Pastor Rodrigo Cisternas is studying at his church in Santiago, Chile. [NIKON Z 6, VR Zoom 24-105mm f/4G IF-ED, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 5600, 1/100, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 68)]

This past June, I was working in Santiago, Chile. I was helping lead a workshop of storytellers. I was focused on those stories and had no idea about the kettle ready to explode.

On October 14th of this year, the protests in Santiago started.

Chile’s most diehard protesters may be young, but their grievances possess a long lineage, one decade in the making. Back in 2007, the government made it possible for more to get loans to go to college.

The problem is that many who graduated have massive student loan debts and lousy, low-paid jobs. The issue that is very evident today is a significant inequality gap that education didn’t help solve.

I fear what is happening in Chile can happen here in the USA.

In Chile, privatizing health care and education has led to more choices and greater access, but it also left the poor and middle class saddled with mounting debt. Chile’s cost of living has become increasingly expensive while wages have remained low.

The more you read about the unrest, the more you can see their storyline in ours.

George Washington’s chair for the Federal Conventions had a sun on it. James Madison reported Benjamin Franklin saying, “I have often looked at that behind the president without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting. But now I… know that it is a rising…sun.”

There is a scripture that says something similar about unrest.

Deuteronomy 28:67

“In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see.”

This week we need to remind ourselves of how blessed we are even amid unrest.

First Thanksgiving

At the first Thanksgiving, colonists were likely outnumbered by more than two to one by their Native American guests. Colonist Edward Winslow writes: “many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men.”  The preceding winter had been a harsh one for the colonists. Seventy-eight percent of the women who had traveled on the Mayflower had perished that winter, leaving only around 50 colonists to attend the first Thanksgiving. According to eyewitness accounts, among the pilgrims, there were 22 men, just four women, and over 25 children and teenagers. 

Philippians 4:6

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

I believe the whole concept of hope is born out of those who seem to have much unrest.

Every Cloud has a Silver Lining

The phrase seems to be John Milton’s 1634 poem “Comus,” which includes the line, “Was I deceived? or did a sable cloud/Turn forth her silver lining on the night?”

“I have always found that actively loving
saves one from a morbid preoccupation
with the shortcomings of society.”

Alan Paton

This is the children’s ward of Hôpital Baptiste Biblique. As you can see the children are precious. You can see the parents taking care of their children while they are healing from their sickness.

Listen to Dr. Tom Kendall, Jr. talk about their needs.

“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.”

Fred Rogers

Last night my wife and I saw the movie staring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”. That quote stood out to me.

As a storyteller I am often just wanting to mention often the unmentionable so that something can be done.

I was first moved in the hospital by the people and quickly was aware of how old the place looked. Don’t you think that 35 years is a long time before upgrading and refreshing a hospital?

Here is a link if you want to help support the hospital as they upgrade and expand to meet the physical and spiritual needs of Togo.

Women cook for their family members who are patients at Hôpital Baptiste Biblique, located in Tsiko, Togo, West Africa.
[NIKON Z 6, Sigma 24.0-105.0 mm f/4.0, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 5000, 1/200, ƒ/4, (35mm = 52)]

I went to West Africa to help tell the story of Hôpital Baptiste Biblique, located in Tsiko, Togo. Built in 1985, they are in desperate need of infrastructure upgrades and need expansion. Today I want to share what they have to develop for the patients and families.

You see, there is no hotel in the area or restaurants. When patients come to the hospital, they need a place to stay, cook and take care of their family members.

When you go to the Hospital here, you get your mother’s cooking or a relative’s cooking because the hospital takes care of the medical care, and the family takes care of laundry, food, and things like bathing the patient.

The first thing that they are doing is adding more space for the patients and their families by creating a hotel with traditional outside kitchens.

They first build four new hotel wings in their renewal and expansion project. They had to do a better job of taking care of the community and putting them first.

Besides adding hotel rooms, they have had to build sewage and an electrical system. They cannot tie into the existing grids because they don’t exist for sewage, and running a hospital where the town’s power goes out almost daily isn’t realistic. They have a generator and system that kicks in when the local power goes out.

When I was there, it went out 2 to 3 times a day, and the generator kicked on after 7 seconds.

It won’t be long before the patients move from this older hotel to the new, improved version.

Here is a link if you want to help support the hospital as they upgrade and expand to meet Togo’s physical and spiritual needs.

