Nobody else will if you can’t identify what makes your story unique and exciting.

• Who is driving the story? What is it about? Who is affected? Who benefits? Who loses?
• What has happened? What are the consequences? What does this mean for the reader?
• Where is this happening (building, neighborhood, city, country)? Where should readers go to learn more?
• When did it happen (time of day, day, month, year)? When was the last update? When can you expect to learn more? When will the effects be felt?
• Why did this event take place? Why is this important in the big picture? Why should readers care?

Storytelling is Key

While you can have all the answers to the 5 Ws and have all the visuals from the close-up, the medium, and the wide overall photos to tell the story, you need a way to engage the audience and weave the parts into a coherent storyline.

Stories are either a 1) Drama or 2) Tragedy. There is always a tension for which everything pivots around.

When the storyteller starts with a kidnapping event, the tension is established right away, and the question of if this is a tragedy or drama is what hooks the audience to stay on the edge of their seats for the ending.

Businesses often fail in telling their story

Most businesses put most of their money into events like groundbreaking, award banquets, kickoff events, and other celebrations.

Imagine Star Wars starting the story with the celebration of the victory. Imagine any movie beginning with the ending, but this is what most businesses do with their Public Relations.

Either Or?

Am I proposing that instead of celebration events, you do storytelling instead? No. I suggest that storytelling be a priority so that the celebrations improve. Why do we celebrate? We had to overcome a great deal to get to this point. Tell that story, so everyone knows what brought you to the point of the celebration.

Invite your Audience to the Game

Do you think people would show up just for the trophy presentation? No. People want to see the game. They want to see and experience the tension of overcoming obstacles to win the game.

What is your play of the game for your business this year???

Hire a professional storyteller to tell your story. Most of your audience isn’t present while you play your game. They will need the storyteller the next day to pull the highlights and the gameplay to tell your story.

Establish the crisis that your business provides the solution to.

How to Fight The Coffee Borer Beetle

1. Regularly inspect your crops for signs of infestation. …
2. Immediately separate all infected samples and cherries. …
3. Use pesticides (organic farmers may also be able to find appropriate pesticides).
4. Use traps.

Are you telling compelling stories, or are you killing the saga by starting with the ending by only celebrating with events? My suggestion is to do both. Tell your story and celebrate those milestones.

Today many are Gig Workers. They are self-employed and work for many clients, unlike employees with one boss.

Gig mind setters are constant learners — they self-manage, take spontaneous initiative, focus on skills more than roles, feel free to shortcut processes, and don’t hesitate to question the status quo. They share what they learn with others, take ownership of their personal growth, and feel confident in their ability to influence people.

The Gig Mindset includes a level of loyalty to the organization and not the process. It is a willingness to make things better.

If you are someone who wants to show up and get a To-Do List from someone and execute it, then you need to find employment with a company. Then spend time in that company learning how to develop a Gig Mindset before you become a freelancer.

I think one of the key elements for Gig workers is their ability to develop solutions for their clients.

Creating is not a result of genius, unconscious incubation, or aha! Moments. It results from thinking: a series of mental steps consisting of problem, solution, and repeat.

Complacency is an enemy. “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” is an impossible idiom. No matter what the sales, no matter what the customer satisfaction, there is always something to fix.

“Most Gig Workers can do a job, but few can conceive one.” 

– Stanley Leary

The secret of Steve Jobs was that he was never satisfied. He devoted his life to asking, “Why doesn’t it work?” and “What should I change to make it work?”

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have been celebrating Passover, Easter, and Ramadan. All of these are the time for believers to remember. It is a time to hit the pause button on everything that is going on in their lives and focus on the bigger purpose in our lives.

It is just as essential for us to do our work. Each year we should hit the pause button and remember the purpose of our work. I believe people of faith who integrate their faith purpose with their work will be the most successful.

As a Christian, I am reminded of how Jesus stayed laser-focused on his purpose. At the crucifixion, the chief priests—probably both Pharisees and Sadducees—insisted that the sign over Jesus’ head that said “The King of the Jews” should say, “This man claimed to be King of the Jews.”

Throughout scripture, Jesus confronts the religious leaders about their desire to be honored by men, not God. He purposely healed the sick and picked grain on the Sabbath day to counter their extreme views about the Sabbath.

He was focused on his purpose. Jesus hit the pause button and took time to be alone. He prayed.

Martin Luther, best known as a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation, said, “I have so much to do that I shall have to spend the first three hours in prayer.”

C.S. Lewis is often attributed as saying, prayer “doesn’t change God. It changes me.”

As a Gig Worker, I see prayer as necessary for my business. It is a time for me to align my will to God’s will.

I have committed my business to honor God. I firmly believe that this alignment helps with all the ethics of my work and gives me a better sense of purpose.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus said the “leader” is “the one who serves” in the Gospel of Luke 22:24-27.

I spend a lot of time trying to understand my clients and potential client’s business. The core question is, “How can I help them grow their business with their clients?”

I recommend that all Gig Workers hit pause and find their purpose for your business. Start each day in prayer. Be sure your business stays aligned to serving others.

Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, is a reminder to protect the environment, restore damaged ecosystems and live more sustainably. First celebrated in 1970, this year marks its 52nd anniversary.

