We’re excited to have a new vendor / guest post from one of our favorite advertisers at Paperie – The Wedding Photographic Society.

Welcome to The Wedding Photographic Society (WPS)

Welcome to The Wedding Photographic Society (WPS)! We’re a network of professional wedding & portrait photographers who come together to collaborate on photographic ideas, thoughts, and information in an attempt to elevate the artistic, technical, and business standards of the wedding photographic community. Membership in the WPS offers many professional & personal growth opportunities via bi-monthly educational meetings, networking, critiques, and general camaraderie during such gatherings. WPS meetings, forums, blog submissions, & web pages are open to any and all professional wedding photographers throughout the world.

The WPS’s origins date back to 2005, when Raleigh, NC wedding photographer Christobal Perez organized quarterly photography meetings in an effort to help build relationships, share knowledge amongst peers, and help create a competitive, yet supportive photographic community. The spirit of Christobal’s movement has grown exponentially since that time and has since evolved into the WPS (which became official in 2009) with the further support of other local photographers, Martha Manning, Stacy Borelli, & Brian Mullins. Leaders & members of the WPS donate their time to organize topic discussions with guest speakers, collaborate on ideas and offer guidance, all without compensation.

Membership
To join the WPS, you need to meet the following minimum criteria:

- Actively pursuing business as a professional wedding and/or portrait photographer (or aspiring to be a professional wedding and/or portrait photographer).

- A professional photography website showing your current work.

- Willingness to share your knowledge with others (we don’t ask for state secrets but a general willingness to be open and help others when possible).

There are two levels of membership in the WPS; aspiring and professional.

Aspiring
An aspiring member is someone who is not yet a professional photographer but looking to gain knowledge in photography, learn about proper business practice and grow as a photographer. Typically these are newer photographers in the field of weddings & portraits. Membership grants permissions to attend the monthly meetings and have limited access to the forums. This insures an open environment to ask questions in without fear of hostility.

Professional
A professional member has all the rights of the aspiring member, but has full access to the forums. A professional member will be actively pursuing business and working in the field of professional wedding or portrait photography.

The review process
Each application is personally reviewed by a WPS board member to determine which classification the applicant will be granted. Any photographer granted “aspiring” status can petition, at any time, for “full” or “professional” standing at which time their application will be reviewed again.

Application
To officially become a member of the WPS please first read the FAQ then register here.

Meetings
So as you enter into the WPS, you will undoubtedly see and hear about local meetings with some really cool topics and opportunities to network with other photographers in your area. These meetings are the true essence of the WPS and we HIGHLY encourage your attendance. If you don’t have local meetings in your area, then contact us at admin@weddingphotographicsociety.com to aid in assisting in starting a group local to you.

Forums
The WPS forums are our home away from home. As we started our organization based on face to face meetings, we quickly realized we needed a place to compile information such as emergency shooter lists, buying and selling gear, meeting announcements, etc. You can use them to get help with a sticky situation, help resolving a client issue, to vent or just to network. In the WPS, you definitely get out of it what you put into it so contribute whenever possible.

Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the WPS and we look forward to your future contributions to the society.

Stacy Borelli
WPS Executive Board Member
www.TheWPS.com
919.602.1050

Last but not least, in honor of “springing forward”, all new Paperie advertisers will receive a huge discount off the published rates. By request / popular demand, we’ve extended our “spring forward” ad sale through April 15th. What the tax man giveth, you can taketh to boost your site traffic and SEO with Paperie Boutique!

2012 is already off to a great start – on the heels of our 2011 Wrap Battle in December, we logged 453,452 unique page views in January and 8.34 million hits as the winners were announced!

“Anybody wanting to advertise really should. I love browsing your ads to find new vendors and resources.” -Kim, momtriedit.net

“I’ve received triple the amount of traffic from your site than any other site I’m advertising on! I’m so pleased with choosing to advertise with you!” -Kathy, boudoirbusinessboutique.com

Sound good? Here’s all you need to do to sign up. Just select your ad-purchase in the pull-down menu ↓ below ↓ , send your payment via PayPal, and voilà!

Standard Ad Rates

125×125 static image – right sidebar – 12 months $125.00 USD 185×185 static image – right sidebar – 12 months $150.00 USD 125×250 static image – right sidebar – 12 months $200.00 USD 185×370 static image – right sidebar – 12 months $225.00 USD 125×125 rotating image – left sidebar – 12 months $75.00 USD

Once payment has been made, write todd AT paperieboutique DOT com and include a copy of your receipt and attach an image for the ad-size purchased.

