With the first full week of 2010 coming to an end, I figured it was time to pick some images from 2009 which summarized the year.  Instead of picking the top images, I picked five images taken in 2009 along with how they changed my style or approach when photographing.

Winter in Washington Park

On the first weekend of January 2009, some snowfall finally graced Denver.  Not knowing how much would fall, I planned to wake up early on Sunday morning to see the result and photograph around Denver.  When heading out that morning, in my mind I was thinking of the tree at Washington Park I had photographed on a May 1, 2008 (Snowy May Day).  Arriving before sunrise at the park, I took the similar photograph, but then decided to explore the subject some more with different angles in addition to what should be included in the frame.  The end result is the above image which now includes the boat house at the park.  While I went into the location with an idea of the subject, exploring new perspectives and challenging yourself in the field is important.  This approach was something I had always done in the field, but on this day it just hit home with the result.

Rocky Mountain News – Final Edition

On Friday February 27, 2009 the Rocky Mountain News published their final edition. The News had been a part of Denver for almost as long as Denver was a city and this final edition marked the end of an era. The final edition which I purchased was placed on the front porch to my house as this is how many people received the paper.  The idea for this image came to mind when I was walking back from the local convenience store where I purchased a few copies of the paper.  There were two reminders which came with this photograph.  The first is to think about how people see the subject you are photographing.  In the instance of the newspaper a front porch is where you would expect the paper to land and become a part of your day.  Sure there are the days it is in the grass, bushes or elsewhere but that isn’t a positive outlook of picking up the newspaper.  The second is to be aware of what is happening around you as you never know when a good photo opportunity may present itself.

Coors Field Seats

While at a Colorado Rockies game this fall with a large group, just before the game I noticed the sun starting to drop behind the stands on the 3rd base side of the stadium.  As this late afternoon light streamed through, the beverage holders near our seats started to pick up the light.  Pausing from a conversation witha  few others, I grabbed my iPhone and took the above image.  This image shows the importance of having a camera with you at all times even if it is a mobile phone, and is the basis of the Along the Journey… series.

East of Denver International Airport

During the month of November, I once again did the Thirty Days project.  Near the end of the month, I flew back to Denver from a Thanksgiving trip in Southern California.  Knowing that the my flight would land after midnight I thought about heading out to photograph at that time, depending on the weather.  Upon arriving at my car close to 2am, I thought about it and took a drive east of the airport to photograph.  I knew it would be cold, so I prepared myself as best I could in the conditions.  After spending about 45 minutes on the plains I headed home tired, but more so happy I pushed myself to use that opportunity to photograph.  It is easy to stay somewhere warm, but the images can not be created without pushing yourself.  In this instance I found my Day 30 image, but also have ideas to look into later this year.

Hannah’s Birthday at Disneyland

My niece turned five in 2009.  For her birthday, she was treated with a trip to Disneyland to see the princesses and fairies.  I decided to fly out for the occasion and join my sister’s family, as well as my parents who made the trip to Anaheim.  Of course there was no way I would not head there without a camera and during the day I took many images of Hannah enjoying herself at the park.  Capturing the moment is important but so is taking time out to enjoy the important moments in life as they will quickly pass.

There were many other pictures taken during the course of 2009, but I feel the above five highlight the year and serve as a reminder of why I photograph.

In photography as well as any business it is important to make a personal connection with a customer or prospect.  In these days it is so easy to just let be an ‘e’ contact as e-mail, twitter and the many other e-communication methods which exist at this time become a normal part of our lives.  One method which I use to connect to current customers as well as prospects is something which has been around for quite a while, a hand written note.

When visiting any local bookstore or card shop you will find the number of note cards they have on hand has been decreasing over the past few years.  In addition the cards on hand might not be what you would like to send.  One option you have is a custom note card from Neil Corman Photography which may use any image in the catalog.

Custom note cards are available in two sizes (4″ x 5.5″ and 5″ x 7″) and come in bundles of 25 with your choice of either a standard white or parchment envelope. The note cards are normally printed on an art watercolor paper as this provides the best result for the image, but there are additional paper options available. Additionally all custom note card orders include the opportunity to include your own custom text inside the card at no additional cost.

