Posted January 10th, 2012 by Lou
This is the year that we move forward in significant strides to make the productions industries more environmentally aware. In all the years, um, decades that I’ve been around photography and movie production I have seen a lot of waste. I understand completely that convenience rules on the set and that all those individually packaged waters and snacks and things are almost necessary.
But I think we can do better. And to that end, starting this year were dedicating a monthly email to tips of running an environmentally friendly set.
So if you’re not yet, get on our email list. It’s low noise and we only deliver valuable announcements and solid, helpful information. And we don’t share our email addresses with anyone.
Yesterday I spoke with a commercials producer about some of the things that she’s seeing on her sets that are environmentally friendly. Here’s a short list of things that she said are working well.
- Using Brita jugs and glasses at meetings and in post-production rooms, resulting in far fewer disposable water bottles.
- Recycling cans everywhere.
- Buffet lunches, no “to go” packaging. Some caterers have switched to real plates and cutlery instead of paper and plastic.
This is just the start of where were going. We’d like your help. If you have an idea that can help reduce waste on the set without bringing the production to halt let us know in the comments below or via Twitter @blinkbid.
photo credit: © Blanca – Fotolia.com
Posted November 16th, 2011 by Lou
I’m trying to decide if the phrase “contemporary old school” is a clever oxymoron or not. It’s the phrase that struck me when I started interviewing Jenna Kraczek about her stunning and unique photography. Stylistically Kraczek has managed to veer away from the pack by putting a modern-day spin on classic glamour photography. Think George Hurrell from the forties combined with a little Herb Ritts and splash of Albert Watson. The blend is effective, compelling and shocking considering that Kraczek has only been shooting for a few years. When I sat down with her for this article, I discovered that her road to being a photographer was a more of a mythic journey than a walk in the garden. It all started with some paper and a charcoal.
Kraczek’s introduction to the visual arts started with her mother who was an artist. It was the exposure to her mother’s work at a young age that inspired her to pursue drawing and painting in college. Unknown to her at the time, Kraczek’s embrace of charcoal on paper as her favorite medium was heavily influenced by her love of black and white photography. Especially images with simple composition and pronounced light and shadow.
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Posted October 5th, 2011 by Robin
It’s with a great deal of consideration and thought that we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s time for us to stop coding for PowerPC Macs.
Over the last year we’ve noticed that very few folks are purchasing PowerPC versions of Blinkbid. And with the 5th anniversary of the introduction of the Intel based Macs only three months away, we’re confident that all our users no longer have a need for a PowerPC version of Blinkbid.
After this current release, Blinkbid 6.04, we will no longer publish updates for PowerPC based Macs. We will, of course, still support our PowerPC users, especially if they need help migrating to an Intel-based Mac. If you have any technical questions, please contact our support team.
Posted October 4th, 2011 by Robin
Today we’ve updated Blinkbid to address a few requests and minor bugs. This is a free upgrade to anyone already using Blinkbid 6.x for Mac or Windows. If you’re on an older version, please see our upgrade pricing.
Here’s a rundown of what you’ll find in the v6.04 update…
Changes and Additions
- Agent’s invoice now indicates commissionable fees in the description
- Added envelope printing capabilities from the contact card
- Added option to suppress the date under the signature image of an invoice
- Added “Receive Advance” in the Job menu in the Production window. Also added an indicator in the Production window to show that the advance has been received
- Added an option to print the job nickname on estimates and invoices. The option can be found in the Document Appearance > Label Text section
- Added the ability to print a Production Report
- Added New Zealand terms and conditions
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Posted September 26th, 2011 by Robin
We’re thrilled with the response to our book giveaway. There were tons of tweets, blog comments, and new email subscribers. Thank you everyone for entering. Clearly, people are interested in honing their DSLR filmmaking skills. We sure wish we could give everyone who entered a copy of Photocine: Digital Filmmaking with DSLRs, alas that’s not in the budget.
Our two winners are: Dave Klaus and Rob Penner. Congratulations, guys! Your books will be in the mail shortly.
