So, I’m going to try adding something new — something that will accommodate my Restless Mind, something that will let me write what I’m thinking while I’m thinking it.

And, something that might stimulate more contemporaneous feedback and help to create a sense of community.

Here’s the plan: I’m going to use this space to post  ”short” entries, random thoughts, whenever and wherever my restless mind takes me. Some will lead to longer articles, later. Some will just pass in the night. But, all will take a load off my mind.

[Special thanks to my very good friend Jim DiVitale for allowing me to use his brilliant creation as the logo for this column.]

16 Dec 2009: Seminar Manners — “Shooting Along” With the Teacher

Last month, I took my own “busman’s holiday”. I attended a seminar taught by a teacher and photographer for whom I have great respect. I won’t name him, here, because these thoughts are not related solely to his seminar but reflect both my experience and those of some of my friends.

These comments have nothing to do with the teacher and everything to do with the audience. He was perfect. The audience was not.

Throughout the two day seminar, a dozen or so of the two hundred students, without being invited to do so,  ”shot along” with the instructor. Some inadvertently set off his lights — right when he was getting ready to shoot. Others, shot bursts — hoping to catch the moment his lights would fire. Even when the instructor gently let it be known that he was not happy, they did not stop.

The rest of the students were not happy with their behavior, either. I sat one seat away from a woman who fired bursts throughout the seminar making it difficult to hear and follow the teacher.

I think this behavior was rude and disruptive — rude to the teacher and disruptive of the class.

At the time I could not imagine why there was so much shooting going on. I can fully understand if people were quietly and quickly shooting the “lighting set ups” for future reference. One click and done.

But, that’s not what they were doing. They were shooting the models. They were shooting the large screen upon which the instructor’s images were being displayed. They were taking pictures of his pictures!

To what end? I had no idea. To me, it seemed silly that someone would pay tuition to attend a class and then spend that class shooting instead of listening.

Then I got an email from a friend who had attended with me. He told me to go up on Flickr and search on the models’ names. Up came a bunch of the “bootleg” images taken at the seminar.

Perhaps, the students shooters do not understand that using those images is wrong.

It’s wrong because the images were the creation of the teacher — not the person who snapped them. Posing the model and lighting her were his creative work. Holding that work out as one’s own is intellectually dishonest.

And, using those pictures without a release from the model is wrong, too. (Some of the images of the models posted were taken when the models thought they were “off camera” or relaxing. They are less than flattering and it is wrong to post them.) The models have a legal right to control the use of their images; they gave the instructor a release; they did not do the same for the students.

Apparently, people do this at other seminars, too.

Sometimes I graze YouTube looking for good instructional videos. More than once I’ve come across low quality, bootleg videos of part of an instructor’s class — posted by someone who was obviously in the audience.

Perhaps, those student shooters don’t understand that this, too, is wrong.

These teachers make a living going around the country holding seminars. If people tape and “broadcast” those seminars, without the instructor’s permission, they destroy part of the market for the class. And, many of the teachers have their own DVD’s they are selling — again to make a living. I’m pretty sure that many of the YouTube videos were put up without the subjects approval, without a release; this, too, violates the legal rights of the teacher.

The better side of me wants to believe that the few students who disrupt seminars with their cameras are simply oblivious — they don’t understand that they are disrupting the class and that, if they use the stuff they shoot, they may be violating the law.

So, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and use this comment to remind them that unless a seminar is advertised and structured to allow us to “shoot along” with the instructor, we should not.

(Copyright: PrairieFire Productions/Stephen J. Herzberg — 2009)

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Hanson Fong, fresh off an appearance at the Houston stop on the Beauty and Beast tour, took a day off and hung out with me. So, how did we spend our holiday? Go fishing? Visit one of Houston’s great museums? Take a hike? No. We spent the day in my studio lighting and shooting with a great model, an up and coming MUA, and my new Profoto D1 500 Airs.

Hanson is no stranger to Houston or my studio. He’s taught several of my Hands on Seminars.

