business

WPPI was really, really great/exhausting. There was so much info packed into three days. For me, hearing Denis Reggie speak was the most valuable part of WPPI this year. He was, by a long shot, the most inspiring speaker and the one with the most valuable and well thought out content. He was bright, informative, clever and very gracious with his time. I’d go hear him speak again in a heart beat.

Amy came with me and our main purpose for attending was to check out album companies. We’ve been using GraphiStudio and we’ll continue to use their Italian-made albums. We spent some time at the Cypress booth and fell in love with their stuff. We are excited to begin offering Cypress albums. With a world class brand that is Justin Hackworth Photography, only the finest albums will do.

While we were there, I was able to introduce Amy to the fabulous photographer and all around fantastic fellow Jose Villa. He introduced us to his cinematographer friend, Joel Serrato, whose work I really enjoy. We ended up talking to Jose for about 30 minutes.

We also ran into a couple great photographers from Provo and I finally got to meet Justin Lyon. Justin and his wife Amelia are photographers in Southern California but Justin is from my home town of Rexburg, Idaho. He knew me, and I knew him, but we’d never met face to face. We finally met and I think he’s great. So listen, if you’re getting married in Southern California, of course the first thing you’ll want to do is to call me. If I’m booked, however, I think you’d be wise to call them.

The convention

Jose Villa

Dena, the owner of Cypress (in the white shirt).

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It just so happens that Amy and I had our 8 year wedding anniversary while we were in Vegas. We had a great time there and are looking forward to WPPI next year.

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Once I had dinner with a friend of mine. She made one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. So satisfying. The next day she gave me a ride to the airport and while she drove, I snapped a few pictures of her. She saw the camera and said, “Wow. I bet that takes really good pictures.” I almost said yes, but thought about it for a few seconds, and told her that I was so grateful for the food she made last night. I told her it was so good, and said, “You must have some really good pans”. She laughed a little (thank goodness) and I think she got the point. Just because you’ve got a nice skillet doesn’t mean you’re a chef. Just because you have a piano, that doesn’t mean you’re a musician. And yet, for some reason, lots of people think that if you’ve got a good camera, you are a good photographer.

Earlier this week, I met with a wedding coordinator. He said he is seeing that more and more people are not hiring professional photographers to shoot their wedding because they have a friend or an uncle with a nice digital camera. Luckily, that trend is only seen at the bottom end of the market.

The truth is, great photography is not made in the camera, but rather, like any art form, in the heart and in the head.
The truth is, great photography will always be expensive.
The truth is, great photography will always always be in demand.

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The newly re-designed justinhackworth.com is up and running. Check it out. Thanks to Jeffrey Whitehead who did all the heavy lifting on this. Great job.

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Here is a really great article about the challenge of talking about photography to people that don’t know all that much about it. This is written by a photo editor at a well known publication (although he doesn’t say which publication). His challenge is to convince the magazine editor which photo will best serve the accompanying article. One of the challenges for wedding photographers is to help their potential clients see the difference between a skilled photographer and an untrained weekend shooter. You might think people would be able to see the difference, but you’d be surprised.

Here’s a quote from the article. “The first place to look is the fine art world, because they have shattered any preconception that focus, exposure and subject matter have anything to do with what makes a photograph great.”

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This morning I signed a lease on an office space in downtown Provo. Once we get the place painted and arrange the couches just so, I’ll post a few snaps. It’s going to be great. We’ll have a reception area up front as well as a back office that I’ll be sharing with Gheen Hillman. I can’t believe how much fun it’s going to be to go to work every day with Gheen. I’m so lucky. Should I buy a tiny fridge for snacks? How else will we keep the Red Bull chilled without one? Amy’s a little worried that I’m going to be working right across the street from The Smokehouse. I had to promise her I wouldn’t eat there every single day. This is going to be great.

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