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The internet is constantly changing and as creative small business owners we need to evolve as it changes. It seems like everyone is touting the importance of the mobile experience these days – and for good reason!
The number of smart phones in use worldwide has exceeded 1 billion, and it's only continuing to climb. In fact, although only 1% of small businesses have optimized their website for mobile viewing, 50% of all local searches are preformed on mobile devices. By the end of 2014 mobile is predicted to overtake desktop Internet usage. With consumers using mobile devices and tablets more often, it has become more important than ever to have a well-designed mobile website for your business.
A mobile version of your website allows potential clients to find you, view your work and connect with you easily while on the go, directly from their mobile devices and tablets. While the core of your business is the same, mobile customers expect a different experience when searching for the perfect photographer or designer.
Your website and its content needs to be easily found, read and shared. Our new HTML5 mobile site design, Mobile Websites 2.0, is already optimized for mobile viewing, so that is one less thing for you to worry about!
Here are just a few benefits of mobile websites:
Improve user experience
Having a well-designed mobile site that allows your viewers to intuitively and easily browse your work is key to keeping them engaged. Higher engagement increases the average time spent on your site and that raises your chances of converting visitors into customers.
Manage your business anywhere, at any time
Convenience wins. When potential customers can discover your work and interact with you via their mobile devices, it makes it more likely that they will keep you in mind for a potential project or job. It also makes it easier for you to interact with your audience in real time (or close to real time) and as a creative professional this is especially important.
Improve customer service quality and responsiveness
If your business is accessible via mobile you'll be able to respond to inquiries and customer service questions and issues as they happen. Timely responses will ensure that you have satisfied customers and might be the factor that lands you your next job.
Provide a seamless multi-channel experience
Clients who discover you in one place will likely view your work in another. Being able to maintain a consistent experience across devices and channels allows you and your work to be easily accessible.
Easy integration of social media
Social Media has become an important and in most cases a cost effective way to make, maintain and build connections. Allowing your mobile site visitors to easily share your work and follow you via social media can help increase your exposure.
A climber and visual storyteller, Cory Richards was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2012. Cory's camera has taken him from the controlled and complex studio to the wild and remote corners of the world, from the unclimbed peaks of Antarctica to the Himalayas of Nepal and Pakistan – all in the attempt to capture not only the soul of adventure and exploration, but also the beauty inherent in our modern society.
Cory dropped out of high school and was practically homeless by the time he was just 14 years old. His education came from observing what was happening around him and discovering the richness that comes from struggle. His video "A Tribute to Discomfort" takes you through his journey from recounting the avalanche that almost took his life and led to the moving self-portrait that appeared on the cover of National Geographic, to describing what drives him to tell stories of people and places.
"My job is communicate a real raw visceral experience. Despite the fact that we are experiencing massive problems as a human family we are still experiencing each other, loving and having a ton of fun. I mean life is fun." – Cory Richards
A Tribute to Discomfort: Cory Richards from Blue Chalk on Vimeo.
Your company's brand is one of its most valuable assets. It represents the core of who you are and why you do what you do. It's about the promise you make to your customers to provide a product or service, to do so with consistency and quality, and to do it better than your competitors.
To build a successful creative business it takes more than artistic vision and talent. The reality is that you are a small business owner and as such you need to understand business. For many of us that's not the fun part – but it can be!
If you have a brand then you need a brand strategy, a plan to manage your brand's reputation in the marketplace. Here are some guidelines for crafting one in order to make the most effective use of your brand.
Define Your Brand
A lot of us rush ahead with a great idea and never get around to establishing a distinct identity and a clear purpose. At some point, it becomes necessary to define who you are before you're defined by the competition. That means knowing the answers to the following questions:
Define specifically what you want your customers and potential customers to do.
Promise and Deliver
Businesses live and die by the brand promises they make. If you consistently deliver, your brand and your reputation are strengthened in your customers eyes. That creates customer loyalty – and then your customers will become your brand advocates recommending your products and services to everyone.
Have a Consistent Look and Feel
Yes, your logo does have a place in your brand strategy. Your logo should evoke a set of desired thoughts and feelings in your customers, but effective branding only starts with an eye-catching logo. The look and feel you choose for all of your marketing materials should appeal to your target audience. More importantly, you must present yourself consistently across the board – online and in print.
Integrate Your Brand Into Everything You Do
Everything related to your business, from your artistic style and the work you produce to advertising and fulfillment, should be part of your overall brand strategy. Whether it's direct mail, email or social media updates, every customer experience is an opportunity to reinforce your brand promise.
Each of us defines a moment in a different way. For food photographer Penny De Los Santos a moment is where people, culture and food come together.
"I am inspired by and in love with that space where a scene vibrates with an energy. And when it's combined with light, composition and color – that's when I make a picture of a moment." – Penny De Los Santos
In her TEDx Talk she takes us from a candlelit dinner table in war torn Lebanon to the grave of a loved one, asking us to stop, connect and take the time strengthen and honor the bonds between us.
Brand Advocates can create some of the best value for any small business or emerging brand. Advocacy for your brand has a vital impact in driving awareness, creating conversation and generating more business. Cultivating brand advocates who are excited to share their experiences with others can be a low-cost, high-return marketing strategy.
Essentially a Brand Advocate is someone who enjoys your product or service so much they are eager to tell others about it. Brand advocates can be online influencers with a large social media audience, people who are active or well-respected in their industry or your customers. Here are some ways to turn a customer or industry influencer into an active, engaged advocate for your brand:
Focus on Relationships
Consumers don't fall in love with your brand and become Brand Advocates by being pushed into a sale – they fall in love with your work, excellent customer service and consistent experience. Befriend industry influencers and give them access to exclusive access or offers.
Stay Engaged
Building a network of brand advocates requires that you stay engaged with them. Focus on marketing strategies that create opportunities to engage over time in a variety of ways. This will increase the likelihood that one-time purchasers become customers that actively recommend your products and services to others.
Ask and Listen
Ask your Brand Advocates what they need, what they want, what's missing, what's working? Then listen to what they have to say and show you hear them by incorporating their ideas into your offering. By continually looking to them for feedback and recommendations you become partners.
Help Your Advocates be Heard
Advocates want – and deserve – to be recognized. Promote them and share their ideas with your communities. Feature their work on your website or blog, re-tweet and share their social media posts or invite them to speak at an event.
Be Authentic
People are attracted to what is real. When using a public forum don't filter out negative feedback. Address all claims honestly giving your Advocates the tools to tell the truth about your brand. By being real you create trust and that can set you apart in a competitive market. These days potential clients and buyers are just as interested in who you are and what drives you.
Keep it simple! I'm continually reminded of this tried and true maxim. Being a dyed in the wool lighting geek I like nothing more than throwing a ton of lights into a setup, and creating complex, layered lighting. It's the puzzle solver in me. Sometimes that's completely called for and the only way to produce the desired result. However solving the lighting puzzles doesn't always have to involve a kings ransom worth of strobes, power packs, etc, quite the contrary. In fact, 90 percent of my lighting solutions end up using between just 1 to 3 lights.
It's easy for me, just like the next guy, to get caught up in the use of lust worthy gear and complex setups. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of great equipment at my fingertips so the temptation is ever present. However at the end of the day it really isn't about the gear or how many lights you can throw at a project. It's about the quality of your artistic vision and results you're able to produce. The tools are only as good the person using them and only a means to end. I'm always pleasantly surprised when I repeatedly rediscover just how much is possible with a few simple tools, tools you know inside and out. Limitations beget innovative solutions and from innovation springs creativity.
In future posts I'll look at multiple light setups, post processing, workflow and more. But since I'm talking about keeping it simple, I can't think of a better way to illustrate the point than looking at a few recent one light portraits. The following images were created using only one strobe or speedlight along with modifiers such as a beauty dish, octabank, reflector panel, subtraction panel, and v-flat. The importance of modifiers can't be over emphasized. They play an important role in allowing you to shape and control the quality of your light, even if you're only using sheets of foam core to reflect or subtract light. As you'll see this is something I do often, either alone or in combination with an additional modifier on my key light. It all depends on the quality of light I'm after.
Comp Card Fashion Portrait
To create comp card portrait for model Makaila Nichols I placed a Profoto D1 500W camera left and modified it with a Mola Demi beauty dish. To open up the shadows, reflect light back from the key light and create a broad fill source I placed a white 4×8 foot sheet of foam core to the right of the model.
Blaine The Mono Band Portrait
For this image of Orlando, FL based rockers Blaine The Mono I'm using 1 Profoto 7B and Pro 7 head at full power, placed camera right, 15 feet from the subjects and modified with a 7 foot octabank. I've placed one 4×8 foot sheet of black foam core on the left side of the band to subtract light and create a more sculpted moody look. The band members are Randi Stickles, Clifton Garner, Eric Joseph, Chris Culverwell.
Self-Portrait Promo Image
For this self-portrait promo image I used the same lighting setup I used for the band portrait above. Except in this case I moved the light closer. With only one person to light the distance necessary to provide enough coverage was less. The set up was 1 Profoto 7B Pro 7 head at full power, placed camera right and modified with 7 foot bank. One 4×8 sheet of black foam core was placed camera left to subtract light from my left side.
High Key Fashion/Glamour Portrait
It doesn't get simpler than this. To create this high key glamour cover shot style image I used 1 Canon 600EXT Speedlite at full power fired into a white 4×8 foot foam core v-flat placed behind me as I shot.