Known around the world for his ability to make ordinary people look great — either during weddings or family sessions, Hanson has spent years mastering the art and science of lighting and posing us normal folks, the people who never get on magazine covers or do fashion spreads. No one can bring elegance to the ordinary like Hanson Fong. That’s what he knows, that’s what he does and that’s what he teaches.

So, how did I lure him into the studio on his day off?

I promised him something different — something he rarely gets to do. I promised him we’d do a fashion/glamour shoot. My goal was for both of us to stretch our horizons. Hanson would get a chance to shoot model Stephanie Vostry. I’d get a chance to turn the tables — to light for the man who taught me so much about lighting. But, this time things would be different. I was going to throw out the tried and true and go to the other side — the side where there are no rules or established lighting patterns, the side where in the words of one of my heroes, Joe McNally you try things just to “… see what happens.”

And, I was going to do it with my new lights — lights I had used just a few times before. With a master like Hanson behind the camera I knew that both my D1′s and I would be tested.

The Profoto D1 500 Airs

I did not part with my Profoto ComPact 600′s easily. They were, and are, outstanding lights — true, consistent and rugged.

But, because I try to stay on the cutting edge for both my writing and studio work, I felt it necessary to make the change. And, with Hanson, one of the world’s best shooters in my studio, I would test whether I had made the right decision. I am pleased to report — the D1′s more than passed the test.

Rather than simply parrot back to you technical specifications, I thought I’d discuss some of the D1 Air’s main features and let you know how I think they help us become better photographers.

Why I Chose the 500 ws Version: Less Is Often More

The D1′s come in 250, 500 and 1000ws versions. I’ve written a lot about how I think the important thing, when choosing lights, is not the maximum output but, rather, the power range — or the number of f/stop adjustments available. My main point: we often buy too much power, use the lights in spaces so small that even when dialed down to their minimum output the lights don’t allow us to shoot at the lower f/stops, like 2.8 or 4, that we want to use to throw our background out of focus. An 800ws light, with but 4 stops of range, will go no lower than 100 ws. That’s a lot of light, especially in a small space.

When buying lights — less is often more. That’s why I look at minimum output more than I look at maximum output.

All of the D1 lights have a range of 7 stops. The 500 best fit my needs, offering: 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.62, and 7.8ws. The 7.8 is what grabbed me most. My ComPact 600′s had a respectable 5 stop range which bottomed out at 37.5. For my use, in a studio that is 34×22, that’s a significant difference.

One other thing, a feature I wrote about here: The D1′s have 300w modeling lights. That’s a lot of power and will be increasingly important to us as our DSLR’s morph into “video” cameras.

The Digital Read Out

I’ve never felt the need for digital read outs — but, if you do, you’ll be pleased to know that the D1′s have a nice, big, clear digital read out on the back of the light.

Once we understand the way the digital read out works, it can be a very useful tool. Some think that if you dial your light to 5.6, the output at your subject is 5.6. Said another way, they think the readout is “absolute” or “the reality”. It is not and cannot be. Why?  Because, we all know that, because of the “fall off” of light, the distance of the light from the subject controls the quantity of light on the subject. Let’s assume that you meter your subject and that, by luck, when the digital read out is 5.6 the meter reads 5.6. So far, so good. But, if you move the light forward the amount of light on the subject will increase; if you move it back, the amount of light on the subject will decrease. That’s a law of physics that no digital light can overcome. But, the digital readout will stay the same — it will say 5.6 although the quantity of light on the subject is either more or less.

In essence, the digital read out is “relative”. Its sole function is to help you move from one stop to another.

So, once one understands the nature of that relativity, the digital read out is an advantage.

Let’s say you take a meter reading at f/8. The dial on the light may say 4. Why? Because the reading is “relative”.  The light simply knows its output. It does not know how far away from the subject it is.

Now, let’s say you want to shoot at f/11 — so you need one more stop of light. All you have to do is turn the dial from 4 to 5. One stop — the difference between f/8 and f/11.

The key to “relativity”? The numbers on the digital read out are not the equivalent of f/stops. They are power range numbers. Going from 4 to 5 is the equivalent of one f/stop (doubling the light).

Once we understand this, we can take full advantage of the digital read out. Up one stop, push in the knob and turn it one click and the read out will go up 10/10ths. Or, click your way up 1/10 of a time by just turning the knob without pushing it in.

