Marketing & Promotions (Week 9)

This thesis work is so incredibly exhausting. So far I have photographed wine maker, brewers, bartender, umbrella maker, printer, florist, luthier, metal worker, glassblower, & a painter. & in the next week I will be photographing a wall muralist & two tattoo artists. 

Check out some of the new stuff

Marketing & Promotions (Week 8)

We are finally in the final stages of this business cards! My graphic designer is sending them off to the printer sometime this week & I am beyond relieved that this is over. This quarter has been so crazy & all I can say is that I'm very relieved that it is now coming to any end. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 7)

Since I have been at AIS that I have learned a lot about photography. However, it wasn't until my business class that I learned about making money and realizing when you are being "ripped off". I got my first real commercial job for this summer about four months ago and I don't think I have to express how much I was looking forward to it. I took it as a sign that things might actually work out for me in this crazy business. 

It wasn't until money came into the picture. For 10 hours of shooting and at least 8 hours of post work (photoshop work) my client wanted to pay me $85.00 --- YES, I'M SERIOUS. So with the help of my teacher, I politely told her that I would not take anything less than $250.00 (which isn't all THAT much). And she said she couldn't afford it and so I told her (politely of course) that if she wanted to get free photographs for her new line that she was going to have to find another photographer. So the business deal was over. 

I lost my first job. I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn't disappointed. I really thought that this would be my first real commercial job and that through this I would get many more jobs. However, do I regret not just accepting the $85? No I do not. You see...business owners are like frugal coupon moms; they will do anything to get a lot for practically nothing. If I hadn't taken business at AIS I think I would have accepted the job for what it was and gotten COMPLETELY ripped off. 

So I suppose what I have learned through this is that technical skill means nothing unless you can also be a person of business. The decisions that you make with money and clients will define you and I chose not to let this job define my career. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 6)

I never imagined designing a brand to be a difficult thing...but it really is. We have moved away from the first logo and we have now gone to this one below. I'm not quite sure what to think of it yet because I have only just seen it today. In all of this I have realized that I am not a designer and I don't think I'd ever want to be. It is all very difficult to try and put every skill, work, and passion into a single design. In saying this I have great respect for those excellent designers in the world. This is a work in progress and by every week it will continue to get closer to where it needs to be. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 5)

This was a busy week for me...I've been photographing almost every day this week and I'm excited to share some of the new stuff. So this thesis that I have been working on took a bumpy start, however, I have been really pleased with some of the newer images. 

I was able to photograph a local printer named Ron Reeder and an umbrella maker here in downtown Seattle. Ron Reeder is an incredible printer who is now retired but still prints, teaches for fun, and photographs. The umbrella maker goes by Emmy and she is a recently graduated AIS student. 

One thing I am really getting out of these photos is that all of these people live very happy lives. They talk about their work with such pride that when I leave I am always feeling truly inspired. I think I am really getting a lot out of doing these portraits because I often hope that one day I can be one of those people who are retired but they are STILL doing their art because they still love it. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 4)

Since I have been in my portfolio class I am being forced to make myself a brand, which incudes a logo! So this is my rough logo! It was created by a fellow photographer who is also a very talented designer. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 3)

            I've returned from California and I'm excited with the work that I have brought back. I came out with seven different portraits of people who work in some sort of craft. The focus of this set is from the beer and wine industry.

            I traveled to the California wine country to photograph at The Bell Wine Cellars and the Francis Ford Coppela Winery. At these locations I had the privilege of photographing the managers of both, the lead wine maker, and a wine educator. The next day I photographed at two popular California breweries, E.J Phair and Laganitas. I was able to photograph an owner at E.J Phair and the two head brewers at Laganitas. Later than night, I was able to photograph a upcoming star in the painting world. Danika is a young painter who has really started to make her mark. She has won several painting contests and makes the majority of her money selling her paintings.

            These people could talk all day about their craft. They were kind enough to take time out of their day to let me photograph them and their product as well as teach me the basics of their craft. Therefore, I decided to pair a photograph of their craft with the portrait that was taken of them. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 2)

I am excited to announce that my final thesis has been approved! My idea about the working artists was a hit and I got the go-ahead to start shooting! This upcoming Wednesday I will be flying over to California to start my shooting in the beautiful wine county. The first winery that I will be shooting at is The Bell Wine Cellars (Check out their website here!). The next day I will also be shooting at Laganitas Brewery (website) and EJ Phair (website). I will be photographing the owners, makers, and servers of each place.

Afterwards, I will be photographing a painter, a baker, and a tattoo artist.

I am excited to share my final thesis and I'm excited to learn a little about these people's craft.

Creative Concepts (Week 1)

In the photography program at the Art Institute of Seattle all students are told to create a "Thesis Project". Typically, this is what you work really hard on for your last few months in school to take with you out into the world. It's like having a portfolio, but all of the work goes together like a photo essay. 

So this class that I'm taking is called "Creative Concepts" and basically what you do in this class is to begin the process of creating your thesis project (or for most of the class is finishing up your thesis project). 

But for me, I'm at the starting part of this whole process, which scares me. In 11 weeks I am supposed to come up with 20 images for my thesis along with my 12 images that I have to complete in my portfolio class. So this is where I have to come up with ideas and come up with them FAST. 

Fortunately for me, I have been thinking long and hard about what I wanted to do for my thesis over the 10 day break we had a week or two ago. I grew up in California with a mom who was and is the strongest person that I know. She always had to work multiple jobs just so that my brother and I could have a better life. She is what I like to call a "survivor". 

I am so inspired by those people in the world that are "survivors" and really take charge of their own lives regardless of how bad their situation might be. I find that small business owners are a group of people that a student like me can look up to. Being in an artistic industry, doing what you want to do is generally "the goal". Artists who make their money in the industry of art are  risk takers (in my mind). Small business owners are like that too; especially those who consider their services to be of an artistic origin  They took a chance to do something that they truly love to do. I find that those people should be celebrated in a group of photographs. 

I would like to photograph people who work in places like the wine industry, the brewing industry, independent artists who make all of their money just by painting or sculpting, musicians who refuse to do anything else but make music, etc. These artists who took a risk in their own lives to take the ultimate plunge of standing up on their own two feet with nothing more than their work to hold them up. These people need to be celebrated and documented. 

I plan to do a series of 20 environmental portraits of these people as my final work as a student of the Art Institute of Seattle. 

Marketing & Promotions (Week 1)

I am officially in my last year of undergraduate school at The Art Institute of Seattle, which means that I am going to have to finally learn how to market myself and my services as a photographer. 

This being said, I am taking a Marketing and Promotions class this quarter and my teacher has asked us to start blogging once a week to start the learning process of how to market and promote myself. So through this post I will tell you all about some of the material that I learned through this weeks assignment. 

The assignment was to pick an article about marketing and write a review on it. While I was looking, I found a article that teaches businesses how to use Twitter to get their followers more engaged with the company and what they are posting. 

Attached is an image that shows everything that I learned. Enjoy!