Contest: Win a Think Tank Retrospective Camera Bag

by Aaron Hockley on December 6, 2010

It’s Monday, it’s the busy holiday season, and it’s time for a giveaway! My friends over at Think Tank Photo have provided me with an awesome camera bag to give away to one lucky Picture Pundit reader.

The Bag

I’m giving away a black Retrospective 30 – it’s a soft-sided shoulder bag that can hold quite a bit of gear while allowing the wearer a lot of flexibility. A few details about the Retrospective 30:

Carries one or two DSLR bodies
Carries up to four SLR lenses
Some smaller pockets for pens, business cards, etc
Seam-sealed rain cover
Adjustable shoulder strap as well as smaller carrying handle

Current retail value of the Retrospective 30 is $179.

The Contest

Contest entry is simple: just leave a comment below that gives one example of how you’ve seen a small or local business using photography to promote themselves, their brand, or their product. It could be in advertising, social media, their physical location, or any other venue.

Contest comments must be left by 6pm Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, December 9th 2010. The winner will be announced on Friday the 10th.

The fine print: contest is open to United States residents only. You may leave multiple comments but multiple comments will not increase chances of winning. One name will be randomly chosen from those who have left comments on this blog post. The camera gear pictured with the bag is not included. Winner will be contacted via the email address left on their blog comment. Not valid if such a contest is illegal where you live.

Other Free Stuff from Think Tank Photo

Just as a reminder, Picture Pundit readers can always get their choice of free gear when they order from Think Tank Photo. Just click that link and find out how to get a free gift from Think Tank Photo.

Update: thanks to all who entered. Comments are now closed and a winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday December 10th.

Tagged as: camera bags, equipment, gear, retrospective 30, think tank photo

Katie

I’ve seen several small local businesses promote their skills/wares with window signage on their personal cars, unique folding promotional cards, and personalized letterpress cards

-Kate Borst
http://kennedygallerysac.com Derek

Here’s an art gallery in Sacramento that uses photography to show sample artwork and and interior of the gallery. The also use a Photoshopped exterior photo of the gallery for their header which gives a semi-cartoon effect which is kind of neat. http://kennedygallerysac.com
http://steveeshom.com/ Steve Eshom

I think Urban Bay Photography has a great story. Chelsea started the business while she was still in high school because she saw the need for more artful and cutting edge senior photos. http://urbanbayphoto.webs.com/ She uses her website and FB to keep her current work in front of her fans and potential clients.
ThatKidNiki72

Ah, that’s one sexy camera bag

Tons of clothes stores depend on photography to promote…well, their clothes. A specific store is Justice. Every week they send out pamphlets with models and poses with their brand clothes. I honestly don’t shop at this store considering I’m now too old for it, but it’s not directed for my age anyways. The pamphlets really do attract the customer with the funky poses and cute models. Without photography they most likely wouldn’t have half their costumers!
Will

I local designer, who creates very avant garde fashion pieces has to show her work some how and that is through photography. She was featured in a local magazine and her adds feature her outrageous creations. Photography is the only way to really understand her artful designs because of their complexities.
http://MarkKalanPhoto.com Mark Kalan

I was recently asked to do a series of portraits for an ad campaign to help dispel the myths of Hospice. Both the ad agency and I donated our services. You can see the ads on my Flickr site here: http://bit.ly/gtTMLN and the web use for the Hospice here: http://hospiceofrockland.org/testimonials the ads ran in a saturation buy in local print media. I’ve been informed that the Hospice has received many calls and the common thread was that “the ads convinced me to call.”
Tylerdrew

Mobile food trucks seem to be one of the new “in” things. Lately I’ve seen many of the local food trucks using photography, and twitter not only to get photos out there of what their food looks like, but also utilizing twitter’s location feature to broadcast the food trucks location. Seems like the perfect tool for the job!
http://twitter.com/emilmclark Emily Clark

