Transitions

Our producer Ben Weldon has been so inspired by our members that he has decided to join their ranks as a full-time professional photographer. During his two years here at Wonderful Machine, Ben has excelled in his role as spokesman for our members and our brand, and under Jess's tutelage, he has become quite adept at creating estimates and handling shoot production. All the while, Ben has entertained us here in the office with a steady stream of wisecracks and he has never been at a loss for puns for our print mailer and ad copy. You can send career advice to ben@benweldonphotography.com and you can admire his photographs here.

Holgas for All!

We were in a giving spirit over the holiday season, and now that everything has quieted down, we're prepared to spill the beans about our exclusive Wonderful Machine holiday gift. A select group of art buyers on our "nice" list received their very own Holga cameras. But these were no ordinary Holgas. These Holgas were painstakingly customized with the Wonderful Machine insignia.

We were pleased with the responses. "The most fun gift I've gotten this season" wrote one art buyer. "By far the coolest thing any vendor is going to send me this holiday season," wrote another. "I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT," gushed yet another art buyer, in all caps.

Perhaps the most interesting response was not sent to us directly. Through Google Alerts, a Craigslist ad in Boston came to our attention. It seems someone had lost the camera, and, distraught, placed a notice to try to get it back.

Photographers.com Discount

We're pleased to announce a discount from Photographers.com. The advantage of being listed on this site is that Photographers.com is almost always the top listing on any search engine on a search for "photographers." They're offering 35% off any monthly or yearly plan to Wonderful Machine members, valid throughout 2011. When you sign up for the site, you'll receive a confirmation email with a list of plans to select from. Once you select a plan, the screen will refresh, and below the plans will be a box to check for "Enter Promotional Code." Just enter the following code: wonderful-35off-photographers-com. Then click the button for “GET DISCOUNT” and the “Net Total” discounted price will be displayed. A short instructional video is available here.

D65 Discount

If you're looking for a more streamlined, efficient digital workflow, you'll like this discount. D65, a boutique company dedicated to educating photographers, is offering $150 off their four-day "Digital Workflow, Not Workslow" Lightroom Workflow Workshops. Here's their description of what you'll learn in a workshop: "We will equip you with the tools to manage your images efficiently, effectively and effortlessly. You'll keep every image you shoot organized and archived. D65 provides insider tips and tricks how best to work pre-capture to ensure you get the best out of Lightroom post capture."

The discount will be in effect for the year of 2011, and can be activated using the discount code: "Wonderful Machine." Check their website for the schedule.

Select Magazine Discount

Here's one more discount for your coupon box. Select Magazine is offering a discount on print pages, showcase mailers, and digital pages. Pages in the printed annual magazine, to be published next in Summer 2011, start at £490. On their new electronic "e-magazine," which features editorial and video interviews and showreels, double pages are £699 including video. Finally showcase mailers, worldwide mailers sent to over 100,000 creatives worldwide every month and featuring a profile, images and links, are £200.

Select is offering WM members a 20% discount for all the above prices, which will apply indefinitely. To get the discount, just forward your WM link to Kim Rogers at kim@select-magazine.com before signing up.

LA and San Diego Trip

by Maria Luci

“This ain't no disco. It ain't no country club either. This is LA!” I couldn’t get Shery Crow's voice out of my head as Ben and I flew from freezing Philadelphia out to sunny Los Angeles, California. I was excited to thaw out my frostbitten hands, go outside without five layers on, and show a ton of books to prospective clients. During the past few months I had put a lot of effort into putting this trip together. (Note to self: don't try to schedule meetings during the holidays.) I was very excited to finally get over there and to meet some new West Coast clientele.

Read more about LA, part 1...
Read more about San Diego...
Read more about LA, part 2...

Creative Review Ads

We've just had a one month rotation of ads on the Creative Review website, using four interesting and unusual shots by WM photographers. You may have already seen these ads on the CR site, but here's an exclusive: only on this blog will you find the story behind the picture. Take a look below at the photographers explaining what went into each shot.

Read more...

Emailers

Last month we sent 18,974 emailers to art buyers at ad agencies, magazines, and corporations in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Click on the thumbnails below to view the full versions. This month, in addition to our regular photographer bio emailer, we sent out an emailer featuring our Multimedia specialty.

Snow

We've had our share of snow in Philadelphia. But our parking-lot mountains can't quite compare to the ones pictured in our recent print mailer, printed by Modern Postcard, courtesy of England-based photographer Julian Love.

Read more...

WM in WSJ

No, that isn't a new text message abbreviation. It means that Wonderful Machine was featured in the Wall Street Journal! Because our approach to human resources is famous in the American business community, the WSJ called us up to learn about how we handle snow days. Give it a read at the WSJ website.

Nature Preserve Guidebook

by Wonderful Machine CEO Bill Cramer

Here's a project that began seven years ago and just wrapped up last month. Back in 2004, I got a call from an art director at a landscape architecture firm that was completing a $7 million renovation of a 70 acre piece of land, transforming it into a nature preserve for a non-profit. They had replaced alien plants with species indigenous to the area and they created beautiful bridges, paths and sculpture gardens. They needed photographs depicting plant specimens and landscapes for a guidebook. Oddly, they came to me. I say oddly because I shoot almost exclusively portraiture. I don't even show still life pictures in my portfolio, let alone plants. But there was something about the personality of my photographs that the client thought would work well for the book. I liked her and the project. And in spite of, or maybe because of how different this project was, I decided that I wanted to do it.

Read more...

• The Dos and Don'ts of Portfolio Presentation http://layersmagazine.com/the-dos-and-don%E2%80%99ts-of-portfolio-presentation.html
• Your Website: Your Essential Marketing Tool http://www.adbase.com/Blog/Email-And-Web-Marketing/YourWebsiteYourEssentialMarketingTool

• Platypus Workshop | Date: February 13-19
• Branding Your Art Business | Date: February 26
• Palm Springs Photo Festival | Date: March 27-April 1
• Photoshop World Conference and Expo | Date: March 30-April 1

• Ten Best Ten | Deadline: February 15
• Luerzer's Archive Best Direct Marketing | Deadline: March 31

We are constantly finding new ways to promote our photographers. It's a good idea, at least once a year, to revisit our Jumpstart page so you can be reminded of how you can help us help you.

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

Learn how Our Staff members pull their weight around here.

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