Archive
Photography Perspectives: The Weird, Wonderful World of Droplets with Corrie White
From the first moment we saw Corrie White’s incredible, alien macro images we were floored. A lot goes on under our very noses, including the strange and beautiful shapes created by droplets of water. Corrie taught herself how to photograph these teeny, fleeting sculptures and found so much success, she’s written an eBook teaching others how to do the same. We asked her a few behind-the-scenes questions about her experience in a small, small world, and she’s giving away a copy of her eBook below. Keep reading to see how to enter!
Photos by Liquid Drop Art
What inspired you to start capturing liquid drops? Were you a photographer before trying drop photography?
Years ago, I stumbled upon the Liquid Sculptures of Martin Waugh. I was fascinated with them and kept going back to marvel at his beautiful works. In early 2009, I had some free time and decided to give these a try for myself. I found I had a knack for doing these manually and the rest is history. I have always had a love for macro photography and started on this with a Sony DSC-H1 point and shoot camera many years ago. I found this very limiting and got an entry level DSLR. In 2008, I acquired a Canon EF f2.8 100mm macro lens, which was essential for my water drop photography. So basically, I was more of a “snap-shot” type of photographer before the water drops.
How much experience did you have with strobes before you started photographing droplets?
I had never used any external flashes before I did water drop photography. Indeed, for the first half year I used my camera pop-up flash for my water drops. I knew nothing about Flash Exposure Compensation and soon learned why I was getting those cool, but annoying light trails on my drops 
How exciting was it to discover The Three Drop Splash – a new drop structure? Will it be
named in your honour?
I was so ecstatic when I saw the Three Drop Splash appear on my little screen. I did a little dance! Something entirely new which had never been done before. I was really very excited. Will it be named in my honour? I can’t say, but I really don’t think so. Martin Waugh has the distinction of taking water drops to a new level with his two drop collisions. I personally think anything after this is after-the-fact and secondary. What you see currently in the water drop world are extensions of his creations. I’m just happy to have discovered some new shapes in a world where it’s hard to come up with something totally unique.
What type of publications and sites tend to purchase your work?
The interest in my water drop art is very diverse, anywhere from photography magazines to children’s magazines. There is a lot of interest from the science world, especially in the field of Fluid Dynamics. One of the most memorable compliments came from a Professor at MIT who said they brought a tear of joy to his eye and shared the work with his students.
Have you ever been commissioned to shoot a specific drop image?
Not for any monetary value. I have been asked to do certain abstract images, but they are very difficult, especially when I need equipment I don’t have available to me. Right now I am trying to find time to create an Amanita mushroom which will be a difficult, but fun project. I much prefer to work in an uncontrolled atmosphere with colours and shapes that I like.
What kind of droplet images are on the horizon for you to try? Any tantalizing new equipment or materials you want to experiment with?
I really don’t know what the future holds for me with respect to my water drops. Is there more undiscovered territory with them? I will certainly see what’s possible and test the limits. I may try multiple valves, but that is becoming commonplace and I prefer to find the unique. The possibilities are endless and I would like to find more surprises in the liquids.
Say someone had only $200 to invest into trying this kind of photography. How would you
recommend they do it?
I always suggest that before people go out and spend lots of money on electronics, to first try
out a manual set-up to see if you like this type of photography. You only need to spend a small amount of cash on a flow regulator from an aquarium supply store, or an IV drip contraption, to start out. Use your DSLR with manual controls, a regular lens with zoom, your pop-up flash, and see if this is what you want before you take it to the next level. It’s a great hobby, especially in the cold winter months. Be careful, though – you can get hooked!
Buying a macro lens is a good investment if you like macro photography in general. Buying an electronic timing device can be useful for much more than water drop photography. I am familiar only with Mumford’s Time Machine, but it will do time lapse photography, ballistics, and many other types of photography. I would like very much to do some time lapse experiments in the near future.
What have you learned from droplet photography?
I have learned that within each of us is a creative spirit. I have found mine in liquid art photography. It is an exhilarating, relaxing and very rewarding experience. I find a great satisfaction that so many people have been inspired by my water drop work and the techniques I use. They have expressed gratitude that I have shared my experiences with them and although some say I should keep some of my methods secret, I find the opposite to be a richer experience. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” rings true for me and I am honoured to see others experimenting with my methods.
Win the Ultimate Guide to Water Drop Photography eBook!
Corrie has generously donated a copy of her eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Water Drop Photography, to one lucky person. In it you learn step by step what you need to take arresting droplet images, as well as basic flash and camera principles to help you stop motion – essential for any photographer who is looking to freeze a moment in time.
To enter, simply post a comment below with a winning caption for this image:
What does this photo say to you? Post your entries below and we’ll announce a winner in this space on April 29th, 2013.
Get creative, get learning, and set your curiosity free!
–
UPDATE: The winner has been chosen! Congrats to Holly Gordon with the caption “Bobble Head Water Drop.” We’ll be in touch with Holly with the prize, and thanks to everyone who entered!
SmugMug Success Stories: Kent McCorkle Photography, LLC
The Sportsman: Kicking Off a Second Career and Having a Ball
Name: Kent McCorkle
Position/Title: Owner/Photographer
Company: Kent McCorkle Photography, LLC
Location: Metro Atlanta, GA
Market: Sports (professional, college and high school), plus local news and company-sponsored events
Website: www.KentsFotos.com
Bragworthy Factoid: Earning back his initial investment in his SmugMug site within a few months of launching his business.
SmugMugger since: 2004
Career Highlights…
- First time being accepted by a media wire service to cover sports.
- Breaking into Division I college and professional sports.
- Seeing his work published in Sports Illustrated, on ESPN and in other national publications.
