Author: A Photo Editor

Charlotte Schreiber

Who printed it?
Gutenberg Beuys Feindruckerei GmbH
www.feindruckerei.de

I had worked with them on one of my books ’SUD’ (http://www.charlotteschreiber.com/sud/ https://shop.charlotteschreiber.com/product/sud-photographic-notes-from-south-america) before and was really pleased. I’m very particular when it comes to colors and handling paper and they did it very well.

Who designed it?
My dear friend and brilliant designer Max Weinland https://www.maxweinland.com/ who I have been collaborating with for years.

Tell me about the images.
Over the years I have come to realize that my body of work is not easy to categorize so it was important to show a variety of what I do, still making sure they stay connected through what I would say is essential to my work: the warmth, the stillness, the colors, the light and atmosphere.

Except the portrait of my friend Bettina, who I have been photographing regularly over the years, it’s all commissioned work, and I like to show that as long as you want my way of seeing things, I can photograph anything. No matter if it’s a magazine story about a family and their allotment in the suburbs of Hamburg, a story about the new S-Class for Mercedes or a portrait of the relationship coach of a new established Dating Agency for Best Agers. The image it completely unfolds to is from a commissioned travel story that took me through a more rural part of Japan. I like the idea of making people stop and take a breath when they look at the greenness/freshness of that captured moment, and maybe even put it up in their office. When people ask me what I do, I always say, I get paid to tell you stories and make you dream about it, to make you long for and wonder. – That’s what all these images do.

How many did you make?
We ran a print of 300.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I used to send them out twice a year. They were mostly postcards in a bigger format, with one big image printed on thick matte paper.
I did a similar one to this here that also unfolded into a A3 poster a few years back. Max Weinland designed it as well: http://www.maxweinland.com/charlotte-schreiber-portfolio/ Since then mailings have become less regular and then the pandemic made me stop completely. This one is the first I’ve sent out since and I wanted it to shine bright.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes. The postcards began as something I would hand out after portfolio meetings and every time I came back I would see them hanging in offices, cubicles or on Instagram that they found a new place in an editor’s home/fridge/postcard wall, and these collections grew when I started sending them out regularly. I still find it a good way to be kept on their mind/eye.

Also while everything and everyone needs to be available on social media all the time, without pausing ever, I feel like people appreciate touching work once in a while. Seeing having someone put thought into layout, image selection, paper, into the feel, smell, the importance of that photographers work and simply the effort that went into making something. I believe the way you handle your work goes a long way and adds value to it, it also leads the way to how others, i.e. potential clients handle your work.

Tracey Mammolito

Who printed it?
Gotprint https://www.gotprint.com/home.html
Being on a tight budget, I took a chance with this lower priced option. However, I did do a bunch of research and thankfully most printing companies will send a free sampler pack which is super helpful to see/feel the quality. I was impressed with the wide selection they have and was a fan of the Square orientation in multiple sizes. Unfortunately there was an initial printing issue on one of the cards but their customer service was great & very responsive.

Who designed it?
I did. Once again – on a tight budget, but my background in design came in handy. In a previous career making moodboards was my specialty so I took that ‘thoughtfully curated’ approach. I like how each card is a mini moodboard that could stand on their own or altogether. Having said that, I spent more hours, days, weeks, months on it than should be humanly allowed. Call it being a recovering perfectionist … or just terrible at editing down my own work. Probably both.

Tell me about the images.
Since this was my first promo card, I went with the “Overview Sampler” concept to introduce my work in three main categories. Mostly I selected images with a similar color scheme to further drive the curated idea. Also to illustrate a cohesive energy in the shooting angles, light+shadow. The images cover products, people, & places — all things I enjoy photographing and wish to offer a potential client. There’s action, stillness, texture, expression, directional lines… but overall a clean style. I aim to connect the dots across Fitness, Wellness, and Adventure whether it’s in the studio, out on the city streets, or out in rural nature spots.

How many did you make?
100 qty of each. Roughly half for mailing out and half for handing out in person.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This is my first time so we’ll see how it goes. But I’d say once or twice a year seems sufficient.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Definitely. Perhaps because I’m old skool and started a design career when waiting for white-out to dry before re-faxing a sketch was a thing… HA! But seriously, I still believe in printed materials for the visual creative art world. It makes a more lasting impression and a more professional appearance. Beyond just snail mailing, I have found promos also helpful for physically handing out at tradeshows, meetings, etc. Especially now in such a saturated social media universe.

