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Tuesday May 22nd, 2001
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Your Telephone Will Make You MoneyChuck Ropel (owns Burien Studios) has put together an extremely effective telephone answering system. It provides you and I with a tool to effectively answer the question "How much" without giving our pricing out of context. This means higher sales from more qualified bookings. The system is easily adapted to your business and is very user friendly. You will always be perceived as very professional as well as very personable leaving your client feeling assured about you as their photographer. With a little training anyone can follow his telechart and not only qualify prospective clients, but, find out great information to make your consultation and session go smoother. Many leading studios use this system extensively. We are fortunate to have Chuck share his knowledge with us.
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Inside this Issue
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Next Meeting: Tuesday May 22nd, 2001All regular PCPPA monthly meetings are held on the forth Tuesday of the month at Eddie's Catering, 7112 6th Avenue, Tacoma (253) 565-6310
Meeting Schedule: 5:30PM Roundtable Discussion, 7:00 Dinner, The Meeting Follows Reminder: Normally non members are welcome with a $20 guest fee applicable to their membership.
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Photographers are a creative bunch. So what, I know that, creation on demand is just part of our profes-sion, no big deal, right? Creativity and the ability to transform that idea into reality is the basis for our economy, our lifestyle, and our very existence. It is at the heart of every agreement made, every promise spoken, every stalwart expression and certainly every visionary plan.
Photographers are a creative bunch. When we look around our profession and see some great photo-graphers, who exemplify the ideals we hold close to our heart, we try to emulate them. Only when we see a while through their eyes can we apply what we have learned and create our own style. When our own style emerges we truly become free to create images we personally own. It's an emotional tie to our training, the application of our knowledge and the creation of our own personal statement. That's what separates exceptional photographers from those still learning.
I say this like it happens all at once. Not so. What Bruce Hudson said at Northwest School was he sees so many bits and pieces of other photographer's styles reflected in his own where everyone else sees a Hud-son Designer Portrait. To him it wasn't a simple jump from ap-prentice to master, it turns out to be a jour-ney of exploration and acceptance of what works. Keep working, develop your own style then refine it. Learn from others, take what works and keep it.
In refining your vision you are developing your own style. The more energy you put into your effort the more you'll blossom. Try new things, you'll fail the first few times but you'll learn also.
Volunteer, you'll learn more about people and organizations and you'll learn more about yourself. The very next assignment you have, make all but one image in your usual way then make one image using a different technique. You don't have to show anyone this image, but you've tried something new.
Photographers are a creative bunch. Enjoy the journey you can do this.
We kicked off the sessions last month as Jerry Saunders ably lead the Board in a lengthy discovery session to identify what our organizations most important points were. He did a great job drawing our thoughts out and putting them on paper.
We developed about 16 points for discussion. Then this month we brought in
the big guns.
Ray and Judy Horn have facilitated this kind of activity for many large
organizations. Ray
said the process would take an hour and a half and 
it did, to the minute.
We looked at what was most important to us individually. We broke into teams and consolidated our ideas. We put our ideas up on the wall for all to read then we separated them into three categories. From that we developed our own personal version of the mission statement.
Again they were written out and put up for all to see. A single mission statement began to emerge at that point. We haggled over the wording quite a bit before proclaiming our work a draft form. As a group the board consolidated thoughts into a statement of strength that two months ago were not voiced. Now we have a draft mission statement that reflects our organization.
Read it, talk about it and tell us what you think. I believe it encompasses what we are all thinking but couldn't put into a simple statement.
Peter Walsh,
Librarian, has been working with Eric Rehn to develop internet accessibility for our library. Soon al the titles in our library will be listed on the website with a check out form. When you complete the check out form the material(s) will be at the next meeting for you.
A suggestion was made that we store our library at Eddies Catering in a locked shelving unit. The shelves have been purchased and installed (thank you David Loban) and the library materials will be in place just before our May 22 meeting. The internet list and check out system is still in effect, but, you'll be able to get materials at each meeting.
Mike Elwell will be discussing "Film and how to make it sing". Exposure, film secrets, latitude and how to choose the right film are some of the subjects that will be discussed.
