The Official Newsletter for Wonderful Machine Photographers

Issue 16 January 2010

Jeff ZImmerman / Asheville

NEWS

Are You Going to The Olympics?

The Winter Olympics are coming to Vancouver, Canada on February 12th. Let Neil know if you're planning on going (especially if you are credentialed), and we'll get the word out to appropriate clients. We would also love to see a few of your best pictures as the games go along (about 500 pixels on the short side). We'll plan to incorporate them into some of our publicity, marketing, and our "special" specialty.

Multimedia Category Is in Effect!

We're excited to introduce the "Multimedia" category on our USA and International specialty pages. As mentioned in last month's newsletter, we've found that clients are increasingly looking to hire "still" photographers to work on projects that include motion, sound, cinematography, and directing. This includes tv spots, branding videos, photojournalistic sideshows, etc.

In fact, we just got a call from an art buyer at Olson in Minneapolis, asking us to suggest multimedia photographers who shoot both still photography and b-roll motion footage.

If you're not listed in the Multimedia category and you'd like to be considered for it, please email our photo editor Sean Stone a link to that part of your site.

Now Promoting to Latin American and Australian Clients

Starting this month, we've added 1,300 clients in Latin America and Australia to our emailer list. Now we're sharing our photographers' work with clients across four continents: North America, South America, Europe and Australia. We're planning to promote to Asian and African prospects in the future (we'll have to see about Antarctica).

Welcome, Caleb!

Please join us in welcoming Caleb Raynor, our new photographer researcher. He's working with Carolyn Harper to ensure that we continue to be aware of the best photographers worldwide, in addition to providing support to other departments. Caleb was a staff photographer at five newspapers and attended the Eddie Adams Workshop. Additionally he has a degree in Economics and recently taught business English to South Korean executives. To give an idea of Caleb's spirit: he's an avid soccer player, he's climbed the pyramids at Chitin itza, Mexico, and he's even run with the bulls in Pamplona.

PORTFOLIO EVENTS

Boston: Arnold Worldwide, Mullen, Modernista!, and Fidelity Investments

Last month Jess and Amanda shared our photographers' portfolios at some of Boston's finest creative institutions, not to mention taking a breath to meet with our local photographers.
More on this story in our blog post...

MARKETING

WM Holiday Card 2009

We mailed out our Holiday print mailer this month to 2,000 of the most influential art buyers on our list. Thanks again to Cade Martin, one of our Washington DC photographers, for his excellent photo! Click to view larger.

December Emailers

Last month we sent 41,658 emailers to 28,354 unique art buyers at ad agencies, magazines, and corporations, among others. Click on the thumbnails below to view the full versions. (And of course, there's the holiday emailer that we sent to you.)

CONSULTING

Stay in Control of Estimates and Invoices

Our producers have created a handy spreadsheet to help prompt us for estimate items and keep track of costs before, during and after a shoot. We like to use it for commercial and some bigger editorial projects, and we figured you might find it useful as well.

(L): Spreadsheet. (R): Sample Invoice.

For estimates, we use the left half of the spreadsheet as a checklist while taking down shoot details from our client. It's a good reminder for considering the complexities of a project. Can they budget for catering? Lodging? Will you need to rent a studio or will a location require security?

During pre-production and the shoot, you can refer to the estimated costs for each line item. If you see that you're close to going over budget on an item, you can seek approval from your client right away, instead of having to tell them in your invoice or later eating the cost yourself.

When it's time to bill the client, fill in the right half of the spreadsheet. It's helpful to have the estimated and actual costs side by side, so you can decide where you have breathing room on your invoice. Your invoice total should normally stay at or below the estimated total, so your client has no surprises.

Our lead producer Jess recently used the spreadsheet while working up a quote for one of our East Coast photographers. The estimate covered a 12 day, multi-city project shooting across two continents. The spreadsheet helped him cover every facet of the production, including translators, stylists, rentals, scouts, travel, assistants, carnet, drivers, production days, and more.

Again, you can download the Excel spreadsheet file here, and use it as you like. Bear in mind that this is only a guideline, and is for your internal use only. Your client is not going to be interested in seeing what (if any) your markup is on your expenses.

When you need help with estimates, production, or with any of our consulting services please contact Jess Dudley at (610) 260-0200 or jess@wonderfulmachine.com.

HELPFUL ARTICLES

• What Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' Art Buyer Wants to See From Photographers
  http://www.adbase.com/Podcasts/GoodbyArtBuyerInterview?ecode=insight41_subscriber


• Vincent Laforet Shoots High Quality Video with Canon 1D MKIV
  http://stocklandmartelblog.com/2009/12/23/the-return-of-vincent-laforets-nocturne-and-the-launch-of-a-contest/


• Keeping Metadata Attached to Images
  http://www.pdnpulse.com/2009/12/new-picscout-tool-connects-image-buyers-to-owners.html


• The Future of Photobooks
  http://blog.livebooks.com/2009/12/want-to-be-part-of-our-new-crowd-sourced-blog-post-tell-us-what-you-think-about-the-future-of-photobooks


• The First Law Of Self Promotion
  http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2009/12/21/the-first-law-of-self-promotion/

WORKSHOPS & EVENTS

• Center's Review Santa Fe | Deadline: January 27, 2010, Event: June 3-6, 2010


• Powerhouse Portfolio Review | Deadline: January 28, 2010, Event: February 28, 2010


• Fotofest Biennial | Event: March, 2010


• Santa Fe Photographic Workshops | Rolling Deadlines & Events

CONTESTS

• Pictures of the Year International | Deadline: January 15, 2010


• Flash Forward 2010 | Deadline: January 17, 2010


• Art Director's Club | Deadline: January 22, 2010 (for Photography / Illustration)


• American Photography 26 | Deadline: January 22, 2010


• Lucie Scholarship Program | Deadline: January 25, 2010


• Webbies | Deadline: January 29, 2010


• Applied Arts | Deadline: January 29, 2010


• Center | Deadline: January 2010 deadlines

MARKETING RESOURCES

Check out our marketing resources page to find lists of portfolio manufacturers, website portfolio templates, mailing services, and more. We have arranged for discounts with many of them, as a benefit for our members.

Our latest: if you sign up for their print edition this month, FOUND folios is offering a free trial subscription (until August 2010) on the soon-to-be-launched FoundFolios portfolio website. This is in addition to their regular 15% discount for Wonderful Machine photographers.

JUMPSTART

Get the most out of your membership with Jumpstart, our guide to Wonderful Machine services.

STAFF

Learn how our staff pull their weight around here..

FEEDBACK

We are constantly striving to improve all the ways we help our photographers. Your feedback is crucial to that effort. Please contact our CEO Bill Cramer with your comments, compliments, criticisms, ideas, or suggestions.