Favorite Features…
- SmugMug’s shopping cart for print sales
- Pricelists
- Watermarks
- Percentage-off Coupons
- Choice of print labs
- Proof delay
- Dgrin community
- Digital downloads
- Customization
Making the most of a moment
Kent McCorkle knows the exact moment he became a photographer. After more than 30 years working in the corporate world, raising a family and flirting with image-making, everything changed with a single email. Although he had enjoyed capturing youth sports, vacations and other personal moments for years, he hadn’t thought seriously of working for profit. Then he was contacted out of the blue by an architectural design firm about photos he’d shot and posted of antebellum homes during a family holiday. Interest sparked, McCorkle quickly sold them the images for publication in a book. Fast-forward to today: McCorkle has settled firmly into sports photography, fashioning a second career out of his passion for capturing exciting moments in youth athletics. Riding the digital photography wave and fueling his interest with online support resources, he honed his skills and bided his time. “The idea of selling photographs had never crossed my mind…[but] after the surprise of selling my first photographs, I began to wonder if parents might be interested in purchasing the sports-action photographs I had been taking of their kids.”
Fit to print
Along with technical mastery, McCorkle has acquired a deep knowledge of the byzantine world of sports photography. His advice for the aspiring and uninitiated? Get your feet wet covering youth sports before attempting Division I college and professional athletics, both of which require extensive credentialing. “The first step is to gain lots of experience photographing sports at lower levels,” he says. “Develop a portfolio that shows your best work. Standards for acceptance by wire services are very high. Compare your work to what you see in major sports publications. You can also visit media wire service websites and see examples.” Photographers must be affiliated with approved media companies to shoot higher-level sporting events; the sports governing associations license the images for distribution. McCorkle suggests honing your craft by connecting with other photographers. “Even at high school games, you may have opportunities to pick up tips and learn techniques from more experienced photographers.”
SmugMug and sports
Citing SmugMug’s “remarkable” customer service, continual innovation and “flawless” order processing, McCorkle considers the service foundational to his business model. From the outset, SmugMug helped McCorkle streamline his burgeoning business needs. He especially likes the one-stop shop aspect. “I started with SmugMug because it offered the ability to create a gallery-based photographic website and sell photos. Order placement and fulfillment were the clinchers for me,” he says. He continues to add SmugMug features to his arsenal, sometimes evolving his workflow to take advantage of SmugMug’s conveniences. “I was slow to get on the Proof Delay bandwagon because every image uploaded to my galleries had been fully post-processed and I considered them print-ready,” he points out. “But then I started using it in order to allow me one last chance to make sure everything is right.”
Pounding the pavement
McCorkle’s business acumen has proved invaluable since his transition to photography. Underscoring the importance of building multiple revenue streams and diverse customer segments, he has cultivated clients ranging from athletes’ families and high school booster clubs to local news outlets and national publications including Sports Illustrated and ESPN. “In all but one case, my freelance work with newspapers resulted from my making initial contact with either the editor, sports editor or publisher,” he says. “Sometimes a simple email expressing your interest in working with the paper is all that is necessary to get the ball rolling.” McCorkle adds that persistence and patience are key. “Each time that I’ve expanded the types of sports I photograph or my customer base, I’ve followed a simple principle from my corporate career. Stated simply, it is ‘gentle pressure, relentlessly applied,’ ” he says with a smile. McCorkle markets his business in creative ways, ranging from hardcopy business cards he passes out while shooting games to requesting links to his portfolio on booster club sites to emailing booster officers gallery links and asking that they forward them to coaches, parents and fans.
–
Love what you see? Check out our other incredible SmugMug Success Stories.
SmugMug Success Stories: PawSafe Animal Rescue
The Liberator: Putting the Doggy In the Window
Name: Diane Scuderi
Position/Title: Director
Name of Company: PawSafe Animal Rescue
Location: Patterson, NY
Market: Animal Rescue Nonprofit
Bragworthy Factoid: Saves the lives of more than 100 dogs/month
Website: http://pawsafe.smugmug.com
SmugMugger Since: 2008
Career Highlights…
- Benchmark: saving 30 puppies every 2 weeks
- Creating a rescue network that has placed thousands of animals into safe and loving homes
- Raising $2,000 at their first fundraiser
Fave Features…
- Easy sharing helps promote adoptees
- Ability to email photos to private folders
- Sophisticated gallery hierarchy
- Archives function as testimonials and historical record
- Beautiful image display for featuring adoptees and showing off adopted dogs
It’s a dog’s life
Scuderi’s underground railroad for abused animals began in 1995, when her then-husband brought home a pregnant cat that had been knocked around by a raccoon. Soon, her fervor to save animals led her to found PawSafe as a nonprofit and focus on canine rescue in the southern US. Sadly, the need for PawSafe has grown exponentially since then. “We’ll pull this cute chocolate Lab from a shelter in Virginia, and suddenly there’s another one. And another, and another,” Scuderi says. Modern communication tools help PawSafe hook up with local humane societies. “We align with other rescues already in an area. We have volunteers scattered around the country—people who donate their weekends to getting dogs to the receiving leg of a rescue.” PawSafe targets so-called high-kill shelters, operating a mass transfer every other week. Scuderi’s network picks up animals, brings them to a kennel, boards them, fosters them out and arranges medical care. “Then,” she says grimly, “we do it all again.”
SmugMug to the rescue
PawSafe calls its adoptee gallery “Getting Ready to Meet You.” Thanks to SmugMug, it’s a beautiful, welcoming and easily navigable place to find the pet of your dreams. “We love the sharing feature, as it lets us shoot [pet-seekers] a sneak peek of the animals we’re readying for adoption,” Scuderi says. “We probably use this feature more than any other.” Sharing photos via a respected host is important to Scuderi. “Our photo galleries and archives give our adopters a sense we’ve been around—that we’re permanent,” she says. “If you adopt and can’t keep the dog, you can bring it back. We have photographic records from 2006 on, emails posted as testimonials, etc.” SmugMug technology allows volunteers in shelters to snap a dog on death row, email the photo privately and get an answer about rescue space in the north quickly and efficiently. “This also captures the inspiring side of galleries,” Scuderi adds. “It just grows and grows—scrolling pages of dogs we’ve rescued.”
