livebooks blog

Our thanks to APA for the following article, penned by our very own Matt Bailey.

Do you want to add more dimension – and distinction – to your brand? Start using video on your website.

Video can help you market yourself as a professional who brings more to the table than a handful of carefully selected images. It can help you develop an effective brand, communicate your personal vision and illustrate what it’s like to work with you. And, with a slew of HDSLR cameras on the market and numerous other gadgets to help you capture video, it’s never been easier.

Where should you start?

The uses of online video can range from highlighting your videography work to showcasing a slideshow of stills. You can also use videos in lieu of a traditional “bio” page, to present testimonials or as a behind-the-scenes look at how your studio operates.

To view some different ways that photographers are using video online, check out these photographers’ websites:

Emilie Sommer

David Emmite

Justin Francis

Mark Wallace and

Jules Bianchi.

Follow the link if you want to read  the full article @ APA

Justin Francis won’t tell you he’s a big deal, but he is. He’s a New York-based director, filmmaker and photographer who made his name in the music industry and has worked with the likes of Mariah Carey, The Cure, 50 Cent, Eminem, Gwen Stefani and The Roots. He’s the mastermind behind Alicia Keys’ award-winning “Unbreakable” and “No One” videos, and this year he directed commercials for companies such as Target, M&Ms, Dunkin’ Donuts and Adidas.

It wasn’t until later, after he had established himself in the film industry, that Justin began to focus on his other passion: Still photography. It was then – in January of 2008 – that he decided he needed a website to house his images, as well as some of his videos. He was one of the first liveBooks customers to effectively implement video on the Web.

In this Q and A session, we asked Justin to share his insights and offer advice to those who are just starting to incorporate video on their websites.

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Watch and listen to Mark Wallace talk about liveBooks, the Vimeo integration and why he thinks it is important to take a close look ‘under the hood’ – and then do something about it.

Mark’s thoughts on liveBooks from Mark Wallace.

See more about Mark and his liveBooks website

I don’t care if you’ve been in business for 2 months or 20 years; this is something that is always of concern to small business owners.  And, for those people who feel comfortable in their pricing, it is a short-lived comfort.  Pricing must always be examined and re-examined.

Photo courtesy of Laurel McConnell Photography

Are you priced appropriately?

Take a look at the following factors and consider how they impact your pricing:

• the median price of photography in your region and target market
• your specialty, your niche
• the value that you bring to the client
• your education, your experience, and your on-going training
• your artistry and talent

But, in the photography world there is one major component of pricing that is often forgotten: YOU. What about your TIME, your LABOR?

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Photo by Jasalyn Thorne Photographers

As one of the top five winners of the 2010 emerge Photography Contest, photographers Jasalyn and Jason Thorne from Jasalyn Thorne Photographers were selected to have their work featured on The Knot’s “Getting Engaged” blog.

Jasalyn and Jason are Canadian-based, award-winning photographers who travel internationally to reach their clients. Their work has been featured in publications such as Wedluxe, AisleWalk Magazine (Best Editorial 2009), Real Weddings, West Coast Bridal Guide, The Complete Wedding Directory (Cover 2010) and numerous others. They were recognized at WPPI in 2010 when they received Accolades of Excellence for their images.

The “Getting Engaged” feature focuses on an engagement photo shoot with couple Zahir and Zahra that feels both rustic and urban. These images were hand-picked by The Knot’s Photo Editor Rebecca Crumley.

Congrats on the feature, Jasalyn and Jason!

Editor’s Note: Dr. Jeffery M. Levine was recently featured in the New York Times article, “The Elderly, Through the Eyes of a Geriatrician.” Levine (a liveBooks customer) discusses geriatrics and the combination of art and medicine on his healthcare blog, www.jmlevinemd.com.

As a young doctor starting out in my profession I wanted to stake a claim in academia – doing research and teaching about human aging.  What I achieved is something different from what I originally intended when I began my project of visually documenting the process of growing old.

Initially I tried to catalog the physical manifestations of aging.  Using Kodachrome slide film and flash, I captured changes of the skin and musculoskeletal system, supplementing my portfolio with x-rays that enhanced understanding of the physiology of growing old.  One day out of curiosity I switched to black and white film, turned off the flash, and stepped back to photograph my patients in their natural environment and captured the interactions between me and my subject.

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THE PROBLEM:
Like many photojournalists based in the United States, I traveled to Haiti to cover the January 12^th earthquake. I came home with an impressive array of photographs, which I believed to be both marketable and worthy of public notice. Yet, like many young photojournalists, I had limited opportunity by which to market my work.

It was a small moment of crisis for me. Were these images of others suffering to become mere fodder for my tweets and Facebook updates? Just another portfolio to be displayed on my website? I immediately decided that I would do to do more than simply allow these images to lay idle on my hard drive. I had to find a way to make a difference, and also advance my career at the same time.

THE SOLUTION:

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As photographers, we have all come across interesting characters who have looked like a famous portrait waiting to happen. It could be at the bus stop, a crowded market, the house next door, or in rural Pakistan.

Regardless of where it is, photo ethics call for a personable engagement, conversation, and even permission.  But in situations where a language barrier exists, or strict taboos are in place, a more subtle and indirect approach is required.

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As Cultural Director at Magnum Photos in London, I’ve had a lot of experience of proposing work to venues both in the UK and abroad. Promoting a project for exhibition is aided hugely by a good network of contacts, however, there are also things you can do even if you’re starting out. Following are some points to bear in mind with regards to the process.

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With nearly 100 million iPad, iPhone and iTouch devices in use across the planet, liveBooks’ CMO John Philpin was recently interviewed by TWiP host Frederick Van Johnson to find out how liveBooks is responding to the lack of Flash on those devices. As it turns out, it’s all under control. In the podcast, John and Frederick explore our new iPhone and iPad settings, which are now available to all customers through the liveBooks editSuite.

Frederick and John also discussed how liveBooks plans to advance along with the ever-changing world of technology that we are part of today – and what it all means to you as a liveBooks customer and a creative professional.

Interested in hearing more? Listen to John and Frederick in this podcast, which can be found on PixelCorps.tv.