Many of these images have been featured in my monthly lighting column for Shutter Magazine. If you'd like to learn more about how they were created, see the lighting diagrams, and my instructional videos sign up for Shutter Magazine. This FREE monthly resource is loaded with tons of valuable educational content from today's top photographers.
It's my pleasure to share with the liveBooks community as a new regular contributor to the Resolve blog. As a long time liveBooks customer I can attest to the positive impact liveBooks has had on my business and visibility in the marketplace. It's my honor to now be in a position to give back and help others as they make their way along their photography career paths. It's going to be an exciting ride!
All images © Michael Corsentino 2014
Michael Corsentino is an award-winning contemporary wedding, portrait, editorial and fashion photographer. A 2013 American Photo Top Ten Wedding Photographer nominee, Michael is an Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom expert as well as a Capture One Pro Certified Professional. He is author of the popular Canon Speedlite System Digital Field Guide, Canon 6D Digital Filed Guide, and forthcoming Capture One 7 Pro Official Guide.
In addition to his busy shooting schedule, book and video projects, Michael is a contributing writer to Photoshop User Magazine. He writes a monthly lighting column for Shutter Magazine and serves as Tech Editor at Large and Photographer in Residence for Resource Magazine. A sought-after international workshop leader and speaker, Michael is based in Florida and has been shooting digitally since 1999. He made his first exposure when he was 12 years old and hasn't put his camera down since.
His 35-year love affair with the magic and science of photography is more passionate today than ever – Stylish, dramatic, edgy and modern images set Michael's photography apart.
Learn more at www.michaelcorsentino.com, follow Michael on facebook (www.facebook.com/corsentino) and twitter (@Corsentino)
Staying Organized
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Staying organized throughout the year is the best way to be prepared for tax season. Utilize accounting software like Mint.com, Quicken or Quickbooks. Set aside time each month to download and classify the activity from your checking, savings and credit card accounts. At the end of the year 90% of the work required to prepare your tax return will already be done.
If you can't make time to keep the books yourself on a regular basis or if you aren't inclined to learn an accounting software package, find a competent bookkeeper in your area with whom you can build a relationship. A good bookkeeper shouldn't cost more than $40-50 per hour and depending on the size of your business you should expect to engage them for 3 – 4 hours per month.
The Home Office Deduction – A Trojan Horse?
The deduction for home offices sounds great at first – identify a discreet area of your home that is 100% dedicated to work, allocate utilities, insurance, rent or depreciation, etc to that area, and take the deduction on your tax return. The problem is that taking this deduction saves the average taxpayer no more than a few hundred dollars but because it is significantly abused it increases the average audit risk from less than 1% to more than 5%. The risk reward might not be worth it. Consult your tax preparer for more details.
Can I can deduct that?
When you own your own business you can deduct expenses that you might have thought were "personal" in nature. For example, internet and mobile phone expenses are legitimate deductions to the extent these services are used for business purposes. Allocate these utilities between business and personal usage and deduct the business portion.
With a few exceptions, bank and credit card statements will serve as adequate documentation in the event of an audit. Go electronic and get rid of that box of receipts. Download and save your banking activity and stop saving boxes of paper receipts – your tax preparer will spend less time on your return and you'll spend less on their services.
Getting and staying organized on a regular basis is the best way to reduce the stress of tax season. Again, always consult with a qualified professional with regard to your personal tax situation.
How does one transcend the "I was here" imagery that is often associated with travel photography and create fine art images of places near and far?
From the dozens of workshops I've taught on the subject and carefully studying the work of and talking with many of the great globetrotting lensmen and women in the field, I have developed a methodology, that when applied, should yield impressive and at times spectacular results.
Big Picture Thinking
I see a common failing with many beginning travel photographers. They are so focused on the fascinating subjects before their lenses that they forget about the basic rules of composition that make for a great photo. Look at the whole frame and use the space effectively. Ask yourself, "If I were painting this scene, what would I include? What would I exclude?" Treat the camera sensor or the piece of film you are about to expose as your canvas.
Depth of Field
I often shoot in the aperture priority mode so I can be acutely aware of what I will have in focus. You can lead the viewer through your image by careful control of the f-stop. Shooting with a minimal depth of field can yield dramatic portraits whereas a maximum depth of field can create its own unique perspectives especially for architectural photography. It's important to remember that when you look through an SLR camera you are seeing the lens at its widest aperture which translates as its shallowest depth of field. This lets in the maximum amount of light which gives a bright viewfinder and allows for easy focus. But when you depress the shutter and the lens goes to the selected f-stop, those palm trees that were soft in the distance all of a sudden are growing out of the heads of your subjects like antennas. Most cameras have depth-of-field preview buttons to see what your stopped down lens will have in focus but with enough practice and awareness that knowledge becomes second nature.
Time of Day
Early morning and late afternoon have always been the favorite times for professional travel photographers to shoot. It's not just the warm Kelvin temperatures that create an inviting mood, it's the experience of documenting a town coming to life or transitioning to the night. Shadows from an angle are more pleasing to the eye than the harsh light of midday. The middle hours of the day are a great time to photograph people in open shade or to explore museums and other interior locations.
To Flash Or Not To Flash
It's not always possible to be at the right place at the right time in terms of ideal ambient light. The use of a flash can reduce or eliminate harsh shadows under the eyes that are often referred to as raccoon eyes. I usually have a slight warming gel over my flash head in the morning or afternoon to create a correct color balance. Most flashes fire at a cooler, i.e., more blue color temperature, than the prevailing ambient light. I often also hold my flash at arm's length off the camera and trigger it with a cord or a remote flash system. This further helps to create a more natural and realistic scene by making the shadows drop down behind the subject. I also often put a Gary Fong Lightsphere Diffusion Dome over the flash head to soften the light. At night, this technique can be used to replicate the light created by a dangling light bulb. Additional flashes can be added and triggered remotely for all types of creative possibilities.
Shooting Contre Jour
Rather then saying backlit, I like the French expression "contre jour" which translates as "against the day." Shooting with the sun behind the subject eliminates harsh shadows and keeps people from squinting. In-camera meters can get thrown off by contre jour situations and underexpose the scene so it's important to know how to utilize the camera's exposure lock controls. This technique requires a lens shade and at times a hand to help block the direct light hitting the lens.
Natural Frames
Natural frames can create a 3-D feel in our 2-D medium. Architectural elements and flora in particular can be utilized in the foreground to lead the viewer into a given scene.
Creative silhouettes can be created at any time of day by finding a camera position that puts the subject of the shot against a bright background and adjusting the exposure controls. It's vital to have a strong contrast between the background and the object or subject you are trying to silhouette.
Environmental Portraits
Portraits of people in their environment, whether it is of a sheepherder with his flock or an artist in their atelier, adds an important human element to any travel story. Pros tend to use medium to wider lenses for this type of photograph with the goal of creating an image that transmits emotional content and engagement with their subject. When doing this type of photograph I direct the person to achieve the best angle (e.g. move left, right, back, forward, etc.) and to make sure that the elements of their environment I want to include are not being blocked or too out of focus to not be recognizable. I will talk to the person as a dentist talks to their patients, in other words saying things that can be acknowledged without the need to verbally respond past a simple grunt. Engaging in an active conversation should be done before or after a photo shoot, not during unless you want the person to be caught in all sorts of awkward mouth positions. It's better to share a quiet human moment one-on-one and let the camera peer into the window of their soul.
Night Exposures
The legendary LIFE magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt was asked after returning from an assignment in Paris what he did in the City of Lights at night. His response was "Expose longer." While he missed the meaning of the question he was of course right on with the answer photographically speaking. Many cities thrive at night and bring a completely different dimension to the travel experience. For cityscapes and architecture use a low ISO, lockdown the camera on a sturdy tripod, lock up the mirror, and use a cable release. This is especially important on exposures between 1/15th of a second to one or two seconds when the mirror on an SLR hasn't had the time to settle down and will cause camera shake.
When photographing people in lowlight or nighttime situations I will use either a flash or a higher ISO with "fast" lenses. All my lenses including zooms are able to open to at least a 2.8 aperture. This allows for shooting in lowlight situations without the need to go to such high ISO that the resulting image is full of noise (the digital equivalent to grain).
Shooting without flash is often required when photographing shows and in museums. A lot of work often goes into the lighting of these venues and the use of fast lenses can capture the feeling of what the person in charge of lighting was trying to create.
Detail shot using a macro lens or close-up filters can bring you up close and personal with a whole other world. A simple set of close-up filters can be carried in the camera bag. I carry a couple of setup and step-down rings so I can use one set with a variety of diopters with any lens.
The Travel Photo Essay
Creating pictures that tell a story have been the mainstay of travel magazines since their inception. Travel editors have a mantra that must be taken to heart before approaching a publication with an idea, "A location is not a story." Look for stories that give the viewer an inside look into a culture by focusing on a person, a ritual, an aspect of history, the list is endless. The best photo essays are often the ones that come from a personal interest so search "inside" before you go outside looking for ideas.
Mark Edward Harris' (www.MarkEdwardHarris.com) editorial work has appeared in publications such as Life, GEO, Conde Nast Traveler, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, The London Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Playboy as well as all the major photography and in-flight magazines. His commercial clients range from The Gap to Coca-Cola to Mexicana Airlines. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a CLIO, ACE, Aurora Gold, and Photographer of the Year at the Black & White Spider Awards. His books include Faces of the Twentieth Century: Master Photographers and Their Work, The Way of the Japanese Bath, Wanderlust, North Korea, South Korea, and Inside Iran. North Korea was named Photography Book of the Year at the 2013 International Photography Awards. He teaches travel photography workshops at the Los Angeles Center of Photography, Samy's Camera, and the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops.
