Special pricing is still in effect for new members at The WPO. You can get a lifetime membership for only $67 if you take advantage of the offer prior to April 15, 2010. This will be the last day of the special offer.
Effective April 16, 2010 The World Photographer Organization is going to add additional member benefits and return the cost of a lifetime membership to $197. By the end of this year I expect the lifetime membership fee to be set at $250.
The focus of The WPO is shifting in two directions. Our pro members will spend more time offering advice on proven ways to increase income made through photography. We will also add an educational element to the site that is not presently available.
Members will have access to free, online, mini-workshops/courses that are not presently offered. They will also be offered deep discounts on full-blown workshops and courses that are now in development.
This may seem expensive to non professionals. The economy is bad. Yet, if you do a comparative analysis of other photography organizations and associations you will find that most of them charge more for an annual membership than what The WPO will be offering lifetime memberships for after 4-15-10.
Times are tough. Money is hard to come by and difficult to part with. But, if you look at it as an investment in your future, a probable tax deduction, and a direct connections to well-established, seasoned professionals for help, I don't see how you can beat the deal.
The goal of The World Photographers Organization is not to make a million dollars. As the founder, my mission for the organization is to provide a portal to professional photography for average photographers. Whether you want to do some pet photography now and then or shoot weddings on weekends for thousands of dollars, The WPO can help you a great deal.
Thank you all.
R. Dodge Woodson
Founder
World Photographers Organization
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Certificates of authenticity
Certificates of authenticity (COA) are routinely offered by photographers and artists who are selling their work. What should you look for?
Here is the fact: Most legitimate fine art professionals create their own COAs. This may not seem as safe as some other types of COAs, but don't be fooled.
Look on your favorite search engine and you will find a host of suppliers of so-called COAs. Some of them sell COA templates for around $30. Anyone can use them. More complex offerings get you a fancy sticker at about $30 each to put on work to be sold.
Then there are companies who pay people to witness the signing of a COA to confirm its authenticity. These are pretty safe, but they add a great deal to the cost of a print. And remember this, they are paying a witness. Anyone can do that.
New artists have the most trouble proofing their legitimacy. They often join fine art associations or organizations to help boost their sales. This can be good for everyone, but it still limits your proof of security.
In most cases, you have to trust your artist. Since most people can't find a reliable plumber, how are you to find a reputable artist who's work has collectible value?
Do an Internet search of any author you are considering. New artist may not be easily found, and that is a problem for them. There are some good bargains to be made for collectors and investors who choose to gamble on unknown names.
Established professionals will show up in various search categories. Don't settle for finding them listed only for the site you are considering buying from. If they are good, they will have other listings that they do not control that you can check. Allow me to use myself as an example.
If you run a search on me, R. Dodge Woodson, you will spend a lot of time reading all the entries you find. I am listed as a best-selling author. You can find me listed as an internationally-known photographer. You can look me up at online book stores and find books I have written. You can find interviews I have given to others. Basically, I can't hide from you, nor do I need to.
My listings are extensive and most photographers will not have the diversity or number of listings show up that I do. This is okay. Just make sure they have an established track record. Read their bio on their web page and confirm it. Do your due diligence to protect yourself. The COA that you get is only as good as the paper it is printed on. An artist you choose is only as good as the artist's reputation. No legitimate public figure, such as myself, is going to ruin an outstanding reputation selling counterfeit photo prints.
I assume some people will have other advice for you, but this is the best I can find to give you based on my research and my experience.
R. Dodge Woodson
Here is the fact: Most legitimate fine art professionals create their own COAs. This may not seem as safe as some other types of COAs, but don't be fooled.
Look on your favorite search engine and you will find a host of suppliers of so-called COAs. Some of them sell COA templates for around $30. Anyone can use them. More complex offerings get you a fancy sticker at about $30 each to put on work to be sold.
Then there are companies who pay people to witness the signing of a COA to confirm its authenticity. These are pretty safe, but they add a great deal to the cost of a print. And remember this, they are paying a witness. Anyone can do that.