Let us know if you would like to discuss in more detail the pricing and options available for custom note cards and start making that personal contact with your current customers as well as those prospects you talk to in 2010.

Earlier this week I posted on Picking a Personal Photography Project.  In that post I asked you to post some of the projects you are just starting or have planned for 2010.  I went through the feedback I received in the comments area of the post as well as through e-mail and picked some to post.  The projects listed below are quite interesting and I hope these inspire you with your goals in the new year.

• Alex Saunders is making a project of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Southern Colorado. In September of 2009 he spent three days there and would like to get a solid group of 12 images for his portfolio.  This would encompass the dunes as well as the surrounding area.

• Marcy James has two projects she will be working on completing. The first is meandering through her murky watered futuristic place, no man’s land where she is thinking she will make artifacts found there. The second is finising her butte, america book to submit for blurb’s contest.

• Christopher Rice is in the early stages of planning for a photography project to document a portion of the Denver metro area.  This planning is to determine if the project is feasible and the scope he will encompass.

• Annie Florin, a children’s photographer in the Bay Area, is looking at two different projects.  While the first is in the planning stages at this time it is an interesting concept which brings together her local area as well as something in common with her focus of children’s photography.  She will also continue her Jack project featuring her son.

• I will build on my Winter in Washington Park image as I work to document the Denver area.  It is quite common to photograph the mountains in Colorado however the Denver area has it’s own beauty.  Covering the city in the different seasons will bring some challenges but also will highlight what the city has to offer.

I hope we will be able to check-in on some of these projects in the upcoming months.  Is there a project you are working on which you would like to share?

As a photographer you may not always be able to photograph the subjects you dream of documenting in your billable work.  It is not that you don’t enjoy what you photograph, but it is just not that one subject which you can document with the camera. Being a photographer means we love the art and what we create, however sometimes this can be lost in the normal course of business as we photograph with our style but also think about the clients needs for their project.

When you look at a personal photography project this is an opportunity to pick a subject for ourselves which is being shot in our style.  This is important not only to the professional, but photographers at all levels.  I quite often come across photographers who are shooting anything in their free time (I’ve been there), instead of trying to focus in one area.  In many other professions you will find people are specialists in a specific area.  Off the top of my head Information Technology, Law, and Medicine are some which come to mind.  If you find out someone is an attorney the natural instinct is to ask what type of law they practice, which is also the same with photographers.  I am frequently asked if I shoot weddings, as they were just recently engaged or know someone who was.  With law, you may find someone is handling family law and may not be too excited about the work however they continue to work in that area to build experience and maybe later find a different area to practice.  The difference between a lawyer and a photographer is that it is hard to try something on your own when your billable work is done.  With photography you can always photograph something for yourself which is where the personal project comes to light.

When trying to find the best personal project a source of inspiration can be what others have done in the past.  Of course you don’t want to copy exactly, but the ideas you see in other projects can help spark a format to approach your project.

• In November, I photographed every day for Thirty Days and posted one image a day to this blog.  Now that the project is over, I am asking people to vote for their favorites.  This first started in 2007 as something to get me photographing again and 2009 marks the 3rd year I have done this project.
• Lesley Kerr and Zola Kell in the past have done a weekly photograph which they would put together as a diptych.  Lesley lives in Georgia, while Zola is in British Columbia and this allowed them to remain connected.
• Salt Lake City Photographer Mike Tittel, recently blogged about wanting to get those local photographs which have always been put off as he and his wife may be moving soon.  Even if they don’t move, it is important to capture the moment now.
• Daylene Wilson posts an image a day on her Flickr page showing work she has taken with a point and shoot camera.

While the above can be good suggestions, you can even mix it up by only photographing one color, metal objects or anything else which will challenge you even more in a set period of time.  This suggestion was given to me by Missoula photographer Marcy James as a possibility for the next thirty days project.