Writing a photography proposal is a learned process. I still learn something new every time I need to write one. Everyone has a slightly different way of doing things, so you have to figure out what works best for you.
Writing an estimate is essential for large advertising jobs. Editorial jobs for magazines and newspapers often approach you with a predetermined budget. Wedding and portrait photographers often structure their form and fees differently. No matter what type of photographer you are, being able to appropriately charge for your time and expertise is essential. These tips will help you think about what, and how much, to charge a prospective client.
I try to keep everything simple by dividing my estimates into three sections: project description, usage rights, and fees. Here is my proposal writing process. First, I describe the project I have been asked to work on. I try to get as much information from the client as possible by asking the following questions:
Then I take this information and write a brief project description, so everyone involved in the project is on the same page. This also protects you from getting asked by the client to shoot more shots than you originally agreed to, etc.
The second section is about usage rights for the images. Be sure to ask the client where the photos will be used. Will they be used on the web only? Print? A national billboard ad campaign? Obviously, the usage fee should be higher if it's a national ad campaign vs. an email blast promotion.
After you discuss where they'll be used, ask them for how long they'd like to purchase the rights to the photos. I usually provide 1-year, 5-year and full buyout options. Most companies assume they want a full buyout, but in reality they probably won't be using the same photos in 5 years anyway. However if they want it for say a 6th year, they can renegotiate with you at that time. fotoQuote and BlinkBid are good programs for getting some estimated numbers for usage fees. It probably errs on the high side, but it's a good starting point if you have no idea what to charge! In the third section of my proposal I list all the fees I will be charging the client. A general fee list includes:
Be sure to list out and charge for everything! If you're involved in model casting, charge for it! If you've been asked to location scout, charge for that, too! You may want to consider using higher-end estimates so that you have room to negotiate and cover additional expenses that may come up at the last minute. It's never a bad thing to come in under budget!
When thinking about budget, I usually try to get an estimate from the client up front. That way I know what I have to work with. Sometimes it's not appropriate to ask, so use your best judgement. Also, consider the type of client it is. Is it a start-up company or a well-established brand? Just know there is not always a correct set amount to charge, because every project is different. Ask your photo community what they think, and realize that at some level writing a photography proposal is more of an art than a science.
Lastly when presenting a finished estimate to a client, make sure it has an organized look and feel on a branded document. If they ask, explain your fees with confidence, educate them on how costs are broken down and how you are worth every penny!
Kelsey was born and raised in Dallas. She received her B.F.A. in photography at the University of North Texas, and afterwards moved to New York City. She was named one of "Adorama's ones to watch" in 2008, and also participated in several group shows. Recently relocating back to Texas, she continues to shoot for editorial and commercial clients by splitting her time between NYC and Dallas. Her portrait work can be seen on her website. In addition to photography, Kelsey also loves snow, traveling, and playing her banjo.
In August 2013 a group of 7 climbers, 5 Americans and 2 Myanmarese climbers, traveled to the farthest reaches of northern Myanmar to make a first ascent of Gamlang Razi, Southeast Asia's disputed highest peak. All told, the climbers traveled over 270 miles on foot through some of the harshest terrain on the planet, braving extreme heat and moisture, as well as the gambit of jungle creatures. Despite these challenges, they were rewarded with rare access to one of the most remote and untouched corners of this planet, living with villagers along the trail that have never seen westerners before. In fact, there have been less than a dozen or so westerners in history to have ever been to this part of the world, and only one climbing expedition in history have been to these mountains.
Although making a first ascent of Gamlang Razi was their primary goal, they soon discovered that the actual peak was far less significant than the experiences they were having with the people with whom they were traveling, the villagers they met and stayed with, and in the country of Myanmar in general.
As a country that is just recently awaking from over 50 years of military dictatorship and relative isolation, they were offered a rare glimpse into a culture unaffected by the rapid pace of globalization throughout the rest of the world. This film is not just a recounting of a mountaineering expedition, it's a film about a people and a country that are on the brink of rapid change, and what this might entail for the future of this country and its people.
Myanmar Bridges to Change from Fisher Creative on Vimeo.
The film was directed, produced, filmed and edited by Fisher Creative. The world premiere of the fill will take place on June 14, 2014 in Yangon, Myanmar and be available to download via iTunes.
Is Instagram revolutionizing photography? This is a stale question at this point. We all know that Instagram owns the right to use your photo if you post it with their app, and that it has potentially democratized photography – everyone can be a photographer now, and the photographer with the most followers wins! (What they "win" we have yet to know). Nevertheless, while iPhone and Instagram-only weddings have occurred, they are still by far the exception. Photographers that hope to make money from their photographs – and not just from contests sponsored by corporations – can use Instagram to help establish their personal brand without giving all their work away for free.
Behind the Scenes Content
Instagram can be considered a portfolio, but if you're serious about becoming a professional photographer, it shouldn't be your only portfolio. As you well know, you can't shoot with your phone in the same way that you can shoot with a DSLR, and very high-quality #latergrams don't necessarily thrive in a filter-happy context.
Nevertheless, photographers can use Instagram to connect users to who they are as a photographer. It can be a great home for behind-the-scenes shots or other quick peaks into how you work and what interests you. It can show how your eye operates within limitations, or even what colors and shapes that you're drawn to. Instagram allows you to be a human social media user in addition to a professional, and this human connection is especially desirable when you're being hired to capture one of the most important moments in a person's life.
In order to connect your Instagram to the rest of your brand, make sure that your user name is your name or your business name. Include a link to your real digital portfolio or business website in your profile so your followers know where else to find you. Similarly, integrate your Instagram account with others that you're using to build your brand, whether it's your Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. All of these platforms are becoming increasingly visual, and your active participation can only bring you more fans and clients.
Tagging Along with Relevant Communities
Hash tags are now being used across social media platforms in order to reveal and connect related content. Instagram is no exception to this, and applying relevant hashtags to your photos will help to connect you to interested users. For instance, you could use the #weddingphotography hashtag to behind-the-scenes or sample shots from a wedding set. Additionally, you could come up with branded hash tags to use when appropriate.
As you can see here, InkedFingers enhanced this engagement photograph with an #ifportrait hashtag, which Carli Kiene adds to all professional samples on her Instagram, which also includes a link to her site and personal photographs that give users an idea of what she is like.
Learn from Big Brands
Many of these ideas can be learned from looking at the Instagram accounts of big brands. My favorite example is J Crew. J Crew has done an exceptional job of using social media to create a community around their products. They don't just post pictures of their clothing on their account – they picture objects and moments associated with the lifestyles of those who might buy their products. They know their target audience and participate in their communities online by responding to comments and hashtags.
Also, if you take the time to follow big brands, you may gain their attention. Whole Food's Dark Rye Tumblr has been known to reblog beautiful photos. Other brands such as Warby Parker allow Instagram "artists" to take over their accounts for a day or two in exchange for products. This gives these companies access to your innovative content at a reduced rate, but it also gives you access to these companies' followers and the happy marriage between your personal brand and Warby Parker's.
In the end, no matter what your field may be, Instagram allows users to put a face to a brand which forges a desirable human connection. For photographers, Instagram can be a valuable addition to your digital arsenal and will undoubtedly draw interested users to your real portfolio.
Amy Cobb blogs on all things media and media-education-related. Most recently she's worked on cataloging the best photography colleges for Photography-Colleges.com. When not writing, Amy is thwarted by square foot gardening or playing with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Snarls Barkley.
What was your most memorable moment this past year?
Taking an overnight train from Budapest to Bucharest…
What is your main goal for 2014?
To find gallery representation in NYC.
What is it that keeps you picking up your camera everyday?
Admittedly it's not "everyday" but the adventures that my camera allow me to have keeps me picking it up as often as possible!
Connect with Claire and view more of her work on her photography website.
What was your most memorable moment this past year?
There are so many memorable moments in a year of photographing weddings. It's such an intimate job where so many things are happening all around you at the same time. It's hard to name just one! So I've included a few of my favorite images.
What is your main goal for 2014?
To keep getting work and making my couples happy.
What is it that keeps you picking up your camera everyday?
What I love is the feeling I get when everything seems to align, when the perfect moment is in front of you, when the light is just right and the right camera and lens are in your hand. When the sun and the stars align perfectly, so to speak, to me, that's photography magic and that's what keeps me picking up my camera everyday.
Connect with Karen and view more of her work on her photography website.
What was your most memorable moment this past year?
I've got a few! Becoming a Nikon Ambassador, the release of my second book, hoop: the american dream, and completing my 8th film for The Oprah Winfrey Network.
What is your main goal for 2014?
To keep growing as an artist and to keep creating art.
What is it that keeps you picking up your camera everyday?
I'm at a point in my career where I'm just focusing on creating fine art. After being a "hired gun" for everyone else my entire career it's my turn. Finding out what I have inside me is very exciting! This is the happiest I've ever been in my career.
To connect with Robin and view more of her work visit her website.
What was the genesis of this book?