Well, the only thing I can think of is the a year ago when my aunt asked if I could come down to her husband’s Fish Farm and take some pictures. They live slightly out in the boonies so they wanted more people in the city to know about their AWESOME fish farm! There is a Farmer’s Market every Saturday that they bring Fish to so they wanted to put some pictures up at their booth! I went over and took some pictures for them and they really did get some more business! I was pretty amazed. First REAL photo job I ever had! But it was way fun!
Anonymous

a local climbing gym uses photographs of local climbers as back drops in all their flyers, ads, gift cards, awards. he has a lot of climbing photos from lots of people in town that he ‘shares’ in this way. Even one or two of mine
Dana King

Citibank did a brilliant campaign of posting very unusual photos all over their banks. Each photo was alluring and interesting, enough so that some branches actually had people walking up to the windows to see why a bank had poster sized strange photos. Once you read them, it was “a-typical” banking advert to invest into your future or setting up a checking account. How many customers did it spawn? Only Citibank would know the exact figures. I did and still do think it was a brilliant marking campaign.

Dana King

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17554153@N00/100970817/

the above shows one of the adverts they would post on the outside of banks.

Liquidforce101

We do photography for local theatre clubs in the city. Headshots for the actors and pieces of the scenes for promotional use. Fun to do!
Charles Gomez

I’ve seen small businesses promote their company in many different ways. From having intriguing little businesses cards to modeling products at famous scenic sites…it’s all pretty much been done. For example, Christmas…businesses will try to attract customers by putting christmas dcorations in their shop windows or have signs. For kids stores, they will sell christmas toys and possibly even have a truck river pose as Santa so the kids will drag their parents into buying something. =)
http://www.timsnowphotography.com TimSnowPhoto

A simple example I saw was a local fitness club who sent out 5×7 postcards with around 40 thumbnails printed on a grid. It was surprisingly simple and eye catching. They used detail shots from around the gym and of various pieces of equipment.
Trent

Many times, I see local companies feature a quickly recognizable local setting or landmark in the background with the feature of their product or representative talent. Icons for Seattle such as the Space Needle or Pike Place Market.
Paul D.

In the Phoenix area I’m seeing more and more real estate agents “getting it” and hiring pro photographers to come in and shoot homes for sale. What a difference that seemsto make in turnaround time, especially in the housing crunch we’re in! Photography is having a HUGE impact there.
Rroessing

My girls company is using photos of heating systems to promote their work:
http://www.wtk-waermetechnik.de
Anagr88

I see my neighbour local photographer promote his business just by doing excellent work and showing in in his shop. It brings clients because it is really good work. I think he needs no more promotion, as he is always busy!
jjolddahgoo

A local business here uses photos on Twitter to promote new menu items and specials that the chefs are cooking up.
Janetycho

A friend’s non-profit depends on photo and video from their travels to promote awareness of the need of educators around the world
Anonymous

Jonathan of Bikeportland.org did a fantastic job continually posting pics of all the fabulous wares at Bikecraft VI this past weekend, encouraging folks to come out and shop some local handmade wares. Also, we made the front page. http://bikeportland.org/2010/12/04/photos-from-day-one-of-bikecraft-44019
Paul Wallace

BlackRapid is the company that came to mind. They use twitter and facebook and photos of people using the product
Chris Stampar

My dads business often purchases microstock photos online for advertising use in our local magazine.
http://twitter.com/jeremyv10 Jeremy Verinsky

My friend started a mask making business at http://www.trickortreatstudios.com. They use product photographs on their website and promotional materials to market their products and promote their brand.

Anthony Siciliano1

That rocks!

