www.photocrati.com/photocrati-fund

The Photocrati Fund, now in its third year, is one of the rare options today for upfront funding of photography projects. It also means great exposure – the judges are some of the best known environmental and humanitarian photographers in the world, and the winner is announced in front of a audience of prominent photographers and editors at the Look3 Festival each year.

Take a look at the 2011 winner and top finalists:

View it in full resolution here.

The Photocrati Fund is one of the most exciting and satisfying things we do each year. It’s deeply personal for me, because I still remember slogging in poverty through Southeast Asia, covering things like illegal logging in Borneo and various humanitarian disasters. I know a lot of dedicated photographers are out there doing the same thing today. Funding for such undertakings has always been sparse, but with changes and financial challenges in the media business, finding project funding outside of a few grants has become almost impossible. That is one of the key reasons that we remain committed to supporting great photographers doing important work.

Please consider applying, or to pass the word along to other photographers you know who are working on important environmental or humanitarian projects!

Erick Danzer is Founder & CEO of Photocrati Media.

Nick Nichols is working with a micro-copter, an adapted toy helicopter, to photograph lions in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Photo courtesy of National Geographic Magazine.

“Nick, who always pushes the limits of what the camera can show, had a vision. He wanted to show lions as never seen before. Remote-controlled micro-copters and cars with cameras, night-vision goggles, infrared cameras, and state-of-the-art camera traps allow him to get closer than he—or anyone else—could imagine,” National Geographic Magazine, Field Test.

Working closely with the Serengeti Lion Project, Nick will spend the next year (along with writer David Quammen) documenting the huge cats, their natural habitat and their interactions/conflicts with the humans in the area. His final project will be published by National Geographic in 2013.

In the meantime, photo fans can keep up with Nick and his crew via his Field Test posts on the National Geographic site. Nick’s regular updates offer a steady glimpse into the trials, struggles and successes of a wildlife photographer in the field.

We selected Cory for this feature because in addition to his impressive photography on meaningful social and environmental issues – he is also serving as an agent of social change. His work is inspiring and refreshing, and I think that you’ll agree that his attitude and outlook are a little contagious.

Cory Wilson is Director of Collaboration at The Collaborative – a social venture dedicated to providing creative solutions to social entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations, while simultaneously empowering the next generation of creative professionals focused on social change. Visit The Collaborative to find out more and view recent projects.

Glacier National Park © Cory Wilson

Blackfeet Reservation, Montana © Cory Wilson

Give us a little background about you — how did you get into this kind of photography?

I had one of those classic photography moments. I got my first camera and roll of film from my dad, bought a new one, gave him back his, realized his was better, and stole it again. I was fascinated by it, but I didn’t know what was so intriguing. It took years, until college actually, to realize that I saw photography as a way to explore the world. Through photography, I could study anything and control my distance to the subject. Get in really close, or stay slightly detached and observe. My interest in social issues –from a relatively young age – was a way to use photography to not only try and contribute to our shared future, but also to ensure a livelihood doing what I love.

Why focus on transboundary issues?

Transboundary issues – Transboundary Collaboration, Conflict Resolution, Conservation, etc. – were introduced to me by a close friend and colleague, Todd Walters, at International Peace Park Expeditions. He approached me early on as he was founding IPPE for help with branding and communications. It was through the experience of helping him establish his brand and organization that I was able to dive deeper into the transboundary community. I began to see the interconnectedness of issues surrounding borders of all kinds. The idea of community participation in post-conflict areas suddenly cropped up beyond the borders of the Balkans where we started, to The United States (yes, we’ve had conflict here), and Uganda. The oceans, like our forests and mountains, know no bounds. A transboundary perspective on the interconnected nature of all things political, social, ecological and economic seems essential to our success as a species because it’s based in a reality we can all easily observe.

Can you describe some of the interesting (positive and negative) border/boundary issues that you’ve covered?