Ben Girardi

Who printed it?
I printed the promo with Moo.com. I’ve tried a few different printers in the past, but I have found that Moo seems to be the highest quality for a reasonable price.

Who designed it?
The layout of the cards was done by myself. However, in the past year I worked with graphic designer Helen Bradford (http://helenbradford.com) to create a new logo and color palette for my brand which I used on the cards.

Tell me about the images?
Most of my work is in a niche world of winter action sports. For this promo piece I wanted to choose a group of images that represented this work specifically. Throughout the series of cards I wanted a similar feel, to showcase my style, but also wanted each card to stand alone in case an individual card got passed along.

I tried to make a selection of images to showcase different styles of imagery to appeal to people either on the brand side who are interested in more product specific images, or on the editor side who might be more interested in the action. Some of this imagery was from commercial shoots, and others were shot on spec for editorial all within the previous two winters.

How many did you make?
This specific promo piece was very targeted towards the winter action sports industry, so all in all I probably sent out about 50 pieces just prior to the winter. I have a more extensive list, but this includes people who are outside this specific space and I thought a card like this would miss the mark.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I don’t have a specific schedule. I’ve usually sent them out once a year, but would like to bump it up to twice per year as lots of my work if very season specific so being just ahead of that time is relevant.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Overall I think the promo piece is an important part of my marketing. While it’s not a major effort in the digital age I think it is a great way to get in front of people that is different than just sending an email, or connecting via Instagram. I believe delivering something tangible is a good way to differentiate my work when many people are purely focused on digital marketing. I always send cards to people I have worked with in the past as I find it is a good way to stay relevant and remind them of your work, without expecting any obligation of a response such as you might get with an email.

With this specific promo piece I had a handful of people I knew reach out directly saying thanks for sending the card. For the effort put in I would call this a success as you know they thought about you, which means your top of mind next time something comes up.

With people I don’t know who I send cards to it’s a good non-invasive introduction to your work and when I do reach out in the future, they’ve ideally already seen my name at least once. That being said since it’s via the mail I didn’t have any confirmation that people actually received them. It’s quite possible that they never even make it to the desk of the intended person.

Kyla Rys

Who printed it?
My promo cards are a little less conventional. I printed these promo cards on 8×10 Canson Inkjet paper and backed them with 5×7 postcard stock at my school computer labs for my Business for Photography course at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I then wrapped them in 5×7 clear envelopes I bought at an art store nearby.

Who designed it?
I created the design for the images in Adobe Indesign. I made three different variations of the promo card with different combinations of the two front photos.

Tell me about the images.
I took these cover images in my hometown of Frisco and Keystone, Colorado. Being surrounded by such vivid environments heavily influenced a lot of the nature and warm colors I include in all of my photo work. I had my friends help me style and model for these images as I wanted to play with fashion and landscapes. They are some of my favorites!

How many did you make?
Since I was hand making the cards, I only sent out ten. I plan to send out more with the rest of my paper as I look for post graduate jobs.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I aim to send them out twice a year once I get a stronger body of work to send.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I think promo cards are an effective marketing strategy if the client looks at the card. It is a great way to catch their eye in a space larger than a business card. I think emails and social media messages on instagram and linkedin are cheaper ways to catch some client’s attention however. Promo cards are a great tangible thing to share if you can afford it!

Niki Cutchall

Who printed it?
I printed the magazine through Blurb. Another photographer recommended them. After comparing their products to a few other companies, Blurb was my best option for the type of promo I created. They made it easy to start with an Adobe InDesign plugin, and I appreciated that I could order a single copy as a hard proof. I went with their magazine and upgraded to premium paper. The postcard was printed through Moo.

Who designed it?
I did! I don’t have a background in graphic design, but I felt confident that I could create something that made me proud. I started it in Adobe InDesign because Blurb had a template and plugin for the tool. My photography trends towards a more minimal, elegant style, and I wanted the magazine’s design to complement that. This was my first print promo, so I wore every hat on this project, from creative director and graphic designer to photographer and stylist. It pushed my creativity as a photographer and made me appreciate all the work that each function puts into a piece of content.

