Pro Photo West Fall 2019

Family 

© Allison English Watkins 

Fall 2019 

P.26 Smokin’ 

BBQ Tips 

P.30 A Cautionary 

Tale 

(Travel woes)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE 

6 8 10 12 

Editor’s Message Meet Your Executive Team 

President’s 

Gadget Girl 

Message 

Picture Perfect 

16 26 

SMOKIN” 

4 

Professional Photographers of California

FALL 2019 

15 

Travel Tips 

24 

Meet your Affiliates 

Cautionary Tale 

West Coast School 

30 33 

www.ppconline.com 

5

Editorial 

A Message From the Editor 

This is our last issue where advertising by any vendor will be complimentary. Starting with our February issue, 

our new advertising rates for Pro Photo West Magazine are as follows: 

Two Page Spread 

Full Page 

Half Page 

1/3 Page 

1/4 Page 

$ 1200.00 

$ 750.00 

$ 500.00 

$ 300.00 

$ 250.00 

These rates are for one calendar year and include ad placement in 4 issues - Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. 

The advertiser must supply the ad(s) for the year. Pro Photo West does not design advertisements. The 

advertiser may choose to run the same ad or change per magazine issue. Ads must be submitted by the 

following ad deadlines and submitted to editor@ppconline.com 

January 1 for the February 1 issue 

April 1 for the May 1 issue 

July 1 for the August 1 issue 

October 1 for the November 1 issue 

I want to thank all of you who have participated in one way or another! Without you this could not have been 

possible! 

ON THE COVER 

Family portrait by Allison English Watkins, M.Photog, CR, CPP

A Huge Thank You to Our Sponsors! 

Your Support is Greatly Appreciated! 

Fall 2019 

7

2018 OFFICERS 

PRESIDENT (Interim) 

Pete Rezac, M.Photog.Cr, CPP, 

M-PPC, S-PPC 

president@ppconline.com 

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT 

Jim Trapp, M.Photog., CPP 

firstvp@ppconline.com 

SECOND VICE PRESIDENT 

Tim Meyer, MFA, MA, M.Photog.Cr, F- 

PPC, S-PPC 

Professional Photographers of California, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)6 

trade association of professional photographers, employees, suppliers 

and others allied to the profession. Professional Photographers of 

California offers a variety of opportunities and benefits to its' Members 

and is one of the largest state affiliates of Professional Photographers of 

America. Pro Photo West is the official publication of Professional 

Photographers of California, and is published quarterly for the purpose of 

keeping Members informed of photographic information, news and 

activities of the state. Subscription is included with Member dues, or is 

available for $36 per year. Articles, with or without photographs, are 

welcome for review for inclusion in this publication; however the Editor 

reserves the right to edit and use articles on a space-available basis. 

Materials will not be returned unless a postage paid envelope is provided. 

Letters and contributions must include a phone number. Send all 

communication, articles or advertising to the Editor. Articles appearing in 

Pro Photo West reflect the opinions of the writer. They do not necessarily 

represent those of the Editor or Professional Photographers of California. 

Permission to reprint contents of this magazine is granted to similar 

photographic publications, provided the author, Professional 

Photographers of California and Pro Photo West are credited as the 

source. 

secondvp@ppconline.com 

SECRETARY 

Diane Costello, M.Photog.Cr, CPP 

secretary@ppconline.com 

TREASURER 

Robin Swanson, M.Photog.Cr, CPP, 

F-PPC, S-PPC, CPA, CGMA 

treasurer@ppconline.com 

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD 

Marcy Dugan, M.Photog.Cr, CPP, M- 

PPC, F-PPC, S-PPC 

cob@ppconline.com 

STAFF 

EXECUTIVE 

ADMINISTRATOR 

Mel Carll, S-PPC 

exec_admin@ppconline.com 

DIRECTOR, 

WEST COAST SCHOOL 

David LaNeve, CPP 

director@westcoastschool.com 

8 


www.ppconline.com Fall 2019 9

President’s Message 

A Fond Farewell as El Jefe Grande Mucho 

Well, here I sit in what has become a second home for me the past few years, the 

airport! I’m on my way to judge for the Professional Photographers of Colorado this 

weekend. It seems fitting to make reference to the other PPC group out there as I’m 

volunteering time to judge for them this weekend, and how I got involved with my favorite PPC group - 

all you guys! 

