Member of the Month
Bry Cox:
The Art of Jazz Photography

By CharMaine Beleele

Eleven years ago when Bry Cox opened a studio in the basement of a rented house, he did not dream that his photographic work would decorate the magazine pages of American Photo or TV Guide. This Utah-based imagemaker had no idea that within a few years he would be a frequent speaker at photographic workshops and a member of Fuji's Talent Team. He had no idea that a Kodak Gallery Award and three Fuji Masterpiece Awards would adorn his bookshelf. Today, with his studio and grounds on the outskirts of West Point in the Utah countryside, this photographer's resume is full of photographic honors too numerous to mention. Eleven years ago he did not suspect that his image gallery would display photographs of celebrities like Natalie Cole, Steve Forbes and Ann-Margaret.
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Studio of the Month

Roël Photography:
Getting Clients to Love the Experience

By Heath Hooper

Canadian photographer Roël Dixon-Mahatoo caught the photography bug at a young age, but took a few career detours before turning his hobby into a full-time job. It was a family member who first introduced him to the camera. "When I was a kid, my uncle was an avid photographer who I followed around like a crazy kid at the age of three--with my camera with no film in it," he says. Roël, now 44, started assisting a wedding photographer while in high school in Sarnia, Ontario, occasionally shooting a few weddings on his own. But his family, being pragmatic, figured art wouldn't pay the bills. So the budding shooter earned an engineering degree and went to work for a telephone company, which took him abroad--from the United States to Europe, Australia and New Zealand. After about eight years on the road, he returned to Canada in 1996 to start a telecommunications consulting firm. Even then, Roël was occasionally photographing weddings on the side, mostly for people he knew. "Most of my friends noticed that when I was behind a camera at a wedding, it wasn't like I was working, I was playing," he says. "It finally clicked, and I said to myself that 'I keep telling people to do what they love. Why can't I take my own advice?' "
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In Studio & On Screen
Producing an Advertising Shot for Less Than $1000

By Joe Morahan and Tiffany Mulherin

Not long ago, my girlfriend Tiffany Mulherin and I were awarded an assignment for creating an advertising shot for a tea drink--good news and an interesting opportunity for two up-and-coming photographers.

The bad news? Between the two of us, our budget was $700 for everything: models, lights, camera, set, props and all the other hidden costs that go in to creating the final work product. That's a rough budget to work with even with our strengths in professional planning. Accurate, thorough preproduction planning was essential to this shoot.

Fortunately, I knew from previous shoots, that Tiffany is a creative genius with a limitless imagination. So letting her take on the creative side of the project while letting me focus on the technical aspects was an easy decision. It seemed like a totally sensible delineation of responsibility... until my creative partner informed me that the idea we were going to work on would focus around the theme of Alice in Wonderland in a tea parlor.
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Business Landscape
Hiring for the Holidays

By Phillip M. Perry

The year-end holidays bring many things to mind--Christmas carols, crowded aisles and ringing cash registers among them. Unfortunately, not every image is a happy one. Maybe you're among the many retailers who recall holiday seasons when your store had too few employees to service the spike in customers.

Shoppers who feel inconvenienced, of course, go elsewhere. And, they can remember their discontent for a long time--depressing your profits for years.

The good news is that you can take steps this year to get the help you need. "Retailers that do the best in the holiday season understand that part-timers are valuable employees," says Terri Kabachnick, CEO of the Kabachnik Group, a consulting firm in Largo, FL. Hiring great part-timers, though, can be difficult: You must attract promising candidates without devoting too much of your valuable time to a complicated talent hunt.
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Member News
Important News for WPPI Members

• Newest Member Benefit: Wells Fargo Insurance Planning
  With one call, an insurance planner will educate and empower WPPI members to make quality decisions about their insurance needs. The Wells Fargo program accesses the best insurers and multiple products including: property and equipment, liability, auto, group health/benefits, workers compensation, professional liability (aka: errors & omissions), business identity theft, and homeowners/renters. WPPI members will receive an Insurance Report Card^SM with multiple options and side-by-side comparisons so that they can make an informed decision. With savvy, straightforward advice and insurance explained in clear terms, WPPI members can decide what is right for them. For more information, call (866) 874-0822.
  
