Capitalism vs Socialism

Capitalism vs Socialism 

"Democracy and Socialism having nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude." Alexis de Tocqueville 

Shortly after posting my Googtoon meme on my Facebook page, a good friend (and a deeply possessed liberal) posted his most insightful comment, "Plenty of bread in capitalism, if you can afford it!" To which I replied:

Once again, another American showing their stripes. So very sad, but I guess it’s what’s to be expected from decades of an eduction system telling children what to think rather than how to - independently. 

Capitalism vs Socialism - The 2016 Presidential Election (Googtoon ©2015 Mark Jordan Koeff)

We know from history that socialism has been the single most devastating cause of carnage and death. No other system or philosophy comes anywhere close. 

We also know that ALL political systems, being man conceived and implemented, are inherently flawed. There is no such thing a perfect system. No matter how noble and just one’s intent in devising an economic blueprint, someone or some group is going to suffer. There is no getting around it. Human beings are flawed and thus so are their designs. 

The real issue, however, is not so much that all political systems are imperfect, but rather EVEN IF God himself handed down the perfect system, it would still be run by…yes, you gessoed it, HUMANS!

So then, the question is not which system is flawed, because they all are, but which one is the BEST and has the most potential for advancing the human race. 

Again, Socialism is not only contrary to human nature, but has proven to be the most deadliest force on the planet. 

Capitalism, on the other hand has given the world the greatest years or prosperity the world has ever know. Though far from perfect, it has yet to be leashed in it’s purest form and it’s darn near impossible to keep the bloody hands of socialists from diluting and perverting it. 

To wit, for me, it seems that wisdom is found in actually trying Capitalism, unfettered by liberal intervention, and then tweaking it as we discover the facets that don’t advance freedom and property.

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Quickly now, a brief summary of the opposing economic systems:

CAPITALISM

Capitalism is an economic system in which trade, industry, and the means of production are privately owned and operated to maximize profit, with the price system providing price signals for the factors of production. Central characteristics of capitalism include private property, capital accumulation, wage labour and, in some situations, fully competitive markets. In a capitalist market economy, investments are determined by private decision and the parties to a transaction typically determine the prices at which they exchange assets, goods, and services. Since Capitalism presents its citizenry with enumerable life choices, it's cornerstone of the Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of happiness. 

SOCIALISM

Socialism is a social and economic system characterized by social ownership and democratic control of the means of production. It is also a political theory and movement that aims at the establishment of such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to public ownership, cooperative ownership, citizen ownership of equity, or any combination of these. Although there are many varieties of socialism and there is no single definition encapsulating all of them, social ownership is the common element shared by its various forms.

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The 1916 Presidential Election offers the American people a stark contrast in philosophical and political realities. While the Obama administration has always been far to the left of the Clinton administration, it apparently is nowhere near far enough for the current Democratic base. And two Democratic frontrunners are listening: Bernie Sanders and Hilary Clinton. They not only promise to shift further in a leftward drift but appear to be in a race for who can out-socialize Stalin.

The question is not if Democrats are moving left but whether an otherwise pop-culturized, indolent society is paying attention. My guess is that we are not. However, the election is still young and we have yet to dance. 

I promise to do my part to wake up the country. How about you?

Mark
©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures
Mark Jordan Photography
Orange County Family Portraits
Orange County Headshots

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Thomas Jefferson Quotes

• A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.
• When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe. 
• The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
• It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
• I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
• My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." 
• No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms
• The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.
• The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. 
• To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. 
• I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." The Federal Reserve Bank (The FED) is a private bank.

Relatively Speaking

The Language of Music, Relative Speaking ©2015

Facebook meme of Albert Einstein
posted by fellow musician, 
Samuel Oliver Scott.

The Language of Music, Relatively Speaking was motivated by a post I saw on Facebook by a fellow musician, Samuel Oliver Scott. Though I had seen it before, something about it struck me differently. 

The thought occurred to me that many things in life are indeed relative, which segued into thinking about the relative keys in music. Voilà, E Major's  relative minor C#. Of course.

Mark

©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures

Mark Jordan Photography

Orange County Family Portraits

Orange County Headshots




FYI:

In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures. A pair of major and minor scales sharing the same key signature are said to be in a relative relationship. The relative minor of a particular major key, or the relative major of a minor key, is the key which has the same key signature but a different tonic. Relative keys are closely related keys, the keys between which most modulations occur, in that they differ by no more than one accidental (none in the case of relative keys).