If you are interested in being a sponsor + advertiser, please e-mail todd AT paperieboutique DOT com for the additional discounted rate. And if you are a current vendor who would like to renew, please contact Todd for that as well – we are currently offering 15% off renewals!

We look forward to having you join the Paperie family!

I’d like to share a group I recently “faved” on Facebook – the Professional Photographers for Baby Safety:

“We (as a concerned creative collective) have started watermarking/stamping composite images with a ‘seal’ of sorts as a ‘best practice’.

This seal lets everyone know that the image is two different photos edited together to create magic.

Both photographers and parents alike will see it and instantly know when an image is a composite without reading (nobody reads the fine print anyway). And will be educated that these are composites and photographers who offer/attempt the poses without compositing are working outside the generally accepted safety norms.”

Congrats to Dana and thanks to everyone who entered! Stay tuned this week for more fun!

-Robyn & Todd

P.S. Check out just-completed Panache Collective packaging sets on Facebook!

The digital edition of the October 2011 Professional Photographer Magazine is now online for digital subscribers.

For this month’s article I reviewed wedding and engagement photography-related items by Design Aglow, Moo, H&H Color Lab, Simply Color Lab, Rentglass, White House Custom Color, ACI, Sassy Designs / Miller’s Professional Imaging, and Smilebooth.

Click the magazine pages above for a larger .pdf version. You can find the article on page 50, page 52, and page 54 of the print-version when it hits mailboxes. And you can also download the digital edition now if you’re a PPA member or digital subscriber.




It’s no big secret that we both bleed Crimson and Cream, so we created a bit of fun with the Red River Rivalry as the theme…

Shown above are the Jill-e Classic Collection Medium Bone & Red Leather Camera Bag and the Kelly Moore Libby Bag in Orange.

By the way, in the battle on the field, OU was victorious 55-17. Just in case you missed it..




We are currently running a fall special with ad rates up to half-off (or more) — and we’d love to have YOU join us!

Check the right sidebars and you’ll see a new set of ads from one of our favorite advertisers Loktah! Loktah believes eco-friendly packaging doesn’t have to be ugly – it can actually be a stunning work of art!

Don’t miss this chance to connect with our readers! The Paperie new advertisers sale ends October 15th.




This weekend there’s a special Paperie giveaway on the Chic Critique Forum!

“The Chic Critique Forum is focused on providing candid critique for photographers. Whether you are an amateur or a seasoned photographer, Chic Critique Forum is the place to be when you are ready to step it up.” Go here to start your FREE 30-day membership trial!




Don’t forget we have a giveaway going right now for two Swanky Stitch prize packs – contest ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT Sunday night.

“The eyes of Texas have been blackened“. -OU/tx 2000 Broadcast
Boomer Sooner!
Robyn & Todd

And now for our third giveaway in the birthday celebration, we have a “new member” prize pack from ClickinMoms.com for one lucky Paperie reader!

This prize pack (NEW MEMBERS ONLY) includes a CM iPhone case, Inspire: CM’s book, a camera keychain, CM Tumbler and a 1-year membership.

So how do you win? Simple! Make sure you’ll be a new member, then go to your Facebook and Twitter accounts and post the following (then tell us where you did):

Get a @ClickinMoms / ClickinMoms.com membership pack at @PaperieBoutique / PaperieBoutique.com – win it now from http://PaperieBirthday.com

Each entry requires its own separate comment here. (In simple terms: If you want TWO chances to win, you have to do both things listed above, and then make two separate comments here telling us how you did them.)

Comment that you have posted to your Twitter or Facebook account(s) – with a link to where you did it – in separate comments here to have multiple chances to win!

ATTENTION: All links you post must direct to public-access accounts. We cannot verify links on private, friends & family only, or passworded accounts and they will not be eligible to win this item. If we have to subscribe to your feed, a website, or forum – or request permission to see them – your entry will automatically be disqualified.

Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, July 22nd. You can enter up to two times total. Post that you have met both requirements in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

You can enter / post up to two times total – one entry each for both the options listed above. (PLEASE NOTE: Comments are held for moderation and may not appear immediately. Please be patient! They will show up eventually.)

