Mind Your Own Business – Business Forum: Education Never Stops

Years ago at a Nick Vedros seminar, I sat down next to Don Blair, who was 71 years old at the time and still recognized as one of the leading portrait photographers in America. I was shocked to notice Don feverishly taking notes on some of Nick’s lighting techniques. “Don’t you know this stuff already?” I teased. “Are you kidding?” he said, “This guy is giving me a ton of new ideas!”

This anecdote proves there’s no such thing as too much education. Even as a highly regarded professional, Don was constantly looking for ways to make his images better. As quickly as technology changes, so does the need to understand the full capabilities of the tools you work with every day.

Photography Basics
If you’ve neglected to learn the basics and are relying too much on Photoshop, then you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. You’re not only wasting time, but earning power as well. A recent survey of AfterCapture magazine readers showed that the average photographer was spending 15 hours or more a week at their computer “working on” images. Excluding those talented fine art photographers out there like Helen Yancy, Jeremy Sutton and Marilyn Sholin (all who teach outstanding Painter workshops), Photoshop is a tool to enhance your images, not create them.

So, your first stop in looking ahead at your educational needs is to make sure you understand the basics of exposure, composition and lighting. The goal is for your images to look great, right out of the can. If they don’t, then consider chasing down a workshop with photographers such as David Ziser, Tony Corbell, Doug Box, Roy and Debbie Madearis, Hanson Fong, Rick and Deborah Ferro, Claude Jodoin, Ed Pierce and Clay Blackmore, just to name a few. All of these big name speakers spend an inordinate amount of time making sure students understand the basics and fine points of capture.

Photoshop
You’ve got more creative tools at your disposal today than at any other time in the long and storied history of photography; once you have general training, the enhancement possibilities are amazing.

If you’re looking for some great programs out there, anything taught by Adobe’s Julieanne Kost will always be a winner. Other great post-production workshops include those taught by Eddie Tapp, Suzette Allen, Kevin Kubota, Jack Davis, Scott Kelby and Tony Corbell, when he’s wearing his Nik Software hat.

Business and Marketing
As always, once you’ve taken and enhanced your images, you must get yourself out there in the public eye. What good is creating the greatest images of your life if nobody knows who you are? Look for programs with great marketing messages from Mitche Graf, Vicki Taufer, Sarah Petty and Bruce Hudson.
 
Video
With every new pro SLR capable of HD Video, it’s imperative to understand the basic techniques of videography before technology leaves you in the dust. Look for programs to develop both your shooting and editing skills.
Programs with videographer Ron Dawson are great for a start, along with Charles and Jennifer Maring, Robert Evans and Catherine Hall, who are all doing some very cool things in mixed media.

The industry is loaded with lots of other great speakers, who can help you focus on diversifying your business and clientele: David Jay, Jasmine Star, Dane Sanders, Jim Garner, and JB and DeEtte Sallee all have great messages.
As an education strategy, identify your most serious needs first, and then look for programs that match your weak spots and your need to diversify. Bambi Cantrell’s business has gone from 100 percent wedding to a 50/50 split with portraiture; she’s got some great graphic design techniques she shares in her latest programs and most importantly, she proves that evolution is possible.

This column can’t even begin to touch on the many different topics and outstanding instructors that are available to you!

WPPI isn’t that far away and I consider it the very best and most diverse educational venue in the industry. If your business has grown enough to have staff supporting you, do they have all the skills they need? Do you have the skills you need to keep growing your business and your brand? Next year’s WPPI is March 4–11. Circle the dates on your calendar and make it a point to sign up early and lock in the programs you need the most!

Skip Cohen is the founder of MEI (Marketing Essentials International). He frequently lectures on marketing and business principles throughout the United States.