WPPI 2010 Registration

I’m still getting a few e-mails here and there about the FREE 2010 WPPI registration for people who posted any of the Longest Day videos earlier this year to their blogs. There is no automatic registration. You must contact WPPI with the same email you used to fill out the form. Tell them you filled out the form then they can check your email against the record of forms submitted. For good measure, include in your email the link to the blog post with the Longest Day video.

Sorry for any inconvenience. This may seem like a little extra work, but well worth saving a few hundred bucks.

FSB095: Anna Kuperberg

Every now and then I get a show where the conversation flows so naturally and is so engrossing, I lose track of time and don’t want to stop. Today’s interview with Anna Kuperberg was such an interview (thus the hour+ long episode). But, don’t let the length scare you. I have no doubt you’ll savor every second of this wonderful interview, in fact, you’ll probably be wanting more.

Anna covers the whole gamut. Born to Polish parents (it was her first language) who emigrated to Houston, TX, then moved to Auburn, AL when she was very young. Eventually moving to the St. Louis, MO area where she attended college. Anna was voted this year by American Photo as one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world, and is by far one of the most successful photographers in the San Francisca Bay Area. Anna talks about what it was like getting a degree in photography but not learning the business side. (That was something she had to learn on her own, which she’s glad she did). We have a wonderful discussion about improvisational jazz as an analogy for photography, which leads to a fun tangent about my stint as a swing dancer (don’t worry, I tie it back into the interview quite nicely). We talk about living in the south, why immigrants make terrific photographers, how she improves her craft, using social media effectively, how the switch to digital has affected her work and business, and her take on the use of Photoshop and other such tools. (You may be surprised at the information she shares). From the funny anecdotes to the insightful advice, this is an interview that will inspire you.

Next week we have a Thanksgiving Day special. Another thoroughly engrossing conversation with a real “rock star” photographer, Gabrielle Geiselman, photographer for such groups as Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, and Marilyn Manson. You definitely do not want to miss what Gabrielle has to say.

http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerdarksmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://cinematicstudios.podbean.com/mf/play/5bgmj/fsb095-AnnaKuperberg.mp3&autoStart=no

Get code to embed in your blog. Subscribe to this show in iTunes.

FSB078: Scott and Adina Hayne

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!

http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerdarksmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://cinematicstudios.podbean.com/mf/play/6x9zx3/fsb078-ScottAdinaHayne.mp3&autoStart=no

Get code to embed in your blog. Subscribe to this show in iTunes.

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.

F-Stop Beyond Now on Flickr

We’ve joined the Flickr craze and created a group on the social network and photo sharing site. The name of the group is, well, F-Stop Beyond. Simple. There are already some inspiring photos being shared in the pool. But, better yet, I plan to have a Flickr photo contest with some valuable prizes. Details to follow. For now, join the group, share your art.

F-Stop Beyond Ranked Third Highest Arts Podcast on Podbean

I just learned that F-Stop Beyond (the audio Podcast) ranked as the third highest podcast in the Arts category on Podbean. Thanks to everyone who helped get us there. Check out the full list here. Stay tuned throughout the year as more thought-provoking interviews are in the works.

F-Stop Beyond is now an “Experience”

You’ve come to this site looking for F-Stop Beyond, the audio podcast. The show is now part of the “F-Stop Beyond: The EXPERIENCE” located at fstopbeyond.tv.  What started as an audio podcast, grew to include a video podcast. It grows again to include a litany of original programming to entertain and inspire.

You can catch episodes 1-63 here. But for all future radio shows, log on to fstopbeyond.tv.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, we’re taking this week off due to Thanksgiving. That, and I’m busy packing for my big move. (More on that later.

Next week, we’ll be back in force with the author, photographer, speaker, and inspiration, Dane Sanders.

Mike Colón Live at Brooks Quick Recap

I want to thank everyone who came out to the live webcast interview with Mike Colón at Brooks Institute this past Monday. I know we had some technical difficulties maintaining the live video and audio feed. The A/V team went out there last week to check the equipment and of course, everything worked perfect then. Murphy’s Law was in full effect the night of the event. Thanks a million to Carlo Baez for stepping in to entertain the folks in the chat room and take questions.

The great news though is that we have almost three hours of an in-depth interview with Mike. He covered the gamut: how he got started in the business (the “real” story as he jokingly puts it. The anecdote about how he first called up [b]ecker as a groom in order to get info about wedding photography is classic); exactly how and why he raised his prices as quickly as he did; balancing work and family life; the importance of inner beauty; why he’s so open about his faith on his website and blog (for the record, it was a question from the chat room that prompted that discussion. ; sponsorships; and much, much more. We even had a quest star appearance from David Jay who I invited on stage for a bit. All around it was a terrific event.  Again, I apologize for those of you who tried to log on to the webcast. The 2-camera edit of the episode will definitely make up for what you missed. And we learned alot for next time.
THANK YOUs

I want to thank everyone who helped make this event happen: The Brooks Institute team (Tri, James, David, and Bethany), the PhotographyMentor team (Robert Evans, Curt Apanovich, Solomon and Drew), Julie Colón, and David Jay for being another surprise guest and for being a gracious host afterwards. And, of course, a huge, huge thanks to Mike for taking the time to come up and share with the Brooks students and the F-Stop Beyond audience FREE! Mike’s one class act! Thanks everyone.

