On the Road in Atlanta
I arrived Sunday for the PDN On the Road series in Atlanta. The trip was pretty good even though on the Chicago to Atlanta leg I had to sit next to the bathroom. I have had worse flights so all in all it was a very efficient and painless trip. I loved being able to jump on the MARTA train at the airport and arrive at my hotel 17 minutes later for a grand total of $1.75. Individually and as a company, I am constantly evaluating my choices and how they affect the environment. This one was an easy choice. Check out the escalator from the train station. It was so long and steep that it made me a little anxious - keep in mind that until my back surgery, I was a frequent rock climber and heights don’t usually bother me. This is one extreme escalator.
iPhone night shot
After the speaker dinner, Aaron Schindler and I popped our heads into Daily’s Downstairs where we heard some great live music. I would loosely classify the sound as ska/jazz with a Joe Jackson influence. They are called Wabi Sabi and I liked them so much that I bought their CD.
I am usually a boutique hotel kind of guy but the Peachtree Westin’s heavenly beds and double headed showers are great (glad I took the train to offset the extra water). Some people had less stellar rooms but I think mine was newly remodeled. BTW, it is the tallest hotel in the western hemisphere. You can see the tower in the background of the Daily’s Downstairs photo. The architecture is very Jetsons and reminds me of the Marriott Times Square. Another thing I noticed right away were all the black and white prints in the lobby and hotel rooms.
iPhone night shot
Debra Weiss and Mary Virginia Swanson used the black and white images decorating the hotel as an example of a market that photographers should be paying attention to. Their seminar was great. They spawned a couple of pages of notes and marketing ideas. If you get a chance to hear them speak, don’t miss it!
Aaran Schindler was second up with some sound advice on financial planning for photographers. He walks the audience through a sample plan for a photographer who is married to someone with a real job who is traditionally employed. It generated some great questions and caused me to reflect on my financial health (think umbrella policy, disability insurance and a will).
I spoke next and was happy to see a pretty sophisticated crowd. Almost everyone shot raw and has used CS3 ACR and/or Lightroom. I walked everyone through some customization tips, CF card ingestion and tethered shooting workflow - all in an hour and a half! I want to thank all of you who attended for keeping up.
Fuji S5 Pro shot in mirror for card ingestion demo
Patrick Donehue had some interesting insights into the stock photo business, especially how the big agencies are watching the new Red One camera. I keep hearing about how still photographers could use motion if the frame capture rate is right. I am not totally convinced but it came up several times during the two day event from people who it is advisable to listen to. At 24 frames per second, I am not sure I want to try and edit 5 minutes of RedOne footage - 7200 images. It will be interesting to see if the camera lives up to it’s promise and how it affects photography in the future.
A lot of the group brought their books and images for the portfolio share and reception. Quite a few talented photographers showed up at this event and the food/drinks were top shelf.
iPhone shot of Jetsons reception area in the Hotel
Chase Jarvis is a rock star. He is a hard working photographer with a great attitude and the body of work to back him up. Chase and his team travel the world creating dynamic images. His philosophy is to build a community and give back to make the world a better place. Chase epitomizes a modern photographer. He asked everyone present to leave their attitudes at the door and be nice people. Hopefully, he will be able to turn around the impression of how a photographer should act as established by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blowup in the 60’s.
Chase’s assistant/videographer Dakota was just as cool and equally lacking in attitude. Listening to Chase speak will inspire you not only to be a better photographer but a better human being - so catch him if you can. One guy from Los Angeles flew out just to hear Chase since Atlanta was the only event where he would be speaking. I told you he is a rock star. Be sure to check out his blog where he has some great behind the scenes videos as well as technical tips.
I didn’t envy Jeanine Fijol having to follow Chase. It reminded me of when I had to follow Greg Gorman showing his celebrity nudes with my archiving seminar. Luckily Jeanine is smart, pretty and very knowledgeable. Jeanine is the photo editor at PDN. She presented an art buyers perspective along with a great dissection of photographer promotional campaigns. She also mentioned using videos on Youtube as a marketing tool like we do here at Image Mechanics. An art director can search for a photographer that they are interested in hiring and see them at work. Another great observation was that art buyers are often printing images off of photographers web sites for their presentations. She gave an example of a photographer who’s website images download as pdf layouts when clicked. This brands the downloads and makes it easy for art buyers to use them. This is another must attend event for any photographer considering putting out a promo/mailer.
Steven Johnson is a master printer who is kind enough to share his expertise with us on this tour. I have always wanted to attend one of his lectures but we are usually speaking at similar times at the same events. I was lucky enough to sit in on his presentation today. He makes some great observations about how modern printer drivers and color management systems get you close but if you are trying to get a great print you will end up having to alter the file. I totally agree. It still takes a good eye and a bit of tweaking to make a great print. He shares his preference for unsharp mask over the other sharpening tools available and he gives a good overview of calibration hardware and software even down to the type of bulbs to view your prints under. It is also interesting to note that he helped develop the new HP printers and they look pretty cool with their built in calibration tools.
After another great marketing seminar from Debra Weiss and Mary Virginia Swanson, Emmy winning Brian Storm from MediaStorm gave a passionate presentation about how multimedia photography can help change the world. Brian helps produce/create some of the most powerful storytelling I have ever seen. For an interesting lighthearted look at what can be done in the mulitmedia space with still images check out 1976 below. Oh yea, he also mentioned the RedOne camera.
Reid Callanan from the Santa Fe Workshops, Lauren Wendle and Lauren Jager from PDN, Sharon Tczap and the rest of their team did a great job putting this series together. If you are in Chicago, Dallas, NY or LA, don’t miss this event.
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