Kubota BlogKubota Bloghttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010-03-17T02:22:41ZSquarespaceWhy would you photograph the alphabet?http://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/3/16/why-would-you-photograph-the-alphabet.htmlKevin Kubota2010-03-17T01:18:28Z2010-03-17T01:18:28ZWell, I can think of a couple good reasons, at least for the folks who attended my workshop at WPPI last week: A creative whack to the head and the chance to win $1000 worth of goodies! As part of my program, I shared a project that we do at my Digital Bootcamps and our Italy workshops. It's a really fun way to see things different - things you normally would walk right past. It makes you smell roses that you never took the time to smell. I love the alphabet project because I have a ton of fun with it and my class always comes back amazed at how much fun they have and we see some wonderfully creative interpretations of our daily typography.
After showing a sample of the alphabet project to the folks at my seminar, I got a crazy idea to offer $1000 worth of prizes to the person who took the coolest set of alphabet images while at WPPI. I'm going to post them here in a few days and let the public vote on a winner! If you weren't at WPPI, sorry, the contest was limited to those who attended the program and captured their images while there. Check back in a few days to vote on your favorite!
Here's a sample of the alphabet project from past Bootcamp® attendee Josée Lafrance. She took these at the workshop.
]]>Branding & Identity: The sum of all partshttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/3/10/branding-identity-the-sum-of-all-parts.htmlKevin Kubota2010-03-10T17:21:25Z2010-03-10T17:21:25ZYesterday Clare and I taught a workshop at WPPI for the VIP attendees. It was a "no holds barred Branding and Identity" workshop and we discussed the critical aspects of creating your brand by way of your logo, points of contact, website, marketing materials, etc. We did live reviews of all the marketing materials from 8 participants and it was very revealing and educational. One of the main things we saw was a break in consistency between the look and feel of identity pieces from web to print to display. Sometimes a logo looked different, sometimes colors were different, sometimes the entire feel of things changed from place to place. It's really important that your logo, brand message, fonts, colors, etc. are consistent. Look through every corner of your website, blog, business card, ads, studio, etc. and see if the message is consistent. Does it match your keywords? (the keywording exercise is something we do in class to identify 3 adjectives that describe your work). It was a fun class and went by way too quick!
If you were in attendance and want to download the notes, they are here. Just remember, you'll need the password given to you at the workshop to download and open the PDF file. Thanks!
]]>Core Strength for your Studio at WPPIhttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/3/9/core-strength-for-your-studio-at-wppi.htmlKevin Kubota2010-03-09T16:39:08Z2010-03-09T16:39:08ZIt was a great evening at WPPI. I loved the energy from my guests and was thrilled to see so many people and smiling faces. My good friend Tony shared with me after the show about the "transference of energy" and how people don't always realize how much they can affect one person, or a group of people, by the quality and quantity of their energy. I certainly felt great energy from the room and it made for a really fun night. The program was on the culmination of ideas, concepts, techniques, and services that I've learned and used over my 20 years in business. One of my key points at the end was on the importance of "Riding the Dragon of Fear", which is the process of facing and dealing with the things that are either uncomfortable or causing you some fear or resistance. It seems it always turns out for the better when you ride it now.
I have to admit, I was a bit worried about having my program alongside the fabulous Jasmine Star. I'd go see HER if I had a chance too! A few days ago I teased her about us speaking at the same time and told her I fully expected an empty room 'cause they'd all be in her program :-) She was very sweet, and told me about her very first WPPI experience years ago when she came to one of my programs and became very inspired. She said she hoped that she could just inspire one person the way I inspired her. Jasmine, I'm sure you've inspired thousands by now. She's an amazing woman and hope everyone will get a chance to see her and get to know her a little better too.
For those in attendance, here's the link to download the seminar notes. I hope it brings you much success! Don't forget you'll need the password I shared with you at the program to download and view the notes. Thanks again everyone!
]]>WPPI Plus Class creative surpriseshttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/3/6/wppi-plus-class-creative-surprises.htmlKevin Kubota2010-03-06T20:39:16Z2010-03-06T20:39:16ZI was LMAO when I saw this. I love teaching workshops 'cause I meet the coolest, most creative people. It's such a treat for me to share my experience and to learn and be inspired by the talent and energy of my attendees. This Plus Class at WPPI was a whirlwind 2 days, but it wasn't until near the end of the second day that I discovered a couple little gems in the crowd. I'm sure there were many more hidden goodies in the group, but it's just so difficult to mine them all when time is so limited. That's one reason I love our weeklong Digital Bootcamps™ - we get a chance to go a little deeper and discover the gifts we each have.
If you are looking for the workshop notes, and you were an attendee, click here. You'll need the password I gave you at the class to download and open the file.
If you want a great laugh, check out these two videos from two dudes in my class!
