Bye-bye Fisheye | How To Evaluate Your Insurance Coverage

One of my favorite, but maybe least-used, lenses is my 15mm Fisheye. I remember the day I bought it. I casually drifted in to Ken Hansen Photographic... actually, there was nothing casual about it, nobody goes from Brooklyn to Manhattan and then casually drifts into a jewelry store (which is what Kenny's place was like) on the 15th floor of a Madison Avenue office building... and dropped a little more than $925 on a lens that I knew I was going to have a hard time justifying. I had to invent all kinds of things to do with that lens to make it pay-off, and pay-off it did... in spades! I've made some of my favorite pictures with that lens and easily earned a 40x ROI.


So, when my Canon EOS-5D unexpectedly flew from my bag, with the 15mm riding up front, and took a nose dive into the carpeted floor of my sister's guest bedroom I was mildly annoyed... until I reached to retrieve it and noticed that the lens barrel had broken leaving most of the lens on the floor and the lens mount still attached to the camera. Now I was upset!

I'm certain this lens is a total loss, I don't think it can be repaired. I also still have to drive over to Canon and get my camera checked-out. If you look at the image of the broken lens you'll see it's soft in some places and not in others. The impact may well have done damage to the camera's lens mount. I'm also going to call my insurance broker and make my first claim in over 20 years of being in business.






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Top: Canon EOS-5D, 50/2.5 Canon Compact-Macro Lens EF, ISO 800

Faux Pas sover

Whole Foods Market, Millburn, New Jersey - 1st Day Of Passover 2008

No comment necessary.
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Above: Canon EOS-5D, 28~105/3.5~4.5 Canon EF Ultrasonic lens, ISO 500

People We've Met: James Mansour

I received an e-mail notice from Getty Images today informing me that my royalties statement for March 2008 was available on-line and I should log-in to the Getty Images Contributors web site and see if it was: a) a normal month; b) a so-so month; or, c) an I Hit The Lottery month. Well, they don't put it to you quite that way, but it can really be only one of the three. Turned out to be a fairly normal month, but there was an interesting item in there.

One of my New York City images was licensed by Sephora... you know Sephora... the mall cosmetics store, as decor. That's cool. Next time I'm buying myself some perfume or lipstick I'll cruise around and see exactly how..... okay, okay, I'm just kidding. I do not wear lipstick or perfume.

And I don't have to go into the store to find out how the image was used, either. I know the guy who likely designed the interior of those stores. And The Limited, and Express, and Victoria's Secret, and Movado, and others too numerous to mention.

James Mansour is an interior designer extraordinaire and works on high-end retail accounts. His client list is impressive and I'm not going to bore your with those details, but I have to admit to being slightly excited when the gentleman at the other end of my telephone asked me to photograph one of the hottest interior designers in the country. As a photographer, it's a real turn-on to work in an artfully designed space as opposed to, say, a run-of-the-mill office. You just know you're going to make a great picture. James Mansour, photographed for Retail Interiors magazine (UK).
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Above: Canon EOS-1N, 70~200/2.8 Canon EF L Ultrasonic lens, Fujichrome Velvia 50 film

Testing - Check, Check, Check, Hey, Hey, 1, 2

Do You See What I See?

Got an e-mail from a new reader this morning (yeah!) who wants to know why I'm using only half the window, the left side. Now I have to ask: do you see what I'm seeing?

I see a blog that looks like the image below..... a column of articles on the left and a column of links on the right. Apparently, it's a Windows anomaly, which can be fixed by adjusting the Text Size in the View menu.

Additionally, there are hot links embedded in the text. The text should appear black and the links should be blue-ish. Also, sometimes the Headline is also a hot link. You'll just have to mouse over that text and see if your cursor changes into one of those little white-gloved hands.

When you click a hot link in the text, a new window should open with the referred site inside it. When you click a hot link in the Headline, your browser will redirect to the referred site and this blog will vanish (until you push your back button).

Okay, now that we're all on the same page I need to ask a favor: If you still don't see what I see, please let me know. Zap an e-mail over to joe@pobereskin.com. Thanks.

Rock on!

ASMP's Strictly Business 2 - WOW!

I’ve just returned from Chicago where I attended ASMP’s Strictly Business 2 seminars. I can’t imagine that one could be an ASMP member and not know what the Strictly Business 2 seminars encompassed, but for those readers who managed to avoid the deluge of nearly daily e-mail invitations to SB2, the curriculum included: Business Basics; Copyright, Paperwork and Releases; Digital Essentials; Pricing & Negotiating; Managing Change; Negotiating Training (and more Negotiating Training); Marketing To Move Your Business Forward; Digital Workflow; Business Workflow To Bring You Profits; Taking Control Of Your Career; Is Your Website Doing All It Can To Get You Work?

I’ve always thought I had a pretty good handle on how to conduct my business, but I came home with so much new information, so many good ideas to implement, that I don’t know where to start. I’m hoping that by sharing some of what I learned with you now, I might just clarify things in my own mind so I can get going.

Now that I think about it, I realize that perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned is the importance of using PLUS Packs in my Estimating/Invoicing routine. Even though I was a beta-tester/commenter for PLUS (Picture Licensing Universal System) I must confess to being too lazy to fully implement it properly in my workflow. After attending John Harrington's seminar, Business Workflow To Bring You Profits, I’ve learned a better way, and I'm now hooked on PLUS.

