PPGH: June 2020 Print Competition Scores

Active: 

1st place - The Peacock's Perch - Maryanne Keeling

2nd place - Pink Rose - Alison Montgomery

3rd place - Rise Bagby - Patrick Bertolino

Masters:

1st - Caroline - Karen Butts

2nd - I'd Rather Play Ball! - Karen Butts

After being delayed thanks to COVID, Cornell held his workshop on high and low key lighting for us. Bringing in a make-up artist and five models, he started going over various lighting diagrams and results. Particularly interesting was the discussion of using these techniques for clients versus for print competition to gain merits.

We photographed the models taking turns between a high key and low key setups. A few did some existing light and mixing natural/existing light in the hallway. Everybody shared and learned and Cornell was very informative with his knowledge.

Laura’s workshop on lighting and modifiers was an absolute blast! She started with a single hard light, replicating hard shadows from sunlight, and we worked into softer light and some low key lighting. Being a smaller group (four of us), we all had ample time to photograph and Laura made us figure out how we wanted to light our subject. Between the hard light of a beauty dish, various soft boxes, and the soft light of a 86” umbrella, it was great to experiment and Laura taught about light falloff, the inverse square rule, and seeing how shadows fall on our subject. Many thanks to Ashley for being a patient model for us.

If you haven’t taken Laura’s class, jump on it next time because it fills up quickly!

The PPGH board saw an opportunity to reflect our current guild in a new way through our logo. We are a strong, modern, energetic group of professional photographers built on a foundation of solid teaching, sharing, and camaraderie. We needed a logo to reflect this modern sentiment while holding to the traditions of the past.

After months of research, study, and commissioning a logo design company, we have created this new logo. The square design is similar to the shape of the old logo, a nod to the past,but the three squares provide a modern feel.  We felt it was important to not only spell out “Professional Photographers Guild of Houston” but also to use the “PPGH” nickname since we use both names interchangeably. The colors blend with our new and updated website and will fit beautifully in that new space.

When Houston photographer Kat Mack revived her desire to sew, she had no idea just 90 days later she would be where she is today. Years earlier, Kat had begun sewing a quilt which she came across in January and decided to finish. So in February, she flew to Chicago to work on the quilt with her aunt, a master seamstress. They enjoyed a week together, sewing and chatting while they completed Kat’s quilt. Little did they know, the skills Kat gained would be of great help to her and countless others in the coming weeks.

As COVID-19 news began to spread, Kat realized she could use her newfound skills to make masks. She searched online to find a pattern she felt comfortable enough to make. She researched and tried many different techniques before arriving at her current mask design. Once she made a few masks, she posted them on her Facebook page on March 25. After three days, someone saw them and contacted the local news channel, Click 2 Houston, who contacted Kat and interviewed her for the 10:00 news. (See the interview here: https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2020/04/01/top-health-officials-may-recommend-masks-be-worn-in-public/). Kat was the first person to be interviewed about making masks. She said, “Before the segment was even over, orders started coming in!”

 That first week she awoke at 5 am every day and split her time between sewing and fielding Facebook messages to answer questions about the masks. When people began ordering quantities of 50 and 100, she knew she was in over her head. But if you know, Kat, that wasn’t about to stop her. She already used Photobiz for her photography website so she developed an order form on her website home page so people could order the masks online (www.katmackphotography.com). She placed all the details on the order page. Kat doesn’t charge for the masks, she just asks folks to cover their own shipping costs and donate, if possible, to help fund the purchase of fabric and sewing materials. Her good friend, Davey Dave, helped her set up a video about creating a mailing label so she could ship the masks securely and her fabulous husband, Bob, prints the orders and helps keep them straight.

News soon spread about Kat’s #Covid-19Kindness project and others wanted to join in to help. Her first helper was her neighbor, Nicola, a sixth-grade home school student who had recently attended a sewing camp and had a new sewing machine on hand. In fact, Nicola made over 150 masks by herself! Her family even came up with the idea Kat uses for sewing the pleats into the masks. The next person to join was Laura Thompson. Kat said, “She’s been my right-hand mask maker! Laura also worked day and night completing over 300 masks, sometimes in yoga pants and sometimes donning a funky Halloween costume!”

Additional neighbors now assist with the various tasks of fabric washing and cutting, nose bridge making, sewing, and stuffing envelopes. Kat calls them her Dream Team and says their help really streamlined the process. The time to create the masks has also decreased from 30 minutes to 6 minutes per mask! As of 3 days ago, they have made 1,500 masks with 1,346 masks on faces! They currently have a surplus. Kat said, “One mask turned into maskageddon! But what a great way to get through the whole pandemic thing. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. And I got a lot of lemonade!”

