Flip Sides are bite-sized bits of advice shot on a bite-sized camera. They are business and creative tips for the visual artist small business owner.
This week Simon Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer of Pictage, gives some great advice on negotiating.
If you’ve been in the wedding and portrait business for any amount of time, you know that Australia seems to have an abundance of the world’s greatest wedding photogs. Every year at WPPI the Aussies seem to steal the show. Today we have one of the brightest stars from down under, the one…the only…Jerry Ghionis. After months of trying to hook up with Jerry to get him on the show, we finally were able to meet up at this past Skip’s Summer School.
In today’s show we learn how Jerry got into the biz. How he worked for another photographer, without pay, when he started. He realized that the value of the education was worth it. Believe or not, this multi award-winning, internationally renown photographer started his career…carrying bags. He then shares with us about his philosophy on finding the best light over finding the best location; how and why he gets his brides to pose during the wedding day in order to accentuate their beauty; the reason for the opulence of his style and studio; he tells us where he gets his inspiration; and he even gives us insight as to why Aussies seem to win so many awards. We learn why Jerry not only is such a phenomenal photographer, but why he’s also such a giving human being.
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Next week, “Romancing the Storm” photographer Candice Cunningham tells us why she was crazy enough to shoot an engagement session on the heels of a real tornado.
You may notice that the last name of today’s guest matches my own. I admit it. Today’s episode is nepotism at it’s best. 
But, there’s a very legitimate and exciting reason I wanted to have my beloved wife on the show today. Her story and journey is one I am confident many of you will find inspiring: from being a single mom for seven years, to writing her first novel, publishing her first book, working for Apple Computer, becoming the creative director for my company, and ultimately, forming her latest career endeavor, Teen Identity Portraits. But, most recently she’s initiated a movement that in just the past two days has really caught fire. Bolstered by the encouragement and sage advice of veteran photographer Scott Bourne, Tasra has initiated the tasra365.com challenge. There are many year-long or “365″ challenges out there related to photography. This one is sort of special, and the huge surge in the people joining is proof positive it’s struck a chord. Learn about how it all came about, then head on over to tasra365.com, click the “Join me” button, and tag along for the ride.
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Next week we’ll bring you the bouncy, bubbly, and incredibly brainy Jen Basford of 3 Girls Photography.
This week we continue our re-run of the Photog Entrpreneur series from last year about this time with Scott Bourne. Scott is a nationally recognized leader in the field of photography and technology. His 30 year experience as a pro photographer has covered the entire gamut: fashion; sports; commercial; and yes, even weddings. In the 90s he made it big with the IPO of NetRadio.com (the first online radio network) and then retired. He was co-founder of the popular podcast This Week in Photography, and he is currently the producer and host for the photography podcast Photo Focus. To give you an idea of how big Scotts following is, when Photo Focus launched a couple of months ago, it immediately rose to the #1 technology podcast on the iTunes store.
Scott has written numerous books and is an avid teacher. He has recently been added to the speaking docket for the highly anticipated Skips Summer School occurring this August 16-19 in Las Vegas.
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Last year I did a series of interviews with entrepreneurial photographers who have created businesses above and beyond their photography. One of my favorite episodes from that series was with Orange County wedding photographer Jim Kennedy. Jim has an amazing, true to life rags to riches story. Early in his career he was penniless, barely making ends meet. His first marriage suffered under the strain leaving him a single dad to boot. Now he is happily remarried to a wonderful woman and business partner. And his business Jim Kennedy Photographers is probably the most successful wedding studio you may never have heard of. I say that only because Jim is a low key, under the radar kind of photographer, not seeking fame and prominence. His friends and colleagues, other Orange County, CA photogs like Becker, Dane Sanders, Jasmine Star, and his mentor Joe Photo, are in many ways household names in the world of wedding photography. Yet, none has an empire quite like Jims. From living paycheck to paycheck, to running a million dollar plus studio that does well over 300 weddings a year, to now co-owning and running Stephanie James Couture, a retro chic wedding clothing store with his wife Stephane, Jim is living the American dream. Bust out the pen and paper. Youre going to want to take notes on this one.
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“You know, the thing that stops everybody is fear…If you don’t swing for the fences and take the risks, you’ll never achieve the dream.” ~ Doug Menuez
When you think of a photographer’s photographer, the kind of guy whose work and viewpoints on life inspire other greats, look no further than today’s guest, Doug Menuez. His 30+ year career has taken him from being a top notch, highly sought-after freelance photojournalist for top periodicals, to forming a multi-million per year commercial photo business working with Fortune 100 companies. Perhaps his most intriguing project to date was the 15 years he spent documenting the world of Silicon Valley. He’s had access to greats like Steve Jobs and John Doerr, and his work on the project was recently purchased by Stanford University for a proposed documentary. He’s even worked with Robert Redford to create a Sundance catalog. He’s had an amazing career. Despite his incredible financial and commercial success, Doug has also maintained his artistic integrity, at times turning down $100,000 (or greater) gigs because the creative wasn’t what he wanted. But, he’s been smart about it, creating a business plan for his career and sticking to it (kind of). No matter what kind of visual artist you are, this is an interview that will ignite your spirit. I’m excited for you all to hear it. This is one of those episodes you should just play on a continuous loop.