People are constantly in conflict over resources, people want their kids to have opportunities, people struggle to overcome generations of bias, and people see clear opportunity across invisible lines. It’s my observation, as someone who’s certainly not an expert in the field, that all the issues I’ve encountered so far are exactly the same in every place I’ve visited, just in different contexts. The relationship between the Blackfeet Nation and the National Parks Services here in the United States/Canada is amazingly similar to the relationship between Ugandans/Congolese and the Ugandan Wildlife Authority/Congolese Wildlife Authority. At the end of the day, they all want the same things. Security for their families, access to healthy resources, a solid education, and a future for their kids.

What were you hoping to achieve with your photos of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park?

At the end of the day, I was hoping to provide a resource for IPPE as they continue their many conversations and programs around these issues. I was on expedition to film the Transcending Boundaries documentary and challenged myself to photograph everything I filmed, and film everything I photographed. I wanted to authentically represent the situation I was in, the situation I was studying, while also provide a resource for the people I was working with.

Glacier National Park © Cory Wilson

Any special challenges that you encountered?

Projects like this seem to have three big challenges: time, dedication, and technology. In regards to time: It’s about the amount of preparation you do before a trip so you can do your best when you arrive. But it’s also about the time you have on the ground producing a body of work, and finally the time you spend curating all that you’ve done for the people you’re working with. In regards to dedication: It’s all about working as tirelessly as possible. Waking up early for sunrises, staying up late getting the last bit of light and then media managing, charging batteries and hopefully getting some rest before the next day arises. In regards to technology: It’s also about being able to use your resources. Not just having the fanciest camera with the most megapixels or the sharpest glass. It’s about using what you have well, and in a way that affects your surrounding as little as possible. You can’t walk into a remote village with a camera crew and expect everyone to act natural. At the same time, you don’t need the best camera money can buy to film a short documentary, no matter where you hope it will be seen.

How do you prepare for this work?

I do as much homework as I can fit in. I ask a lot of questions from the people around me associated with a given project. After all, they’re the experts. I put myself into the shoes of those who I’m working with so I can understand what their needs are and what they want to communicate. I put myself in the shoes of the subjects of a particular body of work so I can try to understand their situation, no matter what it is.

What gear is in your bag? Favorite pieces.

For this trip, I had my Canon 7D, a 16-35mm, 60mm Macro, 35mm, Zoom H4n, Rhode Shotgun mic, Gitzo tripod w/ a light fluid head, copious amounts of cards, adapters, two external hard drives, a MacBook Pro, Lightroom, Final Cut Pro, and Compressor. And, my moleskin of course.

Do you have a favorite image in the series?

The image of the sky is by far my favorite, and most underrated. It’s the background on my computer, my iPhone, and the centerpiece for whenever we discuss this project. It completely encompasses the idea of transboundary-anything because there are simply no boundaries in the sky. This is a much clearer metaphor then land and even the sea, because people don’t really think about air traffic controllers, or borders extending vertically. We typically think of a border at the edge of some geographic features, or EEZs [exclusive economic zones, *editor’s note] that extend miles off our coasts. But the sky, filled with birds, is a common metaphor for freedom and limitless possibilities. We share the skies freely. They’re not formally argued over anywhere, really. So, for me, that photo says it all.

Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park © Cory Wilson

Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park © Cory Wilson

What are some of your important projects?

I’m really excited by my work with International Peace Park Expeditions and Ashoka. Both organizations are doing some amazing work, and I’m honored to be a part of it. With Ashoka, I’ve helped create a case for the importance of partnerships between Social Entrepreneurs and Multi-National Corporations. We’ve created discussions around Housing and Urban Design, and discussed the role of mobile technology in bringing solutions to the “bottom of the pyramid”. With IPPE, I’ve had the opportunity to create media promoting their programs and academic courses, and travel to the Balkans, Central America, and here in the US.

Any advice for photographers hoping to make a difference?

