While Seeing is Believing – Trying is Buying!

Many have heard of us.  Some are big fans, while others remain skeptical. During these hard times, it may very well be that the skeptics can’t bring themselves to believe that VB can be as powerful as we and our users claim.  Even after they have seen countless samples and read testimonials from dedicated VB users, they have yet to see the light.

Whether you are a skeptic or even mildly curious, there is only one sure way to find out whether or not VB is right for you:  Attend a Virtual Backgrounds Learn and Earn Workshop.  You will see, you will believe, and most of all, you will leave with valuable hands-on experience with our system!

VB workshops are led by Montana master photographer, Trevon Baker.  Trevon and VB can help you be distinctively different. Discover how VB will expand your creativity and increase your on the job fun!  The May workshop is booked up, but there’s still time to sign up for June and July.  Contact a friendly VB consultant to register!

My Virtual Backgrounds Workshop Experience, April 2012

By Robert Quinn

A few years ago, I stumbled into the VB booth at WPPI.  I was incredibly impressed with what they were doing, but it was the end of the show and I didn’t have time to really get to know the product.  Part of me wrote it off as a smoke and mirrors gadget.  As I started to research background cost and feasibility, I kept going back to VB.  I really wanted to see it firsthand before taking the plunge.

In January 2012, I started communicating with Christian Feigl at VB trying to learn as much as I could about the system. I spent many hours watching Trevon Baker and VB’s videos, and I really became interested in the product.  I really needed to see VB in person. The folks at VB didn’t pressure me; instead, they laid out my options and some of the benefits of coming, so I said, “San Marcos, Texas – here I come!”

My first impression was very positive.  From driving up and parking next to the infamous train cars to walking into the education studio that looked just like I had seen on the videos but so much more. VB artwork was everywhere and you could not help but be impressed with the quality and magnitude of this work. Trevon immediately introduced himself and I instantly became comfortable with the environment. 

The thing that was most impressive was the learning that we jumped right into. We were learning about photography, lighting, ratios, composition, and posing. Wait a minute, I came down here to learn about Virtual Backgrounds. Well, I learned a lot more over the course of the next three days. We had about 12 of us in class with such wide-ranging backgrounds from professional photographers with studios to a high school student looking to break into the business. Not one of us was alike, but we quickly became friends, learning from and with each other.

Trevon’s class was great. He has an uncanny ability to teach multiple skill levels at the same time. These days went by so fast because we were always learning and always engaged. Virtual Backgrounds should consider itself fortunate to have Trevon working with them as he is really good at teaching the workshop. This was everything Christian, Trevon, and Dr. Oles promised and more.

The greatest part was the hands on with our models. We were making Virtual Backgrounds images. Us! No super photographer who uses this system all the time but the 12 of us were capturing the images. It was truly then that I figured out that this is a system I can work with. 

The small details at the workshop were also impressive.  Lunches as a class in the railroad dining car were as important to the learning as any time spent in class. The atmosphere, the communication,  and things we learned about each other were priceless. There were also voluntary workshop hours after class each day for even more individual attention! 

After listening to Dr. Oles’ presentations each morning, I believe he is truly in touch with the photography profession and has extensive knowledge about photography in general.   

Final impression:  When I left the workshop on Wednesday, I had a quote in my hand and I am making final preparations as we speak to order my system. I’m not making this decision because I was given a sales pitch.  I am purchasing a VB system because I was allowed to use and learn the product. 

I left feeling like a friend of VB, not a customer.  I have no doubt in my mind when I do get this system, VB will be right there with me to make sure I get the most out of it.  If you are on the fence about the system or coming to the workshop, all I can say is I was in your shoes too!  I encourage you to attend the workshop and see for yourself. 

Whether or not you own a system, are thinking about a one, or are just trying to become a better photographer, it is an experience you will never forget! 

