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We all know that running a photography business is not easy. But last month at Imaging USA, we celebrated The Ball Studio's 100 years as a PPA studio! Holly Peterson is the latest generation and PPA member of this long history, and she accepted a special acknowledgement during the PPA Council Meeting for her family.
 
Holly's great-grandfather, William Ball arrived in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1912 by way of working on the railroad. An artist at heart, he founded The Ball Studio, which has continued to this day to be owned and operated by his family. One of his sons, Robert, fell in love with photography as well, and turned his attention to strengthening the studio's business foundation. (Robert even became a PPA President.) The family business next came to Robert's daughter Mickey and her husband Keith Peterson, who embraced color (and even put in a color lab). And for the past 30 years, Holly has been involved, expanding into a 4,000 sq. ft. studio with five employees.
 
In that time, The Ball Studio has seen its share of challenges. They've survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, the recession of the '70s, two studio fires and more! So how have they stayed successful for so long?
 
"We're always adapting and changing...except for one thing, the motto laid down by our great-grandfather: 'Reputation is a responsibility as well as a reward,' " says Holly. "We never centered our studio brand around an individual, but on the concepts of quality, craftsmanship and reputation. And to fine-tune those concepts, we've been members of PPA since the beginning."
 
Congratulations Holly and the entire Ball Studio family!

Whether you are an old hand at charitable marketing or want to get started but don't know how, now's your chance! PPA Charities, in association with Marathon Press, offers the perfect opportunity to gain new clients and repeat business through a brand-new charitable marketing event. As a PPA member, you can participate in "Celebration of Smiles," set for April 21, 2012. (Or choose another day that works for you.)

What It Is
Participating photographers will host an event where clients donate a minimum of $24 for a portrait mini session and desk-sized portrait, and 100% of donations go to support Operation Smile. This worldwide children's medical charity (focusing on facial deformities) can perform a surgery for as little as $240. So, for every 10 sessions a studio photographs during this Celebration of Smiles event, one child will receive the life-changing gift of surgery.

Think how many smiles you could help save by joining in this one-day event! Think how your name recognition and repeat business could grow! (Plus, you might even win the opportunity to document an Operation Smile Mission!)

Get Involved
Register with only a $25 PPA Charities donation, and you'll receive . . .

• The Celebration of Smiles Marketing Guide that takes you step-by-step through how to market, prepare for and execute your promotion. (You'll also get predesigned promotional elements and materials for marketing to your clients and prospects.)
• Your studio name and website link on the Celebration of Smiles consumer website.
• Weekly "timeline" emails, so you'll stay on track with marketing and operating your promotion.

Learn more and register at ppacharities.com.

Not a PPA member, but want to take part in the Celebration of Smiles? It's easy to join: ppa.com/joinppa.

For more information contact:
Bert Behnke
20600 S. Old Wolf Road
Mokena, IL 60448
(708) 267-0657
bbehnke@ppa.com

PPA member and award-winning photographer Jim DiVitale will soon have an exhibit of his recent photographic work displayed at the Marietta Museum of Art in Marietta, GA.

Titled "Home and Heroes", the display will feature DiVitale's black and white photographs of historic homes from the Civil War time period located in the city of Marietta.

The images also appeared in DiVitale's recent book collaboration with author Doug Frey, Marietta: The Gem City of Georgia.

The exhibit will run from April through the summer. Read more about the exhibit on DiVitale's blog.




IMAGE © JIM DIVITALE

Congratulations to the winners of PPA's 2012 Grand Imaging Awards. International Photographic Competition jurors selected the top images in six categories from PPA's 2011 Loan Collection. First place winners in each category received a $500 cash prize. And Richard Sturdevant, M.Photog.Cr., of Garland, Texas, this year's overall Grand Imaging Award winner (image on left), received an additional $500 award!






Electronic Imaging
First Place: Dwaine Horton, M.Photog.Cr., "Untamed World"
Second Place: Sandra Pearce, MEI.Cr., "Easy Prey"
Third Place: Ben Shirk, "Next Level"

Commercial
First Place: Doran Wilson, M.Photog.MEI.Cr., CPP, "Glock Exo"
Second Place: Matthew Weston, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, "Visual Sound"
Third Place: Shterion Shterionov, Cr.Photog., "Dos Lunas"

Portrait
First Place: Richard Sturdevant, M.Photog.Cr., "Deadman's Hand"
Second Place: Goodhue, M.Photog.Cr., CPP "Endless Love"
Third Place: Nancy Bailey-Pratt, "Eager to Answer"

Wedding
First Place: J. Luis Guardia Peinado, "Castle Bridge"
Second Place: Larry Spencer, CPP, "Leading to You"
Third Place: J. Luis Guardia Peinado, "The Bridges of Love"

Illustrative
First Place (Tie): Myeoung Hwan Rim, "A United Family"
First Place (Tie): Richard Sturdevant, M.Photog.Cr., "Wicked"
Third Place: Joe Campanelli, M.Photog.Cr., CPP, "Bathed in Light"

Album
First Place: Jennifer Hillenga, M.Photog.Cr., "Sometimes"
Second Place: Richard Carpenter, M.Photog., CPP, "Cowboy Down"
Third Place (Tie): Jerry Ghionis, "Wayne and Natalia"
Third Place (Tie): Mario Muñoz, M.Photog., "Kori and Patrick"

You can view a gallery of all the award winners on the Imaging USA Facebook page.

Join Imaging USA for a night of partying in the Big Easy with a rockin' band: 50 Amp Fuse! They'll help you dance the night away at our Canon-sponsored Big.Bayou.Bash. party, starting at 8:00pm on January 15. Can't come to Imaging USA for the whole time? Single day passes (which include the parties like the Big. Bayou. Bash.) are still available at ImagingUSA.org...and on-site!