You see, when I first found PPC back in August of 2012, when I was invited to receive the Kodak 

Gallery Award for Western States Print Competition given at the annual PPC Awards, that I would have 

never imagined what a fantastic group of like-minded people I would meet. Nevada’s state organization 

had folded a few years prior and I was searching for a group to belong to locally aside from PPA. I 

found that welcoming bunch with PPC. I wanted to get involved to help the Association in anyway that 

I could, but living in Reno was a bit logistically difficult to do. 

Anyway fast forward a few years to 2016 and I was asked if I would be interested in being on the PPC 

Board of Directors. I had no idea what was involved with being on the Board of Directors meant and 

genuinely had no idea that it meant moving through the “chairs” and eventually lead the Association. 

Anyway, I state that because I had no desire to become president of PPC. However, it soon became 

clear that was meant to be one day. 

I realized that there was a lot of hard work to be done to keep an association like PPC running and that 

there were many challenges and difficult decisions that get tasked with being on the Board of Directors. 

I had no idea exactly how many challenges there were, but I’m pleased to say that when you are a part 

of a great team those challenges can be met head on and turn out to be great and defining moments. 

I’ve never introduced myself as the President of PPC. I’m just a guy who has been fortunate to serve 

along with some really great people that make this association run. Someone has to sign contracts and 

checks and be the face of the association so I guess that person is the President, and for the last 18 

months that’s been me. However, this is no longer a “My Year” and this is how it’s going to be 

scenario. I adopted a “we” and “team” approach and together the team has accomplished a lot in the 

past 18 months. 

We brought back the “Pro Photo West” magazine in a digital format and it’s going to be a revenue 

generator again in 2020. 

We have begun a complete overhaul of the PPC website go check it out! ppconline.com. You should 

see a visual difference and easy to navigate site. We have found so many plugins that we were paying 

for that have been removed and its easy for our Executive Admin to update. Phase II in 2020 will add 

membership records, merit information, online instruction videos, etc. In short this has been a major 

task and we’re making huge process and under budget. 

We have started to use PPA trained Jurors and PPA Affliate Jurors for our state image competition to 

10 


provide consistent and representative judging that members might find as they progress to PPA District 

Judging and International Photographic Competition. This is a huge member benefit and we hope to 

continue down that road. Along with two brand new Image Competition Monitors. 

We have welcomed a new affiliated to PPC, the Professional Photographers of Santa Clara Valley. We 

are also hoping to welcome another PPA affiliate to the PPC family next year that is also located in 

Northern California! So we are starting to grow the association again! 

We fixed a board position, the secretary, to be a one year term vs. two year term. So that it makes 

sense as the entry position onto the Board of Directors. This way the person occupying the secretary 

position can learn who all the affiliates and affiliate leadership is early on and be super prepared once 

they have the privilege of leading this association. 

We’ve welcomed a new West Coast School Director, David LaNeve and will miss the generous 

contributions from Marcy Dugan. David has some great plans in store for 2020 and the future and I 

hope that all of you reading this wherever you are located can attend one day! It’s that great of an 

experience and the photographic education is world class! 

We’ve had a couple of Days of Education (the name will be changing) to provide those in attendance 

great learning opportunities, and this year we made an investment to have one of the speakers, Bryan 

Welsh, provide some Board of Directors training for all of our affiliates’ Board of Directors that were in 

attendance at the Sacramento meeting last month. We are brain-storming other ideas that we can do 

to help bring value to our affiliates as well. 

Finally, we have implemented using Zoom Communications as a Board of Directors to routinely meet 

and plan for the Association. Communication is the key to running a successful association and since 

we started meeting through zoom calls a little over 14 months ago we have been able to plan and 

overcome many of the challenges that we’ve had to face. Plus it’s great to see all my colleagues 

smiling faces!!! 

