I think the marketplace is a much better place today because of how connected we are and how every business is now forced to operate in a very open and transparent way. We must treat everyone with respect and help others succeed in order to succeed. I'm sure many of you will agree that it's this giving and sharing attitude that has propelled photographers like Gary Fong, Bambi Cantrell, Denis Reggie, and Mike Colon into the top ranks of our industry and I was beyond flattered to be mentioned in this email with them. All of these people have spent years giving of themselves and transforming this industry and those of us in it into an amazing place to "work" - if we can even call it that.
This email is from a photographer in Tennessee named
Derek Lee and I think he makes some very accurate realizations in his email. He seems to have realized that the successful photographers in this industry have become successful not because of their
art but because of their
attitude. So right on! Isn't it true that our attitude has the ability to be a huge disqualifer in our lives. If we have a poor and bitter attitude it can hold us back from so much happiness and success and so I'm really stoked that Derek has realized that.
One thing that bothered me about Derek though is that when you go to the
front page on his website and scroll down you see that he did a google search or something and then pasted all the other Tennessee photographers names into his webpage to try and siphon exposure from their names. Seems like an odd thing to do.
For the few of you that read my blog I'm wondering what you think about all this? The email is pretty funny.... :) Enjoy. I put my thoughts in
bold...
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THE EMAIL...
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In my thoughts below, is what I feel to be the truth. And it aggravates me to
no end. I truly feel that you select photographers are NOT the best. The
media and good marketing skills have made you so. Ok...Derek...why does that aggravate you so much?
I told Bambi that she is nothing more than a "gimmick" that photography
equipment manufacturers use to endorse / sell their product. That's a mean thing to say.And that MOST any decent photographer can take any two attractive models, dress
them up as a bride and groom, and win print competitions, write a book, etc.You are right and most decent photographers do. Isn't it great that they share their work and knowledge with us.I wanted to know what made her better than all the photographers that are just
as good as she is ................................. like myself.Maybe her attitude...Yes, I consider myself just as good as Bamboo and Dennis Reggae. That's great that you are confident in your work. That's an important first step. The next step is getting other people to think you are as good as you think you are...that's where marketing comes in.I'm upset that these two people and a few others shine like they do in the spotlight, when all it really amounts to is they got a lucky break.
Samuel Goldwyn said, "The harder I work, the luckier I get."They were in the right place at the right time. It's not that they are better
than the 500 other great photographers there are in the USA. It's just that
Dennis got a lucky break shooting a high profile wedding, and then it
snowballed into him being the celeb's choice photographer. Why did the celebs
keep choosing him? Because he is good, consistent and likeable, NOT because he
is the BEST. Dennis Reggae is NOT THE BEST. There are many, many other
photographers that can do JUST as good a job as he can.Another great observation. Who we know and more importantly who knows us is a very important thing in business.But it has EVOLVED into him being "the best". Because "the best" can sell an
Eskimo a block of ice. The market needs people like Dennis and Bambi to sell
it's goods. Are you an Eskimo? Consider this, I have a "Widget" for sale that helps you make better pictures, I
go place an ad and sell a few. Now, Dennis and Bamboo team up and run an ad
saying "We use Widget for our photography". Those widgets would sell out in
record time. So right on...glad you pointed this out because it's so true. Advertising doesn't really work anymore because consumers have been too overwhelmed by ads so now they rely on recomendations from the people they trust to help them make purchasing decisions. It's exactly why my Showit Web widget works so well to get more weddings.Now Dennis is offering 8 people to come to his home for $1950 so he can make a
fast $16000 and show off his home and tell you his philosophy and show you some
technique. This is, if anything, for aspiring photographers that have $1950 to
spend without missing it and want a little get away. Otherwise, go take that
$1950 and buy the best lens you can, go spend a day shooting and taking notes.
That is how to learn photography. NOT by giving Bamboo $2000 at some hotel.
There are many ways to learn...I learned tons and saved myself so much time and frustration from hearing Denis, Mike, and Gary speak.I truly, truly in believe these people: Denis, Bambi, David J, Fong are running
over-priced seminars aimed at aspiring photographers with slick marketing
tactics to get you to come, just to feed their greedy hearts, and you take
nothing away that you either didn't already know or could have learned on your
own, and bought yourself a $2000 lens instead. And they are even marketing to
photographers of my level, like I'm gonna pay $2000 to hear what I already
know? Paleeze .............
I actually haven't ever done my own seminar but I have done workshops through the Brooks Institue and the people who attended seemed to come away pretty happy and there businesses are growing and their lives are hopefully more free as well. :) That's great that you already know everything that Gary, Denis, Bambi are teaching...maybe you should do a seminar and share your knowldege and do a workshop because there are a lot of people out there that don't know everything and are excited about learning.Fong did NOT make his fortune in photography, he really isn't that great of a
photographer, he made his wealth in real estate and of course selling
photography related products.
