TAMPA PHOTOGRAPHER BLOG

Tampa Photographer Blog - The photography adventures and photography session anecdotes of top Tampa photographer Chris Passinault. For more, and to read everything, read the Tampa Photographer Blog mirror at BlogSpot.

Related Blogs by Chris Passinault:

Tampa Photography Blog - C. A. Passinault Blog - Tampa DJ Blog - Tampa Film Blog

Words and pictures by Tampa photographer Chris Passinault, lead photographer for Aurora PhotoArts Tampa photography and design

If you are a client of Aurora PhotoArts Tampa photography and design, your information is confidential, and this includes details about your photography services session. Photography session anecdotes presented on this blog are not published without the express written permission of the participants. Aurora PhotoArts clients are not required to allow details of their session to be published, and this choice is strictly up to them. By default, all photography session information is confidential unless the client elects to participate with the publication of session anecdotes. Tampa photographer Chris Passinault will not write about you unless you give him permission to, as you have rights, and those rights will be respected. Signed releases are on file.

See the photography portfolio of Tampa photographer Chris Passinault at his Tampa Photographer web site, Aurora PhotoArts Tampa photography and design.

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Saturday, March 28, 2009 - 8:00 AM - Tampa Photographer Log for Photographer Chris Passinault

A New Era For The Tampa Photographer Blog

Ah, progress. Some of my blogs are undergoing some overhauls, and the Tampa Photographer Blog is no exception. This is why some content (for this blog, 75% of its content) has been removed, and the blog is now leaner. There will be more adjustments, soon, too.
In all honesty, I’m not going to be able to voice my opinions here or give away details about my photography business which could undermine my position in the Tampa photography services market. I will, and can say, that I stand behind all my opinions, and am not changing my mind about anything that I have posted here in the past. My opinions, however, state the obvious, and provoke a strong reaction from others in the Tampa photography industry. I’m not here to post anything negative, or anything that could be perceived as negative. From now on, the Tampa Photography Blog will be about my passion of the photography business and my adventures as one of the top photographers in Tampa. I really do love photography, and am rightfully proud of my work as a professional photographer. Note, too, that these changes did not come about from any negative feedback or anything like that, it’s just that the blog had to be made appropriate for our new business directives.
Please keep in mind that I will not be posting stories and anecdotes here from every shoot. I need the client’s permission if a client is involved. All information about my clients is considered confidential, and I respect their privacy, as well as their rights. Of course, many of my clients do elect to have their photography sessions written about, especially my modeling and talent clients, as their careers are in the public eye. Additionally, if the client does give me permission to post their Tampa photography session story on the Tampa Photographer Blog, they are given the chance to read over the anecdote before it is published.
Public events, however, are another story. For example, I often attend events, and recently have been judging beauty pageants. Those anecdotes about public functions may be published without the permission of the participants. Not that it matters, though, because I will rarely write anything that could be perceived as negative.
Special projects, such as professional collaborations, are a different story, too. In those collaborations, publication of details may be part of the job.
So, the Tampa Photographer Blog enters a new age. The PR age.
Change is in the air. Consider this to be my spring cleaning.
It’s been busy, too. I was out conducting client consultations all day yesterday, meeting photography services clients back to back. The sales went well. I’ve been getting a ton of consultations lately, and it’s a result of our excellent, and highly effective, Internet marketing efforts.
Change is the theme right now. I made some business changes which were long overdue, and am looking into changing my photography portfolio. I initially built my printed photography portfolio back in 2001, with the leather case and inserts. Since then, it has been updated a few times, and a lot of great photographs were added. It’s been very, very effective over the years, and has been the main tool responsible for my high sell-through ratios. It’s worked well, but there were a few tweaks that I noticed over the years, and it can be even better after it is overhauled. I am about to add a lot more pictures, and will organize them better. It will cost me a few hundred for the overhaul, but it will be worth it (although my portfolio case is still in perfect condition, I may be replacing it with a high tech, custom portfolio case. I will be printing all of the pictures from scratch, and will be using the latest insert technology. Hmmm..... Maybe I should just retire the old port and keep it as a backup. Ok. It’s done, once the new 2009 portfolio is put together.)