Robert Quinn is a 43 year old Indiana freelance photographer with 10 years of experience. He is a paramedic and retired volunteer firefighter looking to go full time as a professional photographer. By getting into VB, Robb will automatically separate himself from all other photographers in the area!  Robb, we at VB look forward to our continued friendship!

You Can Thrive in Spite of the Storm – Here’s How 

Fact of Life #1 

Strive in every way to be clearly different and above all others. The more special you are, the more they will come.

It is possible to be really successful in photography but only if you fully understand and applyFacts of Life #1 for professional photographers. You must separate everything you do as much as possible from the one million who now consider themselves to be professional. Even more important, you must clearly separate yourself from the 340 million DIY photographers in America today…just about every man woman and child with a digital camera.

Producing work that can also be done by any other photographer and even by your potential customers, is not the answer. even if your shots are better. Most people today think their own work is “good enough”. The key is creating product that will “wow” your customers but also be product they cannot get anywhere else or by using their own digital camera. VB is that key. 

It all boils down to being distinctively different in desirable ways. There is so much more to professional photography than the natural look. Every camera owner can catch the natural look. Virtual Backgrounds can play an extremely important role in helping the professional photographer produce a much wider range of creative images that the consumer can’t produce.

Great News! People Still Want to Look Their Best in Pictures!

Who really wants to look bad in their photographs? There is a world of difference in a typical face book snap shot and a professional portrait. Regardless of what they may say, if they have a choice, people of any age don’t want to look dorky in their photographs. They want to be special. They want to have images that complement their features.

Show your customers that when they want to look really special, they need to visit a professional photographer where they can get the greatest variety and look their very best. As a special added bonus for your customers, consider working with ahair and makeup specialist either on site or on a recommendation basis to help insure a totally unforgettable experience for your customer. This is one of the main features of most yourlook studios. It is their glamour division. The beauty of glamour photography is that most photographers and the amateurs can’t do it very well at all. The same is true for boudoir photography. 

Find Great Backgrounds at Dollar Tree!

Stop in a local Dollar Tree store and take a look at the plastic napkin holder and several of the plastic serving plates. Then imagine the infinite variety you could create with your VB system if you cut these things into pieces and place them in your VB projector, in or out of focus and with color gels. You can even stack several plastic pieces together. The possibilities are absolutely infinite. They are cool…complementary….unique…exciting and they cost almost NOTHING. A $1.00 serving plate could create infinite background variety.

Disclaimer…the Dollar Tree idea works only if you have a VB system. If you don’t have a VB system, you’ll have to spend thousands for backgrounds that won’t even begin to compare.

What Would it Take to Convince You that VB can be an Investment that Quickly Pays for Itself? 

We can show you hundreds of sample images. You can talk with a current system user. You can read dozens of testimonials. You can attend a Learn and Earn workshop and both learn all about a VB system and test drive it yourself.

VB is by far the most powerful addition you can make to your business. Find out how it can work for you.. The facts are not disputable. If you can think of another photographic tool that has more power to enhance your photography and your marketing and your bottom line profits, tell us about it!

What Happens at a VB Workshop?

Question:  Why should a professional photographer travel to Texas to take another workshop?

Answer:  This isn’t just another workshop. It’s a workshop that can change your career in photography. It is a workshop like no other anywhere. It is a workshop that focuses on ways to help you offer clearly innovative and different photographic services to your market that can help you successfully fight the storm.

You have more competition than ever before and a public that is becoming complacent with good enough. It is important for the professional photographer to rise so far above all others that you’ll be clearly recognized for being a photographic artist.

The workshop, presented by Montana Master Photographic Craftsman, CPP, Trevon Baker, not only puts emphasis on implementation of Virtual Backgrounds but also on how to integrate all the components of professional photography together. It also emphasizes how to market your unique products and services. It’s not all lecture. There is plenty of hands-on time for the participants to work with models in a studio setting.  The workshop covers professional lighting, posing, backgrounds, marketing, workflow, and more in three intensive days. Lunch is provided in a very unique environment each day and participants meet for dinner each evening to further discuss the opportunities.