Tell me about the images.
This was my first print promo, and it started as an assignment in a small group fellowship run by Andrew Scrivani. I wanted to create something that felt like me and powerfully debut my work. As I was brainstorming ideas, I kept returning to an image I shot of brownie batter (the image on the postcard) and an idea I had to do a monochromatic series on brown food. It’s a color I love working with, and I knew I could capture it beautifully. Andrew encouraged me to run with the idea, and I took off with it.

I started by brainstorming a list of brown foods. I knew I wanted to include recipes and focus them around a meal. I ended up going with a breakfast, lunch, dinner theme because it gave me a good range of foods to choose from. The challenging part was identifying recipes that are naturally monochrome. I could have included some images of single ingredients to keep with the brown theme, but I wanted the challenge of photographing a final dish that was entirely brown. I decided on four recipes and a cocktail; then, I sketched out my shots. I planned each recipe to have one main hero image and 2-3 supporting photos. I shot and styled all the photos, specifically for the promo. As I was designing the magazine, I had some additional space that I didn’t plan for initially. The Kamikaze was a last-minute addition. It was shot for a different purpose, and it was a happy accident that it worked with the brown color palette.

I live outside of Philly, so I had to include a cheesesteak! Those photos are my favorite in the series. I love the composition, the lighting, and the texture; everything about them. They are an excellent example of bringing the idea in your head to life.

The hero image for each recipe includes a descriptive word or phrase. These are words I use to describe my style. I included them as a way to clearly express my strengths without being too lengthy or adding in additional text. I planned to include them initially, but I did not shoot specific recipes to match a particular description. I matched them up after everything was shot based on the strongest qualities in the photo.

Lastly, I like creating GIFs, and I wanted to include those because it’s part of my services. I planned a GIF for each recipe. Then I made a dedicated page for the series on my portfolio. I included a QR code on the back of the magazine that would take you to that page.

How many did you make?
I printed 85. I thought it was a good number for my first promo. Not so large that I would struggle to mail them out, but not so small that I would have a hard time choosing who gets one.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
This was my first promo, but I plan on sending them out at least twice a year. They won’t always be on this scale. The next one I have planned will be something simple, like a postcard.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I think it’s too soon to tell. I think it’s a long game and part of a broader marketing strategy. I’m going to keep trying, see if it works, and reassess at a later time.

How can you tell what works and what doesn’t?
Food photography is a second career for me. I was a data analyst for several large corporations for ten years. I specialized in web analytics, looking at how clients are moving and interacting with the companies website. I use a lot of the same techniques in my photography business now. Collecting data can get overlooked, but I think it’s important to understand the health and growth of your business. From the beginning, I intended this promo to live across multiple channels. I knew I could track traffic to my portfolio from social and email, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t follow it from the print version. It would be nice to know if the print promo drove traffic to my site. Then I realized the QR code I included on the back serves as that tracker. I created a unique URL called a UTM tracking URL. It’s a URL with additional parameters at the end where I could specify that this link came directly from my printed promo. I embedded the UTM tracking URL into my QR code. Anytime someone with the print promo scans the QR code, I see a marketing channel called “print” come through in my Google Analytics. This only works if the recipients scan the QR code, but regardless, it’s better than not tracking interactions with the promo at all.

David Zickl

Who printed it?
Rebekah Smithson at My Clear Story
https://myclearstory.com/
rsmithson@myclearstory.com
(858) 526.3600

Who designed it?
Richard Haynie : he’s designed a few books for me over the years.
http://www.hayniedesign.com/
(480) 734-4371

I think it’s important to note that 50 year Grand Canyon veteran guide, author, boat builder and Grand Canyon historian Brad Dimock contributed the opening. He’s story teller and gives great interviews.
https://fretwaterboatworks.com/
(928) 853-2007

Tell me about your promo.
I’ve been working on this project for 8 seasons in the Grand Canyon. I didn’t plan on it. It just sort of evolved once I discovered that I could hold on, stay in the boat and shoot the drama of these veteran rowing in the biggest whitewater in North America. I’ve been perfectIng the equipment and my technique on each trip.