My publisher approached me with an idea to create a piece that would celebrate New Mexico on its 100 years of statehood. But really, this book is a natural progression of my work. It presents a selection of my photographs, made over the nearly three decades that I have lived and worked in New Mexico. Some of the images are from my archives while others are newer, based on my desire to have a more complete geographical coverage in order to best represent the varied landscape of the state.
How did you come to love the American West?
I grew up in Canada and came to US in 1970. A few years later, while attending the University of Michigan, I attended a photography workshop in California. The instructor suggested I drive back home through the Southwest. I immediately fell in love with the Santa Fe light. To this day I cannot find the words to describe the quality of light here. It has so deeply captured me and made me want to reveal its nuances in my photographs more and more. I ended up completing the thesis portion of my graduate work for RIT in Santa Fe and have been here ever since.
How do you decide whether to shoot film or digital?
I've been making pictures for over 40 years. One tool is not necessarily better than the other to make images. They are just tools. While I like the look of film for many of the photographs I make, a digital camera allows me to create images in certain situations that I might not otherwise be able to.
Who are you influenced by?
I'm influenced by many artists. I like the old masters—Edward Weston Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Morley Baer, Brett Weston— they really knew how to make photographs. I love the current work of William Clift, Richard Misrach, and Robert Glenn Ketchum. And some of the work my students produce can be downright amazing. Perhaps my favorite photographer is Paul Caponigro who I briefly worked for here in Santa Fe. I'm drawn to the subtlety and the contemplative nature of his photographs. Above all I believe that in order to be a good photographer one has to truly love images and love what one is photographing.
What are you working on now?
I'm photographing the White Sands National Monument. It is 275 sq. miles of white sand dunes in southern New Mexico. It is very different topography than northern New Mexico. I'm thinking more about abstraction and the dunes provide an opportunity to explore that. It will be the subject of my next book.
What do you enjoy about being an instructor?
When you teach you learn. I frequently learn things from students and working with them sometimes helps me clarify my own ideas about image making. And you have an opportunity to give back. As a photographer I often work alone so teaching, because I have the privilege of working with others, becomes counterpoint to my own work. It brings balance to my life and my work. You give and receive feedback and can react. I teach students to be honest in their work. Authenticity is important too; it makes you a better, happier photographer.
Why is it important to publish your work?
Publishing my work is a very integral part of my creative process. Much in the same way that recorded music (in the past) was presented as a group of songs on a record album, publishing provides me a way to present a body of work, in a controlled way to a larger audience, that may never see the original prints. This provides an opportunity for the photographs to create more connections.
The book is available at fine book stores and Amazon.com
To view the Craig's work check out www.craigvarjabedian.com
What was your most memorable moment this past year?
My most memorable moment in 2013 was being named the Director of Photography for the Los Angeles Angels. Twenty five years of hard work paid off and I couldn't be happier!
What is your main goal for 2014?
My goal for 2014 is to show the Angels in a new way. I want the fans to see more intimate, quiet moments away from the field. In this photo Los Angeles Angel Mike Trout gets a haircut 90 minutes before a game. Most fans didn't know this even happened and very few people have seen this photo till now. Check out the Angels photo blog for more candid shots.
What is it that keeps you picking up your camera everyday?
I'm a super competitive person and that drives me to make the best photos day in and day out. Plus I get really grumpy if I don't shoot!
Keep up with Matt's work on his photography website and of course on the Angels photo blog!
Taking time each week to leverage your contacts is one of the most basic things you can do to ensure that your business continues to grow. Even though they are already in your address book, maximizing your relationships takes time, consistency and focus. Your network includes past clients, current clients and all of your prospects.
Mantaining Your List
Did you know that 40% of creatives at advertising agencies change jobs each year? 40%! So that great Art Director that you worked with last month may not be there next month. Where did they go? Who took their place?
The average family moves every five years, every three years for those under 30. So for those wedding and portrait photographers out there who are interested in developing a long term relationship – the so-called "photographer for life" – you have your work cut out for you as well.
So take the time each week, let's say Friday mornings from 9:00 am until 11:00 am, to do research and maintenance on your contact list.
Identifying Prospects
For example, let's say that your client was Art Jackson, the Chief Marketing Officer at Acme Advertising. A quick search on Art Jackson Acme Advertising and his LinkedIn profile comes up indicating that he has also had major marketing roles at Main Street Advertising and Modern Marketing. He has recommended two Modern Marketing people on LinkedIn. You can send Art an email to say hello, mention that you saw he used to work at Modern Marketing and had recommended a few others from there, and wondered if he might make a few introductions on your behalf. You'll also notice that Acme Advertising is owned by Agency X, so ask Art if there are additional people at the other brands within Agency X that he could introduce you to.
Within minutes you've identified prospects that you can meet through someone that knows you, likes you and can vouch for your work style and professionalism. Repeat this every Friday for a few hours and your business is guaranteed to thrive.
Starting a Conversation
Once you've been introduced a new prospect you'll need to start a dialogue. One way to begin developing a relationship that leads to new business is to offer help and counsel. Tell them you've enjoyed the chance to explore potential ways in which you could work together. Then ask them what initiatives they are working on in your area of expertise and offer to exchange ideas on how you can help. Offering solutions to their challenges or new ideas is a great way to demonstrate your value and develop a relationship.
Staying Connected
Now for the hardest part – staying connected. To be top of mind in our competitive world is very important. Part of your weekly routine should include staying in touch with your network. Here are some ideas on how to accomplish that:
Leverage LinkedIn for your recommendations and forward relevant blogs and articles to let your connections know that you're thinking of them.
Remember the goal is not collecting contacts – it's making business happen! What is it that you want with your business? Write it down on a piece of paper and put it above your computer. Why? Because success requires discipline and discipline often times is simply remembering what you want.
Melissa Dubasik: How did you get started in photography?
Kike Calvo: This question makes me sad as it was one of the worst moments in my life that drove me into photography. I was studying economics in Spain when my father, a radio personality and one of the most fascinating characters I have ever met, was diagnosed with cancer. I dropped everything and devoted that year to join him on his last journey through hospitals and chemotherapy. Before he died I promised him I would graduate. And I did.
For me it was the beginning of an internal change, where photography became my way of coping with my grief. I received a scholarship and graduated with a degree in journalism and mass media from the University of Idaho with emphasis in environmental issues. As a result I became an intern at the Charles Darwin Station in the Galapagos Islands for several months. From there I moved to New York City to train at the photo unit within the United Nations Department of Public Information. Other interesting opportunities followed such as being the studio manager at the Soho Photographer and editor for the Graphics Department at the Associated Press for Latin America and the Caribbean.
I am completely self-taught when it comes to photography. For the last 20 years I have been shooting all around the world from Antarctica to the Arctic. It is interesting how hard times in our life make us find new paths. I hope my story will be useful to someone out there who may be going through a difficult time.
MD: What are you working on now?
KC: As I write these lines, I am currently sitting on a plane that is taking me from Siam Reap, Cambodia to Thailand. I still have 10 days to go on this photo expedition around Asia that has taken me to Japan, Nepal, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. I am compiling personal work. Documenting ethnic groups and traditional dancers in the region. It has been a wonderful opportunity to create images that will be represented by National Geographic Stock and my other agencies as well as developing content for my column on the National Geographic blog Newswatch.
MD: What is your dream project?
KC: More than my dream project, my dream is to never stop dreaming. I am extremely happy with all the opportunities life has granted me. Truth is, I am a hard worker and I have been pursuing my dream of exploring and documenting the world and its people all my life. Do we need some talent? Yes. But we also need lots and lots of hard work and planning. I teach my students in my Business of Photography Workshop that as photographers we need to think, act and plan as a company. We are not just photographers. We are a business of photography. A business we love with all our hearts but in these harsh times it needs to be carried back to its roots.
MD: How did you become a National Geographic Expert?
KC: Before joining the team of Experts from National Geographic Expeditions, I worked and photographed all around the world as a freelancer. The New York Times had been sending me on several occasions to Latin America to produce images for the 36 Hours travel section and I had just finished a project in Nicaragua for the United Nations UNOPS Regional Office in Latin America. It was a time when the US was opening its new people to people visa for Americans to visit Cuba and I was invited to join as an expert on one the first expeditions. I am now leading expeditions to Cuba, Costa Rica, and Panama. I will be leading a 20 day Lindblad-National Geographic Expedition from Salvador de Bahia, Brazil all the way down to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The journey will take us to many National Parks on the way down with a stop over in Rio.
MD: What is your most memorable moment so far this year?
KC: This year has been filled with a lot of joy and many unique moments. Its been an incredible year. Mother's Day in Colon's Cemetery in Havana, the Gion Festival in Kyoto, the stories of landmine survivors in Cambodia, immersing myself in the ruins of the Ankgor complex in Siam Reap, crossing the Panama Canal by boat, photographing dozens of ethnic groups and traditional dancers in many parts of the world, and documenting Hurricane Sandy in New York City. I remind myself everyday how privileged I am for being able to live my dream. I work as hard as I can to create images that I hope will become part of our photographic history. All the while trying not to loose my smile along the way.
I also got to visit the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN lab in Geneva as part of an interdisciplinary team of Yale University to explore dance, physics and photography. But above all, the opportunity I had to share a road trip with my mother and my brother driving for several days along the East Coast of the United States along with the love shared with me by all the students that attended my photography workshops was amazing.
MD: What inspires you?