Ask Mike if the new Portra Film really has an automatic way to prevent gross under and over exposure.
Years ago Hasselblad published a formula that allows anyone switch from 35mm to square formats and know exactly what you'll get. In other words, if you wanted to switch from your 35mm to a medium format and you liked what you saw through your 35mm what lens would you put on your medium format to match what you saw through your 35? The equivalency is 55% of the medium format for full frame 35 mm or 60% for a 35mm neg cropped to 8X10.
If I had a 100 mm lens on a 6X6 format camera it would be equal to a 55 mm lens for the full width of the 35mm negative or a 60mm if I cropped my 35 mm to 8X10. If I had a 150 mm lens on my 6X4.5 format camera then the equivalent 35 mm lenses would be 82.5 and 90. I set my 35 mm zoom lens at 82mm and it should be very close to my medium format with a 150mm lens.
Hasselblad goes on to recommend you take a number 2 pencil and lightly mark your 35mm ground glass 1/8" in from each end to provide cropping guides so you'll know where the sides are when you're composing for an 8X10. Do the same on your 6X6 format camera so you'll know the top and bottom of the 8X10. Don't worry; it will come off with a swipe or two with a lens cleaning cloth. This idea may have merit for those of us who use 35 mm and medium format at the same event.
On May 30th a meeting of the Pierce County District of the PPW will be held at Strode- McGowan Photography at 626 St. Helen's Avenue in Tacoma. The meeting will start at 5:30 until about 8:00. All PPW members are encouraged to attend. Our purpose will be to set some goals for the district and discuss items that need to be taken to the PPW board. We will also discuss the affiliation issue between PPW and PCPPA.
Our host, Kevin McGowan, is one of the top Commercial photographers in the region. He will give a tour of his facility and discuss his photography. That alone is worth coming to the meeting, his work is incredible!!!!!
In addition to PPW members, this meeting is open to PCPPA members and all photographers in the district.
Hi, my name is David Lobban and my company is Lobban Photography in University Place.
I decided to go digital first in my event
photography, December is always a busy Month with
Santa pictures at Microsoft and the numerous
company Holiday parties I photographed on Friday
and Saturday evenings. I spent Sunday sorting out
the film and order sheets for 
delivery to the lab
on Monday, then Thursday when all the print
packages came back and having to sort, cut and mail
them by Friday morning and start all over again.
After I purchased my next two systems, I decided to go completely digital with my wedding and portrait photography.
I will show you the set up I use for events, and also how I sort images and show them to my clients. I am not going to show you how to use Photoshop, and I am going to stay away from getting to technical on cameras and programs.
This is a great program for any one who is thinking of getting into digital, or has purchased a digital camera and still has questions on how to show their images.
There has been some discussion about our association's "mission
statement."
Maybe
because I've got hair down to my ass that my head gets confused about
which
end is up,
or maybe cause I've read a few too many Dilbert comics, I am a little
slow
working up the
enthusiasm for these chamber of commerce type exercises, 
even though,
oddly
enough, I
used to be a San Fran chamber member.
However, I gave it a try at the last board meeting, I was asked to write down the ten most important reasons to be part of PCPPA and I came up with the following:
Eating Eddie's Chicken.
Drinking Red Hook Beer
Talking about making money by taking pictures.
I suppose some of you would say, "but that's only three things, finish the job you lazy bum." However, I hasten to point out that I usually eat three pieces of Eddie's chicken and the beer usually comes in a six pack. That leaves just enough room to talk about making money taking pictures. It's a good thing I don't eat more of Eddie's Chicken. I'd eat more chicken but I just know that most of it is hurrying directly to my arteries and I ought to leave at least one chamber unclogged just in case.
As you can see, PCPPA pretty much meets my top ten list of stuff we ought to be doing. Of course David Lobban usually beats me to one or two of those Red Hooks so I guess I ought to keep my mind open to opportunities to fill it with other things besides chicken and beer.
I do have my priorities straight, I get there before the meetings, before the bar is open and dinner is served to talk about taking pictures, it's that other part, the making money bit that I'm having trouble with. So I do hope this mission we are about to accept has something to do with it.
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