When picking a project, the best advice is find a subject which will interest you as this will be something you will be spending time photographing.  If there is no interest in the subject, the photography becomes a chore and it will show in your work.  You will also want to limit the scope of the project and not take on too much at the beginning.  If you make the overall goal too broad or daunting, it will be very easy to not carry through with the project.  It is possible to add more, but taking away becomes an issue as the focus is then lost.

I have mentioned setting a goal or finding your objective.  This is important for your personal project as it will provide a vision and make sure you stay on track.  A tool I use when setting a goal or objective is the mnemonic SMART, which will help you create Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Related goals. How you use this is shown below.

• Specific:  You want to make sure your project has a specific focus.  Saying you want to photograph Colorado is probably too broad, but making that subject the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area in all seasons is starting to bring it to a more realistic goal. Do the research and find out what you want to photograph in that area as even a wilderness area can be a daunting task, and maybe you will focus on a specific drainage, trail or town.
• Measurable:  What will you measure success by for this project?  Do you have different goal levels, where maybe you will post to a website or blog first.  As the project moves forward you will pitch to a magazine or journal with a goal to build it towards a book.  Likewise,  do you just want to build creativity with your project and how will that be measured.  Will this be with number of quality images, what is published or some other type of metric.  Find something which will allow you to measure the success.  In a 30 Days type project, it becomes easier to state the measurable goal.
• Attainable:  If you live in Colorado and want to photograph the Oregon Coast or the inner city of a East Coast city is that truly attainable?  A project which will be something you can access is going to make it easier to be successful.  For some people a drive 3-4 hours away a couple of times a month is easy to do and for others it becomes a burden, so you need to know your limits.  Also when picking your subject safety should also be included in this category.  You don’t want to pick a subject which could put you in a place which may not be safe at all times.
• Realistic: Is the project realistic?  Can you get access to an area?  Going back to the example of the Indian Peaks, this may require hiking and backpacking with a camera and equipment.  Is this something you are able to do?  An aerial perspective of an area is always interesting, but once again how will that be done.
• Time-bound:  What is the duration of the project?  By setting a project time frame you will be making sure you have a set duration and not postpone getting the work done.  This time frame can be an overall goal or a duration which is segmented in order to keep the momentum of the project moving.  These segmented time goals are important if you want to document your project in different seasons or in various build steps since it most regions the landscape is changed by the time of year.

As I mentioned under attainable, safety is something which you need to be aware of no matter of the project. This holds true for any project as there are various risk factors no matter where you are photographing.  Additionally, security is an issue in some areas and locations may be off limits or restricted.  If there is any doubt ask permission first, you never know what additional access you may get as a result of asking.

While it may seem like a lot when picking a personal photography project, the reward is well worth the thought process and working to get those images during your free time.

Is there a personal project which you are thinking about starting or have recently started?  Let me know in the comments and on New Year’s Day I will feature some of these projects in a blog post.  During the course of the year it would be good to hear about your progress as well on your personal project.

Now that Christmas is behind us for another year and you have had the weekend to relax a good thing to do in the final days of the year is start thinking about the upcoming year.  Before doing this though, take a few minutes and talk to your accountant to find out if some upcoming planned expenditures should take place in 2009 or wait until 2010, in addition to other tax related discussions.  I am not a fan of spending the money just because it needs to be done, however your accountant is the best source for that information.

Planning for the upcoming year as a business is always important as it will allow you to start the new year fresh.  While you are a photographer, being a professional photographer means there are many aspects to the business which you manage with sales and marketing taking a huge portion of your time.  Unless you have a degree in marketing this is something which you are learning along the way by reading various blogs, articles or even books.  There are many great blogs out where which will generate an idea which I will pursue, however I find some of the best ideas and approaches come from books.  Reading these books will strike a chord and get me thinking in a creative manner on what I could be doing differently to reach my target audience for the various pieces of my business.

Some of the good books I have read this year are below.  From each one I took something away which has helped me as a business owner and will be useful for planning the new year.

Business of Photography Books

Best Business Practices for Photographers (2nd Edition) – John Harrington: One of the best books for photographers for the business side of matters was updated in 2009 and is even better.  This is something which every photographer should read and have on their bookshelf.

