Local Search Engine Optimization

Local Search Engine Optimization – Hudson Valley, NY

Although Professional Photographer by trade, I’ve made great strides in learning more than just the basics of local Search Engine Optimization out of a necessity to keep my business ahead of or in line with my competitions SEO. I had to learn what local SEO meant and how SEO worked so that my message and my products weren’t getting lost in cyberspace, so that I was easily accessible and so that I could, essentially, take back control of my advertising dollars and my time.

What I know today about how local SEO works took me over a year to learn and understand and believe me, learning SEO wasn’t easy.

On Tuesday, November 15, 2011 from 5 – 8pm in the Studio located at 400 Market Industrial Park Suite #32, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, I’m going to hold an entry level / beginners class for those interested in learning the basics of Search Engine Optimization, local SEO.  This SEO course will be a three hour course and the price is set at $150.  Class size for this course is limited to 12 people.

What you learn in this class WILL improve your page ranking or I’ll give you your money back.

To register for this SEO course, leave a comment, email me at info@blueskyphotographyny.com or call me directly at (845) 473-7192 and ask for Steve.

Wedding Photography at Sunset Tutorial

At one time or another we’ve all had clients that’ve asked us to photograph them at sunset.  The “golden hour” as photographers usually refer to it, is that first and last hour of sunset on each day.  Often the most majestic and breathtaking light that we see during the course of a day, it is in fact only a “golden 30 minutes” at best, but who’s counting.  It’s during these times of day that the kelvin scale reaches it’s coolest / lowest point, usually around 1000 to 2000 degrees Kelvin, at which time we’ll see those familiar colors of sunset, reds, oranges and yellows.

It’s at this point, just as the sky turns pink and the sun’s almost kissing the horizon line that our clients’s come up to us and ask for a sunset photo, which leads me to the topic of this blog entry.  What I’m about to show you is how I’ve chosen to do sunset photography over the past eight years and that is to say that first off, tell your clients it’s not time yet.  Assure them that you’ll be watching and when it’s time you’ll come get them.

I start by letting the sun set below the horizon line.  That’s right!  That big beautiful sun that everyone’s staring at, I let it settle below the horizon line before I begin photography.  My interpretation of that moment, when the sun’s setting, is two fold in that I feel it’s an action not best expressed in a single still photo nor are the colors corrected located in the sky.

My second reason for photographing couples after sunset is that I don’t want to include the sun in the photograph.  I don’t want the sun to become the subject of the photograph, so I don’t include it. Let’s look at the examples I’ve posted below.

Notice in figure #1 I start with all the lights turned completely off, because my first goal is to properly expose the night’s sky and the bridge behind the bride and groom, who by the way, had the New York Bridge Authority turn those bridge lights that specific color just for them on their wedding day.  Had I been trying to take this photo earlier in the evening, the bridge lights wouldn’t have been turned on, nor would I had been able to balance my exposures for all of these elements. Waiting is the only option.  Also notice that the bride and groom are standing in complete darkness, because without this, this photograph is impossible to take. The slow shutter speed would lead to image blur and thus my speed lights have to be the only source of illumination on the subject.

Figure #2 shows a properly exposed background, plus the addition of a key light, in this case a QT4D mounted on a monopod, fired remotely by a Pocket Wizard. Figure #5 shows a close up of that same image.  Notice the high contract ratio between the highlights and shadows.  It’s not flattering at all.

The last light I’ll add is my fill light, mounted off camera just above my lens as seen in figure #3.

THE TECHNICALS

Camera: Canon 5D Mounted on a tripod

Lens Choice: 50mm

Aperture: 2.8

Shutter Speed: 1/15

ISO: 1000

Externals: Canon 550 Speed light, QT4D, monopod, Pocket Wizards

Informational photography Videos

Photography is about learning and here, we’ve done the foot work for you. Simply Click on one of the many information photography videos that we’ve found online for you and enjoy.  We’ll continue to add to the list as new videos become available to us.

The iphone Fashion Shoot

Fstoppers Reviews Nikon Pocket Wizzards

Fstoppers Original: The Wakeboard Studio Shoot

Bride Beware.