KC: I am inspired by life. Our planet is the best stage anyone could find to capture stories and photographic moments. I hope my documentation of this earth will help us as humans become aware of the gift we have been given. I also get inspired by inspiring others to pursue their dreams. My favorite sentence, which I use to end all my mailings is "Never stop dreaming". It is a wonderful feeling to see my students and those people I meet along my journey achieve their goals and harvest happiness from the seeds they plant with hard work.
To see more of Kike's work visit his website. You can keep up with Kike and his travels by following him on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram. And check out some of the cool products he has created for sale.
Where the endless plains are abruptly transacted by the dramatic Rocky Mountains lies Blackfeet Country. A small community of people call this place home and this project is about the young people of that community. It is a glimpse into their world as they see and live it. Through my photographs, I want to show the triumphs and struggles that are unique to these youth. This project explores the power of place and illustrates how the natural environment and the challenge of reservation life affect a child's experience.
These challenges unite the community and further strengthen family and neighborly bonds. In the absence of material excess, the children's imaginations flourish. Without tightly packed schedules of extracurricular activities or the latest video games, children are drawn outdoors to explore and adventure.
My goal in this body of work is to honor the enduring strength, resilience and wisdom of these youth. The project speaks to a universal childhood.
The next step is to use this photo project as a foundation for advocacy. I want to give back to this community. I feel a profound sense of gratitude for having been allowed into their lives. And I feel overwhelmed by the responsibility of that. Am I going to be able to help these kids somehow? I am looking to partner with an appropriate organization to further those efforts.
I am thrilled that liveBooks was willing to donate one of their beautiful photography website templates to my project. It brings new eyes to the Blackfeet Reservation – individuals who might not otherwise see this place or meet these powerful kids.
Currently I am creating video interviews of some of the children. This multimedia approach is a much richer, collaborative dialogue where the kids will be able to speak for themselves. To keep up with these children visit my website Grown Up West: Children: Children of the Blackfeet Reservation.
We had a great Q+A webinar with many members of the liveBooks community last Monday. Thanks so much to those who were able to attend!
For those who weren't able to join us, the focus of the conversation revolved around the future of the liveBooks brand, the state of our support team and the new features and platforms we hope to add to liveBooks in the future. To illustrate some of these items, we've listed some highlights below.
If you missed the webinar and are interested in receiving a copy of the full recording, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.
It's been a crazy few weeks over here at liveBooks, and we are extremely grateful for your patience and understanding through this process. In spite of all the exciting news, things are finally starting to settle down and return to life as we remember it. While you may still have some questions about the acquisition (if so, we encourage you to join this afternoon's Q+A webinar), rest assured that the liveBooks brand, team, and core values remain intact!
From a support personnel standpoint, not much has changed around here. Patrick, Luis and Laura are back online to help answer your questions and manage your accounts. They are joined by Catherine, Senior Customer Satisfaction Manager. We want to ensure that we introduced you to her, in case you see her name pop up on any of our channels. When Catherine isn't managing our support teams, she is mastering the art of pilates (well… almost… she fell off the pilates machine yesterday.) Catherine's email is firstname.lastname@example.com.
We are excited to utilize our new resources to increase our offerings and deliver an even better product to all of you. Please feel free to email Patrick, Luis, Laura or Catherine with any questions you may have (allow 48 business hours for a response).
Patrick: email@example.com
Luis: firstname.lastname@example.com
Laura: firstname.lastname@example.com
Dear liveBooks Community,
It is a huge thrill to be joining forces with the liveBooks team. Together, liveBooks and WeddingWire are able to take action with our shared commitment to continue the amazing work that liveBooks has been doing in serving photographers and creative professionals around the world. I wanted to share insight with you on where liveBooks is headed in the months ahead, as well as introduce myself and WeddingWire.
Where We Are Headed
Andy Patrick and I share a passion for helping small businesses succeed online. As both of our teams work together, we are committed to providing you with the level of service for which liveBooks has been known. In the coming months, our technology teams will work together very closely to build a more powerful liveBooks platform to serve your business needs for years to come. Whether you are a commercial photographer or creative professional, we look forward to delivering success to your website and your business.
About WeddingWire
WeddingWire is a company dedicated to helping small businesses succeed. We have extensive experience in working with photographers, videographers, venues, and other small business owners and are focused on understanding their ever-changing business needs. In fact, many members of our team are creative professionals themselves. The company was launched in 2007 from my living room and has continued to expand in staff, space and innovation with a priority to serve our clients.
We initially began by creating an online marketplace for the wedding industry, connecting consumers with event merchants efficiently online. Today, WeddingWire.com is one of the largest wedding sites in the U.S. Furthermore, our technology platform powers portions of leading industry sites such as Martha Stewart Weddings and CondeNast's Brides.com.
Next, we launched EventWire.com, dedicated to helping event planners find the best resources for their corporate and social events.
We are always innovating our current offerings but most recently, we extended our software suite to include features like social media management, digital contract signing, online bill payment, mobilized sites and more.
Today, our platform powers over 140,000 small businesses across the globe. We have become the leading technology company in the industry and our team is laser- focused on driving product innovation for our professional community. If you'd like to learn more about our company or our products, please visit: http://vendors.weddingwire.com.
On behalf of the entire WeddingWire team, we are incredibly excited to join the vibrant liveBooks community and we are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your business needs. I look forward to connecting with you over the coming months; however, should you have any questions, comments or concerns, please don't hesitate to email email@example.com and you will receive a response within 24 hours.
Timothy Chi
WeddingWire, Inc.
We've been busy over the past few months preparing for some exciting news. liveBooks has been acquired by WeddingWire, Inc., which operates the leading wedding and event sites such as EventWire.com, WeddingWire.com, ProjectWedding.com and many more. Furthermore, the company features a comprehensive online business marketing and management solution, called eventOS, which offers businesses the opportunity to enhance their marketing, customer relationships, reputation and more. We are confident that in WeddingWire, we have found a great partner and a steward of the liveBooks brand.
Our sincerest apologies for any bumps you may have experienced during this transition period and for any inconvenience it may have caused you. In tandem with WeddingWire, we are dedicated to making this transition as smooth as possible and we are committed to answering your questions. Our staff is available and here when you need us. We look forward to this new chapter as we deliver more value to YOU, our valued liveBooks customers.
Here's a note from Andy Patrick to the liveBooks community:
We are thrilled to announce that liveBooks has been acquired by WeddingWire, Inc., the leading online marketplace for the wedding and events industry. They are an amazing group of people, passionate about being great stewards of the liveBooks brand, and focused on maintaining our leadership role in all aspects of the photography and creative professional industry.
What does this mean for you?
You'll continue to receive the same great service as always. For anyone who experienced frustrations during this recent transition period, our sincere apologies. We will be working hard over the next few weeks to make the transition as seamless as possible. This week, support staff is in full force and ready to help with for your support questions, custom design and new site enhancements.
liveBooks brand will remain.
We're excited to partner with the WeddingWire team to continue to serve the liveBooks community. The acquisition means more resources will be available for product innovation and we will be sharing the details of these developments in the coming months. We're working to bring you more value as a liveBooks customer.
We appreciate your loyalty over the years and look forward to this exciting next chapter—we're committed to bringing you stellar business solutions to boost your online presence and success.
Keep doing great work and having fun.
All my best,
Andy Patrick
For more information about WeddingWire's platform for merchants, which includes lead management, social media monitoring, digital contracts and more, visit http://vendors.weddingwire.com.
Family portrait sessions should be fun! As photographers we can do more than just create beautiful images for our clients – we can make sure they enjoy their time with us. Ultimately, the experience families have while they're with us is what determines if we are gaining clients who will want to come back to us again and again.
Growing up, I hated getting our family pictures taken. Uncomfortable clothes, stressed-out mom, cranky kids, and someone almost always ended up crying.
Until a few years ago, I dreaded taking my own kids' pictures. I was the stressed-out mom, they were the cranky kids, and if someone was crying it was usually me. Why I decided to pursue family photography after all the itching and whining and the poking and the crying is anybody's guess, but I've learned some things over the years, both as a mom and as a photographer, that have completely changed the family portrait experience. Now, I love family portraits – I love shooting them, I love being in them, and I adore looking at them after the session. My clients and my kids look forward to them. I've found that taking the time to prepare parents for their family portrait session can turn a potentially stressful situation into one that's a lot of fun.
Make sure your clients know exactly what to expect from a session. Explain what will happen from the time they arrive at the session until they leave. Remind them that their children don't have to be perfect at the session. The camera captures 1/250th or less of a second at a time – in between the wiggles and the goofiness and even the "I don't want to!" there are always sweet moments. Ask them to trust that you can capture those.
I frequently tell my clients that I hope their family portrait session doesn't cause them any stress, but if it does, all of that stress should happen before the session. Stress and tension have no place at a portrait session. Thoughtful selection of their photographer, their wardrobe, and a session date and time that works with their family's schedule will definitely lead to beautiful images. However, once the session starts there isn't much more parents can do to ensure success, other than having fun and showing affection to their kids.
Kids have minds of their own. Let clients know that you'll try something for a while, and if it's not working out you'll move on to something else. Reassure them during the session that their child's shyness or silliness is age-appropriate and that they're not misbehaving.
Bribing a child before a portrait session almost never works. I explain to parents that by offering a reward to children before a portrait session, they're often sending the message, "This is going to be painful. So painful, in fact, that I'm going to have to take you to ice cream/buy you a toy/let you play video games to make it up to you." The problem with bribes is that children under the age of 5 don't understand delayed gratification, thus the reward is ineffective and can quickly turn into threats, "Uh-oh, no ice cream!"
