Rick has been hired to photograph 12 Olympic games, both summer and winter. Impressive. We met while teaching at Brooks Institute in Ventura, CA in 2004. Somehow we've remiained friends...if you know both of us you'll understand my commet. (:())

See ya!

^{Master Photographer, MEI, Cr., API, F-ASP, Canon Explorer of Light, onOne Master, Team NIK and X-Rite Coloratti. I've never seen so many titles in my life.}

^{Jim Divitale and I met years ago at a NAPP convention in LA. I've listened to several webinars Jim has given for some of the companies listed above. His product work is clean and detailed and his personal work is varied and emotional.}

Should be a good show.

Keith Cooper runs Northlight images from the U.K. He is a commercial photographer, a product reviewer, a blogger, a teacher and a product reviewer. He possess an amazing ability to do all of these well enough to make a living whixh allows him to do what he wants. Keith had a plan and he put trhe plan into action and it worked. No surprise when you're as smart as Keith.

This show will be useful for all of us who care to listen.

My cousin and award-winning advertising creative director and rainmaker for Rosen & Brichta in Chicago makes time to spill his guts about all things related to photographers hoping to work in the advertising arena.

Check out their work here.

Check out Lee's work here.

And I''m over here.

During last weeks episode (29) of Build A Better Photograph I mentioned that one of my photos had been abused by an online publication without my knowledge or permission. The image was cropped, the color was altered and the photo credit was removed. Nice! Oh joy, another knucklehead to deal regarding artists rights because not giving a wit about another persons art work has to be addressed. One can do this nicely but confrontation nonetheless is mandatory. As soon as I found out about this transgression I immediately sent an email to the publisher asking him to explain why he was using one of my photos without permission and from where did the photo come from? To his credit, he responded within minutes, apologized and took down the photo and related article. Score one for me.

I wanted to make this right for the publisher, clearly he was sorry but assumed the photo was OK to use  (a big mistake, making assumptions). I wrote back and offered to provide an approved photo he could use and re-post the story. He was agreeable. I sent an approved photo but for some reason the story has not yet reappeared. (happy ending?)

Following are the steps I took in approaching this issue, making an assessment and my conclusions about the resolution:

1)    Being made aware of the issue. In this case the photo was of my wife and she was the source for finding out about this transgression. I use Google Alerts for other types of notifications and just joined the PLUS Registry for future image rip offs. I've also used Digimarc in the past.

2)    Assess the gravity of the transgression. Is the issue worth pursuing? In this case it was for three reasons: 1) My wife was in the photo and upset. 2)  I have a local reputation with my client base and need to be vigilant in case this comes up in conversation. 3) Ripping off work is NEVER OK.

3)    Make a plan of action. Phone call? Email? In person? All three? In this case an email was the best choice. It's written and there is a record of it...in case....

4)    Implementing the action plan. Don't just think about what to do, do it and do it ASAP!

5)    Evaluation of the transgressors response. In this case the publisher got high marks for removing the photo but it would have been super if he had re-posted with the approved image. Oh well. What can you do? I did my best, received some action so I have to be satisfied with that. On to the next idiot!

6)    Follow up. I've since reached out to the publisher via email and phone but to no avail. Guess he had enough or it just wasn't that important to him anymore..old news is no news, eh?

The steps above are right in line with my "a successful photograph is a series of small steps made correctly" mantra posted at the top of my home page. Everything we do as SECP's is geared towards pushing out our bubbles of influence and it's not just creating work and running the businesses. We also take into account protecting our work and reputations.  This is just my opinion of course, I could be right.

See ya!

Michael

Ever wanted to be inside a photograph that is a 360〫panorama and look around at will? Or Jim. Or Betty, whoever you like.

Check these out, they're very cool

My friend and collaborator Pat Swovelin does these and he does them at a very high level.

See ya!

If you've ever wanted to see and appreciate some very special photography, check out this weeks guest: Jon DeVaul.

For Jon pressing the shutter is just the beginning and not the end of his photographic process. This photography is really quite wonderful!

Photoshop luminary, author, teacher, artist, storyteller Mark S. Johnson is my guest today. He has written popular books on photography and is considerecan HDR expert. We'll find out.....

Gil Garcetti used to put away the bad guys as the District Attorney for LA County. He puts them away now as the producer of crime drama The Closer. He's with us today as a fine art, street, dance and documentary photographer. Gil sells his work in galleries and in coffee table books. He lectures and travels the world doing his thing. So glad he made the time to chat with Lee and myself.

Build a betterphotograph episode 25 with your host Michael E. Stern.

Birds! Trees! Animals! Sunsets! Backgrounds! Clouds! Rainbows!

I work with Layer Cake Elements and they have provided me with a $100.00 off coupon at checkout. This wonderful offer expires on 7/25/11 so you'd better hurry. You won't find a better set of quality photographic clip art (royaly-free) anywhere on the web!

