Photographer David Bergman explains how he shot his 1,474 MP image of the Presidential Inaugural Address…An awesome feat of photography using Canon’s new G10 and a Gigapan Imager!!  (Read back and you’ll see that the predecessor and this camera are much more than just  “point and shoots”)

I’m sure somewhere in this shot is a politician picking his nose…I’ve just not found it yet! 

Image above © David Bergman

These are actual things that several creative directors were subjected to while interviewing a photographer or during pre-production meetings for a shoot.  While I laughed my butt off while they were told to me, the creatives were not amused when they happened.  In todays world, no one appreciates when someone wastes their time…and that’s just what the photographers who tried these gimmics did.

1. Show up to present your proposal late…say around 6:30pm…and try to catch the creative in the parking lot.

2. Address the agency or client reps by using the words… “Hey dogs wassup!?  You ready to see my SH!#?”

3. Think you are trendy and cool by presenting photos taken while you and your buddies were throwing back some Red Stripes.  Even if your friends are Daughtry and Pink, the photos are still not as cool as you think.

4. Hand over your book enclosed in a White Castle bag with a few slider boxes in the bottom (just for kicks).

5. Chew tobacco during a meeting. (Unless you are looking to land the Redman campaign – Yes this happened…really!

6. Don’t fall asleep in the lobby of a creative agency.  (This one too…pretty unbelieveable!)

7. Don’t wear a wifebeater.  Enough said…just don’t do it.

8. Don’t tell art directors how to do their job…especially when related to how they delegate work to their employees (ie – don’t say – “You really should let your employees relax a bit, you’re a F*#@* slave driver”)

9. Talk about how your last shoot was much cooler than the job you are pitching for…even if your last shoot did involve shooting Michael Jackson and Angelina Jolie frolicking as giant leprechauns through a field of purple daisies.

10. Bring an interpreter and speak a fake European language while the interpreter fakes the interview on your behalf.  (OK so that one didn’t happen, but on countless occasions, photographers have faked accents to try and appear “foreign” as if that would carry an “additional weight”.)

Even though you may think you’re being edgey or cool by presenting your best shots of inebriated friends, it’s not likely to impress a creative director or art buyer.

Be yourself.  Impress them with your work ethic, style and ability to handle yourself professionally while still expressing your creativity.

Next up…Photo Assistants – 5 ways to get fired before the shoot is even over.

As promised…after finally settling in to my new Site and Blog…I took some time to get a little more familiar with some of it’s advanced features.

Great Job to Rob and the guys behind the scenes at APhotoFolio.com for launching an awesome tool for creating unique photography websites!  This site is not only elegant and easy to customize on the backend, but on the frontend is extremely user friendly and easy to navigate under a number of conditions…even if you have a 486 based system and a 1995 Netscape browser!!!

• View my site on antiquated 1995 web browsers or mobile devices that don’t support flash with the HTML based version of my site – Click Here
• And for the iPhone and iPod Touch users a mobile version designed specifically for those devices.  Click Here
• e-Mail a photo Link directly from any of my portfolios.
• Password protected areas for sharing photo galleries with clients.
• …there’s even more…I’ll leave it to explore all the fun stuff on the new site.

I recently took a hike with my 6 year old son to a local nature preserve.  Those of you that are parents know that time spent with your kids is invaluable.  I have to say this day will forever be etched into my memories.  Not only did we have a nice little hike, I got to spend uninterupted time with him doing what often times feels impossible…just hanging out.

As the title implies, with all the distractions of today, be it a buzzing iPhone letting me know I’ve just got 10 more e-mails to answer, a text message from my neighbor, or a voice mail letting me know I’m urgently needed back in the studio to appove images on a rush job…we can very well get caught in the rut of “ALWAYS BEING AT CONNECTED”.

I had promised Tre that we’d go hiking and there would be no distractions.  Within 5 minutes of the hike, the phone rang 3 times!  On a Saturday..No kidding.  I promptly turned it off and turned my attention to my son and the woods we were entering.

The joy I saw in his face was absolutely the best gift I could have ever received as we spent the next 2 hours walking through the woods, taking photos together, exploring old cabins left to the animals and just enjoying guy time.  Uninterrupted father and son time as it was meant to be.

At the end of the hike as the sun began to set, we hiked up the hill towards the car park.  Tre with his digital camera in hand was snapping a photo of the light coming through the trees when we both heard a rustling.  I quickly said, “Tre look for squirrels…”, with that we were surrounded by 12 deer.  No kidding, we had been so engrossed in taking photos of the sunset, that we hadn’t even noticed the well camouflaged White Tail deer that were poised on the hillside.

With instincts that would rival that of a National Geographic photographer, Tre quickly began snapping pics and video of them as they walked up the hill with us.  I grabbed a few shots as we meandered up the trail as well.  In heaven as I saw my son capturing photos and feverishly working to get the best angle.

At 6 he’s picked up on Dad’s trade and is closing in fast!!! (Watch out Pops!)  Seemingly the deer were not even shaken by our presence.  It was so awesome to be right along with them and to have my son right there to experience it too.