Tax Information Photographers Should Know

Taxes suck.  If you want my opinion, hire a pro so you can spend more time doing things you know how to do.

Some tips from the self-proclaimed Tax Ninja, aka Matthew Whatley.  Click here for info on Matt.

• Keep a day planner in your car to keep track of client's visited and mileage.  Include starting mileage and destination address.  Yeah, it sucks but do it.
• Save your receipts!  Can't be bothered?  Get a separate bank account with debit card and use this purely for business only.  Don't mix the two!
• New equipment: take note of date of purchase, amount of purchase and exact name of that piece of gear (serial number if you're anal).  You can a) write off depreciation in the first year or  b) do a graduated depreciation and write it off over several years.
• If you do sell the equipment and have already written off the depreciation value in total, this is called a 179 Expense.  Essentially, you have to report this sales price on your taxes.  Which means, if you took the full depreciation deduction up front, you will need to pay back the IRS the percentage that was not depreciated.  Get it?  Good because I'm not sure I do...

I think that's about all the tax info I can handle for the day.  If you'd like to hear the rest, check out the Tax Ninja's video The 7 Common Tax Mistakes Made By Photographers.

Opening Our Eyes creator Gail Mooney to speak at NAB tonight

Photo Proxy has been following Gail Mooney for over a year now on Facebook and Twitter.  She’s one of those people you never meet but are fascinated by her posts and her life in general.   But if my schedule allows, I may get a chance to meet her tonight at the 2012 NAB Show here in Las Vegas.

In summary, the documentary is about: “Mother/daughter filmmakers embark on a 99-day journey around the globe in search of ordinary people who are making a positive difference in the world.  We believe in the power of the individual - the power that each one of us has to effect positive change. We believe in the power of one.”  For a preview of the movie, click here.

Tonight, Sunday, April 15, come listen to Gail talk about her experiences in the following topics.  She will be at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259 from 5:00pm-6:15pm.

HDSLR solution for shooting both stills and motion

•  Audio needs

•  Working with ambient and natural light

•  Dealing with digital on the fly – the workflow

•  Visas, vaccinations and misc. needs and expenses

•  The roles in a two person crew

Canon Product Advisory

After years of waiting, Canon announced its newly updated full frame sensor the 5D Mark III on March 2, 2012.  Photo Proxy and all her Canon-loving friends gazed longingly at the reviews and the price tag.  It became next on our list for new must-have equipment.  Well, good thing we didn’t fork over the cash quite so soon.  Canon confirmed today that the body does have a design flaw after a month of rumors hitting the net about a light leak.

“In extremely dark environments, if the LCD panel illuminates, the displayed exposure value may change as a result of the AE sensor’s detection of light from the LCD panel. The phenomenon [...] has been confirmed when using the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera. Canon is now examining the countermeasures and once the countermeasures are decided, we will post the information on our Web site.”

For the complete statement, click here.

It turns out the problem isn’t limited to dark environment situations either.  No indeed.  Direct light (say IDK, sunlight?) hitting the top LCD screen can affect exposure readings as well.  Can a firmware update fix the problem?  Looks doubtful.  Curious to see what Canon will do next.

Improve your SEO Speedwagon

At one time or another, I’m sure you or someone you love has received the pesky telemarketing call promising that with their services, they can increase your potential market and put you at the top of the search engines. One guy even did his homework and told me I was way back on page 26.  Page 26?  Oh no!  Not that! 

Search Engine Optimization allows people to Google your services and bring them directly to your website but you have to know how to use it to your advantage.  You can pay someone to do this for you or if have the time, why not pick up a book and read.  Blogs are useful for this too… hint, hint.

I am by no means an expert on SEO.  I know even less about coding and html but here are some useful things that might help people find your website:

1. Google Webmaster Tools.  What is it?  Google it and find out.
2. Create unique, accurate page titles that apply to your work. Titles like “WTF Crazy Furball Shoot!” may make it difficult for people to find your pet photography studio.
3. Update your blog.  Update your blog.  I’ll say it again.  Update your blog.
4. Comment on other people’s blogs.  It will make them feel special. 
5. Lastly, this may sound sneaky but it’s good to see what your competition is using for tags and titles.  Competition is healthy and it keeps you up to date on any new buzz keywords that you might’ve missed while you were out busy shooting.

Want to know more about how to improve your SEO?  PhotoShelter is offering a free SEO guide and bootcamp booklet full of useful information.  Click here for the link.

Facebook buys Instagram for $1 Billion

     Instagram is the newest thing but has it already become old?  Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion today and it seems everyone wants to be a part of the look.  It's even made it's way into corporate event photography.  
     The corporate event studio that I manage here in Las Vegas recently did an event where our client turned down our photographers' professional DSLR equipment so they could do an instant slideshow using iPhone Instagrams instead.  And it would've worked fine if only the iPhone's had an off-axis flash system because red-eye in Instagram-converted photos turn pupils into creepy glowing alien eyes.  Try fixing that in LightRoom as images are instantly transferred via the cloud to your LR library and then instantly projected onto multiple large 50 foot screens inside the Mandalay Bay Arena in front of 10,000 people.  
     Pretty soon Nikon and Canon will have built in filters like black and white or turning on RAW.  Turn on the Instagram filter kid, we're shooting a corporate event tonight!

image source here

Techie Alert - Advice from a Digital Tech

Digital Technician and contributor for Resource Magazine Elizabeth Stacy wrote two articles in the recent Winter Edition: Backing Up the Shoot and the Digital Technician Kit.  Good pieces of information from an experienced pro.

Click here for the teaser intros or download the entire issue here.

Photo Proxy: A Mission Statement

As a working photographer, I would like to share ideas from other photographers in the hopes of creating a resource to inspire, educate and motivate.

Creatives ~

There are others in the world drawing from personal sources.  I would like to share their work with hopes of inspiring myself and pushing others to find their own voice.

Technical ~

Learn the technical mumbo-jumbo and take control of your medium.  It's OK if it controls you and sometimes it will.   Just know how to take the lead when necessary.  Browse some of the links and tutorials that I find.  Some may seem elementary to the working stiffs out there.  But working stiffs had to start somewhere, right?

Craftsmanship ~

It's not a dirty word.  We have a skill set that others may seek out from time to time.  It's not always about being an 'artist' or 'genius' though that's what some clients say they want.  It's about combining a vision (whether it be yours or your client's) with a fairly complicated piece of technology with many buttons and gadgets in order to create a commercially viable product.  Sometimes it is as simple as that.

Business ~

Marketing, networking, taxes, web presence, more clients, more clients… If you’re like me this is how you pay the bills but some photographers are more savvy than others.  I hope to share their experience to help us all get there too.


Personal ~
I may from time to time include my own personal work because after all, I am a photographer too.  We are voyeurs of the world just as much as we are exhibitionists.  It happens.  Jump to the next thread if my work bores you.  We all don't share the same tastes and that's a good thing!