VPPA Blue Ridge Newsletter

May 2013

In This Issue• From the Governor

• From the Lt. Governor

• Upcoming Events

• Quick Links

Blue Ridge Board

Governor

Sharon Davidson, CPP

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Lt. Governor,

Michael Corbin

From the GovernorHello Blue Ridge! I hope that the arrival of spring has started to increase business for you! I want to thank Michael Corbin for both serving as host, and presenting, our April meeting! If you get the opportunity to see his program at a later date, I highly recommend it. His presentation on copyrighting your images presented both the WHY and HOW of this often confusing process. Great job Michael!

Be sure to mark your calendars for the Summer Seminar! We will be at the Renaissance Hotel in Portsmouth on September 14-16th. We are working on a fantastic line of speakers! More information to come.

Last month, I continued the idea of working on your business instead of just in it. I have another question for you to consider. Have you done a SWOT analysis of your business? What is a SWOT analysis you ask?

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal to your business and you have some degree of control over them. Opportunities and Threats are external to your business and you have no control over them. It is helpful and often eye-opening to make of list of all of these to help you work on your business. Ask yourself honestly...

• What does my business do best? (strengths)• What could my business improve on? (weaknesses)• What opportunities exist in my market? (opportunities)• What is happening in the market that I should be concerned about?

(threats)Once you have answered these questions, try to determine how you can capitalize on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. What can your business take advantage of and what should your business avoid?

Many business owners skip the SWOT analysis and go with a SWAG analysis instead because it is much easier. What does SWAG stand for? Scientific Wild A$# Guess! We must avoid the SWAG! Take the time to conduct a SWOT analysis. You will be glad you did!

Looking forward to seeing you at our next meeting!Sharon

Secretary, Lisa Akers

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Treasurer, Brian Muncy

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Quick Links

VPPA

PPA

From the Lt. GovernorOne of the really beneficial businesses into which portrait and

commercial photographers can go is the fine art print market. Selling some of your work as fine art, either in your own studio or via art galleries can both contribute additional revenue to your business while at the same time enhancing your stature as a photographer ofmerit. As with any endeavor of more than trivial nature, there’s more to it than meets the eye.

Thus it is that we’ve arranged to hold the May Blue Ridge meeting at the Kiernan Gallery, at 23B West Washington Street, in Lexington, VA. This gallery specializes in photography, and gallery owner Kat Kiernan will give us the lowdown on getting into the fine art market. The meeting time is 4 PM, and the plan is to go out to dinner at one of the many excellent eateries within a couple blocks of the gallery before heading home.

You can see the gallery web page at kiernangallery.com.! You will need to bring a chair of the “folding lawn” variety, unless you are ok sitting on the hardwood floor. Kat also suggests bringing along a print of your best/most likely work. She says it’s ok if it’s a portrait or wedding photo.

She wants these photos to serve as a starting point for discussing moving into fine art photography.

Last month we met at my studio in Lynchburg to discuss copyright registration, the whys and particularly the hows of doing what is increasingly important to the ability to make a living with your work.

Last week I gave the same presentation to the Professional Imaging Group of Eastern North Carolina of the NCPPA at the invitation of Adrian Henson and Mona Sadler. About 20 members attended. (It wasn’t until later it dawned on me that a barbeque restaurant in Kinston was the perfect meeting location for PIGOENC. Say it out loud, you’ll get it.) They are plagued especially by a local periodical publisher which thinks nothing of printing their photos and laughs at requests to pay for them. Guess what, boys and girls, if you haven’t noticed similar things right here in Virginia, you haven’t been paying attention.

Now comes word of a new law in the UK which may very well affect you here in the Blue Ridge. It is a so-called Orphan Works act, which enables anyone finding an image anywhere on the net to perform a “diligent search” for the owner of the copyrights (whatever that means) and if unable to determine the owner or how to contact them, todeclare themselves to be the owner, and thereafter to use, sell, and license anyone to use it, with the only recourse should the real owner catch them, being to pay a normal license fee.

Similar legislation in the US has been successfully beaten back, but it appears that the UK law is going ahead.

June is only a month away, so set aside the 10th to meet at Lisa Carter’s studio in Sutherlin. Her outdoor studio is a landscaping marvel, worth the trip to admire.

Upcoming EventsJune 10-Blue Ridge Meeting @ Lisa Carter’s in Sutherlin

If you have any suggestions or if you have an article you would like to be published in the newsletter, please email Lisa Akers (lisacakers@yahoo.com).