These days I use a Sony A7 R III with an Aquatech Housing.

Most rapids have 8 to 15 seconds of high drama and I typically shoot 50 to 150 frames looking for one moment. Serendipity and making my own luck play a key role in the outcome.

I spend a whole day with one guide going through a number of rapids just trying to get one image of them.

Now many of the guides I’ve photographed have become friends and they support my project by giving me opportunities. I typically do 1 to 3 trips per season. I usually drop everything when someone calls me to be an assistant on a Grand Canyon River trip.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
One promo distributed throughout the year as needed.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes but I can’t tell from this particular promo. It has generated awareness but not any tangible jobs.

Erica Allen

Who printed it?
Mixam, a friend of mine printed a mini portfolio with them a couple years ago and I really liked quality.

Who designed it?
A friend and mentor helped me decide the sequential order of photos, and I designed the layout in Adobe InDesign. I have a BFA in photography, but earned a minor in graphic design. I am no expert, but I can design simple things here and there 🙂

Tell me about the images.
The images were from various shoots over the past year or so. Many, but not all, were from test shoots. I love the freedom that testing brings and really enjoy collaborating with other creatives in my field to make our personal visions come to life. I work with prop stylists and food stylists on all of my test shoots and believe the final images are very much part of a team effort. I wanted the images in this booklet to tell a story, not just showcase pretty settings. Story telling through food is so interesting to me. Seeing the farm where it’s grown, to the chef turning into something delicious, to the final product, to the table scene where it’s being enjoyed, to the final crumbs of the last piece of pie is thrilling.

How many did you make?
I printed 100 copies.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
My goal is to send printed promos twice per year and email promos four times per year.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I do. I acknowledge we are moving faster and faster into a digital world where printed marketing materials and printed works in general are growing obsolete. This saddens me because I appreciate the tangible. I love feeling the coating of the paper, flipping the pages, looking at it in different light, appreciating the way different types of paper accept ink, etc. I believe there are still creatives in the industry who feel the same way, and these are the people I hope receive my promos. Printed cookbooks and printed magazines such as Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Food & Wine, and Cooking Light are dream clients of mine. I want the promos I send to resemble the type of work I’d like to shoot, in the format that it would be seen.

Laura Chase de Formigny

Who printed it?
The postcards were printed by Moo and the box was printed by Packlane.

Who designed it?
Nicole A. Yang designed the postcards and the box. She did my logo and branding several years ago, so I knew she’d be able to keep things on-brand for me. She’s fabulous and so professional. I’ve already booked her again for my next promo and I don’t even know what I’m shooting yet! I just know that it won’t shine as bring without Nicole’s keen design sense, so I made sure to get on her calendar early!

I creative directed what I wanted the box to look like. I knew I wanted an orange box so that it would be eye-catching, but also evoke the clementine vibe right off the bat. I picked out products to include in the box that was part of the custom cocktail recipe James Beard Award winning cocktail writer M. Carrie Allan created for the project. It was a no-brainer to include the Clementina San Pellegrino, but I did a lot of research on tea before I settled on Tea Forte to include in the promo. Their packaging is so beautiful and also I appreciated the individual packaging of tea bags during covid times. And of course, the tea is delicious and made the promo box smell wonderful!

Tell me about the photos:
I spent an enormous amount of time researching and conceiving my shot list. I also used this time to really hone in on what kind of lighting I wanted to cast. I’m often lighting things based on what my client’s needs are, but this was a chance to define what I want my photographic voice to look like. I settled on the word “punchy” to evoke the kind of lighting and mood I wanted the photos to give off. To me, punchy photos have crisp shadows, vibrant colors, and plenty of fill. The light is contrasty, but not necessarily high key. It also means that every little detail matters because sometimes it’s the littlest thing that makes a photo pop.

I wanted to show clients that I can produce food lifestyle work and produce it at a high level. I felt like my portfolio had been missing the lifestyle side of food work, so I wanted to send out a promo with images showing I can do the lifestyle side of cookbooks, in addition to just food and beverage. Readers connect to cookbook authors through lifestyle imagery in their cookbooks and on social media. These lifestyle moments are critical to set the tone of an author’s book and overall brand. I couldn’t be more proud of how these images turned out.