Doggone recession
Financial constraints, economically driven surrenders and the rising price of gas have put the squeeze on Scuderi’s operation. The relationship with SmugMug has helped make the most of limited resources. “SmugMug helped PawSafe establish an Internet presence early on in the game, before websites were popular with animal rescues,” she says. “Not only that, if we ever have a question, they give us support.” Sadly, a tough economy tends to boost the flow of animals, as otherwise attentive dog owners are forced to surrender pets due to job or home loss. Older animals and larger breeds are even harder to place, Scuderi says. Once a dog is adopted, it holds a place of honor in the “adopted” section, hosted on SmugMug. “It is the adopted dogs and puppies section that we promote and are most proud of,” Scuderi says. “We also have that gallery linked as a WordPress plug-in to our website.”
Shooting for adoption
PawSafe’s photographers have developed best practices for this unique photographic form. Often, pictures are snapped quickly in shelters, under less-than-ideal circumstances. They focus on the animal’s eyes, trying to highlight the dog’s essential goodness and sparkle. Although they aim to keep people out of the photos—final screen real estate is a half-inch thumbnail on Petfinder—they sometimes include a child’s hand touching the dog’s head, or something else that captures the dog’s spirit. They never forget that the animal’s life is on the line. “You have to do something in that icon size to make the dog jump off the page,” Scuderi says.
Biting off more to chew
For the time being, PawSafe’s team is investing in the organization’s future. For example, PawSafe now has two volunteers seeking grants, and just finished its first fundraiser (netting $2,000). Their goal? To build a shelter facility of their own within four years. “People think an adoption fee of $400 is high,” Scuderi says. “It seems high until you ask a vet how much it costs to spay, vaccinate, get a health certificate, etc. We do extensive medical. There are lots of laws governing transferring dogs state to state. We mostly break even, even on a healthy puppy.”
—
Inspired? See some of our other amazing SmugMug Success stories.
SmugMug Success Stories: Je Revele Fine Art Photography
The Partnership: Two Artists, One Platform, Limitless Possibilities
Name: Natalie Licini and Cate Scaglione
Position/Title: Co-owners
Name of Company: Je Revele Fine Art Photography
Location: New York City, New Jersey
Market: Portrait Photography
Website: www.jerevele.com
Bragworthy Factoid: Their studio is located in the historic stained-glass-filled New Jersey castle where actor Michael Douglas was born. The windows were imported from 14th century churches in France.
SmugMugger Since: 2009
Career Highlights…
- Natalie is a silver medalist for the 2012 PPA International Photographic Competition.
- Three of Natalie’s images merited and two were put on loan the first time she submitted work to the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) awards in 2011.
- Natalie won several awards at the 2011 Wedding Photography Association (WPPI), including second place in the Wedding & Portrait Photographers International.
- Cate worked on several award-winning print and TV ad campaigns for major luxury brands, some of which were photographed by Annie Liebovitz and filmed by Martin Scorcese.
- Cate’s earliest Intimate Portraiture work won awards with the International Association of Boudoir Photographers.
Favorite Features…
- Customization
- Events and Favorites
- SEO and keyword tagging
- Social media and integrated commenting
- Privacy/security
A match made in heaven
Originally independent fine art and portrait photographers, Natalie and Cate met after being introduced by a common client and attending the same workshop. Instantly inspired by each other’s work, for several years they flirted with each other as friends and colleagues. Ultimately, they realized their unique experience and esthetic presented an opportunity: merging their collective strengths to form a new kind of photography studio. Cate had an earlier career as an advertising executive; Natalie worked in finance. “We’re opposite in our personalities and skill sets,” Cate says. “But our artistic sensibilities are very similar. We’re both sensitive, relationship-oriented people.” The professional marriage allowed them to not only enhance their artistic, creative brief and storyboarding offerings, but also to branch out beyond photography into branding and strategy, services unique in the photography marketplace. Calling the resulting partnership “kismet,” Natalie believes the alliance has strengthened their business across the board—their artistry, business model, client services and strategic concepting. “Eventually, we didn’t like not working together,” she says. “We innovated in ways that surprised us.”
Reveling in their new look
Creating a unified and functional online presence presented a challenge: Not only did Je Revele need to brand itself as a true partnership, it also had to feature three separate competencies—in wedding/life portraiture, intimate portraits and, most recently, commercial. Thankfully, SmugMug was up to the task. “We customized our website using a sophisticated architecture that was necessary for our business,” Natalie says. “This allowed two artists to merge and optimally showcase their work.” The partners attribute their success in part to SmugMug’s customizability, which Natalie calls “streamlined and easy to use.” Having a lush, thoughtfully organized site has helped them build a sprawling client base via referrals and Google.
Two artists, one tool set
As sole proprietors, Je Revele’s principals were forced to turn to various online tools to manage their business. Not With SmugMug. “We wanted to have one interface to archive, display, sell and manage client photos,” Cate says. “SmugMug is a one-stop shop and we love it.” Natalie adds that not only does SmugMug save them considerable time, it also helps their clients. “Our brides love seeing their galleries online, sharing with friends and family after the wedding. Now they can have guests order prints directly. Many of my clients have booming careers [themselves], so this is a time-saver for everyone.” Natalie and Cate use the Events feature to send links to clients, so they can select their favorites from a set of proofs, for printing or inclusion in an album. They particularly love the way commenting is fully integrated, so that their clients can give feedback on photos, concepts and ideas on the spot.
