Site of the Week: Fernando Guerra, Architectural Photographer

Fernando Guerra, Lisbon, Portugal
http://ultimasreportagens.com

About the site
This site was recently submitted to No Plastic Sleeves by Fernando Guerra.

Fernando says, “My site was ready just last month after a year of (in-house) work. The thing here was how to show almost 400 projects on an interface that is nice and sleek but above all: it works. We are the number one place to see what´s new regarding architecture and we have to be very easy to consult and search on.”

In Print by FG+SG, founded by Fernando Guerra and Sérgio Guerra
Book 04 – Santa Marta Lighthouse Museum, Cascais | Aires Mateus

“Fernando Guerra and Sérgio Guerra founded studio FG+SG – Fotografia de Arquitectura in 1999. They have been responsible in large part for disseminating contemporary Portuguese architecture over the last 10 years. Fernando Guerra photographs the architecture, while Sérgio Guerra is responsible for producing the articles and managing the atelier. After 5 years of activity, they decided to establish ‘FG+SG – Livros de Imagem’ publishers to promulgate the various architectural works they photograph.” – http://ultimasreportagens.com/bio.php

More Call For Entries

The American Photography 26 Call For Entries. Winning entries will be included in the hard-cover annual BOOK and on THEE, their upcoming, redesigned, searchable and indexed online image collection at ai-ap.com in November 2010.
https://www.ai-ap.com/reg/cfe/index.cfm?
AP26 Deadline: January 22, 2010

LACDA 2010 International Juried Competition
Enter their juried competition for digital art and photography. Entrants submit three JPEG files of original work. All styles of artwork and photography where digital processes of any kind were integral to the creation of the images are acceptable. The competition is international, open to all geographical locations.
http://lacda.com/juried/juriedshow.html
Deadline for entries: January 19, 2010

Print Magazine Regional Design Annual
Winning entries will be featured in the December 2010 issue of Print.
Competition Info
Deadline: March 1, 2010

Upcoming Deadlines for Award Competitions

If you’re thinking about entering a competition or two this year, check out these upcoming deadlines.

PDN Photo Annual 2010
The Power of Photography
Deadline: December 21, 2009
Extended Deadline: January 25, 2010
Competition Info

HOW Promotion Design Awards
Entry deadline: March 5, 2010

HOW In-HOWse Design Awards
Deadline: April 15, 2010
Competition Info

2010 Adobe Design Achievement Awards
Deadline: June 4, 2010.
Competition Infoe

Communication Arts
Photography Competition
Deadline: March 26, 2010
Competition Info

Design Competition
Deadline: May 14, 2010
Competition Info

Illustration Competition
Deadline: January 8, 2010
Competition Info

Graphis Design Annual 2011
Deadline: January 11, 2010
Graphis publications feature the best in Design, Advertising, Photography and Illustration.
Competition Info

About 365: AIGA Annual Design Competition
Deadline: March 5, 2010
Competition Info

AIGA 50 Books/50 Covers competition
Deadline: March 5, 2010
Competition Info

Webby Awards
Extended Deadline: January 29, 2010
Competition Info

Know of any other deadlines coming up soon? Leave a comment and share what you know.

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Book and site mentioned on A Photo Editor

The book and site were recently mentioned on Rob Haggart’s popular and influential photography blog, A Photo Editor. Thanks!

A Holiday Promotional Card

Junichi Tsuneoka, Designer and Illustrator
http://stubbornsideburn.com

Junichi Tsuneoka of STUBBORN SIDEBURN® DESIGN calls his style ” ‘California Roll Stylie.’ It is a result of both visual and conceptual fusion of Japanese pop culture and U.S. urban culture.”

Site of the Week: James Meakin, Photographer

James Meakin, London, UK
http://www.james-meakin.com/

Great use of thumbnails and full-screen images. Navigation works well. Nice extra touch with the fade transition between photographs.