We photographed 10 sets and Photo Editor Stacy Swiderski chose 8 images for the final edit. Every set was photographed with the cocktail in both an elegant cocktail glass and in the custom Laura Chase de Formigny Photography Tervis Tumbler I had made and included in the promo box. It definitely took extra time to shoot everything twice, but I’m glad we did! I ended up not publishing any of the images with the tumbler because the edit looks so much more elevated shot with the beautiful glassware prop stylist Giulietta Pinna selected.

I ordered 65 boxes and 60 Tervis Tumblers. I wanted room for error if boxes got returned, which is why I ordered a few extra. I ended up mailing 50 promos in total. It was a difficult undertaking because of covid. Since most of the country was working from home at the time, I had to pre-email everyone on my list and ask if they felt comfortable sharing a personal address that I could mail the promo to. This is my first promo ever, so very few of these people knew who I was! I did end up sending several boxes to office addresses with the hope that one day the recipient will return to their desk and find a lovely surprise. This also happens to be the biggest reason I did not include perishable items, like a clementine, in the promo box. That would be a very unhappy package to come back to after months or even years away from the office!

As I mentioned, this was my first promo. Go big or go home, right?! I’m planning to continue doing print promos biannually. Definitely nothing to the scale of Clementine Skies, just a postcard a couple of times a year. I just thought I’d kick off my marketing with a bang!

I’m honestly not sure if print promos are effective marketing anymore. What I do know is that most creatives have a bulletin board of inspiration and I want my photo to be on it, so all I can do is try, right?

This project was conceived while I was pregnant with my daughter, Frances Clémentine. I executed the project only a few months after her birth because I want creatives to know that there are badass female commercial photographers out there producing exceptional work while balancing a family. I want my kids to watch me chase my dreams so that someday they do the same. More on this in the behind-the-scenes video on my website.

I was very clear with the recipe writer that I wanted the recipe to be non-alcoholic. I wanted the drink to be family-friendly and accessible to all recipients. You never know what someone else is going through, so I didn’t want to send somebody an alcoholic recipe if that could be potentially triggering for them. Also, since the inspiration for this project was a baby, it just seemed more appropriate to keep it kid-friendly.

I was very, very detail-oriented while sourcing for this promo. I color matched the model’s nail polish and lipstick to my business card. I also bought a real, live clementine tree to have on set to cast shadows in the background of one of the images. I wanted everything to feel super authentic so I didn’t cut any corners and I’m glad I didn’t! Food stylist Nichole Bryant ended up using some of the leaves from the clementine tree by gluing them to actual clementines on set! Chance favors the prepared, indeed.

Credits

Sol Neelman

Tell me about the promo you sent me. I had assumed it was something CLIF Bar made as a promo of their own.

The last big print campaign I worked on before the pandemic featured soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe for CLIF Bar. Fresh off the Women’s World Cup title, Megan was to be one of a handful of CLIF-sponsored athletes promoted internationally ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics.

While the last-second logistics was a little nuts, my art direction was pretty straight forward: take photos of Megan kicking a soccer ball. Megan was great to work with, client was really happy with selects and we wrapped up early. It was a good day. To me, the best part of the entire experience was collaborating with fun and talented creative directors and photographers I also consider close friends.

I don’t know who remembers REGGIE! candy bars, but I was stoked to learn my photo of Megan would be inspiration for a limited edition CLIF wrapper. Pretty surreal and fun. When the bars launched in early March 2020, I was excited to share what I had been a part of. Then the pandemic hit, and the print spots were held back with the Olympics on hold.

With the Summer Games officially back on, now for 2021, I was finally able to share the entire ad campaign. I had been noodling on soccer-themed promos, something that an art buyer would use/keep/share. I like producing fun promos that are unique and hard to toss. I kept coming back to customizing a miniature foosball table.

The problem, of course, was that no one was working in an office, let alone having in-person meetings. No point in spending a ton of money on a full promo campaign. But you, Rob, have a very large social media presence (44k followers on Instagram and 133k on Twitter). Many of the clients and photo agents I was hoping to reach follow you. So I decided to invest in a single, one-off foosball table and send it your way.

