“Foto SF offers productivity hike and slick admin for stressed snappers. The database solution for photographers who can’t stand databases could well bring an end to sleepless nights.”
The March issue of The Photographer, monthly magazine of The British Institute of Professional Photographers (BIPP) did a review of Foto SF. Here is what was writtern in the article:
“Let’s face it. There aren’t many photographers who really like being organised. It’s almost as if there’s some kind of gene deficiency lurking deep down in the creative make-up that makes this so. Hence, when it comes to a product specifically designed to organise stuff, it better be good. Really good. Or no-one’s going to be bothered. After all, most of us consider filing to be a matter of knowing that we haven’t actually lost something.
So, if Foto SF was just a basic busines tool that joined together all the tedious tasks we do like invoicing and VAT returns, then it wouldn’t be worth worrying about. However, it is much, much more than that. Any piece of software just has to break the barrier of ‘I can now do something I couldn’t do before’. Then it becomes a worthy tool in the box. A number of the numerous Foto SF features fall into this category, and one such area is based around marketing.
If photographers aren’t particularly good at getting organised, then marketing follows a near second worst. But once Foto SF is built up with all your client contacts, it’s what you do with this information that counts, it’s what you do with this information that counts in spades. Whether you would want to easily and quickly send birthday cards to clients is uncertain (see the web demo) but the idea is crucial. Getting in touch with your client base in a memorable way (and regularly at that) is the name of the game – be that by means of snail mail or html email. Foto SF has a built in system that lets you send bulk html emails (messages that look nice for anyone wondering) to your client list with just a few clickerry-clicks of the mouse. Now we’re talking. And the £345 price tag (Mac or PC) is starting to make sense.
The next set of features in the latest version 2 that makes Foto SF stand out are about business management. You can create tiers of pricing and we like the sound of that, as really making sure you have a policy is just so important. All the while it can show you the percentage profit you’ve made on jobs. You can also input an inventory of all the gear you have (if you can remember) and see exactly how much it’s worth at any time. Neat. And there’s a system of reporting and reminders built in that trigger the sirens when overdues turn into bad debts and you are trying to forget about chasing them down. What’s more (and you better be sitting down for this one) Foto SF can in fact carry your business plan and illustrate to you how you’re doing, forecast against actual for the month or year. Gulp. Now part of me is attracted by that, and part of me has already run a mile. The choic….is yours.
It is also true that Foto SF makes a very pleasant job of running your office for you when you’re on the move, being entirely iPhone or PDA compatible. So you can log in to your database and tweak and change whilst you’re away from the desk. That’s all very well but it’s essentially going over some ground that especially Apple has covered by means of its Mobile Me functionality that pushes or pulls amends or additions to calendars and contacts from iPhone to server to Your Mac or vice versa, without you doing anything flash. So you wouldn’t buy Foto SF for that alone, unless you were more than a one-man band. And here’s the rub. If you’re a lone snapper with a decent but not huge client base, Foto SF is most likely a step too far. But if one has become two or three plus a supporting cast, then it very much is going to make lots of sense. Try before you buy and carry out your own cost-benefit analysis by visiting the Foto SF website.”
A big thank you to everyone who visited us at Foto SF and to those who came to my presentations. It was a very hectic 4 days with long days & late nights (self inflicted!!) I keep telling myself every year that no more late nights, but hey, you only live once!! Here are some images from Focus:
Our Foto SF stand:
Shoot with model Katie Green at the Lastolite stand:
Nikon team. One of my images displayed on the left hand column.
Thank you to Nikon for their warm & kind hospitality, Lastolite & Apple for my presentation slots. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I look forward to Focus 2010.
Here is the video shot during my Nikon D3x trip to Switzerland. Shot with the Nikon D90. I was lucky to be one of the first photographers to use this camera in the UK / Europe.
Photo Pro magazine printed this article about my workflow using Aperture 2 in the Jan 2009 issue. This article showcases how I manage my files, post processing, conversion from RAW to JPEGs and much much more. Hope you enjoy the read.
I was invited to the launch of the new Nikon products in Central London yesterday (30 June) and as the NDA expired at 5.00am this morning, here it is:
Nikon D700, an FX camera to bridge the gap between the D300 and the D3. I’m sure all of you have seen the spec from the Nikon site. But the SB900 stole the show for me and the other 40 guests. This flashgun is simply awesome. The sheer size of it, the zoom which goes up to 200mm, yes 200mm. I think the zoom head is 17-200mm. The head rotatable fully either way, but the best is the new switch / button which allows the flash to be set as remote or master without going into the menu. Will work with SB800 in iTTL mode and compatible with SD8A. There is also a auto cut-off function which cuts off the power when the flash gets very hot by constant firing. So now you can’t fry up your flashes!! Couple of lenses also released and they too look very good.
Thanks to all who attended the workshop. We had a super day and the weather was nice and sunny for the outdoor shoot. Next stop Poole, Dorset on 2 July 08 which is sold out.
I’ll be presenting a live demonstration of ‘off-camera’ flash and how I set up simple lighting set up on-location at Apple’s flagship store in Regent Street, London. Look forward to seeing you there.
The show everyone was waiting for. Held at Olympia, London on 27 & 28 November. Record numbers of photographers visited to see the stars of the event…D3 and the D300 and they were not disappointed with what they saw.
DISCOVERY AWARDS
The event also held the first “Discover Awards” for students. 20 of the leading universities and colleges participated in these awards and a total of £50,000 worth of prizes were awarded to students and their university / college by Nikon UK. Students from as far as Dublin & Edinburgh attended the awards. All credit for this award must go to Dave Robins for planning and organising this wonderful event and to Nikon for supporting the rising stars of the future.
TRADE SHOW
All the big guns of the industry were present at the trade show. These included Apple, Epson, Lexar, HP, SWPP, MPA and many more
SEMINARS / WORKSHOPS
Pre-registered photographers had the opportunity to try the D3 and the D300 at the fashion, portrait, wedding & sports zones. I had the great privilege & joy to assist Martin Graham-Dunn, at the portrait & wedding zone, who is one of the most respected photographers of our generation and is now running his own photography training academy in Spain. We demonstrated the use of off-camera SB800 Speedlights in a variety of ways i.e high key, low key and mixed lighting scenarios. Images shot at the zones were wi-fi’ed across to a central hub and the images were then accessed by the likes of Epson & HP to make large prints within seconds of them being shot. Photographers were instantly able to see for themselves how good the D3 / D300 performed under certain lighting conditions and were also able to judge the speed and the quality of the printers too. The turnout was tremendous at our fashion / wedding zone and it was great to see many fellow photographers and some old friends .
Team Nikon at the Nikon Stand
Visitors at the show.
Fashion zone: Me shooting Katie (along with the dozens behind me!!)
Auditorium filling up for the Discovery Awards
The heart of the show: The Processing Hub. With so many networks at Olympia, the performance of the WT4 wireless transmitters with the D3 and the D300 was superb. Credit for this goes to our super whiz kid James Banfield.
All in all it was a tremendous event and a huge success. Visitors to the show were well up from last year. Many many thanks to Nikon for organising this wonderful event and for giving me the opportunity to be part of this exciting showpiece event.
