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Early in my career I attended Imaging USA. It was my first time at a major national photography convention. One of the companies I worked with asked me ifI would come to Imaging and work with them in their booth. I jumped at the opportunity.

I love big photography conventions like Imaging USA, WPPI and PhotoPlus Expo. The energy and camaraderie, the environment and the atmosphere, all blend together to create an electric feeling that charges my creativity.

Pinhole booth at a recent tradeshow

In recent years I have had the opportunity to speak at Imaging USA, both from the stage with platform presentations and also on the tradeshow floor at various booths.

As a speaker my perspective hasn’t changed. When I’m not speaking, I’m eagerly moving from seminar to seminar seeking nuggets of wisdom that I can apply to my business and further position myself for long-term success.

There are two things I find extremely useful to do when it comes to conventions:

1. My advice is to browse the speaker schedule now and pre-select two or three seminars each day. Bring a note-pad and go with the intent to learn. It’s January, the start of the year, the slow season for most of us and there is no better time to make adjustments and improve your business. Find inspiration and walk away in a better position than you’ve ever been before. There is no better investment than investing in yourself.

2. In recent years there seems to be a divide between the old-school photographer and the new photographer. Whether it’s a division based on photographic style or business style, it exists and anyone who doesn’t notice it is blind.

Many times I’ve heard young photographers say, “I’m not going to listen to this photographer because their work and my work couldn’t be more opposite.”

Point made, but the reality is, very few 90-minute seminars are going to teach you how to shoot differently. The old-school photographer is here today because of years of doing it right. Long-term success in this industry does not happen accidentally. And the inter-generational conversations that can take place between new and old-school photographers are worth their weight in gold.

My recommendation is to seek out photographers who are more experienced than you are, listen to them, learn from them, and if they’re willing to impart knowledge, be a sponge and soak it up.

It has been my good fortune over the years to rub shoulders with countless more-established photographers and numerous industry giants. It has happened sometimes at their seminars or sometimes through an introduction by a mutual friend. Some have taken interest in me and even invited me to dinner or coffee.

I remember one specifically, who casually invited me to dinner after we bumped into each other in the hallway. I graciously agreed and then walked around the corner, pumped my fist in excitement and called my wife back home to tell her the good news. That two-hour dinner changed my entire approach to business and gave me the focus and determination I needed to grow faster, push harder and climb higher.

Stop by our booth in Atlanta for a chance to get a Pinhole Pro swag bag.

My wife Joy and I are super-excited about Imaging USA 2013 and we hope you are too. Look us up and come say hello. I will be delivering a platform presentation on Sunday afternoon, and on Monday I will be speaking at the Pinhole booth. I look forward to meeting you!

Garrett and his wife, Joy, have their own photography business in Chattanooga, TN. They focus their attention on those who can help them continue to grow: wedding planners, venues, bridal salons, florists and other vendor partners. Their work has been published in more than 50 wedding and industry publications, and they were recently named one of the top 20 destination photographers by Destination Weddings & Honeymoons magazine.

Join Garrett Nudd and wedding planner Lisa Stoner at the upcoming Imaging USA in Atlanta when they deliver their platform presentation on January 20, 2013, at 5 pm titled Friends with Benefits, Leveraging Vendor Relationships to Grow Your Wedding Business.

The beginning of a new year is an opportune time to reflect on last year and set goals for the year ahead. We decided to check in with longtime friend and photojournalist Christopher Morris to see what his most memorable moment was last year and what he plans to do in 2013.

What was your most memorable moment from this past year?

From the past year, oddly enough the most memorable moment for me came, when I was able to pull off getting a model onto the floor of the  Republican Convention in Florida. Shooting for the French fashion magazine L’Officiel. Anyone who works or is involved in the world of politics will understand the near impossible feat of being able pull this off. Here is an image from the Convention.

Photo courtesy of Christopher Morris

What is your biggest goal for 2013?

To survive!

How has liveBooks changed your business?

liveBooks, is a very liberating experience for me.  The seamless ability to edit and re-edit my work, is priceless. It has given me the opportunity to showcase my work in a style and format that suits my ever changing workflow.

liveBooks has a long history of commitment to photojournalism, philanthropy and social change. Our CEO Andy Patrick took over the International Fund for Documentary Photography (IFDP) from Mother Jones Magazine in 2001. The IFDP was a grant program started by photographers Ken Light, Michelle Vignes, Marc Riboud, Sebastiao Salgado and journalist Kerry Tremain. In 2001, Andy integrated the IFDP into FiftyCrows, a non-profit he founded to support documentary and photojournalistic photographers that were documenting social issues around the world.

