THE JOURNEY

Quiet moment

Between jobs today, I got to enjoy this quiet moment on the heath in the south of Holland. Beautiful, peaceful, quiet.

Captain Sophie

Took the watertaxi across the river today. Always a fun thing to do. The guy asked Sophie if she wanted to drive the boat. Maybe because he didn't want us to cuddle up on his back-seat? I don't know. But she looked and handled the boat like a Pro!

Business is too slow!

For the past three weeks my business has been too slow. Is it the recession? The start of summer? Do I need to do yet more marketing? Whatever the case, my phone is not ringing much. This is starting to get difficult...

I sent out a newsletter with some of my better images on Friday and comments some of my clients made (Dutch). Click here to have a look.

Also interesing: did you know I maintain another blog - all about photography? It's in Dutch, but it consists mostly of images. Click here to have a look.

If anybody is looking a photographer, let me know...

How do you do 'spiritual'?

Did a great photoshoot last Friday. Just too much fun. One of my clients, an event-organizer, is launching a new concept into the club-scene and needed a photographer. My job: to photograph 9 beautiful young people in various poses for a poster. So I took my strobes (flash-equipment) and set up a small studio on the top-floor of an office building.

The shoot was just a lot of fun. I instructed them and they responded really well. The theme of the poster was 'City Madness' so I got them to act out various parts: "ok, now everybody act like you a rock musicians... Very good (click, click), OK, now everybody act like you are scared (click, click)..." We went through various poses and they all had a keen instinct for what pose to adopt.

Which is when I said: "OK, now everyone act like you are spiritual...'

You should have seen the look on their faces. 'Spiritual'? How do you do that? What is that? I tried: "well, act like you're a monk... or a Hindu, or a Buddhist, or practice Yoga...' Still, blank stares. It was like I was speaking a language they didn't understand. They had no vocabulary for it.

I ended up posing them individually one by one. The picture above was the final result (Click on the image for a larger view). All things considered I'm pretty happy with the result!

[See the final poster here - and see more pictures from the shoot on my Flickr-page.]

Seducing Google – can it be done?

In two recent posts (here and here) I talked about the re-design of my business website (see Studio Rogier Bos). I mentioned two reasons: 1. I wanted to better present my photographic services (see here), and 2. I wanted to integrate my business-self and my ministry-self more (see here).

But there is a third reason and it’s probably just as important as the first two: I need Google to find me. When people use the internet to find a photographer, I need Google to lead them straight to me.
Which is not exactly what Google has been doing… If you had gone to Google in December and typed in ‘photographer rotterdam,’ the two search-words I think are most important, you would have found me no sooner than page 12…

So my new site seeks to make everything as easy and attractive for Google as possible: no violation of Google-standards, correct and varied use of meta-tags, page and image-naming, text that matches the search-criteria, a clear sitemap, etc, etc. I have also worked hard at getting my site linked to from other sites: it was one reason why it was important to me to talk about my website on this blog: Google measures the relevance of a site by how many parties link to it. I even changed the title of the article to reflect the search words… I know: I just used this blog to up my Google ratings. It’s sick…
I also signed up for Google Analytics (which allows me to understand rather specifically how people come to my site, what they view, and to what extent it matched their interest) and Google Adwords (my first paid advertizing strategy.)

Not that it made much difference — at least so far. This morning I went to Google and entered ‘photographer’ and ‘Rotterdam’ – and never found myself in the search results.

But I am a patient man (well, not really, but you catch my drift). Back when I designed a new website for XRR we wanted the search words ‘church’ and ‘rotterdam’ to present us on the first page of search results. For six months we were no-where. Then, all of a sudden, we turned up on page 1, as number 1, 2 or 3. That’s when a lot of people started visiting XRR and the church started growing.

So… I’ll just sit here and wait. Of course I will pursue other business strategies also… But if you have a website somewhere and can include a link to www.rogierbos.com that would be great!

PS. 1: If you google for 'fotograaf' and 'Rotterdam' you will now find me on page 4. Not satisfactory yet, but better. If you google for 'evenement' (event), 'fotograaf' and 'Rotterdam') you will find me on page 1, number 1!

PS. 2: I am paying for this Adwords campaign, and Google says it is displaying them - but I never see them! Drop me a line if see one...

PS.3 I just found my ad and my Google link on page 5... Together... that's discouraging...

A photographer in Rotterdam renews his website...