Despite what some might think, the entire promo wasn’t really that expensive – or that large. The 27” travel-size table was about $40 on Amazon, plus a few bucks for modeling paint, adhesive spray and a print of the ad. The s/h was the most expensive part, but again, I only had to ship one. I tossed in a couple double-sided tickets with my contact info and a fresh box of Megan’s CLIF bars.

For the record, I don’t think promos need to be expensive. Almost all of mine involve plenty of cheap DIY crafting. I do think promos need to be worth the time and effort of producing and delivering them. And I think they need to properly represent your work and personality. My brand is literally fun and games, so a kid-sized foosball table totally worked for me. This is really a continuation of what I’ve created in the past, like with my custom Weird Sports trading cards.

I’m not going to lie: I wasn’t sure whether to warn you or not about a massive box landing on your front doorstep, Rob. But I also wanted it to be a surprise. Love that you originally thought it was a CLIF-produced promotional gift, instead of something hand-painted and assembled on a dining room table in Portland. Pretty flattering. Thanks, Rob. I appreciate you for sharing my work.

Dave Creaney

Who printed it?
It was printed at a small web press operation in Marble Falls, Texas. (about an hour outside of Austin) Their website and contact seem to be gone, I fear they didn’t make it through the pandemic.

Who designed it?
I designed it in photoshop myself but had a friend give me a hand getting it properly laid out in InDesign and press-ready.

Tell me about the images.
The subjects are all types of folks from in and around Austin. The cover shot is actually a judge out in Bastrop county, the Honorable Charles Carver. He and I worked in kitchens together years ago; one time he chipped my tooth with a microphone during a duet version of ‘My Way’ at karaoke. There are musicians, chefs, tattoo artists: weirdos, and friends of mine. I hand-painted the backdrop in my friend’s driveway and tried to light them all more or less the same.

How many did you make?
Since they were done on a web press, most of the cost was in setup fees. When the owner of the print shop called to quote me for 500 copies, he said the cost for 1000 would be practically the same. So naturally, I went with 1000. I still have a lot to give out though!

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I’m still pretty new to the marketing game. I’ve sent out a handful of postcard-type mailers with different designs before these newsprint ones.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
People are usually very responsive to these if I put one into their hands. It’s hard to judge the mailed versions though. I love printed materials regardless. That’s what’s especially great about these in my opinion – I really don’t have to be precious with them. I leave them in bars and coffee shops and put them into anyone’s hand that will stop long enough to let me.

Emily Brooke Sandor

Who printed it?
I chose Mixam.com to print the Saffron cookbook. I first learned about Mixam from reading aphotoeditor.com, so here we are, full circle! Mixam has great customer service and I’ve been very happy with their print quality.

Who designed it?
My boyfriend an illustrator/graphic designer, Daniel Peacock, and I designed the Saffron cookbook together using InDesign. I knew that I wanted the Saffron cookbook to be a blend of my travel and food photography and designing the layout flowed easily – starting with a brief written intro, a short history of saffron, tips on how to use and store it, followed by twelve recipes featuring saffron, and finishing with a photo story of the annual saffron harvest in Krokos, Kozani, in northern Greece. I also collaborated with Greek-American chef, Christina Xenos, who co-authored this project and developed the recipes for the cookbook.

Saffron crocus flowers bloom for three weeks, only once a year. Every aspect of the saffron harvest is done by hand – picking and gathering thousands of flowers each day, separating the red saffron stigmas from the rest of the flower, and skillfully drying and packaging the spice. I wanted the Saffron cookbook to reflect this level of care, too. So, I wrap each book, add a handmade stamp of a crocus flower on the front, tie the book with red twine in a way that’s meant to mimic the red saffron stigmas, and include a handwritten note.

Tell me about the images.
There are a few categories of photos:

A photo of the saffron that I grew at home and a bowl of saffron corms were taken with my iPhone.

The recipe photos were shot over three days with prop stylist, Robin Turk. I used natural light, a diffusion panel, and several reflectors. I shot everything on the Canon 5D Mark II with the 100mm lens.