To their credit, the D1′s are dead on in their incremental adjustments. If I went from 4.2 to 5.2, I got a full stop. From 6.3 to 7.3, a full stop. They were so accurate that I stopped metering between changes. I trusted the digital readout and it did not fail me.

And, to make things better, as you will see next, I never had to go to the lights to adjust them — I did it wirelessly.

The “Air” System: Wireless Control — A Big Advantage

Simply stated, the Profoto “Air” system allows us to wirelessly control and trigger our Air equipped lights through a camera mounted “Profoto Air Remote” transmitter. You never have to touch the lights — all you have to do is touch the remote. Sort of like sitting in a comfy chair in a media room.

As the owner of a Profoto D4 generator I am addicted to the “remote control” of my lights. On the D4, I accomplish this by tethering to my Mac (written about, here.) Once I started tethering, I never wanted to go back. Walking over to the generator or to each head to adjust it, while good for my fitness, often took me out of my creative flow.

With the Air system, I have the wireless equivalent of “tethering”. I can turn on my lights and adjust them, either individually or in groups, from the transmitter. That is a huge savings in time, focus and energy. And, to be honest, I find myself much more willing to make changes in order to seek perfection — because the changes are so easy to make.

A couple of notes: The D1′s are fairly light and compact and will work well mounted out of reach (like up on the ceiling as a hair light.) Being able to change their output without climbing a ladder to reach them is a big advantage. Apparently, the early production models did not allow one to turn them on remotely; but, once on, they were infinitely adjustable. From what I understand, there is a firmware upgrade that deals with this. New models can be turned on from the remote. Older ones, like mine, can be upgraded, for free, by the factory to meet this new spec.

Triggering and Metering — Dual Option

Profoto has given us the freedom to choose between two options for triggering our D1 Airs.

First, is the Air system itself.

And, second, is through the use of a Pocket Wizard.

I’ve set mine up to do both. I have a lot of Pocket Wizards — I use them both in the studio and to control my off camera flash units. So, when I switched from my ComPacts to the D1′s, I simply left a Wizard attached to each light stand. All I had to do was get a new cable to go from the Wizard to the D1. So, any time I want to use the Wizards, I can.

I thought I would use them a lot. But, truth be told, I haven’t used them at all. I’m not saying I never will — there may be situations where they will do something I can’t do with the Air system, but I haven’t run into that situation yet.

I mention this because when the D1′s first came out, there were wails of angst from many on the ‘net claiming that Profoto had abandoned the Wizard group and that the Wizards could not be used with the D1′s. That statement is categorically false and no one who had ever seen a D1 Air would have ever said such a dumb thing.

(BTW — if you are totally convinced that you will never use the Air system, you can buy the D1′s without it. But, I truly think the wireless remote system is worth the extra cost.)

The second false rumor was that you could not use a Sekonic meter with the D1 Airs. Again, not true.

Here’s the deal: You can meter using your Sekonic meter but you cannot use a built in Pocket Wizard transmitter to do so. Instead, you put your Sekonic meter into the “flash receive” mode, fire the lights with the Air transmitter, and read the setting on the meter.

Ambient/"Lonely"/Corded/Transmitter

Step 1: Put your meter in the receiving mode  ( I call it the Lonely mode because it is unattached to anything and not hooked up) — it’s the lightning bolt without an initial and not  the lightning bolt with the “c” (which is for a cord connection) or the “t” (which is the transmitter mode).  (In this image, the box is around the PW transmitter mode. When over the Lonely lightning bolt, it looks the same.)

Step 4: Push the “Test” button on the Air transmitter. The lights fire. Voila! A reading.

I’ll admit that this is not as easy as it is to meter a pure Wizard based system in which you only need push one button on the meter. But, once used to it, I had no trouble doing it.

And, the payoff for the extra button push is significant: We don’t have to move to adjust the light we just measured; we can adjust it from that very same transmitter, stay in our spot and meter again.

(For those who just want to push one button, you can connect the Air Remote to the meter, use the “C” setting and, when you push the button, you’ll get a reading on the meter.)

