Albany Photographer Captures Portrait Photos Via FaceTime Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

In early March, millions of businesses not deemed essential were ordered to close leaving millions of Americans without work. What about the photographers?! Where are they throughout this pandemic? Are they still shooting? If so, how are they practicing social distancing?

I (Teslie) was reached out to by a photographer who is experimenting with a new photography service. Businesses are about reinventing themselves and, well, all of us are about recreating our new norm. Elario Photography of Albany, NY is taking photos from the comfort of your own home via FaceTime and all you need is an iPhone (and to get dressed).

Elario has been shooting since he was 11 years old. While they are known for wedding photography, Elario captures anything from newborn sessions to fitness photography and more. Usually this time of the year, Elario would be planning a pop-up session outside his Madison Avenue studio in Albany where anyone is invited for a few of his signature black and white shots. But because of Covid-19, Elario couldn’t make this happen and had to come with a different plan- FaceTime Portrait Sessions. Yup, brilliant!

This was the first time I put on a pair of jeans in 2.5 months! It felt good to make my hair pretty, throw on some hoop earrings and smile for the camera to capture photos in a time that I will never forget.

JP sporadically announces FaceTime photo sessions on his instagram- @jpelario. He recently launched a “Couples FaceTime Session” and they have been selling out quickly!

Hire A Photographer, And/Or Set Up Your Own Quarantine Photo!

Tips from JP Elario to take your own quarantine photos:

• Find a place in your home that has natural lighting

• Look for a space in your home with a blank wall

• Prop the camera up or above eye level on whatever you have- stack of books, chair, table, etc.

• Try taping your phone to your laptop (by the camera) that way you can tilt the screen in order to get the right angle.

Glamour Magazine Abandons Monthly Print For Digital Double Down

Photo Credit: Screenshot of article in The New York Times.

In January 2018, the stepping aside of Glamour’s longtime editor in chief, Cindi Leive, became official, and, Samantha Barry, a digitally based  journalist with extensive background in the digital television space at CNN Worldwide as an executive producer for social and emerging media, stepped in. Cindi had also been the editor in chief of Self, another print magazine that ceased printing monthly issues.

Monthly Schedule Not A Thing Anymore At Glamour

Upon her arrival, Samantha reduced the numbers of monthly publications from 12 to 11, gave the print magazine a makeover, completely changing the type treatment of the logo, and on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, announced that the monthly print magazine version of Glamour would cease. 

As first reported by The New York Times, and then The Hollywood Reporter, Samantha stated that she sees no need for a monthly print schedule for the brand anymore. In fact, that Glamour is not just a magazine, that it is a brand. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Samantha stated that Glamour will continue to produce printed editions of its tentpole issues like its “Women of the Year” issue.

In her interview on Cheddar, Samantha is putting Glamour's eggs into the video and event baskets, saying that portions of the Glamour audience are spending more than a minute, sometimes up to half hours on their video content. Being that Samantha comes from the TV world, she is comfortable in this vehicle for storytelling and ad delivery. However, she came from a large cable network - CNN - where their base is TV. In magazines, the base is the book, and the social and the video are the spinoff. Looks like Samantha is bucking this model.

“Doubling Down on Digital”

In her goodbye-to-print email to the editorial staff obtained and quoted by The Hollywood Reporter:  

 "We’re doubling down on digital — investing in the storytelling, service and fantastic photo shoots we’ve always been known for, bringing it to the platforms our readers frequent most. We’ll be expanding video and social storytelling, with new and ambitious series and projects.”

What’s In A Book?

Glamour is committing now to the crowded space of digital with its many mediums, abandoning its loyalty vehicle - the printed book - the magazine. What digital-only producers, editors, and storytellers might not realize is how the printed page carries weight in the hands of their audience. While the people reading the magazine may frequent online spaces more, the printed book helps to define the brand.

According to The New York Times: “Although the number of Glamour’s paid subscribers has remained stable over the last three years, at around 2.2 million, Ms. Barry said it was time for the publication to break away from the printed page.”

The advantage that magazines have over media outlets with no print extension is that they are able to design a deeper experience on the page in the layout of a book. The advantage that digital mediums like blogs have over traditional print is that they understand the online space better and can spread the word farther.

It is the opinion of this writer that the combination of the two - the digital and the print - is an enrichment technique. I say this as a blogger. I am a digitally based producer of content who sees the emotional reactions of people to the printed page, vs the online experience. While the online experience may have more exposure with a larger footprint, the emotional imprint is still there for the printed page. Thereby making the digital version of print even more valuable.