The April 22 date was selected partly to maximize the number of students reached on university campuses as this date fell between colleges’ spring break and final exams.

10 things you can do now to help the planet

1. Change your lights.
2. Recycle unwanted wire hangers.
3. Fly with an e-ticket.
4. Recycle your old phones.
5. Use your own coffee cup.
6. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth.
7. Go vegetarian once a week.
8. Take shorter showers.
9. Shop at thrift stores, garage sales, second-hand stores, etc…
10. Wash with cold or warm water

How do you connect authentically with people today in a disconnected world?

We are all wired to connect as human beings. During these past two years of social distancing, we have been using technology to help us connect. However, there is still a gap between many of us who do not let us connect authentically.

When we connect authentically, I believe we feel heard and understood and listen to others opening up and sharing with us. We find common ground.

While many of us have seen and even experienced unfollowing or unfriending people due to their views, which make us uncomfortable, we can still find our “Tribe.”

Many of us have found online affinity groups around our hobbies or other subjects that help us feel connections.

We all know how special it is to find your “peeps,” but many of us struggle to understand how to start a relationship with a stranger. If you are in business, your livelihood depends on your ability to create new relationships with strangers. The ability to develop new relationships is how we get “NEW” customers.

We all have heard about “Networking,” but many hate it. I think the reason is that we have never learned how to do it effectively.

One of the best ways to network was what we did for the first years of our lives–go to school. What that did for us was put us together with other people our age who needed to learn similar content to develop into working adults.

Many of our closest friends are from a forced networking event–called school. During those years, we spent time together, and through our conversations and even class activities, we formed social networks. We would play sports, join clubs, and hang out with those with similar interests in our age groups.

If you own a business, encourage your people to be involved in the community. You have to meet people first before any relationship can begin.

Teach your people to be curious. One of the most incredible things you can teach your team is how to ask questions to get to know others. Just as important is for each person to understand their own stories and interests.

Hands down, the best skill and job was as a photojournalist. I had to introduce myself and get to know people so that I could share their stories. I learned not to ask who, what, where, when, how, and why questions. But to ask questions that ask people to share the struggles that helped make them who they are today.

The best part of interviewing people for a journalist is that the focus is on the other person, not you. What I found is that doing this was helping me to connect in ways that took years to do with my friends through school. It was being intentional that was the difference.

Getting to know someone will help you connect and also build trust with the person.

Moving from acquaintances to friends means having a connection to their past, present, and, even more, their future. What do you like to do? Let’s plan some time together to do something fun.

In sales, you connect when you know how to improve their lives. You will often discover that the service you do for work isn’t something they need or would benefit from. That is OK; you have a friend.

Keeping friends, even if they are not someone you can sell to, is essential. Sometimes they can help you, or it would be just as good if what they do could help another one of your friends.

Keep repeating that last paragraph. It is the key to those who understand the power of genuine connection. Don’t be shortsighted as so many have become in business. Those thinking about the next 30 to 90 days do not flourish like those who think about a lifetime.

“The social brain hypothesis predicts that humans have an average of about 150 relationships at any given time,” according to a research study. “Within this 150, there are layers of friends of an ego, where the number of friends in a layer increases as the emotional closeness decreases.”

Most of us do not reach our potential in the number of relationships we can maintain.

“Connection is why we’re here. We are hardwired to connect with others, it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives, and without it there is suffering.”

― Brené Brown

When you take pictures for a living, the reasons to upgrade might be different than for the hobbyist. I mention this first because the first thing I consider before even thinking about the other reasons is, “will I be able to recover the investment?”

At one point, I would buy a newer car when I thought I was getting high mileage. This was because the amount of money to keep it running would soon not make sense to pour into the older vehicle.

Today I no longer think this way about cars. They are made to last much longer than when I first started driving. I have 282071 miles on my Toyota Sienna van.

I think more with cameras as I did with my earlier cars. If you keep your Digital Camera too long, it loses value much faster than film cameras. With film cameras, a newer model wasn’t doing all that much different because the film was what was changing every so often. You bought the film for the assignment.

If you are buying the flagship model most of the time, when the next new flagship comes out, your older one has the most excellent resale value. If you wait for every other flagship to upgrade, your camera’s resale value drops even more.

Typically I find that you can expect to sell your older model for about 50% of what you paid for it if you take good care of that camera. I have found that marketing directly to someone locally is where you get the best resale price.

I have found that selling my cameras on eBay was better than going to a camera reseller.

Reason #1

So, I buy a newer model first to get the most for my present camera. I usually have two flagship cameras of the same model. I often have another third camera that is more of a prosumer model. Today I have the Nikon Z6 as my third camera.

When I do an upgrade, I can usually get enough money selling two cameras to cover the cost of one of the newer ones.

Reason #2

Since I have stayed with Nikon for all my cameras I do jobs with; I have sometimes skipped an upgrade because there wasn’t significant value added in the newer model. So, when the Nikon D6 came out, I kept my Nikon D5 cameras until the Nikon Z9.

