My friend Leslie Burns is awesome. I should qualify that. She’s dedicated a significant amount of time to promoting the cause of commercial photographers and commercial photography. More than she would like me to reveal. In short, she knows the industry blind-folded and backwards.

These days Leslie is a lawyer based out of California who specializes in intellectual property law. One of the biggest problems facing creatives these days is a lack of lay-persons understanding of the likes of copyright law. Leslie has what I believe is a worthy goal of changing this. Please visit her Kickstarter project page linked below, watch her video, and pledge your support.

Plain English Legal Handbook for Photographers

My my.  Isn’t this the start of a slippery slope?

I read in the BBC yesterday, that the Advertising Standards Authority has deemed that airbrushing of ads produced by cosmetics company, L’Oreal has gone too far, and that there is some kind of moral issue with misleading the public for ‘body image’ reasons.

“Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson complained that the L’Oreal adverts were ‘not representative of the results the products could achieve’.”

Is that really the issue, or is this an example of a well intentioned, but misguided notion that we need to protect young girls from idolizing what they can never be?  I’m wandering dangerously into a highly contentious topic with regards to women’s rights, and feminism, so I’d like to point out that I am not a male chauvinist pig, but I’m pretty sure that people will always have self-esteem issues, and have had them long before advertising came along.  It’s in our DNA, as animals, to want to look nice.  It’s also in our DNA to be envious of those who look better.

Where do we draw the line?  Food photographers are pretty much dead in the water right off the bat; I have never eaten a Big Mac that looked like the photo above the head of the person I ordered it from.  Food photography is all about making things look good beyond reality.

Cars?  I haven’t seen mine anything like the photo in the brochure, even the day I bought it.

Let’s step away from advertising.  The house you bought?  Was it dirty or was it immaculately clean in order to appeal?  Let’s step away from any kind of commerce.  The interview you went to; did you shave first or put on lipstick?  Or did you just turn up as if you were going to hang on the couch all day?

My point is that it’s human nature to want to present things in their best light, and I believe that its ridiculous to suggest otherwise, especially for “think of the children” reasons.

And for the record, I do see people who look as gorgeous as those in advertising; they are a reality.  Try going to a big city.

Yes, you heard me correctly, the Summer 2011 David J Peacock Photography print mailer is out the door, and on its way to buyers, directors, agents, and reps across Canada and the United States.

It’s been a crazy time here for us; new clients coming in from various directions, our iOS app, Drimjas, is making great progress and is on track for its summer launch, and we’re loving every minute.

A lot is changing in the commercial photography realm, and the bar is being raised ever higher each day.  I’d like to make a little shout out to some people who have really helped me out, without whom my business would not have gotten into the incredible position it is in today.

First up, there is the talented and awesome Leslie Burns, of Burns Auto Parts.  Leslie has been a tremendous source of advice, encouragement, and friendship this year.  Next up, we have Agency Access, who have the most spectacular customer service (their competitors should learn a thing or two through observation); thanks to Tim Ford and Charles Truelson in particular.  Finally, No Plastic Sleeves is the definitive resource for helping guide us togs on how to present our work.

We’re taking a little break next week, heading off on our respective vacations, but we’ll be back with even more energy and enthusiasm to pick up where we left off.  Of course, if you have any queries or would like to hire us, we’ll never be more than an email or phone call away.

Happy Summer!

David & crew.

Well over a year ago I had one of those eureka moments and found myself rushing to find my pen and paper; I had had an idea for a series of images for a personal creative project. Within a day I was researching options, and within a week I was making phone calls to see what I could put together.

It took me a couple of days just to get hold of the right person. Bouncing from switchboard to switchboard, to voicemail, to voicemail that didn’t let me leave a message, eventually I reached the right guy. Then of course, the timing was off. They didn’t have the capacity to help me out at the time, and by the time they would have, the season wouldn’t work for my plan. So then there was a wait until the following spring, followed by a lot more phone tag that went on for weeks. Eventually, timing was right and schedules allowed the project to go ahead, which it is. This summer. I’m really excited.

What’s the point of this post? My point is that tenacity pays off, and perseverance is the difference between a forever unrealized idea and a fruitful endeavour. In this game, the one who grinds it out the longest is the one who wins in the end.

As the tech person for David J Peacock Photography, I have found myself doing some unglamorous things – but I won’t get into the gory details. Sometimes however, I get to have some fun, and that’s what I’ve found myself doing the past little while as I redesigned and redeployed  www.davidjpeacock.ca using a scalable content management system which now allows us much more freedom in how we use and grow our website.

The new site is redesigned without using Flash, so will now be compatible with just about any device you might feel like checking us out on, and will have the same look and feel no matter where you’re looking at the site. And most importantly, is a great way to show off our bitchin’ images!

Of course, with anything new, there are always some hiccups, and so while we’ve done our best to migrate content and redirect URLs, if you’ve found yourself on the old blog, it is my pleasure to direct you to our new blog site at www.davidjpeacock.ca/blog.

If you’ve been following us using your Google Reader or any other feed reader, now is a great opportunity to update your readers to follow www.davidjpeacock.ca/blog.

And thanks again for keeping with us – you can sign up for our quarterly emailer by going here to subscribe.

One of our favourite people, Justyn Warner, has been busy this winter.

Running in four different indoor meets, he has come in first in three of them, and shows no sign of slowing down as he prepares for the final season before his 2012 Olympic push next summer.

With his early successes this season, we were pleased to see Justyn launch his new website www.justynwarner.com, showcasing his many accomplishments in his already impressive career as a top-ranked Canadian sprinter. He already holds a Canadian Jr. record, and is a three-times Canadian Junior Champion, and is looking to build on that impressive record as this season progresses.

It’s always a pleasure to see our friends doing what they do best, and Justyn is a prime example of that. He was an absolute thrill to shoot (believe me, he can run fast!), and I know that he’s going to continue to take the track and field world by storm as their season ramps up in the spring!

One of the most rewarding experiences in our line of work is to collaborate with passionate people. Justyn and his team are the most passionate of the passionate. It’s an honour just to know him and his team, let alone work along side him.

Go check out Justyn Warner’s website now and support Canadian athletics!

Here at David J Peacock Photography, we’ve partnered with a fantastic Toronto development team to create an iOS App which is going to change the way photographers and other creative professionals run their businesses, and do day-to-day work.

Stay tuned for our brand new App, launching in Summer 2011!

Spring isn’t quite upon us here in Toronto, but it’s approaching fast. Here at 43ºN, 78ºW it is traditionally a time to clean up the house, tidy up the mess left over by the winter, dab paint around the outside of your property that didn’t fare so well, and generally get rid of the accumulated junk you’ve gathered during the months of short days and cold weather.

As a visual artist working in the creative industry, you’ll also want to use this incredibly valuable time to ramp up your marketing. “But marketing is an ongoing event David!” I hear you retort. And you’re right. But at least once a year you want to take a good hard look at your tactics and plan some new initiatives to keep things fresh. Spring, with all the connotations associated with rebirth, cleansing, and working, is a perfect time to take care of business.

Some of you might want to revamp your website, maybe create a new promo package to drop in the mail, or schedule some time with a consultant to go over your branding. Whatever you decide, get on and do it. Procrastination is the #1 killer of a creative. Even if you all you do is finally move over those awesome images to your website portfolio, or print a new book, make sure you do it.

My team and I are right now in the middle of overhauling our entire marketing strategy and are working hard on several projects that will be coming to fruition later in the year. You’ll be hearing about them here as they unfold.

Now get to work!