Integrating My Non-/Air D4 Generator

One of the reasons I thought I’d use the Wizards on the D1 heads was that my D4 generator was triggered by a built in Wizard. I figured that during the times I used lights from both systems, I’d use the PW’s to trigger them all. But, I haven’t. Instead, I got a Profoto Air Sync, plugged it into the generator and used it to trigger the lights. To be clear, the Air Sync will not allow me to control the lights from the Air Remote. To control the lights, I use my Mac running Profoto Studio Software (which is free and flawless). I hook my D4 to the Mac using a USB cable. If I want to work without the cable, I can use the Profoto Air USB, a dongle that replaces the cord and establishes a wireless connection.

Some General Impressions

Like all Profoto lights, the D1′s are consistent — both in color temperature and flash duration. I’ve measured the output of every Profoto head in my studio (4 D1′s, 4 Acute heads for the D4 generator, 1 Acute head for the 600BR, and one Ringflash) and they are all within 30-50 Kelvin degrees of each other. (I measured without any modifiers on the head. Often, different diffusion materials can affect the Kelvin output of a light — and if you are having color mismatch problems, that might be the place to look first.)

I like the new “build” of the D1′s. They are lighter and have a convenient, built-in handle. They are built to reflect at 77 Degrees without the addition of a reflector — one less thing to carry around. And, though light, they feel rugged.

But, what I like most is that they are wickedly fast — they recycle quickly and match the times of my D4 generator. For anyone who has used other mono-light systems, this speed bump serves us well when trying to capture fluid movements in things like fashion/glamour sessions. (I have the “beeps” set on all of my lights to let the model know not to move until he or she gets the audible signal that the lights are ready for the next pose. With these lights, that beep comes in within a second or so.)

OK, so much for the lights — it’s on to the Busman’s Holiday.

Hanson Fong In the House

The basic plan was to try some new things — lighting patterns I had thought about but never really used. Here are a few of the things we did.

High Key Head Shot

I almost never shoot high key — I’m a moody, low key kind of guy. But, with high key in such great demand, I figured I ought to shoot some. And, inspired by a post on Scott Kelby’s blog, I decided to try a new lighting pattern.

Simply stated, instead of using white paper as a back drop and lighting it carefully to avoid shadows from the subject, I used a Photoflex 7′ OctoDome and a D1 head. The dome became the backdrop. I metered it to f/6.3.

To light Stephanie’s face, I chose a Paramount or Butterfly “glamour” pattern.

The main light was a D1 with a Profoto Softlight Reflector on it. Instead of using a reflector for the fill, I used another D1 head, this time in a CreativeLight soft box. Both lights were mounted on the same Matthews Magic Stand — the Softlight Reflector on the built in boom and the Creative Light on the first riser of the stand. (This set up is the subject of my post here.)

Why the two lights on the same stand? Because, I’m used to working alone. I don’t have someone to hold a reflector, I have reflector stands. But, because the light placement in  Paramount lighting requires precise placement — miss by an inch and it won’t look good — every time the model moves the lights have to be moved. By putting everything on one stand, I can easily make the adjustments by simply pushing the wheeled stand to its new position.

The main light was set to f/11 and the “fill” to f/4.

One thing about this lighting pattern: As Scott points out, because the light from the OctoDome wraps around the face from behind, out of the camera, the image will look faded or wiped out. Don’t worry. The solution is easy. In your post production, you simply use the “Blacks” slider to bring back in the full range of facial color.

I fired off a couple of test shots. This headshot is one of them. From that point on, I put down my camera and became a grip. All of the remaining images in this post are Hanson’s.

Derivations On A Theme: Using the Light As a Structural Element

(You can double click the image to enlarge it.)

With Hanson shooting, we decided to get one more use out of the OctoDome before putting it away. We decided to use it as an element  in the image itself.

To do so, we lowered the light to floor level, moved Stephanie forward, and adjusted the lights, accordingly. We used the same main light on the Magic Stand and, to add some sparkle on the floor and fill in Stephanie’s face and eyes used a 6′ Profoto strip box as a fill, placed well behind the stand and angled up at 45 Degrees. One of the things I like best about this image is the is the reflection on my cement floors and the shadow it throws forward.