For everyone else, we hope you’ll stroll on over to Amazon and pick up a copy for yourself and you’ll soon be ready to jump into DSLR filmmaking and ready to offer clients another valuable photography service.
Posted September 15th, 2011 by Lou
The book Photocine: Digital Filmmaking with DSLRs came about over a few drinks with my partner at PhotoCine News & PCN Films, Michael Britt. We were at his house in Pasadena. In a way we were celebrating that our risky prophecies a year earlier about the convergence of photography and video—mine manifest in an article in Digital Photo Pro and Michael’s in the creation of the Collision Conference—came true. Because when we first started talking about the convergence, we got a lot of wall-eyed looks and a few less-than-kind emails.
We shuttered when we speculated what would have happened to our reputations if we got it wrong. “Yes, mam you’d like your cappuccino stirred counter clockwise.”
But things turned out okay, and with only a few expletives thrown back and forth, Michael and I wrote a book. Or so we thought. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted August 23rd, 2011 by Lou
It is appropriate that in the land of hobbits, and elves and wizards that Mark Cornellison found his calling to becoming a retoucher. He loves using his talent along with his computer to create realistic, other worldly environments to frame people and products and, especially, cars. But how did this Washington state native end up moving to New Zealand to be inspired by the land where director Peter Jackson recreated JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth in the Lord of the Rings trilogy? I sat down with photography retoucher Cornellison to get the story and ask if hobbits are really as small as they seem in the movies.
Influenced by his father’s passion for cars and pictures, Cornellison has been a car enthusiast and a fan of photography since he was a kid. Deep in the back of his mind he knew there was a job out there in which he could indulge both interests. He just didn’t quite know the path to that end when he was working in print production at Seattle-based advertising agency Radarworks (formerly BBFM).
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Posted August 12th, 2011 by Guest Blogger
Please welcome Angela Mateus, our first guest blogger. She’s a subject matter expert with over 14 years experience who’s offered to share some of her wisdom with us. Learn more about Angela.
Have you ever wondered where to buy the book “How to Price Commercial Photography Jobs”? Yeah, me too. After years in the commercial photography business, and countless bids under my belt, only one-thing remains constant…no two bid requests are alike. Putting a bid together for a client can be a taxing process. So before going into the details of a winning photography bid there are a few things to consider that can help the process along.
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Posted July 26th, 2011 by Lou
Occasionally we get emails from folks that want to convert to Blinkbid from another photography business application (such as Fotobiz or InView). But, they can’t justify the additional expense of yet another software purchase.
Today we’re making it easy to make the move to Blinkbid. Now through September 28th if you email us proof of purchase of another bidding and invoicing solution, we’ll give you a 50% discount off of the retail price of Blinkbid.
That’s only a 114 bucks to get the software that is the gateway to a growing network of Blinkbid users. Creative professionals that you can collaborate with seamlessly to bring your production to fruition.
At 50% off why wait? Contact us now and get your discount code. Download Blinkbid estimating and invoicing software now–no billing information required–and get started today. Because being a creative genius is good, but a well paid creative genius is awesome.
Posted July 21st, 2011 by Lou
The first commercial I ever directed was low, low budget. It was a public service announcement for breast cancer awareness that became my vehicle for breaking into directing. If it wasn’t for the extraordinary generosity of the crew and the talent, as well as the amazing ability of my line producer to stretch every penny to its absolute maximum, the spot would have never made it to television.
In addition to the practical experience of going through the process of creating a commercial, I also learned a little bit about the hyper efficiency of the line producer. They live in a world of numbers that are constantly juggling. One department may have too much money and another department is in the red. Moving the funds around is how the producers, the unsung heroes of photography production, pull off the miracles time and time again.
Our new Blinkbid production module is based on how line producers work managing photography or commercial productions. And as much as it is a tool targeted directly at producers, non producers will benefit from the feature as well to increase the profits of their jobs. With budgets getting tighter, efficient money management is a big part of putting more money in your pocket, and it is also a big part of getting paid more quickly because your production numbers and support is organized.
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