Orchestrated by Obama

Orchestrated by Obama (Googtoon ©2015 Mark Jordan Koeff)

By Donald Lambro

"The measly number of jobs that the Obama economy created last month is raising new fears of a steeper employment decline this year and next.

Last Friday’s shocking Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report stunned economists, shook Wall Street, and offered little if any hope for long-term, unemployed Americans finding full-time work anytime soon.

It doesn't get much worse than this! Watch what happens when this guy tries to load his new truck.

“There’s nothing good in this morning’s report,” Carl Tennenbaum, chief economist at Northern Trust, said last week. “We had very low levels of job creation, wage growth isn’t budging, and the unemployment rate would have risen if the labor force participation rate hadn’t fallen.”

The U.S. Labor Department’s data-gathering arm said employers added only 142,000 jobs in September, far less than the 201,000 jobs that were forecast.

The BLS’ estimate in August was revised downward, too, showing that the economy had produced only 136,000 jobs, not the 173,000 jobs originally reported.

July’s jobs report was also revised lower from 245,000 to 223,000. The administration is big on revising job data, because the original, exaggerated estimate draws all the news coverage and the downward revision is ignored.

Taking Friday’s revision into account, employment gains have averaged just 167,000 a month over the past three months. In a nation of 160 million working age adults, that is pathetic.

Worse, there are bigger job cuts to come, with future layoffs totaling 58,877, according to the job analysis firm, Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

That’s a 43 percent jump from the previous month, and it’s on track to score the highest layoff levels since 2009. “We could see more job fallout” to come, the firm said.

Economic analysts are digging into the rapidly shrinking figures to find the chief causes of America’s downward job spiral. The Obama administration is putting all the blame on the global economy’s slowdown, particularly China.

But critics are pointing to more local problems here at home: the Obama administration’s anti-growth, anti-job, anti-investment fiscal policies. The nation’s workforce has shrunk to 62.4 percent of the population, the lowest level since 1977, as discouraged workers have stopped looking for employment.

“The new numbers are poor on pretty much every level,” writes New York Times star economics analyst Neil Irwin, who says September’s job numbers “are easily the worst of 2015 so far.”

“This is usually the point in one of these stories where we list the silver linings — the countervailing details that suggest it isn’t as bad as all that. This report doesn’t really offer any,” Mr. Irwin says.

“Average weekly hours fell. Average hourly pay was unchanged. The number of people in the labor force fell by 350,000,” and the number of people who reported having a job fell by 236,000,” he said.

President Obama and his apologists in the White House keep pointing to the low 5.1 percent unemployment rate as one of his biggest accomplishments. In fact, he had little if anything to do with it.

The declining unemployment rate is largely due to the way the BLS defines long-term jobless people who have given up looking but still want to work.

When BLS survey-takers ask them if they have looked for work in the past four or more weeks, and they say “no,” they are not added to the unemployed list and the jobless rate goes down. Pretty clever, huh?

Let’s add one more nail into what and who’s responsible for Mr. Obama’s 5.1 percent unemployment rate.

Morgan Stanley, a leading investment firm, released an analysis last week that said the falling unemployment rate was “entirely attributable” to the decline in the labor force participation rate.

In his rah-rah speeches about his economy, Mr. Obama always throws out rosy manufacturing numbers. But what about last week’s Institute of Supply Management report that suggests U.S. manufacturing “slowed to a standstill in September,” Mr. Irwin asks.

Indeed, since August it’s shed 27,000 jobs, the largest two-month decline since 2009.

Mr. Obama is silent as the grave on that question. Don’t look for a story on the nightly network news about it, either. It doesn’t fit in with their agenda.

But while Mr. Irwin easily ticks off all of the painful economic figures he can find, he seems to throw up his hands about what’s causing the economy’s collapse — except to say that “there is an underlying economic fragility causing” this and “that something deeper is wrong with the global economy.”

Yeah, sure. When something isn’t working, like much of America’s workers, blame somebody else, except the guy in the White House who is clueless about how to produce stronger growth and good-paying jobs.

The day after Friday’s jobs report, The Washington Post blamed it all on “China’s economic malaise” which, it said, was “spilling over onto American shores.” The Post buried the jobs story on Page 12.

But the nation’s business economists were taking it very seriously and didn’t mince words in their responses. There was more at stake in this report than just jobs.