I will start with the jump from film to digital. I had been shooting film, and scanning 35mm transparencies and the biggest reason I wanted a digital camera was for digital capture. The amount of time I saved on the average job was days. The time to process the film and then scan each image took forever.

Camera	Benefit
Nikon D100 [6 Mp]	Digital Capture main reason
Nikon D2X (12 Mp]	Better resolution
Nikon D3 [12 Mp]	ISO 200 to 6,400 & OK at ISO 12800
Nikon D4 [16 Mp]	ISO 100-12,800 expandable to 204,800
Nikon D5 [20 Mp]	100-102,400ISO Expandable to 3,280,000, Better Video
Nikon Z9 [45.7 Mp]	Silent Shutter, Electronic Shutter 1/32000 to 30 Seconds, ProRes 422 HQ 4:2:2 10-Bit, Built-in Wireless & Built-in GPS

There is a much more significant difference between the D4 and D5 than the D5 to D6. The gains of the D5 over the D4 are the different resolution which makes a big difference, especially if you have to crop a bit. The AF improvements are substantial and worth the upgrade alone.

The High ISO was the only thing that went backward from the D5 to the Z9. Increasing the number of megapixels while keeping everything else constant (sensor size, technology, etc.) will increase noise per pixel but also makes the noise finer grained, which is less objectionable.

Image size (megapixels) doesn’t directly impact noise, but it indirectly affects noise when considering two sensors of the same size. In this case, all things being equal, the larger-megapixel sensor will show more noise as a side-effect of trying to “squeeze” more pixels onto a sensor of similar size. Although showing this in some instances within a camera line, this factor can be challenging to pin down because cameras also often have upgraded sensor or processing technology that effectively manages noise.

Reason #3

Competition is real. There are numerous ways through the years this has impacted the industry.

If other photographers can deliver a better-looking image due to a camera that has cleaner images at higher ISO, the clients who use photographers will notice the difference. You cannot afford to let your equipment leave you behind.

Until the Nikon D3, all my digital cameras were letting me shoot the identical ISOs as film, nothing better for high ISO. However, the biggest game changer in my career was the Nikon D3. I no longer had to light interiors with flash to get acceptable images. So, I could be less disruptive to my clients because I didn’t have to use flash all the time.

Now the cameras after the Nikon D3’s biggest jumps came in the video side for me. Having a headphone jack for audio was huge.

When I went to mirrorless, I first did so with the Fuji X-E2 and X-E3 cameras. What I loved the most about these was the ability to shoot silent at times, and more importantly, I could look through the viewfinder when shooting video. I didn’t have to plug in live view and attach a unique loupe to see the image while filming.

While I tried a few other mirrorless cameras, I couldn’t replace my Nikon D4 and D5 with them. They were slow with focusing and slow with the shutter release.

The Nikon Z9 was the first mirrorless that I didn’t give up anything regarding focusing, the speed of capturing images, and no special extra attachments to video. Since I rarely shot above ISO 15,600, I didn’t lose anything in the high ISO.

Summary

There were many more factors for each camera that I upgraded to or bought to try out. No question that until the Nikon Z9, the Nikon D3 over the previous cameras was the biggest game changer.

Here are some of the upgrades with the Z9 that are worth mentioning here:

• No Shutter: Silent lets me shoot on film sets, during prayer services, and in other places where I need to be quiet. However, the most important thing is when I am behind people, for the first time in my 35+ years when I take a photo, people do not turn around due to the “Clicking Sound.”
• Focus: This not only focuses as well as my Nikon D5 but even more accurately and all over the frame. It has Artificial intelligence to look for people & animals’ eyes, and even cars it will track. One guy summed it up well when just photographing birds in flight. He had gotten more focus and usable images in just a couple of hours than in the past ten years.
• 45 Mp: This is the first high-megapixel camera for me. More megapixels will allow for larger images and cropping that I could have never done before.
• Zero Blackout Viewfinder: With DSLR, the mirror must move, and your camera goes black. With many of the mirrorless cameras, it also will go black due to the computer processor, but the Z9 is like never losing vision of the subject.
• In-built Image Stabilization – Sharper images at longer focal lengths and slow shutter speeds. A big plus with Video
• New mount design: Nikon reworked their mount and came out with new lenses to get better edge-to-edge sharpness. Edge-to-edge sharpness is huge with Video.
• Focus Bracketing – Take multiple photos shifting the focus point
• Focus Stacking – Stacks photos in-camera to maximize depth of field
• Smartphone Remote – Remote control your camera with a smartphone
• Continuous Shooting – 20 fps in RAW & 30 fps in JPEGs or If you don’t mind 11MP JPEGs, the Z9 can even shoot at up to 120fps
• Backward lens compatible – You can use all the lenses in the Nikon lineup with the converter.

My good friend and art director Tony Messano said it “often was the FedEx delivery guy who determined your deadline” before we delivered online.

Only live news is more terrifying for a communication creative.

Throughout my career, there have been a few times where the client came back to the team after a project was started to ask to move the deadline up. Most of the time, the Art Director had to explain to a client that wasn’t possible at this point.

Creatives build a little time into their projects, just like most people in Atlanta traffic leave a little early in case of accidents or some other kind of delay.

