Professional Development Seminar News

PDS 2011 now online!

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 16:53:18 -0400

PDS 2011 now online!:

Just a quick update: The Professional Development Seminar slideshows and audio for 2011 is now available online!

Pricing Your Work

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 13:40:01 -0400

Are you wondering how to price your work?

The SNAG 2010 Professional Development Seminar program about pricing continues to be an extremely popular resource. The PowerPoint Presentations by our speakers and the Question and Answer Discussion with the audience were recorded and combined with the Slide Share Presentation so that you can experience the presentations that our audience saw in Houston in 2010.

The Podcast is a continuation of the discussionwith our speakers and the audience (audio only.)

I recommend that you listen to the Slide Share PowerPoint Presentation first.
Then listen to the podcastwith a Q & A between our audience and speakers.

All this can be found on the SNAG web site.

http://www.snagmetalsmith.org/.docs/pg/10571

PRICING INFORMATION CONTINUES on ASK Harriete with a series including pricing variables, understanding overhead, indirect cost, cash flow and more when pricing your work.

Find all these posts on · ASK Harriete at:
http://askharriete.typepad.com/ask_harriete/pricing-your-work/

Hands in the Photograph

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:00:14 -0400

Hands in the Photograph:

#pdsnews

Continuing the conversation around photography:

(Image courtesy of emiko oye of Reware)

The world of art and craft is no “slight of hand” magic show.

Yet, there is a growing trend for including hands in photographs displaying jewelry, accessories and clothing. This increases the need to pay attention to the hands used as props.

A poorly chosen hand prop can detract from the work in the photo and ruin any chance of being accepted in a book, magazine, show or exhibition. The harsh reality is that a bad photo is summarily dismissed as bad work…

Bad backgrounds yield bad photos

Thu, 09 Jun 2011 17:38:58 -0400

Bad backgrounds yield bad photos:

#pdsnews

Harriete has added a post on her blog talking about the usage of bad backgrounds and the effect it can have on your photos, as well as some tips and tricks on how to avoid poor results.

Have a tip or trick to share? Add it in the comments!

Hand-outs from the PDS

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:30:00 -0400

Hand-outs from the PDS:

#pdsnews

A collection of the hand-outs from all of the past Professional Development Seminars all in one easy to access location!

Hand-Outs and Step-by-step dropshadow Tutorial

Sun, 29 May 2011 00:16:27 -0400

Hand-Outs and Step-by-step dropshadow Tutorial :

#pdsnews #snag

Just a reminder, you can find all of the handouts as well as a fantastic step-by-step drop shadow tutorial (courtesy of Christopher Conrad) online through the link above!

Suggestions for Future topics and/or speakers!

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:25:58 -0400

So now that this year’s PDS is over, we want to know who and what you want to see next year!

Sends us your comments, suggestions and ideas!

And we are off!

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:18:32 -0400

#pdsnews #snag

Thus concludes the Q&A session of the Professional Development Seminar! We’re glad you could join us and hope you learned something along the way!

High end vs. Low end

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:17:37 -0400

#snag #pdsnews

Question from the audience:

“Would you have both your high end and low end work on Etsy”

“Does having both high end and low end work on Etsy devalue the higher end work”

emiko:

“I definitely delineate and put the lower end stuff on Etsy”

“I like to put the higher end stuff up on a different site or just up on Crafthaus. I feel like I’m not going to sell that work myself, but rather through galleries or shows”

Hilary Pfeifer:

“I don’t sell my high end work on Etsy, I have galleries do that for me”

How many photos?

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:15:18 -0400

#snag #pdsnews

Question from the audience:

“When you’re just starting out, how many professional photographs do you really need to get started?”

Doug Yaple:

“Look at your work and pick out the strongest pieces”

“If you can only shoot 5, pick out the strongest 5”

“Talk to the photographer about what will translate best into an image, it may not be the one that you think it will”

Christopher Conrad:

“Only use the images that are good. If you put out poor images of your work, it reflects on your work”

emiko:

“I would hire photographers who would suggest bringing in a bunch of work so they could shoot it quicker”

“Once in a while I’d have a professional photographer shoot some specific work - it depends on the piece. If it’s a super important piece, get it professionally done”

Hilary Pfeifer:

“It can take a while to get a good body of work to choose from, but it’s a valuable investment”

Two different markets

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:12:15 -0400

#snag #pdsnews

Question from Sarah Fox:

“How do you / are their any tricks to approaching two different artists without alienating either group”

Christopher Conrad:

“I have two different brands for two different markets”

“My belief is that if you have two different markets/services that conflict, think about splitting into two different brands”

Hilary Pfeifer:

“It was an issue for me for a while”

“I had behind the scenes income that I never attached my name to”

“With Bunny With a Toolbelt I made a clear decision to have it as a different area”

“I feel very strongly about having a business name for my Bunny with a Toolbelt work as it’s fun and much more memorable than my name.”

Expectations

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:08:00 -0400

#snag #pdsnews

Question from the audience:

“What can a client expect to receive from their photographer?”

Christopher Conrad:

“I will typically give PSDs and/or JPGs”

“We always keep our work files”

Roger Schreiber:

“I always give my artist clients a large TIFF at 300dpi and a JPG”

“I’m trying to cover all of their bases for them”

“I always save all of the RAW images. I never give them up”

“It is extremely important to backup your images. You’re asking for trouble if they’re on your main hard drive only. Store them in multiple places”

Asking permission?