Kat operates on a zero-waste policy. When she runs out of useable sizes, she sews her scraps together to hodgepodge more fabric in the kids’ patterns because that fabric is harder to find. She keeps even the tiniest of scraps to use as filler in other projects. Kat even made a mask tutorial video on her Facebook page and began holding Facebook Live chats to lift people’s spirits. As for the donations, all donations go to purchase more materials. Once the pandemic is under control and things return somewhat to normal, Kat intends to donate the remainder of the money to the Houston Food Bank. Kat said, “There have been so many cool, feel good moments over the last four weeks for us. While I have been concerned about the status of my business and whether I will be able to recover, having something that keeps me so focused and the support of my husband, who I could never ever in a million years have done this without. It’s a great, great feeling. Plus, I get to wear yoga pants every day!”

As we all await news of what is to come over the next few months, we can take steps to protect our small businesses through this situation. I came across a very informative video detailing some of those steps and wanted to share. We have no affiliation with this gentleman, but he made some excellent suggestions. I have briefly noted them below, but I suggest you watch his video at https://youtu.be/msCxAQ1NQn0.

clients during this time.)

2)     Reach out to three sets of people:

a)      Employees – They are concerned about their livelihood and caring for their families. How will your work fit into their lives during this time?

b)      Vendors – How will their business be affected and how will that affect your business needs? What arrangements can you make to keep your business afloat?

c)      Clients – Cash will be very interesting over the next few months – cash flow will not be the same. Get an understanding from your major customers how/when they will be able to pay you. Remember that they will also be stressed, reach out in a way that is meaningful to your relationship so they will continue to value your business. Remember to keep the discussion about their needs and not your own.

4)    Check with your insurance agent – business interruption insurance?

Speaking of helping others, David Chaumette is also a small businessman in Houston. He is a business coach. Let's help him out by liking his YouTube video and helping to spread the word about ways to protect small businesses during this crisis.

If you have additional information that may be helpful to our membership, please contact Kathy Kinser or Tess Campbell. We will post on your behalf. Stay healthy.

Members of PPGH attended Carol Andrews workshop, Bigger Than Your Website, on Sunday, March 8, 2020 at her home. It was beautiful weather, so we started the class outside on the patio introducing ourselves, discussing our type of photography, and sharing how we got started.

Carol is a very thought-provoking teacher inspiring actions to take with your photography business. She spoke about Business By Design and setting your goals/purpose for your photography business.

Carol used several writing exercises to illustrate things that she wanted us to think about. She quoted from Seth Godin’s book about Marketing. We all came up with plans for working with a non profit to enhance our sales and make connections. Time flew by during this class which ended with enjoying Carol’s famous red beans and rice, which were delicious!

Newborn Safety

by

Alison Montgomery

Everyone loves newborns and photographing them is so amazing, you cannot take a bad photo of a newborn in their Mom and Dad’s opinion and they trust us to be gentle, kind and to keep their new little one safe while we get those great photos. Well all of us do, we are very patient and gentle with them and would never do anything to hurt them but there are a few things that we may not think about or realize that we need to keep in mind to protect them.

