Today’s “Storyteller” uses visuals and grabs the audience’s attention.

Are you looking for a staff position in photography? If so, then you have been seeing the same type of requirements I am seeing. Here are a few of the conditions I see in positions:

“Multimedia experience is a plus and should be included in your portfolio.”

“Applicants must be able to write photo captions using Associated Press style.”

“This position will photograph portraits, sports, general news, spot news and features.”

“Responsibility for taking or coordinating free-lance photography, only when necessary, for marketing, media and online/digital communications.”

“Identify and coordinate select images and design or coordinate design on assigned projects in collaboration with department team, assigned student workers, and external vendors as necessary.”

“Coordinate video projects in conjunction with team members, Media Services, and external vendors, with primary responsibility for coordinating script development, environment, needed equipment, direction and guidance to participants, schedules, on-site supervision, editing and production.”

Where are we going in this industry? In my opinion, we are looking for a storyteller. So while you are visiting a long list of skills that are adding to the traditional positions, what isn’t changing is the need for a storyteller.

From Wikipedia:

Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values. Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view.

Traditionally, oral stories were committed to memory and then passed from generation to generation. However, in Western, literate societies, written and televised media has largely surpassed this method of communicating local, family and cultural histories.

I think today, what is necessary for your portfolio is examples of great stories. Do you have these in your portfolio? Of course, a single image can tell a story, but companies are looking for someone who can command the public’s attention.

Those professionals who can consistently tell stories and demonstrate they create a following are rising to the top of the industry.

These are my top 5 ways to improve your portfolio:

1. Find stories that have strong emotional pull. Visuals are their strongest when conveying emotions.
2. Have single images that tell the story. This shows you can tell a story in limited space.
3. Have a series of pictures that help tell a story. This will demonstrate you can capture variety of moments that together tell a strong story.
4. Create a package that includes audio. I think the strongest audio is the human voice. The first person narrative is by far, in my opinion, the highest impact of all. I think this is why Jesus asked his followers to be “witnesses.”
5. Keep your “Audio/Visual Story” less than 3 minutes. All the research shows that the public will watch 2 – 3 minute packages, but to be longer it requires an extremely compelling story and storyteller.

I just got to spend two days with some of the coolest experts on marketing. Here are some of the folks I met and links to their works.

After hearing a few of the speakers there were some conflicts, but the past couple of days was very mind stretching.  These would not have been people I would normally sought out to listen to and this is one of the reasons I love what I do.  People pay me to cover their events where I get the added bonus of hearing people outside my normal interests that stretch me.

Julie Ask made the statement that mobile is quickly becoming a major player in the market.  At this point only about 23% of phone users are using their smart phones for most of their computer needs.  She sees this number growing.

Aiden Tracey showed where the technology introduction moments changed how we do marketing and business.  This graph he used here shows when radio, TV, Cable and the web all were introduced and the resulting impact.

All the speakers were addressing the idea that we no longer live in a commodities market.  We live in a experiential market.  While some even talked about how the entire Walt Disney World is an experience and not so much a commodity they pointed to more and more things that today drive higher sales growth are linked directly to an experience the company provides.  A good example of this is Starbucks.  One presenter commented that he heard the CEO of Maxwell house just say how nothing knew had happened to coffee in the last 15 years.  The CEO was still thinking about the commodity of the coffee itself and not the experience that Starbucks had done to the industry.

Take what your company does that ends in ING and make a list of it.  Things like roast-ing, or cook-ing and then think of new words that you have not even thought about your company and make up a new word with ING.  I might write photographing, capturing and things related to taking pictures.  Then I would create new words like “storying,” “vizwording,” and so on.  This is how I see myself helping folks tell their stories by combining words and visuals.

If you want to be the next Starbucks, Google, or Facebook business success–study them and you will discover they are all creating experiences and not just a commodity.  What kind of an experience are you creating for your customers?

Pam Goldsmith, world renowned violist [Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 5600, ƒ/4.5, 1/125]

T J Fischer, Bravo Company Commander, talks with some of his staff during a light moment when Knobs are checking in at The Citadel on the first day.

From Wikipedia: Street photography is a type of documentary photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places such as streets, parks, beaches, malls, political conventions and other settings.

Street photography uses the techniques of straight photography in that it shows a pure vision of something, like holding up a mirror to society. Street photography often tends to be ironic and can be distanced from its subject matter, and often concentrates on a single human moment, caught at a decisive or poignant moment. On the other hand, much street photography takes the opposite approach and provides a very literal and extremely personal rendering of the subject matter, giving the audience a more visceral experience of walks of life they might only be passingly familiar with.

 

The “Red Sash” is what the Cadre wear at the Citadel.  Cadre members are cadets who train the incoming fourth-class cadets and are considered to be in high standing academically and militarily.

I love “Street Photography” because you are just capturing those moments when people are so caught up in doing life they forget about you. The best photos I find is when people are with their closest friends and family.