I’d Rather be in the Studio! – Alyson Stanfield: While targeted for artists in general this book will give you ideas of how to get your work out there for more to see.  I use a lot of the items covered in this book for my personal work but it also does cross over for the commercial work.

ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography, 7th Edition: ASMP updated this book in 2008 and brought it up to deal with the new issues in the marketplace.  This also sits on my bookshelf next to the Best Business Practices for Photographers.

Tell the World You Don’t Suck: Modern Marketing for Commercial Photographers – Leslie Burns:  Targeted for photographers doing more commercial work, Leslie gets the point about marketing and what you need to do in order to get your name out there in a style which is her own.

General Business Books

Tribes — Seth Godin: I think any book by author Seth Godin is good reading as he brings the important points of business to you in a great short read which you will make you think of where you need to go.  Another good book by Godin is Purple Cow.

How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie: Photography is about sales and marketing, but more so relationships built in networking.

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time – Joel Comm:  Twitter has grown significantly in 2009 and will continue to do so in 2010.  While many people have jumped on to twitter, are they using it correctly and how can you benefit from this tool.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It – Michael Gerber:  There is so much in starting a business that it is easy to be taken by the whole process.  This book will help you manage that and remind you to also live for yourself and not just the business.

The links above you will be taken to Amazon.com, however you may be able to find the books in your local bookstore or library which are both great resources to utilize as well.

Are there any books you would add to the list which you think would be good reading for photographers or other creatives?  Just by posting a comment you will be eligible to receive the 1st edition of Best Business Practices for Photographers which still is a useful book.  One person will be randomly selected on January 5, 2010 and have it sent to them.

A few months ago I went to a joint ADCD/ASMP presentation where Chase Jarvis talked about creativity. One thing which resonated from this talk is your best camera is the one which is with you. It doesn’t matter if it is a high end Nikon camera, point and shoot or even a cell phone camera.

Most of the images you see on this blog were taken with either a Nikon D700, Nikon D200 or a point and shoot camera. However I decided to follow in the steps of Chase and many others and start using the mobile phone as a way to express creativity and also to start to see things different in the world. Now the quality you will get from a cell phone is much different than a high end camera, but the composition elements remain the same.  Using an Apple iPhone 3GS and an iPhone application I am able to be creative on the go.  By doing this I have found I am looking at objects differently that I would in the past, bringing more creativity to my photography.

For the past few months I have been posting images on my Twitter feed as well as Facebook Fan Page for Neil Corman Photography.  However now with a collection of images, they are now featured on this website and available for purchase in small sizes.  The collect is called ‘Along the Journey…‘ as life carries on there is always time to stop and enjoy the surroundings you experience.  New images will continue to be posted on Twitter and Facebook, with the top images being included for sale in the gallery.

The following images are samples of some of the images taken with the mobile phone.

Chair Lift - Avon, Colorado

Coors Field Seats - Denver, Colorado

Do you have a collection of images taken with a mobile device, if so feel free to provide a link in the comments.

The question “Where did you take this photograph?” is one which I receive quite often at gallery nrc with pieces of work shown during the Denver Art Walk each month.  During First Friday in May one image which received a lot of questions is the following photograph from Rainbow Curve in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rainbow Curve Clouds - Rocky Mountain National Park

The first question I received was “Were you in an airplane?”, or “How far did you hike to get that image?”.  My response was always, I was at Rainbow Curve just off of Trail Ridge Road instead of a story which I could have made up to stretch the truth.  For those of you not familiar with Rainbow Curve, it is the pull off just above treeline on the eastern side of the park and included at the location are restrooms and enough parking for maybe 20 or 30 cars.  To me the location doesn’t matter, but it is about the story the image tells.  When this image was taken I was heading up the road towards Bear Lake and about 1/3 of the way up decided to backtrack and head to Trail Ridge Road.  Just prior to hitting treeline I popped out of the clouds and was treated with the following scene.  As I chatted with a few people prior to sunrise who stopped as well, I told them to wait 10 minutes or so since sunrise was right about to happen.

