I am going to be a guest on the the Photo Talk Radio show, and will be talking about Build vs. Buy and Online Portfolios for Photographers. So if you have read my Rangefinder column and have been dying to ask me questions but haven’t done so, this is your chance to call in and ask away.
The producer says my spot should be about 15-20 minutes into the show, and I’ll get about 20-30 minutes to talk. You can listen online in real time at the following URL, or if you can’t listen to the live show, there is always the archives which you can download and play on your iPod, or if you are like me (craZy) a Zune.
http://www.phototalkradio.com
Set your calendars: Saturday, Sept. 6th at 8:00 AM PST
By the way, have you ever listened to the Photo Talk radio show? These guys are goofy, and crack me up with their colorful remarks! 
I first listened earlier this year when Mitche Grafe was on the show, and not only was it enjoyable but extremely informative. There’s a high bar set so I hope I can meet or exceed your expectations. Please help by calling into the show and asking some really good questions.
Posted in: Photography.
Tagged: Interview
In moving to Seattle, one of the things that needed a better solution is commuting back and forth to the airport, and having reliable transportation to run odd errands, like going to the post office or the gym. So Cami and I decided I’d need a car now since we live a lot further from the airport than we used to, it wouldn’t be feasible for her and Molly to taxi me to the airport and back when I travel. At first the logical thing was to get something functional and practical, like a truck with decent gas mileage (as if such a thing existed) but after searching high and low I couldn’t find anything. I actually was sold on the Toyota Tundra 08 model, it’s totally sweet, but the price was a little out of our range for a 2nd car. Somehow in a round about way looking at a Porsche Boxster brought up the subject of me getting my dream car, the BMW Z4. The size is perfect as a commuter car, and it receives pretty high ratings for reliability by JD Power Associates. And did you know, that this puppy gets 28MPG Freeway?
So I’m not sure if the MPG sold my wife, or the fact that I was not going to take no for an answer but she finally agreed to let me get one. I promise I tried to stay away from this car. In the process I almost bought a Dodge 1500 truck and a Porsche Boxster, but we ultimately agreed that this would do the job.
So color me happy!!!!!
I’m picking up this car at SeaTac tonight, and I’m stoked! It’s a 2005 model for all you fuddy duddys, which means it’s new enough to impress a BMW purist, but it’s old (and affordable) enough to contradict the skeptics. I paid $20k and some change for this car. It has a 5-star safety rating from NHTSA, and probably gets better gas mileage than the car you drive, so don’t even start about what a BMW snob I am. haaa! It always pays to do your homework.
Here’s the sweet car. It’s Toledo Blue.
The Premium Audio and the sweet stick shift.
Posted in: Uncategorized.
Tagged: BMW
No sooner do I get moved up to the Seattle area that I’m off to shoot a Coffeehouse Photography wedding with my sister-in-law Courtnee one weekend later. Jennifer is one of the Stevenson Quints volunteers. The wedding is going to at the beautiful Bremerton Harborside this Saturday, and should be one of the nicest days all week. This is the same location that I shot the classic signature image that appears on the back of Coffeehouse Photography business cards and the opening image on our website. I’m pretty excited at the challenge of shooting in this location again, and partnering with Courtnee to create an experience as unique as the couple themselves.
Here is a great image from the engagement shoot that Courtnee had with Chris and Jennifer last October.
It’s another sleepless night in San Francisco Bay Area away from home sweet home. Good night Molly. Good night Cami. Good night Winston. Good night Beatrice. I miss being home. Thursday won’t come soon enough.
Posted in: Photography.
Tagged: Wedding
I just wrapped up another article for Rangefinder which I think will help photographers decide on the best sales solution for selling images online. If you already have a selling system in place, I think it will provide some food for thought.
After completing my article I asked Tim from PicturesPro if I could evaluate Photo Cart. I wanted to see just how much PHP or MySQL I would need to know in order to get up to speed and productive with his system. As I expected, from my experience in installing similar systems, there are only a couple of config changes that you need to make to a setup file prior to and after installion. Everything else is scripted with a Web based installer and through the Web based administration GUI.
Perhaps I have an advantage that most do not (having software/web development background) but with this experience I feel like I can provide a better guide as to the real level of effort is required to get the system deployed on your host’s servers. In fact, there are a few templates that you can use right out of the box which offer a reasonably nice looking solution. I myself would opt for customizing from the start, which consists of pointing to my existing CSS file with a few customizations here and there, and editing some settings through the Admin interface. So far I have not edited any PHP code or done any customizing of MySQL database.