I’m going to try this pattern again and, to capture more of the reflection, I’ll shoot with a wider lens.

This short, down and dirty video,show the set up. (I’ve been either doing videos or making drawings of set ups to cover for my “grey moments”.  I keep them all on my computers in an interactive NoteBook from Circus Ponies Software.)

A Couple More Images

We didn’t stay on the odd side of lighting for the entire shoot.

The last part of the shoot focused on what I would call “fusion posing” — Hanson mixing his traditional, elegant portrait and wedding poses with the world of high fashion. We continued to use the Profoto Softlight Reflector and Creative Light soft-box set up discussed earlier. For the low key shots, we added a hair light (indirect lighting from a strip box 14′ up and with the sides parallel to the floor). And, for the “Blue Dress” shot, we added a purple gel and allowed it to spill over a bit onto Stephanie.

All in all, a perfect Busman’s Holiday.

Contact Information:

Hanson Fong

Stephanie Vostry

Christina Duran

(Copyright: PrairieFire Productions/Stephen J. Herzberg — 2009)

Where We Are Today:

As they say in Hollywood, we are “on hiatus”.

Said another way, we are “pausing”, or putting a “gap in the sequence” of seminars. Right now, we’ve postponed our scheduled classes. They are on hold.

Why?  The economy is affecting the seminars, too.

Before the economy tanked, we had a star studded line-up, teaching one seminar a month, to no more than 15 students in a class, two full days for $350.00. We were able to do this because of the generous financial support of our sponsors.

Lighting Model Hai Thi Ngo in Hanson Fong's Class

To attract our top-notch teachers like Jim DiVitale, John Woodward, Hanson Fong, Janice Wendt, and our newcomers — Joe Glyda and Tony Corbell, we use the financial subsidies offered by our sponsors. Without their full support, we can not make the seminars work for everyone.

Although there are alternatives, none are appealing.

We don’t want to go to larger, hotel room classes; the Hands-On Seminar series is built on the idea that small classes  in a working studio give the intimate, real experience that our students need and that the faculty finds rewarding. In our seminars, “hands-on” means hands-on.

Although $350.00 for a 2 day, intimate seminar with a star is more than reasonable, we don’t want to raise the tuition to cover the loss of sponsor money. We know the economy is affecting our students, too.

And, finally, we don’t want to seek new or “replacement” sponsors. Our sponsors have been with us since day one. They have been loyal and they deserve loyalty in return. They’ve told us they’ll be back when the economy improves and we will wait. Our main sponsor is watching each “quarter”. As soon as there is an upturn, our subsidy will come back and we’ll reinstate our schedule.

So, stay tuned. We’ll be back in the “star” seminar business, ASAP.

Interim Alternatives:

In the meantime, I’ll be teaching a series of seminars that replicate or advance on some of the topics we’ve covered in the past — things like the basics, metering, lighting (indoors and out) and some classes to allow those who have a solid foundation to apply that knowledge in “supervised shoots.”

Speaking of “supervised shoots”, I’ve had a lot of requests from students to help them apply the techniques they’ve learned in actual shoots. Soon, I’ll implement a “Come on in and shoot” program where students can rent me and my equipment, by the hour, bring their models, and shoot their hearts out. It will be a chance to create a body of work using state-of-the art equipment in a supportive setting.

Because I won’t be worrying about anyone else’s schedule, I can be a bit more flexible about what I teach and when. Have an idea? Email me.

Teaching is an important part of PrairieFire. We will go back to the full scale seminar series as soon as we can. Until then, we’ll keep the energy flowing with some new, small classes.

Thanks for the support. I look forward to seeing you in the classroom, soon.

Update: 30 Aug 2009

Last week, we had the first “Create Your Own Course” seminar. Photographer Tom Folger and Model Stephanie Vostry participated in a 4 hour shoot. For me, it was an incredible opportunity to teach two talented people in a 1:1 format. For Tom’s reaction and a few of the images from his shoot, click here. (Yes, that’s me — meter in hand — talking with Stephanie.) Thanks, Tom and Stephanie, it was fun.