I’ll close this last message by saying THANK YOU!!! Those are two words often overlooked, but I mean 

it will all of my heart. I thank each and every one of you for being a member, or a past member, or 

thinking about becoming a member. There are lots of opinions on how things should run, but at the 

end of the day it’s all of you who count! I want to thank those who stepped up when I needed them 

most to fill vacancies - Marcy Dugan for stepping in to be our Chairperson of the Board and Tim Meyer 

who has been a utility person as a 2nd VP, Secretary, and all around great advisor. Also, little did I 

know that I would have an opportunity to serve with one of my long time photography hero’s and get to 

call him friend now, and that I can say blows my mind. Thank you to Robin Swanson, for just being 

Robin and knowing all the things a treasurer needs to know - being a CPA helps too! Thank you Jim 

Trapp for your friendship. Finally Thank you to Diane Costello, you’ve become a great friend and you 

are a doer to no end. I don’t know that I’ve ever met someone so eager to take on any challenge and 

get results as Diane! She’s a fantastic artist and she’s going to be great at leading this association in 

2020! So with that I hand the “baton” of to Diane and wish her well as she becomes the next President 

in this amazing association! I have no doubt that she’s going to have a great team with the addition of 

Larry Skibiski and Michelle Pennings coming on to the Board in 2020! 

CHEERS!!! 


Gadget Girl 

by Robin Hilton Swanson 

THE GRABBER TOOL 

Now you might think this is an odd choice for a Gadget Girl article. I mean…what is so great about a 

Grabber Tool? Well…besides the obvious (that it is great for grabbing things that are out of reach), I 

use it for picking up litter. What has that got to do with photography??? I’ll get to that in a moment. 

Let me begin by telling you a little story. Every morning for the past 20 years, my husband and I get up 

at 6:00 a.m. (rain or shine) and go for a two mile walk. Several years ago, we decided that as long as 

we were walking, we would pick up litter along the way. Thus began the evolution of our refuse 

relocation hobby. After many years, we have discovered that there are several tools you need to 

effectively and safely pick up litter: 

• Grabber tool (good for most litter) 

• A Plastic Bag (for depositing the litter) 

• Latex Gloves (for the really icky stuff) 

• Safety Vest (especially if you are walking in the dark) 

12

• And for Rainy Days… a Poncho and Rain Hat 

Armed with the above tools, you would be amazed at the plethora of items we pick up on our 

walks: Empty cigarette packages, papers and boxes, car parts, Styrofoam, thousands of those 

little straw wrappers from juice boxes, fast food containers cups and straws, candy bar wrappers, 

and lots more stuff that you can’t even imagine. The best thing that we occasionally find is 

money. Yes, you read it correctly…MONEY! Over the years we have found over $300.00. I 

once found a $100.00 bill and I can tell you that it is a very nice way to start off the day. 

So, what does this have to do with photography? Well, when I was growing up I was taught that 

you always leave a place better than you found it. How many times have you gone to a location 

to shoot a portrait or to take landscape photos and seen litter strewn about? If you go to these 

spots prepared, you can pick up the litter and leave the area better than you found it. I always 

keep a spare grabber tool and plastic bag in my car just in case I come across some litter that 

needs picking up. At a minimum, you can keep a roll of Doggie Poop bags in your car. They 

work great for picking up all sorts of litter. 

Now, I challenge all of you to arm yourselves with a grabber tool and a bag and go out there and 

pick up some litter! Let’s leave the landscape better than we found it. 

www.ppconline.com Fallr 2019 13

14

Before You Travel… 

by Rebecca Li 

Are you traveling this holiday season? It’s time to check the validity of your passport and IDs. In 

general, you need 6 months of validity on your passport for international travel or an unexpired identification 

card, such as your driver’s license, for domestic travel. 

Allow ample time to apply for or renew your travel documents. For example, for U.S. passport, the regular 

processing time for renewal is 6-8 weeks. You may pay for expedited service if you are running late. Only in 

the case of life-or-death emergencies, you may be able to make an appointment and get your passport 

within 72 hours (3 days). 

Want to breeze through border controls? Consider applying for Global Entry, NEXUS, or SENTRI. These 

programs pre-screen low-risk travelers and provide dedicated processing lanes at selected airports and the 

borders. U.S. Citizens and lawful permanent residents enrolled in these programs are also eligible for TSA 

Pre✓®, which expedites traveler screening through TSA security checkpoints. 