Change in Scope of Job

Often I find many clients who believe their job is to get the most out of you as possible. So for photography and video, they say, “While you are here …” The first few times people did this to me, I was caught off guard and didn’t know how to handle those requests.

I have learned to go over all the expectations for a job before I create an estimate. Based on my experience, I know how long and what gear and if I have expertise in something my competition doesn’t have.

One thing I learned is some times; the request will interfere with the ability to complete all the other work they have on the schedule. If this request comes after all the work has been done and they ask for just one more, then I let them know this is beyond the scope of the contract, and I would be more than pleased to accommodate for a price that I give to them for the additional work.

Moving the Deadline Up!

Once the contract is signed and agreed upon, a client can ask to move the deadline up, but they are responsible for the total amount of the contract even if they cannot use the content due to their deadline needing to be moved.

Cancellations & Postponements: Client is responsible for payment of all expenses incurred up to the time Photographer receives actual notification, plus 50 percent of Photographer’s fee. If notice is given less than two business days prior to the shoot date, Client will pay 100 percent of the fee. Unless otherwise agreed, Client will pay 100 percent of the fee for Weather Delays on location or 50 percent of the fee if postponement occurs prior to departure. Client will be charged 100% of fee and expenses for any reshoots required by the client. For reshoots required by an act of God or fault of third party client will pay all additional expenses.

This is pretty much a boilerplate for contracts. These are my terms for projects.

Possible Responses

Say No! This is the oldest response, but you must say this if it isn’t possible. You cannot run a business by overworking yourself or others on your team.

Compromise if you can. Always start with no, and if there is pushback and you could do this without taxing yourself or your team, then look for a way to compromise. For most creatives, the biggest obstacle is a drop in quality. While the client may be OK with it, don’t do it if you cannot afford others to see this and know you did the work. Often the best way to push back is to charge rush fees. These fees are reasonable because you constantly have to work overtime or put other clients’ projects off to complete this one.

Fast Tracking a Project. This is quite different than just cramming the project through; this is often where you hire temporary people to help with the project. Again, this is where you tell the client you can make it happen, but to do so, there are extra expenses to make it work. This is more than a RUSH fee. You are charging for additional resources to make it happen.

The Movie of Unrealistic Expectations

This clip shows how Adam Neumann of WeWork was not running a realistic business model. This clip sums up how his expectations didn’t match what was possible in the timeframe he was trying to grow WeWork. His personality reminded me of many of those problem clients I have had who didn’t understand what they were asking.

[NIKON Z 9, VR 24-105mm f/4G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 25600, 1/40, ƒ/5, (35mm = 38) Flash Fire = no flash]

I think, for now, my solution for shooting with my Nikon Z9 when I need the high ISO is to use the DXO PureRAW 2.

My Nikon Z9 setting is worth noting for this ball taking place on top of a roof in downtown Atlanta after sunset.

• Aperture Priority
• Auto ISO with 64 – 25600
• Auto ISO with Shutter at 1/250
• Godox V860IIN with Magmod Sphere on TTL
• Sigma 24-105mm ƒ/4 Art
• Sigma 35mm ƒ/1.4 Art

Click on photos Below to see larger photo

I would shoot with a different lens, but most of the time, I was shooting with the 24-105mm with the flash.

Due to my decision to use the DXO PureRAW 2 after the shoot, I would have done one thing differently. I shot everything in the Lossy Compressed ( HE* / HE ). I should have shot in the Lossless Compressed. Here is a chart from Walter Rowe that shows what software is presently supported with the Nikon Z9 files.

Image Editing Software:

Package​	Lossless Compressed​	Lossy Compressed ( HE* / HE )​
Nikon NX Studio​	optimized support​	optimized support​
Adobe Camera Raw 14.2 (PS/LR) Adobe Photoshop Elements 2022​	preliminary (not optimized) preliminary (not optimized)​	preliminary (not optimized) preliminary (not optimized)​
Capture One 22 (15.1)​	optimized support​	no support​
DxO PhotoLab DxO PureRaw​	coming in DxO 5.2 available in PureRaw 2​	no support no support​
ON1 Photo RAW​	no support​	no support​
DarkTable​	no support​	no support​
RawTherapee​	no support​	no support​
ACDSee Update 2022.1​	supported (no details)​	supported (no details)​

Image Viewing Software:

Package​	Lossless Compressed​	Lossy Compressed ( HE* / HE )​
Photo Mechanic 6​	reads embedded previews​	reads embedded previews​
FastRawViewer​	supported​	not supported​
Windows Explorer​	no support​	no support​
macOS Finder​	no support​	no support​

So here are the steps that I took to process some 800+ images.

• Ingest all images using Photo Mechanic Plus – All the NEF images put into a RAW folder and renamed images {year4}-{month0}-{day0}_{hour24}-{minute}-{second}
• Culling of the images – Tagged the ones to keep and then selected all the untagged images in Photo Mechanic and deleted them
• Ingest into Lightroom – Copied as DNG from the RAW folder to a DNG folder [took a while to convert 800 to DNG]
• Process with DxO PureRAW 2 – Put them inside the DNG in a DXO folder [Took about 6 hours to process with Macbook Pro 16″ Apple M1 Max & 32 gig RAM]
  • DxO DeepPRIME – Demosaicing and denoising
  • DxO Optics Modules – Improvements to sharpness & Corrections to distortions, vignetting, and aberrations
• Imported back into Lightroom from the DXO folder and processed. No sharpening or denoising using light room. Just some exposure and color corrections

Why ISO 25600?