The VB workshop has always been presented with a 100% money back guarantee. In fact, VB offers the 100% money back guarantee on any workshop conducted as part of the VB Learn and Earn program.

The VB workshop has attracted photographers from every part of the world:  Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Africa, Indonesia, Europe, and South America to name a few.

The tuition for the workshop is just $295 including lunches and take home materials. The next VB workshop is May 21-23, 2012. Contact a VB representative for more information.

Is the VB Workshop Guarantee of Satisfaction Real?

The Facts of Life for Photographers: 

A Four-Part Series Beginning in May

It would be difficult to dispute the facts of life. It is estimated that as many as one million people now classify themselves as professional photographers. That is a huge increase over just a few years ago. Even worse is the fact that just about everyone and anyone can now take good enough pictures with their digital cameras, including even their cell phone cameras.  Why hire a professional if you can do it yourself and have fun!

It is more critical than ever for serious professional photographers to maximally modify their business to be unique in every respect which can lead to renewed success. It is not enough to just be a little better than good enough, you must be exponentially better!  Keep an eye out for The Facts of Life series beginning in next month’s issue of The Backgrounder.

P is for Professional:

Is this Video for Real?

(turn up your volume)

At another time, of course this video would be looked at as a total spoof. However, in today’s world, one cannot be 100% sure. Nearly everyone loves photography and when they get some pretty good photographs and someone complements them, they start thinking about how much fun and how much profit they could have if they started to charge for their work and be a professional.

In reality, just about every professional photographer began this way. However, it isn’t all fun and those who really want to be serious soon learn that there is so much more to photography than snapping shots. There is more to equipment than just buying a camera, no matter how expensive it is. Furthermore, while anyone can buy equipment, just like anyone can go out and buy a piano, there is a whole lot of learning and experience that is required in order to make that equipment perform.

Everyone who is serious about the business of photography, old timer and serious newcomer has to be concerned about elevating the public’s perception of professional photography.

This video is just one in a series presented by Missy. They are, of course, a spoof, but a spoof that every professional photographer needs to watch because, sadly, what Missy talks about is true for so many in today’s world.

Bill Champion’s Spring Background Collection for School Photographers

More and more independent portrait and wedding photographers are finding that there are great opportunities available in the school photography segment of the market.

To make it easier to get started, school photographer Bill Champion has teamed up with Marathon Press and Chris Wunder to offer photographers with Virtual Backgrounds equipment a set of spring school backgrounds that are coupled with preprinted promotional material from Marathon Press. Also available from VB is a series of fall backgrounds for projection from Denny Manufacturing.  Background projection is an excellent money saving tool for school photography that offers many advantages over green screen.

Contact Virtual Backgrounds for more information!

Want to be Different?  Look at the New Simone Background Collections

Montreal master photographers, Joseph and Louise Simone have created four new sets of unique classic backgrounds – a total of 40 backgrounds!  The Simone Collections are available for professional photographers with Virtual Backgrounds systems. At a time when many photographers are taking candids in the park or on the railroad tracks, these new backgrounds can place you in a class by yourself!  You can create images that your competition cannot duplicate!

Amateurs with their new digital cameras have gotten real good at capturing candids in the countryside.  They can’t, however, produce studio quality timeless portraits and they don’t have Virtual Backgrounds!

Click here to see the new Simone Collections.  They will tickle your imagination and grow your bank account all at the same time!

Start Planning Now for

Next Year’s Easter Promotions

Images by Jim Richard

Parents can’t get precious images like these, except from a professional photographer with creative ideas. Now is the time to start planning for Christmas promotions and even Easter 2013.

Trevon Baker Offers Semi-Private Portrait Class in Montana

Master Photographer, Trevon Baker, will once again offer his special four-day workshop at this studio in Sommers, Montana June 25 – 28. The class will be limited to just 8 participants . The fourth day includes a photo safari into nearby Glacier National Park. For further information, call 406-857-2109.