• 1.    Keep an eye open as they cannot tell you what is wrong.
• Watch for purple limbs when posing, blood supply is cut off.
• They need a warm room but no direct heat blowing on them. Their skin is delicate.
• Absolutely no heating pads under the blankets. It can get too hot and you don’t want one to short out from getting peed on and shock a baby.
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• 2.    They have little to no immune systems.
• If you or anyone in the studio or home is sick reschedule.
• Do not kiss them.
• Get a Flu Shot
• Ask your Dr. what if any other shots you need
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• 3.    Prop Safety
• The weathered look photographs great but no rust, there are great faux rusty looking items out there to purchase and watch for loose metal particles on anything metal.
• On Antique props watch out for lead paint.
• Be sure fabrics are soft and not scratchy or abrasive.
• In buckets and other unstable props, put a weight in the bottom or back to counter balance.
• Check wooden props for splinters.
• Make sure the props will fit a baby comfortably, never force a baby to fit the prop.
• Be sure to buy from smoke free environments.
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• 4.    Camera Safety
• Be sure you are steady when taking overhead shots, if on a step stool have someone spot you.
• When you change your lens double check to be sure it is on securely.
• Neck straps are preferred, however be aware of the danger they can pose as well. I see many photographers push the camera behind them while leaning over working with the baby. A camera that accidentally swings around can kill a newborn.
• If you use a hand strap as I do, watch where you set the camera down. You don’t want to trip over it and fall on baby.
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• 5.    Cleanliness
• Wash all wraps and fabrics between sessions in fragrance free detergent.
• Spray and wipe down all props between sessions with a disinfectant.
• Clean and dust studio before sessions.
• Wash, shake or sun rugs periodically to remove dust particles.
• Be aware of allergies with pets in studio.
• Wash or clean all props before first use.
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• 6.     Assistants
• Use a spotter when needed.
• If you don’t have an assistant, Mom or Dad are usually happy to help.
• Never EVER leave baby unattended. Newborns are stronger than you think and can lift themselves up and definitely can launch themselves from some poses or props.
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• 7.    Posing
• Not all babies are flexible and can do all poses, never force a baby into a pose. If you try a couple of times and they don’t like it move on.
• Some poses can injure a newborn if not done correctly. They should be done as composites. If you are not sure ask for help from another newborn photographer.
• Manage posing expectations with the parents. Let them know that you will try for the poses they want but cannot guarantee that baby will do them but you will get them some really cute photos.
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• 8.    Props Parents Bring
• Parents love to see their new baby posed in props from their jobs, especially first responders etc.  Please keep in mind that these tools of their jobs are exposed to chemicals and other things that we can’t see. Fire turnout gear is exposed to all kinds of toxins in a fire and these can permeate the materials and should never be against a newborn. Always ask parents to have these things cleaned well before bringing them. Best scenario is to do them as a composite so baby never has to be in the actual pocket or helmet etc. 
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• Finally, be sure to use a contract, have studio insurance, invest in and attend workshops in person. Invest in a doll to practice and consider taking a CPR course. You never know when something can go wrong so we want to be prepared. Don’t be paranoid, just aware and careful and enjoy those tiny humans.

This bit of encouragement is to all you moms out there trying to be a good mom, a good wife and also find “your thing” by following a passion.

This year I turned 70. This is going to be a great decade. However, looking back over the previous decades, I remember the challenges of wanting to be a good mom and at the same time be a good business owner that added joy to the lives of others. I come from a worker bee mom that loved her job. She was the minister’s secretary and she loved all the church people that were in and out of her office. There were many times that she just sat and listened when someone needed to talk to Dr. Robinson or Dr. Bridwell, but they were unavailable. After listening they would eventually say “It’s okay. Just have him call when he can.” Crisis averted by a listening ear. But as much as she loved her job, she would only agree to working until 3:00pm so that she could pick me up or be home when I got home from school. She said that I always seemed to be willing to talk for those first few minutes after school was out.

I was fortunate to have a career where I could be in control of my time. Being home when Curt and Kristen got home from school was important. I was not home long since photographing students began after school. Kristen did a lot of homework in the front seat of the car while I captured smiles. Curt had baseball practice or a game. I was always at the game…just late!

In the 80’s I joined PPGH (Photographer’s Guild of Houston), TPPA and PPA. I attended meetings and went to Texas School and all sorts of other educational opportunities. I started entering print competition, but always found it challenging to meet the time deadlines. My goal was to be awarded the Master of Photography by Professional Photographers of America. But I put that dream aside for many, many years. I just had my hands full running a business and being a good mom and wife. The most important thing was to be there when they were willing to chat about their day.

My children are grown now and live out of town. Running an excellent business is still of upmost importance to me. Capturing the landscape of your family brings me great joy. However, it was time to finish the goal. I didn’t realize how close I was until I stopped and accessed what I had accomplished. So, with the encouragement of so many colleagues, I reached that goal this year! I was awarded my Master of Photography and as I walked across the stage, one of my favorite sparks of positivity hollered “You did it, Cindy!” I was way more emotional than I was expecting. Thirty-five years later, I really did accomplish my goal.

Let me encourage you young moms or you more seasoned moms. Time goes by more quickly than you can imagine. I loved my life raising children but I also love my life now where I can see more clearly the goals that I want to achieve. I even got braces because it is never too late to improve. (The top braces are off and the bottom braces will be off very soon.) I lift weights three times a week with the most amazing trainer and friend that a woman could ever ask for. I find life so fulfilling and I want you moms to know that you can have it all. You just can’t have it all at the same time. Pace yourself. Enjoy the day. Do what you can do. Realize that some goals won’t be fulfilled until later in life, but I want to encourage you all to know that it is all so sweet and fulfilling to never ever give up and to keep on chipping away at this one glorious life. The journey has never been sweeter.