It’s all a matter of perspective.

Looking at the bright side, the tools we have available for use as professional photographers have never been better or more competitively priced.

Looking at the dark side, as with all businesses, professional photographers are working in a market marked by fear and confusion. To make matters worse, the images we produce are often seen as the frosting, not the cake – something that is nice to have but not essential.

Looking down the middle – the world is what it is and until it changes we must do what it takes to make our businesses both survive and thrive.

Like all businesses in a depressed competitive market:

1. We Have to Be the Best At What We Do
Even before the economy started to tank, professional photographers were complaining that their competition was not just the mall stores but also their neighbors and friends who were running around with “professional” level cameras – who were doing the same work for free.

The bottom line is this: If my kid or neighbor can do the “same” work that I can do, why would he or she pay me to do it?

The key is to be better, in every way – to provide a better product and a better experience.

The key is to be different – to do work that not everyone can do – to use posing lighting, post production and special effects to create images that no amateur, no matter how good the eye or camera, can duplicate.

The key is to get past the false dichotomy of “getting it right in the camera” v. “being creative in post production”; we must be both. There are very few digital images, no matter how perfectly composed and captured in the camera, that cannot be improved in post production. A lot of differentiation is the product of post-production creative manipulation.

And, because there is a learning curve and some difficulty associated with using post-production programs like Photoshop, Lightroom, and NX2, this is an area where we can step away from the crowd of those who own great cameras but do little more than push the shutter button.

Those who say “I am a photographer, not a computer jockey” and who don’t hire “computer jockeys to maximize their images, are competing with a dangerously thin tool box. Don’t think the computer is a critical part of a tool box? By definition, it has to be, we work in a digital medium.

And, if you think the world of photography is different – take a look at the tools used in auto racing, be it Formula 1, Indy Car, or NASCAR. Next to all of those big, red Snap-On tool boxes, what do you see? Computers.

Mechanics can’t compete without computers and neither can we.

To borrow a line from Seinfeld, to be the best at what we do, we have to be the “masters of our domains”. And, the domain is dynamic and expanding.

2. We Can Never Stop Learning
My Nikon D3 has more computing power than the first desktop computer I owned. My 4 year old G5 Mac desktop has more computing power than the 2,000 square foot, temperature controlled editing suite in which I pulled together my first television productions. The software I use is more sophisticated than that used by the first TV station on which I appeared.

All this power comes with a price. We have to learn how to use it.

The same can be said for the traditional, yet evolving challenges photographers have faced, forever – lighting and posing.

Fortunately, we live in a time when there is an abundance of high quality learning material out there. I love seminars and things like Photoshop World (the best all around learning experience I’ve had).

And, fortunately, there are alternatives that don’t require plane tickets and hotel rooms.

The world of DVD and online learning materials is exploding. It’s unbelievable what’s out there.

In my quest to lose my Michelin Man/Pillsbury Dough Boy fat, I’ve hit the treadmill, hard, every morning. To keep me engaged I’ve chosen to watch training DVD’s. Calories down, knowledge up – what a cool deal.

A while back, Dave Newman, in a Texas School lighting class, told us that he studied lighting by going to the museum and looking at how the old masters painted light. A couple of days ago, I went to Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts for a “refresher course” in classic portrait lighting. Free, easy, fun.
I also study lighting in the checkout lines at the market. By looking at the eyes of the stars on the tabloid covers, by looking at the shape and placement of the catchlights, I can often figure out the lighting patterns the photographers used. I’ve actually learned a lot that way – and it’s helped me to overcome my incredible impatience with waiting in line for anything.

3. We Have to Market Like We Mean It

Truth be told, most of us see ourselves as “artists” and not “business people”. Once more, that’s a false dichotomy. In this world, unless one has a patron or large inheritance, one cannot be an artist without marketing.

And, while we are at it, we have to set a fair price for our work. That’s a lot easier to do when our work is better and different. Different and better keep us away from “price competition”. If our clients can’t see the difference between what we do and what everyone else does, they will use price to make their buying decisions. The only way to win a price war is to lose money.

