in the recruiting materials or on a billboard.” 

Here is where it falls apart 

“You won’t see your photo published just anywhere. You will not see it somewhere else on the web. You will only see it in other publications associated with the school. By the way, the teacher doesn’t have to sign this. We already have you sign an agreement that permits us to make these photos without your permission.” 

The model can sign with their finger.

As you can see, the person thought they were helpful, but in talking, they brought up all the reasons they had yet to consider. Then, they helped nail it because the institution was mistreating the professor. Who wants to help a group like that? I wouldn’t. 

Now that you know how to ask for a signature on a model release, what should you use now?

It affects expressions

You’re asking for permission to take a photo and release it, which can help or hurt expressions. Do it right, and you will make everyone feel like this is their special day, treating them like movie stars.

If you do it incorrectly, people will wish you were not there. You are bothering them, and they want you to leave.

You can see this in their expressions–even if they signed the release, they would not be as positive if you did it wrong.

What to use 

 I have used the pocket release, which I modified from the American Society of Media Photographers. Their legal counsel developed forms, and many photographers have used them. Click here for a link to their website, which gives you all you need to know about the model and property release. I put four pocket release forms on a page, printed them one 8.5″ x 11″ card stock, and had them cut into more miniature sheets. Which language should I use? Click here for examples. 

You can then send an email with it attached as a PDF and JPEG

Easy Release App

I got an iPad this past week and have been exploring everything it can do. If you download an App from the App Store, you will be recommended more apps based on what you have already downloaded. I got a recommendation for the Easy Release.

 You don’t need an iPad for this App. You can put it on any smartphone or tablet, whether Android or an iPhone/iPad. The App generates a PDF and a JPEG of the model release. I love this because I can put many of these PDFs into one larger PDF and upload it to my PhotoShelter Image Database. So, the client has a copy of the model releases alongside the photos. When I first started reading, I hoped for a simple release and a way for the person to sign the waiver. However, you can do even more. You can now have the longer verbiage form or modify it to what you and your lawyer deem necessary. You can take a photo with your smartphone or iPad and attach it to the model release. The Easy Release model release has more information than I was gathering earlier. I have a long-form, their information typed (I can now read it), a signature, and a photo of them all in one document I can email to anyone. In some situations, it might be more feasible to pass out forms to a large room of folks to sign than pass around your iPad, but I prefer the final model release of the Easy Release over all others I have ever used before. So, if you are hesitant about getting those releases because it is difficult to remember to carry those forms, they are always with you on your phone or iPad.
 

Robert Giroux is the founder and CEO of Easy Release and a Senior Media Management Systems Specialist at the National Geographic Society. Photographer with over twenty-four years of experience in editorial and commercial shoots whose clients have included Newsweek, Time, AFP, Reuters, and Getty Images, among many others. Over eight years on staff with Getty Images in various roles, including chief photographer and designer of the photo-editing software currently used by their editorial division. Moran Belford is the software developer and consultant at Gis. Belford is a veteran mobile, web, and desktop software developer and founder of Snikkr, Inc.  Here is a PDF of the press release about the software.