Glamour magazine is in the Condé Nast family. It was founded by the Condé Nast father himself as a vehicle for storytelling of Hollywood Glamour. The magazine’s direction has changed since then, as Glamour has taken on more of an empowerment and educational role for women. Add this move to its evolution.

Vogue’s famed editor in chief, Anna Wintour, is the artistic director for Condé Nast. According to The New York Times article, she enthusiastically supports the release of Glamour magazine’s printed edition, as she did for the ceasing of the printed editions of Self and Teen Vogue. Would Anna encourage the stopping of monthly printing for Vogue magazine? Could you imagine such a thing?

In the Cheddar interview, Samantha acknowledges that there are advertising dollars for print ads, and less so for banner ads on the internet. Branded content can make up for that, as it’s storytelling vs static visual. However, the desire for brands to place print ads still exists, and they are still effective in the impression they leave behind. Therefore, what does it mean to other magazines when a heavy hitter in the industry like Glamour leaves? One answer could be that print ads in existing magazines get more valuable, as there are fewer print outlets. Hence, a possible enthusiastic support by one editor in chief for the decision to abandon print by another editor in chief.

What Does Digital Glamour Mean for Businesses, Artists + PR?

What does this mean for business owners, artists and makers trying to get featured in Glamour? It means a few things:

Pitching Glamour just got more fractured.
You will be pitching tiny corners of Glamour, and by corners I mean video segments, contributing writers and social media handlers. See Tin Shingle’s Training TuneUp here with a contributing writer at GQ and others about how she approaches writing assignments. There may be assignment editors who see everything at the very top line, but they are seeing the overall message delivery for several media mediums. Pitching can be more frequent, different and specialized as you reach more media creators for Glamour. How a feature on your business will get produced has increased in variety.

Crossover for visual storytellers in video and TV just got better.
Opportunities increased for video segments. While writers may still be there to help write the script - if there is one - video editors and producers may be more involved here.

On-Air experts and TV personalities may also have an increased role to play.
The host of a segment will usually be delivering and guiding the segment. Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Lists include a search filter for On-Air Experts, making it easy for you to focus on pitching these types of media creators.

Private Training Workshop In Motion

Conducted a Private Training Workshop for these ladies yesterday, who have varying degrees of comfort online and with social media. This session covered a lots of Technical. A next session can indulge in Strategy.

Are you in need of Strategy and clever ideas? You can go pro with Tin Shingle with our Private Training Sessions. Booking on Monday’s only right now. Save your spot! This session was hosted in person in our Beacon, NY office, but can be condicted remotely via video conferencing. We make it easy.  www.tinshingle.com/private-training

Deconstructing the Pitch: Designer of Animal Furniture Featured in Architectural Digest

As you're flipping through your favorite magazines, you are reading inspiring features about other people. In the back of your mind, you may be thinking: "Ah, one day, that will be me."

Reality Check: Today, that is you.

You Can Be Featured In The Magazine Too!

As you are trying to market your business, you're going to want PR. You're going to want to be mentioned in magazines, TV segments, blog posts, and interviewed on podcasts. It's a big job - all of this marketing - but somebody's got to do it, and that someone is you. Here's how you're going to hit the grand slam:

Step 1: Realize that you can be featured in a magazine like Architectural Digest. This is the "Give Yourself Permission" approach we preach in Tin Shingle Training TuneUps (all of which are free with an All Access Pass Level 4 of membership) and is the undercurrent in all of our articles.

Step 2: Find the "Why." Why would this magazine feature your business right now? What about your business is significant to that magazine's readers?

Step 3: Go for the pitch. This means you will write an email to an editor (or contributing writer) at a magazine, with some clever suggestion of why their readers would love to know about your company right now.

The Pitch Deconstructed

The pitch is the trickiest part. It's a simple email, but needs to be written to just the right person in just the right way. We have deconstructed this full page feature in Architectural Digest of the designer Porky Hefer. Tin Shingle Members at the Community Level 1 and above can log into their accounts and find the analysis right here in our Pitch Whisperer Workshop forum of the Community Boards.

Find out what may have appealed to editors at Architectural Digest that convinced them to give this designer a full page in the "back of the book" aka the back of the magazine where lots of people flip the back cover and see it, and how you can do it too.

The Pitch Whisperer Workshop forum is available to Community Members Level 1 and above to submit their pitches to the group and get feedback (and sometimes edits!) from our supportive community. No pitch is to far out for our eyes. Tin Shingle is all about helping you Think Big and Go Big for your business marketing.

