Spring has Sprung!

New promo going out. Last week my neighbor popped over with some fresh eggs from his chickens. He was apologetic for all the noise they have been making. I was thrilled at the beautiful eggs he cradled in his hands, he had no idea what a gift he had brought over. I told him that I love the chicken noises, the crabby clucking of "chicken finger" protesting that his caretakers have stopped giving him people food. Lola my impetuous Pug, squawks back, as if they are having an argument. These lovely eggs aren't the neighbor eggs, but they remind me of my noisy feathered neighbors.

Eggs signify rebirth, thus used as symbols for Easter. Spring is my favorite time of year, the light, the freshness, the new life. Here is to Spring!

Hot and Juicy- Grill Shoots at the Studio

The benefit of having a studio in San Francisco is that we can accommodate a grilling shoot easily- moving the "show" outside to the studio garden, has been a real asset, especially when we need access to all the studio has to offer (accommodating kitchen, Wifi for clients, access to grip and camera gear). This last month we have had three shoots where we took the shoot outdoors to the garden. Another benefit of being is SF- is that we don't typically have to worry about rain days!

Here is some of the fun we had outside!

Below is a promotional piece we created from some of the work shot for the various projects.

Lola, the Spatchcock Pug, is on our set "art director" making sure everything smells just right!

Are Printed Promos Dead? It Seems Not!

There have been discussions for a number of years about how clients ( art buyers, art directors, designers, photo buyers, producers) find out about a photographer's work. Now there are so many ways for them to find work. Current thinking suggests that the printed promo is obsolete. That clients don't like receiving all that mail because then they need to find a place to store it. The computer - and now I would say the smartphone - has done away with the old school method of opening up a file cabinet or box and sifting through all the promos that have been sent.

I send them anyway. I personally still like print (despite the extra time that my team and I spend working with our printer to get the colors and tones just right) I like the physicality of them and I guess so do some of my clients! In fact one of them was sweet enough to send me a photo of his office wall covered in my promos! This blew me away- it made all that work worth while. There is something so validating about knowing that your work is not just selling your client's products, but people are enjoying it as well!

Solution for the overwhelmed Art Buyers and Creatives: oneemaileramonth.com

The great thing about having a rep like Heather Elder is that she is tuned into what is going on in the industry- even more than me! While my studio and I are scurrying about shooting a job or doing pre or post production, she and Lauranne are out there finding out what people are thinking, what they are responding to and what kind of stuff is starting to bubble up. As a group (photographers of Heather Elder) we like to be on top of all that and know how we can effectively market to our potential and existing clients. All that said, Heather has discovered a resistance to the emailers that so frequently come through the inboxes of so many art buyers, photo editors and creatives. Granted some are grateful for seeing some of them, but others are looking for a solution. Heather offers this:  One Emailer A Month. One emailer from her a month showcasing all of her photographers. Keeps you up to date on what we are doing, but doesn't clog the inbox. We are curious as to what you think?

Here is her post about it on her hugely popular blog Notes From A Reps Journal:

COULD THIS BE A SOLUTION TO THE EMAIL BLAST PROBLEM?

For the last few years, email blasts have been a hot button issue for sure. Every now and then the heated debate starts up all over again.  There aren’t many topics in our industry that can incite such road rage, but the email blast one does every time.

I never fully entered into the debate because I never had a solution.  I understood both sides and the few times I did engage in side conversations, I would always try to remind people the importance of being able to actually know who clicked on the e-promo.  Without that information, we cannot be as targeted or relevant in our marketing.  And, without it we no longer know if what we are doing is even working.  It used to be that we knew who was looking at the work because portfolios were requested, but not now. Now, we need to rely on the email blast data to learn anything specific about who is interested.  An email blasts is the ONLY marketing tool that offers that kind of specific data.

On the other side, I would hear stories of overflowing in boxes, emails at all hours, photos that weren’t at all relevant to what the person needed.  Many use words such as torture, annoying and irrelevant.  One art producer friend asked me to imagine sitting at my desk trying to get work done and waiting for an important fedex to arrive.  She said to then imagine that the doorbell was ringing every five minutes and I had to stop what I was doing and answer the door each time because I needed that fedex.  Well, instead it was the mailman and all he had was junk mail for me and I had no where to put it all.  Exasperating.

Over the years, things have gotten so extreme that recipients have hosted websites that shame photographers and reps that send the e-promos and belittle the process.  Of course the irony of them bashing any form of marketing given our business is not lost on many of us.  These types of sites always come with derogatory URLs and comments that are equivalent to cyber bullying.  Not a very productive way to start a conversation or look for a solution.

Then one day, the same art producer friend called me to vent some more about e-promos. At first, the conversation was the same. The mailman metaphor, the overflowing mailbox, the understandable annoyance. But then she said something that I hadn’t heard before. She said, “You know Heather, agencies are starting to block email blasts from the provider’s servers.”

I had never heard that before. And, I knew then, that I no longer could avoid the conversation because I didn’t have a solution. I had to have a solution.

Well, a solution we have! An experiment of sorts. And, it is called OneEmailerAMonth. It is a site dedicated to showcasing the e-promos from our photographers. You can easily scroll through the collection, search by specialty or even by photographer.  You can even link to their websites if you want to go deeper.

What is different though with this experiment, is that we will be throwing out all of our old lists and starting over. Our very last blast will be to be an invitation to participate. And, then no more email blasts (for a while anyway!)