While I’m speaking in acronyms, let me throw out another one that’s sure to be of increasing importance in our careers: UPDIG. There is such increased liability for photographers shooting digital images, compared to when we were all using film, that failure to learn proper digital imaging technique can actually ruin your business, especially if you’re sued by your client(s) for negligence (yes, it’s happened more than once).

In fact, the problems due to a lack of digital savvy among photographers are so widespread that many ad agencies and magazines are requesting film again. This backlash against digital imaging is largely due to the failure of photographers to understand how to use digital imaging properly. Enter UPDIG: Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines. UPDIG is an industry coalition led by ASMP in cooperation with all of the other major photographic trade organizations worldwide. In addition to the usual suspects such as ACMP, AOP, APA, ASPP, CAPIC, EP, NPPA, PACA, PPA & SAA... UPDIG is also supported by PLUS.

Are you making the connection? The use of best practices in your technical and business affairs is becoming more and more important in the digital age. I strongly encourage all of you to learn, adopt and blend these knowledge bases into your day-to-day business operations.

No discussion of the implementation of best practices in our businesses would be complete without stressing the importance of learning highly effective marketing techniques. Utilization of best practices adds value to your services, and learning to communicate that value to your prospective clients is increasingly paramount today.

Another of the priceless seminars at Strictly Business 2 was Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua’s, Marketing To Move Your Business Forward. I believe that Leslie’s program was the most helpful, the most precious, 90 minutes I’ve ever spent in a classroom. Leslie taught each of us how to define our unique visual voice and verbalize it. Even more useful, we learned how to get the most bang for our marketing buck, whatever our budget. A virtual synopsis of Leslie’s extensive experience and expertise, and other pearls of wisdom, is available through her web site, burnsautoparts.com.

One of the things I heard, repeatedly, from SB2 Chicago attendees was this: "If I learn one more thing my brain's going to explode." ...and that was lunch time on Saturday, we still had another day and a half to go.


If/when ASMP stages Strictly Business again, we're going to need a bigger hotel. The ballroom was packed, every seat filled, standees were lining the wall in the back. And you know it's a great program when the hotel employees, like the guy who ran the projector near my seat, are paying attention to the presentation. You should have seen the look on that guy's face... he was thrilled, wonderstruck, awed and amazed. Me too!

The Strictly Business 2 programs were immensely valuable, the presenters were insanely great, but the big deal of the day was behind door number three: meeting everyone in-person!! You're just not going to get that cruising Internet blogs and web sites. Please don’t pass-up the opportunity to attend seminars like these, it’s really too important to your careers.

ASMP’s It’s Your Business seminar series, mini SB2s, are touring the Chapters constantly. You owe it to yourself to attend as many of these seminars as possible, even if you think you know well the subject being taught. You’ll be amazed at what you don’t know you don’t know, and even more amazed when you learn it.
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All above: Leica D-LUX 3, 28~112/2.8~4.9 Leitz DC Vario-Elmarit lens, ISO 100

etc, etc, eclectic

eclectic
adjective
an eclectic mix of party music wide-ranging, broad-based, extensive, comprehensive, encyclopedic; varied, diverse, all-embracing, multifaceted, multifarious, heterogeneous, miscellaneous, assorted.

It's been brought to my attention that in my Blogger profile I omitted Van Morrison from my list of favorite music. Shiiiit! (as they say in Texas), I've got two iPods!

Yeah, Van Morrison too, I wasn't going to list everyone... Elvis P, Elvis C, Stones, Johnny Cash, Roseanne Cash, Hank, Hank Jr, Waylon Jennings, Shooter Jennings, Cross-Canadian Ragweed, George Jones, Beau Brummels, Steve Earle, Elton John, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Alice Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Milton Nascimento, Ray Charles, Carole King, Al Green, Aretha Franklin, Allman Bros, BTO, Bad Co, Badfinger, Bananarama, The Band, The Bangles, Beach Boys, Warren Zevon, Zombies, Dave Mason, Dave Matthews, Dave Clark, David Bowie, Deep Purple, CSN&Y, Turtles, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, U2, Tommy James & The Shondells (I'm free-associating now), Travelling Wilburys, Temptations, Steely Dan (big-time!), Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone (I'm on a roll), Searchers, Sheryl Crow, Sam The Sham & The Pharohs, Dixie Chicks, Donovan, Donna Summer (some), Dusty Springfield, Diana Krall, Diana Ross, Flaco Jiménez, Rodney Crowell, Animals/War, Los Lobos, Merle Haggard, Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Gary US Bonds, Gin Blossoms (!), John Hiatt, John Cougar, John Prine, John Lennon, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Rivers, Joe Jackson, Joe Cocker, Joe Tex, Joe South, Marvelettes, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, did I mention Joni Mitchell? Little Richard? Loggins & Messina? Weird Al Yancovic? ...I'll spare you the rest of my musical favorites.

Oh... don't forget Pink Floyd! ...or King Harvest, The Kinks, Kris Kristofferson, Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Lyle Lovett, Donovan, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Vanilla Fudge, Van Halen, oh c'mon.

Did I mention I used to play in a band?

Boston, Billy Joe Shaver, Billy Joel, Billie Holiday, etc, etc, etc, enough already!!

My list of Favorite Movies isn't complete either.