Pictage on Blip.tv

We thought we'd share this with you guys! We're also starting to upload to Cut Frame TV as well so check us out :)

~Becky Shaffer
Pictage Community Coordinator

Los Angeles PUG

I love being the Los Angeles Pictage User Group leader. Its such a great way to meet other local photographers and hear great speakers. Last night we had our April meeting. Thank you to Ann Kelley for being our Studio Spotlight. The PUG always takes place at Ann's house, so she was able to show us all of her cute products and how she uses her house to demonstrate to her portrait clients how their prints might look when hung on the walls.





Thank you, also, to Erik Johnson who was our speaker for the night. His discussion on the key categories of a balanced life helped us to identify what would really lead to our increased happiness and success.





Thank you to Michael Andrews for these cute photos of me leading the group!

Boston PUG Rocks!!

I wanted to share with you a great note sent over by a brand new Boston PUG member :) She attended the April PUG where they had "Spring Training" this month. The group met at a local church and shared shooting techniques that they use in difficult lighting conditions.

"I have to tell you that this was my first PUG group mtg... and I LOVED IT.
I fell in love with everyone there... they are the best group of people ever and i am holding my breath until our next meeting!
thank you - I HAD to share!

-Jess" By Jessica Echavarria

Also, Great work and awesome creativity in gathering over 70 PEOPLE at the March PUG!! Boston won the March attendance contest and will have $500 to spend on a future PUG meeting of their choice. Congrats Boston! Thank you Matt and Enna!!!

~Becky Shaffer
Pictage Community Coordinator

April PGH PUG

It was a great turn out in Pittsburgh for our PUG this month! I haven't been up to snuff since January - I tore cartilage in my knee and had to have surgery the end of January, so February was a bust and no one seemed inclined to come in March, but we were definitely stoked for our April meeting!

We had a great conversation about branding, the business in general and encouraged the shooters new to the field to be mindful of their pricing for the sake of our industry. Then, we discussed how we could continue to make our PUG a great experience, despite consistency issues from the group.

After the meeting, I sent out a survey to all the PGH PUG members via survey monkey and I'll be analyzing the results by the end of next week specific to people making a commitment to come to the meetings and for making the meetings interesting and full in the future. We'll be having a studio lighting demo in May and be getting on track with studio spotlights too, when Kim Reed will both host the studio lighting demo and be the studio spotlight!

Look for more exciting updates...and photos too...in the upcoming PGH PUG spotlights!

Best, Joanne Bartone, photographer
www.joannebartone.com

LA PUG

As many of you know, I am the leader for the Los Angeles Pictage User Group. Last night's PUG was really fantastic. Every single person participated and we either shared something we learned at WPPI or shared a gadget or gizmo that we use at every wedding. I was thrilled with how much I learned!

Our speaker and Studio Spotlight was Roberto Valenzuela, a fantastic photographer who had 11 award winning prints (including first place for the "wedding photojournalism humor" category) and two award winning wedding albums at WPPI!

Roberto compared practicing music with practicing photography to become perfect. We were thrilled with the bit of music he played for us. His presentation was very thoughtful and chock-full of fantastic images and information.







One great thing about having the PUG in LA is that we have lots and lots of samples of the latest Pictage products. Last night we got to check out first hand their cool new "Art Books" now available for consumers!





Thank you to April Rocha for this cute pic of me facilitating the meeting.

Nashville PUG Group Shoot

So, I am probably posting this a little late. Considering this event took place last August. However, being we are currently in between wedding seasons, I have a little time to play with iMovie and use my poor knowledge of web-design to create a webpage for the group photo shoot the Nashville PUG had last summer.

If your PUG has not done a photo shoot together, I highly recommend it. It was a lot of work to put together, but it was the coolest things we have ever done.

Check out the video and some of the photos we took at:
www.doveweddingphotography.com/trashthedress/pug.html

- Peter Carlson / Dove Wedding Photography

San Francisco Bay Area February Meeting: How's Biz?

"see everyone, this is a TV. You can use it to while away all those endless summer hours that you would normally spend working, if there weren't all those other photographers out there stealing your clients."

;)

Seriously, this month's PUG was really informative. We discussed the myth and reality of market saturation, how to survive in a busy market and how to build your business so that you aren't as susceptible to what "everyone else" is doing. We had a great variety of experience in our group, from photographers who have been around for 20+ years to people who just opened up shop this year, and everything in between. We discussed how important it is to understand who your prospective clients are to building a strong niche brand, and how being a part of the high end market isn't something you earn after "paying your dues" in the lower facets of the market; it's a strategy that affects everything from your pricing, to your image, to your customer service, to your shooting style. I was very happy to have a number of well spoken, intelligent, veteran photographers at the meeting who were all too happy to share what they've learned in their 10-20 years in business. Their comments really helped put things in perspective.