I didn’t want a black background. I wanted to show the context of their event at the Ponce City Market Roof Top.

Summary

I can’t wait till DxO PureRAW 2 will support the High-Efficiency RAW files. However, I am looking forward to when Adobe Lightroom optimizes the Nikon Z9 files.

Until then, if I am shooting over 10000 ISO, I will try to remember to shoot Lossless Compressed, and then I don’t have to convert to DNG, saving a great deal of time.

I now love the Z9 even more that my files have little noise at ISO 25600.

We know that nonverbal communication is the most powerful way to communicate because it is the type of communication we use the most daily. 

Much research has been done using eye-tracking technology to see how people react to websites, newspapers, and television. Those research projects consistently show how visuals that do more than just window dressing communicate more quickly and effectively than words alone.

We must spend years learning to read and write a language, but we need no training to understand a photograph.

There can be no words without images.

— Aristotle

More than any other technological innovation, computers are responsible for the explosion in images. Today, 20 percent of the U.S. population can use a computer. But 80 percent of school-age children have learned to become computer literate. By the turn of the century, Sculley predicts that 98 percent of all the words and pictures created in the world will be computer mediated. By that time, virtual reality — the ultimate fusion of computer and television technologies in which viewers become active users of the medium — will be inexpensive and accessible.
Educational psychologist Jerome Bruner of New York University cites studies that show persons only remember ten percent of what they hear, 30 percent of what they read, but about 80 percent of what they see and do. When all members of society whether at home, in school and on the job learn to use computers for word and picture processing, the switch will be made from passive watching to active using. There will no longer be the barrier between the two symbolic structures. Words and pictures will become one, powerful and memorable mode of communication.

— Professor Paul Martin Lester, Ph.D., Department of Communications, California State University

Visual forms of communication grab the attention of today’s audiences. Graphic representations such as diagrams, charts, tables, illustrations, and photographs not only catch the eye; they draw the viewer into the presented information.

Corporate communication departments that took advantage of this visual revolution early on are today’s leaders in the communication field. They saw this “explosion in images” coming and jumped aboard.
Endless, long blocks of type spreading across pages are rarely read. Early editors discovered a visual tool that cured this ill… they broke the copy into short, more manageable paragraphs that didn’t intimidate or bore their audience.

Today, many no longer read traditional texts. Just taking brochures from the past and posting them on the web will not get the message out.

Okay, if it’s true that professional use of visuals will improve communication, and if expertise in this area seems like a foreign language… what then?

We’d probably take classes to learn a foreign language, so to become proficient in using visuals, perhaps we should study art, photography, or theater at the local community college. This is one way to learn how the masters in these fields used visuals. Mr. Bean was a British comedy television series starring Rowan Atkinson. Bean, an almost silent character, used physical comedy to entertain. The series did well internationally because words were not crucial to the show’s success.

Instead of brainstorming, an idea tries playing a game of Charades to express what needs to be communicated about that idea—the game forces thinking in visual terms. Pictionary is a board game where teams try to guess specific words from their teammates’ drawings. More than Charades, Pictionary requires forming mental pictures. Both games provide a fun way to practice visualization.

Here are Ten Tips to consider when thinking about using images:

1. Humanize – Illustrate how products affect people. For example, to show how small something is, put it in someone’s hand rather than using a ruler. If something improves lives – show it by doing just that. Today the trend is to use a more photojournalistic approach or, at least, to make it look like a photojournalist. To ensure genuine expressions, give it enough time, and it can become real.
2. Good Lighting – Sometimes, the natural light is perfect. Cut the flash off and use a higher ISO for the available light. Remember that whatever has the most light will become the main subject.
3. Try Black & White – Some war photographers feel that color may make even war look pretty. Black and white is an excellent way to focus attention on faces and graphics.
4. Get Closer – Almost any photo will be better closer up.
5. Watch the background – Look around the subject. Be sure nothing is growing out of a head or sticking in from the edge of the frame. Use a shallow depth-of-field like ƒ/2 versus ƒ/16 to make your subject stand out from the background. If the location helps tell the story, increase the depth-of-field by using f16 or f22 or vary the background between fuzzy or sharp.
6. Consider a worm’s eye view or the bird’s eye view – Shoot low or high above the subject. Change the camera’s height to the subject; avoid taking all the photos from standing.
7. Variety – Make plenty of photos from different angles. In addition to zooming, get closer and farther away from the subject. Make wide-angle and close-up photos. Try some without flash, some with direct flash, and some bounced flash.
8. Give it time – Make a few photos, then stop for a few minutes. Let the subject get used to being photographed. After a while, they’ll relax, and great images will happen.
9. Action and posed –Show the subject doing what they do. Let the person do their job and take lots of pictures. Then, pose them for a good portrait, not just a headshot, but an environmental portrait showing their work environment or signage of the place they work in the background or foreground.
10. File Size Matters – You can always downsize an image but can’t do much to upsize the image. Many think they can get more pictures on their SD or CF card by changing the file size, and you can. The problem is that unless you ever plan to use the photo for more than an avatar or profile picture on Facebook, you cannot make prints or use it in printed pieces. Use RAW or at least the highest JPEG at the most refined setting possible for your camera. You might have to find the owner’s manual to do this for your camera.

