Month: May 2008

PDN’s got a brief video on the subject. Not a lot of meat to it (it’s a brief vid after all), but you do get to see what others are doing and what speaks to at least one person in the biz. That alone is helpful, I think. 🙂

Need a group to do list thingy so that everyone on a project knows what needs to be done? Or one to make sure you and your partner know that one of you needs to go to the store, or already took care of that? Try Hiveminder.

Other to do lists to check out:

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/

http://www.tadalist.com/

For more project management kinds of needs, try Backpack. Same people who do Ta-Da List, mentioned above.

Integrating tools like these (and Jott.com, and others) will make you more productive and organized. Don’t look for perfection, though, because that’ll doom you to failure (nothing is perfect, after all), but find something you mostly like, and go with it. 🙂

 

 

Harvard Business School has another interesting Working Knowledge article. This one is on Creativity in business and while you may feel like parts of it don’t apply to your small business, read the whole thing. One of the main points is that the cult of the creative genius is changing as the realization that it takes a team becomes more clear. Another is that being creative in business also means looking for and accepting the change and opportunities new technology is bringing us. 

What new things can you try today in your business? How can you build on and improve your creative team? 

How’s this for a photographer’s promo…meatwater! 

Mmm…mmm…good promo (gross product idea, though).

(hat tip to Adland/Alex Stone)

Designer/typographer/photographer Lisa Rienermann uses space and structure…to form letters and, thus words.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I don’t usually show photographer’s work on this blog, and she is not a client or anything, but she’s also not (just) a photographer. The reason I wanted to point her out is that I’m sure that many of you will look at the work and think “okay, cool, but it’d never be used commercially” when what I see is something that the right art director or buyer would look at and think “I have got to find a project for this–maybe we could pitch this idea to [fill-in-the-blank-mega-client].” In this case, she is wearing all the hats, but still, the idea transcends. 

When you stop trying to answer every question (playing it safe) and instead start making work that evokes questions, you just might find one of those questions being “Which of our clients can we get to sign off so we can use this guy/woman?”

(hat tip to Coudal)

Managing your metadata is a vital part of running your photo business today. If you aren’t taking advantage of the opportunities to protect and enhance your images via metadata, you are missing out on some important things. Judy Herrmann (immediate past President of ASMP and speaker at SB2) has two articles covering how to manage your images’ metadata, in simple, non-geek English. Part one and part two are available online.

One thing–lots of people say “it’s easy to strip metadata” and while that may be true now, doing so violates the DMCA and is another (big) stick to wield in copyright infringement cases. It shows volition–that the infringer knew that s/he was stealing, to boot. 

We all can get terribly wrapped up in our positions. Shifting from specific to general is so easy to do–I think X and therefore most people must think X–and suddenly your personal opinion becomes a “global” one worth fighting for at all (or at least most) costs! Or, at the very least, you put so much stock into being right that you forget to listen to the other side or, worse, to keep in mind what is really most important.

This is basic human nature. We’re really good at these mental leaps and twists. They do get us in trouble, though. Even when we’re right, the way we handle it can be detrimental to our greater needs. For example, you may be completely in the right and totally justified in acting frustrated and cold to your partner when s/he shows up late to a dinner date, but all that behavior will do is ruin the dinner and the rest of the evening, at least–for you as much as for her/him! Instead, being direct (yet polite) will get you much further. Tell the offending partner “Hey, I expect you to be on time for our dates and when you’re not, I feel like I’m not a priority for you. Will you promise to make more of an effort next time to be on time, please?” And then when s/he says “I’m sorry, of course I’ll try” go on and have a lovely evening together…you may even get lucky since you didn’t get nasty about the situation. 🙂

We need to keep this in mind as we deal with business issues as well. Orphan works, lowballers, people “giving it away,” etc., these are just a few of the big issues our industry faces. We can choose how we deal with them and how we deal with those who feel differently than we do. We can choose to be respectful of the hard work and individual concerns and fears of the people who hold positions in opposition to our own. And we can remember that even when some of these people choose a different path, often our goals are the same. We thus need to keep that big picture– that we have the same goals–in our heads so that we do not destroy each other over the details. 

If you want to “get lucky,” you have to forgive the mistakes and differences of others. Instead, keep the greater goal in mind and let go of the other stuff. It’s not the end of the world. You don’t always have to be right and you certainly don’t always have to prove you are. Sometimes, letting stuff go is the best way to get what you really want.

You know, I’d take the railing against the orphan works bills* a lot more seriously if I truly believed that photographers were not only concerned about protecting their rights, but that they were actively doing all they can to protect those rights today.

The reality is, they are not. Not even close. 

Most of you are not even bothering to register your works. According to a transcript from a 2003 congressional hearing, the PPA reported that more than 97% of professional photographers have never registered anything with the copyright office.

It’s pitiful. And until you do, until you start registering everything you create, you can’t be taken seriously as wanting to protect your rights.