Who’s Coming to Our VB Workshops?

The May workshop only has two seats left. June and July are filling now. What we always find interesting is how far photographers will travel to learn about how they can use Virtual Backgrounds to enhance their studio.

The May class is slated to include photographers from, Washington, Colorado, California, Missouri, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, Ecuador, and New Zealand. We strive to do everything possible to ensure that everyone’s experience at our workshop is one of their best educational decisions they have ever made!

Now Taking Registrations for June and July VB Workshops

JUNE 11-13, 2012

JULY 16-18, 2012 

Discover how VB can help you grow through artistic creativity and powerful marketing!

Fundraising with Photography

A Win-Win-Win Opportunity!

Daniel Gutier, Dallas Texas

Daniel Gutier is really hot on using fundraising to drive business to his Dallas studio.  In fact, fundraising has quickly become the key way he and his partner Oscar get people in front of their camera.  It’s a win-win-win situation:  a win for the charities he works with, a win for the clients who get exceptional photography, and a win for Daniel’s studio providing him with a lot of sittings and notoriety.   Fundraising can do this for you and your business as well!

When Daniel hooked up a fantasy calendar fund raising concept with Safe Kids of Dallas, a division of Children’s Hospital, to help them in fund raising, Safe Kids sold 195 sittings at $25 per sitting.  Safe kids picked up nearly $15,000 and Daniel got 195 sittings.  It didn’t end there!  To select the 13 kids whose images would appear on the 2012 calendar, family and friends could vote for their favorite at $1 per vote payable through Pay Pal.  This brought Safe Kids picked up thousands of additional dollars this way!  Then the calendars were printed and sold for $15 per calendar.  The printing cost was covered by advertisers in the calendar.   Daniel Gutier was well represented in the advertising which further helped his studio grow and he got other kinds of PR as a result!

Click here to read the featured photographer article about Daniel.

While the charity received funds far beyond expectation, the parents got beautiful and unique photographs of their children that they never would have had otherwise.  Virtual Backgrounds played a major role in making all of this happen.  It is a process that helped Daniel close the deal with the charity, and it played a key factor in creating the fantasy backgrounds and making sales happen.

Daniel has prepared a complete guide to growing your business through charitable marketing programs. The guide includes not only general information but also everything the photographer needs to launch their own fundraising programs.  It comes on two DVDs with a regular price of $399 but an introductory special of just $199 if you mention promotional code VB.

If you are looking for business, and who isn’t these days, then fundraising can be your key to letting others help you get people in front of your camera.  Click here for details and to order your copy of Dan’s excellent marketing DVD package!

Studio in a Closet – Part II

You don’t need much space to produce an infinite variety of images when you use Virtual Backgrounds.  This video shows just a few of the images we took in our booth at WPPI and at Imaging USA.  The shooting areas were only 7 x 9 feet – about the size of a large closet.  We used one main light, a Touch of Warmth reflector, and a separation light.

The simple set up proves that you can set up a portrait studio with Virtual Backgrounds just about anywhere and create an infinite variety of high quality images that will sell.   Changing backgrounds in seconds added immeasurably to the variety produced, even in such a small space!

Watch the videos below to see sample images captured at WPPI and Imaging USA.  Think of all that we did with our simple set up and how much more we could have done if we had a little more space.

WPPI 2012

Imaging USA 2012

Special Backgrounds and Promotional Materials for School Photography

VB has formed a special relationship with Champion Digital Design and Marathon Press especially for photographers who are doing school photography or considering adding school photography services.  It’s a special combo package of backgrounds created by school photographer specialist, Bill Champion and preprinted promotional flyers from Marathon Press.

The six background transparencies that are used in the promotional flyer are just $149 and are designed for use in your Virtual Backgrounds projector.  The flyers are available separately directly from Marathon Press.  The images in the promotional flyer match the six transparencies.  The combo makes it so simple to get going.