Other changes? My business cards were obtained in October of 2005. They need to be replaced, especially since some information is outdated and the overall layout and design of the cards is a little safe and conservative. This week, I will be designing new cards and will be investing a hundred dollars on another order. I will also be designing more cards for my other endeavors, such as Tampa Bay Film and its online film festival. My design work has come a log way over the years, as you can see from the recent sample to the right. It will be a fun challenge to see how much I can push the new business cards design-wise. Hmmmmm.... perhaps a business card with a vertical layout? Then again, maybe not.... but I haven’t decided, yet. I have a lot of good ideas, and I will be spending plenty of time playing around with the design.
It looks like the “design” aspect of Aurora PhotoArts Tampa photography and design is well-earned. I’ve been earning money doing professional-level design work the past few years, anyway, so it’s beginning to keep pace with my photography work. Actually, I’ve found that my experience as a professional photographer has enhanced my ability as a designer. On the subject of design work, Aurora PhotoArts will be doing all of the design work for my Tampa advertising agency, Eos MediaArts. My Tampa advertising agency is already licensed, and although it has been booking work for a long time now, it officially starts business operations as a full-scale advertising agency this summer (can you see commercial photography work and modeling jobs? I can!). The Eos web site is almost done, too, and will launch in April 2009. I only have to complete the layout and write the copy.
Ah, writing. I’m doing a lot of that, and will continue. My new 2009 photography service agreements (service contracts) for Aurora PhotoArts are just about done, and I am waiting for my attorney to approve them so that we can start using them with clients. When I had all of those consultations this week, I had to use the old agreements, which were version from 2006! The new 2009 agreements were originally started in 2007, but I’ve been booking so many photography sessions that I never got around to finishing them until now. It’s weird. Back in 2002 I started booking shoots, and had to have contracts drawn up to get the terms of the work in writing. I never did get the agreements as updated as I wanted to, because my work on the contracts were always catching up with all the shoots that I was booking. I was too busy shooting to do a lot with the service agreements (my latest service agreements, the 2007 Talent Connection Project agreements, were very slick, very advanced, and a nice prelude to what I was working on, although the new 2009 agreements are a lot more advanced, now). They worked very well, however, and my attorney liked them. The new ones, however, are exactly what I’ve been wanting, and they will be much better than their predecessors (I’ve spent years taking notes and writing down ideas for inclusion in the new agreements, such as new usage terms and other things. The new agreements are designed to be simpler for the clients, and I wanted them to be at least half the size of the old ones page-wise, but the new additions kept the size up. Ugh. I had to use the old ones this week, which was fine. Next week, I get to start using the new ones.
You know, while I’m at it with the new contracts, I’m also going to overhaul our filing system. I came up with a new way of organizing digital media files for the core computer system that we are building, and the format can be used for old-fashioned contract filing, too. I may even file the paper contracts in a paper file system and scan the pages into the computer for digital copies.
Then there are web sites. I own a lot of them. I recently merged my photography service marketing with several of my resource web sites. This has been very successful, and business is increasing because of it. Of course, my main Aurora PhotoArts Tampa photography and design marketing site has largely been neglected. It’s been working fine, but it needs an overhaul, especially since it has barely been updated in a year. I will be adding lots of new content and will be redoing some of the graphics. I’m in no hurry to add new pictures, however, because the current ones work quite well. I’ll refresh my online photography portfolio on my main Tampa photography site later this year, for sure.
I did launch two new Tampa photography web sites recently, now that I think of it. They both have exceeded my expectations as far as their marketing effectiveness. One of them, Tampa Headshots, has been sending us a lot of headshot photography leads. Headshot photography bookings have set records because of it.
I’ll post again, soon. I may even have an anecdote to share.