_____

* This does not mean I am for the bills as written…or against them. As I have said before, I am staying publicly neutral on this issue. I just think that it’s hypocritical to get all upset about losing your rights when you don’t even protect and exercise those you already have.

It’s easy to take the mental step from “want” to “need” without even realizing it. For example, how many of us have said “I need a new car” when, in fact, your old one still runs fine and gets you places, but it looks bad and isn’t as exciting as the new one you’ve had your eye on. Before you even know it, you’re telling yourself “I need a new car.” The truth is, you just want it. 

We do that a lot. Americans are particularly gifted at this, I think, and folks with ADD/ADHD have this ability in spades. So, a lot of you, though you might not want to admit it, get stuff you don’t really need, but you convince yourself you do (and I’m not excluding myself from this–we all do it to some extent). 

We love our stuff. We hold onto it tightly, showing off the newer stuff at times–“Look at my new MacBook Pro–it’s got 4GB of RAM and…” But in the end, it’s just stuff. We need to remember that. All our cameras and computers and cars and houses and clothes and jewelry…well, just about anything that we can buy is just stuff and we have to understand that it can all go away no matter what we do to protect it.

In other words, the physical stuff in our life isn’t half as important as we make it out to be and we don’t need anywhere near as much of it as we might convince ourselves.

I bring this up because of this:

This is an iPhone shot of my oldest brother’s house in central Atlanta. Last night, another huge oak tree fell on it taking out a significant part of the 2nd floor master suite and kitchen beneath and damaging their new Prius that was parked on the right side of the house.

He and his wife were not hurt. 

Stuff? Lots gone or damaged. But the important things–John and Sammy–are fine.

Oh, and did you catch that I said “another huge oak tree fell?” This is the second time their house has been severely damaged by a falling tree. The first time was over 10 years ago (that one was arguably worse, actually) and they, again, managed to get out unhurt. They rebuilt and re-bought their stuff then, and they will again now. 

We spend lots of time and energy and money protecting the physical stuff of our lives. We have insurance (or we should–if you don’t, please look again at that photo and go get covered) and locks to keep it safe, but sometimes crap still happens. 

But our intangibles, those we are lousy at taking care of. How many of you have life insurance? What about disability insurance? And what about your intellectual property which is mostly intangible these days (digital)? Are you protecting that? 

We can re-purchase all our stuff, but we can’t re-buy our lives or our art. 

I am appalled at the tone and content of the “debate” about the orphan works legislations out there. In fact, I’m pissed. Jesus-friggin’-Christ in a chicken basket–what ever happened to professionalism and courtesy in our industry!? What ever happened to respectful debate where BOTH sides are seen for their positive aspects as well as those points which are not in agreement? What ever happened to debating issues rather than throwing insults, half-truths, and utter bullshit–where the only goal seems to be to belittle those who think differently than you do?

It’s worse than an elementary schoolyard, I swear. We were supposed to have learned better–in elementary school! For example, no hitting, no name-calling, share, listen, say “please” and “thank you”–these simple ideas have been lost in this so-called debate. 

I am sickened by what is happening to our industry over this–sides are being taken and lines drawn so severely that reconciliation and cooperation seem virtually impossible in the future. 

I am sure that mistakes were made (and continue to be made) on both sides. I am also sure that the intention to serve constituents is extremely important to both sides.

The thing is, both sides serve very much the same constituencies! By this bickering and unprofessional behavior, we are fragmenting the very group that needs to come together now more than ever. To win this one battle, we are going to lose the war!

Frankly, I don’t give a crap (anymore) which side of the debate you are on–there are valid and important points on both sides. And there is nothing wrong with saying “In my opinion, doing X is best.” However, there is no reason to say “Those who choose to do Y are bad” or, as has been happening, saying “this organization is bad because I heard they did _____” or “I read on a blog that they _____” or even “This group said they…”

Blogs are not journalism! Organization websites are not journalism. Forums are not journalism. They are not fact-checked and vetted and they are most certainly NOT objective in their writing. Yes, this blog included. It’s just me and I can’t possibly be truly objective no matter how much I try–I have no external checks and balances, and neither do any other blogs/forums/organization websites. 

What we are doing to each other is far too often mean-spirited, spiteful, ugly, childish, and, for added injury, factually untrue.

I am brought to mind a story my husband told me. He was at a poker night at a friend’s house and one of the other players was a Republican who was railing against some point my liberal husband made. He was calling the Democrats all sorts of terrible names and spouting off things he had learned from Rush and FOX, as if they were absolute truths. Christopher (my husband) said, “You know, I don’t think the Democrats are perfect–far from it–in fact, I can easily list 3 bad things about them. I think the Republicans aren’t all bad either. I can list 3 good things about them.” He then asked the Republican, “Can you tell me 3 things you don’t like about the Republican party and 3 things you can respect about the Democrats?” The other guy refused, saying “There is nothing wrong with my party and there is nothing good about yours.”

I am feeling like the debate about the orphan works bills are turing people into the same type of thinkers as that poker player. And it breaks my heart.

We are better than that.