My theory is this. We know art producers, clients and creatives all want some sort of e-promos. They just want to be in control of which ones they get and how often.  They want transparency and control and do not want to show up on some random list they cannot easily unsubscribe from.    By choosing to receive our promos, we are giving them just that.  Rather than sending 8 per month, we will be sending just one.  ONE that they have asked to receive.

I fully suspect that our numbers will be way down for a few months while we build a following.  However, if the average click through on a regular emailer yields us 10-15%, we know now that the numbers of followers we need are actually not that hard to achieve.

Now, if we determine after a few months that it is actually hurting us to not be sending out our e-promos to our original contacts, then we will have learned a valuable lesson and will start over.  But at the very least, we will have tried something different and started a productive conversation that we hope will help start find real solutions for an entire industry.

Hot Lips- Working with Cosmetics

I am primarily a food photographer, but like to extend my aesthetic to other subjects. Cosmetics are something I have always been drawn to, even as a kid. The vibrant colors and smooth luscious textures have always been appealing to me. I find that a lot of cosmetic photography tends to take a clinical approach   so I wanted to shoot some in a more emotive, natural way while still maintaining   the playfulness of color and texture inherent the products.

New Work, New Website

Building a new website can be a daunting task.  My last website wasn't that old, but I decided to redo it because I liked the functionality of the new website.  I especially like the custom PDF function since we get a lot of requests for that- it is nice that a client can create their own collection of images from the website that is relevant to their project if they want to.  The challenge for me was how to personalize the website to make it more of an "experience" that reflects my me and my style.  The photos of course show that - but I am into having it be a holistic experience.  Every detail about the experience should be reflective of my vision.  So here it is.  I owe a lot to the team of folks who worked with me on the images and helped put the site together.

Slow Fire Cookbook Release

There is nothing more fun than BBQ, except maybe photographing it! At the beginning of summer, my latest cookbook venture: Slow Fire hit the bookstores.  And not to my surprise (since it is written by a Ray Lampe-Dr BBQ himself) I have been getting emails and texts from friends and colleagues excited to buy the book and start mastering the art of Slow Fire! They also think it is cool that they know the person who photographed it tooJ

There are many reasons I love to shoot cookbooks. One of the top reasons is that I get to learn about a subject as I photograph it. I have learned the intricacies of Southern baking (Southern Pies), the incredible flavor combinations in Vietnamese cooking (Into the Vietnamese Kitchen), about the traditions of eating the whole animal and the uses of FAT (Odd Bits) and (FAT), the symbolism and culture behind each dish in Japanese cooking (Woshoku and Kansha), and with this book, I learned about the true art of BBQ’ing.  Grilling doesn’t get to play a hand in this discussion- BBQ is something altogether different. It is an art form. During the shooting of this book, my crew got to meet a few true BBQ aficionados, all friends of the author. Tim and his wife came to lend us his BBQ’s for the shoot. With him came not only a vast array of smokers, but also an incredible knowledge of how to wrangle it. Smoke expert, I would say. This very kind gentleman had his hand in the BBQ moving burning coals around to create just the right smoke. He offered us different colored smoke even.  All with a specific purpose, and flavor in mind. Next we met two other BBQ buffs.  One of them worked at the book publisher by day but on the weekend, he and his friends were full scale BBQers. These guys had apps to remotely control the fans on their BBQ’s to maintain proper heat while they were out. The result, I have to say is unbelievably deeeelicious- they brought us Brisket which they had spent pretty much the whole night cooking. Nothing like the stuff you find in a diner, just melt in your mouth yummy. Food is getting more and more fun!

Chronicle Books takes note of the custom Bella note cards I sent them for Christmas!

I just stumbled accross this blog entry mentioning the Christmas gift I sent to clients this year- the cute Bella note cards designed by Miss Peggy Wong of Bluepool Road.  I knew I couldn't go wrong with mixing Bella's cuteness with Peggy's great design and sense of humor!

From the Design Desk: Beloved Freelance Santas Deliver Design-y Goodness
Wise photographer Leigh Beisch knows she can’t go wrong with a gift of booze. She also included these charming notecards that feature photos of her cute pug, Bella. Leigh has photographed many cookbooks for us over the years, including the recent beauty, Southern Pies.

New Food and Beverage Website out of Hong Kong Features my Work

 Check out the entire article and more of my work at :http://www.eat-drink-etc.com/articles/leigh_beisch

"Pour" and "Ritual": Two New Videos Up on My Website

Video has been an exciting medium for me to move into. It brings me back to my studies of film and "4D Design" classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. Taking an image and applying the dimensions of time and sound. I have always tried to tell some sort of story in my still imagery, but in video it takes on a new dimension. Very exciting!

I also enjoyed the teamwork that goes into making a video. Each person of a well picked team has something valuable to contribute.

So take a peek- CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEOS

Here is a little description of them:

Ritual is a coffee story.  It is a very short video about the textures, sounds and experience that we have all fallen in love with when brewing a delicious cup of coffee. I can almost smell it!

Pour is a story about a glass of wine being enjoyed by it's owner as she prepares for a dinner party. We "discovered" some interesting visuals while doing this video and decided to use them in the final edit. We wanted to tell a slightly different story about enjoying wine, thus it is enjoyed while preparing for a party not just at a party. We hoped for a sense of quiet moment of enjoyment in anticipation of the event. Relaxing and yet fun. We chose music that could guide the pace of the edits- so the edits could kind of dance along or flow to it rather than just applying sound over an image. We wanted to do a drip at the end to have finality but also show the color and character of the wine.

Both wine and coffee were commanding subjects to work with. The kinds of passions they evoke, the complexities and histories they each hold. We could do a hundred of "stories" about them!

Hope you enjoy our drink "stories"