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Saturday, January 17, 2009 - 9:00 AM - Tampa Photographer Log for Photographer Chris Passinault

Photography Is Supposed To Be Fun

Well, photography used to be a lot more fun than it is now. Once I started making a lot of money doing photography professionally, it seemed to lose something. I’ve done a lot of good work, work which I am proud of, and have made a good amount of money over the years, but it was never as fun as it used to be.
There’s no reason that it cannot be fun again, despite making money. I think that it all comes down to my attitude. You see, my shoots are still fun, and I enjoy working with people and getting out. It’s just that I don’t embrace it like I used to.
This will change. There is no reason while I cannot have fun while I work my photography and design business. God knows that I should be happy with my income and my work.
Take this Tampa Photographer Blog, for example. While I tend to whine about the Tampa photography services industry on my Tampa Photography Blog, the Tampa Photographer Blog will be a little more light hearted, and fun. It will deal with anecdotes.
Just remember that I shoot a lot, and it would be impossible to post stories about every shoot that I do on here (both logistically, and for the reason that I don’t want to give other Tampa photographers a clear picture of how many shoots I do, where I shoot, how I shoot, who I shoot with, and who all my clients are). I will post anecdotes about the coolest shoots. Also, I just bought some more cameras and some indie filmmaking gear which is ultra-portable, so effective immediately, I will be capturing videos of my shoots. From now on, I will carry a DVD quality DV camera with me in addition to my photography SLR cameras. This means that I will be posting online videos of some of my adventures. Hmmmmm...... I’ll also get a portable tripod, so I can get videos of me doing the shoots. There is a lot of good stuff on the way, such as this huge swimsuit modeling / bikini shoot that I have planned in the spring with at least six swimsuit models.
I’ve been going over my ancient files. I’ve looked at photographs and anecdotes from as far back as ten years ago. They all make me smile. So many memories. A lot of those people have moved on, but our memories stay real, especially with all the photographs.
It was exactly ten years ago. It was a blast of a shoot in the middle of a cow pasture. In January, 1999, two models, another photographer, and I went out shooting all day. I can’t say that the photographs came out that well, because they didn’t, but I’ll cut me some slack because I had not worked up to pro yet. It wouldn’t be until 2000, when I started dating a model by the name of Diana, where she helped bring my skills up to where they needed to be (the weekends that she spent with me were more like boot camps. She made me study fashion magazine photographs, and taught me things such as composition, which she knew because she was a top art director and designer as well as a fashion model.
Ok, going back to that shoot back in January of 1999. I have a picture of it to the right. As you can see, we had quite the set up, and why in the hell we had a tripod at this shoot, I couldn’t tell you. The tripod belonged to a photographer friend by the name of Manny, who has is standing holding his wrists in the photograph, and in reflection, in all these years of shooting modeling portfolios and actor headshots on location, I have never used a tripod! The funny thing is that I’m now coming full circle, and while I will be bringing a tripod to shoots starting this year, it will be for my DV video camera, and not my photography camera. It’s weird how things happen before, and they eventually happen again, with unique twists.
Man, I’m telling you. Give me a time machine, and allow me to take my photography gear back to this shoot. I’d tear it up. The second photograph here of model Jinelsa Rosado, taken over seven years later at the exact same spot as the 1999 shoot (notice the same crazy tree behind Jinelsa), shows just how far that I’ve come. Photographers always say location, location, location, but composition has a lot to do with it, too.
Ok, I just found the exact date. It was Saturday, January 30, 1999. Roughly two weeks from now, it will be ten years.
I also have the official shoot log from the web site that I had at that time. Here it is:

“The Crush”
SHOOT LOG
Saturday, 30 January, 1999

This time, a team of models and photographers traveled to the mine fields of moo moo land. “The Crush” was an apt title, as our models, Michael and Kristen W., looked a lot like the Actors in the movie of that same name. Kristen, however, resented being constantly compared to Alicia Silverstone.
The day began interestingly enough. It was a warm, clear Saturday morning. Haze from the blanket of cool fog that filled the countryside began to lift. The air would have been serene, almost perfect, if not for the overhead droning of a helicopter. A police helicopter. Passinault glanced out the window.
Police cruisers blocked the road leading to the studio. He was not amused. That was the road that his models would have to pass.
The police proved to be a trivial nuisance at the most, as they were looking for some toddler that had wandered off. Passinault picked up Kristen, and upon making their way through the thicket of officers, they relaxed and waited for Michael to arrive. They snacked on donuts, Kristen made a phone call to the Cayman Islands, and Passinault jammed on a a quick game of Time Pilot 84 on the Studio’s MAME 32 arcade emulator. Michael showed up, and Kristen called her friend Jolene, who was also slated to model with her that day. Jolene, unfortunately, canceled.
At that, Kristen and Passinault loaded up his mini truck and cruised into Brandon with Michael and his jeep following. They picked up Manny Torres, the other photographer, who rode with Michael, and headed off for breakfast.
To their dismay, it was to early to eat at their first choice, Hops. So, they settled for Steak and Shake. The food was- Bland. Kristen and Passinault had a laugh, though, drawing a “rest in peace” cartoon on the napkin and placing it over a dish of fries.
The conversation, however, sparkled in contrast as they bounced topics between the four of them.
The first stop after making a pit stop at the studio was a field off of Rhodine road. It was an abandoned pasture. Passinault, as a teenager back in 1986, had hiked through this very pasture. He observed that, other than the paved bridge crossing Bell Creek to the east of them, it had not changed. It was still quite beautiful. Even the dark land mines that the grazing cows had left behind had a certain charm.
Manny had brought a recorder with him, and he proceeded to interview the party as the shoot began. The models eased into the act, even to the point of dancing around to the dance mix of Party Zone RMX, which blared from a boom box.
They next traveled to the store for a quick lunch, and proceeded to the boardwalk in the Waterford community, where Kristen had posed for shots just two weeks prior. Passinault discovered that the gate was shut, and relished the thought of using the “Kelly Code”, 325, which he had learned from his highschool friend Kelly Duvall ten years before. He had told Kristen the previous shoot that, in a private community of this size, it was hard to change out codes, and the ancient code probably still worked.
To his disappointment, there was a car in front of them, which opened the gate. Passinault’s pick up and Michael’s jeep followed closely behind.
He pulled into the parking slip just inside the gate. Michael’s jeep purred in beside them. “Hey, there’s some lady behind us. She doesn’t look too happy.....”.
Manny’s voice. They looked behind them. A red Cherokee, idling off on the curb. A middle aged woman glared at them from the drivers seat, her face scrunched up into a scowl. She was well dressed, and, under normal circumstances, Passinault mused, would be attractive.
“We should leave. I don’t think she wants us here.....”
Manny’s voice again. Passinault frowned. He was right, they’d have to leave or the whole shoot would be in jeopardy. The grinch in the Cherokee would have them towed while they shot back on the boardwalk.
He cursed to Kristen as they left, pointing out the beautiful shots that they would have to miss out on. A thought spilled out. “We should have taken her picture!”. Kristen laughed.
They decided to go to a large park in Valrico to finish the shoot. Upon arriving a half hour later, the had an impromptu picnic at a table, then began shooting in an area with hills. During the shoot, a young fan begged to have his picture taken with Kristen. It was the highlight of his twelve years.
The shoot wrapped with a parting shot of Passinault posing with Michael and Kristen. They parted ways, Michael taking Manny home, and Kristen going back to the studio with Passinault. After getting a bit lost, they found their way, and Kristen started to fall asleep from exhaustion.
Upon arrival, he let Kristen take a nap as he washed the truck. He then woke his star model up, and they took pictures of her pottery on the smooth, hard lid covering the bed on the back of the pick up. That done, Passinault took her to work.