Check out a video of 50 Amp Fuse below.

Join the Houston Guild, December 4-5, 2011, for networking, trade show deals and education from speakers like Doug Box, Kirk Voclain, John Woodward, Richard Sturdevant & Doug Gordon! There's even a CPP Certification Exam held on December 3, for those candidates aiming for certification. Learn more at www.ppgh.org.

Have you purchased new equipment in 2011 (or will you)? If so, don't forget to take advantage of IRS Section 179! It's the deduction that allows you to expense almost any type of new equipment (including software) that you use in your business, as long as it is placed in service by December 31, 2011. This means that the entire cost of the qualifying equipment will be deducted from your current 2011 taxable income.

There's still time for you to fulfill your holiday wish list of new equipment (and put it in use) to qualify for this deduction. Plus, if you're a PPA member, PPA Affinity Partner United Funding can help you get such equipment with very little out-of-pocket cash, thanks to their leases and loans. PPA members even get a 2% rebate of the cost of equipment with United Funding! (And since United Funding doesn't report to the credit bureaus, your credit scores or ratios will not be adversely affected.)

Here is an example* of the money that you can save by taking advantage of Section 179:

• Equipment cost:  $10,000.00
• Approximate Monthly payment (48 Months): $300.00
• Tax Savings (assuming 25% marginal tax rate): $2,500.00

Learn more about this member benefit--getting started is as easy as completing the online credit application.

*Keep in mind that this example is only intended to explain the tax benefits under this provision. It is advised to consult with your tax professional to determine the accuracy of the calculations and whether or not your purchases would qualify.

Russell and Paula Jensen of South Dakota and Babe and Arlene Sarver of Arizona have a few things in common. They own photography studios, are PPA members, believe in the power of the PPA Benchmark Survey resources...and are the 2011 PPA Benchmark Survey's grand prize winners of the all-inclusive trips for two to Imaging USA!

The Benchmark Survey Pays Off
Both the Sarvers and Jensens have used the previous Benchmark Survey resources to help their businesses, and this all-inclusive trip is an added bonus.

For example, the Jensens used the Benchmark resources to build their studio's budget. "These are essential tools for photographers who actually want to make a living doing photography!" says Paula. "They help studios understand how much money should be coming back to the photographer and where they should be budgeting."

"Rather than plan in a vacuum, the Benchmark resources enabled us to compare our status to other PPA home studios. And for the first time, it was easy to identify our strong and weak areas," add the Sarvers, who used the Benchmark as a blueprint for their planning process. "It showed us where we were out of range from the norm and gave guidelines for improvement."

Heading to Imaging USA
The trip the Sarvers and Jensens won will help them continue to push their art and businesses forward--that's one of the purposes of Imaging USA!

"Imaging USA lets us see what is working for other studios and marketplaces and then decide how to implement the best aspects into our own business," says Paula. For example, she's looking forward to the "Business Breakthroughs" pre-convention class, and Russell is eager to "get the nation's pulse in photography" (along with seeing his first Loan Collection image displayed in the International Photographic Exhibit)!

And the Sarvers are doubly excited for Imaging USA. "After attending our first Imaging USA, we decided it was the conference not to be missed," they say. But it wasn't looking like a viable option this coming year...until they won the all-inclusive trip! Now they are looking forward to "taking back to our studio those important elements that will set us apart," from artistic and technical elements to business know-how.

Grab that business know-how yourself--join these winners at Imaging USA and check out these Benchmark resources.

Make your plans to attend Imaging USA before December 1, and you'll save $50 on buddy pass registration for you and one or two friends. After December 1, all buddy pass prices will increase by $50. So, register early and bring a little extra cash for the goodies on the Imaging EXPO floor!

There's a reason why Mom often doesn't appear in the family photo album: She's usually the one taking the pictures. Tamron USA, Inc., leverages the unique photographic perspective of this dynamic demographic with the debut of its Mom-to-Mom Project, a series of photo exhibits that feature technical tips and artistic inspiration from image-making moms. The exhibits, which focus on a new theme each month, are designed to encourage other moms to experiment with their cameras, lenses, and accessories to hone their own photographic skills.

Moms take significantly more photos than the general population and exhibit unique photography preferences and behaviors, according to InfoTrends' "Spotlight on Moms" series. Participants on Tamron's Mom-to-Mom panel share their own personal approaches and tips to the craft by photographing a family-centered "assignment" with select Tamron lenses, including the Tamron 18-270mm Di II VC PZD 15X lens, SP 70-300mm Di VC USD lens, SP 90mm F/2.8 Di macro lens, and SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II lens. Panel photographers upload their images, as well as behind-the-scenes commentary and techniques, to the Mom-to-Mom portal, located on Tamron's MyPhotoExhibits (MPE) site. The Mom-To-Mom exhibits are accessible from the MPE home page under featured exhibits. Tamron USA updates its Facebook page when each new themed exhibit goes live.

Visitors are encouraged to contribute their own photography comments and concepts. "We designed the Mom-to-Mom exhibits to serve as a fun, interactive venue where moms brainstorm with and glean ideas from other mom photographers to boost their confidence when creating their own family memories," says Tamron Chief Marketing Officer Stacie Errera.

The inaugural exhibit for November 2011 features the photographers' favorite way to get their kids to smile. Upcoming themes scheduled through the end of 2012 include holiday card photos, youth sports, multigenerational portraits, and special event photography such as birthdays and back-to-school imagery.