The photo above: Mother and her little boy carried in kitenge. They are staying here at the Hôpital Baptiste Biblique in Tsiko, Togo, West Africa.

African Time is when one says they will arrive at a particular time but come much later.

It should be noted that almost every African (on both the leaving and receiving end) does this. So, if one does arrive on “American time,” don’t be surprised if a party is still getting set up, a person is still getting ready, etc.

Most all my frustrations with Africa were from my not allowing for myself to adjust to the way we do things in Africa or as the old saying goes, “When in Rome do as the Romans do.”

How this impacts Humanitarian Storytelling

In the United States, if you plan a project, you email, text, and call people and plan. You put together a schedule so you can make the most of your time when you arrive.

On all my trips to Africa [Burkina Faso, Ghana & Togo], the team I worked with did everything to work with Americans who lived there to plan our itinerary. This last trip reminded me of African Time. Had I been fully aware, I would have designed to take two weeks to accomplish what I usually can achieve in one week in the states.

Now Africa isn’t the only place like this, but for Americans who are punctual and like to have a packed and productive schedule, you might find yourself like me, with little hair left.

Most likely, the host in Africa you will work with is more than willing to help you and will start when you arrive.

I planned trips for a few months with a writer when we went to Burkina Faso.

This is a photo from that meeting where the writer reviewed the plans. This was when they said what possible the next day was. Looking back, I should have noted that this is a common way and not the exception for storytelling coverage by media specialists when they come from another country to Africa.

I arrived in Lome, Togo, on Friday night. They don’t drive in the country on the roads at night because it is just too dangerous. You can hit an animal, and getting help wouldn’t be until daylight.

I stayed at a hotel in Lome with the plans that we had worked on to leave the following day to drive and arrive to meet with a team that afternoon to plan.

Well, I found out at the airport the night before that they had to wait and pick up more people later that afternoon. No communication to me or the rest of the team that this was happening.

In Africa, this is “normal” behavior, whereas, in the USA, we would check with the guests before making plans for them without involving them in the process.

It took us four days to locate Faro Faro Agoda, one of our subjects, for the story. I didn’t know until he arrived that he had driven almost 4 hours to make it for our video interview.

In the area of Africa where I went, there are over 43 languages. This impacted everything you do. While you think you are clear and the person you are talking to might understand, by the time your thoughts are translated through who knows how many different languages, the message can become quite different to the intended audience.

In the movie The Wizard of Oz, in which Dorothy, upon arriving in Oz, says, “Toto, I have a feeling we‘re not in Kansas anymore.” This is how one often feels when they forget there is a cultural difference to working in another country.

Preplanning

You can still make plans before going to Africa. They will tell you a good time to come and can tell you most of the time if the people you need for the project will be in the country. As always in life, you still need to be flexible for those things outside your host’s control. Accidents can happen, and even family crises take people away.

You can still communicate your plans for the project and get as much as a possible agreement before you go.

I would suggest making most of your time to get the people to agree to a schedule before buying your airfare and booking your hotels. You can find out this way if they tell you everyone is OK with the program.

Boots on the Ground

When you arrive, you must have planned your first meeting to go over everything you have been planning in person.

From my experience, everything you are used to doing in the States will take twice as long or longer to do in Africa. This is the culture; you must learn to work with it and not fight it.

Bottom Line

With Humanitarian work, you are often in a different country and working with a different culture. You must learn to be flexible and able to go with the flow.

It would help if you still got the storyline no matter where you are to tell a story. Continue to be persistent and ask for what you need. Just give them time to respond.

Disclaimer: I am not getting any money from TripLog and I am not affiliated with them at all.

So you need to get the most out of the tax deduction by tracking your mileage. The IRS lets you deduct some of the costs of using a personal vehicle for business purposes. Like you can remove the cost of business expenses such as marketing, you can also deduct your business mileage.

58 cents

Beginning January 1, 2019, the standard mileage rates for using a car (vans, pickups, or panel trucks) will be 58 cents per mile for business miles driven, up from 54.5 cents in 2018. Twenty cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, up from 18 cents for 2018. [update 62.5 cents starting July 1, 2022]

Commuting from your home to your regular workplace and back is not deductible every day. You may deduct business mileage only if you travel to and from a temporary work location, from one work location to another, to meet with a client, to a conference, etc.

Yes, you can deduct the mileage. As an independent contractor (received a 1099-MISC), you are considered self-employed by the IRS. … You can remove the miles driven for business. The other option is claiming all your expenses such as gas, tires, interest, etc.