One of the places I have enjoyed shooting the most has been The Citadel these past four years.  Our son graduated in May, but we were vacationing nearby in Isle of Palms and went by for Matriculation Day. Dorie, my wife, enjoys volunteering.

Alpha parents wait with their Knobs things as they check in with the Cadre.  The light blue shirt is for those Citadel parents who are volunteering.  Their cadets have already been through their Knob year.

The volunteers are parents of current and former cadets at The Citadel. They remember so well dropping their sons and daughters off for that first time. The Knobs, what the call the freshmen at The Citadel, will go through right away what they call “Hell Week.”  As compared to the other service academies The Citadel “fourth class system” is longer than all the others.

Sue Reigerix talks with her daughter Rachelle Reigerix, Athletic Cadre Commander, on Matriculation Day 2011 at The Citadel.

Now with a graduate I can see much better with my 20/20 hindsight. I believe that the higher the commitment of anything a person does, the more involved their friends and family become with them in their endeavor.

We are now into the next stage of being the family of a military officer. Already I am seeing how families all bond in ways that graduates that go into civilian life just don’t experience in the same way.

Knob is checking in for the first time.  I love seeing the eyes look around.  He will soon learn to do this using peripheral vision.

While street photography for me is fun the photos reveal more about folks than I ever thought possible.  I think in these few photos you see a bit of life in just a few frames.

My favorite thing is also sharing these moments with those in the photos.

Remember to get these “Street Photography” images, you have to have your camera with you. The photo that got away is the time you don’t have your camera.

You need to understand what you need for each category over a year.

Knowing the costs of doing business is step two of learning how to quote a price to someone when they ask you, “How much do you charge?”

In step one, you should have devised an annual figure for your living expenses in step one. For example, if you live in a gated community and drive a premium vehicle, you can see that what you have to charge to pay your bills will impact your prices for your clients.

The other extreme I often encounter when teaching folks how to figure their prices is if they are in college or live at home. If they use their actual expenses for their annual salary, they will have to live with Mommy and Daddy for the rest of their lives. If you are one of these folks, then take some time and research what it would cost you to be alone. A few things will significantly change for those under 25 if they are alone and not with their parents.

1. Housing costs
2. Car Insurance
3. Health Insurance

These three items will be much more expensive if you do this alone.

I suggest going to the NPPA website and plugging in your figures. However, there is a better reason to go to the website than just using it as a calculator. Beside each item, there is an i-button. You have to be a member these days to access this calculator.

• Telephone
• Utilities
• Internet Connection
• Auto expenses
• Computer

Adjust your home budget.
You will need to revisit your “Annual Salary” and most likely realize you can now take home less for your home budget because some of this shifted to your “Business Expenses.”  Revisiting your budget items will slightly affect the rates that you must charge.
 
A little guessing
Determining the average job or assignment you will do with your business would be best. I found this difficult, but you can change this later if needed. It is the most challenging thing to approximate for several reasons. For example, I might do some photo shoots in a year.

• Headshots
• College Recruiting
• Corporate events
• NGO editorial coverage
• Magazine features
• News coverage for wire service

The prices for each of these are different for various reasons. First, they don’t all take the same amount of time. But, more importantly, I am an expert in some of these, and my competitors cannot compete head-to-head with me with all my clients.

The basic idea is that once you have figured out how many of these assignments you will do a year, you will guess what an average job entails. Next, take the same list and indicate how many you will do in a year. Besides that, how long does it take you, on average, to complete the work?

• Headshots (100) x [2 hours] = 200
• College recruiting (15) x [20 hours] = 300
• Corporate events (12) x [20 hours] = 240
• NGO editorial coverage (10) x [30 hours] = 300
• Magazine features (15) x [8 hours] = 120
• News coverage for wire service (20) x [3 hours] = 60

Total “billable” hours a year of 1220 divided by 8 hours a day gives you 152.5 days of “billable” time.

Now, this is a figure when you are starting maybe 30 days that you can find work in a year.

RED ALERT!!!

You will need to assume that you either 1) have saved enough money to offset your lack of jobs until you get enough jobs or 2) have another job.

A successful photographer will likely have around 100 “billable days” of work in a year.
Using the 152.5 days of work a year will give you a $ 589.18-day rate if you use the default numbers in the NPPA calculator–DON’T DO THIS–use your numbers. For illustration, this would give you a $73.65 per “AVERAGE” hour rate that you “MUST” charge at the minimum, or your business model will be upside down.

I say average because, on some jobs, you can charge more since you might have little or no competition or the going rates in the market allow for a higher rate.

Don’t Quote Hourly Rates
This exercise is to help you know your costs, not to give you the rate to quote.
 
