Friday Happy Hour: Is That Batman Pumping My Gas? And More.

Even with the extra day in February this year, the month flew by and I had to do a double take when the calendar said March 1st. Our biggest focus this week by far was announcing the kickoff toward a brand new PhotoShelter, with the first phase due out on March 24th. We’re bringing PhotoShelter members a year-long series of radical upgrades, and in the first phase we’re dramatically improving how photographers manage, publish, and share their photography online.

After yesterday’s announcement, we’re a little sick of talking about ourselves (well, for now anyway). So here’s what we had to catch up on:

Chase Jarvis: “How to become a pro photog in 5 simple steps”

When Chase Jarvis received a note from an aspiring photographer wanting to know what it takes to go pro, he decided to break it down for us in How To Become A Pro Photographer in 5 Simple Steps.” Declare yourself a photographer,” he says. “That’s what you ARE in life.” Chase places a lot of emphasis on doing business well – all this coming from a photographer who’s got it down pat.

The New York Times’ Tubmlr

The New York Times estimates that it has 5-6 million prints and contact sheets, and at least 10 million frames of negatives. So what did they decide to do with all that photography? Create a Tumblr. The Lively Morgue, as it’s aptly named, publishes several photos every week, some of which will be available for purchase. “If we posted 10 new archival pictures every weekday on Tumblr…we wouldn’t have the whole thing online until the year 3935.” It’s a slow but steady move toward total digitization, and a fantastic walk through history.

Canon interviews PhotoShelter member Paolo De Faveri

Italian landscape photographer Paolo De Faveri was recently interviewed by Canon on his journey from salesman to successful photographer. “The first thing I did was build up my website and made sure it had a very good SEO,” he told Canon. Google “Italian landscape photography” and you’ll see that his hard work has paid off. Paolo also gives his top 6 tips for shooting landscape photography, so be sure to check out the full article here.

Entire Olympus board resigns

First Olympus was cast in scandal last year when it was revealed that they had covered up $1.5 billion in losses from the 1990s, and now the entire board of Olympus Corp. is resigning. A new president and chairman have been appointed, who promise to win back public trust and carry out reforms to prevent something similar from happening in the future. Do situations like this influence where you buy your gear? Read the full story on The NY Times.

Photographing fictional characters in real life

What if you saw Batman pumping gas at your local station? Or Hello Kitty serving your grandma tea? French photographer Benjamin Bechet has brought these possibilities to life with his series “I’m Winnie the Pooh”, picked up by Viral Blender. It’s an amusing group of photos.

Facebook Pages moving to Timeline

Just when you finally started to figure out how to configure your Facebook Page, they go ahead and change it on you. This week a little friendly notification started appearing on the top of Pages:

Yep, it’s here – Timeline for Facebook Pages. Most people don’t like change, but let’s look on the bright side. Timeline is an immensely more visually stunning layout and photographers should be ready to take advantage of it. The cover image is certainly the most important stock and should showcase your best work or unique brand. Heads up – the photo must be at least 720px wide.

If you’ve already switched your personal page over to Timeline, then you know what’s coming, and if not…what do you think? Are you excited? Irritated? How are you planning for the change?

New webinar from Agency Access: “Things You Never Learned in School”

What if you could master crucial marketing tactics like cold calls and elevator pitches in less than one hour? Here’s where consultants Amanda Sosa Stone and Jennifer Kilberg come in – Agency Access Academy, a new and engaging marketing series. Catch their first on-demand webinar, “Things You Never Learned In School“.

New Guide & Bootcamp: SEO for Photographers

It’s time to harness the power of search engines to direct more potential clients to your photography website. And with PhotoShelter’s latest update to the SEO for Photographers Workbook, it’s now easier and more manageable than ever. Plus, we’ve added a special Bootcamp component that includes 4 weeks of extra SEO tips and video tutorials. Check it out and start optimizing your website for search.