Ah, memories. Too bad the pictures weren’t usable.
You know, I wrote that I had hiked through that pasture when I was 16. I used to hike a lot as a teenager. Come to think of it, I was a photographer back then, too, even though I did not know how to use a camera, I appreciated the beauty that was around me as I wandered the countryside. I remember once, when I was 16 on one of those twelve mile hikes, I saw a valley near that pasture to the south. It was lit well in the morning sun, and at that moment, I wished that I had a camera. It’s not that I could not learn about cameras. My Grandfather had tons of photography magazines laying around my parents house, and I used to thumb through them because I was interested in aerial reconnaissance photography (long story- I used to fly simple cameras thousands of feet over my community and take pictures of my neighborhood using my flying platforms- it was kind of like KAP years before people were doing KAP. I built one such platform which could stay aloft almost a mile up for days. Sometimes, weird gadgets would come crashing down on my neighbors from the sky, or other things would drift down on huge parachutes. Those were the days. It was amazing some of the things that I did as a kid with little money or technology). Anyway, I found my Grandfathers photography magazines to be boring. This is not the case with photography magazines and books these days.
Ah, that valley. I still remember how it looked. I’m sure that it’s somewhere near that pasture. You know the weird thing? Doing fashion modeling photography shoots with professional models from all over Florida in the same wilderness areas that I used to hike when I was a child.
On March 2, 2002, almost seven years ago (!), I went into a densely wooded area in Riverview with four models and another person. We did a shoot on the same trail that I had hiked on growing up. It was surreal, and what amused me the most was that we were all grouped together doing this shoot, and people walking the trail, riding horses, or jogging would stumble upon a photoshoot and freak out with all the models running around. I need to do more shoots in that area. The last time that I did a shoot back there was with Jinelsa Rosado on March 11, 2006 (I think- I do a lot of shoots). When Jinelsa and I shot back there, getting pictures that blew away the 2002 shoot, we didn’t see a single person. I guess that my wooded areas, areas which were turned into parks, were busier back in 2002.
You know, I did good work nine years ago, which was around the time that Diana and I spent our weekends together and I turned pro. Some of my marketing for Aurora PhotoArts, however, sucked. Oh, and THOSE RATES..... my photography rates were so out of whack, no wonder I didn’t make any money doing shoots (yo can tell that I’ve been looking back at my archived files.. Some things were brilliant, and were signs of things to come, and others were so stupid that they make me laugh). At least I am good at keeping accurate records, so when I write things like this blog, and can cite people, places, dates, and times. Expect that tradition to continue.
Augh.. Those photography rates were a joke! I guess it is because I was transitioning from film to digital, and had dual rates for both types of photography, too. Here is something from 1999, which is a year before I turned pro as a photographer:

"Agenda 2000"
Monday, 9 August, 1999

1) MODELING COMP CARD PRICING PLAN ADOPTED

A COMP CARD is a business card for the working model. It is an important tool that is used to obtain jobs in the industry. A typical Comp Card is a 5 X 7 laminated card with several photographs composited onto it and modeling stats for the model. Typically, these cards usually cost anywhere between $400.00 to $900.00 to fabricate; photo shoot costs included. Our cost to the Iris model, after all the costs are factored in, start at $140.00 .

a) Photo Shoots (72 frames, 3 looks, 3 locations) $80.00 Necessary to obtain the raw photographs needed for the Model's Comp Card. The model coordinates with the assigned photographer to do the shoot, and pays the photographer the fee. Most of Aurora PhotoArts Photographers are quite good, but it may take more than one shoot to get the "Grail" shots that can be used for the Cards. Regardless, the Model gets SLIDES of every frame shot for their trouble. These slides can be used by the model to put together a PORTFOLIO, another valuable career tool.

b) Comp card setup fee: $20-25.00

The selected pictures are digitized and edited on a computer workstation via PhotoShop 5. The edited frames are then composited into a custom Template designed by Michael for the standard Iris Comp Card. Extra pics crammed onto the card constitute a higher fee.

c) Comp cards $2.00 each, min order 20

The finished Comp Card is copied onto an Iomega Zip Disc and taken to a second party print shop with an Aurora PhotoArts business account. Here, the cards are sized, printed, laminated, and cut. Additional cards are made for Iris to be placed on the Comp Card board to be placed on a wall in Geomedia 3.

2) 1999 Photo Shoot format discontinued

As of Saturday, 7 August, 1999, the Aurora Photo Shoot as we've come to know it was discontinued. There will be sponsored Commercial, Editorial, and Promotional Photo Shoots in the future. AES sponsored shoots will be booked with all the required permits, planned, storyboarded, and shot.