Daniel and I traveled to Krokos, in the town of Kozani, to document the annual harvest over ten days. I shot stills and Daniel shot video. We met many wonderful people we are still in touch with via social media. As a thank you, I sent 20 Saffron cookbooks to Greece to the folks who allowed us to photograph them. The majority of our shooting time was photographing outside, in the saffron fields – mostly of the saffron flowers being picked, and shooting various portraits of the harvesters. We spent one morning photographing the dried saffron as it was being weighed and packaged at the Kozani Saffron Producers Cooperative. That evening, we documented the saffron sorting process. At one point, it was good to put the cameras down and join the women sorting the saffron.

While out shooting in the saffron fields one day, it occurred to me that I would really like to get a shot of a single saffron crocus flower on a black background. It was windy and hot outside, so I sat inside the rental car and photographed a single flower on my lap (I was wearing black pants). When we returned home, Daniel retouched the shot and it became the cover of the cookbook.

How many did you make?
I’ve printed 350 Saffron cookbooks so far. I’ve been sending them out to clients, family, and friends. I’m also selling the cookbook, along with a few prints from the saffron project, in my Etsy shop, Xploria. www.etsy.com/shop/xploria

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I usually send out promos twice a year – but with a big project like Saffron, I think it’s going to be my only promo for a little while.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
Yes, definitely. There’s something wonderful about sharing a printed promo/book with someone who understands and resonates with the work.

Where did you get the idea for the project?
It’s amazing to me that a big project can start from such a small question: what is saffron?

Before this project, I didn’t know much about how to use saffron beyond a few recipes, so my little jar of saffron sat mostly on the shelf, unused. I knew saffron was pricey but wasn’t exactly sure why. I was cautious about using the precious red threads in a casual way and unsure of what to make with them. This spice held a lot of mystery.

My journey with saffron started because I was looking for something new and interesting to grow in my Los Angeles home garden. Then I got a job opportunity to photograph in Bulgaria and Crete and decided to extend the trip to photograph the saffron harvest in Greece. The only catch was that I had to wait a month for the saffron harvest to begin!

One of the best pieces of advice that I ever got from art school came from the late photographer, James Fee. I had asked him how he mentally/innerly prepared himself for a photoshoot. He responded, “Don’t be afraid to shoot on the way to the shoot.”

So, in preparation for the saffron harvest shoot, and because we had plenty of time to explore, Daniel and I did some photo/video mini-stories together: an organic olive mill on Crete, the cultivation of citron on Naxos, and the production of Kitron (a special liqueur made only on Naxos), and a family farm growing Greek mountain tea.

I want the Saffron cookbook to inspire others not only to understand and appreciate what saffron is but also to give some practical, easy ways to enjoy this beautiful spice – to demystify it a bit. Simply put a few saffron threads in warm water, add some honey, and, ta-da! saffron tea. Full of health benefits and tasty, too.

Chef Christina, Daniel, and I put together a video presentation of the saffron cookbook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9ToGVUkKcM Christina demonstrates how to make a few recipes and there’s a video of the saffron harvest that Daniel and I created.

Kaitlin Parry

Who printed it?
mixam.com

Who designed it?
I designed the poster, book, and postcards. I wanted the poster and the book to have a very early 90’s NYC art feel when you would get posters in the Voice, and artists would hand out their work in cards and books. I am from New York, and its artistic history has really influenced me.

Tell me about the images.
The book and poster represent the spark that made me want to be a fully professional photographer. Two of the cards are images from West Texas, I really enjoy traveling and these images never really have a place to live. The third image is a product shoot I did for the Company Palms.

How many did you make?
I made 100 books, I have friends asking me for more so I am thinking of printing more! I made 100 posters and 100 of each postcard. When I run through them, I make more as I use them as a business card.

How many times a year do you send out promos?
I am continually making digital promos. Some of my first internships for photographers involved running around New York handing out their promos to various clients and editors. I am continuously making promos, but sending them out to a client list becomes less frequent. Quarantine afforded me a lot of time.

Do you think printed promos are effective for marketing your work?
I am not sure. I have had clients reach out to me years after I had sent them a promo. I would say for every 25 promos I send I hear from one person. The book was a bit different as I sent it more to work friends as opposed to a traditional marketing campaign. I find that handing out cards to people has a greater impact than a standard business card. I find it is a good way to continuously foster relationships with various clients.