I bring up the question of where did you take this image as I was at the Downtown Denver Art Festival this past weekend, and noticed a photograph which looked like a familiar location.  I inquired about the photo of the mountain lion and was told a story which didn’t seem to sound right as the background was in some of the images I have of mountain lions taken at a place in Montana which caters towards video and still photographers.  Using a “game farm” allows the safety of both the photographer as well as the animals since you are not tracking animals in the wild which could put an animal in harms way.  I did some research prior to selecting this place to see the photographers using it and why it makes sense to get photographs in this manner.  So the story I was told by the photographer at the arts festival was that he hired a guide outside of Glacier National Park who knew there was a mountain lion in the area but it still took a great deal of time to get this image.  I could have asked more questions to the photographer about specifics about this but decided to take the high road and let him get back to his booth and his story for other patrons.  Upon getting home I confirmed the location based on past images of mine, in addition to asking another photographer who has been there during the winter.

But I am wondering, does the story he is sharing with people help sell the image?  Would you buy the image based on the story of him being in the wild finding the animal or is it just the image itself which would draw you to purchase the photograph?  If you bought the image based on the story, and later found out the truth how would you feel?  To me deceiving the buyer doesn’t make any sense as a photographer and a business person as the truth will come to light at some point which not only hurts your reputation but those of all photographers.  A photograph tells the story, but maybe in this case the story needs to tell the story to sell the image.

Yesterday evening fellow photographer Christopher Rice hosted an event for a group of nature photographers we know from the Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers online forum at gallery nrc as well as Bentwave Gallery in the Tennyson Art District.

The follow is a list of items either I mentioned during the course of the evening or wanted to get to and just ran out of time.  If you have any questions on anything discussed, please let me know.  First off here is the link CAZ mentioned on the NPN side, it may be a few years old but does have great information and some of the same items discussed last evening.

Photography Books

• Best Business Practices for Photographers – John Harrington
• Modern Marketing for Photographers – Leslie Burns Dell’Acqua
• The Photographers Survival Guide – Amanda Sosa Stone/Suzanne Sease
• Pricing Photography
• Lightroom 2: Streamlining Your Digital Photography Process – Nat Coalson

Business Books (More so available at your local library)

• Tribes – Seth Godin
• Purple Cow – Seth Godin
• The Brand Called You
• Getting Things Done
• Blink – Malcolm Gladwell
• The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

Organizations and Groups

• National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP)
• Nature Photographers of Colorado (NPC)
• Indie Arsenal
• American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP)
• Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce

Mailing Lists

• MailChimp
• PinPoint Mailings

Blogs

• Burns Auto Parts
• Duct Tape Marketing
• A Photo Editor
• ASMP SB2

Local Resources

• State of Colorado
• Colorado Secretary of State
• Colorado Department of Revenue
• City and County of Denver
• Denver Treasury
• Small Business Development Center (SBDC) – Denver

Magazines and Journals

• Fast Company
• INC
• Entrepreneur
• Communication Arts
• RangeFinder
• PDN

Online Networking

• Twitter
• Facebook – Neil Corman Photography
• Facebook – gallery nrc

Other Items

• Photoshelter
• Livebooks
• B&H Photo Video
• elance
• Google Analytics
• Clear Bags

Keep in mind for some of the above links you will get a discount for being a member.  An example is being a member of ASMP gets you a discount on Livebooks and PDN, A member of NAPP gets free 3 day shipping from B&H Photo Video.

Have you ever photographed with a camera which required either a negative or positive film?  How was that experience?  Is this something which you think you could do once again easily and produce the same results you get right now with digital?  With a film camera there is not the opportunity to check the histogram for exposure, adjust the white balance and look at your result.  It all comes with instinct and knowledge of exposure and judging a scene when shooting with film.

