A little bit of lifestyle yesterday at the pier with Mariko and the wonderful makeup artist Jamie Sorkin. It’s always nice to do a low key shoot like this. Me, a model and makeup artist. Makes it so free to move about.
Posts from April, 2008
The San Francisco lifestyle through the lives of my close friends Matt and Rachel is quite an adventurous one. We had many great conversations about life and design amongst many others. Matt is the creative director at Clifbar and is truly a brilliant individual who lives his life with many great mantras(More to come). One of which he got tattoo’d on his forearm this weekend. It says "Fear Regret, Not Failure" in a carefully crafted Ed Hardy style script.
What a great reminder to live by? How often do we go through life afraid to take risks? How often do we let life just pass us by without doing the things we’ve always wanted to do? I know I try to live my life to the fullest, yet there are so many times I’m afraid to take certain risks and live my dreams. Just food for thought.
As you know, I can’t travel without doing a bit of work, so we did a stock shoot for one of my new stock agencies, Masterfile. They have two beautiful dogs that made for a great shoot.
Here’s the story: http://www.nickonken.com/Stories/LoydsII/
If you’re not familiar with the magazine PDN, you should get familiar with it. It’s the industry’s staple magazines for photographers. They talk about who’s doing what, different industry issues, and a lot of tips for photogs business and technical, etc. It’s a great way to stay up to speed with our world. Getting published and noticed in PDN is a great way to gain industry reputation as well. They have contests going on all the time from PDN’s top 30, the Nikon Self Promo Awards, and a few other image contests.
Check it out here: http://www.pdnonline.com/
Once a year they do a wedding issue, which is what this month’s issue is. For all you wedding photogs out there, I suggest picking it up. If you subscribe, you can read special online articles that aren’t available to anyone. There is one this issue on "14 Ways to Get Your Wedding Clients to Spend More" In print, they have the "Top Knots" contest where they publish all the winners(this issue).
For any specific industry of photography you’re involved in, they cover it. It may only be one or two issues in a year, but it’s a great resource.
As you know by now, I love to eat. San Francisco is full of amazing food. Weirdfish, is one of my favorites there. Located in the Mission, it’s a weird blend of Mexican and Asian. The decor is a bit of a vintage New Orleans style, but well designed.
One of their specialties is their tortilla soup with avocado. Quite tasty accompanied with one of their mango fish tacos. Snapped a photo with the SD750 to get the deliciousness across.
If live in SF or go for a visit. I definitely recommend it.
http://weirdfishsf.com/
Kevin Roberts, the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi wrote a book called Lovemarks: the Future Beyond Branding. They’ve since then developed a website: http://www.lovemarks.com It creates a discussion of why some brands become inspirational while others struggle. I love concepts like this that break down the psychology of branding. It directly applies to my story(former graphic designer) and current business. The lovemark concept talks about the emotional tie between love and respect for a brand that people grab a hold of. I just ordered the book.
I’m currently in process of writing a marketing and business plan for my photography business(something I should have done a year ago). Branding is an essential concept to deeply consider in the creation of these plans because the it is a visual manifestation of the plans. Creating a lovemarked brand as a commercial photographer can be a bit more of a challenge since it’s not a consumer based market. So I’m hit with that question. How does one create a lovemark in the b2b world of commercial photography with AD’s and AB’s getting so inundated with promotions (open for discussion)?
Have you thought about your brand and the message you’re sending? How does your brand compliment your imagery and the imagery you want to shoot?
I love remixes and mashups. AmpLive received a cease & desist order to put the breaks on his In Rainbows remix project. They eventually came to an agreement that he could only distribute it if he released it to the general public for free.
A new blog in the photography industry as emerged. An Art Producer’s Perspective. Definitely one to RSS.
Just read an post of hers that got me thinking: The Age of Social Media. The world of web 2.0 is here. Right now it is on the verge of blowing up. Advertising is moving in this direction, but most agencies and clients don’t quite get it yet. Just wait, in the next 6 months to a year, you will see huge shift in the advertising world. We are already seeing it. Viral content. Blogs. YouTube. Flickr. Facebook. Myspace. etc. Myspace and Facebook are household names. They’re being referenced in movies. Blogging and having a blog is a part of pop culture’s vocabulary. Most hip companies have one. All that to say, I think the people who grasp the concept and utilize it will reap the benefits. After all, most big clients will be shifting their advertising dollars in that direction.
The ad agency Modernista! has definitely grabbed onto this movement. They integrate a lot of the major web 2.0 venues into their website. (besides the fact that the design is a bit of an overload, the idea is there.)
I’m planning on shifting my website to a web 2.0 format. All html/css driven. I think flash is slowly fading. People stealing images? People will do it regardless if it’s right clicking and downloading an image or snapping a screen shot if it’s flash. That just means we have to be ahead and use alternative methods of protecting our images where it’s necessary.
What about you? Are you ahead of the curve? Where are you in the digital 2.0 world?
PDN just published a great little article on "PDN’s 30 Alumni: On Lessons Learned" Give it a read.
One of the most common threads through the photographers who were in the article was that they keep shooting. Striving to make better images and shoot personal work keeps you fresh and helps you hone your vision. So many times photographers get so caught up in well… making a living(that’s not a bad thing). Shooting only paid assignment work is what we all need to do, but if it’s the only thing we are doing, our creative vision will suffer. Making time to shoot personal work is the key, and most of the time we have to make that time for our lazy selves.
I’ve always lived upon this theory. I love to shoot regardless of whether or not I’m getting paid. As long as it’s pushing me to hone my creative vision, explore, or learn. We need to push ourselves to expand our capabilities and develop our style. Granted, I can always be shooting more.
Happy Shooting!