Yes! Do it, and don’t give up! You have to be dedicated to the work you’re doing, no matter what it is. If you don’t care, it will certainly show in the end. I would encourage you to do your best to understand the organization and people you’re working with, where they’re coming from, and where they are trying to go. Then continually develop that understanding over time. Think of yourself as an extension of their team, not as a freelancer. Build trust by being trustworthy and by showing your true dedication. The non-profit world can benefit greatly from people like us who know how to use various approaches to journalism or advertising effectively. Be authentic, and keep your collaborators the same.

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m working on a few things. I’m in the middle of editing the second Transcending Boundaries documentary which is focused on the Central Albertine Rift in Uganda/DRC/Rwanda; I’m helping Conservation International edit a series of videos for an upcoming website called the Ocean Health Index; I’m working with Ashoka’s Changemakers to create a video to help launch their new site, Changeshop; and I’m working with Ashoka’s Youth Venture program in New England on some great Case Studies around their approach and successes. It’s all very exciting. Check The Collaborative for updates if you’re interested in seeing them as they arrive.

Thanks for taking the time to speak with me. I am honored to have been asked to participate in this series.

Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park © Cory Wilson

13-year old male, Menteng with a fish he caught on Kaja Island. © Ethan Lim

Give us just a little bit of background about you — and how you got into this kind of photography.

Ling: My passion in nature and wildlife has compelled me to want to know more, see more and understand more of the world outside of my immediate surroundings. Coming from a creative background instead of a scientific one, (I’ve been a creative designer/director for the past decade), I find that conservation photography is my key to infuse all my different passions together with a meaningful purpose, and thus i am able do my best and at the same time, make a positive difference in the world with the visual stories I’ve captured.

Ethan: My 16-day solo travel photography trip to Myanmar got me seriously into photography. But it wasn’t until I met C.S. Ling in one of her photography workshops that I got interested in wildlife photography. The opportunity to embark on the To:MOM conservation photography project cemented my interest in wildlife photography and more so, purpose-driven conservation photography to raise awareness about wildlife endangerment.

Why focus on orangutans in Kalimantan?

Ling: I’ve always felt a close affinity with the orangutans ever since 5 years ago when I first visited Borneo with my very first DSLR and have since made more than 10 trips back to capture visual stories of the rich and diverse wildlife there. I can not only see but also feel the similarities between humans and orangutans. Orangutans are the only great ape of Asia and share 96.4% of our DNA markup. As Singaporeans living on the same continent as these majestic great apes, we felt even more compelled to do whatever we can to help safeguard these endangered species, as long as we can make a small positive difference.

Can you describe what’s happening with this issue in  Kalimantan?

Ethan: Orangutans depend on their mothers for the first 7-8 years to learn the necessary skills for survival in the wild. However, they are endangered due to illegal poaching (the killing of orangutan mothers and the selling of orangutan babies through the illegal pet trade) and because of natural habitat destruction (illegal mining, deforestation, and monoculture of oil palm plantation).

How did you prepare for work on your project To:MOM (To My Orangutan Mother)?

Ling: We spent 3 months to prepare for the trip to Borneo Orangtan Survival Foundation Nyaru Menteng while juggling between our full-time jobs in our respective industries. From writing proposals, getting approval from The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), applying for permits to restricted areas, getting sponsors to support the cause and finally getting our leave time approved. We only had 2 weeks to document the orangutan orphans. Thus, we brought $3000 worth of compact cameras sponsored by Nikon Singapore to donate to BOSF and conducted free photography workshops to 20-30 BOSF staff members so that they can make use of the new cameras to continue documenting the orangutan orphans and raise public awareness through the power of photography. Six months after we returned to Singapore, To:MOM exhibition was staged at one of the biggest shopping malls in Singapore on Mother’s Day 2011.

What were you hoping to achieve with your photo essays of orangutans?

Ling: We can’t understand the orangutans through speech but I find that with visual imagery, we can understand the orangutans. Whether they feel hurt, sad, happy or playful. I want to continue to use photography to forge this connection between humans and animals; that we are all connected as fellow living species on Earth. These visual stories are also important to reach out to the younger generation and educate them to appreciate nature in hopes that as they grow up, they will be concious about the choices they make that will least impact the environment.

