CAPIC Christams Party and Print Exchange

The Canadian Association of Photographers and Illustrators in Communications is hosting their Christmas Party and a Print Exchange at the Rose & Crown, Calgary on December 9th at 7 PM. Please join us!


RSVP to prairie@capic.org and I'll see you there.


All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Sphere: Related Content

Rodeo Prize Winners Announced!

The top Rodeo prizewinners have been announced.

TORONTO - Friday, January 23, 2008 - The prize winners of the first CAPIC Rodeo Student contest were announced at the Rodeo Awards presentations here Friday evening.

Six students, two from Quebec, one from Ontario and three from Alberta won cash prizes and special packages from sponsors.

Read more here.

All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Sphere: Related Content

Undoing Limitations

I want to introduce you to my friend, Jean Hudson, who is part of my brain trust. Jean brings her humour, sensitivity, positivity and behavioural insight to the 8 members of the Calgary Entrepreneurs Peer Group. She has the rare ability of being able to listen before she speaks and to give direct and supportive guidance.

After reading how to remove limitations, listing to Jean on Blog Talk Radio by folling the link at the end of the story.


Undoing Limitations by Jean Hudson


What barriers or roadblocks stand between you and what you want? Bring to mind a goal, any goal. What stops you from reaching it quickly? Perceived limitations.

What will undo any limitation is the awareness that it is our vision, not what we are seeing, that is limited.
Billions of distinct bits of information are being registered by our senses every second. We are aware of only about 2000. What do you choose what to pay attention to? Are you keeping your goal in mind, and paying attention to reality (as experienced by the five senses) or to the mental limitations, the stoppers, the what if’s?

Check it out. Look around the room you are in. How many specific bits of information can you identify? What can you see, hear, smell, taste, touch? Now close your eyes. How much do you recall? When you have remembered all you can, open your eyes and look around. What did you miss? There is too much available information to hold in consciousness. So we filter and sort it, delete, distort and generalize it, pay attention to some and disregard the rest. Consider what does get your attention and focus.

When you think about your goal, are you single-minded? Do you pay conscious attention to desired outcomes, and then take focused action? Do you explore ways to achieve what you want, examine your strengths and excavate your inner resources? Do you look beyond what you may have seen before, study the reality of the situation in depth? Identify what you may have previously missed?

Most ‘limitations’ are simply ideas, thoughts, mental constructs, not necessarily based on sense data (reality). Are you willing to look beyond them? What else is possible? Could you ask others for help in seeing what you are missing?

What will undo any limitation is the awareness that it is our vision, not what we are seeing, that is limited.

Put your name on a goal. Go straight for it. Do not stop at bland or boring. Play full out.
Those who succeed are not any brighter or talented than others. They are simply more willing to look closely at reality, and to move beyond preconceived limitations.

Before you close this email, be sure you register for Calling All Writers! http://execucoach.net/ calling-all-writers.aspx
And download The Power of Listening http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2009/04/17/Power-Listening-with-Jea n-Hudson

If you received this email from a friend, subscribe now at www.execucoach.net and get your free ebook to help you release your strengths and talents.


All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Sphere: Related Content

Better Networking with Your Blackberry

In 2009 we cut our print/online marketing budget way back and shifted our marketing to in person efforts; networking. Like a many of you I went to these events, met lots of people, gathered loads of business cards and went home.

I had every intention of typing all of the business cards into MS Outlook so I could follow up and develop the relationships I had just started. I actually spent hours typing in all of those contacts after each event. Yes, it took hours. It  took so much time that I gave up typing them in and never followed up. My time, money and potentially great relationships were wasted so I looked for a better way.

When I got a new Blackberry Bold,  I started using  DUB, a contact trader that is similar to Bump for the iPhone. DUB works on both Blackbery and iPhone. DUB allows people to digitally exchange contact information with one click. Based on your proximity to each other it will either wirelessly trade contact cards or send a message with your contact info and a link to create their card. Once they do, your info is saved to their mobile address book and theirs to yours.

DUB aslo automatically updates your address book when a contact updates their contact information. One more great feature is that DUB acts as a backup for your phone. If your phone meets an untimely death or disappears? Just download DUB to your new phone and all your DUB contacts return to your mobile address book and under DUB Contacts.

Awesome, paperless, easy.


All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Sphere: Related Content

Is Advertising Dead in 2009? Part III

So is the advertising market dead? I don't think so, just different. Bloated budgets, large productions, and heavy advertising agency involvement have all been scaled way back. But, lots of businesses are still advertising and lots of new businesses are being created as people see needs to fill in the latest "new economy".

Although Q2 and Q3 of this year were really slow we are on track to do as well as last year and maybe better. How? Seeing all of the layoffs and downsizing in the market I realized that I needed to meet the decision makers, I needed to start networking with the top level decision makers. Since January I have been going to networking events and meeting entrepreneurs that are concerned about their business and how to keep it alive.