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:03:35 -0400

#snag #pdsnews

Question from the audience around etiquette around blogging about other artists and their work

Hilary Pfeifer:

“One way to do it is to ask an interview, since that’s sort of asking permission in advance”

Marthe Le Van:

“I blog every week and most of the time I’m featuring artists whose work I really like”

“Since I started, and I do pull their images off of things I pull on the web, I notify the person whose content that I’m using and give them the option to ask to take it down”

“I’ve yet to find anyone that minds”

Harriete:

“Just ask! Most of the time people are flattered”

“95% are gonna say yes”

Getting people to start following you

Sat, 28 May 2011 16:00:36 -0400

#snag #pdsnews

Question from Dorothy:

“What is your advice for someone who is just starting out, with a tiny budget and trying to market your work and get people to pay attention”

emiko:

“Just do it all the time. Always be updating”

“When you’re constantly doing it, people will start to pay attention”

“Make sure your photos are amazing”

Hilary Pfeifer:

“I would just say with blogging that you can get a lot of mileage out of talking about other artists and work that you’re interested in”

“People will find you if they are searching for content and it gives you an opportunity to talk about the content behind your work”

“I do a lot of contests with Bunny with a Toolbelt”

“I do one contest that’s juried and one that’s audience choice - both of these things work really well for me”

“I get a couple send me a picture of them and tell their story. I get to kind of advertise for them and gather people together”

Working with Models

Sat, 28 May 2011 15:52:00 -0400

Question from Tonya Davidson (@TonyaDavidson):

“Inside tips for working with models please?”

emiko:

“Try learning with a friend first. What’s the standard pose, what it’s going to look like, etc”

“I asked dancer friends who have good skin and posture to act as my models. Talk amongst people you know who have good posture and skin (actors, dancers)”

“Don’t have a distractive background unless you’re doing a narrative shot”

“I definitely pay my models. People work better when they get paid. I pay them hourly”

“Always have the model sign a release, you never know what’s going to happen down the road”

Harriete:

The professional guidelines has a model release form available for free.

“You can get a lot of tips from America’s Top Model (I admit to watching this trash)”

Roger Schreiber:

“Don’t overlook the model release form! It will save you so much trouble down the road”

Niche Marketing in a small area

Sat, 28 May 2011 15:48:42 -0400

#pdsnew #snag

Question:

“Do you go to the people who have money, or do they come to you?”

emiko:

“That’s what galleries are for for me. The galleries promote to the higher clientel. Most of the clientel doesn’t want you know directly who they are”

“I know in America some of the larger collectors will go to the big name craft shows”

Photography style

Sat, 28 May 2011 15:47:00 -0400

Question from the audience:

“Do you have any tips/any ways of dealing with creating multiple setups for photos like those used on Etsy vs Print”

Question from Harriete:

“What is the photographic style for the 21st century”

Christopher Conrad:

“Good photography is good photography”

“Isolate your image and then you can place it on a different background and repurpose it multiple ways (if done correctly)”

Roger Schreiber:

“Practice before you need to do a shot. Look at a lot of different photos and see if you know how it was done. Try out a bunch of different backgrounds”

“Harriete, 20 years from now ‘20 years ago’ is going to be the new look’

Payment to Photographers

Sat, 28 May 2011 15:43:59 -0400

#pdsnews #snag

Question from the audience:

“Should an artist get a clear cut-and-dry set of usage guidelines with images from a photographer that they pay”

Christopher Conrad:

“If you know that you want unlimited usage, ask the photographer for a Buy-Out or Work-For-Hire so that it is a retail transaction rather than a licensing transaction”

“We charge usage fees due to the varied value people might get out of an image”

“Pre-negotiate with your photographer”

Roger Scheiber:

“Copyright is a gray area”

“When I trip the shutter, I own the rights to that photograph. That doesn’t mean I have the right to reproduce images of your work”

“If you’ve never registered a copyright, you’re never going to get to court with it”

“I learned a long time ago that books and magazine that deal with artwork wish to pay as little as possible as they can, with good reason due to the costs of producing it”

“What it all comes down to is a relationship that the artist has with the photographer: Never take anything for granted”

“Don’t start a relationship with a photographer unless you’ve had a usage rights converstation with that photographer”

“Be up front. It will save everyone a lot of hassle later on. If your’e trying to get on a book later on, make sure they know that up front”

Harriete:

“The important part of this discussion is to have the conversation around usage with the photographer in advance”

“And get it in writing”

Niche Question

Sat, 28 May 2011 15:36:00 -0400

#pdsnews #snag

Question from the audience:

“Do you still rely on the standard venues of galleries and stores, and how does something like Etsy play into that”

Deb Stoner:

“Those typical marketing strategies don’t really apply to me”

“One on one, personal connections tend to be how I work”

Hilary Pfeifer:

“I spent a month breaking my back setting up this retail website and then realized what Etsy was doing and am now such a believer about working with Etsy”

“I do work with a few craft galleries, partially because they’re with people I’ve work with in the past”

“it’s so easy to be found online and I can’t afford to sell via wholesale for a lot the work I do”

emiko:

“My website and Etsy are kind of head-to-head with regards to sales”

“I’m kind of chunked out all over the place”

“I think it’s important to be in all of those different places as it hits different markets”

Doug Yaple:

“Find a computer savvy person, work with them”

Photoshop

Sat, 28 May 2011 15:32:21 -0400

Question from the audience:

“Where do you draw the line about using Photoshop to clean up the image and say remove something like a bad solder seem”

Christopher Conrad:

“I believe in using photoshop to remove lighting issues, but don’t touch something like a poor solder seem. Don’t change the actual characteristic of the work”

Marthe:

“The bad part about this is that I can’t always see it”

“Clean up the background fine, but don’t change your work”