Tag: Photography Blogs

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Getting Down to Business

Safe Airport Travels with Expensive Camera Gear…

I have flown a lot this summer with expensive camera gear, and making sure my gear arrives with me is always top priority. There are a few tips I would love to share that will hopefully help you out!

The first essential for me is bags to carry my gear in. I have two options that I choose from when I’m packing, and there are a few factors that go into deciding what I’m going to use: the size of the plane I’m traveling on, what I’m traveling for, and how long my trip is going to be. Bags are not cheap – but if you consider the gear that you pack inside of them, they are definitely worth the investment!

Flying on a normal size plane, a longer trip, and especially weddings where I want my backup gear with me as well, I pack my gear into two bags – my backup gear goes into my Think Tank Airport Bag. This baby is built for the long haul! It has fantastic wheels, is solid and roomy for lots of gear, holds the laptop sleeve in the front, and is just a pleasure to use. One of the many great features is that it has a cable lock system built into the bag in addition to TSA-approved combination locks on the side, so if you’re traveling alone you can tether it to the leg of a table or chair so you don’t have to worry as much about someone grabbing it as they walk past. I hadn’t considered it before, but in writing this I realized I’m also going to use that locking system when I leave my bags in hotels as well – there is always some sort of object that I can lock it to.

I’ve had to debate with flight attendants a few times about whether or not it will fit in the overhead bin – it is compliant with the dimensions, and it fits in wheels first even. For some reason, on some flights they have wanted to take it from me to gate check. I’ll then calmly discuss with them the value of the contents and explain that it does fit, and once they let me try it and see that it does they let it go. However, it will *not* fit on smaller planes like the Continental Express Jet fleet, so I make a point to watch what plane I’m booking when I travel for weddings.

My second bag of choice, and where I carry my primary, absolutely-must-arrive-with-me-or-I’ll-die gear, is the Surge Backpack by North Face. I use this in combination with my beloved ShootSac. My lenses go in the ShootSac, and the ShootSac goes in the main compartment of the backpack. My laptop fits in the laptop sleeve, and I still have room to pack some knitting, my Kindle, my noise-canceling headphones and other essentials.

When I’m taking a shorter trip, traveling for fun and don’t need backup gear, I take just the backpack. That way, I can pack a rolling bag with clothes and toiletries instead. When I’m on a Continental Express Jet flight or some other small plane that has itty-bitty overhead bins, I make sure the essentials are in the backpack, and I gate check my rolling bag. (They require it, and you won’t have any choice – the plane is just too small.) Every time I go for travel whether it is long distance or short, I always bring my headphones; listening to your favorite music while closing your eyes is the most relaxing feeling. That’s why I must thank my affordable noise cancelling earbuds for giving me relaxing feelings every time I travel.

When I go through security, I pack my phone and all of my jewelry in one of the small interior pockets inside the Surge backpack. I do this before I get up to the front, that way my whole screening process is fast & smooth.

Never, ever, EVER check luggage with gear inside of it. Ever. Gate check it if you must, and be polite and calm about it when they ask you to do it and request the option to watch them load it on the plane. Try to be among the first to get off the flight as well so you can pick it up as soon as they unload it.

Make sure you have insurance that covers you while traveling with gear. Before I turned pro, mine was covered under my homeowner’s policy. Now I carry gear insurance which I purchased through the PPA, and I still have a rider on my home policy, after verifying with my agent that it will cover loss of pro gear. Always check with your company, as some private insurance policies will not cover professional gear. If you do the math, that could be a really, really expensive loss, there is a trustworthy insurance claims adjuster that I always recommend using, the name is rapidpublicadjusters.

Flying with Fish has written some GREAT posts on traveling with your gear – one of his earlier posts was what me to buy the Surge backpack. He has written extensively about Protecting Your Bags at the Airport. More recently, he wrote about the Airport Screening Process from Start to Finish and Airport Thieves at Work and How They Do It. Be aware of your surroundings while you travel and be confident, and you will never have a problem.

What bags do you like to use when you travel with gear?

Categories
Getting Down to Business

Standing Out in a Crowd of Creatives…

I’ve spent the better part of the past two weeks traveling, first to New Orleans for a meetup with the Starting a Wedding Photography Business group from Flickr, and then to Las Vegas for Skip’s Summer School. Two very different events, both incredibly inspiring and motivating in different ways. My head is full of things I want to write about right now. One theme that kept coming up over and over again for me though is that when in business – especially a creative business like photography – it is essential that you value your work properly and you tap in to what makes YOU uniquely you.

It hit me again this morning as I caught up on Sean Low’s fantastic blog, The Business of Being Creative. (If you’re not reading Sean’s blog – start. He is brilliant.) One of his most recent posts on the value of your business really hit home as it is a topic I’ve struggled with in the past. It is so tempting to be a generalist sometimes; you don’t want to turn away what seems like easy income at first. But it costs you a lot more than you realize in the end. You lose your edge.