Where Are They Now: Will Bryant

I first met Will Bryant about a year ago when he was introduced to me by his professor, Jaime Mixon at Mississippi State University. I checked out his website at http://www.will-bryant.com/ and was blown away by his work. Will has incredible skill and talent when it comes to illustration and design. By combining both talents with a positive and humorous attitude, he has created his own engaging and unique style of work. My co-author and I were excited to include his portfolio in our book.

So, where is Will now after graduating last May…? I recently asked Will what he’s been up to. Here’s his response –

Since graduating I’ve married my childhood sweetheart, settled in Austin, and joined a studio collective called Public School. Married life is absolutely wonderful and my freelance career has really taken off since joining Public School. In the past year I’ve been blessed to work with Nike, Benefit Makeup, Kraft Foods Brazil, Poketo, You Work For Them, Super Yoga Palace, Junk Culture, and Dent May. Most of this work has yet been released and wait anxiously like it’s Christmas Eve! When not working with companies I try to fill up my time by collaborating with my favorite internet friends like Chris Piascik, Nicole Lavelle, Gavin Potenza, Andy Smith, Andy J. Miller, Jeffrey Bowman, Deke Smith and more! When I’m not making something, blogging on far too many blogs, or trying to fire out something for an exhibition I can be found hanging with my lovely wife & kitty.

Book available for pre-order on Amazon

No Plastic Sleeves: The Complete Portfolio Guide for Photographers and Designers (Paperback)
~ Larry Volk (Author), Danielle Currier (Author)

Click here to check out the book on Amazon.com

PIXELINGLIFE, Creation & Production Digital Agency

PIXELINGLIFE Website, Valencia, Spain
www.pixelinglife.com

Really interesting visualization on homepage.

Terry Vine, Photographer

Terry Vine Photography, Houston, TX
http://terryvine.com/

Andreas Smetana, Photography Website

Andreas Smetana, Photographer, Sydney, Australia
http://www.smetana.net/

Interview with Neil Binkley, Judge for PDN’s 2009 Self Promotion Awards

No Plastic Sleeves recently has an opportunity to ask Neil Binkley a few questions. Here are his responses.

Bio
Neil Binkley is co-creator and publicity director of Wonderful Machine, the boutique web portal for art buyers which offers marketing and production support to its member photographers. In less than two years, the agency has signed on photographers in 50 American cities and nearly 50 countries around the world. Neil’s background in advertising, corporate design, filmmaking and photography informs his take on connecting photographers with art buyers. When he isn’t busy tweeting about Wonderful Machine photographers’ latest accomplishments, he enjoys being a first-time father to his year- old son, Nate. Neil recently judged PDN’s 2009 Self Promotion Awards, and also participated as a reviewer in ASMP/NY’s annual portfolio review.

Q&A:
As someone who has reviewed so many outstanding portfolios and self-promotional pieces, what distinguishes the very best?

Certainly, the “wow” factor of an unorthodox or expensive portfolio/promotion is always something that catches my attention. However, if that “wow” isn’t met by “wow #2,” ie. excellent photography presented in a cohesive form, then I feel sorry that the photographer spent so much money putting lipstick on a pig.

So I would say that “the very best” always includes strong imagery as a starting point. Beyond that, unless you’re Nadav Kander, I recommend showing work that makes it clear what you’re good at. Too many photographers try the kitchen sink method of portfolio editing, showing too many styles and specialties, and a client who wants to find a good still life photographer will typically search among people who specialize solely in that field (which is competitive enough as it is).

I also think that our Houston photographer, Terry Vine, did a fantastic job creating a strong brand across his portfolio, print mailer, website, and elsewhere. I was disappointed that he didn’t make the contest’s final cut, but the competition was strong. Here’s a photo of his print promotion.

What do you think is the most challenging and rewarding part of being a judge for an awards competition, such as the PDN Self-Promo Awards?

