April 2016

 TIME TO CLEAN OUT THE OLD AND RESOLVE TO PUT EMPHASIS ON BEING DIFFERENT

Spring is in the air…it's a perfect time to take stock of current conditions and make plans for a brighter and greener future.  Spring is the time to secure new contracts for school photography.  It’s a time to promote fresh new products.  It’s time to put new energy into your business directed at rising above all others.  Plants that push to stand taller get more sun and thrive more.  It the same for people.  Strive to stand taller than others in everything your offer your clients.  Seriously, is there really another choice if you are serious about making money in photography?  
 
Make a plan for the rest of 2016.   4 months are already gone.  Put your plan on paper and then follow it…revising it along the way.  Make time to take a serious look at virtual projected backgrounds, to understand how this remarkable tool can clearly help you to be clearly different.  It can happen.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN INVESTMENT AND AN EXPENSE?

An Investment is the purchase of goods that are not consumed today but used in the future to create wealth.

An Expense is the amount of money needed to pay for, or buy something, that may not generate revenue.

Virtual Backgrounds is a product that can be used to pay for itself and then go on helping to make money long into the future.   Therefore purchasing equipment like Virtual Backgrounds is an investment and not an expense. 
CAN VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS ENHANCE
GREEN SCREEN?
YES, DEFINITELY.  Millions of photographers struggle with the issues inherent with green screen but if a virtual background system is used to project the colors,  the results can be so much better than regular green screen.  Next month we will feature a photographer who mostly uses his virtual projected background system for projecting solid colors and gets great results.
Watch for it.

ARE YOU SICK OF BEING UNDERWATER?

Most photographers complain constantly about their income from photography ever since the digital revolution.  The fact is, your income is indeed still in your hands.  The trick is to concentrate on producing images that amateur's cannot.
Click on the photo for a free download

HOW TO IMPROVE ON REALTY 

THE craze today is to take all photographs on location in the natural environment rather than a stuffy studio.  But, this kind of statement is coming from a naïve person who doesn’t begin to understand today’s technology with the Scene Machine virtual projected background system.  It can make work done in the studio BETTER than work done on location.  How can this be?
 
On location, one is severely limited, not only by the weather, but also by the season, the time of day, and also by distractions.  Plus, even though you may think the location work has unlimited backgrounds and possibilities. The fact is working in the studio opens up an infinite variety of opportunities and one can do a better end product compared with location.

 Working indoors with projected virtual backgrounds, the photographer has perfect lighting, better opportunity to pose, total control over the wind, and of course complete privacy.  You, the photographer, are in total control and you have infinite background variety.
Anything that can be captured and projected can be a background so the photographer is able to create infinitely more variety in a single session.  And the photographer isn’t using precious time going from here to there.  Those who think the studio is stuffy just don’t understand the opportunities virtual backgrounds presents.  
Look at Hollywood…many scenes are created in the studio rather than on location for a wide variety of reasons.
 
The other reason to work in your studio is because amateurs do not have studios.  You can promote that you can do things no amateur can begin to do and provide your clients with a totally unique experience. 
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A day at the Beach by Mark Barnett

NEED HELP WITH VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS
CALL AND ASK

If you need help with using your Scene Machine virtual background system, just call. 

 Don’t let a virtual background system set in the corner when in fact it should be one of the most important tools in your studio. 

Make virtual backgrounds work for you and start clicking.

SEEING IS BELIEVING. 
TOUCHING FOR YOURSELF IS EVEN BETTER.

SEE AND TOUCH AND USE A VIRTUAL PROJECTED BACKGROUND SYSTEM IN LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY,  LONG ISLAND NEW YORK AS WELL AS IN SAN MARCOS TEXAS.

Well, you can SEE, TOUCH and TRY a virtual projected background system for yourself.  Besides coming to the Virtual Backgrounds headquarters in San Marcos, Texas, you can visit Cindy Cofer Barclay in Louisville Kentucky and Peter Budraitis in Long Island New York.

 Both Cindy and Peter have agreed to make their studios demonstration centers of virtual backgrounds. 

Just call and make
an appointment.
Call Cindy at
(502) 266-9119 
or Visit Cindy's website 
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Call Peter at
(516) 674-0227
Email
Website
There is no cost or obligation.  But you will discover that what you have heard about the many benefits of using projected backgrounds is NOT just hype…it’s true.  

You’ll see that when you put your hands on it.

VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS IN
CHILE - SOUTH AMERICA 

PictureAna Zoe with her Scene Machine
Ana Zoe is a dedicated quality full time professional photographer and one of her most important tools is her Scene Machine virtual background system.  She started with a slide based system years ago and has now gotten a digital system.  Ana Zoe shares with us her story and dozens of sample images we can all learn from.
 
Ana Zoe learned very early in her career that backgrounds and background variety helps enhance portraits in meaningful and profitable ways.  She did everything she could with primitive canvas backgrounds and also worked outdoors but never could count on suitable backgrounds being available.  She knew she needed a better solution.  Ana Zoe writes, “I Googled virtual backgrounds…exactly with those words and we ended up at the Virtual Backgrounds company in Texas.  We could not believe what we had discovered.  Virtual Backgrounds is a company that had the solution for all the photographers interested in making a change…a radical and fast way to produce new styles with no risks.  We were absolutely convinced that it was and still is the real most important investment for our studio.” 
 
