Dear other photographer named Kate Benson… thank you for not being a crazy person.
No seriously, thank you. Because as much as it sucks to have another photographer with the same name as me (we’ll both agree it kinda sucks), it doesn’t suck as much as it could. I appreciate that you are a normal person, not a crazy person. I count myself lucky that your working in a different genre than I am, living in a different part of this country, and I’m really lucky you are a great photographer so when we are confused for each other at least no one is walking away. So for the times I’ve gotten upset about the mixups that have happened. I apologize. You are awesome. You are nice. Thank you for that.
Here is a string of emails I received this week from a photographer who shares the name as another photographer. I think he wanted me to take down a link I have that goes to the other guy. But the other guy is a great photographer, and not at all crazy, so I am not taking the link down (besides, bullying is just wrong)… but here’s the conversation. It started last weekend and just in time for this blog post he sent the last one. Hope it gives you a good laugh this Friday! I took out the name of the photographer, but see if you can guess who it is…
Lighting setup, 3 lights, 3 ways.
Sam makes an excellent light testing model. This is a basic light setup that I like to use for portraits in my studio. It’s 3 lights, 2 on the background and one key light on the model. By simply turning the background lights on and off or turning them towards the model we get 3 entirely different light setups. Love it!
Quality control fail
Sorry Target.com, but you should read my blog post about proof reading your work.
Live on Donald J. Pliner’s website
The first image from last week’s on model shoot with Daniela is live on the Donald J. Pliner homepage! Follow the link to see it live on their site, but here’s what it looks like…
Friday Reflection
There was a turning point. I don’t know when it happened, but within the last few years certianly. It was the point where my goals for my business changed. Maturity set in. I guess that is a good way to look at it.
Instead of being elitist, thinking someone was insulting my abilities to offer me a “lower standard” gig (sorry, but these would be the gigs that most commercial photographers turn their noses up at) I realized that if someone asked for my services, I should be excited about it. No matter what the gig. It’s always a compliment to have someone want to hire you. I can tell the industry I am in has scared off a lot of people from asking commercial photographers for shoots, this would be indicated by the number of times someone calls and says “I don’t know if you even do this sort of thing”. But why? Why did I for so long turn my nose up at jobs that I can do and make people happy doing? Today these gigs, small by some standards, huge by others make me happy. Through doing them, I’ve learned that I can find equal fufillment in bringing great photos to companies and consumers. It’s a shame I turned my nose up before, but that is a lesson in business I had to learn. How would I have appreciated those phone calls, and turned them into compliments otherwise?
So today, I spent the morning shooting and retouching jewelry for a multi-million dollar company, and at 4pm I ran to Key Biscayne and took a portrait for a family that hasn’t been able to get a photo together in years. The daughter is mega talented (singer, I’ve heard her, she is fantastic!) and heading off to Berkley soon, this was one of the last chances the family had to take a shot together before she starts Life. It’s true, both really do fulfill me in different ways, but both are massively fulfilling.
I hope it’s the start to an equally awesome weekend, for you and for me.
Wallpaper Wednesday
It would seem my heart is still stuck in Maine right now. Shooting in Bimini this weekend may change that… will let you know!
All Wallpapers are available as fine art prints~ just shoot an email or call for prices!
Good work Mikaela Schipani!
Found out this morning another of the girls I’ve shot was on America’s Next Top Model. I shot Mikaela for SoFi Magazine the Arts Issue. It was a pleasure to watch her transform in front of my camera, and that moment when she stopped being afraid of not looking pretty, viola! It’s always a powerful experience to see a model reach another level. If you’d like to see more, she was a cycle 16 contestant who made it 8 rounds. Congratulations Mikaela!
http://www.cwtv.com/shows/americas-next-top-model/cast/mikaela
Kate Benson Speaking at June’s Femfessionals Lunch
Yes, I am humbly excited to be the guest speaker for this months Femfessional Lunch at Dolce Vita on June 17th. These lunches are great networking events with a bunch of great women. My presentation is going to be something everyone can use, tips on how to make the camera work for you! Your Face, Your Brand (how to look your best in front of the camera) will be one of the few times I’ll draw on both my modeling and photography experience to help teach everyone about the way to make sure you really rock in your photo’s.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Contracts, ASMP, and Caroll Michels
In the ideal world, there would be no war, everyone would have food to eat, and we would never need contracts. Although I have a few amazing lawyers who have offered to help me whenever the time may come, I try not to bother them with a contract for a new client or selling arrangement. Let’s face it, if we are doing what we are suppose to we should be constantly writing and sending out contracts. I realize that it is a time consuming task. However, if you need help writing an artist to gallery contract, here are a few of the resources I used which may be helpful to you as well.
#1. Anyone interested in being an artist really needs to read Caroll Michels book, How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist, Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul. It’s amazing how glamorous being an artist, a photographer, a singer sounds before you get into what being an independent business owner entails!
#2. Photographers, you need to join www.asmp.com -if you’re not a member yet; you really aren’t doing what you should be. The American Society of Media Photographers is “A trade association which protects and promotes the interests of photographers whose work is for publication”. The resources here are valuable to photographers of all walks of life, not just publication/editorial photographers. Every intern I have, and photographer friend I make I encourage joining. The membership isn’t that much to start and being a member offers you discounts at places like B&H, Livebooks, and more. On the website, photographers post sample estimates, another section has bad contract examples that teach you what words to stay away from! But really, this is the most helpful group I’ve joined. Experts travel around the country giving lectures on the business; the site has a seemly infinite amount of resources!
#3. Use the web wisely! I searched the better part of a day to find and read contracts that were posted on the web to help artist not get screwed. A few that I liked are, http://www.enchantedcreek.com/Art/Contracts/artist-gallery.html -this sample contract is for an artist and gallery consignment agreement. I used this contract, along with http://www.docstoc.com/docs/21100400/ArtistGallery-Consignment-Agreement and www.clackamasartsalliance.org to get what I needed.
For my needs, none of the 3 contracts did the trick just right. So I created a hybrid of the 3, added and changed what I needed to customize it to fit my selling relationship. I suspect most galleries have a contract ready to go. But being ready to help your client who may not have one, but wants to sell your work is always a good idea. Remember, in the world of freelance photography, it’s about giving your clients what they are asking for and keeping their lives as easy as possible while doing it but if it’s not in writing you’ve got no guarantee. It’s not fair to ask your clients just to trust you, a contract gives them piece of mind as much as it give you piece of.