The most challenging part of juding the PDN Self-Promo Awards was having to choose only my top 3 photographers for each of the four categories. I made several rounds through the many entries, whittling down to the promotions that I considered most memorable and quality-minded. This, of course, took many hours (days, actually).

It was also difficult because I didn’t want to vote solely for people I was already aware of, be they famous, a Wonderful Machine photographer, etc. I wanted to be as objective as possible, and pretend that I had received this promo at my office among a stack of mail or email. In that scenario: what would my eye linger on?

Another challenge was that, in one or two cases, I chose promos whose photography was not quite as good as the other submissions, but whose overall impression was unrivaled. In an ideal world, as I mentioned before, a good promo will have a combination of excellent images and eye-catching presentation. But if you have two photographers side-by-side whose work is comparable, the one with the better presentation will always win.

Also the contest was judged digitally, which is a different experience from judging in-person. I recently had a conversation about this on Andrew Hetherington’s blog, Whatsthejackanory.com .

The rewarding part was viewing so much wonderful work, and having a cross-section of photographers’ approaches to marketing themselves. It really was a pleasure, and I look forward to future contests.

How important do you feel a portfolio book and/or online portfolio is in securing a job in the creative industries?

I think that creating and sharing a printed portfolio is still a necessary and valuable exercise, and for a few reasons:

1) For advertising work especially, agencies still call in books. Partially, I think, because photographers’ websites can look so wonderful on the web, but most campaigns end up in print at some point, and an art buyer wants to be sure that the photographer can deliver in the printed realm. Especially when it comes to retouching.

2) It’s still helpful to meet art buyers/photo editors in person, and what will you show them when they do agree to a meeting? Of course, you can bring your fancy laser gun leave-behinds, but a quality-minded creative wants to be confident that you have consistently created a body of work that shows many images in the style they’re looking for. And meeting someone in-person is generally much more memorable than an email or phone call.

3) The creation of the book itself is valuable, because it forces you to define the type of work that you’re good at and that you’d like more of. In some cases you’ll need to shoot more work after realizing that you haven’t shot enough to be reliable. You don’t want someone to think that your amazing photograph was done by chance. You want them to be confident that you are in control of creating good images.

And as for digital portfolios, I’m not sure if you’re referring to a website, which really can be an online portfolio, or a digital version of your print book. Either way, the same rules of providing a tight edit and good work apply. And sure, sending a digital portfolio instead of a printed one is better than not sharing your work.

But I would always recommend having a printed book.

Do you have any advice for a student or young professional currently working on their portfolio and/or promotional materials?

Shoot a lot, and seek outside opinions even more! I find that better photographers, regardless of how long they’ve been in business, are often open to critique of their work. And the experienced ones are sometimes open-minded because they’ve been in the awkward situation of sitting in a creative director’s tight office and having that creative point out all of their portfolio’s flaws. Better to get a tough critique from someone before the meeting, so you’re not blowing an opportunity with a busy client who may not take a meeting when you update your portfolio a year later.

On that note, I think that photographers should consider hiring a consultant to look through their work, someone who comes well-recommended from a photographer whose work you like. Wonderful Machine offers consulting, and there are many others out there doing a good job. Aphotoeditor posted a good list a year or two ago. Ask to see a few before-and-afters too, to see what raw talent they had to work with.

Also, I don’t think there’s a “magic bullet” in terms of reaching art buyers and photo editors. Everyone is different: some art buyers only want email promos, and others only want print promos. Because of that, I recommend promoting your work in as many reasonable ways as possible, and frequently enough that you’ll start to stick in their heads. Just don’t harass people, because you don’t want to be remembered as the nag. I think an email promo to the same person several times a year, and the same with print promos, plus trying to get a portfolio visit every year or two is plenty. And make sure that you have new work to show, when you do contact them. Equally important is to approach only clients who need your type of work.