“It was an ugly report,” said J.J. Kinahan, TD Ameritrade’s chief market strategist. Weak jobs data “paints an ugly picture for GDP and [third quarter] earnings season, which unofficially kicks off next week,” Mr. Kinahan said.

We’re closing in on the seventh year of Mr. Obama’s job-challenged economy that the Federal Reserve says is still in recovery — the longest since the Great Depression. The president and his Democratic allies have failed miserably to put America back to work. Instead, they’ve made it harder to create jobs, lift incomes and get ahead.

The Republicans need to grab this issue by the throat and make it the singularly most important political issue in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Have courage. Help is on the way."


• Donald Lambro is a syndicated columnist and contributor to The Washington Times.

Mark

©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures

Mark Jordan Photography

Orange County Family Portraits

Orange County Headshots

What Would Jesus Do Were He a Baker?

Much has been made of the accusations of gay discrimination and the subsequent announcement by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson to revise a bill that rights activists and U.S. businesses contend allow discrimination against gays. Regardless of the legitimacy of the issue and what side of the argument Americans stand, I am flummoxed by the entire controversy.

I do understand the dismay of gays who feel their rights are denied by businesses who refuse offer them service. I also understand private businesses who believe that they should have the right to deny service to anyone.

What I cannot comprehend is how any person who professes to follow Jesus (i.e. a Christian) refuses to extend service to those whose lifestyles are deemed unworthy of their faith. 

What?  

What would Jesus do were he a baker?

Even more confusing is that I've not heard a single voice express their outrage at what seems to me to be an egregious demonstration of hypocrisy. 

Have we strayed so far that we've forgotten Jesus' response to the adulteress at the well? Clearly, the woman's behavior was anything by righteous. Regardless, Jesus took the time to serve... 

Why? He loved her. 

Yes, I recognize the concern of Americans regarding the ever-increasing governmental intrusion into every part of their daily lives. I too would prefer that government side with freedom, allowing our culture to fully experience the consequence of its behavior - reaping what is sown. 

However, when it comes to Christians denying service to those who do not share their faith, the disconnect of their action with the doctrine they embrace is mindbogglingly antithetical to everything Jesus taught. It's grotesquely absurd. 

My fellow Christians are fond of citing "love the sinner, hate the sin." Yet, for all its pith, for some it does not seem to amount to anything more than good intentions. 

I cannot think of any better way to display our love, a love worthy of the name Christian, than when we extend ourselves for the benefit of those whom we strongly differ. How else might others experience of the love of Jesus were it not for those who have professed to be his emissaries while living on the outside of heaven?

Unless I've missed something, and Jesus actually meant that the world will know we belong to him by our judgmentalism, it would seem to me that a more loving and Christian response to the non-christian is not rejection but expressing the heart of Jesus. 

After all, were it not for loving Christians who accepted me and took me in while I was lost, I'd still be reveling without a clue. Romans 5:8.


One last comment for my friends who are reading this and shaking their heads as if I’ve lost it (which was swiftly made evident after posting this on my Facebook page...).

One of the essential differences between God and human is that whereas people are quick to judge by outward appearances, God discerns the heart. God is not into 'gotcha' tactics or looking for loopholes to trip you up - like humans. He is ‘sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; he judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.'

I trust Him to detect the difference between loving others, reaching out with the hopes of reflecting His love and grace, from that of "celebrating" in harmony with behaviors antithetical to His design.

In other words, it's exactly the reason of hating sin and loving the sinner that Jesus, were he a baker, would have baked a cake.

That is, unless someone would like to make the case that Jesus crafted furniture for only the righteous. 

Mark
©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures

Yelp - Ethical or Extortion?

Yelp boasts of being the premiere website portal where the general public can voice their views on just about any business and service. Up until the arrival of such sites, the airing of one's perspective was consider an opinion. Today, however, such judgments are elevated in status and are regarded as reviews.

A quick visit to Yelp will quickly reveal a "Search for" feature where you can effortless begin to search out any business in the country. With a couple quick clicks you're up and running, reading the wall-to-wall reviews.

Seems like a great idea, right?

