WPPI is very close and not to far away! This five part guide & series is devoted to coverage of the WPPI event. The following are some very useful tips and ideas that will provide you with insight on how to prepare you for WPPI; as well as get the most of WPPI.

• WPPI 2009: Survival Guide Part I: What to bring
• WPPI 2009: Survival Guide Part II: Where to stay
• WPPI 2009: Survival Guide Part III Eating and Seeing

This year WPPI has moved to the MGM. I know this might be a bit late for this year to write about where to stay but if for you last minute people i hope you will all benefit from this.

Check out the following visual aid as I will be referring to each hotel:

WPPI 2009 Hotels Where to Stay

As you can see you have great variety of where to stay.

Convenience: MGM wins this category: The obvious first is to stay at MGM. MGM is already very reasonably priced and there still seems to be some rooms left for WPPI. WPPI provides reduced group rates on their website. Which if you click  the link it just has you call the hotel to ask their website. What a crappy website WPPI!

Price: Excalibur. Excalibur being an older gem of Las Vegas would be the best value for WPPI 2009 It’s diagonally located to MGM. Sometimes you can get rates for 50-90 dollars a night depending on the night. They might have increased rates for WPPI. So I Maybe wrong Despite its price its still an excellant quality hotel. Monte Carlo comes in second. It is a good hotel being its quiet and there isn’t much going on there honestly. I think its a hotel with least appeal. Last time i went in 2007 it cost around 100/night to stay there.

Location: Planet Hollywood. I would actually prefer to live in Planet Hollywood. It’s more centrally located in the center of las vegas. That’s if you have to walk from one end to the other. Planet Hollywood (formerly Aladdin) has been completely remodeled and awesome shops attached to the hotel: Urban Outfitters etc. Its right next door to one of the more attractive hotels: Bellagio, Paris, Bally’s

Best Bed: Westin by far does live up to its expectation as one of the best beds i’ve ever slept in. It’s a bit off from the Las Vegas. It isn’t cheap 150/night but having breakfast in the best bed is definitely something really nice about it. I stayed there in 2007 for the DWF convention.

Other Hotels Nearby Worth Considering:

Tropicana: Kind of old as well. Not sure about rates. Might be competitive with Excalibur

Luxor: A bit scary to me. All the rooms are slanted and the hotel is shaped like a pyramid. The inside is cozy as it has a little river that runs through it. I think its more worth just visiting and looking at.

Where to find deals

Priceline.com is great. i’d name a price thats pretty competitive. Make sure you research the price first

Orbitz.com

Respective hotel websites. This one year I discovered Aladdin (which was going through remodel) priced their rooms at 50/night.

Monorail

Keep in mind there is a monorail that runs between MGM, Bally’s Flamingo/Caesars, Harrahs/Imperial Palace, Las Vegas Hilton  and finally Sahara Station.  So if you live in a hotel you can easily access the monorail (Costs money) to get to your destination. The monorail used to be free. But if i remembered correctly it broke down a lot.

A 3 Day Pass costs $28  and a single ride is $5. One day is 12 dollars.  Looks like the 3 day pass might be worth it.

Make sure you stay tuned tomorrow to learn about Places to Eat etc.

Unfortunately, I’m not attending WPPI this year. I’m finally building up cash flow and paying off my credit cards.  Because of my previous attendances to WPPI 2006/2007 & DWF 2006/2007. Which was the last time DWF was in Las Vegas. Which i originally preferred.
This five part guide & series is devoted to coverage of the WPPI event. The following are some very useful tips and ideas that will provide you with insight on how to prepare you for WPPI; as well as get the most of WPPI.

• WPPI 2009: Survival Guide Part I: What to bring
• WPPI 2009: Survival Guide Part II: Where to stay
• WPPI 2009: Survival Guide Part III Eating and Seeing

Things to bring:

1. Pen & Pad/Journal
2. Printed WPPI Schedule
3. Backpack – To carry possible new goodies bought at the show
4. Laptop/Smart Phone like a iPhone/Blackberry
5. Extra Warm Clothes – It gets very cold at night
6. Allergy medicine – Often air can flare sinuses
7. Comfortable walking shoes
8. Point and Shoot Camera – I think bringing your DSLR to classes is cheesy. Fine we know you own one. More on etiquette later. Plus its more thing that can be stolen
9. Voice Recorder/Video Camera
10. Envelope – Or just a way to keep or record business receipts
11. [Edit] Business Cards - If you have any bring many. Thanks to @anneruthman (on twitter) for the tip. Remember don’t pass them out like candy. Just pass them out when someone asks for them.

An easy way to create contact sheets are through bridge and indesign. Contact sheets are excellent for wedding album design. This gives your client the ability to pick and select photos the Life 1.0 way (pencil and paper).

This was recorded on the PC using bridge and InDesign. You will need these two in order to create contact sheets.

