For Photographers

Online Photo Books

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Just a personal review of some photo books I made using Toronto-based Pikto. The two books, which were used as Christmas gifts, turned out quite well. The hardcover books were 8-1/2″ x 11″ format with leatherette covers, debossed text on the cover, 170-gsm glossy paper and no vellum leafs, (more on these options later).

Many years ago, I used Shutterfly and was happy with the results. Over the past several years, Shutterfly has greatly expanded its options but I have no experience with these newer offerings. Shutterfly, like many other USA-based online book printers, often have sales and it might be worthwhile to wait for a discount.

Pikto seems to be about 20% more expensive than other online book printers, although there are book printers that are even more expensive. The overall quality of my Pikto books is much better than my Shutterfly books.
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Happiness Is A Warm Camera

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A few random thoughts as we start a new year of photography:

Creating a good photograph is like a savings account. The more you put into it, the more interest you earn.

Behind every good photographer is a thousand bad pictures.

Bad pictures can often be caused by a loose screw behind the viewfinder.

It’s not a mistake unless someone notices.

Never judge a photographer by their pictures.

Sometimes the best photographs happen only after reading the camera manual.

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Work One Day Per Year

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How would you like to work only one day a year? And, it wouldn’t even be a full day because you’d get to leave early at 2:30 pm.

It’s easy.

First, get a job as one of Canada’s top CEOs.

From today’s press release by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA):

“At this rate of reward, this handful of elite CEOs pocket the equivalent of the average Canadian wage by 2:30 pm on January 3 – the first working day of the year,” says the study’s author and CCPA Research Associate Hugh Mackenzie.

The study, titled Recession-Proof and based on 2009 data, can be downloaded from the CCPA site. The year 2009 was the worst recession year for Canada, (at least, so far).

Photographers take note: an important point from this is that the average Canadian annual income is about $43,000 ($48,100 for men and $32,100 for women). According to Statistics Canada numbers, this average annual income hasn’t really changed much in several years.

The average “artist” earns about $23,500 per year. The average Canadian minimum wage is $19,877. And just to point out, actors and musicians can earn much less.

 

The Message of the Medium

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This December 31st will mark the 30th anniversary of the death of Canadian university professor, philosopher and author Marshall McLuhan.

Over 40 years ago, McLuhan made many interesting observations about mass communications that still apply in today’s World Wide Web, which was launched almost exactly ten years after McLuhan’s death.

One of his most well-known sayings from the 1960s, “The medium is the message”,  seems to describe the Web perfectly.

Observations on Media

“The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village.”

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Signs of a Bad Gift

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Here are some signs that you’ve probably received a bad Christmas gift:

The gift tag says: “To whom it may concern”.

The gift wrapping is mostly duct tape.

It comes with a warning from the Ministry of Health.

The gift requires scratching and sniffing.

Its Best Before Date was last Christmas.

It’s been banned in most other countries.

It’s made completely from toothpicks.

It comes in a six-pack.

It requires ammunition.

The description on the box includes the phrase “hair removal”.

It was purchased from an all-night taxidermist.

It comes with a no-return, no-exchange policy.

 

Perception of value

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The repair guy comes to fix the washing machine. The machine is quickly fixed in 25 minutes and the charge is $175.

What?! $175 for only 25 minutes of work?! That’s an outrage!

The repair guy comes to fix the washing machine. The machine is eventually fixed after tinkering with it for 4 hours and the charge is $175.

What? $175 for 4 hours of work? That’s not too bad.

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A photographer charges $13,000 to do 24 portraits.

What?! $13,000 for just 24 pictures?! That’s an outrage!

A photographer charges $13,000 for five days of photography, transporting a full studio setup to the location five times, four days of retouching dozens of photos, assistant fees for five days, equipment expenses, other overhead expenses, full copyright transfer and 24 timeless portraits.

What? Only $540 per portrait? That’s not too bad.

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A customer’s willingness to pay is based upon their perception of value (aka “the customer is always right”).

For better or worse, this perception comes more from the customer’s recognition of the effort involved in producing a product or service rather than from the benefit to be gained. It’s difficult for many people to “see” something that’s intangible or, at least, something that’s not immediate.

Customers generally won’t pay for efforts they don’t recognize or understand. Of course, the hard part is getting the customer to recognize the effort involved. An educated customer is always the best customer.

 

The first 7,300 days

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According to my calendar, as of today, it’s been 7,300 days, (not that I’m counting). If you do the math and remember to account for leap years, that works out to a handful of days short of 20 years.

So how have the past 7,300 days been for you?

Seven thousand, three hundred days ago, a chap named Tim Berners-Lee showed off a working computer program called “WorldWideWeb”. The overall project he was working on was named “World Wide Web” which beat out his other name choices of “Information Mesh”, “Information Mine” and “Mine of Information”.

Note that the “official” 20-year anniversary was in March 2009. But that marks the day when Berners-Lee first submitted his proposal for the project:

Tim Berners-Lee holds a copy of his 1989 proposal titled, “Information Management: A Proposal” during an event to mark the 20th anniversary of his proposal to create the World Wide Web, at CERN labs in Geneva Switzerland on 13 March 2009. Berners-Lee stands next to the computer he used as the first web server. (Note: my caption. Handout photo contained no caption information.)

Photo credit: Maximilien Brice/ © 2009 Cern

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