New artists have the most trouble proofing their legitimacy. They often join fine art associations or organizations to help boost their sales. This can be good for everyone, but it still limits your proof of security.
In most cases, you have to trust your artist. Since most people can't find a reliable plumber, how are you to find a reputable artist who's work has collectible value?
Do an Internet search of any author you are considering. New artist may not be easily found, and that is a problem for them. There are some good bargains to be made for collectors and investors who choose to gamble on unknown names.
Established professionals will show up in various search categories. Don't settle for finding them listed only for the site you are considering buying from. If they are good, they will have other listings that they do not control that you can check. Allow me to use myself as an example.
If you run a search on me, R. Dodge Woodson, you will spend a lot of time reading all the entries you find. I am listed as a best-selling author. You can find me listed as an internationally-known photographer. You can look me up at online book stores and find books I have written. You can find interviews I have given to others. Basically, I can't hide from you, nor do I need to.
My listings are extensive and most photographers will not have the diversity or number of listings show up that I do. This is okay. Just make sure they have an established track record. Read their bio on their web page and confirm it. Do your due diligence to protect yourself. The COA that you get is only as good as the paper it is printed on. An artist you choose is only as good as the artist's reputation. No legitimate public figure, such as myself, is going to ruin an outstanding reputation selling counterfeit photo prints.
I assume some people will have other advice for you, but this is the best I can find to give you based on my research and my experience.
R. Dodge Woodson
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The focus of World Photographers Organization
I can't be everything to everyone. For example, I seem to suck big time at I-Net marketing. Give me direct mail and classified and space ads from the 80's and 90's and I can make them sing. Not so in the case of the Web. Guess I am too old, too stupid, too ignorant, or just too damned set in my ways. But so be it.
I am a pretty fair photographer and writer. As a business owner, I have been self-employed since 1979. In my heyday in VA, I had in excess of 120 employees and subcontractors building 60 houses a year, being a land developer, running a plumbing and remodeling business, and running a property maintenance business.
This has NOTHING to do with photography, but it does show that I am a survivor and often someone who thrives on insight. I have written over 100 books for major publishers and dozens upon dozens of magazine articles. I am a talk-show guest on radio stations in the US and Canada. My photography has appeared in a multitude of places with great reception. I have also been an expert witness and a designated real estate broker and brokerage owner. During all of this, I have always kept my photography work alive.
I didn't want to sell my photography soul. Selling out as a writer didn't bother me, but my photography was my lifelong passion and I would not whore it out for money. YET, I do know how to do it and make it happen.
After a lot of time in the woods thinking, I have come to a decision. WPO is my baby and will be so until I can't maintain it. Frankly, I greatly underestimated the commitment of photographers today when I embarked on WPO.
I know what I am about to say will upset some people, but I am me and I say what I mean and I mean what I say and if someone doesn't like it, they found their way in, they can find their way out!
I grew up during a time when photography was very different from what it is today. Of course we did the dodge and burn stuff and some photographers played with air brushes. For me personally, I shot on KodaChrome 64 slide film. It could not be developed in my own darkroom. I either got the shot or I didn't. Magazines and ad agencies insisted on KodaChrome 64 or 25, or a suitable equal.
My point is this, that is when photographers were photographers and not digital camera operators who manipulate their images on a computer. Ask the old Grey Beards, they will tell you what real photography was.
When it comes to making money with photos, the fundamentals have not changed a great deal. People still get married. Babies are born, and fashion changes. Sure, now we have headshots for dating services online, but that's okay.
Here is my bottom line. I am GOING TO BE ME! I may piss some people off. It is not my intent, but I am going to call the shots as I see them.
I have spent a great deal of time researching potential WPO competition. I won't go into a blow-by-blow breakdown here. What I will say is as follows:
I intend for WPO to be open to all serious photographers, regardless of their skill levels or their equipment.
I am going to focus WPO on making photos worth money. If you don't want to sell them, that is up to you.