In less than a day, I have configured Photo Cart more or less to my liking. You can see it and play around with it
here.
I intend on putting it through the test by using this system for a wedding I’m shooting with my sister-in-law later this month. I’m also experimenting with Wedding Photography Registries and will report here throughout the month on the results. If you offer wedding registries on your website, please share your experiences here.
If you are interested in this system for your own website, take a look here. Let Tim know that you heard about it from Steve Tout.
Photo Cart by PicturesPro
I will be reviewing a Beta version of Photo Cart for Tim later this month, and posting a short teaser review here. So if you are interested in staying on the cutting edge in shopping carts for photographers, check back frequently, or subscribe to my blog through Xanga or a RSS Newsreader.
Posted in: Photography.
Tagged: Writing
Birthday boy here, with little signs of aging except that I wish I could forget how old I’m getting. I shouldn’t feel so lonely about it, though. A couple of my friends had their birthday yesterday, so they feel the pain before I do. Also me and my sister-in-law are the same age so I know someone must be able to empathize.
Running made me feel better. I’ve been running lately, and today I ran 3 miles for an average of 10 minute mile. I used to run 3-5 miles on the X-Country team in High School, and it seems my body is adapting to the training I used to do back then. I am trying to get my heart healthy and strong, and to get back to my leaner and stronger self. Beginning to feel and enjoy the energy and endurance benefits, be it ever so slightly.
It still hasn’t really sunk in that we are moving to Seattle. I will miss all the flowers Cami and I planted here. I’m considering digging up a few and taking them with me. If I don’t, I will have to get a few roses and lavender plants to start anew up north. Here is a shot of our hollyhocks in (almost) full bloom.
It’s gorgeous outside today, it’s supposed to get up to 83, which is about perfect! There isn’t a cloud in the sky. Color me happy. Cami is going to take Molly and I shopping and for a lunch in Clackamas. I theoretically have the day off from work, but let’s not go there. Since taking VMware live back in June with their spanking new Oracle Identity & Access management solution they have had fewer problems (thankfully) and everyone is happy including me.
Time for me to go. Have a great day!
Posted in: Uncategorized.
I watched a quick clip with Michael Dell on CNNMoney.com where he talked about his business and his success. When asked about the best advice he ever received in his career, he reflected upon the wisdom of the late Dr. George Kozmetsky. “When you encounter a problem, fix it as fast as you found it.”
I think this is generally good advice for business and success in life. Problems that lie at the back of the burner can often consume energy (create ulcers/headaches, et al.) and a degree of thought that is disproportionate to the scale of a problem. Utilizing whatever tools you have at your disposal, assess, manage and resolve problems in an efficient manner to free yourself and your time to focus on other more profitable and productive tasks.
Posted in: Management.
Tagged: Business
Howdy. We are packing up the house and getting ready to move to the Seattle area in August. It’s sad to leave our home here in Portland behind but it’s exciting at the same time. Cami is working on some business plans with her sister that looks pretty dynamite, and I can hardly wait to share the details here when they begin to materialize.
I was reading Jessica Claire’s blog today, and discovered that her and I share the same birthday week, anyways. Does anyone know what day her birthday is? Mine is the 24th. Wouldn’t it be cool if my birthday was the same as Jessica Claire’s?
Having a birthday in the summer is the best! I remember going to Water Works Park with all my friends in the middle of summer in Redding (NorCal where it is typically 107 degrees but we didn’t care) and made a day trip out of it. I miss those days.
Here’s what I looked like last summer on my birthday. The saying on this shirt pretty much sums up the way I feel this week. I hope to take it as easy as I can.
Here’s what’s on my birthday wish-list. You can help me out by leaving comments for my wife to read and tell her how badly I need these things. Because she will probably read it once and laugh out loud. Joke, hahahaa, funny funny. Why is it so funny?
- Suunto T6c Heart Rate Monitor and Fitness Trainer Watch (Black)
- DLO Action Jacket Armband Case for Zune 30 GB (Black)
- Fossil jeans (dark denim)
- Totally Rad Actions 2, The Revenge
- Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L
- A date with Jessica Claire and Becker (in Seattle this fall)
- Greg Gorman workshop in Mendocino
- The Fine Digital Print I & II Workshop with John Paul Caponigro
- BMW Z4 2006 Black (even though I’d have to pay for it, hey worth asking anyways)
- Weekend retreat on the coast
Be thankful you’re not married to me! 
Posted in: Uncategorized.