Ana Zoe flew from Chile to Texas to take a Trevon Baker virtual backgrounds workshop.  "I was convinced that this was going to be the very best decision for us.  We are totally satisfied with our expectations and depend 100% on our virtual background machine.  We have learned how to use it.  The machine is the primary way to grow in the present and future.  We became a studio that is unique and is well known for backgrounds.  We have the technology that allows us to produce.  If you are a creative person, the virtual background Scene Machine is the right tool for any photographer who wants to make a difference.  We have to thank Mr. Oles as he is the brain to put himself in the mind of each photographer and engineered the way of making this miracle.  Our pictures would not be so special without our unique backgrounds.  I have the privilege to be able to see the beauty in each person I photograph.  I can make them feel the way they really dream on being.  Virtual backgrounds makes it possible.”
 
Ana Zoe has a true passion for photography starting in high school as a 15 year old foreign exchange student in Minnesota.  When she started photographing children she learned the importance of what she was seeing behind the subject…the background. She worked outdoors on location but could not count on having appropriate backgrounds.  “It is so important to have an appropriate background to obtain stunning results but it has to be a background one can count on.  This is when I realized that it is important for the professional to work in a real studio where they have the proper equipment. It is so much better than working on location just like any amateur.”
 
SEE MORE OF ANA ZOE’S WORK BELOW.  NOTICE THAT NONE OF HER PHOTOGRAPHS LOOK ANYTHING LIKE WHAT AN AMATEUR COULD DO WITH THEIR DIGITAL CAMERA AND NO OTHER PROFESSIONAL HAS A VIRTUAL BACKGROUND SYSTEM IN ALL OF CHILE.
 
YOU CAN VIEW ANA ZOE’S WEB SITE @ http://www.anazoe.cl/

AMATEURS AND OTHER PROFESSIONALS CANNOT CREATE PORTRAITS LIKE ANA ZOE

If your photographs look too much like snapshots an amateur would do, you will have a difficult time selling them.  Even if you feel they are really better than amateur snapshots, your customers may not see it that way.  In fact, most people think that the photos they take are great…and maybe they should even be a professional!  Ana Zoe takes a completely different approach.  She produces highly creative quality images that clearly were done by a professional and not an amateur.  Instead of snapshots in the park, she works in her studio where she has control of everything including the lighting, the posing, the background and she can take time to make sure everything is just right.  The Scene Machine is a key component in her operation.  Amateurs and other professionals don’t have it.  Customers love the creative variety it enables her to produce.

VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS EXHIBITS AT SOUTHWESTERN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER ASSOCIATION SHOW

​Embassy Suites in Frisco Texas was the site for the convention and trade show of the SWPPA.  Virtual Backgrounds had a double booth exhibit showing both the new digital Scene Machine projection system as well as a slide based system along with a variety of other products.  Chris Wunder provided a full day presentation at the SWPPA on how to get into the business of school photography.  

   VB FOUNDER, HENRY OLES,
​ ELECTED TO SWPPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

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The newest member of the Board of Directors of SWPPA is Henry Oles of San Marcos, Texas.  He was elected to the board as a special representative of the suppliers to professional photographers. Henry is the founder and president of Virtual Backgrounds which manufactures the Scene Machine projected background system which recently became all digital.  The Board is seeking ways to enhance the total SWPPA program to better serve professional photographers.

REFURBISHED VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS PROJECTORS 

GET STARTED WITH THE MANY ADVANTAGES OF PROJECTED BACKGROUNDS
FOR A FRACTION OF THE ORIGINAL COST.

We have some slide based projectors available.
  IF YOU Want to start working with the many advantages of virtual backgrounds, the cost of the system is really not a problem since factory refurbished equipment is available.  Call a Virtual Backgrounds consultant for availability and prices.

SAVE BIG TIME - 50%
AND EVEN MORE
VB WAREHOUSE CLEARANCE

TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT WE HAVE AVAILABLE AT
GREATLY REDUCED PRICES.

We have a wide variety of photo products available for sale
while supplies last.  Take a look at the list below.

  HOW TO GET THE MOST
OUT OF A TRADE SHOW

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One of the most important advantages of attending a photographic convention is to visit the trade show and see all the latest in equipment and get to talk directly with company representatives.  Unfortunately, many convention registrants never visit the trade show and many of those who do breeze through without carefully examining every exhibit booth looking for new products that could lead to new opportunities.   The situation seems to be getting worse.  Recently we tested putting items of general interest to any photographer on sale for ridiculously low prices and no one even noticed.  Many educational opportunities in the trade show were also ignored.  In fact, whereas hundreds were registered, program attendance was limited to a perhaps two dozen attendees.  One can only wonder why many attend other than to visit with friends.

Skip Cohen is the well known former president of Rangefinder Publishing Company. 

You can read a very interesting article about how to attend a trade show by clicking on the following link.
https://www.behindtheshutter.com/vendor-networking-for-photographers/

PPA DEGREES TAKE ON
NEW POWER AND MEANING

There are now over 30,000 members of PPA.  No one knows how many people call themselves professional photographers and take pictures for profit.  And there is over 200,000,000 DIY (do it yourself) photographers who can now take their own photographs with their digital cameras.  If you wish to make money for your services and products, then you absolutely positively have to be clearly different, not just with your tools and style but also with your credentials.

Being able to display that you have earned the PPA certification and degrees helps one promote/market themselves.  This includes the Certified professional Photographer as well as Photographic Craftsman and Master of Photography.  The public generally respects degrees.  Unlike plumbers who have to be licensed after taking tests and having experience, anyone can be a professional photographer just by saying so.  So having the diplomas/certification certainly helps to present a better image to the public.
CLICK TO SEE THE MARCH 2016 ISSUE OF THE BACKGROUNDER
CLICK TO SEE THE FEBRUARY 2016 ISSUE OF THE BACKGROUNDER

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