Watch Kentucky photographer, Cindy Cofer, demonstrate how to use the Studio Pro Monostand!

There is a lot of good news for the professional photographer.   There are those who are doing quite well and everyone can learn from them.  We want to share their stories with you because their success can be yours as well. We will focus on things, people and methods that can help you grow in 2012. In this edition of The Backgrounder we will focus on the value of having a studio, how to have a studio with minimal space, how to cut the cost of a studio and how to increase sales.

Resurrection of the Pro Studio

A Major Distinguishing Factor for the Professional

The professional studio is not by any means dead!  In fact, having a defined studio area, whether it be in a commercial location or in the photographer’s bedroom, garage or basement (or even set up on location), is a distinguishing factor between the many hundreds of thousands of casual shooters and those who are serious full service professional photographers.  Having a studio will also make a significant difference in profits because shooting on location severely limits the variety you can offer.

It has been estimated by John Woodward and others that there are as many as one million people in the US who shoot for money and, therefore, see themselves as professional.  The vast majority of them, perhaps 95%, don’t have a studio.  They do everything on location with a lot of what they call the natural look without ever realizing what they are missing out on.  So much of their work looks like what the do-it-yourself with a digital camera or cell phone camera does. Having a studio really helps professionals differentiate themselves from the masses. It enables them to offer so much more variety and include quality professional lighting and posing and provide the client with images that cannot be obtained shooting on location.  A studio also helps the photographer look special and more professional. Appearance matters!

Surgeons work best in a surgical suite, not on location.  Professional photographers work best in a studio where they have total control and the right equipment to do the job. A studio can be much more than a couple of lights and a canvas or muslin. A Virtual Backgrounds system is a key component that enables the photographer to do so much more in absolutely minimal space. Many photographers must work in a compact area but with VB, they can still turn out phenomenal variety and more variety means more profit.

Having a studio does not completely replace outdoor location work.  It is a special supplement to studio work or vice versa.  Either way, the photographer has a chance to make more money, generate more variety, and sell more.   Some clients will choose outdoor location work only, some will choose studio only, and many will choose both and pay extra for it.

Having a studio makes the photographer special:  Special surroundings, special equipment, and special unique results. If you are thinking of closing your studio, or if you are not planning on having one, maybe you better think again. The studio is a key differentiator. It is an important element to making you different from the competition and enabling the photographer to offer greater variety and look more professional.

Studio in a Closet? 

Yes – It’s Possible!

Mark Barnett has this portable studio set up part time in the living room of his apartment.

Can you have a real studio even if you don’t have space for one?  Actually yes, you can!  It is very possible.  With the advent of Virtual Backgrounds, you can set up your studio even in a large closet!  In fact, you can set your studio up in your living room in minutes and take it down in minutes and turn it back into a living room again.

The biggest hindrance to having a studio has always been the backgrounds:  Where do you store them?  How do you quickly change them?  How much trouble is it to put them up?  Having Virtual Backgrounds technology changes all that.  With VB, there is one easy to roll up and down portable background screen that can even be stored under a bed.  There is the background projector that can be kept in a suitcase.  You need one or two lights and a reflector.  Besides your camera, that’s all you need!

To demonstrate how quality work with infinite variety can be generated in a very tiny space with Virtual Backgrounds, the company sets up at Imaging USA and WPPI a complete working studio in a booth area of less than 8 x 8 feet!!  If you want to see the results that are obtained from such a simple set up in such a small space, using VB to create the backgrounds, watch the video below.

You will be absolutely amazed.  Also, if you had just a few extra feet of depth, one could do three quarter and full length work and so much more.  Having no space is actually a poor excuse for not having a studio facility and studio quality results for your customers.

Indoor, outdoor, graphic, designer, solid black, solid white, old masters and muslin backgrounds are all possible with VB.  No need for computers or software.  VB is a magical process that makes the most of your creativity.  Take a look.