The first video is from Simon McConico. He put this vid together for a contest to win free tuition to the full WPPI extravaganza and he won! You'll see why. It's soo cool and creative and Simon put it together in ONE day! Wow. He even wrote the music and sang! I bet we'll be hearing more about Simon in the future ;-)
This next vid was created by J.P. Pierce, who is an accomplished filmmaker turned photographer. J.P. shared this with me just as we were leaving class on the final day and I can't believe I almost didn't get to see it! It gave me the best laugh I've had in...in...well, I don't know when I've laughed like this. J.P. made this video as a real wedding invitation to his own wedding and is now offering it as a service to his own customers. People are eating it up! Such a great way to use all your talents. Check out J.P.'s film site here.
]]>Great blog for beginner to intermediate photographershttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/3/1/great-blog-for-beginner-to-intermediate-photographers.htmlKevin Kubota2010-03-01T18:24:02Z2010-03-01T18:24:02ZI was recently honored to be featured on this great photographers blog site. They not only showcase photographers, but provide free tips and tricks that are very useful to photographers looking to start or improve their businesses. Check it out! Here's some info from their site:
"PhotographyBB Online Magazine is a free downloadable e-magazine mainly geared towards beginner and intermediate level digital photographers. Each edition features digital photography tutorials/techniques, a look at issues concerning today's photographers, Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials, along with a featured photographer "In the Spotlight." The magazine is published by a dedicated and hard working team of volunteer contributing authors, who simply wish to "give back" to the growing digital photography community, in a fun and positive manner."
]]>WPPI is only days away...get ready for some exciting new Kubota products!!! Come to booth #1719 for demos!http://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/2/24/wppi-is-only-days-awayget-ready-for-some-exciting-new-kubota.htmlKevin Kubota2010-02-24T23:07:47Z2010-02-24T23:07:47Z
]]>Favorite 1-liner bits of advice from photographers everywherehttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/2/23/favorite-1-liner-bits-of-advice-from-photographers-everywher.htmlKevin Kubota2010-02-24T04:46:09Z2010-02-24T04:46:09ZI ran a fun contest on my Facebook page asking for photographers to share their favorite one sentence bit of advice - either something they've heard, or something they concocted. It was really great to read through them all! The winning one-liner earned it's creator a FREE FULL YEAR membership to SmugMug PRO! Sa-weet deal for sure. You can see the 100+ one-liners on my FB page if you're looking for some laughs and inspiration. I had to ask my staff to pick the winning entry as I just had too hard a time. The top 10 are here...and the winner was....
Erin Wray Cady I heard this one early on and it stuck with me: Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.
The other top 10 were...
Heather Brizendine Gill Never stop learning - everyone has something to teach you!
Jennifer Lebron Connect to a community & create conversations about what you love.
Sally Benn Clark Above all else, be yourself.
Diane Nanos Parsons Have great customer service! You can be the best photog in the world but no one will book you without your customer service (Smug Mug is a GREAT example of perfect CS!)
Riz Crescini You need new equipment like you need a hole in the head. Invest in yourself instead!
Courtney Paine Bodily Believe in what your doing, believe in who you are!
Colin Vincent As a photographer, one of your goals should be to make pictures *with* things, rather than to take pictures *of* things.
Conrad Flemming The best photography investment I've ever made was buying comfortable shoes.
Russell Haddock Do or do not....there is no try - Yoda :-)
I actually like Russell's recitation of Yoda myself!
]]>PMA 2010 Workshop notes for attendeeshttp://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/2/22/pma-2010-workshop-notes-for-attendees.htmlKevin Kubota2010-02-22T21:35:17Z2010-02-22T21:35:17ZThanks to all who attended my Lightroom Professional Workflow hands-on session at PMA. I apologize that they ran out of chairs for everyone to sit on! It was really exciting to see what PMA has done with their convention - with more of a focus on professional level photography education. I wish I had had more time to peruse the tradeshow floor, but it was a quick in-and-out for me.
The notes from the session are available for download here. You'll need the private password I gave you at the workshop to be able to download or open the notes. If you were there, your feedback is welcomed!
]]>This excites and scares me!http://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/2/22/this-excites-and-scares-me.htmlKevin Kubota2010-02-22T21:21:28Z2010-02-22T21:21:28ZTechnology is amazing, I often imagine myself in 10 years, looking back at the technology we have today and thinking "that was SOO archaic!" - just as we do today, looking back 10 years. TED talks are really inspiring and fun to watch, a friend shared this one with me and it made me go "OMG, LOL, and ZOMG" all in the same 8 minutes! Can you imagine the how cool...and cruel this could be? What are your thoughts?
]]>I'll [b] @ this party in Vegas!http://www.kevinkubotablog.com/kubota-blog/2010/2/19/ill-b-this-party-in-vegas.htmlKevin Kubota2010-02-19T23:45:39Z2010-02-19T23:45:39ZFriend and fellow Igniter at this years WPPI, Becker, will [b] hosting his much anticipated annual event again and it just gets better every year! While we all go to WPPI to learn and grow, you gotta have a little fun too...OK, maybe a lot of fun. Anyway, don't miss this party and don't miss the charismatic Becker when he Ingites the stage, along with 19 other photographers, at the Photographers IgnitesessionThursday from 9-11am. It's the closing program to WPPI! You should have time to recover from his party by then ;-)
