Welshot Focus - Issue 1 - January 2017

ACADEMY EVENTS
FEB - MAR
BEGINNERS COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY
Shooting & Making Composites
Saturday - Sunday: 11-12 February
Crowne Plaza Chester,
PHOTOGRAPHIC LIGHTING ACADEMY
A Weekend of Learning to Use Studio Lighting
& Off Camera Flash
Saturday - Sunday: 18-19 February
Crowne Plaza Chester,
WELSHOT DOES COSPLAY
Themed Photo-Shoot with Models
Saturday: 4 March
Crowne Plaza Chester,
ADVANCED COMPOSITE PHOTOGRAPHY
Post Processing Day
Saturday: 11 March
Crowne Plaza Chester,
WELSHOT REWARD DAY
Street & Documentary Photography Challenge
Saturday: 4 February
Crowne Plaza Chester,
WELSHOTREWARD Days are something a little bit different
– not like your normal “Rewards Scheme”, we reward Academy
Members for “Doing Stuff” rather than spending money.
Steven Riley
Who are you?
I’m Lauren MacNeish - I work in the marketing/business development team at SmugMug.
What do you do?
I work on marketing/sales ideas for SmugMug and get to partner with some great friends
in the industry - such as Welshot. I’m always looking out for fantastic partnering ideas and
I’m currently working on initiatives for the student/education sector - which fits in nicely
with Welshot too. For those that don’t already know, SmugMug is the safe and beautiful
home for all of your photographs.
Who’s in the office with you today?
We’re headquartered in Mountain View, California in a funky building with jaw-dropping
photos on every wall. I’m based in our office in Scotland and work alongside our European
Manager - Alastair Jolly. We’re situated between Edinburgh and Glasgow, so if you ever
find yourself in Scotland - reach out!
How long have you been in the business?
I’ve been working in the photographic industry for around 9 years now. I’ve been with
SmugMug since May 2016 - it’s been a very quick but totally amazing 8 months. I was
a SmugMug customer before I was a team member so it’s always nice to work for a
company you believe in and are passionate about. We have core values at SmugMug
that are very inline with my own personal values, making SmugMug an incredible place to
work and be a part of. Our values are: 1) We are a family, 2) We thrill our customers, 3) We
deliver awesome, 4) We dare to be different, 5) We live passionately.
What’s new on the horizon?
We have lots of exciting projects underway at SmugMug just now. Some of the projects we
have been proud of recently are: 1) the recent launch of our Windows app, which allows
customers to easily drag and drop photos from their desktop to SmugMug. 2) the release
of our new Apple TV app - this enables our customers a brand new way to showcase
their photographs and follow other photographers. 3) our new SmugMug film ‘Nomadic
Photographic’ - the film has inspired many people around the globe and still gives me
goosebumps!
What is it that attracted you to Welshot?
At SmugMug we pride ourselves on our family values and have a real passion for
photography. We love Welshot’s enthusiasm for photography and ‘family feel’. It’s evident
that Lee and the team treat their members like family and are continually hosting events
to further everyone’s skills in photography. We love the social element to Welshot too - the
values seem very inline with our own.
If your company was a crayon, what colour would it be and why?
Oh it would have to be green of course - it’s the colour of SmugMug! But I’d also say green
on a metaphoric level because we are very conscious of the environment and always strive
to be economically friendly. Ben Von Wong - one of our featured artists - recently did a
photographic project on plastic and the environment - it’s very thought-provoking!
Tell me something exciting about one of your products
This is a tough question - there are so many! First and foremost, I love that SmugMug
has something for everyone; from the family historian (the ones who love to document
family life) to the professional photographer (the ones who need a stunning home for
photographs with the ability to sell). We really are a home for everyone and our unlimited
space makes it easier than ever to archive your photographs. On a personal level, I love
the ability to upload my photographs at their full resolution (for safe-keeping/back-up) but I
can still control what size they are viewed at on my website.
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This we believe makes it fair for everyone – all Members have the same opportunity and are on
a level playing field and earning points does not come down to how much money you spend.
From writing a blog, entering a forum challenge, supplying us with an image from a Welshot
event or just even because we feel like rewarding our Members – it is really easy to let those
WELSHOTREWARDS build up.
Then all you have to do is decide how you are going to spend them – from now on specifically
designed WELSHOTREWARDS Days can be purchased from the website – no money changes
hands (please see any special T’s & C’s specific to each event) and WELSHOTREWARDS are
deducted from your account automatically.
How often do you go out with your camera?
Everyday if I can. Winter in Scotland can make that next to impossible at times - it’s usually
dark and miserable by the time the working day is over. If I could, I would travel the world
everyday with my camera - I think that’s why our latest SmugMug film resonated with me
so much.
Which song best describes you as a company?
Oh another toughy! Hmm… I mean, there are so many. I guess the Superman theme song
because we strive to be ‘superheroes’ for our customers and partners; our support team
are called ‘heroes’ because they are on-hand to help 24/7 and they have saved a lot of our
customers’ accidental deletions. Plus, the Superman theme song is pretty awesome and
we like to think we are too :-)
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