Never-boring storyboarding
Je Revele’s unique consultancy requires what they call “custom inspiration boards” as well as more conventional storyboards to convey their vision to clients. In the past, they used a popular online pinboard site to introduce their ideas and assets. That changed when they discovered everything they posted there was either public or owned by the domain host. “We decided to migrate [everything] to SmugMug for security and privacy,” Natalie says. “We do a lot of high-end intimate portraiture, much of it personal, a gift or surprise for loved ones. Now we can password-protect their photos in a SmugMug gallery. The private nature of it makes everyone feel like a VIP.” Cate emphasizes that SmugMug’s privacy and security measures also protect Je Revele’s intellectual property. “Before, we were emailing creative briefs as huge attachments,” she says. “Anyone could take it and use it, replicate it, perform services herself. Putting it in a private gallery gives you more control. We can change the password and take it down when we want.”
Going beyond the image
SmugMug’s ability to protect both ideas and assets has helped Je Revele’s founders expand their business, forging ahead not just in traditional photography, but also in branding and strategy. “Our background in business development and brand management is crucial to how we’re doing all this,” Cate observes. “What’s interesting is we’re not just using it to serve commercial clients. We’re also doing a lot of consulting work for other photographers and industry vendors.” Natalie expands on why SmugMug’s seamless client-facing experience and architecture works so well for their beyond-photography business model: “As we work with commercial clients, we’re not just showing up and helping them execute their vision—we’re helping them see if their branding is aligned with their vision.”
—
Excited to see how SmugMug can help your photography business? See our other amazing Success Stories!
SmugMug Success Stories: Meghan MacAskill Photography
The Prodigy: Realizing a Childhood Dream & Building a Brand, Client by Client
Photo by Colson Griffith
Name: Meghan MacAskill
Position/Title: Owner
Name of Company: Meghan MacAskill Photography
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Market: Family and Newborn Portrait Photography
Website: macaskillphotography.com
Bragworthy Factoid: MacAskill quadrupled her business in the last four years
SmugMugger Since: 2003
Career Highlights…
- Realizing she was photographing so many non-friends that she had to start charging for her services.
- The moment her SmugMug website went live (she viewed it every 10 minutes!).
- Beating the recession by doubling last year’s earnings.
Favorite Features…
- Customization
- Shopping cart and Pricelists
- Watermarks
- Order branding
- Gorgeous display galleries
- Events and Favorites
- Proof delay
- Coupons
- Print lab choices
- Image security and archiving
From Barbies to business
MacAskill pulled off her first shoot with Barbie models, a child-size camera and hard-earned allowance money. Although it took a few more years for her to transform her passion into a business, she now operates a successful part-time shop, relying 100% on referrals from happy clients. MacAskill is still driven by the same ambition that inspired her when she was nine: to improve her craft and entrance her clients. “I think about what I would want out of photos of my family,” she says. “I push myself to not only pick the right spot, the right lighting and the right posing, but to also get my clients to be real—to capture their personality and family dynamic.”
Client cheerleaders? Bring it on
Morphing from a talented hobbyist to a seasoned pro meant developing a specialty and cultivating that market. “My customers are young South Bay Area moms,” MacAskill says. “They appreciate fresh, modern, colorful photography that captures the memories, expression and joy in their lives. They are my biggest fans and cheerleaders and refer new clients to me every time. Once potential clients view my SmugMug website, they are impressed and trust me [to document] their children, family and memories.” MacAskill attributes her success in part to providing a quality experience, both on game day and beyond. “Your memories of a [shoot] affect the way you view the photos later. If the shoot was difficult, no matter how the photos turn out you might look at them and remember what a pain it was,” she says. “I want the photos to be a reminder of a really fun day you spent with your family. My job is to put clients at ease, make sure we have fun, and make sure that translates into beautiful photos.” She credits SmugMug’s gorgeous gallery display with maximizing the client review process.
Making friends with features
When it comes to taking advantage of SmugMug’s features, MacAskill is a true pro. “My site is customized from top to bottom. I get praise and compliments all the time on how clean and modern it is,” she says. “Clients see a beautiful website and know that I am a desirable photographer.” MacAskill ensures a seamless proofing, selection, editing and purchasing experience by using such features as the shopping cart for print sales, price lists, events and proof delay. “I am a busy working photographer. As a business owner I deal with both front and back-end issues,” she points out. “I simply don’t have time—or a studio—in which to do proofing sessions with clients. My clients love proofing their images from the comfort of their own home.” MacAskill makes great use of the Events tool in her wedding business, relying on the easily navigable Events gallery hierarchy in particular. “It’s very important for me to see what photos my bride and groom love and the favorites feature allows me to do that,” she says. Because her clients order prints on their own time, she appreciates that Proof Delay allows her to check orders before they go to print. “I have fixed so many potential cropping and editing problems with this feature, before they could become a problem.”
Branding secret: Strong offense, stronger defense
When it comes to image security and archiving, MacAskill calls SmugMug the best. “The image storage problem that plagues lots of pros has never been an issue for me. I feel reassured knowing my images are stored safely on SmugMug in their original sizes.” MacAskill’s customized settings also watermark her images automatically when she uploads a new gallery. Plus, she uses package branding. “I want my clients to see that extra bit of branding when their prints arrive and feel like they’re coming directly from me,” she says. Another favorite? Coupons and print credits. “I use coupons all the time,” she says. “Print credits are vital to my business model. [I noticed] that many clients weren’t actually pulling the trigger and getting prints. I decided to model photo sessions differently and include a print credit in every package to guide clients into purchasing prints. The photos my clients put on their walls are a constant reminder not only of the fun day we had and the relationship they have with their family, but are also the best advertising — they constantly remind clients to get their photos taken again. It has been very successful and SmugMug’s coupon feature is vital for it to work without me filling those orders myself.”