PR HOMEWORK:
Read a Feature & Think Backwards

To help train your mind in pitching the media:
1. Read the magazine you want your business featured in.
2. You'll notice a feature of a business that could have been yours.
3. Think about what they featured about that business - all of the highlights and special points that was in the article.
4. These observations will help form your pitch.
5. Use Tin Shingle's Media Contact Database to help you find the right editor or writer to pitch to.
6. Use Tin Shingle's PR Planning & Tracking Template to log when you pitched to them, and when you'll follow up.

Online Classes Now Streaming

If you're a Training TuneUp Webinar Member of Tin Shingle, you can press play on these from any device when you're logged into Tin Shingle.  If you're not a member, you can buy your favorites and keep them forever!

Activate your membership today, or select your favorites and get excited to take your business in new directions with fresh marketing ideas!

PR Planning For February 2018

This is the Online Class for people who make their own luck. There are those who sit back and wait for opportunities, and then become one of hundreds of people who all try to get that opportunity at once. And then there are the rest of the success stories who are staying ahead of the media and suggesting ideas - suggesting ways that they may feature our business in a way that would delight, captivate, and solve their reader's problems. This class gives the latest story angle ideas that you can use right now in February to pitch your business for PR in April, May or June.

How Do We Know This? The folks at Tin Shingle are in touch with publishing houses to get their "Editorial Calendars," which are the monthly plans that magazines generally follow.

Have a Media Contact or Editorial Calendar Request?!
Send an email to member@tinshingle.com.  

Want Access?
 Join Tin Shingle as a Level 4 Member now!

Interview With An Artist Who Quit Her Day Job

This is an incredible story. Tin Shingle’s owner Katie will interview Megh Knappenberger to hear her story of leaving her graphic design days behind her in order to pursue her painting full time. But, her graphic design days come back into play a major part into how she found success so soon. Not long after making her big decsion to become a professional fine artist, Megh produced some paintings, and made a sale of $150,000! Publicity happened quickly after that, and she she needed to take the rest of the month off to keep up with new orders.

Living the Dream (Job)!

How did Megh do this? With a combination of tapping into her city's love for sports - the Kansas City Jayhawks - and landing the only licensing agreement from the Jayhawks to an artist. We are going to find out how she did this, and tap into the chutzpah that makes all of this happen. 

Iron Sharpens Iron - One Story Helps Shape Another

Megh will tell us all about her inspiration, determination, and collaborations in Tin Shingle's exclusive interview, to help you make your own success. Covered in this interview:

• Licensing Artwork
• Getting Sales
• Getting PR
• Changing the Mindset
• What Is Life Like Now

SEO Tips & Tricks for Google Rankings

What happens when a creative writer gets a hankering for loving SEO and Google Rankings? Really great content that ranks highly in Google's search engine! Do you want to know something even better? In this class, you get an SEO expert that can explain it to you in plain English, using metaphors to help you understand that are way more fun than charts and graphs! Tin Shingle's owner, Katie Hellmuth Martin, is such a person, and will lead you through this Online Class. Here is what she will cover:

• What is SEO
• What Does and SEO Friendly Website Look Like (A step by step guide)
• Tips For Service  and Product Based Companies
• How to use Social Platforms to Your Advantage
• Why Google Reviews are important and how to get your clients to do it
• Getting SEO from other websites
• What the Normal Person is Seeing and how you to optimize that
• Keyword Clues you can use to boost your rankings
• When and If you should by an Ad
• What to do when you rebrand

Listen to this online class to see how you are going to make your website SEO delicious for Google and get found by new and old customers and clients.

Unauthorized Use of Getty or and Image... "But I Didn't Do It!"

Coming clean in this blog post because our confession is the only way we know how to feel better after making such an avoidable mistake. And we don't want you making the same mistake, because just one wrongly published photo could be costly.

This week, we were served with a packet of paper from the Legal Department of Getty Images, stating that we'd wrongly used an image, the rights of which are managed by Getty Images. Because we'd not paid for the rights to use this image, our usage of it on this website constituted as stealing. This letter is otherwise known as the Getty Images Unauthorized Use Notification letter, and plenty of people have gotten one. It's also known as a cease-and-desist letter.

SEE ALSO: Copyright and Website Image Selection

Getty had taken a screenshot of the photo in question that was used on this blog. It was true. We had used the image. But the image we found had no watermark. It came up in a Google Images Search. We'd never touched Getty's website while searching for it. Sure, it was a great photo, staged well, perfect lighting, but....yeah, there it was in Google Images, so we could use it, right? No one would notice, right?

