Today's Guest: Robert Blanken of
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Robert Blanken Expert PageANNOUNCER : This VTalk Radio Spotlight is brought to you by www.morephotos.com the online photo sales solution for professional photographers world wide. Welcome to the VTalk Radio Photographer Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Today we are in studio with award winning photographer, Robert Blanken, of Blanken Photography Studio, Limited, of Bethesda, Maryland. Welcome to the program, Bob.
BOB: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
JOHN: We're glad to have you on the VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight today. Let's talk about that award you received right at the top off the bat.
BOB: Well I received a number of awards from the International Special Events Society here in Washington, DC. I've been Social Photographer of the Year, Corporate Photographer of the Year. I've won three awards like that. I have won a lot of local awards from Maryland Professional Photographers Association a lot of album awards and picture awards over the years.
JOHN: Well, what is your primary focus as a photographer?
BOB: My primary focus is on events and portraiture. I do a lot of family portraiture and executive portraiture, maternity pictures. But I do a lot of association and corporate events. That's a big part of my business.
JOHN: Now when you do a corporate event, are you taking more than one photographer to an event?
BOB: No, most of the time it's just me, though, on rare occasions we've needed more than one.
JOHN: And let's see, the other photography you do, you said you mentioned about family portraiture.
BOB: Yes.
JOHN: Is that a big part of your business?
BOB: Yes.
JOHN: And you have a studio right there in Bethesda, Maryland?
BOB: Yes, I do.
JOHN: Do you do remote shots?
BOB: I work all over the country.
JOHN: Great. It's good to be flexible. I suppose and somebody wants you for their event, they'll definitely take you to wherever this is going to be.
BOB: Yeah, I've worked in the Virgin Islands, in Canada, Hawaii, California, Texas, a lot of places.
JOHN: Well, let's talk about your weddings, even though your not doing as many now-a-days, certainly that has been a big part of your business in the past. Do you still do occasional weddings?
BOB: I do about ten to twelve weddings a year. And what are you looking for when you are doing a wedding as a photographer?
BOB: The venue and the client has a lot to do with it. We want some wonderful people getting on a wonderful location and planning to have a wonderful day. I mean, if you want to get wonderful photographs, that's a good beginning.
JOHN: I suppose the equipment will have something to do with it too. What kind of equipment are you using?
BOB: I use a lot of Canon cameras, and a lot of other equipment from a lot of manufactures, actually.
JOHN: What model of Canon is your primary camera?
BOB: Right now, a 1D, Mark II, and a 5D, and I've got a new Mark III on my shopping list for the spring.
JOHN: Alright. Now what do you do when you have a client in your studio, let's say you are doing a family setting. What do you do to make them comfortable during a session, because a lot of people don't like to have their photographs taken?
BOB: Well I found that, personally, I don't like to rush them into the camera room. I like to sit in my show room, and talk, and just discuss things, and get to know them a little better. Plus when you get people down into the camera room, they are either worried about how they're going to look or they in awe of all this equipment around them they can't get their eyes off of everything. So I found that you just have to take it a little slow. When I get him down to the camera room, I'm in no rush. I just want them to be comfortable, and I know that it takes a little bit to get started, so I kind of play with them, and talk with them, and try and lighten whatever the mood might be to where they're having a good time. Like working with kids, you know, you have to be very patient, adults are no different.
JOHN: Sure, and what's your most important goal when you're photographing a client?
BOB: Capture who they are in an image.
JOHN: Yeah, and that's hard to say exactly what that is, because everyone is different. But you want them to be thrilled with the image you create for them. Often times it's Sometimes overcoming their preconceived notion of how they look. Everyone has an idea of how they're suppose to look, and a lot of it is colored by the notion of what's wrong with them. So when they look at a picture they see things that they consider to be their faults. Though they're not there. So you have to overcome that, too.
JOHN: N ow we're going to take a break here in a couple of minutes, one thing before I let you go here I like to know what your website information is and contact information for our listening audience.
BOB: Sure, my website is www.blankenphoto.com and my telephone number is (301) 320-8714.
JOHN: We are in the award winning photographer, Robert Blanken, of Blanken Photography Studio, Limited, of Bethesda, Maryland, and you're listening to VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight. We'll be right back after these important messages.
ANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio Spotlight is sponsored by www.morephotos.com the online photo sales solution for professional photographers world wide.
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ANNOUNCER: Did you ever wonder why the Groom is suppose to carry the Bride over the thresh hold? What does the saying, something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue mean? Visit www.weddingdetails.com and click on the lure and tradition section. We've got culture and tradition information from around the world. Visit www.weddingdetails.com tonight. We now return you to the VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: We're back in the studio with award winning photographer, Robert Blanken, of Blanken Photography Studio, Limited, of Bethesda, Maryland, and you're listening to VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight. Welcome back to the program Robert.
BOB: Thank you.
JOHN: Now, Bob, we've been talking about your photo business. It looks like you have your hands in a couple of other things too. One is you are an instructor for the Panasonic Digital Photography Academy, is is true?