 
 

Wow; it’s been three weeks since I posted! Guess which New Year’s resolution turned out to be unrealistic!

But there’s good reason: I’ve been working hard on a new website for Studio Rogier Bos. Have a look: it’s up and running!

Tentmakers?
In case you don’t know, Sophie and I work for Christian Associates — and we have our own work/business. You could call us ‘tentmakers’; like the apostle Paul who made tents to provide for his own needs, we provide for most of our own income through different endeavors, while we also do various things for ministry and church. Sophie works in a restaurant, and I have a business called Studio Rogier Bos. Together this provides for roughly 80% of our family-income. The other 20% comes through the generosity of friends and churches who support us financially.

Just what is Studio Rogier Bos?
Basically I have been working free-lance as a photographer and designer since 1998. Back then the internet-bubble was still growing and I developed websites. In the last two years I have offered four services: photography, web-development, graphic and print design, and video (everything from recording to editing to broadcast).

I enjoy all four of these media, but more and more I like photography the best. That’s where my real passion is: light, colours, contrast, composition, technology, timing… it all fascinates me. In the last two years I have invested a lot of time and energy in skill-development and equipment.

Five different kinds of photography
My new website demonstrates this development. Rather than just offering ‘photography’ as a service I now offer five distinct types of photography to potential clients — and I believe I have a portfolio that shows I can deliver. They are:

• Event photography: everything from conferences to concerts and from political conventions to parties.

• Wedding and bridal photography: I would love record your day in a beautiful album and can offer you lots of creative ideas that will make your wedding unique!

• Portraits and model-photography: I have invested in a mobile studio that allows me to photograph you in your setting with superb light and shadows. I can also create large high quality prints.

• Additionally I offer product photography
  
  
• Lastly, I photograph architecture. You might think photographing a building is easy (‘it doesn’t move’); but good architectural photography is surprisingly challenging and requires special skill and technology – which I can now offer.

So — have a look and tell me what you think! And yes, I am open (and hoping) for business!

Creating a distorted view of beauty...

Just came across this amazing video on the Pixsylated blog (a photographer's blog I visit sometimes). It shows the amazing process we go through to create a gorgeous woman out of an ordinary girl. Video is 1 minute, 15 seconds.

My thoughts as I see this in sequence:

1. Slow the video down, so I can see how they take the pictures and use photoshop: I want to be able to do that!
2. No, wait - that is sick! We admire, and aspire to, a standard of beauty that can only created in such an elaborate and artificial way.
3. Huh - this is a video by Dove? Isn't that one of the very companies that destroys women's self-image through advertizing like this...?

What do you see and think?

Pictures of Connect 08

I have uploaded 208 of the best photo's of the CONNECT 08 conference to my Flickr-account. You can see them here. Leave a comment if you like them!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rogierbos/sets/72157606565873203/

A photographers prayer

I closed yesterday's message with a prayer I had written the day before. I thought I'd include it here.

A PHOTOGRAPHERS PRAYER

In a world wrapped in darkness
Where people yearn for sight
Where good and evil fight
You are the light

You are the light of the world
The light that makes everything shine
The light that enhances and warms and then treasures
And even makes the mundane look divine

Thank you for creation and beauty
Thank you for gifts and passion and skills
Thank you for nature and people and pleasure
Thank you for dance and mountains and hills

Flow through me with your spirit
Help me see the beauty you see
Help me capture in one instant moment
Your goodness, God, let my image reveal.

May my image build up and not tear down
Enhance and not detract
Encourage and strengthen, feed and enrich
Challenge, inspire, impact.

For there is a battle from which we cannot retire
Between all that is good – and hell and its fire
To create images that move you to fight
To give yourself, to that I aspire

I want to take pictures that point out the nature of evil
I want to take photos that point out the horrors of war
I want to give hope and move people to action
For goodness, redemption of the broken and poor

May I as your image reflect your glory
May your kindness shine through my my face
May I take pictures that tell your story
As I walk in your light and your grace.

Two photo reports

Sometimes I don't know what to write about... I spent last weekend in London with a couple of CA folk talking about how CA can plant more churches faster. I had the Saturday afternoon to myself. I love the city of London, and so I went out with my 30mm lens and gave myself an assigment. You can see the results here.

Yesterday I went to a concert of the Alternative Rock Band Sunburn. Shot some great pictures. More on my photoblog.