Don’t Leave Dollars on the Table!

Put Them in Your Pocket Instead!

Many photographers today think that selling their work is just a matter of putting it up on the internet and waiting for the orders to come in or just handing out a disk with dozens or hundreds of images.  They have no idea how much more money they could be making if they sold their work the more traditional way:  through direct contact with the customer.   Many photographers are rediscovering the power of direct selling.  Direct selling is the way it use to be done…and it is time to go back to what worked so well in the past. Using just the internet is not always the best method.

When you post your work on the internet, it is just vapor.  It’s so so easy for your customers to reject vapor.  But when you use more traditional methods of selling portraits, which involve having the customer come to your facility and you present the results to them as paper proofs or by showing them on a large flat screen, sales skyrocket by comparison.

All you need is to have a sales area, even if your sales area is set up in your home living room.   Images can even be presented on your personal home flat screen television as your customers sit on your living room couch.   The important thing is that you are there to present the images and to encourage sales.   And, if you use your flat screen for sales, it is even deductible from your taxes!  So is your couch!

The Internet has a great many valuable uses, especially for promoting your business but if you are depending on the internet to do your selling, it’s time to explore direct one on one presentation and selling.  It can make a world of difference.  Stop leaving money on the table.  You might be shocked at what you are missing out on.

Virtual Backgrounds and More!

Lighting – Posing – Expression – Backgrounds

This workshop can truly change your career for the better!

A three-day workshop that can dramatically change your career. There is no other workshop like it anywhere and it comes with a 100% guarantee of satisfaction. Virtual Backgrounds brings professional photographers from all parts of the world to San Marcos, Texas for this unique workshop.  The workshop’s primary emphasis on how to integrate the four components of a portrait:  lighting, posing, expression and background.  Presented by Montana master photographer, Trevon Baker. This workshop includes a multitude of hands-on experience.  Click here for more information on this workshop.

Images from Imaging USA

See for yourself a variety of images that we captured using Virtual Backgrounds right in our booth at IMAGING USA.  Using just one model with a few outfit changes, we were able to produce a wide variety of different looks by changing the backgrounds.  We had a working space of 7 feet wide x 8 feet deep.  With just a few more feet, we could have even done full length work.  We used only a softbox for a main light and a Touch of Warmth reflector for the fill.  A small softbox was mounted overhead behind the subject as a separation light. The VB studio we had in operation in our booth at IMAGING USA could very well have been in a large closet in your home.  It can be set up in minutes, just about anywhere.

See these portraits captured at Imaging USA

Predictions for 2012:

Are Better Times Coming?

What’s in store for professional photographers in the new year and beyond? Will things get any better or will they continue to get worse? More than ever, it depends on the people and how they respond to the changes that have occurred in our industry. There will be great profit expanding opportunities for those who go after them appropriately and disappointment for those who continue on the same old paths that no longer work. Generally speaking, some of the smoke is clearing as both photographers and the public adjust to the new world of photography and as the economy improves. Overall, 2012 should be better than the past few years for most everyone.

John Woodward stated in a December program he gave for the Houston Guild that today there could be as many as one million people earning some income from taking photographs! Basically that means that the professional photographer has perhaps one million competitors, plus just about every one of your customers is a potential competitor now that they have digital cameras that really work producing good enough images. Even the latest cell phone cameras work so well that they are a serious threat to the major camera manufacturers like Canon and Nikon.

Just a few years ago we use to talk in terms of there being perhaps 50,000 professional photographers in the country. We’ve seen an unbelievable change in our level of competition. Can a professional, especially a full or serious part time person, even survive? Fortunately, there still is a fundamental formula for success today. It is to concentrate on doing things that the others desire but cannot do. This includes professionals at all levels and especially the do-it-yourself amateurs.