For the thousands of businesses who are in good standing with Yelp, I'd have to say it's highly beneficial, but for the thousands of businesses who Yelp deems unworthy, the consequences are anything but favorable.

yelp [yelp] verb - to utter a sharp or high-pitched cry or bark, often indicating pain (esp of a dog)

Take me for instance. A quick search for Orange County Photographer,  Mark Jordan Photography shows positive reviews from every site that posts them. Google Reviews posts 31 of them, all 5 Star. CitySearch has 18 reviews - all 5 Star. MerchantCircle with 14 reviews, again all 5 Star. The list goes on and on.

So how about Yelp? I have 85 reviews so far - also all 5 Star. Yet anyone visiting my site would never know. Why? All but a handful have been removed, or what Yelp euphemistically refers to as "filtered." Why? If I knew the answer to this, there would be no need for my post.

Before I continue, a short look back in the very recent past is in order.

About a year ago I received a call from a Yelp salesman, Brandon. He highlighted my many, 5 Star reviews while delivering a persuasive pitch about how advertising with Yelp would dramatically increase my business. We shared several phone conversations, and though I was impressed, in the end Yelp's fees were more than I wanted to pay. Were I a restaurant owner or contractor, I'd have signed-up for sure. Being a portrait photographer, however, I wasn't confident the cost was worth the risk or that Yelp could perform as promised.

Brandon and I parted ways and thought nothing of it - that is until the following week when I noticed all my reviews had mysteriously disappeared. I called Brandon to ask him what happened, whereupon he assured me that declining Yelp's offer to advertise had nothing to do with my reviews vanishing: "Even though the reviews had been posted for quite some time, it was just a matter of coincidence that your reviews were filtered subsequent to declining Yelp's offer to advertise."

When I inquired as to how my reviews were filtered, Brandon explained that "Jeremy" (Yelp's CEO) installed a special program which determines which reviews are trustworthy and relevant, and which are not. It seemed that Yelp simply decided that the reviews that were once evaluated as worthy, having met all their guidelines, suddenly no longer were.

Okay, seems fair enough. Nothing furtive here. One day my reviews are relevant, for a protracted period, and then right after declining to partner with Yelp, they're removed.

Are you buying this?

No Yelp for you!
Makes a grown man want to, well, yelp! 

In the interest of time, suffice it to say, this same scenario has been repeated on the reviews written about my photography studio ever since. Every single one of my reviews are now filtered. I don't know about you, but from my perspective, something doesn't seem quite right here.

If you're wondering about an "appeal" process, none exists. Yelp's decision is final. No Yelp for you!

Does it hurt? Sure it does. Not only are the visitors to my
business told that my portrait studio does not merit a review, the clients who have invested their time are being silenced from sharing their positive experiences. It's enough to make a grown man yelp!

Just so you understand that nothing is peculiar about the reviews written about my studio, here's an example of a typical one:

"Mark did an exceptional job on my corporate head shots. He has a true talent for bringing out the best in his subjects. My photos were professional AND captured my personality. I highly recommend him." 

The client who posted the review above included her name (Janet B) and even the headshot I created. You can see for yourself (along with the many filtered reviews that have yet to be deleted).

A quick review of Yelp's guidelines will show that my client's assessment fulfills their protocol to the tee. In fact, this review, along with all the reviews written about Mark Jordan Photography, could not better define what Yelp is looking for in a trustworthy, relevant review. And yet her voice is "filtered," along with thousands upon thousand of voices like her - all who simply desire to share their experiences.

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So then, is Yelp ethical or is it extortion?

To be frank, I do truly do not know - I can only share my experience.

However, I am convinced if Yelp does not either develop a more transparent method of filtering its reviews and answering questions to customers like me, it won't be too long before Dictionary.com will not only define Yelp as a high-pitched cry of pain, but added to the definition of unscrupulous:

Un·scru·pu·lous [uhn-skroo-pyuh-luhs] adjective not scrupulous; unrestrained by scruples;
conscienceless; unprincipled - YELP!

Mark

©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures

Mark Jordan Photography

Orange County Family Portraits

Orange County Headshots

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ADDENDUM: 7-24-12
One review was restored and is now posted, the one review that was not filtered is now filtered, and four other 5 star reviews were removed altogether - Yelp representative stated that they were "possible conflicts of interest."

ADDENDUM: 10-10-12
One review remains (an active Yelper), eleven now filtered, with four removed altogether.

ADDENDUM: 02-02-15
Eight reviews remain (all actives Yelpers, which it appears to be the key to having a review stick), sixteen now actively filtered, with an undetermined number of reviews removed altogether.