Alrighty. Riiiiiiiight.... Laminated composite cards? I’m glad that this never happened.
Oh, and the use of “Grail shot” to describe a money shot in a modeling shoot; that term is still in use today. It’s interesting to see how far back the term Grail shot goes.
For those of you scratching your heads over some of what was in that email, well, I was confused, too. I still can’t figure out what I was referring to when I stated that the “Aurora Photo Shoot as we've come to know it was discontinued”. Hmmmmm..... Maybe that’s the point where my shoots started on that long road to being less fun and more work. Er... “storyboarding” a shoot? Ok, whatever. That never happened, and I’m glad it didn’t. That idea would have bogged us down and made a shoot many times the work that it needed to be.
Oh, and “Iris” models refers to my models back when I was planning to start a modeling and talent agency and didn’t quite know what one was. It took several years of experience and study before I became a modeling expert. I learn fast.
Oh, and those composite card rates are crazy! Even today, no one in their right mind would pay those kind of rates for comps. They are way to high!
Good God. Those rates..... I could not survive today with those photography rates! $80.00 for a 3 look shoot? Although within a year my work was professional in quality, no one would invest in services which were that cheap. Listen, photographers, and especially those of you who go around shooting TFP shoots for free, there is a lot of psychology in this business. If you are too cheap, or are giving it away, no one will want what you are selling, or, for that matter, respect what you do. It’s true! I had to learn it the hard way. There is something called perceived value, and if you sell yourself short, people will discount your work and not want to buy it, event if it’s awesome. If you sell at a discounted rate, you may find that your photography services are harder to sell than if you charged more. This is why low-rent photographers and TFP photographers don’t hurt my business. They get less work making less money (or none at all), and I book more work making a lot more. People tend to take you seriously when you are serious about your photography, and you charge what you are worth.
In 2000, when I turned pro, I made good money working as a banker, and spent thousands of dollars on my photography, as I was developing my photography portfolio and improving my photography skills. Jessica, a swimsuit model who I was working with at the time, came by by office at the bank one evening to pick up her pictures, pictures which she did not spend a dime on, and which cost me over $60.00 for film and development. She was over at my desk, and proceeded to nitpick the pictures and bitch me out. I stood my ground, and defended the pictures (looking back, they were quite good, even today). She smirked at me and looked at the rest of the prints, and remarked that I had “potential”. By this time, a dozen of my banking coworkers were up in arms, and wanted to lynch her. She wrapped it up, and left with the prints. After she left the building, my coworkers told me that my work was great, and that she had no right putting it down like that. I thanked them for their support. My friend Leanne, who was the top salesperson at the bank, sat down with me and gave me “the talk”. She told me that my photography work had improved dramatically in the past year, and that they were all impressed by it. She was blunt, and told me that models pay a lot of money for the quality of portfolio photography work that I was doing. She stated that Jessica and a few other models were using me for free portfolios, and it was obvious that they were. She told me that she was my friend, and she and the others wanted to kick Jessica’s ass for the rude way that she had treated me. “Chris”, she said, “You need to start charging for your photography work. I’d pay for it, and I’m sure others would, too. Don’t sell yourself short anymore, and charge what you are worth”.
That’s when I became serious about making photography a business. It wouldn’t happen overnight, however. I also began to put rude models in their place.
For the record, I began booking modeling portfolio photography shoots in 2001, and back then I was getting $250.00 for a five look shoot (this is NOT my current rate, so please don’t call us and try to book a five look shoot at that rate). The evolution of my photography services, and the improvement of my business and marketing techniques over the years, is fascinating to look at. It improved quickly, and my services grew under a working environment of booking shoots and making money. It took on a life of its own. The difference of my marketing contracts between 2001 and 2003 is like night and day. So, how was business? Since booking my first paid shoots in 2001, I haven’t looked back. Progress and sales have been impressive, and I’ve booked a lot of modeling portfolio photography and talent headshot photography shoots since. Here is a breakdown of those years of business as a professional photographer.