I live in the Metro-Atlanta area, and on average, the round trip to a job is about 40 to 100 miles. That means I write off my taxes from $23.20 to $58.

You can use a notepad and write down all your mileage, fill-ups, repairs, and auto expenses and then spend some time adding things into those categories that you want to use for deductions at the end of the year on your taxes.

I have found after doing this for more than 35 years that having an APP is so much easier.

I like that this app can be customized. TripLog has three auto-start options and also a manual start for each trip.

You can use your phone’s GPS with the app to track your trips.

They even created a device you plug into the car’s USB, which will pair with the phone so that you are not using data to track your trips.

Here is the video of how that works:

I use my one account on both of our vehicles. My wife tracks her mileage with her Toyota Camry, and I follow the Toyota Sienna.

Keeping a mileage log

The IRS tends to be strict in its documentation requirements for business mileage deductions. For this reason, you’ll need to keep a thorough, accurate mileage log each year you attempt to claim a deduction.

Your mileage log must include the starting mileage on your vehicle’s odometer at the beginning of the year and its ending mileage after the year. Each time you use your car for business purposes, you must record the following information:

• The date of your trip
• Your starting point
• Your destination
• The purpose of your trip
• Your vehicle’s starting mileage
• Your vehicle’s ending mileage
• Tolls or other trip-related costs

You can keep a mileage log in a notebook and update it by hand or use a spreadsheet to track your mileage continuously. You can also use a mileage-tracking app. The key is to update your records regularly to ensure they’re precise. Additionally, the IRS requires you to keep your mileage log for three years from the date you file the income tax return containing your deduction.

I recommend using an App to help you capture the data you need for reporting purposes.

Some of the most successful restaurants are those with the simplest of menus.

In-N-Out Burger

The menu is a prime example of In-N-Out’s intense focus on simplicity to maximize quality and minimize expenses.  Items on the menu are mainly unchanged from the original restaurant stand and exhibit a rare marriage of quality and affordability:

• 3 Burger Choices: Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Double Double (most expensive at $3.40*)
• French Fries
• Beverages: Soda (4 sizes), Shakes (3 flavors), Coffee, Milk

Since its inception, In-N-Out Burger has enjoyed tremendous success, growing annual sales to approximately $400mm per analyst estimates and consistently earning a #1 ranking in the fast food burger chain segment, ahead of competitors such as Wendy’s, Five Guys’ and Fuddruckers. 

While you may have created a very complex spreadsheet to figure out your pricing, don’t show this to a client. Please don’t abandon it either. It would help if you had this to help you in the future as costs change to figure your pricing.

After you do a job, you may want to return to that spreadsheet and adjust the numbers.

Keep Menu in Mind

Just like in photography, you keep things simple for design purposes; this holds for your estimate and pricing. Restaurant patrons aren’t looking to be overwhelmed when it comes to reading a menu. A clean, straightforward design will convert better than a list of options or large chunks of expository text. A visually pleasing design effectively uses white space and naturally guides the eye to essential menu items.

Your customers are the same. Please keep it simple.

Ditch the dollar signs

Pricing shouldn’t be the center of attention. One way to downplay price is to remove any associated dollar signs, which tend to elicit a negative emotional response. You want them to concentrate on the content, not the price. 

Don’t line up the prices

A list of prices aligned to the left or right is easily scannable, which could encourage people to choose lower-priced items out of habit. Mixing up pricing placement throughout the estimate will minimize decisions based on price comparisons.

Use simple, descriptive language

Avoid industry jargon or long sections of text that will confuse people. Yes, more and more people consider themselves experts, but the simple, descriptive language in the item’s title will attract more sales. 

A photographer wrote me and asked for advice on quoting a nonprofit. Here is my advice for them. Now there was a list of specifics, but I wanted to get to the pricing strategy rather than giving them a quote I would do. You see, each person has different costs. This is due to where they live, what lifestyle they want to maintain, and the cost of their gear are just a few things that influence one’s price.

BACKGROUND

I believe first you need to have your pricing for “Normal Jobs” and then for those you consider a “Charity Job.” Charity is something that you deem that you want to donate your time to. You may want to give everything for free to an organization. That is up to you. Once you embrace discounting your price for an organization, you will also have to be sure you have enough “Normal Jobs,” or this will not be sustainable.

What I am communicating here is not what you speak to the client. This is for you to understand while you price something for them.