Any special challenges that you encountered?

Ethan: Seeing these adorable young orangutan orphans face-to-face for the first time, it was hard not to fall in love and want to hug these young orangutans. However, we immediately understood the cause of the rampant illegal wildlife trading. Young orangutans are pried away from the dead mothers’ bodies (killed by poachers) to be sold on the illegal pet trade. Most orangutan pet owners do not see past the cute adorable faces of the baby orangutan to that of a grown adolescent that is impossible for humans to control. Most of the orangutans thereby live their next few years in cages, boxes or chained up. They are deprived of the chance to learn the necessary skills and knowledge to survive in the wild from their mothers, as such, they will no longer be able to survive in the wild. That is the challenge we face on a daily basis — to respect and remember that the orangutans are not meant to be domesticated; they belong to the wild as their name suggests –orangutan (Person of the Forest).

What’s in your bag?

Collectively, we carry the following for our trips:

• 4 Nikon Professional DSLR bodies (D700, D3, D3s)
• 2 Nikon AF VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D E
• 1 Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8D
• 1 Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED
• 1 Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED
• 1 Nikon AF 50mm f/1.4D
• 1 MacBook Pro
• 1 MacBook White
• 2 Gitzo Systematic 6X Carbon Fibre Tripods with gimbal heads
• 12 SanDisk Extreme Pro CF and SDHC cards
• SanDisk Extreme FireWire Reader
• SanDisk ImageMate All-in-One Reader

Occasionally, we bring along the following selection for overseas shoots:

• NIkon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4G ED VR
• Nikon AF-S VR 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED
• Nikon AF Fisheye 16mm f/2.8D
• Nikon Teleconverter TC-17E II

Do you have a favorite image from your series?

Ling: One scene that really touched me was a photo I’ve taken of an orangutan named Simona. She was introduced into the semi-wild river island many years back and has successfully given birth to her own baby and at the same time, adopted another baby from an inexperienced orangutan mother and called it her own. Simona’s innate maternal instinct shines through this image as she not only protects her own baby but also the baby of a fellow orangutan to ensure the survival of the species, even though she is an orphan who lost her mother when she was just a baby herself.

Simona, with her babies. © C.S. Ling

Ethan: My favourite image, is that of 13-year old male, Menteng, the dominant male on the semi-wild river island, Kaja island. The primary diet of orangutan consists of tree bark, leaves, fruits, flowers, nectar, honey and occasionally insects for their dietary protein intake. This image shows the highly adaptable nature of Menteng, living on this river island as he is seen catching a fish from the river bank for his consumption. With the dwindling population of wild orangutans due to the adversity of poaching and rapid natural habitat loss, this act of local adaptation speaks very strongly about his ability to survive against all odds as he learn to innovate, improve and adapt.

What are some of your other important projects?

Ling: We are constantly documenting more endangered species of the world and looking at conservation organizations that we can lend our photography expertise and experience to further empower their conservation efforts.

Any advice for wildlife photographers hoping to make a difference?

Ethan: Wildlife photography is enjoyable for photographers as we spend time and effort to capture the beauty of nature’s creations and it helps us to be better able to understand other species outside the human race at the same time. To make a difference, it is important for wildlife photographers to create images and raise awareness, individually or collectively, on the beauty of nature and also the problems that threatens the existence of it. This is purpose-driven conservation photography.

What are you working on now?

Ling: We have since resigned from our full-time jobs and joined forces to create Life List Chase to encourage more people to be in touch with Mother Nature through photography and to educate the young generation of today about the environmental issues that we face now, and more so in the future. For our overseas photo workshops, we make sure that we only work with eco-friendly local guides and operators to reduce any potential environmental impacts and we use paper from sustainable sources that are FSC- or PEFC-certified for our photo exhibitions, name cards, etc. In this concrete jungle that we live in, many of us have lost touch with nature. Thus, being green is not something that most city dwellers would think about and most do not understand why we have to be environmental-friendly even though we keep hearing about how to be green (turn off electricity when not in use, recycle paper, reduce use of plastic bags etc.)