Why do I ask these questions?  Since it is a good check to make sure you understand the basics of photography and can produce a consistent result no matter what type of camera you are using.  I was also reminded of this and how important it is to have this skill with the release of the new Sports Illustrated Slide Show book which looks at past covers and the corresponding slide.  What you will notice is that cropping needs to take place to fit the need of the cover, but also you see how important it is to know the exposure and factors for making a proper image.  Now just like with digital during the printing process some tweaks do have to be made, but think about how difficult lighting conditions can be at a sporting event plus throw in the limitation of 36 frames on a roll of film as well before having to change cameras or rolls on the fly.  People say that with digital so wide spread now in the industry knowing the basics is not as important, however having the technical skills in place will always improve your image and let you concentrate on the many other factors which must be considered when creating an image.

A fun project which I do is to shoot film every so often for fun and see what result you get with your images.  You may be surprised at the result, but it also makes sure you are sharp with the basics and remember everything which must be considered as there is no “cheating” or “chimping” using film.  By keeping fresh on the basics, your photography will continue grow and the results will just become natural as is the case in the new SI Slide Show book.

Yesterday I mentioned the Rocky Mountain Spring Camera Show which is being hosted by the Denver Photographic Society.  DPS is a local camera club, and one of the questions I am often asked is what group, organizations or clubs do I belong to and how do they benefit your work.  As I mentioned this event sponsored by a local club I thought this would be a good time to talk about the options available.

First off, I am not a member of DPS and I have not been to any of their meetings, but I did mention the camera show as I thought it may be of interest to the local Denver readers of this blog.  There are many positives to joining a local camera club, however if it is the right decision for you depends on your objectives and what you would like to get out of the club.  In the Denver area there are quite a few options for photo clubs you may consider depending on your location, I recommend checking out a few prior to joining a specific club.

Since photography is quite popular in Colorado there are many options available, but if you are in a smaller town or restricted on time an online forum may be the right option for you. Depending on the type of photography which interests you, there is most likely an online forum which will focus on your subject.  For my personal work, I follow or participate on Nature Photographers Network, Nature Photographers of Colorado as well as Sports Shooter.  There are others I also look on occasionally, but these three are the top.  Besides the traditional forums, you have sharing websites like Flickr, and photo.net however I encourage you to read the terms of usage for whatever online forum you use to make sure how any photos you upload may be utilized by the site.

For the professional side of my work, I belong to Indie Arsenal which is a local group of creatives who through online forums collaborate and network at no charge.  With members from varying disciplines it also provides the opportunity to talk to other creatives who may be having similar problems whether in the same discipline or not.  From the meetings, I have found an issue discussed by a web designer may be something I am dealing with as well and it is helpful to have different backgrounds trying to find the problem.  In addition to Indie Arsenal, I am also a member of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.  While Indie has creative businesses strongly represented, the chamber represents businesses of all sizes and provides many opportunities to network with fellow members at events during the course of the year.  The main item to remember with the chamber is that the more you take part in the events, the more you will get back.  If you are in the Denver area and are interested in trying out the chamber, let me know and I would be happy to take you to an event and provide you a contact at the Chamber to talk to in more detail.

On a National level, I am a member of two different professional organizations.  The first is the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) which is an organization of photographers who mainly photograph for publication.  ASMP helps promote the interest of photographers in the industry as well as provides resources which help photographers with their business and growth.  One publication which is a great resource is the ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography which is available for anyone to purchase.  While ASMP is at a national level, there are also local chapters which have events.  ASMP Colorado is my local chapter and they have meetings about once a month allowing members to get together and network.  While I have heard in the past some people do not like this as it is more so a gripe session, just like any organization it is all about what you wish to get from the opportunities.  The other national organization I am a member is the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).  To be honest at first I questioned joining this organization, however with their extensive online resources as well as printed magazine I have found great value in being a member.  Additionally with the discounts you can get through being a member the membership basically pays for itself.  If you are using Lightroom and/or Photoshop there is a great wealth of information available to help you naviagte the complexities of these programs.

There are many more groups and associations out there whether local, regional, national or online.  The bottom line is to find what works best for your specialization and see if being a member is right for you.  Whether it is PPA, NANPA, WPPI, APA or any of the many others talk to your peers as well and see what makes sense. Are there any organizations which you are a member of currently, leave a comment and let me know.