Here’s the example of the news release Wedding Wire sent us to release to our guests, clients and friends.  I’ve removed all the back links to their site, but left them in blue so you could see where they were.  Before you go on, here’s my short of it all, know what you’re getting and who you’re talking to. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions and don’t assume that just because someone calls themselves a professional that they behave like one. I talk to hundreds of newlyweds every year and it never ceases to amaze me just how much they take for granted.  Ask questions.  And yes, I think this is a bogus award.

Photographers. The top 10 sources to improve your SEO

Top 10 Search / SEO Blogs

#1 – Search Engine Land

• Why I Read It: For several years now, SELand has been the fastest, most accurate and well-written news source in the world of search. The news pieces in particular provide deep, useful, interesting coverage of their subjects, and though some of the columns on tactics/strategies are not as high quality, a few are still worth a read. Overall, SELand is the best place to keep up with the overall search/technology industry, and that’s important to anyone operating a business in the field.
• Focus: Search industry and search engine news
• Update Frequency: Multiple times daily

#2 – SEOmoz

• Why I Read It: Obviously, it’s hard not to be biased, but removing the personal interest, the SEOmoz Blog is still my favorite source for tactical & strategic advice, as well as “how-to” content. I’m personally responsible for 1 out of every 4-6 articles, but the other 75%+ almost always give me insight into something new. The comments are also, IMO, often as good or better than the posts – the moz community attracts a lot of talented, open, sharing professionals and that keeps me reading daily.
• Focus: SEO & web marketing tactics & strategies
• Update Frequency: 1-2 posts per weekday

#3 – SEOBook

• Why I Read It: The SEOBook blog occassionally offers some highly useful advice or new tactics, but recently, most of the commentary focuses on the shifting trends in the SEO industry, along with a healthy dose of engine and establishment-critical editorials. These are often quite instructive on their own, and I think more than a few have had substantive impact on changing the direction of players big and small.
• Focus: Inudstry trends as they relate to SEO; Editorials on abuse & manipulation
• Update Frequency: 1-3X per week

#4 – Search Engine Roundtable

• Why I Read It: Barry Schwartz has long maintained this bastion of recaps, roundups and highlights from search-related discussions and forums across the web. The topics are varied, but usually useful and interesting enough to warrant at least a daily browse or two.
• Focus: Roundup of forum topics, industry news, SEO discussions
• Update Frequency: 3-4X Daily

#5 – Search Engine Journal

• Why I Read It: The Journal strikes a nice balance between tactical/strategic articles and industry coverage, and anything SELand misses is often here quite quickly. They also do some nice roundups of tools and resources, which I find useful from an analysis & competitive research perspective.
• Focus: Indsutry News, Tactics, Tools & Resources
• Update Frequency: 2-3X Daily

#6 – Conversation Marketing

• Why I Read It: I think Ian Lurie might be the fastest rising on my list. His blog has gone from ocassionally interesting to nearly indispensable over the last 18 months, as the quality of content, focus on smart web/SEO strategies and witty humor shine through. As far as advice/strategy blogs go in the web marketing field, his is one of my favorites for consistently great quality.
• Focus: Strategic advice, how-to articles and the occassional humorous rant
• Update Frequency: 2-4X weekly

#7 – SEO By the Sea

• Why I Read It: Bill Slawski takes a unique approach to the SEO field, covering patent applications, IR papers, algorithmic search technology and other technically interesting and often useful topics. There’s probably no better analysis source out there for this niche, and Bill’s work will often inspire posts here on SEOmoz (e.g. 17 Ways Search Engines Judge the Value of a Link).
• Focus: IR papers, patents and search technology
• Update Frequency: 1-3X per week

#8 – Blogstorm

• Why I Read It: Although Blogstorm doesn’t update as frequently as some of the others, neraly every post is excellent. In the last 6 months, I’ve been seriously impressed by the uniqueness of the material covered and the insight shown by the writers (mostly Patrick Altoft with occassional other contributors). One of my favorites, for example, was their update to some of the AOL CTR data, which I didn’t see well covered elsewhere.
• Focus: SEO insider analysis, strategies and research coverage
• Update Frequency: 3-5X monthly