—
Get your fill of inspiring SmugMug Success Stories right here!
SmugMug Success Stories: Awais Yaqub Photographic
The Globalist: Promoting Cultural Understanding in Living Color
Name: Awais Yaqub
Position/Title: Owner/Principal
Name of Company: Awais Yaqub | Photographic
Location: Islamabad, Pakistan
Market: Fine Art, Landscape, Travel
Bragworthy Factoid: Winning CIO’s 2010 Best Photo Blog Award
Website: www.awaisyaqub.com
SmugMugger Since: 2005
Career Highlights…
- Getting his first camera, a Sony Cybershot, in 2004
- Accepting his first pro assignments in 2007
- Seeing his work featured in galleries around the world
Fave Features…
- Beautiful portfolio design
- Unlimited customization
- Ease of use
- European lab for printing
- One-click sharing to social media
- Community and customer support
- Photo display and full-screen viewing optimization
- Watermarks and print marks
He means business
Yaqub may be the most visually driven MBA on earth. Obsessed with beautiful magazine and book images from childhood, he eventually co-opted his father’s ancient SLR, using it even without film (he shares a laugh over the dead bug they were never able to remove from the viewfinder). While continuing his education in Islamabad, he formally began his photography career in 2004 with a small Sony Cybershot. “There were no photo communities or schools in my city where I could learn, so the Internet became my source,” he says. “My learning curve was steep as I never went to art school.” That didn’t stop this determined shutterbug, who began taking product photos professionally in 2007 with a DSLR. Finding the pro route and its adherence to client tastes repressive, he began choosing assignments selectively, focusing instead on building his gear arsenal and experience as an amateur. The move back to amateur status ensured that “photography remains my love,” he says.
SmugMug brings his world closer
Yaqub first joined SmugMug after mentors suggested it on Dgrin.com, both to showcase his work and provide safe back-up. Calling Dgrin “one of the best photography forums on the Internet,” Yaqub looks to the online community for passion and great customer support. “I can get any sort of photography advice, difficult technical info or SmugMug customization tips there,” he says. “SmugMug communities drive more traffic to my photo galleries and make it easy to find SmugMug photographers with similar interests.” Yaqub appreciates that he can now sell and ship to an international market with ease. Beyond that, he says becoming part of the community has helped him explore the business side of photography and improved his craft, educating him on print quality and online distribution issues. “Now I try to capture each frame with a printed end product in mind,” he says. “Dgrin is a platform of serious pros and learners, where I get instant technical help and inspiration.
Paying it forward in pictures
For Yaqub, photography is ultimately about sharing—sharing images, sharing views, sharing knowledge. SmugMug’s one-click sharing to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter helps him fulfill that mission. “For me, there is absolutely no reason to create a photograph and keep it in cold storage. What good it would do if it was not able to spread the message, inspire someone or help someone in their learning process?” he points out. “For instance, if you look at photos of historic events, they add another dimension to perspective.” In the future, Yaqub looks forward to traveling more, finding inspiring stories to document. He aims to focus on “spectacular natural and human wonders that really lift the spirit.” His partner for the journey? SmugMug. “Sharing these stories with the world requires a great platform with great security, display and printing.” (Yes, we’re excited, too.)
Beauty is as beauty does
SmugMug’s customizability has allowed Yaqub to bring the powerful esthetic seen in his work to his galleries. “SmugMug customization is this magical tool that transforms the basic look of a portfolio into something totally different, depending on the desired output,” he says. Along with SmugMug’s photo display and big, beautiful gallery styles, Yaqub endorses the “stretch” feature that lets galleries scale to available display size, optimizing the gallery for full-screen slideshows, which he terms “a breathtaking experience.” Other feature faves: the ability to retouch photos after orders are placed and creating effects with PicMonkey when he isn’t working in Photoshop. The tools SmugMug provides to safeguard his work are also important. “I can create as many watermarks as I want,” he says. “I have made quite a few for different purposes.” He also uses print marks to keep his work safe from alteration.
An eye for culture
Galleries in countries as diverse as Malaysia, India, the UK and the US have featured Yaqub’s work. International fans tell him they appreciate the glimpses he offers into the lives of typical Pakistanis. He has developed a singular perspective, using his camera to take viewers closer to spectacular human and natural wonders—or, as he calls them, “beautiful creatures that are impossible to see with the naked eye.” Yaqub points to his tendency to look at ordinary things differently as the reason his shots are memorable to admirers. “Culture is as diverse as nature,” he says. “It makes our world so beautiful and lively and charming to shoot.”
—
Love what you see? Check out our other incredible SmugMug Success Stories.
SmugMug Success Stories: Lyn Foley Lampwork Beads & Jewelry
The Comeback Kid: Blazing a New Artistic Path, the Beauty Captured With SmugMug
Name: Lyn Foley
Position/Title: Owner/Artist
Name of Company: Lyn Foley Lampwork Beads & Jewelry
Location: Round Top, Texas
Market: Handmade jewelry and glass beads
Bragworthy Factoid: Wrote and published a book documenting her worldwide sailing trip
Website: www.LynFoley.com and beads.smugmug.com
Career Highlights…
- Creating a new hollow bead style not based on blown glass
- Receiving awards at juried art shows and jewelry fairs
- Receiving an Award of Merit from the Ocean Cruising Club
Fave Features…
- Customization
- Quick, easy image uploading
- Archives and galleries for showcasing sold and unsold work
- SmugMug communities and Dgrin
- Private albums
Beading the odds
Lyn Foley has done amazing things. She has worked as an art teacher, a waitress, an insurance salesperson, a fiber artist, a street artist, a business manager and a retail store owner. She has mastered celestial boat navigation, battled Force 10 gales and logged 35,000 miles at sea on a trip around the world. But what does this multifaceted life force find astonishing? The salvation offered by the unorthodox glass jewelry she makes by hand, a single bead at a time. Foley, who turned to bead-making after 12 years of living at sea, found a unique sort of redemption in her art. Foley’s husband Jim, a gemologist who suffers from Parkinson’s, is her partner in both life and work. “Before I found glass, we did traditional work,” she says. “My husband was an award-winning jeweler working exclusively in gold. He lost a lot of his skills, so we switched to silver. I couldn’t get into art shows because I was using old beads; they considered that stringing. So I learned how to make beads, and I love it. It’s been nine years now, and I’m thrilled with it.”