Many other ways than these can improve visual communication. Like everything worth doing, visual skills come from doing… from practice.

Think about it this way: Who will SEE your message today?

Today we are living in a very polarized society. How we got to this point is of our own doing.

Not everyone, but almost all of us, have succumbed to being lazy at some time, leading to our creation of this situation.

Making choices requires us to distinguish between fact & fiction. What is true and what is false?

When it comes to communication professionals even, we can succumb to mistakes due to limited understanding of information presented to us. We can be concentrating too much or not Enough on Outliers. Factors such as erroneous processes and incorrect data can also lead to outliers. You can expect to come across a variety of outliers when collecting data.

Unfortunately, we are more aware of the term Gaslighting, which describes a person presenting a false narrative to another group or person, which leads them to doubt their perceptions and become misled, disoriented, or distressed.

High-stakes decisions — which can range from starting a business to consummating a joint venture to hiring or firing someone — have something in common: they involve high levels of uncertainty. Due to this anxiety, we look to others for help. This can come at a high cost. In other words, our natural extinct can get us into a lot of trouble.

Anxiety impairs our ability to accurately judge the quality of the advice we receive.

Now add to this the “Imposter Syndrome,” and we have the making of a significant catastrophe.

If you are following my narrative up to this point, this can make you even more anxious. This can lead to Self-Gaslighting. Your feelings matter and are there for a reason. After facing a conflict, you will most likely do two things: dismiss your emotions, and convince yourself you overreacted. When you feel vulnerable, this reaction intensifies.

All this for the communications professionals creating projects to help their brands grow turn to things like Google Analytics. They are going to use the numbers to help drive their decisions.

What is strange to me is how many communications college graduates have forgotten that nonverbal communication is the most powerful way to communicate because it is the type of communication we use the most daily. How do I know that? Because the weakest part of Google Analytics is its ability to track visuals and how impactful they are in communications.

A great deal of research has been done using eye-tracking technology to see how people react to websites, newspapers, and television. Those research projects consistently show how visuals that do more than just window dressing communicate more quickly and effectively than words alone.

However, we do not have that capability with many of the data points we gather today in things like Google Analytics.

The good thing with Google Analytics is it helped researchers get around those focus group questions that often were not the right question being asked.

I watched over and over-focus groups through the years where they asked readers if they liked photos. The strange part was why they would like pictures of disasters like war or a fire that took people’s lives in their community. Seldom did they ask what they learned from those photos or graphic visuals.

You can create better questions and get more information with Focus Groups than Google Analytics. It can help you fill in some of the missing data.

I think those brands that have the resources should commission research where they run tests using eye-tracking technology to help them understand their audiences even better.

Many articles have shown how Facebook has been used to manipulate the audience. Groups and even government campaigns did some of this to mislead people. Some of this has been done by Facebook itself.

One of the most widely reported ways that Social Media companies like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram work to manipulate their audience is to track their users’ movements on their platforms and then use analytics to drive what they see.

The goal for them was to keep you using the platform longer, which then they would use to promote to advertisers to show they had their audience. They could not only do this but also help anyone or company target their “Tribe.”

Summary

It would help if you took control of your decisions. Do not let anxiety have you give up your responsibility to understand something.

When we let fear control our decisions, we are more likely to be led by misinterpreted data or not getting enough data.

Don’t forget that nonverbal communication is the most powerful way to communicate because it is the type of communication we use the most daily. Words are first recognized as visual. We must spend years learning to read to interpret those visuals, but we need no training to understand a photograph.

Any timeframe that cannot easily be rebooked is what can quickly have you upside down in cash flow. Weddings are an excellent example of why a cancellation policy is essential. In short, you should book your wedding photographer after you book your venue to be on the safe side (ideally 12 months before the wedding).

When a wedding is canceled even six months out, there is a good chance in many markets you have already had to turn down many brides and may not book another wedding this close to the date.

Most wedding businesses [caterers, venues, florists, & photographers] will require full payment more than two weeks before weddings. Believe it or not, many weddings never happen at the last minute or even through the honeymoon.

Clearing checks take approximately two to five business days or longer for more significant amounts. This is why most have a two weeks policy of getting paid early.

Side Note – Knowing that you will turn down other work highlights why you want to be sure your prices are such that if someone books your lowest price, you will still be profitable. Don’t price yourself that if all the clients book your lowest prices, you cannot survive.