The most important thing for us to do now is to first BE IN NATURE and learn to appreciate it. Take a slow walk in the garden; breathe the fresh morning air to de-stress; head out there and photograph the flora and fauna and see for yourself how beautiful yet fragile nature is and how we are all connected. That’s the reason why we have to conserve what we have on earth (the one and only home we have) in order for earth to continue to be able to provide for us. At Life List Chase, we endeavor to empower environmental/wildlife conservation and education through photography.

How to Update Your Photocrati WordPress Theme

If you are an existing Photocrati customer, you can update automatically by logging into your WordPress dashboard, going to Help / Support, and clicking the green auto-update button! You can also download the latest version of the theme from the Member’s Area.

“Condemned documents the mental health impacts of crises in Africa – the trauma of mass rape, the grief of death in war, the insecurity of displacement. It illustrates what happens to the most vulnerable when governments collapse and health systems implode,” Robin notes in his project summary.

Based in South Africa, Robin is a three-time recipient of the Amnesty International Media Award for Outstanding Human Rights Journalism. His work aims to educate and inspire change.

“There are a few dedicated organizations and individuals trying to stand up for the mentally ill in African countries in crisis. Unfortunately they are tiny in number and their resources small. I have been in constant contact with these groups and we are strategizing how, once the project has been completed, we can effectively use this work to support people with mental illness in Africa. We already have exhibitions and screenings planned, but we intend to take the work beyond the gallery to those with the power to make a meaningful difference to the lives of the mentally ill in Africa.”

Take a look at Robin’s project video, and consider helping him make a difference: http://www.emphas.is/web/guest/discoverprojects?projectID=332

Barabaig youth herding cattle, Tanzania

How did you get interested in being behind the lens?

I’ve been taking pictures since I was 8 years old, when I took a picture of a tree that I thought was really good. Basically I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. I’ve only ever been interested in wildlife and conservation issues. We, as westerners, are very lucky to be alive right now, but what we do now will decide how the world turns out. I try to tell stories that inform people about what their options are.

Why focus on the conflict between people and lions in Tanzania?

Lions in Africa are in trouble — numbers have fallen from 450,000 in the 1940’s to around 20,000 today. However, there is still a good chance that if something clever is done to enable lions and people to live together that lions can have a future. If the conflict can’t be mitigated, in around 30 or 40 years time, lions will only exist in the very big national parks, which will cause all sorts of problems with inbreeding. The project I am taking pictures of is trying to find ways to allow people and lions to live together with less conflict and to increase the benefits of lions to local people. The project is based in Tanzania’s Ruaha landscape (an area that is globally important for large carnivores) and focuses on the lions in the area (the Ruaha landscape is thought to support nearly 10% of sub-Saharan Africa’s remaining lions). There are going to be 9 billion people in the world soon and if the world’s going to be worth living in we need to learn to live with wildlife. Lions are the ultimate ‘problem animal’ so focusing on them will hopefully point towards ways of living with other animals. Also I really, really like lions.

Ngamo male 69 walking

Lion at night

Can you describe what’s happening for folks who might not know anything about the issue?

There has always been conflict between cattle herders and lions but as the population of Tanzania soars, the lions have less human-free space and encounter cattle more often. Often children of around ten will be left in charge of the cattle for the day, which means the lions have little to fear. The lions also occasionally kill people. The Masai and Barabaig love their cattle (its more than just a cow, it’s status: a Ferrari and a Rolex and a big house) and when a cow is killed, the owners will often poison the carcass, killing not only lions but hyenas and vultures along with anything else that eats the carcass. Sometimes they will hunt a lion with spears. As much as I like lions you can appreciate that when your livelihood is affected, and your family in danger, you want some sort of recompense.

What were you hoping to achieve with your photo essays of people and lions in Tanzania?