You have two chances to win, but only one chance PER OPTION – please do not post the same link multiple times. Duplicate links will be removed. Each entry requires its own separate comment to have multiple chances to win!

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the winner will be contacted within 48-72 hours of the winner-announcement to claim their prize.

Good luck!

Thanks to ClickinMoms.com – visit them on Facebook!




Don’t forget several of our merchants are offering discounts and coupon codes to all Paperie readers this week! I just updated the list again so check and see if your favorite vendor is there yet.

Click over here and see what you missed. A special sale, and a teaser of the great giveaways ahead this week, were posted over the weekend!

There’s a limited-time offer for advertisers / vendors this week, too. Over half-off some ad rates for new advertisers. Check it out!

I’ll be updating again later today – drop by often!
-Robyn

P.S. Vendors, if you are interested in being a part of the birthday celebration, e-mail me at “robyn AT paperieboutique DOT com” ASAP!

The Internet is full of photography-related forums now, both free and paid, private and public, new and old. Sometimes it gets pretty overwhelming to figure out what to choose—not only from the sheer volume of groups out there, but also deciding which ones will benefit your business and be the best investment of your time. On the 17th of last month, I gave one recommendation. Now I’m proud to feature the only other paid-forum that I’m a member of – Pinkle Toes 4 Photographers (PT4P). I have been a member of PT4P since day one of v1, and immediately renewed my membership for v2 and v3. I’ve always found it more than worth the expense for the member forum alone—nevermind the business and marketing materials, templates, card designs, website expansion tools, etc. So it is with great excitement that I introduce Michele, a.k.a. Pinkletoes, to explain more.

Spring your photography business into action with Pinkle Toes 4 Photographers! Now in its third year, PT4P is the original ever-evolving, all-in-one design, marketing, and resource center for photographers. Whether you’re just starting out or even if you’ve been in the business for years, PT4P has materials to help save you time and money and keep your business fresh and moving forward. New materials are released quarterly, but here is just a small sample of the kinds of templates created just for PT4P members:

Be sure to check out ALL of the offerings in PT4P including webinars (topics chosen by the members), album and framing actions, contract and brochure templates, and so much more.

Special Limited Time Offer: Purchase your v3 membership by March 7th and mention “Paperie Boutique” in your payment message and you’ll receive a bonus Senior Save the Date postcard template.

Thank you so much for doing a guest post, Michele! I look forward to seeing some of you at PT4P soon!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).

Another post…another guest post / give-away! This time it’s five free forum memberships for a new online forum by Heather James Photography. Read on for more details…

I’m so excited to be back on PB, this time as a vendor! When I started my photography business one of the places I looked to was forums to meet other photographers and brainstorm new ideas & concepts. As my time on these forums progressed I found something that I felt was holding me back from sharing unrestricted on the forums – competition lurking around every corner. It seemed like wherever I went, one of my local competitors was also there. Although I’m very friendly with many other photogs in my area, I didn’t want to share every detail of my marketing and promotional campaign with them. That’s where the concept of developing the Phreedom community took its shape.

The Phreedom Forum is a community of photographers reaching up to 170 cities/regions of the country all with 1 common goal: to share freely with others from around the country so we can share success in our businesses together! We take out the competitive nature of most forums by only allowing 1 member from each city/region to join. We also ensure that each city/region of the forum is at least 1 hour in driving distance from one another as well. By taking out the competition, every member can feel comfortable and confident in asking questions and sharing the strategies that have worked for their business.

For 2010, our annual membership is $30 which includes unlimited access to the Phreedom Forum. We’ll be bringing on partners to share exclusive access to branding & marketing materials & product discounts. We’re even working on building an exclusive webinar series sure to help you build your client base and increase sales.

As a special offer to PB readers, I’ll be offering FREE memberships to the first 5 sign ups. (UPDATE: All five free memberships have now been awarded.)

I’ll be offering a special 25% discount on any other PB signup now through March 1, 2010! Mention Paperie Boutique in the “How did you hear about us” section of the sign up form.

To find out more about the Phreedom community, check out our site at phreedom.heatherjamesphotography.com.

We can’t wait for you to join the face of new forums!
-Heather

Thank you so much for such an amazing offer for the Paperie Boutique readers, Heather! Stay tuned…it’s just getting started around here this week!

If you’re interested in having your own business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured please contact me (my e-mail is in the sidebar and is robyn @ this domain – or you can leave a comment).