Use Mstern_LCM at checkout to recevie this quality set of downloads for $249.95.

Click this link to watch and listen to the 85th anniversary fireworks show at the world famous Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, my home town.

Episode #22 and author, historian photographer Mark A. Vieira is my guest. Mark assisted the great George Hurrell and shoots in his style, prints from Hurrell's original negatives (for sale to the public) and has authored several books on old Hollywood glamour. Sweet. Hurrells' work inspired me to become a photographer. Sweet again.

Lee Love will be co-hosting.

After our visit (if time permits) I will take you through scenarios I employ to create new business opportunities.

Rock on SECP's!!!!

I'll be teaching one of three classes at my local community college this coming August. It's an adjunct (contract) faculty position and I'm pleased at being selected. I've been teaching at a variety of educational institutions since 1987 and like photography, teaching is a calling. I've made a living at both for years but I wanted to call your attention to a trend that's been building for years. The three classes are being divided up amongst new adjuncts. A full time person has left and the vacancy is being filled by adjuncts. No benefits, no sick days. No long-term commitment on the part of the school. I date the start of this trend to the beginning of business globalization back in the 80's.

We're becoming much more of a society of part-timers, double and triple jobbers, independent contractors and the self-employed. Gone are the days of full-time employment, full time benefits, a lifetime pension and straightforward and honest company executives. We have to make our own careers. This trend has been reported on by various media; The collective employment culture is evolving into one that uses non-traditional employment methods to get society's work done. I say this because I've experienced it and continue to experience it: In addition to this adjunct position, I'm waiting to hear from a major player in our industry about an offer to work with them on a contract basis, filling a position that a full-time held previously. No benefits. No pension. No long-term commitments. Easy to get into. Easy to get out of. As long as the contract rate reflects my costs, (health care, taxes, overhead,etc)  I'm fine with these kinds of employment situations. I've been working this way for years, I'm an SECP.  I'm concerned for all of you who have not experienced being self-employed. On a good day it's great. All the other days, it's tough. You work hard every day and yet you don't make money every day. Like I said. Tough. Yet it's where we're headed so you better warm up to the idea and get ready to play. I've been blogging about this since 2008. Go here. Here. Here. And here for a taste.

Business save money when they use contract people. Businesses save in salary and benefits. Part-timers don't get as much pay nor do they receive benefits. Contractors should and usually do get more per hour so they can contribute to their expenses. When negotiating such a contract, don't forget to figure that when an employee works for a company, the hourly rate they "earn" is approximately 1/5 of what they actually cost their employer. In addition to the hourly rate there are payroll taxes, social security taxes, benefits, 401k plans, insurances, etc. that are factored in. You need to factor these in too or else you will not thrive let alone survive. I've been factoring in these costs from day one and 30 years later, my investments are five times higher than the average working stiff. Booyah!

Do yourselves and your families a favor and begin the process of figuring out how to monetize your expertise and creating opportunities for such expertise. Success is a process not an end result.

Good luck and let me know how I can help.

Michael

I'm working on a time-lapse assigmment at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA. 16 weeks of 9 hour  days, one frame every two minutes. Additionally I'll shoot four specific daily sequences of the project as it progresses. What is the subject of this project? The re-assembly of the first Japanese tea house built in the US post WWII. how did I get this job? Having the correct keywords in my site header, the right SEO and the right amount of effort to make sure it all works together.

I ordered a custom-built weather proof housing with state-of-the-art electronics, a new camera and lens combo and software to run it all. Sweet. Getting to spend money on new stuff is a gas. The photos give you a sense of what my installation looks like. All I have to do with this is walk up, unlock the download station, jack into the system and suck up the days shoot. Simple. Efficient. Profitable.

To get to this point I did my research, found the right fabricators, made the right deal, received the right training and programming, deployed in the field and ran a day of testing under shoot conditions. This is what separates the low-ball hacks from us pros. Knowing what needs to be done and doing it..without fail. As often as possible. My track record is up near 100%. What's yours? The game is afoot!

Michael

As a self-employed creative professional, (SECP) I am always looking for new business opportunities. Many industries outside of the photographic industry host frequent seminars and events to show off their products and services to potential clients. Guess what? My potential clients attend these events! Listen in to the live broadcast (or podcast) number 20 as I walk you through one of my methods for developong new business opportunities.

This method is especially effective if you are outgpoing, friendly and have good timing and a sense of humor.

Rock on!

Sherry Martin is my guest today. She flys for Delta and runs her boudoir photography business in San Diego, CA. We met while I was teaching and she was a student at Brooks Institute.

I pay tribute to Richard Steinheimer, who passed away recently and is the Ansel Adams of railroad photography.

I finish up last weeks Tech Talk Tips involves Photoshop toning methods.

And I rant about the rights grab by Ron Howard and Canon. Oh the humanity....