On a related note, one of our photographers, Bill Cramer (also our president), recently did a a talk for APA/NY about how photographers can brand and market themselves. We blogged about it, and here’s a link to the post . We’re also working on a podcast of the presentation, which will give an overview of the many options photographers have in promoting themselves. That should be out (for free) in January, and we’ll blog about it.

Interview with Robin Milgrim, Art Director and PDN Self-Promo Judge

No Plastic Sleeves recently has an opportunity to ask a few question of Robin Milgrim, art director with R&R Partners on the Las Vegas Tourism, “What Happens here Stays Here” account. She was also a recent judge for the 2009 PDN Self-Promo Awards Competition. Below are her responses.

Bio
Robin Milgrim was born with creativity in her DNA. Her great-grandfather was founder of Milgrim’s, a historical New York City retail cornerstone that dressed celebrities and high-society from the 1900’s to 1950’s. Her great-aunt was fashion designer Sally Milgrim, creator of Eleanor Roosevelt’s inaugural gown. With that to live up to, Robin went to the Savannah College of Art and Design and started her career working in-house with artist Romero Britto, best known for his work with ABSOLUT vodka. She went on to graduate from the Miami Ad School, becoming an art director. After doing freelance stints in many of New York’s big shops, she moved to Las Vegas, where she has been working on the Las Vegas tourism “What Happens Here Stays Here” campaign for the past 5 years. Her work has garnered industry accolades, including Luerzer’s Archive and Graphis. She has collaborated with many of the industries finest photographers, and is frequent judge of photo annual competitions.

Q&A
As someone who has reviewed so many outstanding portfolios and self-promotional pieces, what distinguishes the very best?

A creative person must demonstrate far more than technical skill if they want to be a real player in the game. In my opinion, the single quality that distinguishes the leaders from the followers is some type of uniqueness. Whether it is your use of color, space, type, or concept. Maybe it’s your process that results in a fresh look. Or perhaps you come to the table with a tight team of artists to create the final product. Whatever it is, do something to distinguish your self.

What do you think is the most challenging and rewarding part of being a judge for an awards competition, such as the PDN Self-Promo Awards?

There are so many talented people out there. When reviewing work for the photo-annuals I am most struck by how many people do not understand their audience, or how to distinguish themselves. At this level everyone is good, but only few are great. It’s easy to choose the winner’s. I am saddened by how many very capable talented people do not understand whom they are talking to. When submitting work for these competitions, keep in mind that the judges, as well as those that will hire you, see an enormous amount of work everyday. They devour creative. They have seen it all, and are hungry for something that breaks with convention.

How important do you feel a portfolio book and/or online portfolio is in securing a job in the creative industries?

Have both. Unless you plan on screwing your way to the top (which doesn’t work BTW) there is no way around it. It’s the cost of doing business. Make it as good as you can. No excuses. If you don’t love it, don’t put it in your book. If you don’t have enough solid work, make more. Learn to edit yourself. Remember who your audience is. Consider what would appeal to them. Take them for a ride. Entertain. It’s a word often forgotten at the convergence of art and commerce. The best of the best are in the entertainment business. If you hold yourself up to that standard, whether you are advertising creative, a photographer, or a designer, you will be starting from a great place.

Do you have any advice for a student or young professional currently working on their portfolio and/or promotional materials?

Every job is different, of which different skills are needed. Given that understanding, be yourself first and foremost. Find what it is you love about the work, your passion, and do that. The greatest talents live and breathe the business because they love what they do. It’s the commonality in most successful people, regardless of industry.
Also, make nice with EVERYONE, especially at school. I was told this early on, and I am convinced it helped me survive while many of my peers dropped out of the industry. The people you go to school with, other artists, illustrators, directors, designers, etc. They are the people that will refer you the most work. As creative’s our egos can often get in the way, don’t let it happen. I have seen the ego destroy brilliantly talented people. So learn to collaborate early on. Perhaps you are good at lighting, but not as strong at concept. Team up. Find partners. Work together. The greatest of the greats stand on the shoulders of us all.