Stay tuned for the March meeting on Wednesday, March 26th at 630PM, in which we will have guest speaker Linda Russel from Mugshots Photography here to share her exciting new vision in documentary portrait and school photography. Linda will be encouraging the group to develop the portrait side of their business, and showing us how her model can offer every photographer an excellent recession-proof diversification of their income and marketing. Same bat-time, same bat-channel.

-by Lauren Cohn-Frankel, Cohn Frankel Photography. Photo by James Sanders.

Help grow our community! Leave a comment about why you come to the PUGs, something you learned at a meeting, or something you've accomplished thanks to the networking and educational opportunities the PUG meetings provide! Everyone who comments between now and March 25 will be entered in a drawing to win a cool mystery prize!*

*please make sure to leave your email address in your post to be eligible for the prize. Prize winner must attend a meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area PUG between March and May to claim prize

TN PUG - March Meeting

A couple nights ago Nashville had another great PUG meeting. It was a lot of fun seeing the many new faces as well as some members we have not seen in quite some time.

Gregory Byerline was our feature photographer for the evening. He was kind enough to invite everyone to his studio in Downtown Nashville. Studio 219 is located in the historic Marathon Village. The building was once an auto assembly plant, which housed Marathon Motor Co. The long-abandoned building is now being converted to loft-style artist studios and commercial space. Gregory’s studio definitely has a cool vibe.

Gregory is a fashion photographer who brings his eye into the wedding market as well as family and pet portraitures. As you can see from the photos posted, Gregory loves dogs. His little Sundae joined us for the meeting. As you look through his portfolio you will find some amazing photos of canines mixed in with models and recognizable Nashville musicians.




Our guest speaker for the night was Phil Thornton of Thornton Photo. Phil is a free-lance web designer for large commercial companies as well as a wedding photographer. He knows a LOT about search engine optimization and was very willing to share some of his knowledge with the group. He explained his love/hate relation with Flash-based websites. He loves how they are visually stunning and the perfect first impression for potential clients. He hates that they are horrible for when it comes to utilizing search engines. He also leaked out that in his “free time” he is working on a photography website that will end this dilemma. We will defiantly let you know when his sites are available for purchase.

Phil looking very professor like.

Sundae listening to Phil’s presentation very intently.

- Peter Carlson / Dove Wedding Photography

Denis Reggie and Joe Buissink at the LA PUG!

Yesterday was an entire day of photography networking. Hello its Jules Bianchi, the leader for the Los Angeles Pictage User Group! This month's meeting was a little different in that the highly regarded and well respected talents of Joe Buissink and Denis Reggie graced our PUG with their presence. There was no real agenda, just two hours of questions and answers, and we combined the OC, Clairmont and LA PUGs for this event. We had a turn out of over 100 people!

My day started out with a VIP (Very Important Photographers!) lunch that was organized by Pictage. In attendance were photographers Denis Reggie, Joe Buissink, Jon Barber, Jared Bauman, Dane Sanders, Robert Evans & Jules Bianchi, Pictage employees Lisa Allen, Scott Anderson, Debra Gerson, Jason O’Hare, Betsy Hirayama, Ian Siegel, Renata Dionello, Jason Kiefer & Michael Caro. The very talented Ron Dawson was there to videotape the event.



Joe, Jules & Denis.



Clairmont's PUG leader, Julie Weaver, and I introduced our speakers.



The first speaker up was Christine Smith of CLS Photography, our Studio Spotlight for the month. She shared how her business really started to take off after her mentorship sessions with Mike Larsen and her Tea for Two session with me! (Thank you, Christine!)



Then Denis and Joe were on! Ron Dawson of Cinematic Studios videotaped the entire thing to feature on his site, F-Stop Beyond. You should be able to check it out there soon! Denis and Joe answered countless questions on many topics including marketing, albums, how to keep your work fresh, the direction wedding photography is moving in, lighting, as well as sharing their own personal stories. Both remarked about the importance of community and sharing. They both had amazing insight and were so open to everyone's questions.



Afterward, you would think there were movie stars in the house! Everyone wanted to talk to them and have their photograph taken with them.



This picture of Denis Reggie and Veronica Slavin cracks me up because Denis is pointing to where he wants me to "foof" my flash.



And to wrap up our day, a bunch of us went out for sushi afterward. This is a shot of me, Debra Gerson, Robert Evans, Jay Goldman & Julie Weaver that I captured in the mirror of the bar!

Love has been spread to DC and Baltimore

This month we were lucky enough to have Justin and Mary Marantz visit our Washington, DC PUG and combined with members of the Baltimore PUG we had almost 50 photographers in attendance - our largest group ever!

Justin and Mary were so awesome and they had such a great impact on our audience - and me. It was so nice to see two genuine people talking honestly about the simple yet thoughtful strategies that have made them successful. It is clear that they love each other, their clients, and what they do.