Use Some Common Sense

I don’t always enforce my cancellation policy for some reason. Here are just a few things I consider:

• Regular Client – If this client gives me a lot of work, I will often not enforce my cancellation policy. HOWEVER, if this becomes habitual, I implement it to keep them from abusing me and hurting my business.
• Can be rescheduled – If rescheduling works, I would potentially not enforce the cancellation policy.
• Compassion – If the customer has a legitimate family emergency, you may want to work with them instead of creating more problems.
• Salvage the Relationship – “We typically charge a $____ cancellation fee, but we value your business so that we can waive it this time. Would you like to reschedule?” It’s a good faith gesture that could lead to future appointments—being flexible with a new client and one that could turn into a more significant client.
• Applying Cancellation Fees to Future Jobs – This could help build a long-term relationship even though things started rocky.

When a client books you for a timeframe, you will be turning away any work from others that need you during this same time.

The type of work they are booking you for should factor into the policy you adopt for your contracts.

Don’t respond right away!!!!

Give yourself time to think and do some research. If you must respond in some way because they called you, say that you were busy with something else when they called and need a moment. Tell them you will call back later.

My Cancellation Policy:

Cancellations & Postponements: Client is responsible for payment of all expenses incurred up to the time Photographer receives actual notification, plus 50 percent of Photographer’s fee. If notice is given less than two business days prior to the shoot date, Client will pay 100 percent of the fee. Unless otherwise agreed, Client will pay 100 percent of the fee for Weather Delays on location or 50 percent of the fee if postponement occurs prior to departure. Client will be charged 100% of fee and expenses for any reshoots required by the client. For reshoots required by an act of God or fault of third party client will pay all additional expenses.

A client booked me for a few days, and they called to cancel. They were hoping I would wave my cancelation fee but said if not, how about just coming for one of the days.

To make this simple for illustration, you have a 2-day project they cancel a week ahead of the event. With the contract, they owe you 50%. If they ask you to cut your time in half, you will charge them the total rate for the entire day and 50% for the day you didn’t shoot.

Phone A Friend

The conversation is a powerful coping tool. Phone-a-Friend is a lifeline in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Game. For the same reason, contestants call a friend for help for the game is why you should bounce off your ideas and have someone who will give you an honest response on how it makes them feel is not just a good idea, but I highly recommend.

Avoid writing your response and instead, call if possible. When it comes to texting vs. calling, new research finds that calling wins if your goal is to connect with someone in a meaningful way. Because text messaging cannot accurately convey tone, emotion, facial expressions, gestures, body language, eye contact, oral speech, or face-to-face conversation, messages will likely be misinterpreted or misunderstood. The real meaning of your message gets lost through the medium.

Summary

Always have a written contract with your jobs. Without the contract, you cannot have an enforceable cancellation policy.

Be sure your cancellation policy is reasonable for the type of work. Best to be confident in your industry that this is what many others are doing.

Be flexible if necessary and firm if required.

“Never throughout history has a man who lived a life of ease left a name worth remembering.”

– Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

P.J. Fleck, head football coach of the University of Minnesota, shared this quote yesterday talking to a group I was covering.

This made me want to look at more of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt’s quotes. But before I share those, there is one more thing I try to do when I study someone.

I look at their environment and circumstances. Roosevelt lived from 1858 to 1919. That period was challenging to navigate. He is considered one of the top five presidents of the United States.

His mother was Martha Stewart (Bulloch) “Mittie” Roosevelt. She would marry Theodore Roosevelt senior in Roswell, Georgia, where I live now.

If you are like me and everyone else going through this pandemic, you have had to endure some challenges.

“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”

– Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

Every time I get a new camera or piece of new gear, I make a lot of mistakes. Just yesterday, I couldn’t get my Nikon Z9 to focus. The problem was I had to have that photo. The keynote speaker and the head of the organization invited him to speak.

I was not just frustrated at the moment but feeling shame. I switched to my Nikon Z6 but had it on the wrong setting and underexposed the photo too much to be usable.

“Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”

– Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

I just kept on pushing myself, and I solved my problem. It was a crisis. What motivated me at the moment was fear. I was so scared about ruining my reputation. I must deliver the photos and the best I can do at that moment.

“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”

– Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

Over the years, I have discovered that while I have an aptitude for the technical, this alone is not enough to succeed. I have found that people need to feel safe with you. They need to trust you. Clients are putting their lives into my hands when they hire me to photograph or video something for them.

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

– Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

While teaching the art of storytelling, I had a revelation. I even said this before I realized how true it is to tell someone’s story.

“Forget the camera right now. See how we are sitting beside each other?” I said to a few students. Then I would move my chair a few feet from them. “Which feels more intimate?” It would help if you started by talking with the person I said. Then it is much easier to start with your wide-angle lens to capture them up close and intimate.

While talking about this concept with a student, I had the “Ah Ha Moment.”

“Talk your way in and then shoot your way out,” was coming out of my mouth. I wish I had thought of saying it this way many years ago.

I explained the benefits of this process.

First, I watched many students spend time shooting, and when they asked for their names, the people didn’t want to help them. If they started talking first, they would have saved a lot of time.

You introduce yourself and tell them you want to make their photos and would they mind.

Second, by taking some time to listen to the person and explore their story, you could look for opportunities that might work much better visually than text alone.

Not talking to someone and shooting before you get their information can have you treating them as objects and not human if you are not careful. Talking to them helps avoid this problem.

Third, now that you have been talking, it is easier to pull out the widest lens and take some photos up close. You are sitting or standing next to them.

