025 – Portfolios and the Nikon Debacle

 

 

Yeah, I got on a whining kick this week, or rather, a whining about whiner’s kick, if you want to be technical about it.

First off is an article that featured a complaint/rant by a bride about her photographer. Although the article author did a fairly decent job of answering the bride’s rant, we helped her finish the job MPGA-style.

Is my wedding photographer hiding us from her portfolio?

Next we kick the dead horse, Nikon…oh poor, poor Nikon, what have ‘ye done?

Nikon Slammed for Promoting D850 in Asia with 32 Men and 0 Women

and THEN, we dissect an “open letter” about this situation by Susan Stripling:

Sexism in the Photography Industry – Open Letter from Susan Stripling

Got anything you want to whine about? Comment below or use the contact form in the sidebar over there —–>

Hugs, kisses and binkies,

Christine

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024 – Time Magazine’s IPhone Cover Series & Other Atrocities

One crazy, messed-up episode…Join us as we broadcast just before Hurricane Irma hit Florida; Ted is monitoring the flooding in Charleston and Christine is evacuating a family from Florida to Ohio. In the midst of the flurry of pre-hurricane activities we wade through a few more disasters, namely, the absolute train wreck being coordinated by Time Magazine. I just cant… you’ll have to check it out for yourself, all I can say is “poor, poor, Oprah”:

Time Magazine Covers Shot on IPhone

 

Next up was some conversation, again, about post-IPC whining. This time, because the GIA finalists have been announced. If you aren’t caught up on that topic, check it out here (make sure you look at the images – they’re stunning!)

Grand Imaging Award 2018 Finalists named by the Professional Photographers of America

And last, but certainly not least (ok, yeah, maybe least), the long-awaited resolution to the Monkey Selfie drama:

Monkey Selfie Case Settled

Sometime soon we will be announcing the winner of the Ridiculously Photoshopped Eclipse Photo contest, so even though we’ve extended the deadline about 6 times, I’m sure we will take your entry whenever you get around to sending it in.

Peace, Love and monkey treats,

Christine

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023 – GoFundMe to the (Ridiculous) Rescue

So here’s the deal…we all empathize with fellow photographers that have had a run of bad luck, especially if they’ve been a victim of a crime…HOWEVER…when we are asked to help said photographers because they did not bother to take a basic vital step in protecting their business (ie buy a business  insurance policy) we have to wonder what they’re thinking…

Consider the case of Ohio photographer Brian Kolin…Brian was prepping to shoot a session in Cleveland, Ohio when he was robbed by a one-armed bandit of all of his equipment, valued at $12,000. He has set up a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $10,000 to replace said equipment (insert head-scratching audio here). Brian’s campaign has a video explaining the event and his request for donations, however the video raises FAR more questions than it answers.

It’s also prudent to note that in the time-lapse between recording this episode and posting it, the title of the campaign has changed from “Camera Gear Was Robbed Today” with an explanation of a “device” in the pocket of the assailant, to “Photographer Robbed at Gunpoint”. I dunno, Brian, we are trying to give you the benefit of the doubt here, but we’d like some more information, m’kay?

Link to the campaign here (caveat: this isn’t to solicit donations – in fact, we caution you against doing that until more information is made available): https://www.gofundme.com/camera-gear-was-robbed-today.

Link to the news article which also notes that the images from the Cleveland Mayoral Debate were lost (ouch, so glad it wasn’t a wedding, thank goodness there were plenty of folks in the audience who could supply images, instead. Sarcasm folks, sarcasm.): http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/08/photographer_at_city_club_of_c.html

Our conversation goes on to explore the topic of GoFundMe being used for other than noble purposes. Causes that historically could be managed by the requester are now being shoved upon the public for their support. I dunno about you, but when I started *my* business, I used funds that I scrimped and saved for years. Just sayin’.

The topic of the day then turns to the immense Powerball prize that was won by a lady in Massachusetts and what in the world *we* would do with such a prize.

Of course, Ted has a reference to a movie/TV show (Amazon Prime members – you can watch this for free) about a man who received everything his little black heart desired, which is here: The Twilight Zone: A Nice Place to Visit.


We are still accepting entries into our Ridiculously Photoshopped Eclipse contest – the winner gets a guest spot on the show. Enter NOW, or forever hold your peace. Amen.

Investigatably yours,

Christine (aka Skully)

 

 

 

022 – The Eclipse Episode

Summertime greetings! It’s been pretty hot and/or humid at MGPA headquarters over the last few weeks and now our short tempers are being tested by the over-eclipseness surrounding us. You get to hear a lot of opinions on the eclipse, the hooplah and the bevy (yes, I said “bevy”) of photographs that we anticipate will have flooded social media by the time this episode is released. (yeah, we were right).

As always – additional topics of conversation included the following – please refer to the linked articles, videos, etc, educate yourself – you never know when you’re going to need random useless trivia…

First we talk about the laughable Michel Phelps / Shark week publicity stunt:

Michael Phelps ‘Raced’ a ‘Shark,’ Kind Of. Not Really.

and then a little bit into Geraldo Rivera’s embarrassing TV special, an event so lame that the official website says:

…Rivera and team find an empty bottle and another wall.
A disheartened team says goodbye to an empty vault.
Geraldo keeps his promise to the demolition team and exits with a song…

I don’t know about you, but that just sounds like a bad musical.

Lastly, we challenge our listeners to submit the worst photoshopped image of the eclipse in the next week for a chance to be chosen as a guest interviewee in a future episode.

