John Pottenger tonight!

Our Meeting tonight is at the Eberhard Center. Directions and Parking here!

Print of the Month is Seniors (I'm sure we all have lots to choose from this time of year!)

3:30 is Board meeting at Ferris Coffee Shop on Fulton

5:30 is Dinner at the BOB at Bobirinoe's

7:00 is our monthly program. 

This month we will be featuring John Pottenger from Coastline Studios.  http://www.coastline-studios.com/

While working in the media and communications field in 1997, John’s part time hobby of photography quickly grew into a successful business- so much so that he took things full scale in 2003, forming Coastline Studios.  In addition to his ongoing photographer workshops, John has taught photography at various Universities and Colleges in the Grand Rapids area. John currently mentors students in the photographic arts as the president of the Alumni Board for Compass Film Academy. Coastline Studios is a Grace Ormonde Platinum Vendor, as well as a preferred photographer in several prestigious venues including the JW Marriott Hotel, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and Oakland Hills Country Club.

John will be talking to us about two things... Social Networking (facebook, blog, twitter) and Processing RAW images in Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. He will give us some shortcuts and show us some things in Photoshop CS4. You may bring your laptops and follow along, or just listen and take notes!

Heads up for upcoming events:

November 16 is RAW print critique with Barry Rankin at the Eberhard Center.  Barry will help look at your images, critique them, and help prepare you for print competition.  Bring a laptop or some printed images for critique!  November print of the month is Night.

December 7 will be our Awards Banquet and Christmas Party!  We had such good food at San Chez last year, that we decided to go back again!  Make sure you mark it on your calendar and don't miss it!

Presenting Wilson Sarkis on the beach of Ludington

Award-winning Detroit-area photographer Wilson Sarkis will be our speaker this Monday, August 17 in Ludington.

This will be a hands-on program on the beach in Ludington. Wilson's program will teach you about contemporary posing and taking advantage of available light.

This program is hosted by Rob and Becky Alway of Alway Photography in Ludington and Grand Haven and www.ProLabExpress.com.

Potluck dinner at the beach begins at 5 p.m. Bring a dish to pass, Pro-Lab Express will furnish the meat and beverages.

Program begins between 6:30 and 7 p.m.

DIRECTIONS: From the south, take U.S. 31 to the first Ludington exit. Follow the signs into Ludington/U.S. 10. Travel west on U.S.10/Ludington Ave. Continue until the avenue ends and turn right onto Lakeshore Drive/M-116. Go four blocks and turn left into the entrance of Stearns Park beach.

We will be holding our cook-out at the entrance of the park, either in the grassy area or in the pavillion.

If you have questions about directions, please contact Rob Alway at 231-757-3202. Other questions, contact Becky Alway at 231-845-9198.

www.wilsonsarkisphotography.com

www.prolabexpress.com

www.alwayphotography.com

LUMU!

What is LUMU you ask?  Here is the answer!

Find out here!

And here!

Join us for our fall workshop!  PPWM members may sign up at the buddy price regardless if you have a buddy or not!

July Meeting!

Our next meeting is July 20.  We are meeting at Jen Kroll's Studio in Grand Rapids!  She has graciously offered to host our meeting at her studio. 

 Jen's studio address is 401 Hall Street SW, Suite 325 (3rd floor hang a right down the hall), GR, 49503. Parking is at the building (no charge).

Program title is:

Strong Portraits: Separating the Ordinary from the Extraordinary.

The program will start at 7:00

Jen is sponsored by Color Inc. Lab, who will provide snacks and prizes!

Being that we have snacks, and the meeting is at Jen's Studio, we will not meet for dinner ahead of time. 

Print of the month: Children 

So, see you at Jen's studio!

OPEN HOUSE!

Hi everyone!  

I just wanted to let you know what is happening in June for PPWM.  We have a GREAT speaker lined up.... Charles Bordner who is also known as "The Storyteller".  Charles will be coming to us all the way from Charleston, South Carolina!  He is known for his amazing ability to tell a story with his camera.  The title of his program is "Shut up and shoot!"  Make sure you take a look at his website HERE.

I know that June is a busy month for everyone... so make sure you put this on your calendars now and plan to come.  In fact, we want you to bring a friend!  We have decided to make this event an open house for PPWM.   Invite all your photographer friends to this FREE program!  Here are the details:

No Board meeting this month

Dinner at Bobirinoe's at 5:30

Program at 7:00 at the Eberhard Center

Print of the Month: Families

See you there!

New Membership Applicants

The following individuals have submitted their application for membership into PPWM.  Their application was reviewed by the board.  Their names are published for input and comment by all members in accordance with the current PPWM policies on membership.  If these applicants meet all qualifications and no objections are received by the membership chairperson, in writing, within 10 days of this post, the membership of these individuals will be accepted.

Brenda Gross :: BG Photography :: Sand Lake, MI

Jack B. Johnson :: Jack B. Johnson Studio :: Lakeview, MI

April Letter from the President

Letter from the President April 2009

For this month’s letter from the president, I want to focus on business. As photographers, a lot of us lack the use of the left side of our brain! For most photographers the creative part of our job is easy. It is the logical side (the left side of our brain) that is more difficult.

For 2009 I have been focusing a lot on Business. In a hurting economy, a lot of businesses are closing. I want to run my business in a smart way. While I was at the PPA convention in Phoenix, I took a sales and marketing class. I know that these types of classes are not as popular as the fun creative classes, but as business owners we need to also focus on the things that teach us how to make our business successful.

PPA offers a program to it’s members called SMS - Studio Management Systems. SMS helps photographers increase their profitability. SMS offers sound business and financial advice and guidance, bookkeeping services, in-depth, hands-on business workshops, online business seminars, and other online resources. They also have 2 and 3 day workshops that cover Pricing for Profit, Managerial accounting, Sales techniques, Branding, and much more. For more information on SMS, check the PPA website at www.ppa.com/studio-management-services

There is a free resource in Grand Rapids that I can’t believe more people don’t know about or take advantage of. It is SCORE. SCORE is headquartered in Herndon, VA and Washington, DC and has 370 chapters throughout the United States and its territories, with 11,200 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors. SCORE was founded in 1964. The Grand Rapids chapter is located downtown on Pearl Street.

SCORE is free and confidential. SCORE volunteers are successful entrepreneurs and executives who love business and want to share their knowledge with you, so you can succeed too. SCORE offers face to face and online counseling. They have business workshops in person and online. You can have the SCORE volunteers mentor you, and there is no limit on mentoring. You can get help as you request answers to specific questions.

I recently went to a SCORE one on one counseling appointment, and also their business workshop. (There is a small fee for the business workshop to pay for materials. When I went it was $40.) The business workshop talked about making a business plan, doing research in your target market and for your target client, and implementing what you are learning. At the workshop we also learned that the Grand Rapids Public Library has a business consultant, who has access to a computer program that studies demographics, and helps you make smart business decisions.

At the one on one counseling, I got more specific answers to MY particular questions. I had questions about hiring employees or subcontractors, Sole Proprietor or LLC, Tax questions... The counselor that I talked with was very knowledgeable. If he didn’t know the answers to my specific questions, he told me how to find out.

SCORE will council you on anything to do with business... from business plans to marketing to employees...etc. They even have a trained Quickbooks advisor to help you with Quickbooks. For more information on SCORE, check the SCORE website at www.score.org, or call the Grand Rapids office at 616-771-0305.


So, I want to end with a question to you... What are you doing to grow your business?