During the first few months there wasn't much pay off and I wondered if I was on the right track. Developing real relationships takes time so I kept going to networking events and meeting people, after a few months they remembered my name. A few months later I was being introduced by other people. By the beginning of Q3 referral business started coming in and I was able to contribute by helping people in need with my own recommendations.

Once genuine relationships are established it's easier to be a photography consultant and help decision makers plan and execute their marketing. In times of lean budgets and small staffs being a go to resource is invaluable and is helping us turn this into a fantastic year.

Share your ideas, go out and meet people, talk to the person next to you in line. Smile at people and make your business and your city a better place.

All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements.

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So what's a Purist?

 Over on the Chase Jarvis Blog there is discussion about what is pure in photography. Is it cheating to use photoshop or similar post-production techniques. This discussion has been around in some form or other since I started shooting seriously in the early 80's. Back then it was colour vs black and white film or slide vs polaroid or the use of filters. Check out the Avedon guide print and then the discussion.  Here are my thoughts on it:

At the Ansel Adams museum in Jackson Wyoming they have a large, 3'x4' or so, print that Ansel had marked up for his printer. I used to convert a slide to print so I cold mark it up for my printer who then made beautiful cibachromes. The printer hand cut masks for each of the dodge and burn areas and kept them on file for 1 year, after that I had to pay storage fees on the masks. At the time I was considered a Purist because I didn't use coloured filters even though during the printing I manipulated what the camera had captured. As a purist it was permissalbe to use 1a and polarizing filers just not coloured filters. At the time I also refused to use chalk when climbing, wouldn't climb an artificial wall, and if I fell on a route I went all the way to the bottom before trying again. 

Thankfully, for the past 10 years all of my masks are digital and are stored on hard drives and backed up on the server and DVD's.


All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Sphere: Related Content

Is Advertising Dead in 2009? Part II

From small to large companies, traditional marketing budgets have been significantly eroded. Many companies are simply not advertising. Others have moved away from print advertising as they move deeper into online media. How has your marketing strategy changed over the past year?


We changed our strategy in March 2009 because our clients started freezing budgets and cancelling jobs. Our cash flow was interrupted and we had to cancel our print and online advertising. It was a great opportunity to find a new way to reach our clients and deepen relationships with them. So what did we do to get the message out? We went 'Old School’; we picked up the phone and shook hands.

Like everyone, we are trying to limit spending so traditional photography advertising like paid web promotion, portfolio hosting and postcards have been stopped. Instead of a shot gun approach we are using finely targeted promotion and calling people up to have an in person interview. We are finding out where our customers and prospects go outside of the office and we are meeting them there. We are taking it to the people.

The change in our marketing taught us that my closing ratio is much higher with in-person promotion than it is with web portfolios, direct mail or any other marketing method. With all of the money we save by cutting out direct mail and paid web portfolios we can take a lot of prospects in our local market out to lunch and make a personal connection. We are meeting people and finding out how we can help them.

Some of the best places to meet business people are the many networking events put on by The Calgary Marketing Meet Up, Stuart Crawford's Calgary Entrepreneurs Meet Up and the monthly events held by CAPIC . These events are live, one-on-one advertising opportunities if you arrive prepared to meet people, engage directly with them and listen. Make the most of these events by finding out how you can help people and eventually they will reciprocate and help you. Over time you can build a powerful network of allies that will advertise you to their own networks.

Our result has been the biggest growth ever of our client base. We have done more commercial photography jobs than in any other year. We have significantly increased the size of our network. And we had a lot fun doing it. On the flip side, we have also helped other businesses make connections and accomplish their goals.


All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Brett Gilmour is a corporate and advertising photographer based in Calgary, Alberta. Sphere: Related Content

Is Advertising Dead in 2009? Part I

2009 has been a mixed year, the big clients have really slashed budgets while lots of new clients are booking their first commercial photography with budgets in the thousands. Yesterday, at an advertising agency meeting, one of the principals said that a year ago the agency had 25 staff and this year they are 2 principals and 1 staff. This Creative Director went on to say that in the same building is a publicly listed advertising agency that occupies 2.5 full floors of the office tower. That advertising agency is down to just 10 people on staff. So is the market worse?

I think advertising and the commercial photography market is just different, the landscape has changed. Everyone is trying to shave budgets and look for ways to save money. Businesses still need to advertise so they are looking for discounts, extras, service upgrades and package deals. We can get scared by this or we can seize the opportunity.

The main opportunity for this year has been positioning our photography studio as a trusted marketing consultant to small and mid-sized businesses. With agencies working on smaller budgets and fewer staff on a job we are able to pick up some of the slack and work with clients and the agency to develop ideas and get more involved in the planning and post-production of a shoot. And I love it because we are more involved in the success of our clients.

I learned most of this watching Sesame St., happy 40th cookie monster.

All images and text Copyright 2009 Brett Gilmour

Links to our articles are welcome.
If you would like to reproduce any part of this article written permission is required, contact Brett Gilmour Photography and we'll be happy to provide it along with hi-res imagery for any print or magazine requirements. Sphere: Related Content