Andy and his wife contributed over a million dollars to assure that these important photographic essays made their way into the world and that great storytellers had an opportunity to continue their important work. FiftyCrows and the IFDP has supported many great photographers including Ed Kashi, Jack Picone, Marcela Taboada, Andre Cypriano, Stephanie Sinclair, as well as in the early years amazing photographers such as Joseph Rodriguez, Donna Decesare, Nan Goldin, and Shahidul Alam.

The grants have been used for many things including financing the continuation of a story that otherwise would not have likely seen funding from traditional means, to starting organizations such as what Shahidul Alam did in the early 1990’s in Bangladesh. From this was born The Chobi Mela International Festival of Photography and the DRIK Picture Agency.

In 2004 Shahidul Alam, Chris Rainier, Wade Davis, Andy and others formed the National Geographic All Roads Photography Awards. All Roads has supported countless indigenous photographers in their efforts to document their own cultures.

So today, it is with great anticipation and excitement that we share with you one of our favorite events, the Chobi Mela International Festival of Photograpy. If you get a chance – GO! The festival takes place in Dhaka, Bangladesh and opens on January 25th. What sets Chobi Mela apart from other other photo festivals is that it is not only truly international, but is also perhaps the world’s most demographically inclusive festival.

In keeping with ethos of DRIK, Chobi Mela has always symbolized a struggle against hegemony and oppression. The theme for Chobi Mela VII is Fragility. It will feature photographers from 23 countries and every continent except Antarctica. Exhibitors include well known photojournalists and new ones alike.

Mr. Alam said he created the Chobi Mela festival primarily so Bangladeshi photographers could be more widely exposed globally, extending to international audiences. “I wanted to create a bridge,” he said. “But it also gives us a chance to take stock of this remarkable transformation that is taking place within photography in Bangladesh.”

Congratulations to Shahidul and his amazing team… our hearts our with you!

Old are the days of post cards, rotary telephones, floppy disks and a slew of other media making devices,  and yet few disruptive replacements have solicited such an array of reactions as the cell phone camera.  Amateurs, prosumers, and experts alike now find themselves X-Pro filtering their way through Instagram; another form of social media that is hard to measure and even harder to monetize.  This week liveBooks wraps up its series on social media with a look into Instagram and the role it plays in a photographers’ social media mix.

Marketing across an all-mobile platform

The role of mobile devices continues to change the landscape of marketing for businesses and professional photographers.  Since Instagram is largely consumed on a mobile platform it is important to develop the dialogue around how mobile devices are influencing the landscape of social media and how it is consumed.

Mobile social media tends to be consumed and produced as short snippets of information.  Photos, links, videos and other manifestations of social content are viewed, shared or dismissed as quickly as they’re posted.  Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, which have both a web and mobile presence, Instagram only operates on a mobile platform and is therefore optimized for a primarily mobile viewing experience. Is your content optimized to tell a quick short story, or is your work better seen in a larger collection? This is an important distinction to make when deciding if and how to add Instagram into your social media strategy.

The goal with marketing on Instagram is to add followers and create awareness that will lead others to your web presence.  Because Instagram doesn’t allow outbound links on its commenting platform you will likely not see an SEO bump that you can directly correlate, even if you’re receiving a lot of attention.  With this being said, you can still include your website with your profile page and put a comment on your content that encourages your followers to view your website.  Hashtags are the most Instagram-friendly way to share your content and can be a useful way to spread your message.

Does Instagram fit your photography business?

With 40+ million total users and 2+ million users per day, maybe you want a piece of the action but are unsure of whether or not it fits your photography business goals.  The way it’s designed, Instagram is great for sharing your work and serves as another “free” venue for marketing; however, Instagram isn’t for everyone and as a photographer you will need to make some decisions about what types of content you feel comfortable posting. Check out this great article featuring liveBooks client Ed Kashi talking about what he likes and dislikes about using Instagram as a professional photographer.

If you find yourself on the rocks here are 5 simple ways to introduce Instagram into your social media mix.

1. Kill two (or more) birds with one stone: Use Instagram to easily share photos to Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare and Instagram.
2. Align your material: Encourage people to visit your website by including your website as a comment under your photos and a link in your profile summary.
3. Create some buzz: If you have a new installation opening, book signing, or cause you want your fans to get involved in, encourage them to take pictures of themselves at your event and share under a hashtag that is unique to the event.
4. Create community: Instagram communities are popping up all over world.  Don’t be afraid to engage with these online and meetup communities to discuss photography and create more community offline.
5. Have fun!: Instagram is a fun community with no branding or advertising integrated into the platform.  Enjoy posting off-the-wall content and show others what you love to do!

This post concludes our series on Social Media for Photographers. Let us know how you felt about this series, send your feedback, ideas, comments, and suggestions to Resolve@livebooks.com. For the latest news from liveBooks, and for added information and access to tools that will help you grow your photography business, stay connected to liveBooks through Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.