November, 2009

for Photographers — No Comments
27
Nov 09

Reputation Protection

Earlier today, I received a panic phone call from a photographer here in Toronto. He had lost some pictures on a memory card and had no idea what to do. His corporate client needed same-day delivery, which he had promised.

This was the seventh time this year that a photographer has phoned or e-mailed asking for help to recover lost images.

Photographers, here’s the deal:

If you want to be a professional photographer, you must have recovery software. It’s not an option. Data recovery software for memory cards has been available for +8 years. There’s absolutely no excuse for not having this business-saving and face-saving software.

If you ever bought a pro memory card from Sandisk or Lexar in the past 6 years or so, (and why wouldn’t you have done this?), it came with free recovery software. But note that recovery software has to be kept up-to-date to recognize new raw formats.

Pro-level recovery software is no longer free. But it’s a cheap US$29 from PhotoRescue, which is probably the industry standard.

That $29 software saved an $800 job for a photographer today. Also saved his reputation, which is probably worth a lot more.

for Everyone — No Comments
26
Nov 09

The Sport of Photography

Chess, bridge, billiards, power-boating, hot-air ballooning, flying an airplane and dancing are among several activities that have been recognized by the International Olympic Committee as being a “sport”, although none are (yet) part of the Olympic Games.

From olympic.org :

If it is widely practised around the world and meets a number of criteria established by the IOC session, a recognised sport may be added to the Olympic programme on the recommendation of the IOC’s Olympic Programme Commission.

It’s high time that photography be recognized as a sport. It could even be in both the winter and summer games.

Photography is certainly widely-practised. It is one of the very few sports that can be played and enjoyed by people of any age, weight, height or sex, able-bodied or not.

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for Photographers — No Comments
24
Nov 09

What’s in a name?

As Shakespeare’s Juliet once pondered, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”

But is this really true? Can simply changing a name change someone’s opinion?

I was looking through an online catalogue of men’s winter coats. Some of the available colours included: clay, slub, cold steel, varsity, elm, smoke, wine, merlot, cabernet, ink, twilight and midnight.

I’m all for creativity but none of those are actually colours. Some are very ambiguous. What colour is twilight? Wine? Varsity? Slub??

Whatever happened to black, grey, red, blue, green, brown, and colours like dark blue, sky blue and light grey?

Is this just marketing gone overboard or can using more fashionable names help draw in customers and maybe even justify higher prices?

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for Photographers — No Comments
21
Nov 09

Wrong Number

The good thing about Bell, the Canadian phone company, is that it serves as the perfect example of what not to do in business.

It appears that Bell has quietly dropped two of its fake fees, (sadly, it hasn’t dropped all them). Bell, through one of its sister companies, actually refers to its fake fee as a “made-up fee”.

Bell is currently in the midst of class action lawsuits regarding its System Access fee (aka. “government licensing fee”) and its 9-1-1 fee. Both of these cellular fees were just recently cancelled, although in some areas, the fees may still linger for some unknown reason. Just to be fair, the two other cell carriers are also involved in the same lawsuits.

Why wouldn’t a business tell its customers that it has lowered prices? Read on.

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for Clients — No Comments
18
Nov 09

Corporate Photo Library

Received an e-mail from the communications director of a large insurance company who’s thinking about creating a photo library of key employees at its various offices. He was looking not just for a price estimate but also suggestions on how to start this project. He realized that having an up-to-date photo archive would benefit his company many times over. However, the communications director wasn’t sure if his company would even go for the idea.

Newspapers have long known the value of having their own photo library. Various levels of government and some universities also have archives, but usually for historical purposes.

In today’s digital world, setting up and maintaining a photo archive is quite easy compared to the old film days. So why are many businesses so slow or hesitant to do this?

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for Clients — No Comments
15
Nov 09

Find a Photographer

If you’re looking to hire a photographer in Toronto or, for that matter, in any other location in Canada, Editorial Photographers of Canada (EP Canada) has a wonderful list of photographers who are available to help you with your next project. (Disclosure: yes, I’m in that directory of photographers).

All of these experienced photographers are dedicated to professional business standards and ethics. These Canadian photographers are available for assignments, and many also maintain a library of stock photos.

A wide range of photography is available, including portraits, news, documentary, fashion, business, industrial, architectural, sports, adventure, environmental, scientific and travel. Photography for newspapers, magazines, press kits, media handouts, annual reports, business web sites, corporate communications, marketing and public relations.

Bookmark the EP Canada page for future reference.

for Everyone — No Comments
9
Nov 09

Out Standing Out

sports photographer

Does it feel like you’re working in a crowded market? Too much competition and not enough elbow space for you to grab the ball and run with it? How can you get the attention you deserve?

The easy answer is always, “Be different. Set yourself apart from the others.”

But the million dollar question is, how do you set yourself apart from the crowd? Do you have to be outstanding to stand out?

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for Everyone — 1 Comment
8
Nov 09

Royal Pain

Just finished three days of following Price Charles and Camilla through the Toronto area. The Royal couple are currently on an 11-day official visit to Canada.

My first thought is that this is a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. Can’t imagine how many millions of dollars are being spent on this. Many events were not open to the general public and most media events were only for a handful of preselected media organizations.

However, if you consider, or at least pretend, that this is a marketing or public relations event, then perhaps it might be money well-spent if it had been properly planned and executed. This applies to any and all marketing efforts and not just royal visits. The client (in this particular case, the Canadian taxpayer), must get their money’s worth.

Why spend time and money promoting a product, service or brand when that effort is only half-assed or squandered? Why just go through the motions? Marketing success needs both media and public exposure. Otherwise, it’s just a tree falling in the forest.

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