And of course, this blog post would not be complete without an example of your co-host Ted Linczak, walking the walk:

Until next time,

Eclipsicly yours,
Christine

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021 – PPNC Convention Wrap Up & IPC Whining

We travel to the far off land of North Carolina to record this week’s episode on a laptop that sounds like something used to decipher enemy transmissions on the eastern front. We had the privilege of speaking with the one and only Ned Winn, outgoing President of the Professional Photographers of North Carolina, to hear his thoughts on the importance of state organizations for professional photographers. Ned also fills us in on the great success that was the Carolina Photo Expo, and a little about what PPNC has in store for the rest of the year. With IPC 2017 drawing to a close and a lot of people left crying about (fill in the blank), we also chat about the possibility of a Hallmark movie centering around post competition angst.

020 – The Anniversary Episode & Rant Buffet

Greetings and Salutations and thank you very much for your anniversary best wishes!

Whoda thunk? We got this far with no pending lawsuits against us (or each other) – I think we are in the clear to continue on with the photographic shenanigans!

This episode lacks in any movie reference whatsoever (yay for me!) but refers to plenty of photographic techniques that we wish would go away (again, yay for me, I love ranting about this stuff!)

This episode covered a few topics that I had previously addressed through my alter-ego “wootness”, so I thought I’d add in a few cartoons on the subjects at hand:

and…

and if you missed the whole “baby in a Walmart Teacup” phase of photography – I scoured Pinterest and have selected this for your viewing pleasure:

You’re welcome.

If you’ve made it this far and want to actually learn something – take a gander at Ted’s Facebook group where lighting (both natural and FAKE) are taught with great competence (click on the image to be taken to the group):

Peace, love and lustre paper,

Christine

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019 – Deadlines, Rules, & Customer Service

As per the trend, we bounce from topic to topic. Today we catch up on the dental tragedy that kept Christine away from the microphone last week as well as some pumped up compliments about Ted’s new head shots. We also talk about his desire to become a Civil War re-enactor and the practicalities of wool uniforms in the summer.

See here to read the entire article that prompted our customer service segment:

This Company’s Epic Response to a Pissed Off Client is as American as it Gets

017 – Summertime and IPC Deadlines

Greetings faithful listeners! Episode 17 paves the way with new brilliance from our dynamic duo. Well, actually we kinda go ADD on this episode, but with the LATE IPC deadline looming, what else did you expect?

Ted, as usual, works a movie reference into the conversation as he and Christine discuss Joaquin Phoenix and his portrayal of Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line”. Here’s a link to a performance from that film:

 

Next, we dive into the meat of the episode, IPC (International Photographic Competition). One deadline has passed and the late deadline is in mere days – if you’re freaking out as bad as we are – get yourself entered (see HERE) and then go have some ice cream. Or gelato. Or sherbet.

Speaking of ice cream. And gelato. And sherbet… I talk about my favorite summertime activity. This week. If you want to join me in all the glory, this is the current favored product:

Get a peek into the angsty-brain processes of our dynamic duo as they talk about going from concept to execution on their competition entries. If none of their blathering resonates with you, just refer to this (trigger warning: cuss word ahead):

or this:

 

Thanks for reading and listening, our success depends on YOU, our faithful fans.

Until next week,

Christine

016 – Craft Beer, Critiques and Fashion Photography Fails

So, this week promises to be an hour of power you won’t soon forget. OK, honestly? We got talking about craft beers and it took the whole episode over time, but that will happen when you have SO many photography subjects at hand to vent about. First, of course, we talk about beer, and Ted recommends the following (among others, but this isn’t  a beer blog, so here’s ONE):

 

 

Leinenkugle’s Harvest Patch Sandy

 

For awhile we talk about Pinterest and it is unanimous that brides + Pinterest = Bad News. (<— note capital letters).

The meat of the conversation revolves around a new online retailer, 24 SÈVRES, who promises to raise the bar in fashion photography ( see THIS article ) and sell more clothes as a result. All we can say is “good luck with that.” For those of you who think that might be a little harsh, we invite you to check out a few images…

And, as usual, we dive into one last conversation about critiques; what they are, what they aren’t, and why your mom is not the best person to ask for input.

Enjoy the MPGA Hour of Power and we will be back next week. Meanwhile – have a shandy!

Christine

015 – Glamping Tips & Wedding Photographer Peeves

Howdy Listeners! How the heck are ya? Let’s take it way down today and be all cozy, k?

Here’s a new episode for y’a’ll. Somehow we wound up talking about camping. Don’t ask me, I just roll with whatever Ted wants to talk about, and that’s where we landed. As an avid camper, I supplied Ted with a few glamping tips for his upcoming trip out west. Let’s take bets on how many tips he actually uses…

Eventually we get to the meat of the program with a rant/vent about all things that induce wedding photographer angst. You can bet your sweet bippy that we will be hitting this topic again, it might even have to be a mini-series. Since we will definitely be discussing this again, this is the perfect opportunity to give us *your* pet peeves as a wedding photographer. Hit us up through the contact form in the sidebar or comment on this post or on our Facebook page.

We hit a couple of biggies today; guests with cameras that pretty much screw things up, couples that ask you to copy another photographer’s work – angst-inducing topics – fair warning to all those with high blood pressure, k?

Just for the fun of it – here’s a picture of a pie iron. Ted.

Pie Iron. Fill with yummy things, hold over fire until hot. Eat. Burn fingers and mouth. Repeat.

My unofficial favorite recipe: Pie Iron Glamping Reubens: Rye bread, filled with corned beef, sauerkraut, swiss cheese & thousand island dressing, (or you could leave the dressing out of the pie and use it for a dip). Don’t forget to butter the sides of each piece of bread that face the iron. Just hold it over the edge of the fire and look at it every once in awhile to see if it’s toasty-looking or until you’re too hungry to wait any longer. You’re welcome.

AND, for your enjoyment, the video of the ruined wedding processional that started today’s conversation:

Enjoy this week’s podcast episode – hope to see you again next Tuesday !

Christine

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