Check out my screen cast below:

Easy Indesign Contact Sheet

Caveat: I (writer of wedding photography blog) am not a certified CPA; make sure you consult local, municipal, and state laws with a certified accountant.

With a start of a new year its an opportunity to plan out fiscal plans. Some of you might not be doing taxes or thinking about tax returns yet; but there are lots of chances for 2009 to be a more profitable year by taking advantage and using areas of deductions.

The following are areas of deductions:

• Automobiles
• Bad debts
• Depreciation
• Employee compensation
• Home office
• Insurance
• Interest
• Legal and professional fees
• Pension plans
• Rent
• Taxes
• Travel, meals and entertainment
• Receipts Of Meals and Entertainment

Turbotax and Kiplingers have teamed up and provide a great free guide  that will give you some great ideas on how to maximize deductions. The guide is very comprehensive and gives very specific areas and ideas of what is legitimate and can be used to maximize your tax deductions.

Empower your wedding photography blog audience with a social media boost!

For those wedding photographers who own and manage their own blog. You are now given the opportunity to boost your comments via Facebook users. I saw this being used on consumerist and wondered where you could find the plug in. You can download the plugin directly here: Facebook Connect Plugin The plugin allows users with Facebook ( Which is pretty much everybody nowadays; even pets probably have Facebook profiles) to login and bypass the usual normal need to register a profile and manage a user profile on your own website.

Good News? Yes it is Joe/Jane Blogger!

This is great news because of the following reasons:

1. More comments.
2. Facebook notification/socialization. Once the user comments their network of friends will see that on their “mini-feed.”
3. More Interaction & Presence
4. A Facebok Account yourself

All of these factors will empower your blog and provide your blog with more visibility and an extension into the Facebook Realm of things. Now Comes The hard part. Installing it.

Here are some requirements for the Facebook Connect Plugin

1. Self Hosted WordPress Account; Not one located at http://<weddingphotoblog>.wordpress.com
2. Blog must be using a xhtml transitional doctype. What is this? Check out w3cschools
3. Internet Browser & Internet

How Do I Install this Facebook Connect Plugin?

1. Download the Plugin
2. Login to your admin section of your wordpress blog: http://JaneShootsPhotographyblog.com/wp-admin
3. Head to the wp-admin/plugin-install.php (section of your website w/ an internet browser)
4. Use the interface (Plugin -> Add New) and upload your plugin
5. Edit the comment.php part of the file and add this line:


<?php do_action('fbc_display_login_button') ?>

Need More Help? Lost?
Official Facebook Wiki Directions

FAQ For the plugins

WordPress Forum Discussion: Facebook Connect WordPress Plugin

Going through a duldrum? Bored? Photographer’s block is very common. Make sure you’re always tuning and absorbing more and more everyday.

Where do you find your inspiration as many would ask me. I do a lot of things to keep me inspired.

• Watch movies. See the light in the movies. Recently saw movie In The Cut. The movie features tilt-shift effects as well as decent lighting.
• Flip through fashion magazines. Don’t buy those photographer magazines. They just make you want to buy more junk
• Paintings. Why reinvent the wheel. Go and learn the masters before you.
• Go on vacation. This is my favorite one. Go on vacation and bring a small camera along with you.
• Bring a camera with you everywhere for the next X days. Make it a habit to shoot and see light all the time.
• Visit an art museum. This is an obvious.
• Look for photography contests online. WPPI and your local PPA is very helpful.
• Break your routine for a day. Try to do everything different than you normally do. Flip your schedule backwards?
• The Internet. If you’re reading my blog you are most likely somewhat internet savvy. Finding this blog wasn’t so easy. Use a social bookmarking site and search to your hearts content and look for different views or images.
• Visit your local art/college library. If you’re near an art college or campus that is publicly funded you should be able to stroll into their library and just view some art/photography books that you haven’t been able to look at.
• Sketch or doodle.
• Start collecting an inspiration board. Take your favorite photos from magazines, etc and post them to your board. Try to mimic the style or lighting and give it your own twist.
• Find another hobby. Find and change your hat sometimes. Instead of putting on your photography hat find something else to do for a while.

President Elect Barack Obama has an official White House Photographer:  Pete Souza.  Ronald Reagan’s Former Photographer  has been tapped to work alongside with the press secretary.  Pete is a former photojournalist with lots of previous experience.  Pete has lots of credentials. According the aforementioned sources he worked for the Tribune and Sun Times and is currently the photography professor at University of Ohio.

Recently, Pete has shot an official portrait of President Elect Barack Obama.

Barack Obama Official Portrait Photo by Pete Souza

More Links About Pete Souza:

NPPA Newsrelease

Huffington Post Blurb

The sky is falling? No sweat. Here’s some ideas to promote your business during a recession. A lot of photographers may scapegoat the economy as a means of relinquishing their responsibility for poor slumping sales.

