New Faces @RGebbiePhoto

by Lori Gebbie


We would like to introduce you to two new faces!

Robyn Cooperman has been a friend of mine for several years. We met in College and sang together in the choir. Robyn is still singing, and is trying to get out there as a model/actress. She’s got such a great outgoing personality, and has a real positive outlook! We’ve hired her as our Outside Sales person, and she’s helping us get going on our portrait work here in Las Vegas.

Albert Carinio is someone we met since we’ve been in town. He’s got a great outlook, and a great sense of humor, and we’re looking forward to working with him in our stock photography. We’ve got some real fun things planned for him, and are going to draw on his ethnic background for several of our shots!

We’re looking forward to bringing our brand of photography to the Las Vegas area, and already have received quite a reception! Unfortunately, due to ethical issues, we had to pull out of the WAF/Humiliated Angels gallery exhibit we were going to be a part of, but we’ve made new connections with the art community here, and look forward to displaying our work with them.

Due to our issues with our vehicle, we will be staying close to the Las Vegas area for a while. We still plan on visiting a lot of the scenery in the area, and since Robert isn’t from this part of the country, it will be nice to see his fresh view on the local terrain. The journey continues as we sort through our view of life, and reminding ourselves, that, even in the face of adversity, we can still focus on the positive and remain inspired to carry on!

Jim is Also a Model

We have been so busy, trying to get everything set up. We had a ton of research to do while getting our books ready, ISBN numbers, Bar Codes, press releases, etc. And Robert has been doing a bit of writing for eHow, Associated Content, and a handful of other sites. Robert also keeps up with our marketing and advertising. And I’ve been working on the stock side of things, keywording and submitting, as well as all the paperwork side of the house.

Oh, and we just got new lights. So, in the midst of all we are doing, we got some people to come over and take a few pictures. This is James Burns, creator of the Flowers at Night series, as well as others. Sometimes we can get him to step in front of the camera. Here are some of the shots we got. Sorry, I don’t edit, so those are converted straight from RAW. And, yeah, I think they will go stock.

Making Progress

Wow, what a week it’s been! We’ve been working hard on getting some of the backlogged work ready for stock. Most of the work we shoot is regular commercial, so we put it up on Microstock. But there are some shots that are just a step better. Maybe it’s the angle it’s shot, or the subject matter, or it’s just too “artsy” for Micros. Those are the shots we put up at Midstock. Our current portfolio is at Alamy Stock photography by Robert Gebbie at Alamy

Here are some of the images we hope the inspectors like as much as we do!

A Visit With A Friend

Recently, my wife and I scheduled a photo session with Tony, a friend of ours. Initially we planned on doing a kitchen set with food preparation images, since Tony was a chef years ago. We arrived, bags and cases full of lights, umbrellas, cameras and meters, eager and ready to get some great food shots. We had been discussing the possibilities of peppers and other vegetables that had been recently harvested from his backyard garden. Beautiful colorful food, clean prep shots, chopping and dicing, the potential was exciting.

Barely awake, Tony invited us in. It was morning and there was a slight chill in the house. We got to the kitchen and set down our equipment as Tony quickly passed out steaming hot cups of rich coffee.

“Let me get a cup down, and I’ll get a fire going to warm up the place.” We moved to the living room, Tony in front of the fireplace, slowly sipping coffee and clearing the pit. The conversation was jovial, good friends catching up on the past week’s events. This was a shoot for our stock portfolios and we set aside the entire day for the visit. We sipped at our coffee over the next half hour, then Tony grabbed his boots, jacket and gloves, and went outside to grab some wood. He came back, arms full, and started stacking them into the fireplace. Then he grabbed a small hatchet and split off a few pieces for kindling. As the fire started to spread, he sat back on the hearth and sighed, contented. I cannot remember what our conversation had been about, but looking up from my steaming mug, I knew there would be no food in the pictures we shot today.

“What’s up?” Tony looked confused as I went to the kitchen for my equipment and started setting up my light stand. My wife giggled and said, “I think he’s inspired! Just keep talking and pretend he’s not here.” I grinned as I pulled the lens cover off of my camera.

Our cups were emptied and filled several times, the conversation continued as the fire burned brightly. Morning faded to afternoon as I held my camera and snapped off shot after shot. We all had a great visit and the images that were created captured moments in time that are very real. The reflected emotions and thought in a man’s face carry far more impact than the commercial-style session we had planned.

Operations Manager Introduction; Hello

As a form of introduction, this is contributed by Lori Gebbie, my wife and partner.

We started RGP on accident. Robert was working at a j.o.b. and needed an outlet for his creativity. Jim decided he wanted to buy a camera, and started asking Robert about photography. The bug was planted. They discussed theory and practical matters. Jim did some research and found Microstock, and this is where I come in. I joined a forum, found a few stock sites, read their forums, looked at legal documents, read through submission requirements, and wondered what the heck I was reading. While considering myself a photographer, I am more of a hobbyist. And I had no idea what overblown highlights, purple fringing, or artifacting was.

Through a severe downsizing at work, Robert was laid off in the second wave of layoffs. This is significant, because I wasn’t working, either. I was devoting my waking hours (literally) to learning Microstock and what the heck this keywording thing was all about. We decided we had been given a gift of opportunity, and took it. We went full time into Microstock.

It has been a very trying time. We’ve had great successes, and severe disappointments. We’ve almost thrown it in a few times. We’ve almost thrown our relationship in a few times, too! But we’ve grown stronger and more determined in every way to make our company, and our lives, successful.

I’ll be contributing from time to time on this blog, sharing information about our workflow and tracking systems. And giving out some of the information that I wish I had found quickly and easily when I was first starting out. Like the importance of a good title and accurate keywording. And how to embed information into your image. And what was required with a model release. And so on, and so forth.

I’ve learned a lot in the last year. I still don’t know how to set up lighting or how to work the F-stops, but I’m confident in my job as final pass/fail before the image goes up on a site. With over 80% acceptance rate with the Big 5, Robert is confident as well.