Wrong. And honestly, we knew this. Long ago I'd pinned the article on Photo Copyright Tips for Bloggers from IFB. I've purchased the rights to use photos in designated spots for clients. But somehow, I'd turned a blind eye for our own blog [hand slap!!!]. If you are getting sloppy with how you collect images from the web to post to your website or Facebook business page, just stop and read this article.

SEE ALSO: someecards.com are Favorites for eCards, But Permission Denied for Publishing on Websites

If you've posted images that you are not 100% about their origin, or if you didn't contact the owner to ask permission, then delete them right now from your website, Facebook business page, Twitter, and wherever else you've posted them. And for the very paranoid, remove your website from Archive.org as well, that can visually list pages from months or years ago.

HERE'S THE DEAL:

Getty Images, Corbis, and any big photo rights management company has software that can dig deep into websites all over the Internet, including Facebook pages, and find images that are posted without proper payment. Photo rights management companies represent artists like this guy who make a living making the photos, illustrations or other forms of graphic art. They need to be compensated for the art, and a big company like Getty will make sure they get it. And Getty makes sure that Getty gets its own share too.

So it's quite lucrative to go out and identify a photo being used on another website, send the company a letter with the proof of the unauthorized use, and demand payment. Even if you didn't mean to use a rights protected image. Should you wish to contest their financial demand, you'd need a lawyer, and the lawyer would probably cost more than the settlement you will probably need to pay anyway.

We did email our lawyer to make sure this wasn't a hoax, and that he thought it a good idea that we pay the settlement fee, which was basically a fee to use the image on a type of page in our website. It wasn't the home page and it didn't have very prominent placement, all of which is taken into account when negotiating rights to place an image. We paid the fee.

"BUT THE PHOTO DIDN'T HAVE A WATERMARK!"

Know this: you should not do image searches in Google and pull an image, even if there is no watermark on it. If someone bought the rights to use an image on their website, then they have a legitimate copy of the photo with no watermark on it. However, Google Images currently is able to pull that image and display it in a collection of image results to show you. If you suck down that image, or take a screenshot of it, you're using a photo that you didn't pay for.

There could be entire websites that post stolen images without watermarks that exist simply to attract you to search images on them. Such a website owner may have put Google Ads onto the site, and is making a pretty penny off of people like you clicking around on ads for a sunset image, finding it on their website, thinking it's safe, clicking on more Google Ads on their site, and it goes on and on.

Note: It's not Google making a killing on that type of website (well...indirectly they are), it's a scam artist who built a website with stolen images on it, attracting folks looking for pretty pictures to put on their website.

NO-NO TO POSTING PROTECTED IMAGES ON FACEBOOK OR TWITTER

Read the License Agreement over at Getty Images. See how far reaching their protection is over the art they represent. See the clause on Facebook and other third-party social sharing sites:

"2.11 Unless otherwise specified in the Rights and Restrictions, Licensee may not, directly or indirectly, Reproduce the Licensee Work in any secondary Reproductions, such as compilations, screenshots, in-context promotions or on file-sharing or social networking websites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc."

CREATE YOUR OWN ARTWORK

You don't want to get mixed up in this. If you don't have a photo budget to buy stock photography at Getty or Corbis, then you are much better off taking your own photos and creating your own artwork in many of the free photo editing software out there, like PicMonkey, Hipstamatic, Hipstogram, and even your iPhone or Android has filters to make pictures stand out and look cool.

See this photo below? It's part of our new mission to build our own stock photography collection. This green ornament is one that hangs on my front porch. Then Jackie did some PicMonkey magic to it to make it more framed!

Photo credit on the camera above, which we applied the red art to: "Font Awesome by Dave Gandy - http://fontawesome.io".

How To Get on The Wendy Williams Show - A Simple How To Guide

Wendy Williams.  How can you miss her?  This one time NYC radio DJ has taken her eponymous show to the top of the television ratings, meaning that if you're an expert or brand featured on the program, you're going to get major, instant exposure.  It it possible? Heck yes! In fact, one of our Tin Shinglers did and you can read her story here, showing us once again that small businesses do have a chance to be profiled on the "small screen".  In the article below we'll outline HOW to get on and we have also included a link to the producer contacts for you to get to piching.  But first: master the art of pitching Wendy Williams!

There are two things to ask yourself when daydreaming about being on The Wendy Williams Show.  First:  are you even a fit for the Wendy Show and Second: how do you get yourself on the show?

Never fear, we're hear to answer these questions and give you tips on making the process so easy that you'll figure it out faster than you perfect your classic, Wendy "How You Doin"!