I am going to show people how to make a few hundred to even a few thousand dollars a month part-time with their camera, with minimal advertising, and without quitting their day job.
WPO is not reserved for Pros, but I and the other pros at WPO who are close to me, and there are many and there are some real name bangers in the group, will take any serious photographer from baby steps to professional-quality photos.
This site, the Press Room, will be predominately for WPO members and guests for up to 30 days.
This was the direction I had envisioned for WPO to start with. Marketing gurus swayed me due to my lack of experience on the Net. Screw it, I am doing it my way.
We may be a small group of only a few hundred photographers, but we will be a powerful resource to each other.
So much for my time on the soapbox.
Dodge
I am a pretty fair photographer and writer. As a business owner, I have been self-employed since 1979. In my heyday in VA, I had in excess of 120 employees and subcontractors building 60 houses a year, being a land developer, running a plumbing and remodeling business, and running a property maintenance business.
This has NOTHING to do with photography, but it does show that I am a survivor and often someone who thrives on insight. I have written over 100 books for major publishers and dozens upon dozens of magazine articles. I am a talk-show guest on radio stations in the US and Canada. My photography has appeared in a multitude of places with great reception. I have also been an expert witness and a designated real estate broker and brokerage owner. During all of this, I have always kept my photography work alive.
I didn't want to sell my photography soul. Selling out as a writer didn't bother me, but my photography was my lifelong passion and I would not whore it out for money. YET, I do know how to do it and make it happen.
After a lot of time in the woods thinking, I have come to a decision. WPO is my baby and will be so until I can't maintain it. Frankly, I greatly underestimated the commitment of photographers today when I embarked on WPO.
I know what I am about to say will upset some people, but I am me and I say what I mean and I mean what I say and if someone doesn't like it, they found their way in, they can find their way out!
I grew up during a time when photography was very different from what it is today. Of course we did the dodge and burn stuff and some photographers played with air brushes. For me personally, I shot on KodaChrome 64 slide film. It could not be developed in my own darkroom. I either got the shot or I didn't. Magazines and ad agencies insisted on KodaChrome 64 or 25, or a suitable equal.
My point is this, that is when photographers were photographers and not digital camera operators who manipulate their images on a computer. Ask the old Grey Beards, they will tell you what real photography was.
When it comes to making money with photos, the fundamentals have not changed a great deal. People still get married. Babies are born, and fashion changes. Sure, now we have headshots for dating services online, but that's okay.
Here is my bottom line. I am GOING TO BE ME! I may piss some people off. It is not my intent, but I am going to call the shots as I see them.
I have spent a great deal of time researching potential WPO competition. I won't go into a blow-by-blow breakdown here. What I will say is as follows:
I intend for WPO to be open to all serious photographers, regardless of their skill levels or their equipment.
I am going to focus WPO on making photos worth money. If you don't want to sell them, that is up to you.
I am going to show people how to make a few hundred to even a few thousand dollars a month part-time with their camera, with minimal advertising, and without quitting their day job.
WPO is not reserved for Pros, but I and the other pros at WPO who are close to me, and there are many and there are some real name bangers in the group, will take any serious photographer from baby steps to professional-quality photos.
This site, the Press Room, will be predominately for WPO members and guests for up to 30 days.
This was the direction I had envisioned for WPO to start with. Marketing gurus swayed me due to my lack of experience on the Net. Screw it, I am doing it my way.
We may be a small group of only a few hundred photographers, but we will be a powerful resource to each other.
So much for my time on the soapbox.
Dodge
Friday, March 5, 2010
Please take note of a needed public correction from R. Dodge Woodson and the World Photographers Organization pertaining to Ms. Margo Pinkerton.
Please take note of a needed public correction from R. Dodge Woodson and the World Photographers Organization pertaining to Ms. Margo Pinkerton.
During a recent posting for photographers who might be interested in contributing their work to World Images Today a clash occurred.