Beholding the beauty
Foley, who learned the art of glass bead lampworking in 2003 from an artist in Texas after she and her husband returned to the mainland for medical care, relies on SmugMug to showcase her work. Her site is customized to the fullest—she benefitted from the help of design experts she found in the SmugMug communities—featuring large image display sizing to reveal the intricacy of her designs. Although she is not a photographer, she has found many of SmugMug’s features to be beneficial to artists; private albums in particular help her close sales. “When I make a set of jewelry for a customer, I usually give them choices,” she says. “I post the photos to a private gallery and send them a password. I also use private galleries to host photos I post on my blog, or in Constant Contact emails or other places. [Then] I know the links won’t disappear.”
Undergoing a sea of change
For Foley, transitioning from her old life to her new one took some effort, and happened in several stages. First, she left behind the retail life—she and her husband owned three stores in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 20 years—then matriculated from the seafaring lifestyle to one requiring her to attend jewelry fairs and manage an online business. Her husband’s medical needs require her to run her business from home; she had the inspiration to return to the arts and crafts circuit they’d relied on early in their careers, adding the online component to optimize their time together as well as sales. SmugMug made that process easier. “SmugMug is so easy because I can load photos and do captions and keywords all at once,” she says. “I can upload 10, 20, 30…and copy them all as needed.” Foley relies on email lists to market her business, attends about 14 art shows a year, blogs extensively and puts up lots of pretty pictures of her work—on SmugMug, of course.
—
Get your fill of inspiring SmugMug Success Stories right here.
SmugMug Success Stories: Smilebooth
The Daredevil: Yes, You Can Think Inside the Box
Name: Whitney Chamberlin
Position/Title: Cultural Engineer/Owner
Name of Company: Smilebooth
Location: Earth
Market: Unique Booth Photography for Events, Parties, Weddings, Celebrations
Bragworthy Factoid: Left a $250,000/year corporate gig to help people create their own images in the Smilebooth
Websites: www.smilebooth.com and smilebooth.smugmug.com
Career Highlights…
- Seeing his formula mimicked exponentially over the past 8 years
- Atlanta, GA booth rentals alone topping $200,000 in revenues
- Making $30-40,000/year on his own local events
- Growing his own company to 5 photographers, each with a Smilebooth
Fave Features…
- Simple gallery hierarchy that lets event-goers browse by location
- Social media marketing: ability to quick-share images; place to view and discuss images as well as buy
- Seamless integration with their own site
- Large, beautiful image display
A booth is born
In his former life as a brand manager and marketer, Chamberlin spent his time bringing back iconic Nikes and wallowing in indie music. He was creative and successful, but something was missing. “I was making amazing money but what I did didn’t have an end—what was I really doing?” he says. “Here I’m making people genuinely happy, just by putting something there for them to do.” The Smilebooth idea bloomed when he started joining his wedding photographer wife Jesse on weekend jobs. “I was in the giant corporate world during the week and my wife was shooting weddings on weekends. It was a bummer,” Chamberlin says. “I used to lose sleep worrying about [all the guests] being photographed. I said, I’m not going to walk around begging—it wasn’t my style. So I built the first photo booth out of plywood and a makeshift computer. It worked great.” He continues to refine the booth and grow the business—who hasn’t hopped into a Smilebooth at a party and let loose, usually with hilarious results?
Putting the “mug” in SmugMug
Smilebooth milks every drop of revenue from SmugMug’s tool set by exploiting the social aspect of photo-sharing. Citing SmugMug’s excellence at showcasing multiple images and large, beautiful displays, Chamberlin says he links directly to SmugMug from his own site so that customers can view and discuss their images on SmugMug without any extra clicks. Chamberlin likes having an online place to do event postmortems. “Then you can say, ‘I was at this event, come view my photos!’” he points out. Furthermore, Chamberlin has been known to build clients their own SmugMug account so they can collect revenue from events themselves. “Some of our brides were a bit iffy on using the Smilebooth,” he says. “I said I could discount their Smilebooth by $300-$400 and make them their own SmugMug account with Smilebooth images. She can set [the price]. It’s enticing for the budget bride.” There’s a silver lining for the vendor as well. “As a rental business, I don’t really need [the revenue]; print sales are an amazing added bonus.”
And the Gods smiled on them
Chamberlin’s original venture has exploded into a diverse international enterprise. In addition to Smilebooth rentals and his own company’s shoots, he manages an affiliate network and continues to produce booths for purchase. Seamless integration between his site and SmugMug, along with advanced customization, lets him manage his diverse business arms and maintain a unified look and feel. To his delight, the Smilebooth concept has proved nearly recession-proof. “We created the first one eight years ago and growth has been spontaneously amazing. I used to get emails from photographers every week saying how do you get these shots in a photo booth?” he says. “We haven’t had any hiccups. The only challenge is getting photographers to stop interacting with everyone and let the Smilebooth do its job.”