Real IDs for 2020? Beginning October 1, 2020, you will need a valid passport or a “Real ID”-compliant 

license/ID to board federally regulated commercial aircraft (and entering Federal facilities and nuclear power 

plants, for that matter.) For California, you can apply for a compliant driver’s license or identification through 

the DMV, in person, with 2 proofs of residency.* You may apply now or wait until your identification expires. 

However, if you choose to renew online or by mail, you will only get a federal non-compliant card that 

contains the phrase “Federal Limits Apply.” In the latter case, you will need other Real ID-compliant/TSAapproved 

identification. 

Are you traveling abroad? Check out the US Department of State website Travel.State.Gov, which include 

very useful information such as: 

- Details specific to your destination 

- Travel documents required 

- Insurance coverage 

- Crisis management 

- How to sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) 

Non-US citizens should contact the Embassy or Consulate of your country of citizenship for similar travel 

safety programs. 

Safe travels! 

* If you have applied for a Real ID driver’s license or identification card at the California DMV before April 29, 

2019, with only one form of proof of residency, you should have received correspondence requesting action, 

or you will need to provide the additional proof at the next renewal. 


Picture Perfect 

Tips for Better Family Portraits 

By: Allison English Watkins, M.Photog, CR, CPP 

16 


www.prophotoca.com Winter 2019 17

3 Tips for Better Family Portraits 

By Allison English Watkins, Master Photog., Craftsman, CPP 

I believe that displaying family portraits in the home is one of the best tools we have available to combat the 

pressure of being a teen these days. Our kids are being raised in a visual world, via online apps like Instagram 

and Snap Chat just to name a few, where the insatiable consumption of imagery both feeds the need for 

entertainment but starves the soul from true emotional connection. Both kids and adults spend way too much 

time scrolling thru images they only see for a moment and then forget. The goal of trying to be seen and 

acknowledged in today’s world of fast flying information, that disappears within hours of publication, can make 

us feel like we could disappear and be instantly replaced and no one would notice. This is why I feel family 

portraits matter now more than ever. 

Large printed family portraits in homes are the visual antidote to the never ending scrolling that cause teenage 

and adult angst. Because the world is so visual we must fight back with visuals, but permanent visuals that don’t 

disappear. A large family portrait displayed in a home stands like a lighthouse reminding all who live inside 

that they have a place where they belong and can find safe harbor. A family portrait saturates our visual 

subconscious with the message that we have people who love us and want us. The world needs more messages 

of love and belonging which is why I truly believe that family portraits change the world. Creating family 

portraits is a job I take very serious because I believe I am creating lifelines that tether family members together 

and remind them of their connections to each other. 

Here are 3 tips I use to create more impactful family portraits. 

1. Focus on telling a story with your family portraits. Each family has a unique 

style and a connection that they want to turn into a visual story. When a client contracts you to create their 

family portrait they are trusting you to make an illustration of their life that tells a good story. Marianne 

Williamson says, “People crave comfort, people crave connection and people crave community.” A 

fabulous family portrait fulfills all three of the human needs. Are the family portraits you create full of 

emotion, connection and comfort? Have you ever even thought about integrating these emotional goals into 

your portraits? Adding emotions to a family portrait is like decorating a cupcake, it’s what makes people 

want it. 

A great way to add emotional impact to your family portraits is by literally working to connect each member 

of the family. Work to use the hands to connect from one subject to another. See if you can create a subtle 

chain through all the members of a family by each member connecting to another. Don’t let hands hang 

down to the sides, dangling arms are a missed opportunity to add emotional impact. Sometimes creating 

these connections is easy and obvious with hand holding or hugging and sometimes the connection is more 

subtle like and elbow on someone else or a hand on a shoulder. This little effort will add the comfort, 

connection and community that will make your clients’ heart sing every time they gaze at their family 

portrait. 

18 



2. Get better expressions by using a tripod. Our clients’ faces are a reflection of our 

own expression and excitement as photographers. When the photographers face is behind the camera there 

is a big questions mark in the subjects mind as to what emotion they should be showing. When clients can 

see the photographers eyes and expression they can mimic better the emotion desired as well as see positive 

reinforcement in the photographers face. Grab a tripod and you will find your clients will engage more with 

you as well as evoke more emotion. 