Once you have spent some time getting to know someone, it is much easier to build a shot list in your head or write it down if you need.

“I care not what others think of what I do, but I care very much about what I think of what I do! That is character!”

– Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

Your understanding of your purpose is more important than your gear or ability to connect with people. You need to know your gifts and talents. You need to develop those gifts and use them in the service of others.

In this time of turmoil, spend some time in self-reflection.

Coach P.J. Fleck introduced me to another way to think of family. The way to build a family is through this acronym of Family: Forget About Me, I Love You

After understanding more about yourself and your character, then look for how to bless others with your gifts.

My new camera, the Nikon Z9, requires me to read the manual and test it out to discover what it can do to help others tell their stories.

Pink Floyd’s song “Another Brick in the Wall” is a theme about where significant events in life cause us and many other people to detach themselves mentally from the outside world.

Depression occurs in situations where you are so overwhelmed by your thoughts that you can’t relax to process these events.

Some events like a death of a loved one can get us stuck in grief. Grief is personal and individual, and every person experiences its nuances differently. While most of us learn how to live with this grief, I don’t think it has an expiration date.

The past couple of years has been hard on many of my friends. Some have prospered these past couple of years. However, most of my friends have been experiencing untold amounts of grieving.

The first Brick in the Wall in Pink Floyd’s lyrics is about the father leaving his son to go and fight the war. The father dies and leaves him alone.

The second Brick is one where school teachers don’t get to know him and are more about the boy conforming to their rules rather than trying to understand him and help nurture him.

“All in all it’s just another brick in the wall. All in all, you’re just another brick in the wall.”

– Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd’s twist in the lyrics is when those bricks are not just what is happening to you, but you become them.

The power of the song is in the art of storytelling. The listener resonates with the feelings of the storyline. They develop empathy for the story’s hero because the tension of the problem they are dealing with echoes their struggle. They, too, have a brick.

Yesterday I went with a group of photographers to see Minamata. The movie is about photographer W. Eugene Smith who travels to Minamata, Japan, a coastal city ravaged by mercury poisoning in 1971. Ushered by a passionate translator and encouraged by local villagers, Smith’s powerful images expose decades of gross negligence.

“I’ve never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.”

– W. Eugene Smith

His wife, Aileen Mioko Smith, said, “This kind of communication is essential; rather than just hammering facts, you get to know people, your heart is moved—and that’s what creates core change.”

Aileen Mioko Smith said, “We went there at a time when already lots of media had been there, and if anything, patients were burned by people coming in, intruding and shooting for 30 minutes and then leaving, just using them as an assignment.”

Now the most exciting thing about Eugene Smith that is different from most photojournalists today is his commitment to the subject with his time. He would live with his issues for periods.

National Geographic has always understood this was the key to powerful images and storytelling through the years. It takes time.

Bricks are so helpful in a building. In the story of the three little pigs, we realize the house made of bricks is the one the wolf could not blow down.

I see many of these Brick Events in my life as what brought on depression. In some ways, depression enhances your life and improves your functionality. For example, I find depression to give me insights that help deepen relationships.

Most everyone will have Life Events or, as Pink Floyd describes, Bricks. Those who can help us see these events in perspective are the storytellers. They are the mortar that allows us to construct those events into a foundation, for which more bricks can be added.

Every story has a brick, or as Joseph Campbell, author of the Hero’s Journey, put it, a crisis/tension that people cannot solve alone. The hero departs on a journey that, when completed, will be different.

The best storytellers are the ones that do the best job of introducing the character and the problem that they are dealing with in the story. In the movie I saw of Eugene Smith, he realized he had to spend the time to get to know the people of Minamata. At the turning point in the film, Smith becomes the mentor to the people of Minamata. He does this by asking them to let him photograph very intimate moments in their lives so that the world will understand their plight with mercury poisoning.

Ah Ha Moment!

Not long ago, I realized that my degree in Social Work and my work as a Photojournalist were similar. As a counselor, you spend a lot of time getting to know someone. You use the technique of mirroring.

The skill and art of this seemingly simple strategy of mirroring lies in being fully present to hear what has been said and in being able to take on the perspective of the other so that you can pull out the underlying theme from what is sometimes a long, rambling, almost incoherent speech where fleeting, free-floating ideas are being put into words.

I found that the mirroring process in counseling was me hearing their story and then repeating it, but in a more concise way than they had delivered it to see if I truly understood their plight.

As a journalist, I was doing the same thing and listening to and clarifying their story. The power of the photograph and video I use today is their ability to pull an audience into the story powerfully and authentically.

My joy comes from being able to do like Eugene Smith and help a person or an organization to tell their story more effectively using my visual storytelling skills.

Eugene Smith knew that the audience needed to see the hero of a story dealing with their conflict.

I resonate with Eugene Smith’s words, “The first word I would strike from the annals of journalism is the word objective. I think you need to understand the subjects, not worry about losing your objectivity, and side with them if you get close. It was about understanding their reality and what they were really like.”

I think Eugene Smith was an advocate of using the principles in photojournalism.

“The journalistic photographer can have no other than a personal approach, and he can’t be completely objective. Honest—yes. Objective—no.”

– W. Eugene Smith