So, what is the key factor that can really make the difference? The answer may surprise you. Having a designated work area, essentially a studio, is a key differentiator. If there are indeed one million professional photographers in the US, then it can be said that the vast majority of them, perhaps more than 95% of them will not have a studio of any kind. Nearly all of them shoot on location in a candid fashion with their DSLR – otherwise called photojournalism.

If you are serious about making more than a little play money in photography, you cannot win the battle if you operate just like everyone else, even if you are a better shooter! It doesn’t help just to be cheaper. You cannot ever be cheap enough and still survive. Being cheaper is not the answer!

A studio does not have to be a fancy facility in the commercial high rent district. A studio is a designated place where photographers have an assortment of special tools that enable them to produce unique and quality results that cannot be done otherwise. It’s a physical place where the photographer has control of the lighting and other elements that enable them to produce the highest quality results because they are in total control. It is a place where the customer feels that the photographer is in control and can produce quality results far different from anything that can be done candidly.

Today, many photographers meet their customers at coffee shops to do business. Their sales room may be nothing more than posting their images online. These photographers have no idea how much more money they could be pocketing if they had a different approach. Sadly we are seeing established studios closing across the country because of the mistaken belief that a studio is part of the past and no longer relevant.

It is possible that this trend away from having a studio is changing. We’ve seen a gradual movement throughout the past year back to an appreciation of the professional photographer as one who can deliver results that are better than what can be done with a cell phone camera or just anyone who picks up and starts shooting with a Canon Rebel. As the economy improves and as the novelty of the do-it-yourself approach wears off, there is more interest in trying out the local professional. There is more appreciation for the artistic component of photography, if the professional can deliver it. It’s more than just pushing a button.

At the same time, pro labs and other sources are providing the professional with more unique products that the public cannot easily find on their own. For example, photographers cannot get metallic prints made at Sam’s photo lab! The improvement in the national economy is making more money available for the public to spend on non-essential services such as professional photography. It’s a matter of effectively promoting your unique services and product to motivate the public to take action and come to you for what you have special to offer.

Although conditions are improving, it will never again be like it once was. The Professional Photographer’s Perfect Storm is never going to disappear. It may only subside to an extent. The winners are those who learn how to effectively live and function within the new world that the Perfect Storm has created. This also means finding new more efficient and effective ways to market your photography services. Just putting up a sign or even doing a mass mailing to potential clients doesn’t work anymore. It’s important to understand that just because one photographer thinks they are better than others is often not enough. To stand out, one has to be distinctively different in as many ways as possible. Having an official studio and sales area is important.

The bottom line is that it is reasonable to expect that 2012 will be a better year but only for those who have learned to navigate what has become a more difficult course. However, there are advantages to the changes, as painful as they have been. It is easier for the superior operator to stand out – to be clearly recognized as desirably different, and whose services are sought after by a growing number of people who want the services of a real photographer. Those who are just like everyone else will be left to scratch for what’s left. However, the very same changes in the industry that have been so devastating for so many also make it possible to be more successful than ever before. This year will be a very interesting transition year.

It’s Show Time! It’s Show Time!

January and February are the time for many of our photography shows – both conventions and trade shows. It’s a time for professional photographers to see and hear about the latest techniques and methods. These new things can be difference makers in your business! Caution: Be careful to sort through the hype for the real meat that can be successfully applied to your business. The biggest shows are Imaging USA in New Orleans and WPPI in Las Vegas, and the greatly expanded Kentucky show. VB will be very active at both shows (to name a few).

A very unique show for professional photographers only is Senior Photographers International (SPI) which will be held in central Florida at the end of January. VB is sponsoring two speakers at SPI: Richard Sturdevant and Lora Yeater. We will also be presenting live demonstrations. Kentucky photographer, Cindy Cofer and Henry Oles will be conducting booth demonstrations.

SPI is a unique group because membership and show attendance is limited to legitimate professional photographers with a business license and tax number.

Is It Really Possible to

Make $1,000 an Hour?