#9 – Dave Naylor

• Why I Read It: Dave’s depth of knowledge is legendary and unlike many successful business owners in the field, he’s personally kept himself deeply aware of and involved in SEO campaigns. This acute attention to the goings-on of the search rankings have made his articles priceless (even if the grammar/spelling isn’t always stellar). The staff, who write 50%+ of the content these days, are also impressively knowledgable and maintain a good level of discourse and disclosure.
• Focus: Organic search rankings analysis and macro-industry trends
• Update Frequency: 1-3X weekly

#10 – Marketing Pilgrim

• Why I Read It: A good mix of writers cover the search industry news and some tactical/strategic subjects as well. The writing style is compelling and it’s great to get an alternative perspective. I’ve also noticed that MP will sometimes find a news item that other sites miss and I really appreciate the feeling of comprehensiveness that comes from following them + SELand & SERoundtable.
• Focus: Industry news, tactical advice and a bit of reputation/social management
• Update Frequency: 2-3X daily

Other sites that I’ll read regularly (who only barely missed my top 10) include Distilled, YOUmoz,Performable, Chris Brogan, the Webmaster Central Blog, Eric Enge, Avinash Kaushik, SEWatch, Gil Reich & the eMarketer blog. I also highly recommend skimming through SEO Alltop, as it lets me quickly review anything from the longer tail of SEO sites.

August 7th, 2010 – Posted by randfish

Baby steps to understanding how to get more business from the web.

Emotions that make us link

I found this while surfing the net and thought I’d share it with all of you.  Great stuff if you’re as serious as I am about getting the most out of SEO.

The blogosphere and the world of social media is, by and large, ruled by human emotion. As web developers, marketers and entrepreneurs seeking exposure, we can choose to embrace the passions that dominate the creation of links, or we can ignore them and give our competition a potential edge.

In my experience there are a handful of emotions that dominate the desire to link or share content. Below, I’ve ranked each emotion by effectiveness in terms of enticing the sharing behavior online (and, cheesily, added images to assist in my explanations):

#1 – Anger

Bloggers link when they’re angry – this trait rules the political blogosphere and often makes for huge stories in the technology and business worlds as well. It’s only human nature to get mad and start tossing around URLs to either back up your point or refute the opinions of others.

#2 – Pride

One of the most universally effective emotions to capitalize upon is pride. If you win an award or receive some very nice praise, or even get a positive mention, you’re likely to point it out. This is also a winning strategy to employ with widgets – if your widget can make the blogger/site owner look good, chances are they’ll be embedding it on their site.

#3 – Excitement

All those Wii & Apple fanboys have a lot of excitement, and they’ll link to anything with a KB of images and a mention of their favorite product. This applies to news, companies, products and services as well as anticipation over upcoming events. If you create buzz before a launch or announcement, you’ll have even more success when the date arrives (even if the links are the result of a letdown).

#4 – Surprise

Shockingly, shock itself is a great way to draw in links. Surprise readers with a bit of information they’ve never heard before and the reward is often links. Viral content creators will sometimes take old news, or old data, and repackage it in such a way that  it catches the audience off guard.

#5 – Envy

If you can’t help but be jealous of someone else’s success, you very well might mention them on your blog or site. That craving to have what they’ve got or build what they’ve built is strong incentive for discussion and interaction. But, beware, if you’re playing this game in the SEO world, get ready for some purposeful ignoring – I know I’ve been guilty of glossing over an obvious mention simply because I didn’t want to pass on the link love.

#6 – Sharing

It’s only natural to want to share what you find interesting with others. This is probably one of the top reasons I link out on SEOmoz, and it’s also one of the biggest ways to earn links with linkbait-style content. You rely on the fascination of the audience to provide your page with links inviting their audiences to check out what you’ve got.

#7 – Thoughtful

If your content can make your readers think, there’s a good chance it will spark a link when they finally grok what you’ve put together. I see a lot of great blog posts like this through Techmeme, where a discussion will spark greater brainstorming and evolve into something new and equally worthwhile.