It’s very hard to cut through the noise of people’s lives nowadays but ideally I hope that a few very rich people would look at this and be interested in funding this project in the long term. If anyone out there would like to help please visit the Ruaha Carnivore Project. The project runs a lot of video nights for the local population, trying to make friends and explain some better husbandry methods. A lot of my pictures and videos will be used for this. This autumn I’ll be in the park taking pictures of lions. The lion’s whisker spots can be used for identification, which will help the project follow the lions inside and outside the park.

Masaii woman in wedding dress

Masaii herding cattle, Tanzania.

Any special challenges that you encountered?

I love working in Africa. This project is a little different for me being outside a national park so the wildlife is less visible and I’m on foot a lot more which can be a little twitchy sometimes. I’ve been jogging to get ready for this but since my first trip out there it seems that sprinting and climbing trees is what I should be doing. Neither of which are things I’m very good at.

What’s in your bag?

I’ve always used Nikon gear, and for this project I’m trying to travel as light as possible. My main camera for the people pictures is a D300s with a 17-55mm, though I will get a 35mm 1.8 for when I’m running. Most of the time I’m also using a flash. I have a 200-400mm lens for the wildlife. My bag also holds my Mac and a few hard drives, a mic and recorder.

Do you have a favorite image from your series?

So far I’ve made one trip to Ruaha, just getting to know people and looking around. I have spent some time out herding, which has been such fun. I imagine that little has changed — people have done this over the last 1000 years, although nearly everyone has a mobile phone nowadays. One of the people I spent time with was Esta, a Barabaig girl dressed in copper bracelets and necklace, who was lovely and for a while was holding a friend’s spear.

Barabaig people herding cattle, Tanzania.

What are you working on now?

I am currently working on planning the next two trips out to Tanzania. If anyone is interested in commissioning these trips please get in touch. In the UK, I’m working on fox hunting and oak trees.

Spice Girl cubs Spice Girl 95 in back

Before diving in, the first thing I want to do is to thank everyone in the Photocrati community – especially the 8,000 great photographers using our theme – for sharing this journey with us. It’s exciting for all of us at Photocrati to be a part of something that’s moving so fast and taking on a life of its own. We’re thankful and we feel a great deal of responsibility to give all of you the best experience that we can.

A SENSE OF HISTORY: WHERE WE’VE BEEN

People now know us as a maker of one of the leading photography WordPress themes. But as late as March/April 2010 (15 months ago), we weren’t primarily a theme seller. We were a general photography blog that happened to sell WordPress themes.

Our front page was a blog style front page, and we had a great team of writers covering diverse topics from gear reviews to travel photography. Below is screenshot of Photocrati.com from April 2009 (a little over two years ago). That was before we had themes at all. You’ll see some Google Adsense boxes and even a donation request on the sidebar!

We released our first theme in August of 2009. It was a clumsy first effort. We decided to recode it from scratch and we finally released what people know as Photocrati in April 2010.

In short, our main business is now 15 months old.

Since then, however, it has been a wild ride. We have:

• Added 7,000 customers.
• Doubled our team in the last 8 months. We’ve hired two new rockstar developers to improve our theme code and get releases out more quickly and we’ve added a second full time support person. Even with these additions, Photocrati is still just 7 people serving 8,000 customers and managing all of our other projects (below). We are a small, close-knit family, and we’ve been lucky to bring together some great people.
• Launched Photocrati versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.01, 3.1, 4.0, 4.05, 4.06, and 4.07. 4.1 is coming soon.
• Launched our own, built-in gallery management system (until V3.0 in October, we still based our theme on NextGen, the free gallery management plugin).
• Launched the first full-blown ecommerce system for photographers using WordPress. This is now a distinctive feature of our theme, but it is only 5 months old.
• Re-launched our members’ area to improve how we provide help and tutorials, and to increase the speed with which we reply to incoming support queries. This has dramatically improved our response times.
• Sponsored the first developer-focused WordCamp conference in Vancouver to give back to the WordPress community.
• Launched the Photographer’s SEO Community to help our users as well as others learn how to optimize their websites for search engines. I believe this is the most important thing that most photographers – or any businesses for that matter – can do to ensure success. Visit the Photographer’s SEO Community to learn more.
• Launched Best of Wedding Photography to promote excellence in wedding photography. BOWP is an invitation only association for some of the world’s top wedding photographers. Visit Best of Wedding Photography to learn more.
• Organized and given away our first two $5,000 Photocrati Fund grants, one for a project on Chilean fisheries, and the other on a conservation and development project in northern Canada. See 2011 winner and top finalists here: Photocrati Fund 2011 Finalists.