Once you have figured out your pricing thought process, you then create packages—the price and what they are getting and not how you arrived at that price.

PRODUCTION FEES

Normal Job Price = 100% for time

Charity Job Price = 60 – 70% for time

Hard costs to you I would pass along at 100% to a “Charity Job.” Charity means the organization you consider a charity to which you want to give your time. Regarding IRS, you cannot write off your time to a charity.

I suggest creating your “Normal Estimate” and then giving a discount. This way, you are communicating your standard rates and letting this organization know you are giving them a HUGE DISCOUNT.

I think a rate of about $600 to $800 a day for your time for a nonprofit is where many I know are charging these days [This is what many of my circle of friends have told me and my personal experience]. Most photographers capture $1600 to $4000 daily for their time for regular jobs.

Most in the industry will charge 50% of their rate for a travel day. That is a day that you do no work at all. If you show up and shoot for an hour after traveling most of the day, that is a shooting day, not a travel day.

POST PRODUCTION

Don’t forget to charge for the post-production. Many organizations will abuse you with having multiple revisions. Making them pay for this will make them responsible.

By the way, be sure in all your correspondence that you communicate you are charging for revisions. You can have priced 1 or 2 edits in the package, but let them know when the additional modifications are happening.

Quote your shooting fee, post-production fee, and expenses in your estimate. Be sure you spell out what it includes. Just like McDonald’s does for what is included in a sandwich. If a video is expected, describe how long it is and how many revisions it includes.

I would give a range of finished and edited photos for your photography.

START WITH PHONE CALL

Always start with a conversation. In-person or by phone is the best way to start. Ask them what their expectations are for the project and if they have a budget figure for the project. Sometimes they not only tell you their expectations clearly but also give you a price you are thrilled to work with. This rarely happens, but ALWAYS start with the idea they may know what they want and have a realistic budget for the project.

Your goal is to manage expectations. First, by being sure, they articulate what they want, and then you, in the end, tell them what you can provide to them. Do your best to underpromise and then over-deliver.

When you finish this conversation where you agree on what you can do for them, you will put it in writing to them. However, get some ballpark figures during that conversation to see if it is worth your time to go further. No need to spend all this time to put together a formal agreement in writing if they have no way of paying what you need to agree to go forward.

ESTIMATE

Give them three versions of an estimate. This is how you show them you are flexible and also help talk them into spending more on something they will genuinely enjoy and use.

Don’t line item things you used to come to your price. You don’t see McDonald’s selling their Big Mac with the time it took to make it and each piece listed. Imagine 2 – Beef patties, 10 minutes cooking, shipping costs to get the products, and so on. No, you don’t see that. They give information the public wants and a price. Price changes on where in the world you are buying it.

Bottom Price:
This will just give them what they barely need

Middle Price:
Add more deliverables to the package. More Photos, other videos, Blog posts, etc

Luxury Price:
Coffee table book of photos, Videos, More Photos Etc

The Sky Is the Limit:
Sometimes you can add a 4^th price for the client who could spend a lot if they wanted.

They most likely will go with the median price every time.

The Stanley Works was founded by Frederick T. Stanley, in 1843, originally a bolt and door hardware manufacturing company located in New Britain, Connecticut.

One of the most innovative things they did with the door hinges that helped them to outgrow their competition was to include screws in their packaging.

Clerks were taking time to find screws to fit competitors’ hinges.

Friction Free Economy

To succeed in the friction-free economy, long-established companies must form new and more fluid relationships with customers, workers, and owners. Those that don’t will either struggle to maintain market share or fail.

It is the intangible assets that businesses need to understand, measure, and exploit to succeed. These include intellectual property, brand value, human capital, and customer loyalty.

Friction Free Resource

You want to be a Friction Free Resource for your clients. You want not just to solve their problems but do so in a way that the experience is not a bumpy road but smooth.

Just like Stanley did in the 1850’s by just packaging screws with their hinges making it easier to go to the hardware store and leave in little time, you must think of ways to help your clients make things smooth.

What do you offer your clients like Stanley, who packaged screws for his clients?

My former students from workshops and college classes often contact me about pricing and negotiating with clients.

This blog post is more about how to respond to a client or potential client when they make you feel like you were just insulted by them.

While you should figure out your Cost of Doing Business and know your bottom line to do a job, often, people will come back saying they only have a budget for less than you can accept.