Too many photographers don’t charge enough for their work – many because they don’t value it, themselves. If they don’t believe they are worth it, their customers won’t.

Marketing is a learned skill – one we have to study and master. There’s a ton of material out there, DVD’s, classes, online webinars – all aimed at teaching us how to drum up business and make sales.

One comment about marketing. Of course, innovation in any field is good. But, I must admit that I am somewhat skeptical about the trendy move toward marketing on places like Facebook and Twitter.

Why am I skeptical? Because I believe in the words of the great philosopher Willy Sutton – yes, that Willy Sutton, the guy who used to rob banks.

When he was finally caught, a reporter asked him “Willy, why do you rob banks?”

His answer, “Because that’s where they keep the money.”

What does that have to do with the trendy emphasis on marketing on Facebook and Twitter?

Everything. We should do our marketing where our clients are.

I have a dear friend who is one of America’s great commercial photographers. His business is dominated by work for art directors. When he moved heavily toward Facebook and proudly told me that he was up to 300 friends, I asked him “How many of them are art directors – the people who hire you and buy your work?”

In all fairness, the book on Facebook/Twitter marketing has yet to be written. I may be way off. But, until I see some empirical data supporting that marketing model, I’ll be a bit skeptical.

And, until someone shows me that my clients are on Twitter and Facebook, I’ll spend my marketing resources elsewhere.

5. We Have to Spend Our Money Wisely
In times like this, when money is tough, I turn to another great philosopher who has had a major impact on my life, Mick Jagger, and follow his words: “You can’t always get what you want. But, if you try some time, you just might find, you get what you need.”

I like to be on the cutting edge of technology. I see great value in all kinds of cool equipment. I like toys and tools. I want a lot of things.

But, in times like this, I have to remember that the smart path is not to get the things that I want but, instead, to concentrate on getting the things that I need.

And, I try to buy smart.

I read reviews and do lots of research before I buy anything. I check out the spec’s and call friends who are using the product.

One of the things I’ve learned, the hard way, is that it is better to get less high quality stuff – stuff that works and lasts – than it is to buy lots of less expensive stuff that does not.

For example, I’d rather have 2 high quality lights and a reflector than 4 lower quality lights that may not be color or duration consistent. I’ve learned the hard way to buy fewer high quality lenses than more lenses that don’t match the capabilities of my cameras. I won’t cut corners on compact flash cards; running the risk of a field failure is not worth the small price difference between the best and the mediocre.

I’ve learned not to buy niche things – things with a very limited function that I might not use more than once. A lot of this stuff is very cool – but it does me no good sitting in a closet. If I need a niche product, like a use-it-once-a-year lens, I’ll rent it.

“My name is Steve and I’m a software junkie.” There, I’ve said it, and it’s true. I love software – all software, and I’ve got a lot. But, I try not to buy things that I won’t use or that I can create on my own. I know people who buy action set after action set – many of which are things they could record themselves in very little time. Most of the software I use I bought after trying it during a free trial period. If I am still using it after the 30 or 60 day trial period is over, if it is doing what it is supposed to do, I will buy it.

Buying smart does not always mean buying at the lowest price. Sometimes buying smart means buying from a vendor who will support the product long after the sale. I think it’s worth a few dollars extra to buy from people who I know will take my phone calls and help me out in my moments of need or panic.

Yes, I still get things that I want rather than need but, Mick, I’m trying.

Tying it All Together: Mission Statement
So, what’s this have to do with my new website – why this editorial, now?

Because, I see part of my mission to be helping us to get through these difficult times.

I am strong in my commitment to teaching and writing and passionate about supporting my friends, readers and students.

I’m going to try to make this website a place where we can gather to learn and grow. I’ll write tutorials, product reviews and philosophical pieces. When I don’t know an answer, I’ll go look for it. I’ll call on my friends to fill the gaps. I’ll try to publish the stuff we all need to make smart decisions and to move our photography forward.

Until I master this site, I’ll go slowly.

Once I feel secure with the technology, I’ll let it grow. Soon, I hope to add an interactive blogging community.

I’m excited by the potential and hope you will join me for the ride.

(Copyright: PrairieFire Productions/Stephen J. Herzberg — 2009)