Chris Wonder Can Show You How!

If you think this is impossible, think again! Yes, it is possible for an active school photographer to generate $1000 an hour while shooting! As a rule, school photography generates big profits! Chris Wunder will show you how achieve this success. Independent photographers all over the country are learning how to do it. Lifetouch is no longer so dominant that the independents can’t break in to school and event photography.

Chris is teaching two courses, School Photography 101 and School Photograph 201 just before the SPAC show in Las Vegas. 101 is a Quick Start Program For Newbies and 201 is Taking Your Business To The Enterprise Level.

This is a SPAC preconvention program held at the Riviera Hotel January 26 and 27. Then you can stay over for the SPAC school photography convention in the same hotel. SPAC stands for School Photographers Association of California which is actually now covering the entire country.

If you would like to make serious money in photography, this is the place to go. Click here for registration information!

2012 VB Workshops:

We’re Ready for You!

The next Virtual Backgrounds three-day workshop, presented by Montana based Master Photographer Trevon Baker, is set for February 6-8, 2012. The workshop has been significantly revised to not only include detailed information on Virtual Backgrounds and how to successfully implement this critically important tool in your studio but now also covers how to achieve quality lighting and posing to enhance your end products.

This workshop attracts photographers form all parts of the world. For more information, call 512-805-4844 or e-mail info@virtualbackgrounds.net or go to www.virtualbackgrounds.net.

Register for Free Symposium

Just Before Imaging USA

(Only a few seats remain!)

Profitable Technology Solutions for the Professional Photographer

A special free symposium is scheduled for January 14, 2012, from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans. A happy hour with refreshments and valuable prizes starts at 5 p.m. Learn from three internationally known speakers, Jeff Tabit (Kodak Worldwide Director Digital Print Solutions/Burrell Lab), Dr. Henry Oles (Founder and President of Virtual Backgrounds), and Brigitte Peleman Vantieghem (CEO of Unibind). This is an international business forum organized by Photofinishing News, Inc.

Attendance is free; however, you must register in advance. Click here for more information and to register.

See What Other Photographers Say

About Virtual Backgrounds

Read individual stories and see samples from a wide variety of photographers using VB from all parts of the world.

http://www.virtualbackgrounds.net/wpvirtual/featuredphotographers/

Introducing yourlook Studios

A new concept for the United States will be introduced at Imaging USA and WPPI. German company, yourlook, is offering a franchise opportunity to select photographers who could profit from being part of a brand that will be worldwide.

Your Look is what is known as a soft franchise which means that photographers don’t have to sell their souls to the franchisor. Instead, the independent photographer remains independent while profiting from being part of the yourlook brand. For example, John Smith Photography becomes John Smith Photography: a yourlook studio.

There are numerous advantages to being associated with yourlook. The primary one is, of course, the brand as well as training and association with other yourlookstudios. A primary function of yourlook is to develop relationships with companies that can send work to specific yourlook associate studios. It is also a great marketing aid to be part of an international brand.

Visit Booth #105 at Imaging for more information on what yourlook can do for you. Click here for more information.

Suggestions on

How to Do a Trade Show

The trade show is one of the most important parts of a photographic convention, but unfortunately, it often goes by unnoticed. We encourage you not only to attend trade shows, but dedicate time to gain the valuable wealth of information that you can take home with you and turn into big profits.

We recommend that you visit every booth continually asking, “Might there be something here that I can apply to my business?” Enter each booth with an open mind. There are innumerable tools available that can help you grow your business. It’s the trade show visitors challenge to find them, then implement them, and turn them in to new profits.

Visiting a trade show is work – as it should be. A trade show can be a gold mind of ideas and products that can take the photographer to the next level and beyond. It’s a time to ask questions and learn.

Want to See Virtual Backgrounds in Action?

Click here for our upcoming trade show, seminar, and affiliate school schedule.

Also click here for information on our Virtual Backgrounds Training Workshops.