Their message of spreading the love really hit home and has made me examine our entire client experience to ensure we cultivating the right atmosphere, exceeding expectations and wowing our clients

Don't know how we can top this for the March PUG attendance contest, but we're plotting right now...

Here are a few pics from the night.

Geoff Chesman

asheville pug - february meeting

At our February meeting, we did a panel discussion. The PUG has so many new members that I thought it would be great to have a format that allowed them to ask questions to a panel of "experts". Honour Hiers, Corey Cagle, Corey McNabb and I answered questions and got to know some of the new people better. Out of the 13 people in attenance, 8 have been in business about a year or less and 4 were at the PUG for the first time. Questions that we will explore further in future meetings include second shooters and the expectations both from the primary and second photographer, advertising, studio task management and websites.


The group

Sage, Christy and Suzanna


Alicia and Corey McNabb


Corey Cagle and Honour


Mark Block asks a question, Christy, Suzanna, Peter and Zac

regina holder - asheville PUG

asheville pug - january meeting with the marantz

In January, we had the privelege of having Justin and Mary Marantz guest speak at the PUG meeting. Their presentation on client "loyalty beyond reason" left all of us thinking of how we can improve how we treat our clients, how going above and beyond on customer service brings clients that rave about you and how to be more exclusive, having the clients wanting you instead of trying to sell yourself to them. They are genius at branding, marketing and setting themselves apart from the "competition", which is really their network of friends that refer weddings to them. By creating client loyalty, resulting in super-referrals, and networking with other photographers, they have been able to shift the dynamic and actually pick and choose which clients they want.

We had the biggest turnout ever, even with the snow that arrived just as we finished dinner. I really appreciate the ones that braved the weather, especially with long drives home and a massive THANK YOU to Justin and Mary that spent 15 hours driving home in a snow storm.

Another big THANK YOU to Corey McNabb and his lovely wife, Jill, the queen of the martini. A few of us headed over to Corey's studio for some chocolate martinis and fun times with awesome friends.


Look at that group shot! Awesome turnout for a snowy night!


Justin and Mary with Detra Dowling


Martini-maker extraordinaire - Jill McNabb

Regina's BFF - Mary!

Zac Thomas

Cheers!

Corey and Justin

"Say cheese"

Zac, Mary, Corey, Sarah Henry, Honour Hiers, Justin and Regina in front

regina holder - asheville PUG

Feb Philly PUG

Todays Philly PUG was a huge success. we had over 30 photographers come out and listen to a panel of 5 vendors, or as they would like to be called, partners. our topic was improving the experience our clients have and how to work together to build the industry. The biggest thing I got out of it was communication. Communication with everyone involved cures many problems we have as photographers.

Once we know who the players are we should call them about the timeline. Call them and tell them what we need. Ask them what they need from us. Call the videographer, introduce yourself, talk about your style and ask them about theirs. On the day of, communicate with them. Tell them what you need, "I am shooting wide and getting this" find out what they are doing.

Call the caterer, tell them what your contract says. Ask them to feed you when they drop salads. Let them know what you need and they can tell you what they can do and what they need.

Talk to the band or dj. Go over the schedule. If they like you they will make sure you don't miss the cake cutting. So will the videographer and maitre d.

Another big thing. Give them detail photos. Yes, maybe 1-3 cool images of the bride but give the vendors photos they can use to sell themselves. Include your photo credit. Include their credit in your blog post. Scratch each others back.

Finally socialize with them. Go to industry events, take them to lunch. build meaningful relationships. People always like referring their friends.


We also had other sponsors donate gifts. I think that really helped. We teamed up with a venue. They donated some food and their space at a much much lower rate.

I find, at least on the east coast, that the photographers want to make connections with other vendors. When I have a wedding planner or florist or venue come speak, it draws a crowd. It gives them an excuse to connect with someone.

Our very first meeting, a wedding planner came and spoke. he met a photographer and they have done several weddings together.

Hope this helps with ideas and gives you a little info you can use in your business.

CT PUG Prom

January 25th marked the One year anniversary of our first PUG meeting in Hartford, CT so we decided to celebrate right back at the same studio where it all began!! Here are a few shots from our "cheesy" PUG prom photobooth.

= Justin =

I am the leader of the Los Angeles Pictage User Group, and I wanted to share some pics from our monthly meeting which was this past Wednesday. The crazy talented Jay Lawrence Goldman was both the Studio Spotlight and the speaker. His presentation "To Shoot or Die in LA" drew an enormous crowd despite the fact that it was pouring rain.

I just LOVE Jay's studio space:



He's got these cute little birds that live there!



Here's me making Jay's introduction:



Here's Jay doing his thing. If you ever get the chance to hear him speak, I highly recommend it. He's not only incredibly informative, he's so funny!