Fong is super smart, probably has a very high IQ. He has marketed himself well
as the "Mr. Know It All when it comes to photography" which he does know alot.
Fong's seminars are for aspiring photographers only. I purchased his
lightsphere and swear by it, I will continue to use it until something better
comes along.Yup - Fong is really really smart and everyone should have a Lightsphere.
I also purchased his DVD seminar set, and was furious by what a piece of
worthless junk it is. I felt ripped off by him, I felt as if he stole my money
and didn't care. I asked many times for a refund,
I ended up selling it to someone else on ebay. I felt like a crook myself for selling it on ebay. So why did you sell it to them if it made you feel like a crook? Did they ask you for a refund?If you take notice, David Jay is the new name being spotlighted. Guess what!
He has his own product for sale too! No! Really?Yea - Showit Web is cool. I just got this email from Mike Colon a few minutes ago and I'm so glad that Showit Web and Fong's products are helping so many people.
Hmmmm, lets see:
Famous name = sells product
Fong would be proud.Yes I hope he is. Fong is like my merchandising dad. He has taught me and everyone so much about how to create a better business through merchandising and I've heard from so many people that his Album PreDesign concept has done incredible things for their business. He's great and I hope he's proud. :)
Hey wait a minute!! Isn't that David Jays logo on Gary Fongs Album ShowCase
creator !!!!!
By damn it is! Ok, now that explains everything, Gary discovered David and
said "Hey, I'm gonna make you famous so you can sell products under your name"
"People are going to think you created it and they will buy it and we will
split the profit" "I have my team of software designers working on a program
for you to peddle as we speak" hmmm...maybe there is a conspiracy going on...lol... I'm excited for the day when Gary invents something and then gives me half of the profits on the sales to put my logo on it.Marketing = Gary Fong You gotta hand it to him, he is smart and makes more
money than all the other high profilers out there.
But I'm still mad about the rip-off DVD set.
Lastly, what about Bamboo AKA Bambi AKA Bam Bam... Paleeze stop with the
nicknames.I haven't used any nicknamesA long time ago, she took some models, dressed them like a real bride and groom,
took all day to get the perfect shot. She wins a print competition. She writes
a book, (Well, ok, she didn't REALLY write it herself, the Prez of WPPI wrote it
for her), puts in some pictures that any decent photographer can take, slaps her
name on the front and it sells a buttload, I actually own it. She is likeable,
and has a cute name, she is named after a well-loved Disney character. She
shoots a high profile wedding or two and the next thing you know, BAMBI IS THE
BEST IN THE NATION !
Good for you for picking up a copy.No, she isn't. She has pretty pictures that any decent photographer, like
myself, can take.
These people above with the exception of Fong, all have been at the right place
at the right time. They're not the best, that's what the marketers want you to
think, because only the best can sell ice to Eskimos.My dad always said that if I focus my business on helping other people I would always have plenty of work...so if at some point an Eskimo wants to buy some ice from me and I can help her out by selling her some then I will happily do so. ---------------------------------------------------------------
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Michael Boardman shot with me at the wedding below and he got a picture of me as I was being very brave and descending down this cliff to capture a phone that the best man dropped. I got the "primal" underwear in Italy - it was all I could find but I like it.
and it was so good! ..and at the beginning it was really funny because the speaker came out and said "I know some of you have had a long hard day at work" and I was like yup...and then he said I just want you to forget about your job, forget about business and then they started playing this song I couldn't believe it! I can't escape it! BarlowGirl is everywhere now. Shannon and I were laughing.
OH yea...sorry I didn't post this earlier but there are rules for the questions and for using the Book of Answers so please click on this picture and read the rules otherwise we won't be able to properly answer the questions. We will do our best to reword the questions already asked though.
I really like this song. My friend Shannon Rice gave me a CD when I was in AZ a couple of months ago and I had never heard this song before but I really like it.
Wow...I spent the last 5 hours emailing...I kinda like email days and check this out - I got 70 emails sent out in 5 hours so that's exactly an email every 4.287 minutes and that's faster than I thought! I thought it took me on average 5 minutes per email but I guess I got faster. Cool
Ooops...sorry I forgot to show you some pics from last weekend. :) So fun! 
Ok so today was the most beautiful day ever and I am so stoked because my friend Shelly decided totally spur of the moment to come up and show me around Seattle. I get lost in big cities (and small cities too) so I'm excited to have her here. Here is another picture from the balcony. I only go out on the balcony to take pictures because it's really high up and scary to look down but if I focus on taking the pictures I don't get as scared.