I find photographing families with a tripod essential. Often times a wiggly child or an uncomfortable teen 

will need a head swap in the final portrait so everybody is their best self. If I create the portrait using a 

tripod I can watch the faces as I create and make sure that I have at least one image of each person that I can 

combine in the final product if necessary. In the digital age, no family member should look less then their 

best in the final portrait. 

3. Three family poses that sell. I have 3 poses I work for on each family session. The first pose 

I call “The Classic”- a full-length portrait that each family is expecting. 



I call the second pose “The Snuggle”. In this pose I come in closer and try to focus on maximum emotional 

connection between subjects. Often times this pose just flows at the end of a more formal pose when I instruct 

everybody to just snuggle and lean into each other. This is often the clients’ favorite pose because it shows joy 

and feels authentic and focuses on faces over scenery. 

www.ppconline.com Fall 2019

The 3rd pose is “The Relationship” pose. 

An image that shows all the people relating to each other. Sometimes this image is laughing or 

walking or looking at each other and often times has action. I think of these 3 different poses as 

answering the questions: What does this family look like? What does this family feel like? How 

do they relate to each other? 

22 


I find all 3 of these poses essential for maximum client satisfaction as well as artistic creativity when designing 

finished products like holiday cards and albums. Having a posing goal when photographing families helps give 

me direction during the photo session. 

It’s easy to get in a rut and only photograph what a family looks like and forget the emotion. Vice versa: I see the 

trend of modern family photography only showing the relational images and forgetting the classic portrait. If I 

aim to create all 3 styles during a session I know I have exceeded my clients expectation and probably made them 

laugh in the process. 

Creating strong relationships with clients that hire you is not only emotionally satisfying but financially beneficial. 

According to the Professional Photographers of America GAP research findings, the number 1 reason a client hires 

a specific photographers is because they LIKE them. More important than skill, pricing, and experience; research 

has found that the 2 most important reason for choosing a photographer is because of your likeability and ease to 

work with. Using these 3 tips for family portrait session success, you will build strong relationships and make 

working together easy in the future. The key to a long and fulfilling career. 


A F F I L I A T E S H I G H L I G H T S 

AVPP - All Valley Professional Photographers 

Arthur Agote 

President 

allvalleypp.com 

Walter Wright 

Vice President 

CIPPA - Channel Islands Professional Photographers 

Larry Skibiski 

President 

www.cippa.org/ 

Vacant 


GCPPA - Gold Coast Professional Photographers 

Sandra Cortez 

President 

goldcoastppa.info/ 

Michael Collins 


IEPPV - Inland Empire Professional Photographers 

Nick Seth-Smith 

President 

ieppv.com/ 

David Schulman 


PPLAC - Professional Photographers of Los Angeles County 

John Grusd 

President 

pplac.org/ 

Eleanor Gray 

Vice President

PPOC - Professional Photographers of Orange County 

Duane Murphy 

President 

ppoc.org/ 

John Aranas 


PPSDC - Professional Photographers of San Diego County 

Janet Bark 

President 

ppsdc.com/ 

Antoine Didienne 


PPSV - Professional Photographers of Sacramento Valley 

Kimberly Olker 

President 

ppsv.org/ 

Suzanne Hambleton 


PPSCV - Professional Photographers of Santa Clara Valley 

Roberto Gonzalez 

President 

James Skintauy 


https://www.facebook.com/groups/1621796218145137/ 

HPP - Hispanic Professional Photographers 

Rutilo Corona 

President 

Nickolas Curtis 

Secretary 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1621796218145137/ 

Fall 2019

SMOKIN’… 

by Mel Carll, S-PPC 

26 


One of my most favorite things to smoke is pork ribs. They just have a ton of flavor and lets face it, 

everyone loves ribs….. 

You too can make amazing Smoked Ribs….. 

So you ask why am I smoking them vs. grilling them? Well, it’s because the low and slow method 

allows you to develop that smoke flavor, plus allowing the meat to become very tender, and gives 

you that “fall off the bone” effect. 

So to get started I get my smoker going, and my 

smoker of choice is the Big Green Egg. It is a 

ceramic smoker that holds the heat well. There 

are many different types of smokers (pellet, weber 

smokey mountain, and many others), but my 

choice is the BGE. I get my lump charcoal started, 

and then add a couple of chunks of pecan wood 

for my smoke flavor. I want to get my smoker up 

to a temp of 250 degrees. 