Act Now! While Other Wedding Photographers Might be Hurting

Acting now might deliver that blowout punch to stand yourself out from the market. A lot of successful financial gurus advocate not following the herd/market trends.

Well that might make your job a little more difficult; I think this is the best time to act and gain the most market share or brand awareness in your company or wedding photography business.

Why? Well people are now hungry for cash. If you’re a wedding photographer cash flow is usually the highest during the fall and winter months; thats if you’re in the northern states like me. From my experience thus far it seems that people book weddings in the summer and finally pay all their bills up to you (whilst you’re happy and jollying your away to the bank) in the fall or winter.

Our busiest months seem to be the summer. So during this hard economic climate you might still  have all the cash left and a new year to plan out some goals for you to hit the ground running.

Why invest now? With the market facing many layoffs and a massive reduction and devaluation of prices in many sectors you may get the best deal when searching for services like advertising or internet marketing services.

Research Research Research!

Make sure you do your research. You might not be an advertising expert; but i might be of some help to you. Whilst looking to place an ad for your local magazine or website make sure you email them to see if they have an advertising representative. They will have a friendly person from your area connect and meet with you to see that they can provide you services.

What to do now after all my research?

After doing your research and meeting with ad reps and considering advertising avenues; weigh the risks and the potential of advertising. For some people advertising might not even be a good idea for you. I highly suggest you invest time in social media. Where it has it’s highest dollar for dollar value (its free; just requires some time).

Write some solid Goals for your Wedding Photography Business

Put some good solid sales goals in various categories and make sure you look at them everyday. In a previous article i discussed how to create solid business goals for wedding photography.

Hunt for Real Estate

While you can hunt for some prime real estate (at slashed prices!) you can now own/rent your dream wedding photography studio too.

These ideas will allow you to success and propel your wedding photography business during a recession.

Feel free to twitter at me at @chrisjlee . Just remind me that you’re a reader.
Check out my Michigan Wedding Photography website

With a fresh start and a new year (2009 baby!) make sure you hit the ground running with excellent goals and great ideas to grow and solidify for your business in order for it to be successful.

Write out on one piece of papers all the things you’d like to do: Upgrade more equipment, reduce debt on loans, look for a possible studio space, find a new office manager, hire more photographers, save enough to attend WPPI 2010, etc.

Make SMART Wedding Photography Goals

On another sheet of paper try to refine your goals and only keep the goals that you see are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based goals (SMART). This should eliminate a plethora of stuff from your first piece of paper.

Minimus Maximus

We’re not all perfect. Create goals in mind where you have a reasonable minimum goal and optimal goal. Goals don’t need to be absolute. Example: I would like to book 5000 Weddings this year. While 4000 Will be my minimum.

Push and Push Hard and Lesser (When Needed)

Humans will are (mostly) lazy. Face it we’re not all built like Michael Phelps. Try hard to push yourself to the limit when you’re energy and focus is at its potential. When needed and when you might be at your lowest energy (Toward the end of the wedding season) try to focus on goals that require less output.

Stick to your goals (to somewhere)

After that make sure you tape it to a place where you can see them everyday: Treadmill, Bathroom Mirror, Computer monitor, Bedroom Ceiling (You’re a creative one! Think of something).

Goal Making Creating Categories

Make sure you cover all the categories you need for your wedding photography business. Some categories you might need would be:
Artistic/Photography, Financial, Advertising/Marketing, Website (Wedding Photography), Equipment, etc. Make sure that your categories don’t merge and are specific but flexible enough.

Focus

Make sure you refine your focus. Don’t make too many unattainable lofty goals. Stick to the SMART Acronym . Make sure you make a plan on your calendar to revisit your wedding photography business goals after a number of days (30 days, 90 days).

After the 90 days make sure you see where you are on track. If needed revisit them and tweak them or make them even more inspiring if needed.

This will be all you need to make 2009 a record making year! (Yes even despite the economic turmoil, multiple wars and the like)

Feel free to twitter at me or email me any questions or suggestions if needed so: @chrisjlee

A plethora of wedding photographers nowadays are dealt with the responsibility to manage and maintain content for their website. If you’re very internet savvy i suggest you go down this route. If you’re not very savvy i would suggest hiring some good help from your local area businesses who might offer SEO services.

Google in their most recent blog offered a free starter guide (pdf) containing a comprehensive guide on best website management practices for your website to optimize for their SERP (Search engine landing pages).

The guide might require you to a little webpage HTML know-how as well a good understanding on how to update your pages manually through notepad or other IDE’s like Dreamweaver, Coda, etc.

Some Quick tips include:

1. Provide good accurate titles for your webpage.
2. Use breadcrumbs
3. How to create good practices for anchor text
4. Utilizing heading tags correctly
5. How to market and promote your website effectively