- In Focus -
SONOPP's May Newsletter, 2006

Calendar of Events

MONTHLY MEETINGS
Fourth Monday of each month

Quality Inn at Bagley & Engle
7230 Engle Road
Middleburg Hts., OH 44130

Dinner begins at 6:45 p.m.
Meeting begins at 7:45 p.m.

May 22
 Michael Ayers
The Jack of Speed

June 26
Installation Meeting

July 24
 Rob Ledwedge
Studio Backgrounds

President's Message

Well Spring has finally arrived and with it comes many changes.  My year as your president is almost up.  My computer class has ended, and while I really enjoyed the class but I’m not sure I learned much of practical value so next fall I’m taking a digital photography class.  My beloved gym that I have belonged to for fourteen years has been sold and I know the new owner will make changes.  I have put my Hasselblads away in a closet.  The digital is OK for ordinary things but I think when it comes to shooting for competition, I’ll be bringing a Hasselblad back out.  But we must learn to adjust and to grow with these changes.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer.  I know I will as my husband and I are buying a boat and we intend to spend our weekends out on the lake.  You can do that when you stop doing weddings.

Mark your calendars for June 26th as that is the date of our annual Anniversary and Installation Dinner.  Please try to come and support our new officers.  And I hope to see you all at our next meeting May 22nd.

Carol Combs, SONOPP President 2005 - 2006
 


July 24 Meeting

Studio Backgrounds, by Rob Ledwedge
 

How to make your portrait studio fun and efficient

  • Is your studio atmosphere comfortable?

  • Is your studio fun?

  • Is your camera room efficient?

  • Is your client's experience memorable?

Rob will enlighten the importance of the background in your portraits.  He will show you how to design your camera room with painted muslin and canvas backgrounds along with 'sets' to appeal to every personality that walks into your studio.  He will go over some easy, economic and efficient ways to you to build your own backgrounds and sets.  And how to hang your muslin and canvas backgrounds.  He will explain how your studio's atmosphere will effect you, and your client's performance.  The first step to capturing a great portrait starts with your client being comfortable, not nervous and uneasy.  And don't forget... Let's have fun!

This Month's Featured Links

The Devaluing of Professional Photography

By Patrick Rice

     As a veteran photographer with almost 30 years in the business, it saddens me to see that professional photography is not held in as high esteem that it once was. First and foremost, professional photography was seen as both an art and a science. Professional photographers the world over were respected for their artistic ability and their prowess as a technician. The ability to create a high-quality portrait was something that young photographers like myself worked hard to obtain all those years ago. The great portrait artists like Monte Zucker, Joe Zeltzman, Don Blair, Frank Cricchio, Tibor Horvath and others showed all of us how to create exceptional portraits. The care that these photographers took in creating a perfect portrait or wedding image was unmatched. These industry giants influenced the development of a new generation of artisans. Photographers David Ziser, Hanson Fong, Jeff Lubin and others picked up the torch and took high-quality wedding and portrait work to another level. These are my mentors, the people I look up to and tried to emulate.  Their work is breathtaking and I am eternally grateful for everything they taught me. The quality of the photography by these greats not only influenced hundreds of thousands of photographers the world over, but it set the standard that consumers demanded.  So what happened?  When did photography start to lose value in the eyes of consumers?  Of course there is no one answer and it didn’t happen over night.

