the [b] school blog

Category: Industry News view all recent posts

Mar. 1, 2010 - Industry News

Hey friends, to help promote his speaking engagement at WPPI this coming Sunday, my good friend Joe Photo is giving away 500 copies of his "Show & Tell 2" DVD, all you have to do is pay for the shipping in handling. He has given [ b ] Schoolers the first chance to take advantage of this offer as it will be mass emailed by many of his sponsors and the album companies that helped him with his presentation tomorrow, so act fast if you want a copy.

The DVD follows Joe as he shoots real weddings and he also lets you inside of his head via voiceover to let you know what was going through his mind in certain situations. It's the closest most people will ever get to second shooting with this incredible photographer and business man. Click the promo below to claim your free copy and find out a little more about Joe's upcoming WPPI presentation.

FYI, I will certainly be at Joe's talk on Sunday as he shares with you Brand New Albums from the hottest companies. There will be prizes and giveaways and plenty of information and inspiration. Be ready to explore and compare new album possibilities from materials to layouts, all in one place! Additionally, Joe will share with you ways to increase your wedding album sales and make your clients love you. Are you ready for a creative boost? Join him on Sunday to kick off a great week in Las Vegas.

(FYI, you don't enter the promo code until like the 3rd or 4th checkout page)

*UPDATE* If you get a server error when trying to order the DVD, just be patient. You can add your name to the Save me a copy list on the [ b ] School Facebook page.

Feb. 9, 2010 - Industry News

Two new products for photographers dropped today.

First up, because he's my friend... I want to mention the brand spankin' new Lightroom Presets from Totally Rad Actions. I know Doug has personally and he has been working on these suckers for a long time. For the last couple of years, he's been making awesome Photoshop actions for photographers and they are quite popular... I see them everywhere and I use them all of the time. Doug tells me that people have been begging for Lightroom presets for the longest time as more and more people have been using Lightroom even more than Photoshop in their workflows.

If you use BECKERLOVE as the promo code at the TRA store, you can take $10 off of any of the products. Click the button below & start shopping!

Having said that, I am actually super excited that Aperture 3 was also announced today. (Hopefully Doug can now start on some Aperture presets since the program finally supports them). I was super excited when the first Aperture came out, only to be a bit disappointed. Aperture 2 was way better, but still not everything I was hoping for. I have downloaded the free trial of Aperture 3 (and I suggest you do the same) and I'll be giving it a whirl in the next 30 days.

I hope to post my thoughts of Aperture 3 once I've given it a proper test drive.

Jan. 20, 2010 - Industry News

Me!

Please watch this video for my take on the contest:

Here's my original post about this contest from July:

And here's the article on PDN online:

If you are a new visitor to this blog because of the PDN contest results, please take a look at the yesterday's video from the [ b ] School co-founder.

Also, be sure to catch Study Hall tomorrow with my good friend Jasmine Star, who also made PDN's list of influential photographers. I'm sure we'll be sharing our thoughts on this list in greater detail, so you may want to tune in.

You can click the graphic below and even enter your email to be reminded when we go on. Don't worry, we don't get your email address... Livestream gets it and only uses it to remind you of the episode you asked to be reminded about. You won't be spammed.

And folks... I don't approve any anonymous comments, so if you want to share your feelings, have some balls and let us know who you are. Stand behind what you say instead of just taking pot shots from behind your anonymous keyboard. If you leave your real name, email address and website, I will publish your comments no matter what you say.

Jul. 30, 2009 - Industry News

Hey folks,

Yesterday on Twitter I saw that PDN (Photo District News) was running a little poll asking: Who Are the Most Influential Living Photographers?

I am certain that they are looking for names like Annie Leibovitz, Greg Gorman, David LaChappelle, Mark Ellen Mark, Mark Seliger, etc... true icons on the photo industry.

But being the trouble maker that I am, and realizing that the new "influence" is social media... I just wanted to test my theory to see what kind of influence I actually have? Now I know I have some influence, and I have been working really hard to do my best to help other photographers the best I can, but I really didn't expect these results:

Yay! I was the leading vote getter yesterday thanks to all of you fine people!

Now here's the thing, I really do think it's kinda lame how they set up surveys/contests like this. The fact that anyone can vote 10x per day seems unfair, because people like myself, can ask their friends & followers to vote multiple times as I did, and as you were kind enough to oblige... but that doesn't seem fair right?

But my theory was correct, that having a big following in social media, by definition, means that one has influence. I'm sure if one of the big wigs named above, cared enough by this little contest, they could rally their troops and win this thing in a landslide.

Having said all that, if I have actually influenced your business in a positive way, I humbly ask you folks to keep voting for me as I would love to appear in the 30th anniversary issue of PDN next January. I am not doing this to stoke my own ego, but rather I'd love to get more exposure for the [ b ] School, as the more people that join our community, the better the place gets for everyone.

You can vote up to 10 times per day, and you can put "Becker" on all 5 lines. I know some folks voted for "the becker" or "thebecker" but I'd like to consolidate all my votes into one name... Becker. I have no idea how long this contest is going for, but feel free to vote every day until they stop counting.