2001- Booked my first paid shoots and began to make money as a photographer, as my portfolio was strong, and sold my photography services well during sales consultations. Hell, I’d even buy what I offer!
2002 - I was not longer working at the bank, and the economy was bad in the wake of 9/11, but business improved. I booked a ton of shoots this year.
2003 - Marketing improved a lot. Business was good. My Aurora PhotoArts marketing web site began its journey to market superiority. The first seeds of a business future were envisioned, and planted.
2004 - A record year for photography business! By then, I had the marketing, service consultation process, and sales down to a science. I became very, very good at selling my photography services. By 2004, no Tampa photographer or Tampa photography business could touch my photography business.
2005 - A solid year, but not as busy as 2004. Marketing tools moved to a serious professional level, and became the best in the Florida photography services market (it seems that the years that business is slower are when I am sidetracked working on business support infrastructure. You have to work your business, people! You only make what you put into the business!). Oh, and I invested in new cameras and equipment, too.
2006 - Another solid year. My photography marketing web site was redone, again, and this time the new Venus class marketing site emerged from the years of tinkering and hard work. In 2006, Aurora PhotoArts had come of age, and had one of the best photography services marketing sites in the United States. It was clearly the best photography services marketing web site in Florida.
2007 - Another record year! I booked more photography work in 2007 than in all the previous years combined, and actor headshot photography services started a trend of becoming a hot seller.
2008 - A slow year compared to the others, but this was due in part because I was not working the business as much. I spent a lot of time doing television interviews and modeling industry work. Infrastructure had to be overhauled, too, as I had big plans for 2009, and this sidetracked me. I changed my phone number, and streamlined support infrastructure, too.
2009 - I’m ready. This will be an interesting year. It’s time for a full rollout, and make more money than all the other years combined while making the work fun again. Oh, and this will be in spite of the horrible economy, too. What I started working on in 2003 is now ready to be deployed and worked. What Aurora PhotoArts will introduce to the Tampa photography services market this year will revolutionize the photography business, and I anticipate the start of an arms race of sorts as other Tampa photographers and photography companies notice the dramatic increase in my business, and they desperately move to copy what I do.

Ah, 2009. This is going to be an awesome year. So far, business has been good, but what is going to happen in the next few weeks will change this market forever.
I have the business down to a science. I make more money doing modeling portfolio photography and actor headshot photography than any photographer or photography company that I am aware of.
Last Sunday, I had a meeting with one of my photographers, who had just returned from doing a magazine shoot with a fashion model. Last week, I referred a shoot to him from a law firm client, and he booked it (I have an obscenely effective array of marketing tools from years of work and development- my phone is always ringing off the hook with people wanting photography services). I was happy that he booked the shoot that I had referred to him, but was not happy when he charged them half of what he should have (I also bitched him out when he paid a model to shoot with her a couple of years ago, too- He gets paid as a professional photographer, and she gets paid working as a professional model; if they want to collaborate, it should even-out, and it should be a no-cost collaboration between established professionals- this is different than TFP, and I’ll explain why in another post, soon). Anyway, I told him that a law firm would not try to talk him down in rates, as they had money, and the person booking the photographer on behalf of the business would not care (this works in event planning, too; I’ve never had a business try to book my DJ’s for a reduced rate). I told him that I never had to discount my work, and that I got what I asked for consistently.
That’s when I told him “the process” that I used for my consultations and booking process. After giving him pointers, one of my photography services clients called. I put him on the phone with her, and had her give him the run-down, too. She was happy with the work that I had done for her, and she paid full rate. As a matter of fact, she paid twice as much as the law firm paid him. I told him to quit selling himself short, and to stick to his guns. His photography portfolio was excellent, and he deserved to get paid what he was worth. He agreed.
Talk about full circle. Thank you, Leanne, wherever you are.

Monday, November 17, 2008 - 3:00 AM - Tampa Photographer Log for Photographer Chris Passinault