    The first trend that has led to the devaluing of professional photography is wedding photojournalism.  Before you begin throwing rocks at me, let me explain.  First of all, real photojournalists get a bad rap.  A photojournalist is simply a reporter with a camera.  If you do not have the luxury of being able to interact with the subject you are photographing, you must take pictures as the situation presents itself and document everything you can.  This makes sense if you are photographing politicians, actors and other celebrities.  In many cases, these people do not want to take the time to ‘pose’ for pictures on a wedding day.  Photographers who cater to this clientele do the very best they can with the circumstances presented to them.  I have no problem with them or how they photograph these weddings. However, this type of ‘celebrity’ wedding is less than 1/100th of 1% of the weddings that take place in this country.  Last year, there were 2.6 million weddings in the United States.  A handful of these were true ‘celebrity’ weddings. While not posing Brides and Grooms is necessary for celebrity weddings, it never should have become the norm for the everyday Bride and Groom. For 99.9% of the weddings in this country, the photographer can interact with the Bride and Groom and create the best quality image of them on their wedding day. Wedding photojournalism has not only replaced traditional photography in many instances, it has made high-quality ‘posed’ photographs undesirable. Here is where the devaluing of professional photography begins. Today’s wedding photojournalist clones hardly pose a picture and takes several hundred if not thousands of pictures on the wedding day. I refer to this style as the ‘shotgun’ approach to wedding photography – shoot enough pictures and your bound to get some good ones. Don’t for a minute think that this is lost on the consumer. That part-time wedding photographer in your neighborhood no longer has to learn proper posing or lighting in order to be considered a professional wedding photographer. Just take a bunch of pictures and let them all be ‘natural’. I can give literally ANYONE a camera and get this type of wedding photography. How can we be respected as professional photographers if anybody can do the same thing that we are doing? I am sorry but wedding photojournalism looks like wedding photojournalism. You will get some great photos once in a while so long as you have a good camera and your finger glued to the shutter. And don’t think this is a problem isolated to the wedding photography market alone. I have recently heard two different platform speakers professing that they are shooting 250 – 350 images of high school seniors. Another speaker does all of his senior photography on location. Let me be the first to coin the phrase “senior photojournalism”. If this trend catches on, studio portraits of high school seniors could become a thing of the past!

     Another example of how professional photography has been devalued is where some photographers meet with potential customers – coffee shops. I like Starbucks coffee as much as the next guy, but I am not going to meet a Bride and Groom at one of their establishments. Where is the professionalism in meeting someone in a coffee shop? For years, professional photographers worked to create studios and galleries that made an impression when you walked through the door. Your studio, showroom, office, etc. is your opportunity to showcase the quality of your photography. In addition, association memberships, degrees and awards can be prominently displayed. Professional photographers work very hard to reach these achievements, why would they not want to showcase them? Of course, if you are a ‘weekend warrior’ part-time photographer this may be your only choice. My problem is when established professional photographers meet with clients in coffee shops. They give this practice a level of credibility and acceptance. This acceptance further diminishes the value of professional wedding photography.

     The last example of how professional photography has been devalued is the practice of many photographers of selling the Hi-Res CD to clients. Don’t get me wrong, for the right price, the Hi-Res files should be available. The problem is that many photographers have the Hi-Res CD at the bottom of their pricing structure. Selling this CD cheaply to clients cheapens what we do. When a client only receives a CD from a photographer, they are not getting the full level of service that they deserve. The last statistic that I heard stated that over 80% of wedding clients that only received a CD from their photographer never ended up creating a wedding album. These clients will not have the heirloom their parents and grandparents had in the form of a high-quality wedding album from their special day. Again, it is easy to understand why the part-time photographer would do this. He doesn’t want to bother with album design and layout. He is only interested in the quick buck. I am, however, dismayed to hear about established professional photographers doing this same thing. In fact, at a major convention of high school senior photographers, I heard a speaker state they were going to offer a Hi-Res CD of the senior’s session for only $250! Their reasoning – the part-time senior photographer in their market was already doing that. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We are selling out our own profession when we act like the part-timers.

     The bottom line is this – if we all act like part-time photographers, don’t expect to get paid any better than they do. What was once an honorable profession is quickly becoming diminished and devalued. It is time to go back to creating quality portraits. It is time to light a subject correctly. It is time to again convince our clients they should receive beautiful wedding albums and framed portraits. It is time to act professionally and create professional photographs. It is time to again make professional photography an honorable and respected profession..