Deadheartpix

I honestly cannot think of a company of any size who DOESN’T use photography to promote what they do. However, one recent example that stands out for me is a local gallery who uses panoramic photos of areas around our town that are blown up, and modge-podged so that it’s both art, AND promotion for the area.
Courtney

I’ve been hired on multiple occasions by local small service businesses such as realtors, placement agents and public relations specialists to do family portrait sessions for their clients. They are able to give the portrait sessions as a gift to their clients instead of giving traditional gift baskets, etc. They’ve expressed to me how this builds a stronger relationship with their clients so the they continue to use their services and are more likely to recommend them to peers.
David

i dont know if this counts but there is a church nearby called Reality Carpinteria and the college group has amazing photos that the blast all over the interwebs like twitter and facebook. They use iphones, dslrs, slrs, its pretty amazing.
David

I also took a bunch of photos of a local coffee shops coffee for them that they will use in upcoming brochures and flyers to promote themselves.
PhotosAlaQuang

My friends have a business making Acai Bowls and because not alot of people know what and Acai bowl is they asked me to help show people with photos because its alot easier than explaining. http://www.facebook.com/banzaibowls people have since enjoyed the food photos enough that I’ve actually had a bunch of referrals from them, including the company Yelp! so I guess in a way photography has helped them as well as me!
MarkHansberger

Here in Frisco, Texas a local photography business started their own local lifestyle type of magazine featuring restaurant reviews, local happenings and feel-good stories and such. Of course, the magazine features a variety of photography with each story, so this local business can always show off what they can do. Plus they sell ad space to other local (and usually higher end) business.
Joe

One of the restaurants near me held an art opening for a local photographer. It brought a lot of people into the restaurant.
http://www.wildflphoto.com Paul Rebmann

A local company had a photographer come in and take staff portraits to go along with a press release about a management reorganization. With to cutbacks in newspaper staff (photographers & writers), providing print ready content usually gets printed these days. And it worked, with a large photo and extensive story being in the print business section, the online version of the newspaper used one of the smaller photos.
(If this is posted twice, I didn’t mean to – I am having some trouble with DISQUS)
Patrick

A local business is using twitter daily to post holiday specials complete with links to pictures and descriptions on their home page. Sales are up!
Drew Forsey

X-rite has a great contest going on through facebook which uses photography to promote their business. Users submit photos based on a color given each week and the top 10 photos every week get published on the X-rite facebook page. This contest is to mainly promote their Color Checker Passport for photographers.
Daniel Mast

I’ve been working for a local non profit fairly regularly creating show posters for their dance and theatre troops. It has been great seeing such a small business utilize photography in such a major way.
Anthony Siciliano1

I am training to be a Registered Investment Adviser, and one of the credit repair gentlemen in my networking group recently had a portrait of him put on his business card. He said that this helped people remember his face and, therefore, him. In business, building brand identity is important for an individual or self employed as well as a big name like Pepsi or Sony, and using photography is just one way you can help differentiate yourself from the pack!
http://twitter.com/mattparker Matt Parker

The best example I have seen locally is one of our tattoo parlors has hired various photographers to shoot many of their customers. They then send our regular tweets with the photos and use them in their advertising.
Dennis Esler

Many resteraunts in my area have “photo shows” to bring in new business and help the photographers and artists. in the area.
Frank

A coffee shop I know regularly exhibits work from several photogs and get more business this way
http://twitter.com/wahoooob adam b

Mussel Bar – a local restaurant – uses photographs posted via twitter to alert customers of various food and beer specials. Not high quality work, but gets the word out, the point across, and has that ‘shaky camera’ authenticity vibe.

http://yfrog.com/1fjx70j
Tom Grigsby

My sister showcases her handcrafted work with photos at her site http://etsy.me/5SvLY it’s the best way for her items to be appreciated without holding them. She also uses Moo cards to generate site hits from craft shows.
Bng

My daily grind can go from 10hrs to 14hrs depending on traffic and meetings. 2 days a week I bring my dog with me to work so that she is not all alone. Over the summer we would go to parks or just walk around the neighborhod on my breaks. But since the weather in Seattle has gone brisk, I turned to my iphone and google maps to find a dog friendly business. I found one just 10min away in part of town I normally wouldn’t need to drive to. They had plenty of pictures available about their staff and facility. The pictures did not come from a stock photography website. The people and play area was the same as on their website. Since my pooch is a canine model posing for me all the time, I started showing off my images to the staff. In October they asked me to bring in my gear and shoot pictures of their four legged clients. We shot and delivered over 50 4×6 and 20 8×10 to the dog owners. Since mid Novemebr they have added 12 new dogs, most came via referals from current clients talking about the day care or seeing images on their desks.
Cpagility