My friend just called and was quoting on covering a business event for a day. She had figured this was probably an excellent place to network, so she cut her price in half and quoted that figure.

Always Quote Full Price

I told her she should always quote her average total price and then show a discount and why they are getting it. If you don’t do this, they think her price is half what she needs to charge. They tell their friends this is her rate.

Expect Negotiating

Negotiation theorists generally agree that there are two primary forms of negotiation:

• Distributive Negotiation: this is also referred to as positional or hard-bargaining negotiating. …
• Integrative Negotiation: this is the softer side of the two forms of negotiation, often referred to as win-win.

You need to figure out quickly which type of person you are dealing with when negotiating.

After my friend gave them her half-price quote, they returned with a low-ball response. “We only have $200 budgeted for the event.”

Respond Professionally

Often in the negotiating, one of the parties can feel insulted at the low or high dollar amount.

I recommend trying your best to stay with your pricing so that you are not going below your bottom line. Also, think of other things you can negotiate for that are of value. Maybe they can give you their contact list that you can use. Perhaps you can trade for free advertising.

Try and stay with something that sounds like, “I would love to cover your event for you.” Then you can outline the pricing and what value you bring to them.

You say I can do the work for you at this price. They say no, NOT YOU if they cannot afford you.

Know Your Numbers

I cannot stress enough that if you do not know your “Cost of doing business,” you will not be in business very long. You need to know the total amount you have from a job to pay your bills and also have money to invest in the growth of your business.

Great Video to Make My Point

This has been around for a while, and I have shared it in the past, but for those new to negotiating, this helps you see how often silly people can look for what they are asking. These are examples of Distributive Negotiation where they are trying to get something for below cost or even free.

The top photo is one of the laminated lists I used in 2002.

When I mentioned in a recent post about creating a Digital Workflow that you laminate, one person asked for that list.

I have been doing this so long that I no longer need the list, but I came across one of my laminated lists in my van to help me be sure I had everything before I left the house for a photo shoot.

This list had four sides of two laminated cards with a clip.

“Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort.”

John Ruskin

I was shooting many college basketball games then and had to arrive early to put up remotes and turn on my strobes.

I also did many headshots and a couple of shots for a missionary agency.

Each assignment was often so different that I would bring some gear I wouldn’t use for another project.

Today, I still take the time to pack before I leave for a trip or photo shoot the day before.

Here are some things I am doing that impact my Digital Workflow.

Day Before Photo Shoot Preparation

·  Charge all camera batteries and other batteries

·  Format all XQD Memory Cards for Cameras in Camera

·  Inspect all camera sensors with Sensor Loupe

·  Clean, if necessary, the sensor with a Cleaning Kit

·  Make a list of gear needed for the photoshoot

• Do I need a studio?
• Do I need a tripod?
• Am I doing a video?
• Do I need microphones?
• Do I need a constant light source for video?

·  Pack the necessary gear into cases

• If flying, then I will weigh all the cases
• Often, this is rearranging items to stay within the weight limit
• If overweight, I will arrive extra early at the airport to get the Media Baggage Rate. This applies to only working media and not a hobbyist.

Day of Shoot

• Check cameras one last time for battery power
• Pack Van and leave
• Meet contact and brief on expectations and any last-minute changes
• Scout location – Often with client
• Take gear out and assemble what is necessary
• Go to each site and do a custom white balance
• Pick all settings for the shoot
  • Sports Settings example for my Nikon D5
  • Standard
  • If Shooting with Studio Strobes, choose the settings on the camera
• When changing locations, pick the custom white balance [on Nikon, I can store six different WB settings and just like the one needed or do a new custom white balance]
• Go to spots I identified during scouting that would be ideal locations to shoot from just before the best time to be in those locations.
• If there is a long shot list, I will pull this out, ensure I am on track, and help remind me of the next shot or place for the photoshoot.
• Shoot the event
• Check-in with the client before leaving

Post Processing

1. Ingest to PhotoMechanic
2. IPTC information is filled out, and part of the ingesting process
3. Select the keepers
4. Delete all untagged images
5. Import into because I am shooting RAW
6. Using metadata, I select all the photos with the same lens
7. Select all with the same lens
8. Go to the Develop Module “D” shortcut.
9. On the far right, go to lens correction.
10. Go back to the Library, pick another lens, and do the same until all photos have been lens-corrected
11. Click on the profile and enable the profile for Adobe Color, or select another more appropriate profile by browsing in the menu.
12. Tip for choosing multiple images shot in the same scene and making corrections all at once
13. Go to settings and then tell it to Match Exposure on all those selected
14. ⌘D unselect
15. Go through them one by one and check that they are correct. Repeat this step for different scenes.
16. Correct for blown-out highlights
17. Pull in blacks if necessary
18. I often use the Dehaze and Texture sliders.
19. For sharpening, I use this technique
20. Export all images to sRGB JPEGs Quality 80
21. Open PhotoMechanic
22. Upload to my PhotoShelter account for the client

