Tootin' My Own Horn: 5 Things I've Done in the Photo Industry That Mattered
The main purpose of this blog is to re-establish myself as an authority in the world of photography. As part of that process, I need to toot my own horn and look back on over 35 years of experience covering the industry for a variety of trade publications, consumer magazines, and web sites. After all, if you're reading this, you may not know my background.
With that in mind, I have come up with five ahead-of-their time accomplishments of mine during my time in the industry:
1. I took point-and-shoot cameras seriously (and was copied!)
When I was at Modern Photography magazine, in 1988 I looked at point-and-shoot autofocus cameras (at that time still a relatively new technology) and thought: There is artistic potential in these little cameras. Indeed, point-and-shoots were being used by photographers to express themselves and find unique points of view. Manufacturers, meanwhile, were starting to make "posh" compact cameras with high-quality lenses and full manual exposure capabilities. My "Point and Shoot" column debuted in early 1989. Alas, it was cut short when the magazine was bought out and folded by its main competitor before my fourth column, an interview with Ken Heyman (author of Hipshot: One-Handed Autofocus Photographs by a Master Photographer), was published.
Side note: after my second column—a report about doing street photography with a Yashica T4—was published, our competitor Popular Photography started a column called "Point and Shoot Follies," which also covered point and shoot cameras. Burt Keppler, the author, was better known for his SLR column and clearly wasn't taking the topic too seriously. Nevertheless, given his sterling reputation in the industry, I was flattered that he put his uniquely Keppleresque spin on my concept.
2. I correctly predicted the rise of digital and the demise of film photography
It was in 1991 and I was the managing editor of Photo Business, a monthly trade publication serving camera store owners. Photoshop was only four years old. Early digital cameras were experimental, low resolution, and extremely expensive. And yet...I boldly predicted--in print--that digital would take over the photography industry within ten years, by 2001. My boss thought I was nuts. Digital was at least 25 years away, he thought.
In addition to my bold prediction, I arranged to have a well-known digital artist alter a photo in one of the earliest versions of Photoshop; it would be our cover for that month. Unfortunately, the result looks very "photoshoppy" by today's standards. Although the work was mind-blowing given the tools available at that time, the artist, who would go on to become a major force in the world of digital photography, asked that I keep her anonymous.
Nevertheless, I was well within the ballpark as far as timing was concerned. Digital camera sales were rising rapidly by 2001, exceeded film camera sales by 2004 and kept going up. Meanwhile, film camera sales peaked by 1998, the same year film camera makers started making digital cameras. By 2001, digital was indeed well on its way to taking over the world of photography.
3. I created a successful proof-of-concept web site for a skeptical retailer
In January 1996, I'd been unemployed for about a year. A few months earlier, my friend Mark convinced me to to learn HTML. "It's the future!" he enthused. (Here's a web site he started.) "OK, then," I responded. "Can you tutor me?" And so he did. With that knowledge, I created the first web site devoted to black and white photography, so I could practice my newly-learned skill. Around that time, I approached Henry, who I knew a The Guy From B&H Who Answered Questions About Photo Gear on Compuserve.
I asked Henry if B&H had a web site. I told him I had one, and sent him the link.
The next day, he responded: No, we don't have a web site, and could you come in to our office--there's someone here who wants to speak with you.
24 hours later, I was tasked with building B&H's web site. A year later, it went live...and looks nothing like the sleek, state-of-the-art site that exists today. But it served its purpose: to convince management that the company needed to be online.
The first iteration of the B&H web site was bare-bones. I manually copied, pasted, and marked up text from the company's massive print catalogue. It took time because the automated tools that would be used to convert Quark files into HTML didn't exist yet. The department consisted of myself and, eventually, two assistants. When the site went live, you had to download an order form, fill it out by hand with your credit card number, then fax it in. Even with that clumsy setup, the site quickly brought in significant income. Management was convinced, and it was time for me to bow out so someone with true programming experience could take the site to the next level.
How my baby has grown: www.bhphotovideo.com is now run by a team of over 100, and is one of the most popular retail web sites in the world.
4. I convinced Popular Photography to start a web site
Speaking of skeptical management, when I arrived as the managing editor of Popular Photography, one of the first things I realized was their head honchos thought their AOL site—which hadn't been updated in over a year—was just fine. Some were suspicious of the web, and rightly so--it would eventually help kill off many print magazines. "It's a scam!" cried one of them. "It won't last," exclaimed another.
I discovered that other editors were unhappy with this and had been trying to convince the powers that be to invest in an actual web site. My experience at B&H and other web sites after that seemed to convince the boss to give me the resources to build a web site as a complement to the print magazine. I didn't know if it would siphon away readers with its limited free content (which, unfortunately, it did) but I also knew that without a web site, the magazine was already lagging behind.
About 15 years later, Pop Photo the magazine ceased to exist. Advertisers were moving online and trying new and creative marketing methods. Popphoto.com is still around.
5. I pioneered editorial content within a retail web site (and was copied!)
In 2005, I was still the managing editor at Pop Photo. I got a call from one of our advertisers. "I'm looking to create a photo magazine as part of my store's web site, and I'd like you to run it." Interesting idea. I loved working for Pop Photo, however, and told him that while I didn't enjoy commuting every day, the job was very rewarding. And, who had ever heard of an online magazine in a retailer web site? "You can work from home," he responded.
That got my attention.
So, I spent the next eight years working on the Adorama Learning Center (now known by another name; ya gotta keep moving). Published thousands of articles, worked with a team of a dozen or so writers. My greatest challenge? In 2005, the idea of an online photo 'zine living within a retail web site was difficult for camera and accessory makers' marketing people to understand. There were only a handful of retail siteswith editorial/educational material for their customers at that time, so this was unfamiliar territory. Do they treat me as a retailer or an editorial source? Ultimately, some went one way, some the other.
In practical terms, this meant that for some companies, I was loaned gear for field-testing; if a manufacturer decided we were just a retail site, we took product off the shelves and tested that, then sold it as a used or demo model. At the same time, my team produced articles and by the time I left, we were also producing gear-oriented videos. Here's one of my favorites because I got a wonderful shout-out at 10:55. I got to work with some of the greats, including as Gavin Hoey, Mark Wallace, Tamara (rhymes with "camera") Lackey, and the always-entertaining Bryan Peterson.
Shortly after we launched the project, my old employer B&H announced their own editorial site within their retail site, and of course, they did an outstanding job with it; other retailers both in and outside the photo industry also launched education/learning centers. With hobbyist magazines falling by the wayside, retailers found this was an effective alternative to capturing eyeballs and attracting customers by educating them.
A behind the scenes guy
Most of what I just described to you is fairly inside-baseball, behind-the-scenes stuff. I haven't really taken credit for these accomplishments in public and I feel weird boasting about it now. But hey, if I don't say it, you wouldn't know.
And now you know!
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