I’ve seen photography used on Facebook to drive business
to the website which generates clients.
Jabin

There is a local glass artist who’s husband is a photographer and they are always posting great images on facebook of the unique ways to use their art in your home.
Calvin Lung

I’ve seen photos with logos on their camera straps and their bags.
Brian

The Hundreds SF/LA. The owner of this establishment, Bobby Hundreds, uses photography to update this companys blog. Including some of his adventures throughout the world. When readers read his blog, they get an insight about what his life is about. And with his watermark on the bottom of every picture, hes able to advertise everytime he post a picture.
Chuck

I am looking to move and the listings from my local realtor have some great pictures. I wouldn’t even consider driving to take a look unless I could see the pictures online first.
Division-bell

The Downtown and Old Town businesses in Wichita Kansas use Photography as a draw to their business durring Final Fridays. The Last Friday of a month they open their door, and sidewalks for Artists and Photographers to buy and sell their Art works. This draws a very large crowd of people interested in new artists and in turn bring in business for the shops and bars.
Ed Broberg

Every year a local boat broker hires me to cover an event for their past and present boat owners. It is a hoot! They offer classes for not only the men, but their wife’s also. The event is all about having fun while boating and the owners eat it up because they are treated like VIP’s.

In the afternoon, they head out onto the water for a fun race that I cover as their photographer. The goal is to get as many different images of the yachts and the smiling faces. Then during the evening we put to together a little slide show of what happened during the day that they can enjoy during their theme dinner.

This years theme was Gilligan’s Island… so we made a set and took images of people posing in their different costumes and printed an image for them on the spot to take home with them.

Through out the year the boat broker licenses my work to use on their website, blog and social networking sites to promote their business. I have even licensed work from that event to the boat manufactures that they represent.

Plus, the owners either purchase a print or commission me to do a private shoot at a later time.

The best thing is that, I use this business model with other business as well. It is a win win for their business as well as my own.

It would be nice to win the great Think Tank Gear, but what would be better is knowing someone used the same idea and got a job out of it.

Have fun shooting!
Marc

A friend of mine, StaceyM Photography uses social media and her photography to promote her wedding/lifestyle business. Which is booming. She even shot my wedding this summer and couldn’t have been happier.
http://www.mateamichelangeli.com/ Matea Michelangeli

Most caffes here have photography exhibit to draw people in, promote local artists and decorate the place.
Thanks for the giveaway. I Love Think Tank products!
http://twitter.com/mvrphotographic Michael Randall

The local artist/pottery shop uses great images of their painted ceramics in their facebook posts on weekly specials and sales.
Sardonicusmaxim

A local cafe and eatery put out a request to all local photographers (had to be actual customers at one point) to make just one photo that showed the true nature of the place- eclectic, hippie, old world and new school all at the same time. The pictures ran in the New Times and since then, their business has gone through the roof!
http://twitter.com/naturalart Lynne Phillips

We use photography instantly on the internet through Facebook, blog, and twitter to show our customers what the latest item that has come in or I have created at our garden center. We are a newly opened business and it has help us grow. They see it first online then come in to get it. We also use the great photographs in our advertising campaigns. Great way to get our image out there. Thanks for having this contest!
http://craftshowlistingssite.com Craft show listings

Booths that work together – At many craft shows you will find that some of the most successful booths aren’t the ones with the biggest sign, the flashiest salespeople or the least expensive – but they might be right next to the ones that do have those things. Find a booth that is very popular (a past history or knowledge of an event helps here), and sandwich yourself in there. Further, why not find a booth that has products that compliment or work well with your product.