Hello there all of you blog readers! It’s Tess Pierson the guest blogger, and I’m back with my next blog post so please read on!
We had our inspiration file reviewed during week 3.
Now, in order to have a file reviewed, one must actually create a file for the reviewer.
Silly, but there it is.
I had trouble with that part, the creating the file part. And here’s why: I have an ongoing file on my iPhone. I snap a shot when I see something powerful or gorgeous or green or whatever.
So I figured really no big deal at all. Kate asked for between 30 and 60 pictures of things. I have around a thousand give or take. I figured I’d just—yes that evil word just—I’d just download them from my phone to create the file. Piece of cake. Not that I eat cake.
Things did not go as planned.
First, I forgot that we changed cell carriers, and when we did so, we changed phones. And all my inspiration pictures were on my old phone, which the guy at the Apple store said was no big deal to download onto my new device, he would do it but actually they were really busy right now, so I could just (wince) do it at home.
I should have known what lay ahead when he used the word just. That word usually signals the beginning of an impossible and inconvenient request, a rude remark, a demand, or completely unasked for commentary. This time it signaled an impossible task.
Next, after two days of off and on fooling around with the transfer slash download slash task of insanity, I knew that ‘just’ had struck again, and I finally gave up on modern technology according to Apple. I decided to do it the old fashioned way, the way before smart phones outsmarted me: I picked up a camera, unearthed some magazine tears from the last several years, and took pictures of them. Finally I had the images and I made a collection in LR, saved to a PDF, then uploaded them to the site. This took, alas, much more time than I allotted for it. Kate (and Amy, my inspiration partner) had only perhaps three minutes to review my file before we started the review process. Sorry about that…
A sample inspiration folder
Now begins the interesting part. Most of the inspirations were from the last 8-10 years and it was quite curious to see what used to inspire me and what still inspires me, and what it reveals about my continued development as a person, as an artist, as a traveler, as a reader. I’ll tell you I like big colorful travel books and biographies, I went through a neutrals house phase, I love love 20th Century art, and I tear out ads and articles about the Caribbean and St. Petersburg and Santorini and skiing (and I hate the cold), and someday I am going to make every one of Ina Garten’s recipes that I tore out of House Beautiful!
I also have fantasies about going to Vermont and tapping for syrup (in the cold?), painting children’s murals, training dogs, understanding wine, learning French so I can read Camus in the original…and I’m pretty much obsessed with anything chocolate or hydrangea, as I have literally pages and pages of both. Also—and this is no surprise to those of you who know and love me—I’m still completely stuck on green. Any shade of green, really, and the more the better in my opinion. Also black and white and pink.
Tracing the last several years of my life through these old magazine tears was an extraordinary experience as I was unaware of the themes and consistent interests that were strongly reflected over those same years. I had no idea that the bones of the things that inspire me to this day were all over those tears—details and color and grey and brown and chinese ginger jar lamps and hilarious sayings and pretty much everything that makes up a life and a personality. My life and my personality.
The best part is this: I am so perfectly happy that all those magazine tears are finally in digital form! It took this assignment for me to get them into a place where I could actually use them and refer to them and be inspired by them. I have stopped and looked at the files several times since last Friday. I’m in love all over again. I remember the magenta stage (Volvo ad) and the turquoise stage (cashmere plaid throw ad) and then the pink orange (Elle Decor editorial) and the pink red (Italian Vogue editorial) stages that were related but oh so different. And purple (toile), lavender (Vogue editorial), smoky grey (7×7 editorial), orange and grey (art). Are you kidding me? Totally in love again.
The file lives now on my desktop and gets opened at least once a day. Each time I think ‘I’ll just take a quick look at it…just a quick look…just…’
***
Thanks, Tess! Sounds like an amazing experience. So glad to share it with you, K
Here is the second part of my interview with branding and marketing expert Maria Ross. In part one, we discussed what branding is and how it differs from advertising and PR and social media. Today, we’re talking about how to get started in crafting your brand and how to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Some of my key takeaways are:
“If you’ve got…a really generic message that’s trying to appeal to everybody, you’re going to end up appealing to no one.”
“You’ve really got to give people the same message about 5 to 7 times before something really sticks with them, and if you keep changing the message…it’s like you’re starting over from zero.”
“What happens in a lookalike industry is you get people so muddled…a lot of times they’re going to end up deciding based on price. If you’re offering a brand that tells a story, and gives a viewpoint, and promises an experience that’s different, it’s scary to do that, but that’s what’s going to enable you to stand out.”