I love the updated Adobe Lightroom. I am using three of the controls that, if used correctly, can help out some photos that, in the past, without these controls, would have been so-so photos.

I love the Texture, Clarity, and Dehaze sliders. I cannot recommend them enough.

I hold the Option key on the Mac for sharpening while sliding the Masking control. The masking is around 70 for my older cameras, 12 megapixels or less. Eighty is for my Nikon D5, and 90 is for the higher resolution cameras. Once I see the white edges, I slide the sharpening amount to 150.

When your quality isn’t up to standards, it is often because you skipped a step in your Digital Workflow.

“The highest cost of poor quality is when your customer buys it from someone else because they didn’t like yours.”

W. Edwards Deming

Pam Goldsmith is an emeritus winner of the ‘Most Valuable Player’ award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Her viola playing has been heard on countless records, films, and television shows. 
[NIKON D4, 28.0-300.0 mm f/3.5-5.6, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 5600, 1/125, ƒ/4.5, (35mm = 28)]

“If you just focus on getting better, and not being the best, you have such a good time.”

James Acaster

The other day I was reminded I am working with many people at the top of the field, and when I work with those starting, I have to be patient. This post is about how to become a better you by reflecting on how I got to where I am today.

I have been so blessed to know some of the world’s best in a few fields. One of those is my sister-in-law Pam Goldsmith. I have written about her before.

She plays in the studio musicians group that plays for many of the movies, TV, records, and other places you would be surprised about. She sits in the first chair most of the time. When the studio musicians show up to play the music for a movie that has never been played, they don’t practice it–they play it for the first time, and 95% of the time, that was the last time they played it for the final recorded version you see in the movie. The 5% of the time, they do it again, it wasn’t due to their execution, but the composer realized during the recording that they made a mistake, and after a rewrite, they re-recorded it.

It takes a long time to get to that point of expertise from just learning to play the instrument.

In 1984 during my Spring Break, I was hired by Robert Reed at the Hickory Daily Record and would start working after graduating that May. While driving from Delaware to Hickory, North Carolina, I stopped by the International Mission Board to meet Don Rutledge.

My uncle, Knolan Benfield, had worked with Don for more than nine years when they were on staff for the North American Mission Board in Atlanta, Georgia.

In the 1950s, Don was shooting stories for all the top magazines. He would go on to work with and help lift the quality of photography done by the mission magazines to compete with LIFE, Look, and National Geographic Magazine.

Pam Goldsmith grew up in California near all the great musicians and became one due to being surrounded by great viola players. In some ways, I was growing up in an environment of great photographers and storytellers.

I remember my uncle Knolan Benfield talking to me about getting to the top. You go and talk to the people at the top. He told me about many of the experiences where he noticed famous photographers at conferences standing by themselves because people feared them. He just walked up and talked to them and got to know them.

Today I know that very few at the very top of the profession can help others. These are the ones that can teach and not just do. Don Rutledge happened to be one of those few.

While Don taught me a lot about composition, body language, and learning to see the light, Knolan taught me how to create using lights.

In 1993 I started to work at Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech has been named one of the most prestigious schools in the world. My role there was storytelling on research, education, athletics, and alumni for distribution through campus publications and outside media. I worked there until 2002, and during this time, I perfected lighting.

In 2008 Greg Thompson, Director of Corporate Communications for Chick-fil-A, asked me to come and help him build his team. Chick-fil-A is the third largest American fast food restaurant chain and the largest whose specialty is chicken sandwiches.

Greg was building an incredible team. He recruited Ken Willis, who had run the largest PR agencies in Atlanta. He had just sold one of them and started a new agency KWI.

Greg was scooping up talent from Coke and Porter Novelli and recruiting some of the best students to start their careers with Chick-fil-A.

Again I was surrounded by some of the best in the storytelling profession.