#8 – Confusion

When particularly puzzling content arrives, it inspires some of the emotions that suggest we should share our problems to help bring clarity. This isn’t always a very strong technique for attracting links, but I’ve certainly linked out to pieces that made me say “huh?” and I’ve seen plenty of others do it as well. The only problem is that usually, the content was unintentionally confusing…

#9 – Disappointment

The only time you’ll see a link from this emotion is when expectations are high or the buzz in the outside world is tremendous. When the iPhone launched, dozens of pieces of linkbait earned thousands of links with the “I’m not impressed” style. Again, it’s tough to do this one intentionally, and, to be honest, you probably don’t want to.

#10 – Shame

Embarrassment is certainly not the leading cause of link growth, but there are those rare times when a piece of news will force a reckoning that demands links. Exposing weakness, foolish or simply a wrong move can result in the shameful link. Be careful how you play this one, though. Chances are, the party you shame won’t be the one linking, but rather, other detractors will pick up on it.

What can you do with this information? It’s easy – just apply the emotional test to the content you produce and try to give some emotional incentive along with the information you supply. Make mentions of sites, companies or bloggers from whom you’d like to earn a link. Discuss your subject with passion and personality as well as factual data. Imagine yourself as an outside and ask the question – “why would I link to this?”

I think you’ll find that a little emotion goes a long way on the web.

July 31st, 2007 – Posted by randfish to Social Media

PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES

Reservations are on a first come first serve basis.

DESIGN / WORKFLOW for COFFEE TABLE BOOKS

A number of different photographers in the area have asked repeatedly about digital coffee table books.  For those new to designing digital coffee table books, I’m offering a four hour hands on lecture where we’ll cover every aspect of design and workflow that I can think of as it relates to the creation of a digital coffee table book for your bride and groom.  During this time we’ll cover, image conversions, creating the project and importing your files, page layout tools, template design, album cover design, workflow between Graphistudio and Photoshop, creating layouts in Photoshop, exporting previews, working with the client, album pricing, timelines, file delivery and FTP.

For this class you’ll need a laptop, a Pro Member Account with Graphistudio, which you can get by clicking here and the Graphistudio software installed on your computer.  If you are unsure as to how to install the software that’s OK.  Arrive 1 hour early on the day of and I’ll help you through it. Class size is limited to 5 people and is on a first come, first serve basis.  In the spirit of fairness and to reserve your seat indefinitely, please send Blue Sky Photography a check in the amount of $15 to Blue Sky Photography 400 Market Industrial Park Suite #32 Wappingers Falls, NY 12590, which when you show up I’ll give back to you that day, uncashed.  If you do not show up, the check will be deposited.  If you have any questions, you can call me at (917) 620-6200 or write me an email here.

Who? steven planck + you
What? designing coffee table books using Graphistudio software
Where? Market Industrial Park, building 400, Suite # 32 (map)
When? Monday, May 30th, 2011 from 5-9pm  -OR-  Wednesday, June 1st, 2011 from 6 – 10pm
How much? FREE

Digital Wedding Photography, 10 tips to keep you and your images safe

My goal is to help you differentiate between the seasoned professional and the novice, entry level photographer, because as the story goes, once the guests have all gone home and the memories begin to fade, the only thing left are the pictures. There are many factors that a bride and groom need to contend with when trying to decide who they should hire as their wedding photographer and while I’ve found that price, style and personality are the biggest, there is one social factor caused by technology that’s made this decision an even harder one as of late.

Every professional photographer I’ve talk to, from New York to California, agrees that in the last three to five years the technology for D-SLR cameras by the leading manufacturers, Canon and Nikon, has helped changed the landscape of the professional photography community forever. They’ve consistently marketed top of line photography equipment at bottom barrel prices and created products that no one needs to know the science of photography in order to operate, an understanding and education in the history of the medium or experience, which in turn has lead to a blurring of what is and what isn’t considered professional quality photography even by today’s savvy client. The real and simple truth of the matter is that some photographers aren’t spending the necessary time to learn photography. Technology is leveling the playing field by doing it for them, thus making it harder to tell the difference between one photographers skill level and another, or as the joke goes, “The “P” on that camera is not for professional”

So how can I help you?  Well, let’s take a nice round number like 10.  I’m willing to bet that if you interview 10 wedding photographers, that  3/10 will know the answers to the following questions.  What and how you decide to use that information is up to you.

