Web Site Lecture

Field Trip to Rob Greer Photography

For Monday, September 25th we will hold our class at Rob Greer Photography in Pasadena.  I heard Rob speak at a WPPI show a couple of years ago and was REALLY impressed with his work.  If you don't believe me check out his web site and his yelp reviews.  He is the real deal and we are super lucky that he is taking time out of his crazy busy schedule to talk to us.

Here is his address and info.  We will meet there at 12:00pm sharp (in fact be a few minutes early if you can) and we will  depart at 1:30pm. 

Rob Greer Photography 
 
 1439 Las Lunas St, Pasadena, CA 91106

http://www.robgreer.com

Assignment #2 - Defining Goals

Choose a possible career path in photography, based on interests, abilities, personality traits, and past work experience.  (note: Pick one path as your primary way to make money. That does not mean you can't have personal work or personal projects but this is a Careers Class so pick a path to making a career.)

Write an essay of  2-3 pages explaining:

1. Why this career path interests you
2. Why this may be a good fit personality and ability wise
3. What experiences do you have in this field or life experiences that could provide transferable skills.
4. Study the resources we have discussed in class and list the type of work (what kinds of images/work) you might do if you pursued this career path.
5. List what you would need to do to set yourself up in this area of photography
1. web site
2. promo material
3. equipment
4. pro bono work 
5. other

Provide a 5 year plan that outlines what you will need to do to set out in this career direction.  (could be a bulleted list or a timeline

Organize your thoughts and present them clearly, and with depth.  Try to offer as much support as you can for your decisions and feelings.

Submit the assignment in a simple folder or envelope in order to make a nice presentation.

Due Week 7 - October 11 

Assignment #6 - Shadow a Photographer

Spend a minimum of 4-8 hours on the job with a practicing professional who works in the career area of photography that interests you.
• Write a 1-2 page report (single spaced) on this experience and have it signed and dated by the photographer you shadowed.  (make sure you allow time for this step!!)

Purpose:
• Become more familiar with the world of professional photography in general.
• Learn more about specific photographic specialties that you may be interested in pursuing.
• Develop contacts in the photographic industry that you can call upon for guidance in the future. Remember that networking and keeping track of contacts in the industry will be very important in finding job opportunities in the future. 

Process:
To find a photographer, check the web at www.workbook.com, www.ad-edge.com, or www.behance.com for references. 
Discuss with the photographer whether you will be simply watching and taking notes in the background or actually assisting in the shoot.
Your time with the photographer may be accomplished in one day or in smaller blocks of time.
Your time with the photographer should include some shooting time and some editing/office time.
Don’t forget to take some pull back shots of the shooting the photographer does during your shadow and take at least one selfie of you and the photographer.  Anything additionally you can do to document your time with the photographer will be helpful.

The Report:
Be specific about the things you learned during your time with the photographer.
One way to organize your thoughts before you start writing is to create a list of all the things you learned and why these items are significant and helpful to you.
Make sure you list all the details on the photographer, studio or shooting locations/times/duration/equipment used, goals of the shooting done during your shadow.
Include all the photos you took (pull backs and photos with the photographer) and any other pieces of documentation.
The goal is to give me as complete a picture of your time spent with the photographer and what you learned/gained from the experience. 

GRADING: • 300 points

Turn in:     Typed, well written report with no filler.  Submit all documents and photos a simple folder in order to make a nice presentation.

Week 13 - November 22

Travel Photography with Damian James

 Next week on 9-20 our guest speaker will be Damian James.

Here is his YouTube video channel https://www.youtube.com/user/mrDamianJames

One of his latest travel videos:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22VuUXdj4HM

Website:  http://damianjames.zenfolio.com
Blog:  http://gringowithagreenbag.com
Instagram:  @gringowithagreenbag
Facebook:  Gring0 With A Green Bag

Check out his material and get your questions ready for him when he gives his presentation. 

The Life of an Art Producer at Deutsch LA

Here is an interesting article especially for all of you who are interested in commercial and editorial photography:

The Life of an Art Producer at Deutsch LA

Assignment #3 - Building a Web Site

For this assignment you will be doing all the steps needed to build a web site for your photo business or to have a portfolio online which will benefit you greatly if/when you interview for jobs in photography.

You will complete the following numbered steps in order:

1. Determine who the audience will be for your web site.  In some cases there will be multiple audiences, if so please indicate all audiences. 
2. Show me what image(s) will you display on your home page/at the top of the page and why.  What will the layout look like.
3. What will your navigation bar look like and what buttons will you include.  Describe the pull downs (if any) and provide me with a site map. 
4. Include the Bio and Image you will use for your "About" section.
5. Give me the all the copy you will include for your contact section.
6. Find a domain name that is available for your business.  (if you do not have your name then you should seriously consider buying it.)  If you have a domain already then list that and where you bought it. 
7. How will you accomplish putting together the design and pages for your web site.  I need to know what web site builder, theme or CMS (content management system) you will be using, why you chose this one. 
8. Costs: How much will/does your domain name, hosting, theme/CMS cost you both to initiate and annually.

For this assignment All web sites must have the following content:

• Contact Info
• About 
• Portfolio (I'm not requiring you to have all your Portfolio images ready-just a button for them)
• Social Media Links (which social media do you plan to link to and why)
• Logo (what might this look like)
• URL - a Domain that is yours - no sub domains  

Turn in TYPED responses for all the items listed above.  In some cases you will need to create something in Photoshop or neatly drawn diagrams so that I can see what you are envisioning for your site.  If you create something digitally and post it on the web, then I will need a link to that page. For all images (like in the "About" section, please include a printed copy of that image)

You will be graded on the following:
1.  Is your web site well thought out and easy to navigate.
2.  Did you consider your target market / potential clients
3.  Is what you've submitted to me neat and easy to understand
4.  Is the roadmap you've created complete and did you fill all the requirements.

Web site assignment will be worth 300 points and it will be due on October 2. 

Assignment #8 - Careers Class Journal of Speakers

This assignment will be completed as we progress in the class and will include an entry for each speaker that comes to class.  Yes, if you want to put it in simple terms . . . it's forced note taking.

You will start each entry with the following info:

Speakers Name:
Date of their Presentation:
Speakers Web Site Address:
The town/state they work in:
Area of Specialty:

Then make sure you address the following points by number.  Most of the points below will be covered in  the speakers' presentations and if not, make sure you ask the speakers to address these points. 

1.    Education, training and/or how a career choice was made
2.    Who are their clients
3.    Area of specialty (fashion, wedding, editorial, etc.)
4.    How did they start their business . . .
5.    What do they do to market their business and get clients   
6.    How do they price & bid jobs
7.    Description of actual photo shoot/workflow
8.    Recommendations for photo students
9.    Comment on the person's speaking skills.
10.  What was the most valuable thing you learned from this speaker

Due December 6th at the beginning of class.

You will receive 50 points for each speaker/field trip.  The total points for this assignment will vary based on how many speakers we have, but could be as high as 750 points.
Must be typed.  All journal entries must be chronological and provide info for each speaker.  IF YOU MISS A SPEAKER, YOU WILL NEED TO TALK TO A CLASSMATE TO GET THE INFORMATION YOU MISSED.

Photography Source Books

Workbook - www.workbook.com - pay for listing
At Edge - www.at-edge.com - limit the number of photographers listed to 150
Sourcebook - http://apanational.org/news/entry/apa-sourcebook-2017-available-for-free-download
at a "Leader" level of membership in APA you get a free single page listing

With these books you can search for photographers, techs, representatives.  They are good sources of information.