Shooting inside the box
The main lesson Chamberlin brought with him from the agency world was the ability to channel anticipation without meddling. Although letting drama and creativity unfold naturally is second nature to him, getting professional photographers to do the same is more difficult. “For a while, I was frustrated with copycats,” he says. “Then I thought, why not build booths for them, because they’re not going to do it right. I created a whole other business, and that’s what I’m excited about right now, because I didn’t think people would get it.” Smilebooth has spawned many imitators, but Chamberlin thinks his team’s ability to let action happen without intervening sets them apart. “I’m not one to hide the feather boa and silly hats, but that’s not our esthetic,” he points out. “You are the creative. [In the booth], you can be creative with nothing in your hands or something physical in the room, instead of bringing the same props everyone has. Custom-made props? Awesome. Relevant props? Great.” Jesse’s classical training came in handy, he notes, citing her general knowledge of cameras and lighting as key. Typically, his team demo’s the freestanding booth and clicker for one person. Jesse avoids posing subjects, often just advising them to be themselves. “She has a photographic gift beyond the eye,” he says of her charisma and ability to help subjects let loose. “That’s what makes her an amazing photographer. How everything feels with the photo booth is basically that same feeling.”
No more “pasteurized” photos
Yes, the Smilebooth is addictive—and the results speak for themselves, all over Smilebooth’s SmugMug galleries. “People don’t get out,” Chamberlin says. “It’s like that ‘Risky Business’ moment where you’re sliding across the floor in your socks. People regain their childhood when they’re in front of this thing.” Chamberlin’s captured grandmothers flipping off the camera, dads hugging sons, and lots of devious teenagers smiling about something they shouldn’t be. “People get excited about doing their own thing in front of the camera instead of being told what to do,” he says. “The game of anticipation is really simple. When you’re in a group and one person has the wireless clicker remote, it’s exciting—it’s unbounded and limitless. You can push the button thousands of times or just once, and there’s a roar of laughter, because it’s a real moment, not a pause—not a tight, confined scenario.”
—
Interested in seeing how great Pros use SmugMug?
SmugMug Success Stories: Graham Watson Publishing, Ltd.
The Master: SmugMug Helps a Seasoned Pro Adapt to Cycles of Change & Finish Strong
Name: Graham Watson
Position/Title: Director
Name of Company: Graham Watson Publishing, Ltd.
Location: Lives in Hampton, Middlesex, UK, but works globally
Market: Professional Cycling
Bragworthy Factoid: One of just 4-5 pros worldwide who cover cycling at this level
Website: www.grahamwatson.com and gw.smugmug.com
SmugMugger Since: 2009
Career Highlights…
- 30-plus years photographing cycling
- Apprenticed to society photographer Leonard Green as a teenager (Green, AKA “Lenare,” was the UK’s leading mid-century celebrity portraitist)
- Authored or co-authored 20-plus books
- Offers online, same-day race coverage of more than 160 racing days/year
Favorite Features…
- Quick and easy file uploading
- High-quality print fulfillment through EZPrints
- Full fulfillment; overall time-saving
- Super-fast customer service, 365 days/year
- Customization
Portrait of a master
Watson attributes discovering his life’s passion to impoverishment. Signing on to study photography as a teen in 1970s London and unable to afford the train, Watson invested in a bicycle to make the 15-mile trip into the city each day. He points to the 1977 Tour de France, his first as a fan, as pivotal in his journey from portrait to cycling photography. “It’s one big adventure. The photography purists would be horrified if I said that. My passion, if anything, is the adventure.” Purists aside, Watson clearly had the chops: Following the event, he won a photography contest sponsored by Cycling Weekly and his career took off at a sprint.
Blocking with the best
Watson’s business includes magazines, books and online print sales for race fans. He brought his online business to SmugMug in 2009 after it was recommended by a developer with knowledge of both cycling and photography. Watson relies on SmugMug to leave him free to do what he does best — take brilliant photos. He likes leaving printing in SmugMug’s capable hands and concentrating on other areas of his business. Citing cycling’s worldwide following and the need for quick turnarounds — globally, fans number in the millions — Watson takes his role in fan appreciation seriously. “You entertain people. It means a lot to see pictures of the sport they love. It’s a responsibility.” SmugMug’s platform has allowed him to make prints available to a bigger audience at a more competitive price; it helps him stay in touch. Watson links to SmugMug from social media to deliver a race-day postmortem, tracking the day’s happenings through pictures. He loves focusing on his commentary while SmugMug takes care of post-race ecommerce, enabling fans to order directly from the site.
Riding the pegs
Like a lot of seasoned pros, Watson initially had mixed feelings about the industry shift to digital. Now, they’re gone. “Digital prints better in a magazine than slides ever did. Digital photos go straight to press (no 15 minutes sending one image!). The romance is gone, but it’s efficient.” Watson says the increased competition enabled by digital technology has changed the game. “Most of us thrive on the challenge of staying ahead of everybody. It’s very expensive and [digital] has more people getting involved, so I try to find extra ways to keep pace with my rivals.” He points to SmugMug handling print fulfillment as a benefit that allows him to focus on his core competency: capturing exciting sports moments. Watson’s studio relies on SmugMug for every aspect of order processing, from selection and payment to delivery and customer service. They are pleased to have had exactly zero issues with fulfillment since they became a client. One favorite feature is the ability to link directly to an individual order with full details after payment is received, via the Tools button on their homepage.
Bagging the peak the smart way
Because digital is making access easier for non-pros, Watson says it’s important to move with the times. This means recognizing what’s good about digital. “Even 10 years ago working with film, the day never ended. It was eight hours of shooting cyclists and another eight getting film scanned and emailed. With modern tools, you’re in bed by midnight.” He likes that clients can get their images very quickly following events, view their full archive and choose what they need, without having to contact him and wait for source images. “I use Twitter as a way to entertain and promote my work,” Watson says. “It’s proven to be a commercial tool. You get low-res pictures on the website, and, true, it’s not the same as being published in print. [It’s] a different medium, but a very important one.”