Tampa Headshots Aurora PhotoArts Web Site Launched

Oh, yes. My latest web site, the Aurora PhotoArts Tampa Headshots web site, is finally finished, and I just uploaded it to the server. It is now online, and it has officially launched. The Tampa Headshots web site is the third Huey Class web site designed by me through my Tampa advertising agency, Eos MediaArts. It joins its sister Huey Class sites Tampa Photography Society and Tampa Boudoir Photography. I talked to my good friend, Atlanta and Orlando photographer Craig Huey last night, and he exclaimed "Yay!" when I told him that another Huey Class site was about to launch. Efficient little sites, they are proving to be very potent in Internet photography marketing, and are high-performance in SEO numbers (the latest SEO performance numbers on the last Huey Class site, Tampa Boudoir Photography, is 93%, because I used some of my latest enhanced SEO tools when I launched it back in March 2008 - it is ripping up the search engines right now. The first Huey Class site, Tampa Photography Society, is currently pulling a SEO performance of 89%, because it needs some upgrades, but it's still great; it pulls in a lot of web traffic numbers. In comparison, my main photography web site for Aurora PhotoArts pulls in a SEO performance rating of 94%, as it is an advanced Venus Class site. For their smaller size and more compact design, The "Venus-lite" Huey Class sites perform very well. The newest Huey Class site, Tampa Headshots, should pull in the best SEO numbers yet- I'm projecting at least 95% after the search engines index it- Hmmm..... I just checked, and it's already pulling 94%. My estimate wasn't off by much).

I have another Huey Class Tampa photography marketing web site set for launch later this week. This upcoming site is for me as a Tampa photographer, and will tie into all my photography marketing web sites, Tampa Bay Photographers, Tampa Photography Society, and both Tampa photography blogs. After that, I will be upgrading my main Aurora PhotoArts Venus Class web site, and then will be completing and launching my Tampa Advertising Agency web site. So far, everything is proceeding as planned. I'm ready for what's coming in January 2009. Gotta run. I have to update my Tampa Photography Blog now with a post about my Tampa Headshots site launch and the latest on my SEO efforts, and then I have to work on the studio- I have to swap out a computer monitor and rewire a sound system / DJ rig for my Tampa event planning company.

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 3:36 AM - Tampa Photographer Log for Photographer Chris Passinault

Tampa Photographer Blog Launched

It had to happen. My Tampa Photography Blog split into two separate photography blogs which will serve as one large binary blog separated into two categories. This new blog will retain the original Tampa Photography Blog design and will focus on my photographer anecdotes and adventures. The original Tampa Photography Blog will focus on the Tampa photography services industry and my opinions regarding the photography industry. I will post more shortly, and update the header. Here, I will post as Chris Passinault. At the original Tampa Photography blog, I will post as C. A. Passinault.

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UPDATED 03/28/09

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Related Blogs by Chris Passinault, AKA C. A. Passinault:

C. A. Passinault Blog (The main, official blog for Chris Passinault under his professional name)

Tampa Film Blog

Frontier Society - Tampa Bay Film - Tampa Film Blog - Tampa Indie Film - Tampa Bay Modeling - Tampa Bay Acting - Tampa Bay Talent - Tampa Production Jobs - Tampa Talent Scams - Talent Online Database - Tampa Photography - Tampa Events - Tampa Stage - Tampa Productions - Orlando Convention Photographer - Orlando Tradeshow Photographer - Passinault - Atlanta Photography - Orlando Photography - Tampa Sports Photography - Tampa Event Photography - Atlanta Photographer - Orlando Photographer - Tampa Sports Photographer - Tampa Event Photographer

Scroll Class web site blog by Tampa Advertising Agency Eos MediaArts. Tampa Photography Blog online 02/28/08.

Tampa Photography Blog Web Site index refreshed 08/13/08.

The Tampa Photography Blog covers, but is not limited to, the following Tampa Bay and Florida markets:

Tampa, Ybor City, Hyde Park, Westshore, Apollo Beach, Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Saint Pete (St Petersburg), Palm Harbour, Brandon, Plant City, Lakeland, Orlando, Winter Park, Sarasota, Bradenton, Daytona Beach, Miami, Miami Beach, South Beach, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, and Palm Springs.

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The views and the opinions shared on this blog are those of the author and are not neccessarily those of Aurora PhotoArts Tampa Bay photography and design or any other party. Presented as-is, with no guarantees expressed or implied. Informational use only. Tampa photographer Chris Passinault is not legally liable for the content on this web site blog, and use of any content waives him from liability. Anyone using the content on this site or attempting anything described on this site assumes all legal and civil liability. Please be familiar with with your local laws before using this site. Information on the Tampa Photography Blog is not to be taken as legal advice or advice which may be covered under any licensed or regulated profession. Opinions expressed on this web site are those of the individual contributor and may not be shared by other contributors, models, photographers, or businesses who may be involved with this web site or our online community.
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