You can not be all things to everyone. You can’t please everyone. You can’t be a generalist and thrive in a creative business.

In a world full of photographers, you will never stand out to anyone unless you focus on what makes you unique.

What makes you unique, by its very definition, is different for everyone.

While I think it is absolutely essential to build on your education and learn new things, and to have an arsenal of tools at your disposal to make your work the best it can be – be careful. You should use these things to enhance your unique perspective.

This Education Reference Desk guide contains more information about ebooks and includes links to the Library’s collections of ebooks as well as listings of free or partially free collections available on the open web.

There is no single magic item that will make you an overnight success. Many times, if you fall repeatedly into the trap of the latest and greatest things you absolutely must have, you will only water down what makes you unique and your work will end up looking like everyone else’s. You will no longer have an advantage.

When you read Sean’s post, be sure to read Rachel’s comment about photographers and their portfolios as well. So insightful and inspiring!

What is it that makes you stand out? Why should someone want to work with you over the next person they meet with? What do you bring to the table that no one else can do?

Please vote for our SXSWi panel on copyright and creatives! I hope to be presenting with Katie Sunstrom, Jonathan of Plagiarism Today, and Charles Lee Mudd Jr. Whether you’re attending SXSWi or not, we need your vote!

Categories
Picture Time

White Linen Night Time Again!

It is time to get your white linen out and ready for the annual White Linen Night Event at the studio! Come out and see work by JenXer (Jennifer Mathis), our featured artist this year. Elaine & I will have our art photography on display as well. Doesn’t your home need some new art?

We’ll have sweet treats from Porch Swing Desserts and beer from Saint Arnolds. Good times throughout the Heights! (Read all about it over on my much longer post. I don’t want to repeat too much in case you read that already!)

You can RSVP on our Facebook event page or just leave a note here. We would love to see you!

Categories
Creative Geek

Why I Blog, And What I Should Blog About…

I couldn’t agree with Tom Peters more in this video. Blogging in the past 9 years has totally changed my life. I still remember a time when I said I blogged and people looked at me with that strange look. Now? I can honestly say I’ve got friends all over the US, Europe and Australia that I know thanks to blogging – some I’ve met in person, some I haven’t, but that doesn’t matter. I don’t discount their friendship based on that. They are my friends just the same.

But my blog has suffered thanks to Twitter (which I’ve claimed before has killed my blog) and because of my work as a wedding photographer. I still have a lot to share that I write about frequently on forums (SWPB, Fast Track Photographer) and on PhotoLoveCat, but I don’t write about here. (I don’t plan to stop writing over there in those places.)

Recently I’ve started wondering why? Why not? Some of it may be of no interest to my older blog readers (like the methodology behind pricing photography) but then again, it might be interesting to many others. I love to read and talk about marketing, branding, pricing … all the things that make a business run. Even a creative business.

I considered writing about these things over on my business blog — but it just seems out of place there. Not that I have anything to hide from my clients – many of them know where this blog is at and if not it is easily found via Google – but just because it doesn’t seem to fit in. Or does it?

As I ramble about business topics, should I post them here? Or over there? I know Big Pink Cookie has nothing to do with marketing & branding and how to run a photography (or creative) business, but seriously, it makes you smile when you say the name out loud. Go ahead and try it. See? Smiling, right? It is my personal brand. It is me. I am it. We are one.

Now tell me what you think?

Categories
BlahBlahBabble Picture Time

I’m Famous on the Internet…

I’ve joked about being famous on the Internet for years now, and I’ve known many internet celebrities over time thanks to blogging. But when I took up photography full time, I thought I was leaving my “geek life” behind. It made me sort of sad.

Then, as time went on, my internet geek life and my photographer life started to overlap again. Only logical – there are some things that are so much a part of you you just can’t give them up. I started blogging on PhotoLoveCat last fall, which was a HUGE honor for me. I love giving back to the community what I can, and it was a blast getting to have my geek life (Twitter, blogging, facebook, etc.) to be a part of my photography life.

I was still caught off guard when Ron Dawson asked me to be on his podcast, F-Stop Beyond. I’ve listened to the show for ages, but honestly never expected to be a guest. I’ve had a podcast before, but I was still super nervous when we started the show – not because of the podcast, but dude! It is Ron Dawson! zOMG! (Yeah, I know. You’re rolling your eyes at me right now. Laugh. It is ok.)

As of today, you can now hear me talk about how I feel about things like Web 2.0 and how it all relates to photography. The world? It is changing. I’m looking forward to the ride! Listen to the show here, or subscribe to it in iTunes. And try not to mock me too much for my secret about Star Wars, ok?