A bit of a different sort of post today. I have been working hard on getting to a point that I can take large blocks of time to myself. I need it because I have signed a book deal with Amherst Media and need to get the book finished in a short time frame.

I am very excited about it. As a book fanatic I have tons of books all over the house and office. It has always been a goal of mine to write a book, and now not only will it be written, I have a real publisher who believes in me to publish it. Grateful and humble as well.

This month has found me doing a lot of different and disparate things – at least I thought so. Thinking about the changes has shown that there may be more cohesion than originally thought.

News: I am back in the agency business.
I was the partner/creative director for a large ad agency in the late 90’s and have started to do some branding and agency work for clients again. In the agency days I had a terrific traffic and studio manager named Robin Bramman. She is now working as a brand and project manager for my small design and advertising business, Steel ID. We have a few clients and the prospects are quite good for controlled growth. I don’t want to have employees or go back to wearing suits for client meetings. We stay small, work with the clients who will let us do what we do best and have a nice life.

Having a nice life… isn’t that the goal? It is for me. I don’ need/crave excess. I want some stability and the ability to travel (one of the highlights of the workshops).

Workshops:
I have been procrastinating on the schedule for next year for a lot of reasons. I love doing them, but realize that without a person ‘on-the-ground’ it can be an incredible drain. Sponsors can help, but I don’t want to make the workshops anything like some of the market driven ones where a specific light or software or whatever is pushed. I don’t believe in anyone who says I “gotta have one of these” to be a ‘real photographer’.

Yeah right. So for now we have MPEX and SmugMug and they make few demands.

So I will be cutting down on the number of out-of-town workshops for next year. I want to make sure they are viable and make sure I can make them happen. I will have the full year up very soon, but we will start again in San Diego, then Portland. New York is on the schedule as is Atlanta, Miami and Montana.

I will also be having some advanced workshops here in my Phoenix Studio. Three day workshops focusing on studio work, food, and a fully integrated marketing strategy. These will be good workshops for the emerging and start-up photographer. More on them later.

Around the Web:
Several cool posts on the web this past week.

A wonderful look into the creative process and the production of a wonderful set of promotional images for a haircutting salon. A lot has been discussed about the shots and the process, but I was way more fascinated by the concept and the wonderfully creative approach to the advertising.

This set of images will be an incredible ‘branding’ tool for the salon Shear Chaos. Dave Jackson’s shots and the wonderful participation of the salon staff will pay off big. There is an edge to the salon and they are presenting their slightly ‘off kilter’ approach to haircutting to the world through Dave’s skillful images.

The final images are here:And David takes the time to discuss his thought process and what it took to get for the team to get the images they created.

He then posted a more technical post with all the stuff that photographers love… lighting schemes, gear and such. This is such a nicely done set of posts. Thanks to David E Jackson for doing all the hard work to bring a well detailed post to the photographers.

(And I would say to David, that as a creative director, the first post would be reason enough to call your book in.)

Rob Haggard has a great look at a real-world invoice. Take a look. Learn.

Zack Arias says he is part of the problem on this post: “Over Saturated Market You Say? You Can Blame Me.”

“The worst part about all of this is you don’t even have to be all that good of a photographer to get into the game. That really is the worst part about it all but hang out at enough photography water coolers and you’ll hear stories from “back in the day” about the same damn things. Being a crappy photographer with a profitable business is nothing new. There were just more up front costs to deal with back then. Now it’s just easier to be a crappy sucksessful photographer. Add insult to injury… You can be a fairly mediocre photographer these days and have a workshop teaching others how to be just as mediocre as you are. Meh. Whatever. It is what it is.

I’m right here part of it all. I’m part of the over saturated market. You’re part of the over saturated market. Don’t bitch and moan and complain about it because you’re in it with the rest of us.”
Read the whole thing.

Read this important post because he has a lot of stuff right. Things have changed. We used to say they were changing… but now we can all agree that they HAVE changed, and going back ain’t an option. Rates are where they are. There are a ton of photographers out there. Some of them are incredible. Some of them are pretty damn good. And some of them suck.

Just like pizza joints. Or dry cleaners.

I have been yelling that the change was coming for so long that it rarely even comes up now. And the changes we have already gone through are just the beginning. We will be in a state of flux in this business for the next hundred years. So… deal with it.

Here are my thoughts in a nutshell:
1. Things have changed for the better/worse… if this catches you off guard you haven’t been paying attention and who’s fault is that? Not mine.
2. The cost of entry is so far less than it was that nearly anyone can start a business. Graphic design, photography, copy writing, web design, e-commerce, music, bands, PR firms… all of them. And more. Life is good, competition is fierce, success is sweet.
3. This level of competition will be at nearly this level (I believe it will drop a bit – see signs of it already – for your entire career. Either learn to live with it or open a pizza parlor… oh wait.)
4. Do what you want… do it your way. Listen to everyone and listen to no one. Take what you like and leave the rest. Be you. Do you really well. You will have more fun.
5. There are no rules. NONE. Anyone who says there are rules are either stupid, lying to you or want to sell you something. There are lots of models to follow, lots of paths that are worn, lots of directions that have been honed. And NONE of them are necessarily the best for you.
6. Value the work you do. Value it at what you think it should be. I think Microstock is stupid. I have reasons that are well thought out. But that is not a RULE for you to follow, it is only my opinion and it is one that is based on my belief that you should value your work higher. Not for me, but for you. That being said, if you don’t think it is worth more, then tell me to shove it and move on. All’s good.
7. Have opinions. State them. Duck.
8. Get ready to fail. Embrace it. Love it. Failure is a way of showing you how you f%#ked up. Learn from it and do it better next time

There is simply no way around the fact that we are ALL part of someone’s problem, Zack.

Calgary Workshop was a blast. Driving through the Canadian Rockies was an unforgettable experience. I will be back to that area soon… very soon.

One of the photographers there snapped these images and I kinda liked the shot of me… and of course the lovely Brandy. Aleta Lewis-Weidow is the photographer.

Follow me on Twitter and see the Learn to Light site for more information on the workshops.