BLACK BOOK OF PHOTOGRAPHY TRIPLE BLACK and target marketing

Did a photoshoot at Ed's Garage this week- was really fun and way too hot. Old Mustang, a pace car, a chopped hot rod, which car, which car? I had Rick Lesser for hair and make up, excellent, and Virginia Alexander, a producer and stylist, as well as a business owner, Ed with the cars and Ashleigh, Aaron and Whitney of Front Management modeling. Some fun pictures in the illustrative vain of mildly eclectic and slightly wigged I like and then on to my gripe with Black Book, the old formerly venerable art director's source book...

Hey, man oh man. So, times are tough, business is slow and money AND clients are ... are where? EXACTLY. So, you make your marketing decisions carefully, shrewdly and hopefully, profitably.I heard a story about some fishing guys running away from a grizzly bear. They were

moving fast when one of them stopped and put on his running shoes. One of the other two exclaimed, "man, you can't do that, you're gonna play with that bear?" "No", said the guy donning the shoes. "I just realized I don't need to beat the griz, I just need to beat one of you."

So lemme think, the bear is the economy? Or, rather, is the bear the adversity I face with my marketing plan? Or is it just my marketing plan? I'd run with that. I gotta NOT let it eat me up, let it eat THEM up, not me, I survive to run away another day.

So, I live in Miami and shoot here and everywhere, but a big majority of THEM come HERE to shoot starting in November and running til make up starts melting off end of April. The "season" therefore is November through April and I try to fit my marketing in to target the season.

In line with that and Black Book's pitching their new more powerful, eye catching Triple Black for 'only' $several G, AND the pushing from a grizzled old pal, I threw in. And paid in for a two pager. Due out October 2008. Last push for this last year's season. Gulp and card number.

I worked up a two pager and flew with one I discussed with Black Book's art department and my contact, Joanna, there. Selected more for how many people UNSUBSCRIBED to my email blasts and how fun the colors emulated the Old Masters Tuscan colors, I post it here but you HAVE to see it in its two page glory so order the book. I get no $$ for saying such.

Sadly, Dennis Dunbar (www.dunbardigital.com) out in LA helped me with his creative touch on the addition of wounds on another shot after the due date so there was no sword wound in his side or nail holes in Jesus' hands for this shot BUT I did present the wound-fested version at a little talk I gave for the Kendall Camera Club and mentioned I get comments from viewers who said my "wounds looked photoshopped". That was following my favorite introduction grunting shreiking, guttural, snort, whiz... no rules-based lingo here. Universal grammar may dictate language communication but not so with visual, where rules are far less rigid. I digress.

real wounds, real people, really Jesus, really ft lauderdale, really ascending, really

OK, so Jesus and Mary are real but the wounds are NOT? You can see Dennis' wound here above, it is real. Real chicken bones! He asked me to send him a photo of old buried rotten chicken bones that he placed into layer 23 or something. Really real. The chicken/rice/tomato garbage bones in the wound:

OK, so Jesus and Mary are real but the wounds are NOT? You can see Dennis' wound here above, it is real. Real chicken bones! He asked me to send him a photo of old buried rotten chicken bones that he placed into layer 23 or something. Really real. The bones in the wound. Above is that photo I shot of the chicken bones that went into the hand wounds.

Below is the final print with Dennis' wounds. Unreal right?!

Now, these pictures are huge, file-wise and will look stunning at 4ft x 6 ft above any church altar.

Back to the Black Book...

December comes and no book. Some calls and things are rearranged, the account rep is gone, the phone girl is terse and short, the magazine printer in Europe screwed up the paper and things are way behind... etc. etc. For a targeted market timing is a significant part of that aim.

February, March, April... Finally, it is in my hands end of May and hopefully in yours if you are an art director, too.

So, check out pages 120/121 and let me know if Jesus looks photoshopped. While you are at it, do you think Auto Nation in Ft. Lauderdale complied with the production manager's wishes to extinguish all the office lights save those to make a large cross? Hmmm. It's post May Day and Veteran's Day... Hey, It's almost perfect for the 4th of July if I throw in some fireworks.

Happy 4th!

Days are Getting Shorter.

Stay Thirsty my friends, Be Vigilant and Go Shopping...

Wick