EVERY PHOTO COUNTS

Spent the entire afternoon yesterday photographing awards presentations as my departing boss made his way around the building thanking employees for the work they have done.

It is easy to forget that while these photographs (grip-and-grins) get a bad rap and may never make it to your portfolio or website, they are important to the person being recognized. In fact, I have a photograph shot by a Navy photographer of me as a ten-year-old standing with my grandfather during his retirement ceremony from the Naval Air Development Center in Willow Grove, Pa. That photo reminds me daily to give my best during every photo assignment both big and small.

I was reminded of that yesterday as I was standing around between presentations, an employee got my attention and asked if I thought it would be okay if the admiral signed something for her after the ceremony. I told her I didn't think it would be a problem and that is when she produced a photograph I had taken of her and the Admiral in 2009 during a cake cutting to celebrate the Navy's 234th birthday.

Every photo counts!

TinEye for the next guy

I received a request a couple of weeks back from a Russian railway magazine for a photograph of robotic lobsters I took in 2005 during my first year working for the Office of Naval Research. I posted an update to this blog about the original shoot in December of that year.

I didn't realize it at the time, but that one day shoot north of Boston would produce probably the most requested photograph I've made here in seven years. Everyone from the Smithsonian's Cooper Hewitt museum to trade journals, websites and even apparently railway magazines in Russia have requested this image.

I bring this all up because I was demonstrating the TinEye reverse image search site to a coworker and happened to have the RoboLobster photo on my desktop (Russian railway magazine). I uploaded the image and one of the results was National Geographic - the Japanese edition mind you - but still I thought it was pretty funny.

Try out the service yourself, you never know? And if your images are not in the public domain like mine, and you've copyrighted them, it could mean a very nice payday as well.

Temple Redux

On Friday I returned to Temple University for the first time in three years. My lunch companion, also a friend, reminded me of that. Traveling to New York on Thursday for PhotoPlusExpo gave me the perfect excuse to take Friday off and make this long overdue visit. Even longer overdue than visiting the campus was a visit with my first photography professor, mentor, and friend, Dr. Ed Trayes. It seemed like only months ago that I was in that same hallway, sitting on a couch (his office is still so full there is nowhere to sit), as we reminisced, caught up, and of course talked about photography. But it was when he took me to the old dark room, now converted to a digital photo lab, that I realized things had changed. I met and talked to some students, saw some of the amazing work they are doing, and once again listened as Dr. Trayes joked, pushed, and encouraged them. What a perfect place to pull out my camera, hand it to senior Richard Kauffman, and ask that he take a photo of us. And of course I couldn't resist converting it to black & white. I'm so glad that I have this memory now, but more importantly it reminds me of the three and half years I spent as a photojournalism student and the eight years following graduation I spent teaching alongside Dr. Trayes.

To see Richard''s photos, visit his website at onlygoodlooks.com

Mission Statement

"The mission statement is the single most important piece of information about your company." I found that quote while searching the web and I couldn't agree more. Most businesses, military commands, and many individuals have one. A mission statement is meant to guide employees and more importantly, what someone can expect from a business.
With that in mind, I've been working on my personal mission statement. What will I promise my client? What will I bring to every assignment? Below is my first take.

"To produce creative and marketable photographs and video every day to foster brand awareness and convey the clients’ message."

I will expand on this in future posts.

Relaunch

Relaunching the blog after a few years off. As before, I plan to write mostly about photography and travel with a focus on the how. Many times I find the behind-the-scenes narrative more interesting then the final result. While many photographs seem simple and uncomplicated, those who know understand why that is not always the case. I want to share with those who may not know. How can simple and uncomplicated launch you to the next level.



Next up: Mission Statement