Life After Softboxes at Daytona State College

Last week, I had the opportunity to present a half day lecture at Daytona State College for the 3rd year advanced lighting class. Steven Benson, the class teacher, called me up and invited me to come speak with the class. Together we decided that a fashion lighting demonstration would be a more invigorating experience for the students. I called up a few good friends of mine to see if they could spare some time to ride over with me: Lena G, a fabulous makeup & hair artist, Hope, a model with ABFAB Agency, and Becky, my intern. I was even able to bring some wonderful handmade clothing from a designer friend, Alicia Zutter.

Since the demonstration was for an "advanced" lighting class, I decided to come up with a couple different lighting concepts they most likely had not seen. My main decision was that there would be no soft boxes allowed. The only thing I remember using in school were the soft boxes because that was all that was taught. When I mentioned to the students during the lecture that I would not be using any soft boxes because I wanted to show them something different, I saw multiple heads bobbing up and down. A perfect sign that I had made the right decision.

I told the teacher & students what I was looking for in the way of lighting, and they set everything up for me. I worked with the model for a couple hours, changing the lighting to something "out of the box" halfway through. I explained what I was doing and why as I photographed.

The lecture was well received. One student said it was the most information they had received since school had started. Hopefully there was some exaggeration because I know the teachers have a wealth of knowledge, it's just weather the students take advantage of it.

DBCC Alum forever!

-Betsy

www.betsyhansen.com

Welcome Becky!

A big "welcome" to the latest addition to my hard working team. Becky, traveling all the way from North Carolina, is going to be studying under me for the next two months. Above was during a shoot at Bloomingdale's at Millenia. (She's so stoked!) You'll probably see more images like the one above soon.

-Betsy

www.betsyhansen.com

Photographers: Don't Screw Us

The American society of Media Photographers has started a campaign to fight stealing pictures online. Below is their list of ten reasons to fight online image stealing. You can find more info on www.dontscrewus.org

1. Photographs are Intellectual Property and therefore have value to the creator. If you are tempted to steal, that is because you recognize the value of the IP and are not respectful of the value of efforts of the creator. That’s not right.
2. Just because a photo is posted on the Internet, it is not free. It wasn’t put there so you can simply take it. It was put there to share an idea, promote talent and gain attention. You can’t walk into a museum space or a gallery space and walk out with whatever strikes your fancy. Cyberspace is no different.
3. There are laws in place that protect Intellectual Property and they come with penalties. These penalties are exponentially worse than paying to use the work and acknowledging the creator. Exponentially is a lot.
4. Professional photographers are just like you. We have families to feed and mortgages to pay. Stealing takes food off the table. Times are tough thank you very much.
5. If contacted directly, a professional photographer can be very accommodating, get involved and help you make your project better making you and your client look better. And who doesn’t want to look better?
6. Stealing. Not cool. How did you feel last time someone pirated one of your ideas or advertising concepts. Sucks huh?
7. That photo you are thinking of stealing took time to make. Sure the shutter snapped in a fraction of a second, but there are years of hard work, education and talent invested in it. Stop for a moment and consider that please.
8. Speaking of investments. That photo wasn’t taken with an iPhone or a disposable camera. Not that the iPhone isn’t great for snapping pics of your BFF. Professionals have significant investments in cameras, lights, computers and software. These things are costly to own, upgrade and maintain. Remember that next time you are looking at our work.
9. We are passionate about what we do and we hope you feel the same way about what you do. Passion brings respect. We respect that you are potential clients and future collaborators. We want to work with you. We hope you want to work with us too. By the way, if the project is Work for Hire please let us know upfront. We can’t respect you if you try to sneak one by us.
10. Some things were meant to be free. Human beings, primo parking spaces, unsolicited advice about your love life. And yes, even occasionally photos. Just ask.

What Makes an Image?

What makes an image amazing? In this day of digital age, how do you know if you are an artist producing desirable work? The standards are incredibly high & the amount of competition is just overwhelming. If a person is not producing artistic work because they are passionate about it, then expect not to last long in an artistic field. I believe initially, most people get into photography because they perceive it is easy money. Point a camera at something & rake in the dough. Unfortunately, it does not work that way. In fact it is much the opposite. There is not a large field of monetary gain in most artistic fields, including photography. The business side of photography grows skinnier every day another person buys a camera as a commodity instead of an artistic tool.

Amongst the thousands of other fish in the sea, if you are pursuing photography or another art, how do you know if you are creating inspirational work? Do you ever look at an image & it just takes your breath away? You look for so long at something because you want to ingrain it in your memory for later? You want to frame it & you don't want to let it go? Maybe it reminds you of a feeling or a thought you had, or an experience you had as a child. Whatever the feeling, like a gravitational force, you like it and are drawn to it.