  
• WPPI 2009: Save the Dates
  
  

  February 12 and 13:	Plus Classes
  February 14:	Business Institute and All About Schools program
  February 14 and 15:	16 x 20 Print and Album Competition judging
  February 15:	Opening Platform programs and a huge Mock-Wedding Welcome Reception!
  February 16-18:	Our biggest Trade Show! Platform and MasterClasses!
  February 19:	Closing Program

  
  
  
• From WPPI Member Craig Larsen I want to thank you all so much for your support over the course of the last 5 months. Your support and patience during this time has meant the world to our family. The BMT was on September 9, 2008 at Children's Hospital in Seattle, and the donor was Marie (his sister). Julian is tucked away at Children's for the next two months while his sister's cells find their new home. I will be overwhelmed and humbled for a lifetime at the wonderful people that have surrounded us during this time.
  
  
• Check out featured Studio of the Month Roel Photography's blog, which showcases a cool element on their blog (www.roelphoto.com/blog/)—video slideshows in their posts. Unlike most videos, the screen is larger and flips through the images like flipping through a photo album. In addition, their comments give a nice window into the couple's background, ceremony, and good wishes for the newlyweds.
  
  
• (www.jeffkolodnyphotography.com) features his high-end wedding work in large format with details about the couple as well a section for comments with a scroll down menu. The press section features a recent full-page photo published in Elegant Bride magazine.
  
  
• For photographers who are heading to Las Vegas for WPPI 2009, check out the blog Flying With Fish (www.flyingwithfish.com). Flying With Fish is regularly updated with travel information relevant to photographers who travel and those who seek to travel. The blog covers everything from the frivolous 'iPhone App of the Week' to in-depth topics on how airport thieves operate and how you can protect yourself from being a victim of theft while traveling.
  
  
• Are you ready to take your photography business to the next level? Internationally-recognized photographer Corey McNabb shares his secrets for creating rock star demand in a hometown locale. After taking on SoCal’s Hollywood scene for more than a decade, McNabb successfully transplanted celebrity rates to his hometown of Asheville, NC. McNabb shares professional secrets during a powerful hands-on workshop that will help you book more sessions, shoot on the fly, edit like a master and market like a pro.
  
  
• Mitche Graf and David Beckstead have announced they will team up to teach a one-day intensive seminar on Monday, November 3 in Phoenix, AZ. The workshop will focus on the importance of blending the art of photography along with the art of business into your studio.
  
  
• Power Marketing 101 is proud to announce the cities and dates for Mitche Graf's west coast "BootCamp Tour." The west coast leg will include seven cities and will begin on Tuesday, October 12 in Portland, Oregon.
  
  
• The Las Vegas Experience With Robert Lino & Michele Gauger: Two great styles, one great experience! Get the lighting and posing right in the camera while cutting back on computer and production time. Capture great images while shooting at dunes in Death Valley, Rhyolite (a ghost town) and Amargosa because it's all about location, location, location--and what locations we have!
  
  
• Posting images online is the best way to show them to your clients, but there is also the possibility that they can be stolen and used on another website without your permission. But now there is a tool to help you find your images if they are on a site where they don't belong, it is a web bot that looks for images with your domain in the copyright field of the EXIF data and verifies that the image is on the correct site. And the best part is that it is free to participate.
  
  
• The International Contemporary Art Fair For Photo-Based Art, Video and New Media, features top U.S. and international galleries showcasing artwork by established and emerging artists during Art Basel Miami Beach (Midtown Miami, FL / Wynwood Art District).
  
  
• The Foundation Center will be presenting a series of free fundraising seminars from coast to coast to help independent artists and arts organizations to raise money. The seminars will take place in the following cities: Atlanta; New York; Washington, DC; San Francisco and Cleveland. There is also a webinar on Oct. 28.
  
  
• The International Contemporary Art Fair For Photo-Based Art, Video and New Media, features top U.S. and international galleries showcasing artwork by established and emerging artists during Art Basel Miami Beach (Midtown Miami, FL / Wynwood Art District).
  
  
• The New Los Angeles International Contemporary Art Fair celebrates the thriving art world of Los Angeles. ART LA features the most prominent international and Los Angeles-based galleries showcasing the best of emerging and established artists (Barker Hangar Santa Monica, CA).
  
  
• The 18th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition features galleries from around the world showcasing artwork by renowned and emerging photographers (Barker Hangar Santa Monica, CA).
  
  
• Brilliant color photography, dancers in still motion and a worldwide traveling shovel are some of the main features in the October Fine Art issue of Rangefinder. This month's issue centers on fine art photography masters and emerging artists as well as our first ever promo guide. The promo guide features hundreds of products and specials for every photographers' needs. See www.rangefindermag.com for more.
  
  
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