Next week due to a number of gigs I have to shoot and prep for, there won’t be time for me to put up a new show. So we’re going to have a re-run of my interview with “Reverie” director Vincent LaForet. Luckily, we were able to get an interview with him before he shot his ground-breaking short film with the pre-released Canon 5D Mark II. If you’re relatively new to the show and haven’t yet heard this interview, you won’t want to miss it.
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WHAT’S AHEAD
We have a plethora of amazing interviews down the pike from all aspects of photography. Scheduled guests include commercial photographer Gray Scott; new media darlings Christine Tremulet and Jack Hollingsworth; Senior Portrait Artist owners (mom and daughter team) Kia Bondurant and Sana Antisdel; photojournalist Ira Lippke; and we have a very special duo planned for June that I can’t say yet. They’re on the calendar, but their schedules are such things might change. But, trust me, when we have them, it’ll be BIG. So, there are many exciting things in the works. Stay tuned my friends.
A little over two years ago, Scott Hayne was running a small courier business that lost a major contract forcing him into “unemployment.” His wife Adina lost her job as well. Yet, Scott had a gift for photography, and in the midst of those job losses, they took a leap of faith and invested $10,000 in camera gear and other equipment to start their photography business. Well, their investment paid off. This year at the Annual Senior Portrait Artist event, he was named both Senior Portrait Artist of the Year and Top New Artist of the Year. Scott and Adina seem to be doing everything right. They’ve gathered over 2,500 Facebook friends (half of which are clients or potential clients), have a decent Twitter following, and his meteoric rise to success has prompted other photographers to ask, “How’d you do it?” So, they started their “No Rules “Workshop” to share the what worked and didn’t work for them.
In this interview, Scott and Adina tell us how it all began, the scary start of borrowing the money to start the business, how Facebook has benefited their business, how they went from 4 weddings to 37 in one year, finding one’s “style,” and what it’s like working together as a husband and wife team. In today’s trying economic times, it’s encouraging stories like this that remind you anything is possible!
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Next week we have a very special treat. Uber-successful commercial photog and industry thought-leader Doub Menuez graces the FSB airwaves. You absolutely WON’T want to miss it!
Contest Winners
We also announce the winners of the “Find our ad in RangeFinder Magazine” contest. Congrats to Lydia Takeoka, Rich Mattingly, Patrick Farrington, and George Williams. If you want to bypass the contest winner announcement, the interview starts at 5:36.
In early October 2008, Brooks Institute hosted a very special F-Stop Beyond: In Living Color, which we produced in partnership with PhotographyMentor.com. A live webcast was held. Renown celebrity wedding and lifestyle photographer Mike Colon took almost three hours of his busy schedule to share his personal and professional take on life and the industry.
In this episode, Mike talks about what new photographers getting into the business should do, his take on advertising, and work/life balance.
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Frederick Egan Castleberry is not exactly conducive to good business card placement. Today, Fred Egan shares with us the evolution of his moniker from just Egan, to Fred, to Fred Egan – Photographer. (I also give some fun tidbits about my own name you may find interesting). Fred, or Egan, is an extremely savvy business person, as well as a talented photographer. We get into one of my favorite topics, branding. I know what you’re thinking. “Isn’t F-Stop Beyond supposed to be beyond business and branding?” Yes, but every now and then, branding is a topic which just happens to be very germane to that particular photographer, like when we interviewed Kevin Swan a couple of weeks ago. Also, as the show evolves, I’ve learned that people like it if I can have a nice balance. But don’t worry, after a great conversation about branding, then whether or not it’s important to improve your craft, and how Fred got into photography, in true F-Stop Beyond fair, we also talk about Fred’s love for music (he tells us what music he’d put on a CD for a crush if he had one), and why he thinks “Slumdog Millionaire” is the best movie ever made.
Before the interview begins, I tell you about a cool contest we’re running. Find our ad in RangeFinder magazine and tweet about it to be entered into a drawing for some great prizes. Go to the April 16 blog post to learn more details. Many thanks to our contest sponsors:
You have ’til the end of the month to join in.
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How many of you would be willing to cut 25% of your revenue so that you could have a better life for yourself? Today we’ll speak with a couple that did just thattwo giants in the world of teen and family portraiture, Kent and Sarah Smith. About 7 years ago at a time when their studio was grossing over $900,000 a year, $250K of that was from weddings. When they were forced to leave a great vacation in Italy in order to get home in time to shoot Saturday weddings, two weddings that involved a lot of stress, it was then and there they decided to quit weddings cold turkey. They’ve since made up that revenue with just their portrait business and life is so much better for them because of it.
Kent and Sarah share with us stories from their 25+ years in the business. A lot of you do same-day slide shows at your weddings. Hah! Kent was doing slide shows at the weddings back in 1982 when he was literally using slides! He’d shoot the weddings on slide film, then develop them in the back of his van and project them later that evening. They comment on leadership, the use (over-use) of Photoshop, we talk about the movie Braveheart, getting paid what you’re worth, and how to keep the passion of your art when running a business has turned your love photography into a “job.” And I get to get back on my soap box about the exploitation of teens in sexually explicit advertising. This is one of those episodes that covers the whole gamut. Don’t miss out.
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Next week we have on the show wedding photographer, savvy businessman, and music aficionado Fred Egan.