I believe a child over the age of 5 is completely capable of participating in the session without the promise of a reward. Ask parents to please not mention any rewards before the session. Find out prior to the session if they're comfortable with you offering a small treat or prize to win the child over to get that last shot at the end of the session. Let everyone know that the session itself will be fun – no one needs a reward for having fun!
Remind parents that comments like, "This is really important to Mommy, we really want you to cooperate," instantly gives the child complete control over the session. Instead, I encourage parents to say something like, "We're going to go see Jessica today. She's going to play some games with us and take our picture. It's going to be so much fun!"
As the mom of many highly sensitive children, I encourage parents to make sure they're not setting themselves up for unnecessary difficulty by asking their children to do things that make them uncomfortable. Sessions should be scheduled, as much as possible, when children will be well-rested and fed. Ask parents to make sure their children have tried on clothes before the session so that any problems resulting from uncomfortable clothing can be addressed prior to the session date. I also let parents know that we can always take a break from shooting if children just need a drink or a snack, a snuggle, or time to play for a bit.
Practice makes perfect. Ask your clients to make sure they let the new big brother(s) or sister(s) hold the new baby every day. If the older sibling is too little to hold the baby, he should be lying down next to the baby, kissing the baby, or at least talking to the baby every day. This gives the toddler or child a chance to get used to the baby. It also gives the parents an idea of how much cooperation they can expect from their older child or children. The clients will then come to the session with a much more realistic idea of just how cooperative the older children will be, which is especially important if the new big sister is still pretty much a baby herself.
Giving them just a little bit of guidance, we can help our clients avoid some of the common causes of family portrait stress. The less stress at the session, the more time there is for fun, and the more likely you are to win over a client for life.
Jessica Washburn's images are pure, intimate, and above all beautiful. Finding and accentuating the beauty of her clients is always the inspiration for every session. While she enjoys photographing families and children of all ages, Jessica's attention to detail, patience and absolute love for her subjects has made her especially gifted at newborn portraiture. Her newborn images display a unique sensitivity and sense of peacefulness.
To see more of Jessica's work visit her website.
After all the lead-up to WPPI in Las Vegas last month, it seems strange that it's really over. But as I look into the rear view mirror, I see it getting smaller and smaller as we drive our brand forward toward new product launches and what will likely be a healthy wedding season.
This was my first WPPI and everything that I was told to expect turned out to be true. The crowds were massive, the energy was high, the sessions were informative, and Las Vegas was the perfect town (and the MGM Grand the perfect locale), to host the event.
Unlike Imaging USA in Atlanta last January, Pinhole Pro's presence at WPPI was as an integrated brand beneath liveBooks, Inc. and alongside Fotomoto. For the most part those who were looking for us managed to find us just fine, and when they did they were pleased to note that all of the Pinhole Pro products they'd come to love were on display to touch and feel.
You Asked. We Delivered.
WPPI also marked the unveiling of our brand new Horizontal Panoramic album, which is now available in Pro Studio. Log on to check it out now. You can even save 25% off it and all other Pro Studio product through April 15th when you use promo code PROWPPI. Enjoy!
All-Star Speaker Lineup
We were fortunate enough to have a wonderful lineup of speakers at this year's event, including Wedding Photographers Stacie Kirkwood, Barrie Fisher and Jared Platt, commercial photographers Michael Grecco and Mark Wallace, and liveBooks CEO Andy Patrick. Our own Patrick O'Connor walked attendees through all the great custom tips and tricks available to all of us in Pro Studio, and Fotomoto Product Manager Piam Kiarostami spoke about the benefits of Fotomoto. Speaking of which….
Start Selling with Fotomoto
Trade shows are nothing if not an opportunity to sample and demo product, and one of our major points of discussion at WPPI was the integration of Fotomoto into liveBooks websites. It was great to see booth attendees' faces continually light up as we showed them how they can sell photos through their liveBooks websites for free. Think of it as an extra source of revenue that you can set and forget.
For a sample of what I'm talking about, visit Jared Platt's site and click the ADD TO CART button at the bottom of the screen. If you like what you see, and I think you will, I'd be remiss if I didn't let you know that you can now save 50% off a Professional predesigned liveBooks website, which includes the integrated Fotomoto shopping cart option, by visiting liveBooks.com and entering promo code LBWPPI at checkout.
Our next major industry event will likely be the PhotoPlus Expo in New York in October, but we are looking into creating a trimmed down booth experience for smaller shows throughout the spring in summer. Please be sure to 'Like' us on Facebook and check our Events tab to stay abreast of our upcoming appearances.
Joe Franklin is the Director of Marketing at liveBooks and Pinhole Pro. When he's not sending emails, optimizing landing pages and organizing events, he's running the trails of the SF East Bay Regional Park district or shooting photos of whatever catches his eye.
Being able to create and deliver an elevator pitch is fundamental to any good marketing plan. In the final installment of a 4 part series, liveBooks Inc. CEO Andy Patrick discusses the value in being able to state your elevator when it counts.
Being able to manage and grow your contact database is essential for all working photographers. In part 3 of a 4 part series, liveBooks Inc. CEO Andy Patrick discusses some effective ways to manage and grow your database.
One of the greatest challenges new photographers face is learning to bridle their excitement to show everyone, everything they shoot. The difference between a good photographer and a great one is not what they shoot, but what they choose to show the world. Learning to edit your work is paramount to being a great photographer.
In the last century, there was a buffer between the amateur photographer and the rest of the world: the science of photography itself and the cost of production and distribution. Expensive labs, chemical heavy darkrooms, and the complexity of publishing one's work made it difficult to publicize. Those who were willing to make the effort and spend the money did so very carefully, with assistance from industry professionals to insure their work was well received. These hurdles to publication slowed photographers down and forced them to reflect on their work before displaying it to the public at large.
Today, you don't have to go through a gatekeeper to have access to the world. With the advent of Facebook, blogs and Instagram, the public is only a click away from seeing your latest shot. A photographer can snap a shot, alter it in Snap Seed and post it to the world in a matter of 60 seconds, for free, without any oversight, second opinions or editorial review.
And the world will act as your editor by following and un-following your feeds. Now you (the photographer) need to learn how to be a photo editor. You can do it, you have the skills, but you now need the discipline to be your own harshest critic and to accept nothing but the best, even when it hurts to hit the delete key.
After all, photography is the art of selection. When you are out in the field photographing, you have an infinite number of frame options available to you, and with your photographer hat on, you choose the location, the angle, the moment and even the exposure settings for each image you capture. When you get back to the Lightroom, you now have a smaller number of frame options available, but it is still the same act of selection that occupies your attention. The only difference is that the decisions you make in the computer can be contemplated over and are not as permanent as missing the shot in the field. If a photographer approaches the act of selecting in the computer the same way she approaches selecting at the camera (with confidence), the act of selection will be far less intimidating and much more fruitful.
I offer a few suggestions for being a better photo editor:
First, photographers select in the field by reviewing options in comparison to one another. In the old days, we used to make our selections in the darkroom using a contact sheet with 15-36 images being compared to one another at the same time. Reviewing images one at a time will never yield quick or informed selection decisions. The art of efficient, accurate and quality selection begins with this comparative review principle: we make better decisions when we see our options in comparison to each other.
Second, photographers in the field take an infinite number of options and select images from that infinite set. When options are placed before you in comparison, one option will catch your eye and that is the option you will explore. Back in the studio, the selection process is hindered when photographers scrutinize every possible image. Instead, determine what you are looking for (i.e. children in action, brides dressing, politicians lying, etc) and set those images in front of you. As you compare them to each other on the screen or in print, let the great images jump out and grab you. Those that do not are unworthy of your attention.
Third, you must be willing to "kill your darlings." Too many photographers keep too many images because it cost them time and money to produce. But if the image is not impressive, it should not be shown. Your goal as a self-editor is to promote your great work and, like the gatekeepers of the 20th century, deny entry to the rest. Shakespeare's character Polonious reminded his son that "brevity is the soul of wit," and I am reminding you now, that brevity is the soul of a potent portfolio. Protect your brand by protecting your portfolio.
Don't just think of your portfolio as the book you show your clients, or a website for potential clients. Your portfolio is anything and everything you put out into the public's eye. This includes your printed products, magazine publications and advertisements, your Facebook pages, blogs, image galleries and Instagrams. This is where you make your impression on the public, which is why it is so important to be more critical of your own work.
Fourth, find someone you trust to review your work on a regular basis. This could be another photographer, a mentor, your print lab, a portfolio review session at a trade show, a camera club or even a password protected web forum. You don't want a "yes" man to butter you up, but an honest and harsh critique. The public will be more than happy to critique your work, but getting that critique means that you have to show the world your mediocre work. Henri Cartier-Bresson said "showing your contact sheets is like taking your pants off in public." Don't take your pants off in public – it's not good for your brand!
The world knows that you are putting your best foot forward. So, when you share images that are merely good, you are telling your potential clients that this is the best you've got. If you are not willing to reject the good that is mixed in with the great, you will be seen as mediocre at best. If you won't judge your own work harshly, the world will.
Jared Platt is a professional wedding and lifestyle photographer. He has lectured at major trade shows, photo conferences and universities on photography and workflow. Currently, Jared is traveling the USA and Canada teaching photography and post production workflow.
The following alert concerns any of our Pros using Internet Explorer as their browser of choice.
