The Official Newsletter for Wonderful Machine Photographers

Issue 14 November 2009

Robb Scharetg / Washington D.C.

NEWS

Holiday Images

The holidays are fast approaching and we're considering images for our holiday mailer that goes out to thousands of art buyers across the U.S.. If you have a photograph that might relate well to a winter or holiday theme, please send it along to our Creative Director, peter@wonderfulmachine.com.

Portfolio Review: Razorfish Philadelphia

Last week, Amanda and Ben took a short drive to Razorfish in Philadelphia for a portfolio review.

A duet of pleasures greeted the Razorfish art buyers: free food and fantastic photos

Razorfish has a number of offices around the world, including nine offices here in the U.S. The company was recently purchased by Publicis and though they primarily deal with healthcare clients, they are interested in branching out and competing in other markets as well. Anthony, an art director, told us that the creative department at Razorfish really wants to push the value in assignment photography versus buying stock. He thinks our presentation went a long way in doing just that. To that point, Amanda and Ben spent the majority of the meeting explaining what we do at Wonderful Machine and how we differ from other sourcebooks. We walked a number of creatives through the website and showed them how to find photographers based on location or specialty.

One of our photographers, Anthony Georgis, recently shot a Levi’s campaign for Razorfish in Portland, and though the different branches don’t interact regularly, it was nice to be able to show how our photographers' work can fit in with Razorfish’s brand. The general feedback from our hosts was that our photographers have top-notch work and that Wonderful Machine can help them continue to raise the quality level at Razorfish. We’re always pleased to listen in as creatives look at a portfolio and make comments like “this would be great in the (fill in brand name) campaign”. The portfolio review definitely left a strong impression on a competitive agency that is consistently striving to produce great work. And we've established another network of friends who are making their mark in the creative world.

Amanda presenting the room after we transformed Razorfish's eating area into a smorgasbord of excellent photography


Amanda showing a Razorfish creative director our website

PDN Photo Expo

On Friday, October 23rd, Sean Stone, Amanda Hanley and Jess Dudley took a day to check out PDN's Photo Expo in New York. It was a great chance to rub elbows with all sorts of folks from our industry. After coming off of the crowded expo floor for a breath of air, we headed out for a few of the dozens of seminars they were offering that weekend.

Amanda and Sean doing their best impersonation of awkward tourists at the PDN Photo Expo.

Sean attended a panel discussion, moderated by Louisa Curtis, which was all about creating outstanding web sites. Much of what the five panelists talked about were things that we consistently hear from art buyers, and encourage all of our photographers to do. It was a great insight, and we'd like to pass on some of what they had to say to our photographers.

• How Much is Too Much?: Ironically, the phrase most repeated was "Less is more!" Your site should be a first impression and a tease, not an online archive. The value of a tight edit was something the panel all strongly agreed on. The people you want to have looking at your site love photography and while their primary job is to look at pictures, they have lots of other things to do as well! Remember that your site has to suit both your needs and the clients needs. They need a site which is intuitive to use and has large, high quality images that load quickly. You need to have a memorable site which shows your best work, reinforces your brand, and makes you look like someone they would want to work with. Your site should also provide "robust" content to search engines, and be easy to locate. Whether you've been shooting assignments for 20 years or 2 months, keep your galleries small. All of the panelists agreed that they would probably not bother looking at more than 20 images in any section of work. "If I haven't seen it after 20 photos, I'm not going to see it," one panelist remarked.


• Are Thumbnails Required?: In terms of organization, most agreed that thumbnails were preferable, but only if they were large enough to know what it leads to. For them, thumbnails are helpful to navigate your site in a hurry. For that same reason, it is important to have numbered images or a layout of thumbnails which makes it clear they are not entering a "bottomless pit". All of the panelists said they were more likely to view every image in a gallery if they knew how many they were going to see.


• Can I Get Your Digits?: Many of them also stressed how important it is to have your contact information immediately visible. They are often hiring for a shoot in just a few days, and they will need to contact you very quickly. Having a phone number and email address on every page is a great way to make this process easier. A contact section is still necessary, but think about adding your information on every page.


• About You: Your bio page is a great opportunity to show something about your personality. People want to do business with people they like, and you should use your personality to your advantage! In addition to personal information and background, you can describe your capabilities and equipment. For a last minute shoot, knowing that you will or will not be renting huge amounts of equipment is good for them to know up front.


• The Frills: According to this group, and just about every creative professional we have talked to, the worst thing they encounter on a daily basis is music on sites. No one wants to be suddenly assaulted with a soundtrack they don't expect, and you might have musical tastes that your potential client doesn't share. This can be immediately off-putting, and is more likely to win enemies than friends. Another pet peeve which the panel unanimously agreed upon was websites that have automatically expanding windows which take over the entire screen. Once again, these busy people don't want to be told how to use their space and how your site should be viewed. They will immediately reformat the window to something that fits into their work flow, so better to just let them decide from the outset. On that same note, be sure that if you have a flash intro, you also have a visible and easy way to skip it.


• To Blog or Not to Blog?: Lastly, as far as blogs go, bear in mind that only a few of the people who are looking at your site will go the extra mile to read your whole blog. But remember, it's a valuable marketing tool, great for search engine optimization, and will help you connect more the kinds of clients you're after. Your blog should be a standard part of your marketing routine, updated regularly, but not overly personal. It's a professional tool, not a social network.

WM photographers Robert Holland and Kevin Brusie having a drink with
Amanda, Sean and Jess (not pictured) after the Photo Expo

7th Annual Lucie Awards Celebrated in New York City

The Lucie Awards is an annual ceremony that brings together some of the biggest names and legacies in photography, as well as some of the most compelling emerging photographers. Our own Amanda Hanley was on hand to help coordinate presenters and honorees.