While the smoker is coming to temp, I need to 

prep the ribs. The first thing is to pull the silver 

skin on the back of the ribs. While this is not 

required, by removing it, it allows the seasonings 

and smoke to penetrate the meat on the bottom. 

Once removed, I give the ribs a liberal sprinkling 

of BBQ rub. This is another area that you have 

lots of choices. You can easily buy rubs at your 

favorite market, or you can get creative and make 

your own. I generally make my own, and it 

usually has at least 5-8 ingredients and it really is 

based on what you like. 


Once the ribs have been seasoned, and the smoker has reached a temp of 250 degrees, it’s time to 

put them on the smoker. I will leave them on the smoker for 3 hours. Here is the hard part. DO 

NOT LOOK….. If you are looking, you are not cooking. As long as your temp remains at a constant 

250 degrees, you are good, 

After 3 hours I pull the ribs off the smoker. Now we will wrap them in foil. This helps the cooking 

process and keeps the ribs moist. I generally will put some BBQ cause on the bottom of the foil, 

and some agave (you can use honey if you like, but I personally like agave). Then I wrap the ribs 

tightly in the foil and back on the smoker for another hour to 1.5 hours depending on how thick the 

ribs are, and how “fall of the bone” you like. I generally only go an hour in foil, as I like the ribs to 

not come off the bone. After this I take the ribs out of the foil, and place them back on the smoker 

for another hour to tighten the ribs up a bit, and allow the sauce to glaze. 

So now you have smelled these ribs for the last 5 hours and can’t wait any longer. So pull the ribs 

off the smoker, slice and serve…. AND WOW!!!!! These can be some of the most amazing ribs you 

have had. And if you have friends or family over, they will never leave. Trust me!!!!!! Not to mention 

you will drive your neighbors crazy with some of the most amazing food ever…… 

Enjoy and eat some amazing ribs……… 

28


CHECKED BAGGAGE…A CAUTIONARY TALE 

By - Robin Swanson 

With the holidays coming and with Imaging USA just around the corner, a lot of you will be 

traveling by plane. I thought I would share with you some very important lessons that I recently 

learned regarding checked baggage. 

My sister and I recently took our Mother on a much anticipated cruise to Alaska. This was a 

present for our Mother’s 87 th birthday. When we arrived in Seattle and went to get our luggage 

from the Delta carousel in the baggage claim area, two of our checked bags could not be found. 

We immediately went to the Delta Baggage Claim counter and reported the 2 missing bags. After 

much confusion and frustration, we were directed to the Seattle Port Police where we went over 

the videos from the baggage claim security cameras. YIKES! Right there on the video we saw 3 

people STEAL 3 bags. One bag belonged to another passenger, one bag was mine and one bag 

belonged to my sister (what are the odds?). The luggage thieves very casually walked in off the 

street, grabbed our bags, then walked out the door to a waiting car and drove away. This is the 

new reality…there is no one stationed in the baggage claim areas to check luggage tags. Any bad 

guy (or girl) can walk right in off the street and take your luggage. 

Now began the arduous process of filing reports with both Delta and with the police. The process 

took several hours and we made it to the cruise ship with only minutes to spare. 

Now what? We were embarking on an Alaskan cruise and my sister had NO CLOTHES and I 

was missing some of my clothes and all of my personal items. The Delta people told us to buy 

what we needed to “get by” and that we would be reimbursed. So that is what we did. Due to the 

very limited shopping on board and the time constraints once we arrived in Juneau, we were 

forced to buy things that we would never use again once we were back home…they were just to 

“get by”. 

Once we were home, we went through the cumbersome process of filing claims for the stolen 

items and separate claims for the out-of-pocket expenses. Although Delta reimbursed us for the 

stolen luggage, they denied our out-of-pocket expense claims stating that it is their policy to only 

reimburse for the stolen luggage and not the out-of-pocket expenses. Had our luggage been 

simply “delayed”, then they would pay the out-of-pocket expenses. We are still battling with Delta 

over this. 