Microsoft has admitted to a major vulnerability in the Internet Explorer browser over the weekend. This vulnerability allows users who visit a page with using IE (versions 9 through 11) to be open to hackers who aim to set up malicious sites in order to gain complete access to visitors' PC.
We know that some of our Pros access their liveBooks accounts using IE, so we highly encourage you to take the following actions in order to protect yourself from this vulnerability:
Refrain from using any version of Internet Explorer until the vulnerability is repaired.
Use Firefox or Chrome for your office needs (and personal use at home as well) and ensure that the browser is running the most recent version as well.
There is always some risk in using the Internet and no browser is completely safe, but taking the steps above will help your business protect itself from hackers who are looking to access your personal information. You can use the links below to download the alternative browser of your choice:
For more information on the security notes regarding this vulnerability, please see the list of additional resources below.
United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team
You may have heard of a recently discovered security issue – called Heartbleed – that has impacted many sites on the internet this week, including liveBooks. Heartbleed affected OpenSSL, a type of technology websites use to keep information secure as it travels through the web.
We took immediate action to fix the vulnerability in our infrastructure. And although we have not found any evidence of malicious behavior, it is a good idea to frequently reset your passwords. The instructions to reset your editSuite passwords are below.
When changing your passwords please remember:
• Avoid using simple passwords based on dictionary words
• Never use the same password on multiple sites
Changing your editSuite username and password:
1. In editSuite go to the Resources tab
2. Select Account Info/Passwords
3. On the right side select the user account that you wish to modify
To change the password check the "Change Password" box and enter the new password in both password fields. It must be at least 5 characters.
To change the username replace the current username with the new one.
You must have an email address in the "Email" field as this is where the login page's "Forgot username or password?" function will send information if you request it.
To save your changes be sure to click both "OK" for the user account and "Save" in the lower right corner of the editSuite.
We take information protection very seriously and will continue to work to ensure that appropriate measures are taken to protect your personal information. If you have any questions or concerns please email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.
For more information on this vulnerability, also known as "Heartbleed" visit http://heartbleed.com.
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By Marie Mitchell
Register Columnist
"Mom, you didn't come to a complete stop at that stop sign," Marlowe tells me although it's a four-way stop and we're the only car in sight.
"You should have used your turn signal if you were going to change lanes," he complains (even though we're the only ones on the road).
"Did you know you were going 50 in a 45 mile per hour zone?" he asks, ignoring the fact that we're rolling downhill with my foot off the accelerator.
Marlowe's become a back seat driver even though he's sitting in the passenger seat, criticizing my every move. He wants to slide over to the driver's side and log some hours behind the wheel.
Legally, he can do that now. He celebrated his 16th birthday Jan. 4 by passing his driver's permit test on the first try. He studied harder for that test than any school exam he's ever taken.
Like any new convert to a cause, Marlowe has become a know-it-all. He's full of newfound facts, and is happy to share them every time he rides along with me. Ad nauseam.
It's a wonder I haven't had my license revoked – repeatedly – for all the violations I apparently commit on the roadways. Who knew I was such a menace? I didn't until Marlowe became the undisputed authority of all things motor vehicle related.
I'll admit I exceed the speed limit occasionally. And I certainly can't park between any lines, even if the space is as wide as the Grand Canyon. But I don't think I need to go back to driving school which has been suggested lately.
To his credit, Marlowe practices what he preaches. During the hours he's driven so far, he's been very conscientious in obeying all those laws he memorized. Or so I've been told. I'm not his driving buddy. Mason is. That's what fathers are for.
Riding with inexperienced drivers makes me nervous. And they can sense my fear. Which makes them nervous. Two twitchy people in a highly charged emotional situation involving a two-ton piece of machinery – big mistake.
"Look for oncoming traffic before pulling out," I advised on a rare occasion when Marlowe grabbed the car keys before I could, banning me to the passenger seat.
"Be careful. This is a child crossing zone and a kid could dart out in front of you," I add.
I feel like the late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, whose famous cry was "Danger! Danger! Danger!" I envision an accident about to happen around every corner, turn and stop light.
"I've got this," Marlowe assures me.
But I'm losing it, I think, futilely searching for a second brake pedal by my feet.
I don't think it would help if we had one – or even a second steering wheel. We'd be lurching and weaving down the road as I stomped or grabbed for one or the other. That would create a worse traffic hazard than anything Marlowe could cause. And most likely result in a ticket and hefty fine. For me.
I'm having flashbacks to Mitchell's early driving days. I don't think I've fully recovered from that. I had twice the anxiety then because we were also teaching Hendrik, our German exchange student, to drive at the same time. That's a lot of hours trapped in the car.
So for variety, we tried some back roads. Too late we realized they had twists, turns, curves and drop-offs. Big problem for a driver still learning to keep the car on his side of the road. And not careening off an edge with no guardrail, just a steep plunge down a rocky slope. Which we narrowly missed experiencing.
Maybe I'll be the "in town" driving parent with Marlowe. And the "good weather" supervisor, staying home if there is a chance of rain, snow, ice or even dark of night.
I realize he needs the experience of driving under those conditions, but I'm not the one to give him that opportunity – and stay sane at the same time. He may have to wait until he can take Driver's Ed to try that. Let a paid professional handle it.
Eventually I'll be thrilled that Marlowe can drive. Especially when he gets his license and I don't have to ride along with him.
Then he can help run mindless errands that consume so much of my time and energy. Dropping kids off. Picking them up. Running to the store.
If I can just survive the six months and 60 hours of driving to get there.

subset: commoncrawl


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Publisher: Rosen Publishing Group, Incorporated, TheBinding: PaperbackPages: 48Size: 6.25" wide x 9.00" long x 0.25" tall Weight: 0.242Language: English
All too often, adults shrug off bullying as just a normal part of childhood. Even teachers and parents who were quick to react to cases of physical bullying frequently saw verbal bullying as unavoidable and harmless. However, recent incidents, including the suicides of bullied teenagers Phoebe Prince in Massachusetts and Tyler Long in Georgia, have forced many Americans to reexamine their ideas about verbal bullying and its victims. In this insightful narrative, students understand and identify damaging verbal encounters, who gets targeted by verbal bullies and why, what makes someone a verbal bully, what to expect from an encounter with a verbal bully and ways to respond, who to ask for help, efforts that schools and communities are taking to destroy the bullying culture, anti-bullying legislation, and the federal Stop Bullying Now! Campaign.
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Climate Fellowships
Clean Air-Cool Planet created the Fellows program in part to address an obstacle that we had struggled with since our inception. Over and over, we saw that even the best-intentioned partners—whether in the community, campus or corporate sector—could easily be thwarted in their sustainability goals by a lack of "person-power" necessary to conduct inventories, research and write climate action plans, or carry out other high priority projects. Lacking any better option, many partners opted to assign these tasks to a busy volunteer, or a staff person already working at full capacity—and all too often, that meant a loss of momentum or even abandonment of the project.
Through our Climate Fellows program, we support young people who demonstrate the desire and emerging skills needed to help propel society towards sustainable solutions to our most pressing environmental problems. Since 2008, we have been matching exceptional college students from diverse backgrounds with high priority climate solutions projects. Through this nationally advertised and highly competitive program, students receive skills training, mentoring, networking opportunities and a stipend for full-time summer projects undertaken at CA-CP or with one of our partner organizations.


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(Photo by Pete Souza)
Helen Beach Cannon
I write in defense and support of President Obama, a man whom I believe to be the finest President in my lifetime of over 70 years. That's many Presidents, including some who deserve high praise and an honorable place in our history.
I feel sad that few come forward to defend and praise
this President, and too many who fail to treat him with the
respect and honoring he deserves. In fact, even if he
were less than deserving, is this the way we want to teach our
children and grandchildren to disrespect the high office of
President of The United States of America? Do we want them to
believe that malice and rudeness befit their behavior toward
the leader of our land?
I grew up believing that the office and the man (or woman) holding it call for a certain deference and respect, regardless of whether I believed in the policies of that President. Instead our children are learning that basic civility and courtesy are not required behaviors. Are our children to learn that in politics, anything goes, especially if you're wealthy? Should they be given examples of acceptable behavior such as when a President of the United States addressing the nation, is interrupted by a congressional heckler (Joe Wilson) shouting "You lie!"? Is such an unprecedented and scurrilous example just how it goes in our political arena? I've wept over such savage and lying attacks directed at the man who leads our nation.
On the other hand, I've marveled over the openmindness of our President under such vile attacks -- over his gentility and calmness in the face of such terrible rudeness, and his civility in the face of awful incivility. Can anyone point to anything other than his courtesy and willingness to forgive? And, for that matter, in this world rife with infidelities and venality, can anyone point to anything other than exemplary behavior from this husband and father? (Not many who have held the office could boast a clean moral slate--not FDR, nor Eisenhower, nor Truman, nor Kennedy, nor Clinton.)
I wish that every critic of our President would read
his two books--DREAMS OF MY FATHER, and THE AUDACITY OF HOPE. These two books are
honest and straight- forward and are not ghost-written, but
are written in Barack Obama's own impeccably fine style, and
they convey the philosophy of an informed, bright, and honest
man. The books
make clear that the then Senator Obama did not seek the
Presidency for glory, but rather because he believed that he
could help a troubled nation and troubled world. Nor did he seek the
office naively; he in fact foresaw some of the nasty
opposition a Democratic president would meet, as well as the
sure inheritance of an unprecedented national debt. And in his
book THE AUDACITY of HOPE, he makes clear how he knew that, to
a great extent, Republican
policy would embrace, above all, the protection of the wealthy
at the expense of the middle class and even the poor.