I suggest asking all ten and if you find yourself being hesitant just simply say, ” I read this in a bridal magazine and it said I was supposed to ask you about________________.”

1. If you’re shooting digitally what size are the CF (compact flash) cards that you’re using to store our images on? The best answer would be a 4GB card. The reason being is that with todays technology, photographers can store an insane amount of media on a single CF card,  for example a 32Gb card could store your entire wedding on it and the danger is that if that card becomes corrupt or they accidentally loose it, you’re wedding photos are gone. Where as with a smaller card, although still a bad situation, you haven’t lost all of your wedding images, only a small portion of the day.

2. What’s the better format to shoot in jpeg or RAW and which do you use? The answer is RAW. All digital cameras by design record all of the original camera data in what’s called a RAW format when the picture is taken, regardless of manufacturer. If the photographer tells you that he or she shoots in jpeg what they’ve actually done is turned on a function from the cameras menu which causes it to discard some of that original data which then becomes unrecoverable.

3. How are your wedding images being stored after the fact? The best answer would be that they’ve got some type of redundant system in which your wedding images are stored on two separate hard drives that are being stored in two separate locations, which should all, but guarantee your wedding images are safe from a natural disaster, fire or theft.

4. What lens would you use to shot large groups shots with and do you own one? The correct answer is a zoom lens or a telephoto.  If the photographer says that they have a nice wide angle lens (a 16mm, 24mm, 35mm and the like) that they consistently use to shoot large groups with, think about ending the meeting and moving on to your next.  They don’t know what they’re doing and here’s the reason why. Large groups, those that require the photographer to make rows of people, require a telephoto lens or a zoom lens (they both refer to the same thing), because with a wide angle lens the persons in the background become noticeably smaller compared to those in the first row.  The correct way to shoot this is to back up as far as you can and then zoom into the group.  The design of the zoom / telephoto lens compresses the foreground and background making objects in the background appear closer and thereby larger.

5. Do you use double lighting? The correct answer is yes and here’s the reason why.  Photography, unlike many other mediums is a two dimensional medium, meaning it has height and width, but not depth.  A skilled photographer  will create the illusion of depth on a two dimension plane using light. The principle at work here is that our brains perceive highlights as moving towards us and shadows as receding, thus creating the illusion of depth.  However, I should say that this is also about aesthetics, meaning what do you find beautiful.  One person may like the look of double lighting, while the next may not.  You decide.

6. How many cameras do you bring with you? A decent answer is two, a better one is three, a great answer is four and here’s the reason why.  A seasoned professional will not only have the proper equipment to complete the job, but also the know where all that if something breaks, it’s not the end of the world.  They’ll simply grab another one from their bag and pick up right where they left off.

7. Do you carry insurance? Yes.  I do.  I can’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t or why you would want to take a chance with someone who didn’t have insurance.  It’s just silly.

8. What will you be wearing the day of the wedding?  Now, although this may seem like a common sense question, it’s mind boggling what I see vendors wearing sometimes, and it’s not just me.  Other seasoned photographers, DJs and especially the caterers, see and hear complaints like this all the time.  We can laugh about it, but I mean jeans and t-shirts to a wedding? Really? I think the correct answer would be that your professional will be wearing whatever the guests are wearing and the reason I say that, is that if you think about it, a suit or a tux is not always the correct attire to be wearing at a wedding, especially in the instances where my client was trying to have a themed wedding like at a beach, a black tie affair, or for example a backyard country styled estate wedding / barbecue type atmosphere.  In these examples here, wearing what the guests are wearing insures that I don’t stick out like a sore thumb.

9. What’s a specular highlight and do you have trouble dealing with them?  The correct answer is that a specular highlight is a reflection of a light source off of a shinny object that helps in defining it’s shape and texture, such as the windows on a limo, reading glasses, toast glasses, the windows in the catering hall, the wedding rings, etc.