Combine it all
Now that you know your “Cost of doing business,” you will combine this with actual expenses associated with a job. Here are some of those expenses you will add to your base:

1. Travel Expenses
2. Prints/CDs/Online Fees
3. Shipping Costs
4. Photo assistants
5. Makeup artists
6. Food costs (snacks for day-long shoots, for example)

These expenses are not an exhaustive list, but this will go on top of your $589.18 if it is a day-long shoot.

Usage Fees
I discussed how to calculate these earlier, and this will go on top of the $589.18 plus expenses that will give you some idea of what to quote.

Trade-outs
While you have everything to quote a job and are ready, some things are negotiable.   For example, if a client gives you 50 copies of the coffee table book you did for their organization, you could trade this out for a lower price because you can now offset some advertising costs. You can then give these books to potential customers, helping you land a new client.

I know some photographers who trade out the retail value of their services, say with a restaurant. They give them $2,000 worth of photography for $2,000 worth of food. It is a win-win because the business costs maybe $1,000 for the photographer and only $1,000 for the restaurant. The photographer takes potential clients out for dinner at the fine dining restaurant, and it helps them seal the deal. The photographer just saved $1,000 in expenses for overhead.

Summary
If you know these figures, you will feel confident that you can pay your bills doing the job when quoting prices. You also will feel that you did the right thing when they offer you less than your rates for a job and you turn them down. Finally, once you have the numbers, you can still be creative to develop solutions that make you the right fit for a job.

Image size is somewhere in your camera menu.  This is how it looks on my D3.  Do not pick this setting.

I am working on a project for a non-profit where I will be putting some 25 – 20″x30″ prints on display at their offices.  Most of these will be from images I did for them, but some we were hoping to use would come from volunteers who have been to different countries for them.

I went to their offices today and spent an hour or so going through folders of images.  90% of all the images were unusable.  They were not usable because they were too small.  They were only big enough for Facebook or a small website image.  Most of the images when blown up to 100% would fit in this blog here.

Those size files are big enough to make an acceptable 4″x6″ print. 

Always pick the largest size image.

If you pick the largest size you will not be able to shoot as many photos on a memory card.  The good news is the memory card is so cheap today you can carry many cards in your wallet.

If you pick the largest size you now can make prints and large prints with today’s digital cameras.

You can always downsize the images for your Facebook or to email someone, but you cannot take the small image and make a large print.

This is the same as setting your camera to take color or black and white photos.  Why shoot it in black and white?  You can do that later with your Lightroom or Photoshop.  You can’t go back and make it color.

Keep your options open and shoot your images on the highest quality setting for your camera.  Since each camera is different on how to do this, pull your camera manual out or Google your camera model and how to set the quality of the images. 

By the way all those wonderful shots of Kenya, Guatemala and Brazil are not usable for the exhibit.  Be sure your photos are always considered for usage, by being sure your images are the largest size possible for your camera.

Is this what your Skype setup looks for your interview?

A series of experiments by Princeton psychologists reveal that all it takes is a tenth of a second to form an impression of a stranger from their face, and that longer exposures don’t significantly alter those impressions.  Yikes.

In this amount of time you haven’t had a chance to even say your name.  That first impression is primarily a visual impression and this is why I think I can help you.

I suggest going to a hair stylist and getting the best style you can for your features.  Maybe find a stylist to help you with your wardrobe.  Remember you only have tenth of a second to impress.

Simplify the backround and add some lights to either side of the monitor and for those of us older folks, I would add a light under you chin as I have done here.  The lower light softens those wrinkles.  You can see television anchors use this light–you just have to look to see it.

I chose white as a background here, you might want to choose blue as a background.  It is used a great deal at press conferences like the White House because it is complimentary to the skin.  The basic idea is the clean up that background of clutter.

The cool thing about a Skype interview is you can have your notes on the screen to read just like a teleprompter and keep your eyes engaged with the audience.  Don’t use notes that you have to look down or away from the computer screen.  You want to engage your audience.

Here is a good typical set up of lights.  You can just use a household lamp on either side. To get the light effect under your chin you can just use white card board that you can buy anywhere to lay on the table to bounce the light up.

The benefit from using the additional lights is if you wear glasses this can actually cut down on the reflection of the monitor in your glasses.  The brighter you make those lights on the side the more the reflection of the monitor will disappear.

Most of today’s new computers have pretty good microphones and cameras built in.  As long as you are sitting close to the monitor you should sound good.  Test it out.  If your friend has trouble hearing you, then go and buy a small microphone.

Be sure you wipe off any dirt or smudges from your camera lens.

To be really sure you make a great first impression–don’t do what I did in these photos and not smile.  Smile a lot.  Practice a few times with your friends.

Share your screen

Another cool thing about Skype is you canshare your computer screen instead of them seeing just you.  This is great if you want to show something on your computer to them.

Remember while you need to practice with some friends and smooth out your presentation, it is still the tenth of the first second they will make a lot of judgement just on how you look.