Posted April 16th, 2012 by Lou
Traveling as a photographer brings with it a unique set of challenges that set you apart from the normal traveler. While there are a vast myriad of travel tips around the internet, most of them are pathetic and cater to the wannabe travelers. People like you who are reading this piece are adventurers and have never owned a money belt. Have you?
Here are five travel tips that have come from the experiences of my photographer friends and myself over the last decade.
1. Be cool
There are situations that you’ll find yourself in, especially with the TSA, or in foreign countries dealing with foreign bureaucracies that will raise your ire. Hold it together. As soon as you get angry the whole dynamic of the situation loses its flexibility. Every problem has a solution, and the people that are best positioned to help you find that solution are usually the ones that on whom you might want to focus exasperation. If you’re cool, most people will be cool in return.
2. Black out your gear
We’re photographers, we hang expensive metal from our necks while we walk around. Throw some black tape over the the bright white logos. Or do what I do and blacken them out with a black sharpie. Also, in the same vein, use a plain black camera strap. There’s no reason to attract attention to your expensive tools.
3. Get the heck off of the beaten path
I know this seems exceedingly obvious, but you would be shocked how many people avoid it out of fear of what might happen once they have their boots on the ground in an unfamiliar destination. Your instincts do not abandon you when you travel. If some place looks or feels like a bad situation waiting to happen, act appropriately. However, the most interesting things I’ve experienced have been down side streets and back alleys.
The one time I was held up at gunpoint was in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in San Francisco. The other close calls that I’ve had while traveling are when I knew I was playing with fire. Every other back street I’ve explored has always yielded something fabulous.
4. Eat the street food
Some of the best food in the world is proffered by street venders. It’s delicious and cheap. I always run into people who say that street food is dangerous. Do you see any corpses in the vicinity? Then you’re probably fine.
5. Don’t use a money belt
Do you do this in your own city? Neither do I. Running around your town or any other town requires that you have access to your cash and credit cards so you can pay for things. Partially undressing to buy a cappuccino is just silly.
6. Scan your passport
When I travel internationally I have a scan of my passport online in a password protected directory on my server. There’s all kinds of other ways to do this as well. If I lose my passport, I can access it at the American embassy on a computer, or if for some reason I go missing, my family can use the image and the details in an emergency.
What’s your best travel tip for photographers?
photo credit: GlobalCitizen01/Flickr
Posted February 28th, 2012 by Robin
We’ve recently been introduced to the “One Hour Photo” podcast. It’s a live radio program out of Atlanta hosted by Anderson Smith and co-hosted by Jillian Hayes. Each Wednesday the show interviews photographers, producers, art buyers and others involved in the creative industry.
Earlier this month, on their one year anniversary show, Anderson and Jillian had consultant Suzanne Sease, art buyer for Campbell Mithun Kat Dalager and art buyer Amanda Sosa Stone.
While the conversation covered a myriad of topics including how best to approach an art director, buyers or editors with your work, Anderson asked if the trio had they any tips to help photographers create better estimates. And oh boy did the panel have plenty to say on this point!
Suzanne Sease jumped in on the question and said, “An estimate shows me how you think and how you plan to produce a job. It has to tell a story. It has to be very clean. It has to be very concise. I love Blinkbid.”
Blinkbid’s level of detail and organization gives the photographer a leg up. As Kat Dalager puts it…
I like to be able to see the overview, which includes the subtotals of expenses as well as the fees, and then a total. It sounds like common sense. But frankly, I can’t tell you how many times I have to add the numbers up myself and that takes more time for me to do that and I may not be getting it quite right.
Kat’s told some of her photographers they’d better get Blinkbid because their estimates and invoices took too long to process. Without a good invoice, it takes longer to pay the photographer – as long as six weeks if your invoice doesn’t match the estimate and totals aren’t clear.
Amanda offered the tip that you should go from your estimate to invoice, make them identical – which is very easy to do with Blinkbid. She also stressed that you shouldn’t undercut the bid, or you’ll regret it and not do the industry any favors.
What thrilled us as we listened to the podcast, was the panel’s unanimous support for Blinkbid. And no, we didn’t sponsor, feed, or bribe the team to give us props! Give the entire show a listen and tune in regularly for great tips to be a better photographer.
Posted February 24th, 2012 by Robin
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Canadian Association of Professional Image Creators (CAPIC). This all-volunteer organization is working hard to improve the quality, rights, and interests of photographers, illustrators, and digital artists in Canada.
For a limited time, members of CAPIC can get Blinkbid at a major discount of just $179 US. Login to the member area of CAPIC to get the details.
If you’re a Canadian creative and already using Blinkbid, what tips can you offer your colleagues as they set up their new software and improve the quality of their estimates and invoices? Post your suggestions in the comments below.
We also suggest new users take a look at our video tutorials and browse the online Help. Of course, if you find that you need a bit of extra help, fill out a ticket on our support page and we’ll get back to you right away.
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.
Read the rest of this entry »
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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