GRACE ORMONDE CALLS IN

One of the highlights of the event was a call from WeddingStyle Magazine chief honcho, Grace Ormonde herself. I made arrangements for Grace to call in and surprise Mike. She talked about their professional relationship, why she gravitated towards him, and gave talked about what she looks for in photo submissions.  Considering it was 11:25 pm her time when she called, I want to give her much props and a big “thank you” for helping make the event special.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The episode will air in December some time. It’ll probably be a 4-part series. You’ll be able to check it out at fstopbeyond.tv, or PhotographyMentor.com. There will be exclusive bonus episodes too, of course. In the meantime, tune in later this month for our interview with “action hero” Kevin Kubota, then next month with [b]ecker. Great stuff in the works!

Mike Colón Live at Brooks

Mark your calendar folks for a major event in the world of wedding and portrait photography. Celebrity wedding and lifestyle photographer Mike Colón will be the next featured guest on “F-Stop Beyond: In Living Color”. We are partnering with PhotographyMentor.com to produce this episode, in association with Brooks Institute. I’m very excited about this event. It will be a sort of Inside the Actors’ Studio, but for photography. In true FSB style, I’ll be sure to ask Mike deep and personal questions to learn more about the man behind the lens. But, we’re also going to discuss some of his best photos and take questions from the audience.

What’s even more thrilling about this episode is that PhotographyMentor.com is going to stream it live to their chat room. So, if you can’t make it to the event in person, check it out live. You won’t want to miss this one!

The episode will air online as usual later this year.

DETAILS

The event is FREE. That’s right. Zero dollars. Zilch. Nada. Just bring a warm body and a good question. First come first serve.

Date: Next Monday, October 6, 7:30 pm PST
Location: Victoria Hall, 33 West Victoria St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

Cinematic Studios blog, or Ron’s Twitter for further details.

MORE BIG NAMES ON F-STOP BEYOND: IN LIVING COLOR

Also in the can and soon to be on the show is our interview with Kevin Kubota. Find out what it was like for little Kevvy-Kev growing up on the isle of Hawaii (FYI: I just made up the nickname. As far as I know, he was never called “little Kevvy-Kev.”) And, the original bad boy of wedding photography himself, the [b]-man will be on after that. We got chock full of exciting projects in the works. Tune in.

Coming Attractions!

Hey loyal FSB viewers. I’m sorry I don’t have part 3 of the Denis Reggie and Joe Buissink clip up for you. I’m traveling this week (just came off shooting at the Pictage PartnerConference) and I’m having internet issues in my current hotel room. So, I’ll try to get the episode uploaded this weekend before the wife and I head off for the ONE Conference. So, I thought I’d share with you some exciting coming attractions.

MIKE COLON: LIVE AT BROOKS

On Monday, October 6, F-Stop Beyond: In Living Color is going to Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, CA to film a very special episode, a la “Inside the Actor’s Studio.” We’re partnering with Photographer Mentor on this episode and it’s sure to be a world photography event. Photography Mentor is going to webcast the interview live to their chat room. It will be available to all subscribers. The episode will then post here on the blog here as usual. If you’re in the area, I encourage you to drop by. The event will be free, and Mike will also be displaying a number of his prints in a gallery showing. It’s going to be a great show. If you can’t make it in person, try to watch the webcast.

KEVIN KUBOTA

We already have “in the can,” an interview with photo “super” star, Kevin Kubota. That will be the next series online once the Reggie/Buissink series is done. Stay tuned.

BONUS VIDEOS

We have a bunch of great bonus episodes still left to post. Click the “sign me up” link above to join our CSI:ProPhoto newsletter and get passwords to view the clips. It’s free. Or, join our Facebook group. Coming bonus videos include:

• Interview with ex-David Jay protege, Chris Humphreys
• Crib’s episode at DJ’s “Freedom House”
• Five Q&A videos with Denis and Joe

Don’t miss out.

F-STOP [b] YOND

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen this somewhat cryptic tweet. If you did, and you’re in the wedding photography industry, you probably figured out that we filmed an episode of the TV show with The Becker himself. If you thought you knew [b]. think again. Includes a couple of guest star appearances we can’t tell you about now. [b]e on the look out for that episode. It will go down in the history books (well, maybe not the history books, but you’re going to love it.) Thanks to The Bui Bros. for shooting that episode for me. You guys rock!

That’s all to report for now. We’re also working on getting some interviews with more your favorite photographers. And we’re courting some commercial photographers as well. Lots of exciting things ahead. You can stay up to date with all the goings on by following me on Twitter. Everyone who follows me also gets a free inspirational audio download that I hope will help you in your business.

Stay tuned…