For more juicy branding and marketing info, check out the video below:
The video you’ve seen — parts one and two — represents only about half of our interview. If you’d like access to the full audio, which includes more details on implementing your brand, suggestions on choosing your portfolio images, and Maria’s personal experience hiring a wedding photographer, please enter your info below. You will receive the audio in my next monthly newsletter, as well as continued access to special offers and product announcements.
If you want to delve further into brand, I highly recommend Maria’s book. It’s quick and easy to read, and full of valuable information about authentic brand development, including 10 key questions to build your brand strategy. In full disclosure, the links on this page are affiliate links from Amazon — meaning I earn about 10 cents if you purchase the book — but I would never recommend anything that I haven’t read and benefited from personally.
I’d love to hear what you think about Maria’s interview and if you have any suggestions for future interview topics.
I am alway encouraging clients to look outside their field for visual or business inspiration. So many wedding and portrait photographers limit their information gathering to what’s going on within the industry, keeping track of what peers or industry leaders are doing. When you’re only looking to each other, is it any wonder that you look alike?
In terms of looking outside your industry, I mean looking beyond the wedding and portrait business. You could look to commercial or fine art photographers, for example, or to other art forms like sculpture, ceramics, painting or jewelry design. And don’t forget the masters. They’re always there for you, whenever you have a moment and need a little inspiration.
I love art and artists, and so I want to share some personal inspiration with you today. I’m feeling rather like doing this on a regular basis, so please let me know what you think.
One of my favorite working photographers is Keith Carter. He captures everyday elements of life, “reminding you of things you’ve deep down always known but somehow forgotten, because life has a nasty habit of simply becoming too daily, too dependent on thought at the expense of feel,” says an essay by Bill Wittliff.
Mud lovers, 1990 (c) Keith Carter – Total adoration! My birthday’s coming up next month…
Spend a moment with each photograph, and just absorb it.
Raymond, 1991 (c) Keith Carter
Jessamine’s Gown, 1994 (c) Keith Carter
Giant, 1997 (c) Keith Carter
White Owl, 2004 (c) Keith Carter
Polka Dot Wings, 2008 (c) Keith Carter
“Keith Carter is one of the most renowned fine-art/editorial photographers working today. An internationally respected educator and workshop leader, Keith holds the endowed Walles Chair of Art at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, where he received the highest honor given to faculty: the University Professor Award. He has published 10 books of his expressive images, including his most recent, A Certain Alchemy. His photographs are in the permanent collections of the George Eastman House, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,” says his official bio from Santa Fe Workshops. Yes, he teaches there.
Oh, and one more thing, he is self-taught! For anyone who has felt like they don’t know enough because they don’t have a degree, look at what can be accomplished with a desire to learn and perseverance.
Cheers,
P.S. Which is your favorite and why? Share in the comments below.
Kate Watson -You’re absolutely right, Greg. Definite surrealist elements and so visually compelling. Thanks for commenting!
Kate Watson -Nice one. Thanks, Katarina!
Greg Williams-Great work from Keith Carter here. As I gaze these images, they just sing to me with a feeling of surrealism and contemplation. Love every frame.
Katarina-I’ve loved Keith Carter’s work for years…I have a huge book of his photographs…I was looking at his PhotoEye portfolio just yesterday 🙂
My fave isn’t here…it’s the Elephant & Stars photo.
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Tess, the second in her series about the Art Aligned Workshop.
I’m sure most of us have been here, right in the midst of it. Unexpected traffic. The trick is keeping your wits about you and quickly responding by moving lanes to the off ramp. Moving quickly toward a different path. When I’m driving my car, this is instinctive behavior for me. Not so much in my business however.
This brings me to session two of the Art Aligned workshop.
Kate started off with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which I haven’t seen since the psych classes I took in college. For those of you who haven’t taken a psychology course, it’s a colorful pyramid divided into 5 horizontal layers. The theory goes that the lower level needs must be satisfied before the upper level needs, and if there is a conflict between the two, the higher stuff goes poof, and then we are controlled by our fears about the low level needs.
Not surprising, really, that I forgot all about this. It was over twenty years ago, and honestly, what part of your college education did you ever dream would be useful in your day-to-day life? Quadratic equations maybe, but Maslow?
With the recent economic downturn and recession and $$$ and business and clients, some of my high level needs for creativity and spontaneity and freedom and fun were in conflict with my lower level needs for safety and security and plenty of resources and employment. And so, with my lower level needs threatened, I let go of my higher level needs, without a fight, without a whimper, without even really realizing I gave them up.
Well, mostly without a whimper.
Once that happened, all those crazy fears we all have—that are completely dismissed when the lower level needs are taken care of—took over my rational brain and ran it. Will we have enough $$$$ for the bills? Maybe I should get a job for a steady paycheck. I mean one of us should have steady income, right? Maybe I’m not a good businesswoman and shouldn’t be running a business. Was I really cut out for this? BTW, I’m not calling them low level fears anymore. I’m calling them crap level fears.