—
Interested in seeing more SmugMug Success Stories? Look here!
SmugMug Success Stories: Silverbox Creative Studio
The Hybrid: SmugMug Smooths the Way for a Dual Focus on Design & Photography
Name: Susan Sidoriak
Position/Title: Owner
Name of Company: Silverbox Creative Studio
Location: Lederach, PA
Market: Graphic Design, Branding & Photography
Bragworthy Factoid: Growing enough to hire freelance photographers, a graphic designer and an office manager
Websites: silverbox.smugmug.com and www.silverboxcreative.com
Career Highlights…
- Expanded globally throughout the US, Europe, Australia, and Africa.
- Within the last two years have become a go-to source for branding in the photography industry.
- Ranked #1 for invitations in the Philadelphia region for the last several years.
- Escalated photos prices while growing a customer base.
Fave Features…
- Reliable, unlimited hosting for photos, drafts and finished cards
- Managing design reviews using virtual galleries
- Customization
- Coupons
- Great customer support
- Seamless integration with Blurb.com (for selling lucrative Mother’s Day photobooks)
- Quick sharing via social media
- Watermarks
Career by design
Sidoriak is a graphic designer by trade who came up via the traditional corporate ad agency route, settling into a freelance career after her first child was born. Her interest in photography was born out of necessity: unhappy with the cost of the stock photos she worked with, she decided to create her own photographic images. After buying her first camera and editing initial batches of holiday photo-cards and family pictures, she thought, wow, I could do this for other people, too. Silverbox designer-photographers now spend half their time in each discipline, most often melding the two as they produce photo-based materials like cards, booklets and invitations.
Designing a custom solution
This dual focus led to Silverbox’s most innovative application of the SmugMug tool set: creating virtual photo albums for presenting graphic design work to clients. “We’d used SmugMug for our photography services for years,” Sidoriak says. “One day we had the bright idea to upload our design ideas, much like a [physical] photo album. Suddenly, showcasing our thumbnails and initial concepts was easier. All designs are numbered and communication via phone and email is seamless. The option of clients typing their thoughts in the comments section is a tremendous asset.” Clients can also use one-click sharing to send their preferred designs to other stakeholders. Version control is easy, as Sidoriak stacks the newest iterations at the beginning of the album. If the client needs high-res jpegs, they can simply download them from their link, negating the need for Sidoriak to create another file for finals. Her other favorite time-saver? Designing logos in Adobe Illustrator, taking a screenshot of each design and quickly uploading them to SmugMug. “I can compile an album of 20 logo ideas in less than a minute — it’s the perfect combo! Clients can say, ‘I like the colors in #3 and the font in #7’.”
Counting on coupons
Learning how to use SmugMug coupons effectively has been key to growth. For example, Sidoriak realized that offering a free photo session with a retainer-like cart coupon did not yield as much profit as charging fair market value for a sitting and letting clients buy what they want. The coupon is used to discount the sitting, not for print shopping, where it can be viewed as a natural “cap” to spending. “I never had confidence that I was a good photographer—I was the designer,” Sidoriak says. “I once offered a free photo session and used coupons for $450 to spend in your cart, but I think it shot me in the foot—everyone was spending $450 and that’s it. This year I charged $225/hour for the sitting plus buy-what-you-want, my print prices are up, and we averaged in the $600s.”
Seamless with SmugMug
SmugMug has helped Silverbox bring agency-level professionalism to its customer relationships. And unlike traditional photographers, Silverbox’s crew thinks about embellishment from the start. “I can take photos a step further than a regular photographer would,” Sidoriak says. “We’re designers first. Do you want a collage? Do you want a monogram? What color is your living room? I want to hear all about it to modify the photos and design.” For example, SmugMug’s Blurb.com integration has helped Sidoriak do a lively business in Mother’s Day photo books, for which she shoots original photos, embellishes them, designs a book around them and uses Blurb to publish a high-quality memory book. Citing site customization as a major part of a high-quality user experience, Sidoriak relies on SmugMug to get her through peak times, including the holidays and Mother’s Day. “I love everything about SmugMug. They are so on it when I have a client issue; they’re on it well before me. I’m out shopping or something and I come back and it’s resolved. If I could hug them I would.”
Weathering the recession
Counterintuitive lesson #1: placing a fair (high) monetary value on your work does not decrease profit per se. “Moms and young kids out of college are opening up shop down the street. The new freelancer charging $50 per session has taken some of my clientele,” Sidoriak says. “Yet I have raised my prices throughout the recession, and the economy hasn’t really hit my business. During bad economies people are slower to commit…I’m the person who can help modify your business a bit visually—branding and business-to-business work has actually increased.” Sidoriak actually got a little pushback when she fairly upped prices on 4×6 and 5×7 holiday photos last fall—but, instructively, not one customer jumped ship. Sidoriak generates business mostly by word-of-mouth referrals. To network and build her skills, she participates in weekend seminars and conferences with other photographers. The shift to servicing a nationwide customer base took her by surprise when she was recently hired to photograph a batch of products the client shipped to her studio in rural Pennsylvania. Finally, she uses SmugMug’s quick-share to Facebook frequently. “What better advertising than to share your photos to the world? I have received many new clients because of that little blue button!”
—–
Interested in seeing more SmugMug Success Stories? Look here!
What is SmugMug?
Gorgeous, unlimited photo sharing for everyone. Grab your own website on SmugMug and be ready to archive, share and print the photos you love. From unlimited photo and video uploads to e-commerce tools for Pros, we have it all. Learn more.