10. What’s shadow edge transfer and how do you control them? Shadow edge transfer is the transition between the diffused value and the shadow (where the shadow seems to start and end) and determines the quality of light, meaning hard or soft light (a sunny day compared to a over cast day).  Shadow edge transfer is controlled by the size of the light source, the distance of the light source to the subject, f-stop, fill light and by moving the light source during the exposure.

The way I see it, being professional also means that I accept some role as a leader and also a teacher to the younger generation of photographers, who for the most part as I’ve seen it, can’t even add or subtract f-stops, which is topic for another Pro-Corner blog entry, but this isn’t about them.

Though it’s only happened a handful of times that I can remember, today, I was once again reminded why saying “no”  is not only the professional thing to do, it’s also one of the great unspoken secrets to running a successful photography business. To be professional means that you have the skill appropriate to a profession that is greater than that of someone who does it as a pastime or hobby.  You know more than they do and as such you should be aware when things are out of wack, for example lighting, lens choice, camera angle, subject position, f-stop choice, shutter speed choice, etc. and at anytime, more so when it’s appropriate, you have to be able to say no. Stop that’s not right.  This is the right choice.

I think what happens all to often is that professional photographers are too timid and afraid of appearing pushy, when in fact all there trying to do is what’s best for their client.  The client has hired you, because they believe you know what you’re doing. Feel confident that you can prove it to them if need be.

This morning I had an appointment at the studio with a prospective client who was almost an hour late and lost, but if you know me you know that I’m a very patient person, and in truth I felt really bad for them. I had giving both her and her fiance directions a couple of times over the phone, but they just kept missing the turn onto Market Street.  By the third time, it was obvious that the fiance was upset and I imagine that they were yelling at each other in the car about his driving ability, because as I was talking to the bride he takes the phone from her and says to me, “I’m gonna give you one more chance to get this right and then I’m going home.” And without hesitation, I quietly and politely said to to him, “Sir, I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but if you aren’t you should go home now,” and before I could say anything else he hung up on me, and I was OK with that.  Honestly, I was. As a professional you should protect the integrity of your work.  I think all too often photographers forget that there’s a relationship between the photographer and his or her subject matter, and that this relationship plays out in front of the camera lens, and that this relationship begins to grow with that very first contact, email or phone conversation. Nurture your relationships. It will help you get great photographs later, because remember, it’s the client who has to perform in front of the camera, not you.

By telling the fiance what I did, I’m basically saying hey, this type of relationship is not what I want; it’s not what you want; it’s not going to produce the great results that I’m known for, and I’m professional enough to be able to say that you should take your business elsewhere. Had I taken the job I probably would have spent the rest of the contract life trying to make him happy, only to make myself miserable in the end, and for what?  Money?  That’s the wrong reason. You see for me, it’s simple. What my clients think and say about my photography means more to me than what money can buy.  Keep a high value on what it is that you do.

Another example of where and when I say no to prospective clients happens during our initial consultation when they start talking about wedding photography styles, which we all have.  I classify myself as a photojournalist / documentary wedding photographer with a pop of contemporary flair, while others are classical, some are very classical, some are documentary, some are photojournalistic, some are candid, some like a lot of special effects, some are artistic, some like color splashes, etc. you get the picture.  The point is we all have different points of view when it comes to looking at the world, different styles of photography. Well if the client starts talking about the things that they like, and what they’re saying isn’t what I do, I need to be professional enough to say to them, “Hey, that’s not what I do, but I know who does.  She’s a very good friend of mine, professional and well respected in the community.  She’ll take very good care of you.  Promise.”  One of my best kept secrets for running a successful photography business was never trying to be all things to all people.

Unfortunetly what I think happens all to often is that, because photographers are a creative, problem solving bunch by nature, we think we can doing anything if we try long enough and hard enough. Rubbish! Not only are you calling attention to your weaknesses, you’re acting unprofessional if you’re wasting your clients time and money.  Instead, build a network of professionals who you feel comfortable referring work too.  Roughly 15% of my clients are from referral based work while I refer roughly 25% of all the calls I get to other photographers.  And don’t be shy about who’s on your referral list, the point is to make it work for you.  If a photographer that you’re referring work to never refers work back to you, replace them as soon as you notice the imbalance.

Find the relationships that work for you and your business.