A few weekends ago I enjoyed taking time out from work and writing for a photo shoot with my nieces and nephew. My sister-in-law was approached by a producer in L.A. about making her or the quints the subject of a reality t.v. show. So I did my part by helping out with an updated portfolio shoot.
It’s a shame, isn’t it, that this if my first real shoot with them and they are already 2 years old! At this age it’s more like shooting at them rather than with them, and for all you moms and dads out there with 2 year olds, imagine multiplying that challenge by 5! What a hoot! I know now surely that children’s photography isn’t my cup of tea for various reasons, although for family and friends it’s quite a delight.
http://www.stevetout.com/stevenson
I also had the pleasure of having a couple shooting sessions with Courtnee. She’s so easy to take pictures of, and the camera loves her.
http://www.stevetout.com/courtnee
You can Google: “stevenson quints” to read volumes more about their lives. Or feel free to check out their website at www.stevensonquints.com (currently being redesigned and managed by Uncle Steve himself)
Enjoy!
Posted in: Photography.
Tagged: Quints
I’ve been working from home for six weeks until today, and it’s been awesome to be able to spend so much time watching Molly grow and develop into the little person that she is. So it’s with mixed emotions as I get back on the plane today and head back to “work” in the Bay Area. This 86m flight above the clouds reveals such rich moments of reflection and clarity about life. I know they tell you how its so safe to fly but you can’t say that the thoughts of “what if…” never cross your mind once in awhile. I use the time to count the many blessing in my life and ponder my contributions. It’s unfortunate that we so easily forget about the profound in the little every-day things, and often don’t make the realizations until we fly in a jet, or whatever other larger than life experiences you may participate in.
Last night I turned on the TV, expecting to watch all the latest news about the Feds stepping into the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac situation. As I flipped through channels I was surprised to find more coverage on Tony Snow, the third White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush, than the pains being felt in the mortgage industry. He’s a young man, older than me but younger than my parents anyways, and it was sad to me because he seems like such a great guy. The thing that I will remember about him most is the retelling of a conversation he had with Ari Fleischer prior to his passing. That in spite of the fact that nations operated under Tony’s watch at times throughout his career, holding prestigious positions in the White House, CNN, The O’Reily Factor, and according to some one of our nation’s “finest writers” that he recounted the best and most important times of his life were those which he spent with his children. Those values, to me, go much deeper than partisan politics, and I hope goes appreciated by all whether democrat, republican, or independent.
On the surface, daily headlines about our economy and world relations give enough cause to be down in the dumps about life and our nation. But don’t forget to take time out to count your blessings closer to home. Unplug yourself from WiFi and the Blackberry for awhile, and take time to think about life and your priorities as often as you can. It’s refreshing, and you will be glad you did it.
Posted in: Current Events.
Here are some quick, if not obvious (to me) strategies to help improve the quality and effectiveness of your website. I just browsed several photog websites, so please bear with me while I think out loud. Feel free to comment and let me know your thoughts.
- Instead of Googling for “10 tips on Landing Page design,” pay 10 people $20 for an honest critique and to create some lists for you to maximize the effectiveness from your feedback system.
- Do NOT show a .wav, .mov or .fla movie, especially if it’s larger than 200px or if it wasn’t professionally edited. Not everyone’s browser/Internet speed is optimized for videos.
- Avoid showing a “Click here for HTML” and “Click here for Flash” links. You should know your target audience well enough to make an informed decision about how they use the Internet and their preference for HTML/Flash. The medium (html or Flash) should reflect the sophistication/style of your own work, once you make a decision about which way to go, accept no apologies.
- Offer a simple navigation with clean lines. Make use of drop downs or fly outs where it makes sense to keep the user interface uncluttered, not as a way to show off your Flash or JavaScript skills.
- Make it clear what you want me to do and provide a navigation that makes it easy to accomplish those goals. E.g. 1.) View Portfolio, 2.) View Weddings 3.) View Testimonials 4.) View Schedule 5.) Contact me for appointment.
- Try variations using Google Website Optimizer. (See previous blog entry) This is a perfect way to test the effectiveness of multiple landing pages and check which messages make the most sense to your website visitors.
- Your blog is important, and fun, but don’t forget that you need to leverage your website to make a clear, concise and compelling call to action. (Others might call this creating “Emotional Selling Points” or ESPs.) Blogs are often too unstructured and confusing for this. So let your website do the heavy lifting and then relax and have fun with your blog.
Posted in: Photography.
Tagged: Writing