BOB: Yes, I am. Panasonic was very smart and got about 75 photographers from around the country in 20 cities to teach photography to beginners, or intermediate photographers, or advanced photographers. And it's not design to just be about Panasonic cameras, but to enable people to really use the camera they have.
JOHN: Now is this just something that is strictly in the Bethesda area?
BOB: No. It's all over the country. The website Digital Photography Academy website lists the cities and where the instructors are located. What's nice is the instructors are in each city. So it's not something that travels around the country like a number of the other manufacturers do. They are going here in town.
JOHN: Sure and how long have you been doing this?
BOB: This started in April. I think we started offering the courses in May.
JOHN: So it's kind of a new thing then?
BOB: It is a new thing, yes.
JOHN: It sounds good. Do you have anything in Michigan?
BOB: In Michigan, you know, I think we do.
JOHN: Yeah, I'll have to look that up.
BOB: I would try Detroit.
JOHN: Yeah, sure. Now you also a faculty member of the Washington Photo Safari. What exactly is that?
BOB: Oh yes. That's a wonderful experience for photographers. There's a number of people who have different specialties on the faculty. Mine is portraiture both indoor and outdoor and products and location shooting. Others specialties are landscape or city-scapes, memorials. And it's an opportunity for amateur photographers to go on location and really learn photography from a professional and get their questions answered. It's a great experience.
JOHN: Sounds like a lot of fun too.
BOB: It is, that's why I do it. It's a lot of fun for me.
JOHN: Yeah for sure. Now I got to the end of photography in the first place, Bob, and how long have you had your Blanken Photography Studio?
BOB: Well, my dad, when I was 12, bought me a camera. And that started it all, and I was the newspaper and year book photographer back in high school, and I hate to tell you about how long that was ago, but Ben Stein and Carl Burnstein were on the newspaper with me in high school.
JOHN: No kidding.
BOB: Yeah, it was really a fun thing. And my Dad said well, you'll never make any money being a photographer. You should be an engineer. So my career took a turn for a long time. I was very avid taking pictures and people over the years got me to do their weddings, and I do a lot of things part time. But in 1981, I decided I had enough doing something else and devoted my time full time to photography at that point.
JOHN: Alright. Now what do you think makes your services unique and what separates you from the competition, Bob?
BOB: My ability to see what's in front of me very clearly. To distinguish where the good angles are and how to put people into a scene. I think it comes a lot from doing architectural work 30 - 40 years ago, and being able to get people comfortable and remaining calm no matter how chaotic the situation might be. You know, things are always not going quite the way you want whether it be my side of the camera or on the other side of the camera, and if you can remain calm and get people just to be relaxed and themselves then you can deliver the product.
JOHN: Sounds good. Now what about the local communities that you do a little more business with around Bethesda? Are there any cities or communities that you do a lot of work out of, or do people primarily come to you?
BOB: Well I do a lot...most of the business comes as referrals, and I work with a number of nice hotels, very fine hotels in town who refer me. I work with a lot of event planners and meeting planners who I've become known through networking at associations I belong to. I'm a member of the International Special Events Society and the Meeting Professionals International which has a very large chapter here in the area. The Potomac Chapter has well over a 1000 members and it's important I think to become known in the community you want to do business with.
JOHN: Certainly. What are some of the facilities that you use in the area?
BOB: As far as you mean hotels and places like that?
JOHN: Yeah.
BOB: I do work at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel which is a really beautiful hotel here in town. The Four Seasons is another beautiful facility. I've worked at a lot of the major hotels. The Hiltons and the Hyatts. Over the years I've just found wonderful venues in which to work.
JOHN: Now here's an oddball question to throw at you. When was the last time you did film?
BOB: It was March of 2000. I was doing a wedding
and we had started to do portraits of the bride. I had my Hasablad camera
loaded and I shot one roll and as I finished the roll I said to my son who was
assisting me get that new camera and we'll see how that thing works, and we got
the new camera out...new digital camera and I never put it down the rest of the
night. Never shot another roll of film after that.
JOHN: Well
there you go. Welcome to the digital era, huh?
BOB: Yeah,
really. Saved me almost $60,000 in the first year.
JOHN: Boy,
doesn't it. I tell you.
BOB: It's just
amazing.
JOHN: Just so much easier to use and
yeah.
BOB: But that's one of the reasons why I've been cutting back
the amount of time I'm willing to devote to weddings, because of the digital
computer time required, my time used to be 30 - 40 hours per wedding, now it's
up to about 50 - 60 hours and that's just too much of my
time.
JOHN: Yeah. Sure. Well, we've been in the studio with
award winning photographer, Robert Blanken, of Blanken Photography Studio,
Limited, of Bethesda, Maryland. Bob, I want to thank you for joining
us on VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight
today.
BOB: It's my
pleasure.
JOHN: You've been listening to John Bentley on VTalk Radio's Photography Spotlight.
Thank you for listening in. Have a great afternoon.
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