Before explaining further, I want to go on the record with the following statement:
I have researched Ms. Pinkerton’s professional standing and work. Without a doubt, she is a very accomplished individual who deserves full respect. Respect that I did not give her when I should have. I sincerely wish I had contacted Ms. Pinkerton directly to discuss our differences, but I did not. This is a very rare action from me, and I want to go on the record as saying that from everything I have seen pertaining to Ms. Pinkerton, she is a strong role model and an accomplished professional within the field of photography.
Now, back to the disagreement that resulted in unfortunate results.
I was reading a post placed by Margo Pinkerton, the President of ASMP, North Carolina.
In her post, Ms. Pinkerton made a comment pertaining to a previous statement that I had made to someone else in a post as being false. I took great offense at this and responded in a disrespectful manner.
A post showing directly in line with Ms. Pinkerton’s post was derogatory to the World Photographers Organization (WPO). It contained a particular word from a poster who WAS NOT Ms. Pinkerton.
Since this event occurred. Ms. Pinkerton and I have exchanged emails in a polite, professional manner.
Ms. Pinkerton’s comments were what I would consider a common reaction. However, I have been personally involved in situations that would prove out my words in a post that Ms. Pinkerton was responding to. Simply put, I overreacted.
In haste, I responded publicly when I should have attempted to contact the posters individually. I did not do this, and I do regret any trouble that my words may have caused Ms. Pinkerton. Her comment pertaining to me and what I had said in an earlier post was a fair statement, it just didn’t happen to be consistent with actual events that I have been personally involved in.
When I wrote a WPO blog heading I used a word that Ms. Pinkerton did not use. I then pasted in Ms. Pinkerton’s words as they had been copied only from her post. I was responding to a post that said what it said and that I took personal offense to.
I want to stress that Ms. Pinkerton NEVER used the word in her post that I used in my heading.
Margo, please accept my apology for acting too quickly with public words when this encounter would have been much better settled with personal communication.
R. Dodge Woodson
World Photographers Organization
During a recent posting for photographers who might be interested in contributing their work to World Images Today a clash occurred.
Before explaining further, I want to go on the record with the following statement:
I have researched Ms. Pinkerton’s professional standing and work. Without a doubt, she is a very accomplished individual who deserves full respect. Respect that I did not give her when I should have. I sincerely wish I had contacted Ms. Pinkerton directly to discuss our differences, but I did not. This is a very rare action from me, and I want to go on the record as saying that from everything I have seen pertaining to Ms. Pinkerton, she is a strong role model and an accomplished professional within the field of photography.
Now, back to the disagreement that resulted in unfortunate results.
I was reading a post placed by Margo Pinkerton, the President of ASMP, North Carolina.
In her post, Ms. Pinkerton made a comment pertaining to a previous statement that I had made to someone else in a post as being false. I took great offense at this and responded in a disrespectful manner.
A post showing directly in line with Ms. Pinkerton’s post was derogatory to the World Photographers Organization (WPO). It contained a particular word from a poster who WAS NOT Ms. Pinkerton.
Since this event occurred. Ms. Pinkerton and I have exchanged emails in a polite, professional manner.
Ms. Pinkerton’s comments were what I would consider a common reaction. However, I have been personally involved in situations that would prove out my words in a post that Ms. Pinkerton was responding to. Simply put, I overreacted.
In haste, I responded publicly when I should have attempted to contact the posters individually. I did not do this, and I do regret any trouble that my words may have caused Ms. Pinkerton. Her comment pertaining to me and what I had said in an earlier post was a fair statement, it just didn’t happen to be consistent with actual events that I have been personally involved in.
When I wrote a WPO blog heading I used a word that Ms. Pinkerton did not use. I then pasted in Ms. Pinkerton’s words as they had been copied only from her post. I was responding to a post that said what it said and that I took personal offense to.
I want to stress that Ms. Pinkerton NEVER used the word in her post that I used in my heading.
Margo, please accept my apology for acting too quickly with public words when this encounter would have been much better settled with personal communication.
R. Dodge Woodson
World Photographers Organization
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