John Burchell Photography

You probably spent a lot of time or money or both to get a great looking website up and running. You might even be keeping up with a Blog on your site as often as you can but chances are, unless you’re paying very big bucks, your site traffic is less than what you’d like it to be. Directing traffic to your website is a science some people make their living off of but at the bottom of it all is having some really stuff on your site. A lot of other people have written some really great articles and posts and have incredible information on their sites…. For instance, take this link:

http://cheapshooter.com Where another Blog poster took the time to locate and identify 11 videos that were posted on YouTube.  In their words:

Cheapshooter has been busy pre-screening a lot of YouTube videos to make this list of the best video photography tips available online. They are among the best examples of photography tips on YouTube - well-produced videos that know what they’re talking about.

He’s gone through YouTube and watched several videos about how to take better photos, how to use your camera and other things. There’s no telling how many hours he spent looking them over. Then he was kind enough to actually put the best ones together and group them. By citing the article here and taking advantage of the trackback feature built into my bloggins software, WordPress, I can accomplish several things:

1. I can provide some decent content that would be interesting to other photographers, aspiring photographers, or the general public intersted learning something about what to expect out of a good photographer.

2. I can send a direct Thank You to the website who did all that initial research to combine those YouTube videos and publish them all in one place.

3. By using trackbacks, it’s almost like getting an ultimate Kudo. Nothing excites a webmaster more than knowing all their hard work and effort actually paid off. It lets them know that people are actually reading their blogs.

4. Last but not least, it creates links to each of our websites. This is where the website marketing people go nuts but the simple explanation is that websites that are cool have cool stuff. And when people find cool websites, they build links to them. Because I think there is a cool article on cheapshooter.com, I can easily let the rest of the world know it by casting a cool vote for them by using the trackback feature built into my blogging software.

It’s very important to calibrate your monitor when viewing proofs online, or viewing digital images from your computer screen.  If the color or contrast isn’t adjusted properly, the printed images will look a lot different.

 Here is an 11 color scale for adjusting contrast.

If you’re really up for calibrating the gamma of your monitor, and you should if you’re going to be proofing or editing photos, you might want to take a look at a brief explanation of how to do it on zonezero.  You can find his explanation here: http://www.zonezero.com/calibration/english.html. 

There are a lot of different things to consider when posing groups of people. I found a couple of other websites that offer tips for photographers, and I was moved to add some here. I thought I’d start by sharing one thing that has helped a great deal when photographing groups of people, and has allowed me to start seeing more consistent results with groups. But first, some of the many things to keep in mind that make Better group photos are:

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The meeting was good, the networking afterwards at Primos was awesome.  As a part-time professional, I’m learning so much to expand my income, and ways to provide my customers with an even greater level of excellence.  Thanks MPPA!

Well I have to say that I’ve been really busy lately.  I’ve been spending time with Jorryn and Jen, and doing what I can when I can.  Lots accomplished.  I spent last week at the PPOK (Professional Photographers of Oklahoma) School at St. Gregory’s in Shawnee.  I took a 3 day class with John Woodward on “Contemporary Studio Portraiture”, and decided to spend another 2 days with him on “Outdoor Portraiture”.  Let me tell ya… if you really want to learn something, no matter how much you know, spend some time with John and you’re set.

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This is for the PPO school in Shawnee !  Not at Rose State !

If you haven’t heard of MPPA, well you have now.  I was directed toward them by Karen Moore of Edmond.  She’s a Master photographer of the PPA (Professional Photographers Association) and a wonderful person.  http://www.karenmoorestudio.com

If you’re serious about photography.  If you want to talk to people that are working in the business.  If you want to learn how to get serious in the business and you live in Oklahoma City or anywhere within a hundred miles or so… you need to check out the group.  www.metroppa.com is their website.  The meetings I’ve been to so far have been very informative and there are some really great people who attend.  It’s only about $50.00 a year for membership and each month, there is something new to gain.

I listened to Dwaine Horton  http://www.hortonstudios.com talk about competetion prints, who you have to sleep with to get a loaner and some great photoshop techniques he has used to create some of his masterpieces over the years.  He is quite a distinquished photographer according to the PPA and quite a nice guy too.  We talked about how his shop is wired with a point to point wifi connection to the internet and he gave me some specs on his latest workhorse pc over dinner at Primo’s in Midwest City after the meeting. 

This bunch of folks really has a lot to offer us younger photographers… Experience and Wisdom hardly scratch the surface.

I got to meet some absolutely wonderful people, fellow photographers, aspiring photographers, beginners, crusty old pros and even a few side-kicks who really aren’t interested in the craft but came because they were expected to be there.  The lectures were incredibly informitive.  The speakers knew absolutely what they were talking about. I believe I received everything I need to know about being a successful photographer in the lectures in networking of last weekend.  I just wanted to share some of the lessons I learned:

1. KNOW your equipment.  With your knowledge of your equipment, don’t be afraid to experiment.  This brilliant message was imparted after seeing a camera strobe outfitted with the battery of a Remote Controlled racing car.  As much as I dare go into.  You can do a lot with digital darkroom software, like Photoshop - BUT - if you haven’t covered the technical basics then there isn’t much you can do.  Programs like those are great for makeing good photos better, or for creating “art”. - Steve Foisy
2. Photoshop can be used beyond your wildest dreams, unless you’re on the photoshop staff to be able to think that stuff up and discover it.  But Photoshop can be used to automate certain things that otherwise takes forever to do. - Kent Shirley is a master with all that.
3. Understand and learn the technical details of photography, what they mean, how they will affect the shot you’re taking right now, and use your equipment to cover all those technical basics.  Rely on your camera’s auto modes only when it makes sense. And rely on the LAB for as much as time allows you to focus on capturing your images at hand.
4. Gabriel Alonzo led the most wonderful presentation on Children’s Portraiture.  He is truly a master craftsman and a wonderful man.  Genuinely interested in capturing the magic of each of his subjects.  Respect the subjects, capture the truly timeless images by simplifying and using lighting.  I strongly suggest visiting his website at http://www.gabrielportraiture.com to get an idea of what might be possible with your child’s photography.
5. And from Frank Cricchio, truly a photographer’s photographer: Creating “your style” happens when you can combine technical knowledge, apply technical knowledge, understand your subject and render it’s uniqueness in a way that tells a story instantly.  If you want to see his words exactly, visit his site at http://www.frankcricchio.com.
6. And Finally: if you don’t take the time to show up how can you possibly expect to play.

This was my first PPO (Professional Photographer’s of Oklahoma) conference and I’m certain it won’t be my last.  Thanks to everyone who had a hand in putting it on and making the weekend possible.  If you’re into photography you should bookmark this site: http://www.ppok.org and look for the upcoming events.  They were recommended by a great photographer and they seems to be a wonderful organization.

 John

*UPDATE*  The PPOSchool for 2008 information has been released !  See my new posts regarding this years schedule!

Oklahoma School of Professional Photography - 2008 and at

More about the Oklahoma School of Professional Photography

Attending PPO School During the week of June 10th through the 14th 2007. There are 1,2 and 3 day classes during that week. I am not sure what classes I will be attending but I plan on taking this week off for education and will not be available for bookings.

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The Metro Professional Photographers Association meets the second Monday of each month at 6:30 PM at the Tom Steed Building in Midwest City, OK

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