(From a post by Kevin Swan on OSP when he was told his logo didn’t make anyone think of weddings… but instead it looked like a beer label.):

A logo doesn’t have to make you think of the product. It has to fit the overall brand promise and style, which mine does. Mine says professional, modern, bold, confident, competent. Those words mesh well with my personality type, my office, my cards, my car, my clothes, my speech, my photography, my billing, etc. It’s about the _experience_ — not about photography.

What does a naked siren have to do with coffee? Nothing, but it’s part of the overall experience of walking into a Starbucks. What does an apple have to do with computers? Nothing, but they make it work (especially after they updated it to just white) with the entire look and feel of their store/site/product.

I think it’s totally cheezeball when people try to cram their entire marketing message into their logo with some symbolic whatever-it-is. It’s not at all necessary, and it usually ends up making a mark that is unsatisfying. I don’t own a single professional self portrait with a camera in it (sorry DJ! hahah), because I don’t think it’s necessary (or advantageous) to put your camera in your photo. We get it. You’re a photographer. Don’t smack me in the head with it.

Photographers seem stuck on the idea that their signature is their logo. Trust me, no one remembers your signature, and it doesn’t set you apart or really help define your brand. Yes, it says artistic and personal, but it’s pretty weak, ultimately. I know I’m stepping on a lot of toes with this, but I’m reasonably confident in the market research and my 15 years in advertising.

So, it could be that I failed — since people don’t think of “photography” when they see my mark — but a lot of my clients register deeply with the branding I’ve done, and that’s where it counts for me.

$.02 and

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Rather than talking about it, Rebel Fish will just send you to it!

Mike Wong is the MAN! Here’s how to use the Image Plate feature to add edge effects to your images in Lightroom:

Go here!
And here!

Is it possible that Lightroom could be even MORE valuable!?

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The LaCour Video is on sale for a month! Enjoy 25% off in the store…

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Rebel Fish decided the trouble of syncing two computers was tiresome. She had a tight system for it, but there were usually hitches. So, she sold her Mac Pro and is purchasing a(nother) loaded MacBook Pro. She’s waiting until after the June Apple convention to see if they announce any new laptop hardware, though.

For now, she’s running on a 1st-generation 15″ MPB. It only has a 2.1 GHz Intel Core Duo, Firewire 400, 2 gigs of RAM, and an 80g HD. And so far, apart from a minor slowdown when running too many tasks at once, she hasn’t been dissatisfied! She cant WAIT to get the new, rockin’ MBP with faster processor, more RAM, bigger HD and FW800.

Here’s what she’s doing to make it work. She has about 1.5 terabytes of storage in a back room, all served by Apple’s new Airport. The newer versions can support an USB hub, to which she’s attached 3 drives and a printer. The disks are accessible to any computer on the wireless network, which is sweet–since she has 3 latptops in the house.

While the wireless disk access is fun, it’s not fast enough for hard-core editing, so she purchased a 600g Lacie that supports USB2, FW400, and FW800. The new laptop will be able to run at the 800, but this one only at 400–even so, it’s very responsive.

She connects the laptop to a 30″ Cinema Display and leaves the ‘puter open so she can use both screens. The small laptop screen gets the palettes, mail, calendar, whatever; while the big screen gets the images, layout, browser, whatever. Since CS3 allows you to save various palette positions, she has one setup for when she’s connected to the monitor, and one for when she’s laptop-only.

All of her client files are on the external 600g Lacie and everything (all the computers, the external, etc.) is backed up every night to the 1.5 terabytes on the airport. Since speed isn’t important in a late-night backup, it’s perfectly fine for this setup.

Rebel Fish wants to encourage those of you who are questioning if the MBPs are capable of being an all-in-one computer–they can! As Rebel Fish is looking to shoot fewer weddings, rather than more, she finds the processing speed she had in the Mac Pro is not missed as much as it would be if she was shooting more. You’re not going to see the speed you will from a Mac Pro desktop, but the convenience of having everything on one computer is significant.

Especially in the case of Lightroom. Rebel Fish keeps her LR library on the laptop, but the actual images referenced in that library on the 600g Firewire. When she disconnects, she still has access to all the files, the thumbnails, the previews, etc. She can sort, reference, rate, etc., but you can’t do any image manipulation when the actual files are offline.

RF will keep you posted as her new smoking MBP arrives…

Get Fishy!

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Rebel Fish was chatting with a friend yesterday about albums. There’s a couple of camps about demo albums: 1) Big, beautiful sample 2) Small, beautiful sample.

Rebel Fish goes with camp 2 for the following reasons:

1: people don’t really want to flip through a big book of someone else’s pictures. They want to see an amazing, powerful design, a well-made book, etc. But leave them wanting more. A smaller book means you’re going to laser-focus your best work, which will come off stronger.

2: If you’re selling your books per page, like many do, you don’t want clients starting to ask, “how much is this book” and freak out when you tell htem. Rebel Fish always show them a book that’s just a few pages over their credit… that way I can say, “you’d pay another $400 for this book” and they think that’s a good deal—sounds reasonably priced.

3: Later, when you’ve done your pre-design (ala Gary Fong) and they see THEIR photos and THEIR design, they are much more likely to spend the big dollars. But if you have them braced ahead of time, because you’ve shown them a monster book, they’re more emotionally steeled against letting their feelings jack up the price.

4: A smaller book feels better in your hands, easier to bring places, more attractive in general.

Woo!

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Rebel Fish talked with David Jay and Kevin Swan about advertising. Here’s the summary of both their experiences:

Don’t.

This industry is about relationships. Even if you’re a nutball who wants to shoot 50 weddings a year, that’s not many clients you’re hunting for. Your best opportunity to get your next gig is not an ad in a wedding magazine–it’s at your next wedding. Consider…

You have a great group of folks who are already on your side; all you need to do is capture them. Here’s how DJ and Swan pull it off:

The slideshow is the best way to promote your business. DJ uses a 17″ laptop, Swan brings his 15″, but plugs it into a 30″ Cinema Display. You can do the editing while the guests are eating dinner usually. It’s best to wait until all the planned events (tossing of the whatever, the dances, the cake, the toasts) are finished before launching the slideshow–that way you’re not detracting from the event.

Have some business cards out near the slideshow and be ready to sign up your next client!

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