FIRST: DO I BELONG ON THE WENDY WILLIAM SHOW:

Let's be honest, not everyone is meant for Wendy.  You know who is certainly not ready for Wendy?  Anyone who has never watched the show.  If you simply want to be on it because you hear it's a big show and you want press, stop here.  You aren't allowed to read any further until you have watched some clips of the show.  I'll make it easy, you can find them HERE.  If you've read any of my DIY PR posts you know that I'm a big believer that you must study the press you're pitching.  I mean you Google the names of people you go on a date with, you'd never hire a babysitter without checking references, you check Yelp when you are considering restaurant choices...Important things take research.  Getting press for your business is important.  Don't take it lightly.  Even in regards to shows that take, well, everything lightly.

How will you know how and what to pitch if you have never seen the program?  How will you know what types of guests and segments they do?  How will you know what types of products they love?  How will you discover clever ways to spin your product in?  Do your homework.

The WW Show isn't like the Today Show...That said they follow standard procedures most days.  They have celebrity guests, cover hot topics, gossip, celebrity news and from time to time they have on experts with tips or products that are great for Wendy's audience. 

The show itself describes the program as follows:

Entertainment talk show, hosted by New York DJ, syndicated radio host, TV personality and best-selling author Wendy Williams. Show features advice during the "Ask Wendy" segments, "Hot Topics" commentary on news headlines, and interviews with celebrities and everyday people.

What do Wendy & her audience love?

Before you get to part two below (the How to get on) first be sure you or your product could be reasonably spun into the context of the show.  Wendy loves bling, Wendy loves fabulous, Wendy loves cool and fresh tips and tricks, Wendy loves celebrity attachment, Wendy loves beef jerky (okay irrelevant but true).  At the same time, Wendy's viewers like value, they like getting product giveaways, they like tips that will help them save money and be fabulous, they love product segments that won't break the bank....Can you provide these things?

Okay I PROMISE I Belong on the Show, How Do I Get On...

There are so many ways to "get on" a show and connect with producers.  From calling the station to finding them on Twitter (yes they're there).  It's an internet world, it's a networked world (both on and offline) and the contacts are the easy part here...A call to the show describing what/who you are and asking for the best producer for your topic can even net you a contact, but that's only half the battle...See below for a useful set of tips all under the "how" category:

If you are a potential expert who will be sharing tips and tricks, create a quick and to the point pitch that introduces you, links to your website/reel, gives a few sentences max about what you do and why you're qualified and good for Wendy, and then bullet out 5 or so segment ideas that you could demonstrate.  Make sure segments are highly visual and fit with Wendy's demographic.

Introduce the option of giveaways.  Whether you are a product or service, The Wendy Show loves giveaways, and if you can give to her audience (you will need to provide approx. 225 products or gift certificates) it could help you.  If you are an expert, find one of the products in your segment that will offer a giveaway.  It's a great "cherry on top" of your pitch.

Court the experts who go on the show! If you are a product based business they are unlikely to do a segment all about you alone, unless you're really newsworthy and you are a Hot Topic...So, track the experts who make regular TV appearances and share your product with them, for future segments they'll be doing.  This will not only help get you on Wendy, but on several other shows as well!

ASK to send a sample.  Don't blindly send them (hello waste of time and money).  But if you can find a great person to send them to, you have a better chance in showing your stuff!

Pitch yourself into a Hot Topic! You may not be worthy of a whole segment, but you could tie yourself to a Hot Topic. Be cool, newsworthy, find a celeb attachment to your product and you could be well on your way!

Be Fun!  Have you seen this show? It's not serious! It's not NBC Nightly News, it's a blast! You must bring the blast - if you are up tight and not bringing the energy and you're an expert, this isn't the show for you! Get your Wendy Shoes on (tall and fabulous) and bring it!

Be timely: Valentine's Day, Spring, St. Patrick's Day....That's what we're looking at on deck - get creative, make a seasonal segment up that is fresh and fun.

Don't give up and think it will be easy!  If it took one try (or two) to get on a national TV show everyone would be doing it! Pitch a lot, pitch patiently and politely and await their feedback.

Open up your net!  Your network that is!  You'd be surprised how many people are separated by only a few people from their media goal.  You know where you won't find them?  In a silent bubble of disconnect? Put it out there, look on social media, network, ask around...If you are a good fit you're bound to have people who can help connect you!

Last but not least!  Acces the Contacts via Tin Shingle:

Our contact database is packed with TV producer contacts including those from Wendy Williams!  If you're a member of Tin Shingle, you can access them directly via this database!