Todays Guest: Doug Box of Texas PPA
Today's Host: John Bentley
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Doug Box Expert PageANNOUNCER: Welcome to the VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Today's program is sponsored by morephotos.com the online photo sales solution to professional photographers worldwide.
JOHN: Today we are in the Studio with Doug Box. He's the executive director of the Texas Professional Photographer's Association. He's based out of Caldwell, Texas. You're listening to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. Welcome to the program, Doug.
DOUG: How are you. I'm glad to be here.
JOHN: Yes, we're glad to have you. Now you have a professional photographer's association down there in Texas. Tell us a little bit about it.
DOUG: Well, we've been around for well over 100 years. We're the largest association that is associated with the Professional Photographer's of America, and there's lots of associations. Every state has one and we're just one of the biggest one.
JOHN: Now what's the advantage of professional photographer joining an organization like yours?
DOUG: The main thing that we're concerned with is education. We want to help photographers become better photographers, make more money. Just basically learn how to be a better professional photographer.
JOHN: Let's talk about some of the education that is offered in your association, a school perhaps?
DOUG: Yes, we have the Texas school which it is the largest school. We have between 950 and 1000 people at our school every year until usually the last week of April at the College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M University, and we have about 33 instructors, and the good thing about a school is you study with one instructor for an entire week so you look through the series of instructors that we have, pick out either the personality that you like, or the information of the subject that you like, and you study with that person for a whole week with about 20 or 24 other people. So it's a very hands on almost a one on one kind of learning situation.
JOHN: What about work shops or seminars? Do you offer anything like that?
DOUG: Yes, we have our annual convention every year. We've been having that in Arlington, Texas, area. We get about 1,000 people show up at that. We have a big trade show. We'll have about 8 or 10 speakers. Each one you usually watch for 3 or 4 hours and then go to the next one. Seminars are great, conventions are great, because you get to see a lot of different people and find out who's the best one that does what you do. You know, one of the biggest things you have to learn to do is have a style and this way you get to look at other people and see their style, you can emulate their style, or you can adjust it to what you're doing, but it's a great learning experience. We always have a contest there so people will enter prints and have their prints judged by a series of judges and I think you learn by looking at other people's work and trying to do better.
JOHN: Now are you referring to, when you talk about the national convention, are you referring to the Imaging USA PPA?
DOUG: Our national association puts one on. This next year's is going to be in Tampa in January, but our state puts one on a state convention. It's really a regional convention the way the PPofA is kind of broken up. We go together with Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and New Mexico and put on a regional convention every year. One year it's hosted by the South West Photographer's Association and on the odd years, it's hosted by the Texas Photographer's Association, but people from five states getting together and sharing and learning about photography.
JOHN: How many members are involved in the Texas Professional Photographer's Association?
DOUG: It's just under 2,000. We have little over 1900 members. We've been growing every year. I took over as executive director in about 1994, and we had about 615 members,and we're growing every year to like I said, almost 2,000 members now.
JOHN: You've been the executive director since 1994?
DOUG: Yes sir. One of my best friends, Don Dixon, is the director of the Texas School and he took over about the same time and, of course, we work with all the officers, and no one person is taking the credit for building it, but we have worked together and Don has taken the school from about 135 students to, like I said, near 1,000 now. So we've got a great organization, we've got great officers that work together, we've got members that care and are involved. One of the things about associations that people don't realize until they get into them is most of my friends are photographers, and I know them through the associations. The state, even the local association, the national association, and so it's a wonderful family of people that get together and share and we have a common interest and we see each other several times during the year. It's just, I wouldn't be the same person, I wouldn't be the same photographer without the state, local, and national associations.
JOHN: Apparently the networking that goes on in an association like this is a tremendous benefit to professional photographers.
DOUG: Absolutely.
JOHN: Doug, we're going to take a break here and we're going to step aside for these important messages. We are speaking with Doug Box. He's the executive director of the Texas Professional Photographer's Association. He's based out of Caldwell, Texas, and you're listening to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. We'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: This VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight is sponsored by morephotos.com, the online photo sales solution to professional photographers worldwide.
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ANNOUNCER: We now return you to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight with your host, John Bentley.
JOHN: Welcome back to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. We are in the studio today with Doug Box. He's the executive director of the Texas Professional Photographer's Association. He's based out of Caldwell, Texas. And we are VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. Welcome back to the program, Doug.
DOUG: Thank you, I appreciate it. One thing I wanted to mentioned is membership fees, because people are always interested in what this all going to cost and what the investment is. Our membership is only $85 a year and included in that you get free registration to our annual convention which is typically $150 to $180 so it's quite a bargain plus you get to go to the school at the lessor price. You get to go to all of our functions. You get our magazine which comes out 6 times a year. Next year because of some changes we're moving to a fall convention. Next year you get two conventions for the $85 membership fee so it's probably the best bargain in the country.
JOHN: I should say so. That is a great deal. You know, you had mentioned, Don Dixon, earlier, we have already spoke to Don a while back. It's cool when you talk about networking, there's a lot of great photographers and artists out there that are doing this and when you can touch base with these guys to see what they're doing or ask questions or get involved in these conventions or seminars. That's got to be a tremendous benefit to any professional photographer.
DOUG: Yeah, you know, it's an interesting time in our profession now. You know our clients know more about our industry than ever before. They've got the same cameras, they can buy them at Best Buy or Walmart almost. They know about computers and Photoshop and probably have better computers than we have, because they've got real jobs to be able to pay for it. And they know what an 8 x 10 is worth, because you can go to just about any drug store or discount store and get an 8 x 10 printed off your card or your cd for $4 or $5 so...our clients know what's going on, and we're going to have to do something different if we want to get the business back from them. Sometimes our clients do their own photography and that's where I think associations can really help, or like you said, the networking, what are other people doing in different areas, education, finding out from different parts of the country what they're doing. It's a time that I think associations are more important than ever before, because there's so many people out there taking photographs.
JOHN: Now, how do I apply for membership?
DOUG: You can do it on our website. We have a wonderful website that's most informative for our members, but also people look on the website looking for photographers. I get a call almost every day from someone looking for a photographer. We send them to the website...just go to www.tppa.org and sign up for membership. You can sign up for our conventions, fall seminar. We've got one coming up in October and then we've got a summer seminar that we do every year in Kerville, Texas, which is what we call our hill country, and it's a family kind of a thing. Some people bring their families, sit around the pool, we do seminars, it's very casual. My youngest son is 24 and he has spent of his 20 of his years...he's very friendly with the photographers and even their family members. So that's an exciting thing that we offer.
JOHN: Now Doug, what about you? How long have you been a photographer?
DOUG: Until I age I guess. I did my first professional wedding in 1973 so it's been about 34 years doing this, but it's the greatest profession in the world. We're invited into people's homes, into their lives, into their weddings, confirmations, baptisms, funerals, and you know, we become a part of a family member, and it's a great, great profession.
JOHN: I want to thank you for joining us today on VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight, Doug.
DOUG: Thank you. And one other thing on the membership is we have an award winning magazine, and our magazine comes out six times a year. The head of it is Bill Hedrick does a fantastic job and very informative. Some people tell me it's as informative as some of the national magazines out there.
JOHN: That's certainly another perk to joining the TPPA. I want to thank Doug Box, executive director of the Texas Professional Photographer's Association of Caldwell, Texas, for joining us today. You've been listening to VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight. Thanks for tuning in. Have a great afternoon everyone.
ANNOUNCER: You have been listening to the VTalk Radio's Photographer Spotlight; only on www.vtalkradio.com. Radio for the 21st Century.
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