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Monthly Archives: February 2008
Investment
Weddings
We have designed our pricing system to be very
individualized. Beginning with the first time we connect and continuing until well after their wedding our clients develop a
lifetime relationship with us in the long run, in the short run we are
as far away as your phone or e-mail. During the pre-wedding period we
meet as many times as needed to so we can tailor our services to your
needs. We also include at least one 2 hour photo session to help you
get used to being a star.Please give us a call or drop us an e-mail if
you like what you see. From there we can set up a time to meet and get
to know each other. Stay tuned there is more to come as we develop new
ways to serve you.
Our creative fees begin at $2750.00
We offer four basic paths to customization:
1. Build your own package of services using our style modules
2. Build your own package completely from scratch by combining individual parts.
3. Select from one of our pre-built packages.
4. Tell us what you need and help us put together a package that is uniquely you.
Al with College Democrats
A few from the Minnesota College Democrat’s State Convention and of Team Franken.
Counting the votes…
Visual Conversations
Lately I have been thinking about the nature of communications and how it has changed the way we live our lives. As a photographer I am especially interested in the increased use of imagery as tool of conversation. While we all know what "visual" implies adding the term "conversation" kind of complicates things since we are used to defining that word in terms of verbal communications either written or spoken. However, when we combine the words into the term visual conversation we become confused and ask how can we visually have a conversation.
Well according to a number of sources the word conversation means:
A conversation is communication by two or more people, or sometimes with one’s self, often on a particular topic. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views of a topic to learn from each other. Wikipedia
The spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions, and feelings Dictionary.com
Combining the two terms to come up with a new one Visual Conversation and placing it in today’s context of today’s technology of imagery we can see that conversations are no longer limited to verbal interchanges. Hence, we have inner conversations as we interpret and process imagery,we have both verb al and visual conversations with others as the imagery engages us and causes us to talk about what we are seeing. So a photograph can be part of a visual conversation. In fact we might say that a photograph is the catalyst for combining visual and verbal interactions.
Whew that was kind of deep! And I think it is necessary as we as photographers/visual media makers begin to translate how we can improve what we do in the context of today’s media. How can we initate visual conversations? How can we extend the conversation to others through ever emerging media possibilities?
In a nut shell by having visual conversations with our clients we can expand the ways in which we can identify and meet their needs far beyond just paper prints placed in a book or hung on a wall.
Marketing via packaging
We have been on and off regarding how to package our products when we deliver them. In addition to being a photographer I am also a graphic designer so I see the design possibilities in just about everything I look at. I also strongly believe in keeping waste to a minimum so we have bounced around trying to keep our packaging and marketing material within our standards of social responsibility.
Our goal is and has been to keep the packaging to a minimum and whatever packaging we use can be re-used by our clients in some fashion. Our packaging needs consist of envelopes, folders and boxes to hold and protect prints while at the same time communicating our brand. The design part of it has been focusing on designing our envelops, folders and boxes so that they not only communicate our style but also provide a re-usable container for our client’s packaging needs. So our boxes (for the time being) will remain a generic black to invite re-use for holidays, birthdays or whatever. Our branding will consist of simple belly bands in our design style and sealed with a sticker , both the belly band and the sticker will be biodegradable and made of recycled material. This uses the rule of what I call image marketing/branding i.e. packaging your products to enhance your image in the market place. Instead of trying to present an upscale image, we are focused on presenting an image that is more in keeping with reducing waste.
Now as to our marketing material we are also working to reduce the use of paper by using electronic media such as PDFs, podcasts, and social marketing sites such Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. By approaching our information marketing this way we are of course breaking the rules, especially be refusing to use direct mail marketing.
With all this in mind what do you think? How would you like products delivered to you?
And so the revolution begins…..
The long awaited often reviled and confused Minnesota Caucus took it;s place in history last night as lines grew outside of Caucus venues. We all know that Obama took our state and that my friends is no small thing!
As I mentioned in an earlier post I had the honor of photographing Al Franken at the DFL caucus party. To say that everyone in attendance was fired up would grossly understate the energy, and what is most amazing to me is the increasing presence and involvement of young people and not just college students. Our caucus had it’s share of high school kids who will be eligible to vote in November. Because I was lucky enough to witness the revolution of the 60’s I am thrilled to see these kids emerge and step up despite what my boomer generation has handed to them.
Anyway as always being a witness to history especially monumental history is a rare opportunity…here are a few samples from last night.
Not your parent’s photographer
I can’t count how many times we have heard our client’s parents say they wish we were around when they got married!! Now that may be so but around the time most of us boomers got married there wasn’t much to wedding photography or even portrait for that matter. Up until very recently non-commercial photography was seen more as a craft, a set of skills that one learns and can repeat over and over. Photographers fit right into the Mass Generation brought about during the rise of one size fits all production.
The role of the craftsman was not really to be creative but to be technically sound and able to reproduce the same product over and over. The apprentice was trained in the ways of the master and only released when she was technically sound and met the criteria of the master. In photography there was little room for creativity for many reasons not the least of which was the limitations of the available technology. I remember spending hours making multiple negative and positive exposures onto lithographic film from the negative in my enlarger just to get a very high contrast B&W image. Those times are gone now, it takes me minutes to do the same now.
So what does this have to do with your parent’s photographer? Well, back in the day the range of choices available to a photographer’s clients were pretty limited it was basically what size photo do you want and how many and do you want them glossy or matte? If you were lucky and had a photographer who was skilled in the darkroom you might even get a choice of toning. Beyond paper there was little else we could do with our pictures. Often the ended up in books or those special cardboard photo files and they were soon forgotten.
Times are different now…your choices are almost unlimited and are increasing by the day. Today, this day you can your photos printed on paper, canvas,coffee mugs and rugs. You can also have them made into books, slide shows with your own favorite music. And if that doesn’t suite you, there is always a pod cast, an online show on your blog and one sized to carry around in your phone …especially if you have an iPhone.
The problem is the choices are increasing that even the biggest tech weinies can’t keep up. My point is as photographers we need to educate our clients on the vast possibilities available to them. So many in the industry are still focused on selling paper prints to clients who really might rather have some help figuring out other options.
So let’s start giving our clients some remarkable new choices and here’s a thought lets include them in figuring out what those choices can be!!
Voting with my skills
Tomorrow I’ll be following Al Franken around as he does the final rounds of pre caucus campaigning that will eventually lead up to the State nominating convention. I have ben lucky to be able to cover Al as he grows his campaign.
If you have a skill that can be used by your favorite candidate make yourself available help them in their efforts.
So get out there and engage the democratic process!!
by Bill Weaver
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