Please retweet a link to this post and the PDN contest. You can cut and paste the following (exactly 140 characters):

Please RT: help @thebecker get into PDN, vote for him 10x a day here: http://bit.ly/KwQqD details here http://bit.ly/BbUcW (via @thebschool)

Jul. 23, 2009 - Industry News

Inspired by friend of the [ b ] School Dane Sanders, Becker will be hosting Live Chats every Thursday at 4pm PST (The times and schedule are subject to change, so please be sure to follow @thebschool on Twitter for the latest info).

Each week will alternate between, free, open to the public chats, and private chats aka Study Hall for [ b ] School members only and will require a password. (You can get the password on the Homeroom page of the [ b ] School... see photo at the bottom of this post)

The public chats will be free form in nature, where you can ask Becker questions about any topic at all.

The members only chats will be focused around a specific theme and will also feature guest speakers from time to time.

If you aren't able to watch the live broadcast, replays will be posted inside of the [ b ] School classroom the following day.

Upcoming Schedule:

July 23rd: 2pm - Free to all. Tweet your questions by replying to @thebschool (Special time)

July 30th: 4pm- Members only. Chat with Joe Photo about finding inspiration and networking.

Jun. 24, 2009 - Industry News

Hey class, in case you haven't been paying attention in class, the [ b ] School now has it's own fan page on Facebook and it's very own Twitter account. Click the respective photos below to check it out.

FYI, by following @thebschool on Twitter, you'll get to hear a free audio tweet of the day whether you are a member or not.

Starting next week, we will be starting live video chat sessions called "Study Hall" for members only. Details will be in the Classroom shortly.

Jun. 12, 2009 - Industry News

Hey all, [ b ] Schooler Katie Trujillo posted this thread inside of the [ b ] School, but I thought it was so important that I wanted to let everyone know about it, so here is some info about a very worthy cause. And can I just say... I am so proud to be a part of the photography community. So many givers!
______

Hey guys! Please bear with me as this will be a long post, but Im SOOO excited because I just found out about an amazing new non profit charity program called Star Shooter. So please PLEASE read this entire post... Heres a short promo video!

http://starshooterblog.org/video/

When I heard about this program I KNEW that I had to be a part of it. Although I currently participate in two other non profit programs to give back to those in my community, Ive always wanted the giving to be biggerto actually make a difference in someone elses life. I can do free sessions and give away free photography packages to those deserving, but am I really making a DIFFERENCE in someones life?

Enter Johnna Brynn Bockover and her baby, starshooter.org/. This is a non profit program geared directly to use photography as art therapy to delinquent youth. Using photo therapy will allow children to use photography as the catalyst for communication, change and healing. Star Shooters missions is as follows:

"To equip children with a tool for expression using photography and allow them the opportunity to discover the "star" within themselves."

Star Shooter implements culturally adaptive and client-centered workshops to children aged 8-18. The program's first workshop and event has already happened and you can ready about it on the Star Shooter blog here:

Workshop: http://starshooterblog.org/2009/04/12/workshop-update/

Event: http://starshooterblog.org/2009/04/28/first-event/

What impact do you think that one small workshop will have on the future of these kids? This is what gets me excited... being able to truly make a difference or impact on the FUTURE!

Heres where I need your help! I've volunteered to help Johnna get this program going. We need BIG BIG support. She already has a list of interested photographers. Currently there is a contest going on to raise funds to buy cameras for the next workshops. You submit any image that you think is your best for $25 and you get a chance to win the new Canon 5D mkII or $2,000, whichever you choose. What an amazing prize for an amazing cause!!!

I need help getting exposure for this contest as well as interest for photographers to run a workshop like this in your city. Helping kids use photography to in some way heal, teaching them skills that can make a difference in their future, and then it all culminating in an event at a public place with their OWN book? Think of the impact you can make!

The vision is to take this worldwide to struggling nations like Africa, etc. Johnna has great ideas to bring it to children in the world who need it the most. So lets start here in our own cities and towns.

If youre interested in helping organize a workshop in your area please PM me or respond to this thread. Also, get the word out to every photographer you know to enter this contest to help raise funds for the kids! All funds raised will go to workshops for these kids! Heres a link to enter the contest. Hurry it ends August 1, 2009!

http://starshooterblog.org/contest/

Ill be featuring Johnna on my blog very soon, but please get the word out to anyone and everyone you know about this wonderful program. AND THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL EFFORT so if you're interested and not in the US you can help too!

Can you tell I'm so excited?

Jun. 11, 2009 - Industry News

Last year I blogged about the Roots Workshop on Cape Cod and I heard nothing but good things about it. There are still a few slots left for Root '09 for next month. They've even set up a payment plan so you don't have to even pay for everything right away. Check out the site by clicking the image below or become a fan on their Facebook page.

Jun. 2, 2009 - Industry News

Hey class, check it out... I'm on Resolve, a very cool photo industry blog brought to you from the folks at Livebooks. They asked me to answer a few questions about social networking and how I use sites like Twitter and Facebook to help my business. As per usual, I gave some honest and direct answers and I think you should check it out. Be sure to Follow Livebooks on Twitter for updates and please leave a comment on their blog if you find the content useful so they'll ask me back to be a regular contributor.

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