Getting back to the picture above: this was the traffic jam in my business that I never saw coming.
I’m cruising along, all go. Suddenly, I come around a corner or top a hill and something completely unexpected is blocking my way: it’s a low level fear! It’s gridlock time. I stay in the lane that’s blocked. I squirm, I complain, I moan and yes, I groan. Why am I so set on that one route for my business? It’s clear that way is at a dead stop and only frustration and exhaust fumes lay ahead. Why insist? Why dig my heels in and insist it’s this way or nothing? Oh, I get nothing? Let me waste some more time emoting about it!
What’s really going on here? Is it maybe I don’t know the fast exit to take to get to a new route? Maybe by the time I realize I’m in a jam, I’ve missed or passed the exit? Maybe a little of both? Maybe an unexpected fear out of context feels and looks bigger than it actually is? And looks unsolvable to boot? And has stopped me and locked me in?
Well, let’s put it in context then. Am I afraid of something? What is it? It’s not the end of the world, or even the beginning of the end of the world. It’s just a fear about something. Great. Take it out of my head and write a list about how I can deal with it, fulfill the need so the fear goes away, and then move around it once it has been taken care of. Simple. Really obvious now it’s in black and white isn’t it?
Context. Context is key.
Studies show the easiest way to learn and retain the most is when we add what we are currently learning to something we already learned. That way, it’s not completely new at all, and it’s processed differently by the brain. When I’m driving I know to keep my head and check lanes and look for a fast exit when I come up on traffic. Now, I’ll just add the new bit about low level needs not being fulfilled and causing unusual fears to that old info: look out and watch for weird thinking and unexpected fears and make a quick lane change if I need to, right into looking at the context and making a list to get it out of my head, dealing with the fear and fulfilling the need.
Now that I’ve realized I already know how to do this (!) and already do it in one aspect of my life, it’s no problem to use this trick in another area of my life, my photography business. Put the fear into context, take care of it, and voila! I am making a quick change into another lane and moving past and around the backup. I get off the freeway, skip that backup, and take the scenic route. It’s prettier anyway.
So make the lane change. Go ahead and make a plan, and then get ready to modify it change it rewrite it redo it. Business is a living thing, sort of like life itself. It changes and it moves, sometimes so fast we barely have time to react, sometimes so slow we are sort of bored and fooling around with the buttons on the radio. The only sure thing is change, so get ready as you top that next hill or round that corner. And remember: context.
Today, I’m introducing the first post in my inFocus interview series, which will feature business experts as well as inspirational artists and photographers.
First up is branding and marketing expert Maria Ross, founder of Red Slice. She is also the author of Branding Basics for Small Business, a short n’ sweet, but powerful read that I believe would benefit any small business owner.
In this interview, Maria shares what branding really is, how it differs from marketing, advertising, PR and social media, and what photographers and visual artists need to know about it. Here are a few of my favorite nuggets:
“Brand is more than a logo… It’s not just the visual, your logo, your colors, your website.”
“There’s so much information in the marketplace that you need to connect the dots for people. Don’t assume people are just going to get your message from the cues or from the portfolio, or something like that.”
“You build your marketing plan on a foundation of your brand…In order to make the right choices on which tactics and how you should lay out your marketing plan, you should have a really good sense of your brand and use that as a compass. As an example: Would Nordstrom advertise at a monster truck rally? No.”
“The photographer that has a clear message, and a clear market that they’re going after and story that they’re telling, maybe they’re not going to have the huge quantity of interest on the front end, but they’re actually going to get more sales because they’ll be more applicable to the people they want to do business with.”
For more, check out the video below:
So, what do you think? Did Maria say anything that changes how you think about your brand or your business? Let me know in the comment section below.
We discuss the how-tos of developing your brand in part 2 of the interview, which will go live next Friday.
inFocus with branding guru Maria Ross, pt 2 | Art Aligned™-[…] is the second part of my interview with branding and marketing expert Maria Ross. In part one, we discussed what branding is and how it differs from advertising and PR and social media. Today, […]
Kate Watson - You’re absolutely right, Greg. Definite surrealist elements and so visually compelling. Thanks for commenting!
Kate Watson - Nice one. Thanks, Katarina!
Greg Williams - Great work from Keith Carter here. As I gaze these images, they just sing to me with a feeling of surrealism and contemplation. Love every frame.
Katarina - I’ve loved Keith Carter’s work for years…I have a huge book of his photographs…I was looking at his PhotoEye portfolio just yesterday 🙂
My fave isn’t here…it’s the Elephant & Stars photo.