ADDENDUM: 01-29-17
I've been very fortunate to have 59 grateful clients express their appreciation with 5 Star since my last post. Unfortunately, only 35 remain unfiltered. The count was 43 a few months back when I carelessly answered the phone from a Yelp ad salesman. After declining and kindly expressing to the man my concerns, the very next day, all but 27 were filtering. Since then I am careful to never pickup the phone when I see the area code of 415.

ADDENDUM: 11-29-18
My clients have posted 124 5 Star Reviews – yet only 42 are unfiltered. Just last week a total of 75 reviews were showing. So, what happened? I inadvertently answered the phone to a Yelp salesperson. After taking with her and sharing my concerns, she persisted that I needed to advertise. When I gently declined, the VERY next morning, 15 reviews were erased. Since then 1-2 reviews disappear each day. The rate it is going, I will have maybe a handful left by the end of the year. The Billion Dollar Bully is in full extortion mode.

DUMB Redefined by Seattle Seahawks

Inches away from the endzone the Seattle Seahawks inexplicably threw the ball from the half-yard line. With 25 seconds left on the play-clock, the ball was intercepted by the New England Patriots, who won the Super Bowl 28-24.

It's one of the wackiest endings, to an otherwise hard fought game, in Super Bowl history.

DUMB redefined by Seattle Seahawks - 2015 Super Bowl

Seattle Seahawks called for a slant to Ricardo Lockette, but Russell Wilson's toss was picked off by Malcolm Butler, putting an abrupt end to Seahawks hopes for a back-to-back Super Bowl win.

Football fans worldwide are dumbfounded by the play call. Considering the Seahawks are THE best running team in the NFL, it strains one's mental faculties why they put the ball in the air with the game on the line from a foot away.

When Pete Carroll was asked why he risked redefining DUMB, he stated, "We didn't want to run against their goal line group." He instead will go down as making the single most brainless call in the history of the Super Bowl.

Mark

©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures

Mark Jordan Photography

Orange County Family Portrait

Orange County Headshots

10 Tips to the Headshot Quote

Recently, I was asked by a young headshot photographer how I go about offering a quote for my services for a commercial portrait session (usually headshots). As a leading portrait photographer in Orange County, my headshot division, Orange County Headshots, has been creating headshots for business and the arts throughout Southern California and the much of the nation since 1981. Consequently, we receive such inquires on a regular basis and from just about every corner of the world (at least where they speak English).

My response to this particular photographer was that providing a headshot quote depends on what the potential client needs. Whether they are in business or the arts, the best possible way to provide a quote is to first discover precisely what they are looking for. No duh...right? Regardless of how obvious, I have to say it. You'd be surprised at how many times this advice alone is a bolt of lightening.

Orange County Headshots Website Banner - Potential Clients Introduction to Mark Jordan Photography

What many photographers are surprised to learn, however, is that much of the time the inquiring client does not know precisely what they need. This is good thing. Why? Think Golden Opportunity! It's your time to shine and demonstrate why you are the right portrait studio. 

It is at this juncture in your conversation you can seize the old adage, "People don't care what you know until they know how much you care," and put it in full throttle. It's also one of those rare moments where you can accomplish the former (they'll care what you know) while stressing the latter (showing you care). 

By asking a series of professionally prepared questions, you'll not only clearly demonstrate a genuine concern for the client's project, but in the process you'll reveal to them the width and breadth of your services and your supreme competency to satisfy their need. 

They care what you know as you make evident your interest in being an integral agent in their success.

Ultimately, this means the right questions must be asked. Thus, the questions you offer must be prepared and detailed. 

The next step, and all depending on the situation, is to either forward the questionnaire to the client (for them to answer and return, which I would try to avoid) or conduct the interview over the phone. By all means, do your best to conduct the interview by phone.

Most likely the client will also prefer the phone interview approach. If you receive an email inquiry, reply promptly and inquire as to a good time for you to connect by phone to discuss the myriad details. 

To date, I've not had a single email inquiry decline a phone conversation to acquire the vital details.  

The phone call interview, whether via their call or your's,  will also help in developing a mutually beneficial relationship and expedites the process. The questions you ask will quickly show that you mean business and respect their time, as well as your own.