If a piece of art can move something inside of you, it is inspirational. All people are not going to be moved by the same piece or type of art. Everyone relates to different things because they have had different experiences in life & thus they will be attracted to the types of art that relate to themselves. If your images move you, you are creating something special. If your images move others, you are following the artists who came before you and inspiring others.

I live to be inspired!

-Betsy

www.betsyhansen.com

Fashion Photography Workshop, Fall 2009

Editorial Fashion Photography: A Truth Revealed

I was directed to another photographer's blog this morning. A fashion photographer out of California named Melissa Rodwell, she recently photographed for Flaunt Magazine & posted about the experience on her blog. I'm sure you have heard the phrase "kiss & tell". Well you can say that her posting was along those lines. She wrote about the good, the bad, and the disappointing... without naming any names.

Here is her blog posting: http://fashionphotographyblog.com/2009/09/ultrahip-magazine-flaunt/

I was amazed that Flaunt, one of better fashion magazines, does not pay for their photography. My jaw dropped when I read how much energy and effort went into the shoot, especially considering there were 14 working professionals involved. Professionals, not hobbyists. As in, they earn their living by doing this work; They are not doing it just for fun. How does a working professional earn their living, pay for their housing, bills, car, kids, and retirement if the only jobs available to them do not pay a single penny?

I'm sure Flaunt has their reasons for not paying such a large crew of people; Most likely they claim not to have a budget for thier photography. They expect photographers to photograph for them for nothing because they either feel entitled to it, or they know they can take advantage of someone who is so passionate about their career choice.

Now, I am not the type of person to speak or gripe about an issue without offering a solution, so...

Solutions for Flaunt:

1. Sell a couple more ad spaces to generate the income to pay the wonderfully creative and experienced professionals that make your magazine what it is today.

OR

2. Raise your ad rate to generate the income to pay the wonderfully creative and experienced professionals that make your magazine what it is today.

As for why Flaunt didn't use the images... only the people working on this project at Flaunt will know. My solution for Flaunt cutting an editorial from 16 pages to 2 pages: pay for the work you are having produced. If they were to have paid for this shoot & the people involved, they would have been more vested in the project. Flaunt's staff would have been more involved in the process, and thus the final project would have been to their seemingly specific expectations. To ask so many people to spend so much time on a project & then not fulfill your end of the bargain? You do the math.

The world would not be as beautiful without art and the artists who created it. Respect it & Appreciate it.

Joe Blasco Workshop

This past week I had the priveledge of being a guest speaker & instructing a workshop at Joe Blasco School of Makeup at their Orlando location. Travis Pates, who seems to be a master of many trades, was attracted to my work and invited me in to the school. He teaches the evening class, which is an advanced beauty II class, along with having his own makeup/body painting business and traveling through the world to produce the school's 24/7 makeup web broadcast at www.muatv.com. He resides in Hollywood California and has worked on shining stars like Britney Spears.

To begin the workshop, I spoke about what it is like as a makeup artist to work with a still photographer. I spoke on a variety of topics, including: doing things right the first time, creating relationships with the people you work with, presenting yourself professionally, and makeup issues that I have come accross on set in the past. After the presentation and after the students had a chance to look at some of my work, we sent the students to their work stations. We were fortunate to have nine professional models provided by Agency 1 in Orlando for the students to create their makeup magic on. The workshop was the first experience the students had working with professional models, a professional photographer, and with photographic equipment. They learned quickly that using photographic strobes changes the way makeup translates in an image. The students were a bundle of nerves, but in the end they all created something exciting. Plus, we had a good time doing it.

Thank you to Travis Pates, Joe Blasco, Jane Rooney at Agency 1, and all of the fabulous
models. I look forward to more workshops in the future.

-Betsy

www.betsyhansen.com

Setting Goals to Reach Your Dreams

For anyone who has ever aspired to reach a dream, how did it go? Are you still working on it? How far did you get in achieving your dream? Statistics show that only 4% of people who set New Year's Eve resolutions, without setting the appropriate goals, succeed. Still only 46% of people who set goals, associated with their New Years Eve resolutions, succeed. There is a clear difference in the success of an outcome when there are clear-cut goals involved along the way. Goals must include an ability to be measured, feedback, be positively driven, and be something we want for ourselves, not what other want for us. Another big thing in achieving your dreams is writing down your goals and keeping the written list in a place accessible to you. If you are checking your list often, it is a good reminder of what to do to achieve your dreams.

My dream: to have a happy, long life full of images and personal success.

-Betsy

www.betsyhansen.com