This year's event was held in Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. It was clear throughout the night that the Lucies mean quite a bit to photographers who are lucky enough to be nominated, and this excitement was reflected especially by those photographers who won. There was Reza, honored for his great achievements in Documentary Photography, who graciously thanked the Lucie Foundation and inspired confidence in the greater photography community to continue providing a visual history and record to those who have none. In a category that names both professional and non-professional photographers as finalists, Rachel Papo was chosen as the Deeper Perspective Photographer of the year (check out her project entitled "Serial No. 3817131" which focuses on the difficult and early years of mandatory military service for young Israeli women). A truly humanizing moment in the ceremony was when Nadav Kander, who had just gotten to the podium after being named Photographer of the Year, held the microphone to his chest: "I haven't prepared!" he exclaimed, as even the audience members in the back row could hear his heart pounding.

We'd like to offer a special congratulations to Burn Magazine who won for Best Photography Magazine of the Year. One of Wonderful Machine's photojournalists from Miami, Michael McElroy contributed a photo essay to Burn called "An American Nightmare."

MARKETING

October Emailers

Here's what we sent out this month to about 30,000 creatives at ad agencies, magazines, publishing companies, etc.
Click on the thumbnail to view the full version.

PRODUCTION

Strategic Estimating

Jess made the trip to PDN's Photo Expo to hear Jeff Sedlik, founder of PLUS, discuss strategic estimating. The presentation reiterated a few estimating philosophies we consistently adhere to whenever we estimate a project.

• Education is Key: Educate your client on copyright and licensing. A lot of clients don't understand licensing models and insist on getting day rate quotes. What a lot of clients don't realize is that day rates are actually detrimental in that they reward photographers who take longer to shoot a project. A client should want the project to be finished as quickly and efficiently as possible, without compromising quality, and a day rate undermines that approach.


• Chisel Away the Unnecessary Usage: The more specific the client can be in the intended use, the lower the licensing fee. Help the client whittle away unnecessary licensing. The client shouldn't pay for worldwide, exclusive, advertising use of 10 images in perpetuity when they only need 2 years of billboard use of 10 images in the North America and the UK. These are both significant uses but one would have a considerably higher licensing fee than the other.


• Buyout Beware: Remove buyout from your vocabulary. Everyone has a different understanding of its meaning so try not to ever use this term with a client.


• Phone + Quote = Less $$: Never, ever quote over the phone. You need to carefully consider all of the details of the shoot before you can come up with a bottom line. You run the risk of overestimating and scaring the client away due to sticker shock, or underestimating and scaring the client away because you're inexperienced.


• Diligence Can Spare You Headaches: Protect yourself. Register your copyright. Get a signed contract. Read the PO before signing it. All these things can save you loads of time, money, and aggravation so make them part of your regular workflow.


• Be Flexible: Offer creative licensing terms to help your client meet their budget. If the client needs a picture for two years of use and you've presented an estimate that is over their budget, suggest they pay for the first year now and give them a pre-set rate for the second year of licensing. This way, the client doesn't have to pay for next year's advertising, marketing or publicity with this year's budget.

ODDS & ENDS

Each month we sift through various blogs, articles and other interwebular stories to find information that we think is valuable to our photographers. Here are some nuggets of onliney-goodness this month:

• Stockland Martel wrote this summary of the 'The Business of Photography' panel that our own Neil Binkley attended as a panelist:
  http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/10/01/out-of-the-mouths-of-reps/
• 
  
• Rob at Aphotoeditor.com interviewed acclaimed 'manly' celebrity photographer Sam Jones:
  http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/10/08/sam-jones-interview-part-1/
  http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/10/08/sam-jones-interview-part-2/
• 
  
• Are your customers leaving you? Modernpostcard.com explores what makes a customer decide not to come back:
  http://www.modernpostcard.com/knowledge/articles/no-1-reason-existing-customers-leave-ways-keep-them-buying?cid=newsletter_2009-10-08_number_one_reason
• 
  
• PDN recently held their annual self-promo awards. If you are a member you can visit their blog to see what makes a successful self-promo piece. Wonderful Machine's own Neil Binkley was one of the judges for the event and if that's not reason enough to become a member, we don't know what is.
  http://www.pdnonline.com:80/pdn/content_display/features/pdn-online/e3i209e6b1f462c1a5865140593a01ab620?src=bchallenge


• Carolyn Potts took a look at how a photographer can adapt to the changing landscape of the photo industry.
  http://www.adbase.com/Articles/HowToThrive


• In an interview with Rob at Aphotoeditor.com, Selena Maitreya has some very positive things to say about the photo industry:
  http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/10/27/selina-maitreya-interview/


• Worried that someone may be stealing your image? Try this new website as described by PDN in this article:
  http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/10/another-new-search-tool-for-finding-matching-images.html

PORTFOLIO REVIEWS & WORKSHOPS

• Center's Review LA | January 14, 2010
• 
  
• Santa Fe Photographic Workshops | Rolling Deadlines

CONTESTS

• PDN Photo Annual | Deadline: December 21, 2001


• American Photographer 26 | Deadline: January 2010


• Communication Arts Photography Competition | Deadline: March 26, 2010

JUMPSTART

The Official Guide to Wonderful Machine Staff, Services, & Discounts

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SUGGESTIONS

Anything you'd like us to talk about in a future newsletter? Tips or anecdotes that you'd like to share? Suggestions for how to make Wonderful Machine more valuable to you? Please email Neil:

Neil Binkley, Publicity and Marketing Director
neil@wonderfulmachine.com