Furthermore and early-on, Senator Obama was fully aware of and well-informed about international conflicts already in place. (No other current candidate has such sure knowledge of the law nor of international affairs. I fear that in their hands America would be in danger of becoming hopelessly isolationist -- no way to be in today's world made small by communication and the need to recognize that, if we are to survive, we must all be brothers and sisters.)
Our President came to office hoping to work with a
cooperative, reasonable group of legislators and believing
that bipartisan consideration of difficult issues might yield
good and needful things.
That hoped-for bipartisanship has not appeared, and as
a result, bills that should have been quickly addressed have
been made laboriously slow by way of the calculated Republican
strategy of unrelenting obstruction. The President has
been subjected to ridicule and calumny by a lunatic fringe of
cable news reporters, and by bad-mannered, uninformed Tea
Partiers. It
seems to me that we, as citizens, have an obligation toward
civility. As the
President wisely observed, "When we can no longer even engage
in a conversation with each other over things that really
matter, we lose something about ourselves and the democratic
process in which we believe."
(Above right) As the cartoonist, Jim Morin of the Miami Herald, put it ~~
Any reader of DREAMS OF MY FATHER would quickly dismiss questions of the author's authentic American citizenship, and the charge of his "elitism" would fall, as author Obama chronicles the difficulties and yet blessings of his middle class beginnings. We see how he admires his mother's single parent determination to better herself in order to give this son chances for a good education and a relatively untroubled childhood. He tells of witnessing his mother's efforts to get financial assistance for the cancer treatment she needed. (This witnessing may contribute to his conviction that we all need health care support. How unfortunate, that the legislation to secure this necessary medical protection has been so unfairly and erroneously portrayed; how sad that its critics, for the most part, simply don't understand the plan nor that its origins were actually with Republican legislators, nor do they admit to its benign necessity in a world where health care is financially out of reach for all of us but the most fabulously wealthy.)
I am haunted by Dostoevsky's parable of "The Grand Inquisitor." It appears in his book THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. Dostoevsky's story seems made for our times, though it is set in 16th century Seville during the terrible times of the Spanish Inquisition when so-called heretics were being burned at the stake, and the people, in need of a savior, yearned and prayed for a Second Coming. And, as Dostoevsky's parable has it, the Savior does indeed come. "The people are irresistibly drawn to Him, they flock about Him and follow Him." But then the appearance of The Grand Inquisitor changes everything. The Savior is condemned as the worst of heretics, thrown into prison, threatened with being burned at the stake, and castigated as the One who would impose freedom and enlightenment on people unable to handle freedom and light, and finally banished from the earth. "Dost Thou forget," the Inquisitor queries the Savior, "that man prefers...even death to freedom of choice in the knowledge of good and evil? Nothing is more seductive for man than his freedom of conscience, but nothing is a greater cause of suffering."
Can we accept the responsibilities of being kind and
civil to each other as we try to make our precarious way
toward informed and truthful understanding Can we support our
Chief of State as he tries to lead us, with all good intent,
toward the light?
~~ Helen


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The Bottom Line
Oracle VM VirtualBox 3.2.0 contains many improvements over earlier versions. Oracle has taken Sun's virtual offering and updated it to work with the latest Intel processors, created a faster video subsystem, and sped up basic performance. While it lacks many features Mac users expect in a VM product, especially when compared with Parallels and Fusion, it does offer two compelling features: It's free, and it supports installing Snow Leopard as a guest OS.
- Free for personal use; $50 for business use.
- Native support for Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors.
- Faster I/O subsystem for better performing virtual disks.
- Allows Snow Leopard to be used as a guest OS.
- Host and VM integrations limited.
- Memory usage higher than competing VM systems.
- Difficult to import existing guest OSes from other VM environments.
- No support for use of Boot Camp partitions.
- Requires Intel-based Macs.
- Works with Leopard or Snow Leopard as Host OS.
- Supports wide range of guests OSes.
- Can work with most USB peripherals.
- Keyboard and mouse capture are fully automated with OS X as host.
Guide Review - Oracle VM VirtualBox 3.2 Review: VirtualBox Adds Supports for OS X as Client
VirtualBox 3.2.0 is the first release of Sun's VirtualBox application under the Oracle name. When Oracle purchased Sun, it acquired Sun's virtualization group, which led many of us to wonder what would happen to the free and well-regarded virtualization product, VirtualBox. Well, the answer seems to be that it will remain free. Oracle also added new capabilities to the application.
New Features of VirtualBox 3.2
VirtualBox 3.2.0 offers a number of new features, including the first virtualization environment for the Mac optimized for use with Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors. VirtualBox 3.2.x also offers faster networking, a new I/O storage subsystem that provides faster access to virtual devices, like the virtual hard drive, and a spiffy improvement in the video performance, an area were VirtualBox has always been behind the other virtualization contenders.
Snow Leopard As a Guest OS
One of the big changes in VirtualBox 3.2 is support for running Snow Leopard as a client OS. You can run Snow Leopard as a virtual machine, right on top of your native OS X installation. This lets you try out applications and various OS X capabilities without worrying about disturbing your main installation of OS X. Other virtual machine environments, such as Parallels and Fusion, allow you to run OS X Server as a client, but prevent you from using the consumer version of OS X as a client OS in the virtual environment.
VirtualBox 3.2's support for OS X is listed as experimental. I was able to run Snow Leopard as a client, but couldn't install any earlier version of OS X. There's also the question of whether running Snow Leopard as a virtual machine violates the EULA for Apple's Snow Leopard. I'll leave that for the legal scholars to unravel, and simply confirm that Snow Leopard installed and ran without issues as a virtual machine under VirtualBox 3.2.0.
Of course VirtualBox supports many other guest OSes as well, including all of the Windows environments since Windows 3.1, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, and even IBM's OS/2.
Using VirtualBox 3.2
VirtualBox 3.2 is easy to set up and use. If you've worked with any of the other virtual machine applications for the Mac, VirtualBox won't throw any surprises at you. If you're new to working with virtual machines, VirtualBox has simple assistants that can walk you though creating your first VM.
Integrating the virtual machines you create with your native host OS is a simple matter of assigning shared folders. Once you assign shared folders, you can access files or folders from either environment by placing them in the shared folders. What's missing is basic drag-and-drop. You can't simply drag a file from your Mac to the VM desktop; you must use the shared folder system.
Overall, VirtualBox 3.2 has a lot going for it. It provides all of the basic features you're likely to need. It lacks some of the niceties and features seen in Parallels and Fusion, but it's free and they're not.


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Blue Raiders head west for spring break
Will face Cal Poly, San Diego and UC IrvineMarch 11, 2013 · @MTAthletics
· PDF: Box Score
· Cumulative Stats
· Box Score
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee's men's tennis squad embarks on its spring break trip this week, March 11-16, with matches scheduled against Cal Poly, San Diego and UC Irvine.
MT will face Cal Poly on March 11 at 1 p.m., San Diego on March 15 at 11 a.m., and UCI on March 16 at 11 a.m.
"These matches in California are all great opportunities," Head Coach Jimmy Borendame said. "The guys have been looking forward to this trip west all year long."
The Blue Raiders (10-5) are ranked 35th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, and last played at the HEB Classic in Corpus Christi, Texas, where they took second among eight teams.
MT is led by Ben Davis (No. 92), Victor Cornea and Christoph Lang in singles, and features the 35th ranked pair of Davis and Cornea in men's doubles.
"Cal Poly and San Diego have great teams that are both top-30 level despite their rankings at the moment," Borendame said. "UCI was also highly ranked last season and have a lot of talent as well as strong doubles."
No. 55 Cal Poly (6-3) is led by Andre Dome, ranked 32nd, and last played on Feb. 23 against DePaul, who they beat 7-0. Dome pairs with Flight 3 singles player, Jordan Bridge, in doubles, and they are undefeated at 6-0 this season.
San Diego (6-3) is ranked 47th, and last played March 9 in a loss to then-No. 39 BYU. San Diego features two ranked singles players, No. 82 Clarke Spinosa and No. 112 Uros Petronijevic.
UCI is just 2-11 on the year, and last competed on March 9 against then-No. 68 UNLV. The Anteaters fell, 5-2, but picked up singles victories by Shuhei Shibahara and Jonathan Hammel. Caryl Hernandez and Tyler Pham won their doubles match in the dual, 8-4.
"We are looking forward to the warm weather but will be making this an all-business trip," Borendame said.
The Blue Raiders return home March 30 for the two-day MT Shootout. Seven other squads will compete in the event, including Sun Belt Conference foes Troy, South Alabama, Georgia State and Florida Atlantic.
Friend of the Blue Raiders? Like us on Facebook and become part of the True Blue army today.
More Men's Tennis NewsJul 11, 2014: MT Men's Tennis recognized by ITA for academics
Jul 8, 2014: Raiders add three to Men's Tennis squad
Jun 12, 2014: Men's Tennis' recruiting class ranked 24th among mid-majors
Jun 6, 2014: MT's Zito tabbed 95th in final ITA rankings
Jun 2, 2014: Borendame partners with Buddy Up Tennis
May 5, 2014: Borendame & SAAC host dodgeball tournament