Ian Furniss Photography » Blog Archive

Sunday Round Up

Things have been a little thin on the ground in the blog recently, mainly due to life commitments getting the better of me but, for anyone who hasn’t been over to the front page i’ve also completed the redesign of the main site. I think it’s looking a lot better now, a lot more concise and functional, but if you come across any errors please let me know.

Ok, anyone that knows me will tell you i’ve always been a pretty quiet, shy type of person. Now whilst that can be a pain in the backside for many reasons, I wouldn’t change it because I think it helps my creativity. One of the things it doesn’t help with though, is marketing. As I mentioned in the last post, i’m useless at it and when it comes to telling the world how wonderful I am, I suck. There’s a way around it though and it goes by the name of ‘coupons’. Photoshelter has a great article up about how to use them here and it’s well worth a read. Short of an opening line to use for getting in touch with that old client? Mail them a coupon. Embarrased about pushing yourself when you want to give out business cards? Include a coupon with the card and you’re offering them a favour rather than begging for attention. The ideas are many and it’s a great way to drum up extra business.

Still with promoting yourself and one of the ways i’ve heard a number of photographers use is entering competitions. Personally I have an aversion to most because it reminds me too much of my days as a musician when clubs wanted bands to ‘pay to play’. I just can’t come to terms with the logic that says I should work, and pay for the privilege as well! The day I walk into PC World and they say “Hi Ian, here’s £500. Will you take this Macbook off our hands?” is the day i’ll pay to enter a competition. That aside, The Travel Photographer Tewfic El-Sawy has a great post up here warning about the equal dangers of rights-grabbing.

For lovers of Tibet, the BBC has an article about Russian photographer Dmitry Shatrov in which he discusses how the internet and new technologies have changed the art of photography. The article’s not too great, but the photos are stunning! Have a look here.

Another blog post I came across today is entitled The Mystery of Compostion. I’m a firm believer that all things are photogenic and this post is a great example of why. Every ‘thing’ has a story to tell, we just need to know how to write it or indeed, photograph it.

I’ll finish up this weeks round up with a link to a post from DPReview entitledUK minister aims to reassure photographers. It’s yet another supposed reassurance that photographers and photo-journalists shouldn’t be stopped under anti-terrorism laws but, the sad reality is, the police do continue to stop photographers regardless of all the statements being issued to the contrary. Hopefully the continued highlighting and forthcoming general election will bring an end to the problem.

Enjoy your week!