In 2018 Mark Johnson, Senior Lecturer, Journalism at Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication for the University of Georgia, asked me to come and teach for the year Intro to Photojournalism to four different classes while they looked for a full-time professor with a Ph.D.

I quickly learned that I had worked my entire career with people at the top of their game. Everyone I worked with was always doing whatever it took to tell the story in the most effective way possible.

Many of these students were not desiring to be visual storytellers. Many took journalism as an undergrad degree before going to another profession like law.

In 2006 I got a call from Dennis Fahringer asking me to come to Kona, Hawaii, to teach his students lighting. He initially requested Joanna Pinneo, photographer for National Geographic Magazine, who told him to contact me. Joanna and I both worked with Don Rutledge.

Dennis’ students in YWAM had a passion for God. Most taking the class explored if photography was one of the ways they could serve the church or learn how to work their faith into running a photography business.

Again I was asked to dial back from shooting at the highest level in my profession to talking to newbies about literally “Step One” in photography.

I am often hiring photographers to help me with projects at Chick-fil-A. Two that I love to hire over and over are Michael Schwarz and Robin Rayne.

I have hired so many through the years, but only a few consistently meet the customer’s demands. When I hire either of them to do work, I know that I am sending to the customer storytellers who are not just as good as me but better than me. This is how I see them.

Be the best version of yourself!

• Show Up! – It is incredible how many people don’t show up
• Start With Baby Steps – you can’t skip the line. You have to start at the beginning
• Stop Looking For Shortcut – “Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity” While it may look like a shortcut, it is often years of working hard, and you get a lucky break. If you are not prepared, then you may have just lost your one chance.
• Accept Help From Others – Most of those at the top didn’t get along. Don’t be prideful; take the help.
• Celebrate Small Accomplishments – Realize that learning at the level you are at at the moment is just as important as the finish line. Break down the “Big Goals” into bite-size pieces.
• Help Others – Pay it forward. Don’t be about taking. Be known for giving.

“Become the BEST VERSION of Yourself!” | Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) | Top 10 Rules

Harpist plays for the VIP Reception at Marriott Marquis in Atlanta during the Islamic Speakers Bureau’s “Celebrating Women of Influence ISB Gala.”
[NIKON D5, 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 4000, 1/200, ƒ/3.2, (35mm = 14)]

On October 12th, I was covering the Islamic Speakers Bureau’s “Celebrating Women of Influence ISB Gala” at the Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.

If you ever have to cover an event like this, I recommend a few things.

Two or More Cameras

Anytime you shoot professionally, you need a backup camera. This is in case one stops working for any reason at all. I tend to put the Nikon 28-300mm on one camera and the Nikon 14-24mm on the other.

I can get everything I need with this range of glass.

For this event, I had a third camera on a tripod with the Sigma 120-300mm & 2X converter so that I could shoot more straight into people’s faces from across the room rather than everything shooting up at them when I was closer.

I had to be down front sometimes and shoot up at the speakers on the podium, as you see here.

After introducing a speaker to an award winner, I snapped a photo of them with some of the board members.

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I went on stage before the event started and did a custom white balance with my Nikon Cameras. On the Nikon Z6 & Nikon D5, you can store up to 6 different presets. This way, you can do a custom white balance for the stage and then go to another room with a different setting and set it on an additional Preset.

Have a Flash

Now with the stage having two sets of lights at 45º to the location, it was even lighting. However, walking around in the Atrium of the Marriott Marquis, the light needed help with flash.

Laura Espeut, the second shooter, got this photo of me with the Nikon Z6 with a 28-300mm and the Godox V860ii on the camera and the MagMod Magshpere on the hot-shoe.

Save your Back

To carry two cameras, I use the HoldFast Gear Money Maker Two-Camera Harness with Silver Hardware (English Bridle, Chestnut)

Quality Photography Demands A Digital Workflow

The bottom line is you need a workflow. You prepare days ahead, from talking with the client to managing expectations to getting a shot list. You then must prepare before the event by charging batteries and checking the sensor of each camera for dust.

I recommend you create a workflow list of things you need to do for every photo shoot. Be sure that the order you do things is in the correct order. Please print it out and even laminate that list and keep it with you in your camera bag.

In my last blog post, I showed you some of the white balance when done without a custom white balance and then doing one.

I hope you are hearing from me today that if the quality isn’t up to the standards you want to represent what you can do for clients, the answer is most likely in your workflow. It is something you skipped or modified from what is the ideal way to shoot the assignment.