Now, these are the important lessons I learned (many of these tips were shared with me by the 

Seattle Port Police officer): 

1. NEVER fly on the same day that you are meeting a cruise ship (or any other important time 

sensitive event). Too many things can go wrong. 

2. Make your suitcase stand out so that you can identify it from all angles (a ribbon tied to 

the handle is not enough). Many bags look alike and if you have a plain looking suitcase, it is very 

hard to identify on the security videos. Also, luggage thieves are looking for suitcases that are 

non-descript. I was advised to use Red Duct tape to mark both sides of my luggage with a big red 

30 


“X” (see photo). This will also keep people from taking your bag by mistake. 

3. Make sure you have a bag tag on your suitcase with your name, address and phone number. This 

makes it easier for you to be notified in the event your bag is located after you leave the airport. 

4. Take a picture of your suitcase before you leave. You would be surprised what details you just don’t 

remember (i.e. does it have a little red tag on the zipper, what brand is it, how many zippers does it 

have…etc.) 

5. Keep an inventory of the items in your suitcase. If you need to file a claim, they want a detailed list 

with item descriptions, when and where they were purchased and the cost of each item. 

6. NEVER pack in your checked luggage: Cash, medication, securities, negotiable papers, 

irreplaceable documents, jewelry, silverware, precious metals, works of art, camera, electronic, and 

computer equipment, as well as any other items that cannot easily be replaced. This includes charging 

cables for your devices. The airline will NOT reimburse you for these items. 


7. ALWAYS KEEP your baggage claim ticket. Airports do not check baggage claim tickets 

anymore; however, if you need to file a claim, this number becomes VERY IMPORTANT. 

8. If your luggage is lost or stolen, immediately file a claim with the Airline baggage claim 

representative. If it is determined that your bag has been stolen…immediately file a report with the 

police. 

9. If you are traveling with another person and both of you have a missing bag, make the airline 

representative file a SEPARATE claim for each passenger (this will save a lot of frustration and 

confusion going forward.) 

10. If it is at all possible, only buy items that you will be able to use once you get home. The airline 

will deduct any reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses from your lost/stolen baggage claim. 

11. Add to your carry-on bags a few things to get you by in the event that your luggage goes 

missing: 

a. Toothbrush & toothpaste 

b. Medications 

c. Extra pair of underwear and socks 

d. Cell phone & device chargers 

e. Etc. (you get the idea) 

12. Read the airline “ticket contract” for the little details. Many of the Airline representatives we 

spoke to were ignorant of these rules and gave us incorrect information. I was even told by a Delta 

employee who called on behalf of the “Vice President of Customer Experience Integration” that many 

of the customer service representatives will “say anything” when they don’t have the answer. 

Really???? Then what is the point of asking. DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. 

So, when you are packing for your next trip, keep the above suggestions in mind. You may not be 

able to prevent a case of delayed, lost or stolen luggage, but you can minimize the risk. In addition, 

taking the above steps will help reduce the impact this type of situation will have on your vacation/ 

business trip and help you move forward with the claims process once you return home. 

Remember… “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!” 

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The Professional Photographers of California proudly presents the 

West Coast School of Photography at the University of San Diego, 

June 7-12, 2020. 

http://www.westcoastschool.com/ 

West Coast School is a Professional Photographers of America (PPA) Affiliate School founded in 

1956 and is considered to be one of the top five photographic institutions in the country! West 

Coast School is a non-profit organization operated by the Professional Photographers of California 

and offers an amazing week of hands-on Professional Imaging Creativity, Photography, Business 

Developement and FUN! 

Instructors are Internationally recognized and share the same goal of helping you with the growth 

of your photography business. Each year, nationally acclaimed working professionals celebrate 

the craft of photography by sharing their knowledge and expertise with their students. Hands-on 

participation is emphasized as students learn the latest techniques from a successful professional. 

West Coast School offers an outstanding lineup of instructors and a full schedule of special events. 

Our commitment has been to teach attendees practical, real-world skill that can be used to build a 

satisfying and prosperous career in professional photography. 

Check out our instructor line up for 2020! 

Are You ready to register? 

REGISTER NOW! 


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NEW for 2020 - 3 - Day Session

Pro Photo West Fall 2019

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