I wanted to take a moment before we get to cranking out blog posts in 2012 to recognize all the awesome contributors here at APE.

The Daily Edit, is a column I think will someday outgrow APhotoEditor. The idea was sparked by conversations with advertising art directors who told me they love editorial photography and my own need to get back to what I loved about photo editing. Looking at lots of pictures. I never gave a second thought to how they were made or what the steps were in the hiring process or what was it exactly it was about the photographer that caught my attention. I just looked at pictures and hired people who made ones I liked. So, I hired Heidi Volpe to go to newsstands and browse the magazines. Whatever she found interesting (a magazine you didn’t expect to have good photography, a new take on an old subject, a photographer she’d been following getting hired by a magazine she respected, pictures that rock), she bought and took a picture of the layout for me to publish. The best part is, I never know what it will be until I look first thing each day. Heidi has great taste and her reaction to images is based on years of experience working at magazines as a creative director, plus she loves editorial photography like I do. I hear from photo editors all the time how much they love it, so I know we’re on the right track.

Jonathan Blaustein started writing for me over a year and a half ago. Originally, he was visiting some photography events and interviewing people working on the fine art side of things. Recently though, he hit his stride with writing that is highly entertaining and self aware. I really love going inside his head as he visits art exhibits and pages through photography books. I’ve spent plenty of time looking at pictures, exhibits and books thinking, WTF, people like this. Jonathan has been expanding my mind and helped me see the underpinnings of this crazy genre. An unexpected bonus has been the recognition his own work is receiving, giving us and inside (the head) look at a career on the move.

Amanda Sosa Stone and Suzanne Sease were plucky enough to realize I had a bunch of photographers hungry for information about advertising and if they helped me find answers the goodwill would pay dividends. What started as a column called “ask anything” where questions and answers were exchanged anonymously and honestly has evolved into Suzanne Sease with a series of “state of the industry” posts and a new column looking at great advertising images. What I absolutely love about this series is how connected she is. She gets people at the top of the food chain to answer questions! I’ve also gained an appreciation for the difficulties facing advertising photography, but Suzanne handles it with such aplomb and a no BS attitude to boot.

Several years ago I asked a photographer I was talking with to send me the estimate for the job they’d just won. I said I was going to black out the identifying information and post it up on my blog to see what people thought. Well, I can only remember a couple other posts that set off a firestorm of comments like that one. I tried to get my hands on more estimates without much luck until the people at Wonderful Machine contacted me and said they be happy to provide them as a monthly column. It was a perfect match because I needed more estimates and they provided an estimating service to photographers. What I truly love about this column is how gutsy it is. Very few people could withstand the scrutiny of thousands of photographers looking at and downloading their latest estimate. Special thanks to Jess Dudley for keeping it alive.

So, here’s to the contributors, all your postings are honest, heartfelt and gutsy. My original mission, to talk about photography from inside the industry is alive because of you.

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18 Comments

  1. Thanks for everything! This blog has been very informative, and inspiring to me in so many ways. Looking forward to another year of that.

  2. Your blog has been more relevant to me than any other blog I’ve followed. Looking forward to your posts in 2012!

  3. Rob, Thank you for allowing me to be associated with such a wonderful blog and the association of you, Heidi, Jonathan, Amanda and Jess. I love advertising, I love photography, I love it if I can offer inspiration and experiences to others. So thank you for being the brains behind APE!!! Here’s to 2012!!!

    • Well put, Suzanne. Rob has tremendous vision, and I feel fortunate to be a part of this collective effort. We’ll all have to get together and meet in person, one of these days.

      • I second that. I feel lucky to be included in the collective, it’s been a pleasure and I’ve learned so much from all your work, so the thanks boomerangs back to Rob, Jonathan, and Suzanne.

  4. I’ve been following you for about 3 years now and the various information you’ve provided has been an invaluable education to me on the business side of photography. Coming from a background in covering daily news for newspapers, as well as long term documentary projects for non-profit organizations, I was ignorant in the areas of marketing, estimates and proper billing. I’ve learned a LOT from your posts. Thank you for what you do and I look forward to much more great, informative information.

    Happy New Year!

  5. Thank you, Rob, and your contributors, for the real, candid, juicy information you give out freely to people like me who are just (still) learning. Seeing that first estimate was unreal and a mighty eye-opener! Amid all the eye candy, how-to, and talk out there, this is the place I know I can find the essence of what’s going on in this business of photography we all love. Happy 2012!

  6. Ditto!

  7. Rob,

    for me, AphotoEditor is one of very few blogs that I keep on reading, even after a few years. It is still informative and inspiring. But there is one thing that I would like to keep in this blog and that is Rob posting himself. You are the heartbeat of this blog and although I appreciate the “guest writers” I come back and back for reading your posts !!!

    Jan

  8. Without question the people who give back to the field they work within often sustained success. Those who always take will peak and eventually fade away. You provide that conduit and a model to learn from on how to be successful, and sustain the opportunities that exist.

    Thanks for expanding and collaborating with wonderful people. Oh, we do miss your voice though….

  9. Y’all ROK
    HNY

  10. I return time and again for the honesty of your contributors and the anticipation of being inspired to do better work. Thanks for this ongoing contribution, your work really matters to a lot of people.

  11. For me the add of J.B. was one of the best things. He keeps his eyes focused on the arts …

    • and he is funny!!

  12. Thank you heaps and happy new year from Sydney, Australia. I only recently found your site, but soon had you established as my prime reading bits of the day. I love your frank and to the point attitude. Photography is going somewhere with you onboard!

  13. Thanks Rob! All of us at Wonderful Machine have been thrilled to be associated with you and and the tremendous resource that you’ve created.

    • Thank you Rob and happy new year! I started as a photojournalist 12 years ago and now mostly do motion in my private business as well as my Director of Photography job at Ampersand Studios in Santa Barbara, but my first love will always be photography. You may be surprised to know that your blog is always my first stop with my first cup of coffee before I start my day at the studio. And I’m not the only one.

      Keep up the great work! We all appreciate it, and we appreciate you and all your contributors.

      ~Dylan Haley

  14. Thank you for doing this. I am browsing the internet since 1994 and I can only say that this blog is the most important blog for professional photographers I have found over these years …


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