Once the interview has been completed, I'll ALWAYS ask that if it is acceptable to the them that I take the time to review and absorb all the information they've given me, and that I'll email them a "Quotation Of Photography Services" by day's end. This technique serves four purposes:

1. Demonstrates you genuinely care and want to get it right.
2. Gives you time to think and consider every contingency, which equates to an accurate, effectual quote.
3. Having a written quote not only holds you to your word, but establishes a document of understanding should questions arise later. 
4. Odds are most photographers are not offering a written quote. You'll stand out from the crowd.

To date, I've not had a single client decline allowing me to forward them a written email quote. Just ensure the quote your promise is thorough and arrives on time.

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At the risk of sounding redundant, I feel a need to stress the importance of my approach once again. What may not be obvious are the intangibles. Namely, your extensive inquiry to their specific needs communicates to your client that you truly have their best interests in mind, and are thus, the consummate professional.

In today's highly competitive marketplace it's not enough to merely answer inquiries regarding cost, like everyone else. You're going to be the studio that goes beyond the call and walks the extra mile. Instead of simply citing prices, you're the studio that demonstrates in a clear and unambiguous way that you are listening intently and that you are ready to serve them to the best of your ability.

This sort of attention to detail not only ensures your quote will be accurate, but that your client will get everything they had hoped for and reflects your commitment to excellence. It will also establish you as the headshot expert in your field, and in ways no self-promotional piece could offer. 

The following questions are by no means exhaustive, but only ones that have worked for me in my portrait studio here in Rancho Santa Margarita. You may brainstorm other pertinent questions that might better reflect your style and expertise. I trust that you will. As always, should you have any questions, no concern is too small.

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1. CONFIGURATIONS or GROUPINGS

Will the session be of a group, individuals, and/or combinations?

• Individuals headshot sessions only?
• Or add Groupings of staff/team members.
• Images of offices, lobby, warehouse, walls, etc.
• Product images?

2. PEOPLE

Information about the people you will be photographing?

• Obtain the number of people will you be photographing.
• Names of everyone in sessions.
• You many also want to ask about their position with the company.
• If someone's name makes gender ambiguous, ask!

3. DATES and TIMING

Is there a specific date and time required for the actual session?

• Any Specific Session DATE (most likely they will).
• Any Specific Session TIMELINE (most likely they will).

4. LOCATION

Has a specific location been established for the session?

• Obtain Site Location Name/Business and Address
• Telephone Numbers, office and cell.
• Special instructions, security, gate, parking, entrance

5. PRODUCT

What is the end product you have in mind? Please be specific.

• Will you be needing Photographs?
• Sizes? Quantities? Qualities (if applicable)?
• Will you be needing Digital Files?
• Resolution: web-75, medium-150, high-300?
• Quantities needed of each?
• Any Digital Specs to a adhere to?

6. RETOUCHING
Will you be requiring our studio to perform digital retouching?

• Discuss the differing degrees of retouching application (where applicable).
• If an 'in-house' graphic designer will be employed, inquire tactfully as to their familiarity and skill with the idiosyncrasies of the human face? That is, are they portrait savvy, or primarily design design  focused?
• b. Are there any special alterations, blemishes/facial features, and/or design concerns we need to be made aware of?
• If so, please tell us.

7. DEADLINE

Will the finished product be required by any specific due date?

• Date FINISHED images are needed by?
• Determine delivery preferred (email, dropbox, disc, etc.)

8. DISTRIBUTION

For what purpose are these images needed?

• To what extent will they be utilized?
• This may also be a good to review your distribution policies regarding differing fees.
• Frequently, use/distribution will also dictate the resolution quality required.

9. CONCERNS

Are there any circumstances or concerns you have or might foresee that could pose a challenge on the day of your session?

• This might present itself in the form of location issues, time of day, personality differences, timeline, etc.
• Any special concerns (weight, glasses, physical limitations, etc.)

10. CONTACT 

Please email us complete contact information, including address, emails, phone...

• Obtain Office phone number, AND Cell. 
• Also offer your contact information. Don't ASS U ME anything.

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Too much detail for you? I know, it might seem so. However, in my three plus decades of creating headshots for business and the arts, I have found that not only will ascertaining detailed information better insure that you'll amply meet the needs of your clients, but will also elevate your stature in the hearts and minds of those businesses and artists who employ your headshot services. 

You may want to check out my four Part series on the 4 Key Factors of Headshot Photography. 

All the best,

Mark

©Googtoon - Life • Popular Culture • Politics • Entertainment • Public Figures

Mark Jordan Photography

Orange County Family Portrait

Orange County Headshots