ROADMAP: A GLIMPSE AT THE FUTURE

In short, we’ve had a rockstar year.

That’s great news because it means we’re doing a lot of things right. But such rapid growth has created significant new challenges and demands that we need to tackle for the sake of our user community. We are in transition from a small photography blog and a small-time theme shop to an established software and hosting company, and that requires a completely new way of operating.

In the next 12 months, we’re planning for major changes, additions, and expansion, including:

• Putting in place best-practice systems for handling code updates and releases, as well as a completely new way of handling in-bound support queries, escalating them to developers, and delivering fixes quickly to customers.
• Photocrati 5.0. We’ll be recoding our theme framework to give it world-class foundations. This will be an epic and time-consuming undertaking, but we know it will be worth it. The recoded version, Photocrati 5.0, will be more robust and will provide a platform for awesome new features.
• Doubling our team by bringing on critical new people, including:
  • A full time designer to improve our branding and theme styling.
  • A full-time SEO professional to manage our SEO communities and help with SEO across our current sites.
  • A third world-class developer.
  • A dedicated system administrator to manage our hosting infrastructure.
  • A community point person to blog, build social media followings, and to build a stronger sense of community around Photocrati.
  • Two more support staff with outstanding WordPress expertise.
• Launching a Photocrati Gallery plugin that will make our gallery and ecommerce systems available to those using non-Photocrati themes.
• Launching a hosted solution that allows non-technical users or those new to WordPress to just set up an account with us and have their sites up and running in minutes. By this time next year, our hosting service will be as integral to our business as our theme is now.
• Beginning to tackle awesome new features like integrating with online print labs for automatic order fulfillment of ecommerce orders and creating a store in which designers can sell designs they create and export using our backend theme options.
• Making constant ongoing improvements to Photocrati’s other projects, including Best of Wedding Photography, the Photographer’s SEO Community, the Photocrati Fund, and a few new projects we have up our sleeves.

-

Our core team has been aware of these plans for a while, but we haven’t, until now, communicated them publicly.

We constantly get questions from our community about what we’re working on and when we’ll be delivering certain features. Normally, we respond individually to specific questions. What I wanted to do here was take a step back and provide a “big picture” view.

Thanks again to everyone in the Photocrati community. Without you, none of this would be possible. We look forward to creating and sharing an awesome future with you.

Erick Danzer
Photocrati Founder

Before diving in, the first thing I want to do is to thank everyone in the Photocrati community – especially the 8,000 great photographers using our theme – for sharing this journey with us. It’s exciting for all of us at Photocrati to be a part of something that’s moving so fast and taking on a life of its own. We’re thankful and we feel a great deal of responsibility to give all of you the best experience that we can.

A SENSE OF HISTORY: WHERE WE’VE BEEN

People now know us as a maker of one of the leading photography WordPress themes. But as late as March/April 2010 (15 months ago), we weren’t primarily a theme seller. We were a general photography blog that happened to sell WordPress themes.

Our front page was a blog style front page, and we had a great team of writers covering diverse topics from gear reviews to travel photography. Below is screenshot of Photocrati.com from April 2009 (a little over two years ago). That was before we had themes at all. You’ll see some Google Adsense boxes and even a donation request on the sidebar!

We released our first theme in August of 2009. It was a clumsy first effort. We decided to recode it from scratch and we finally released what people know as Photocrati in April 2010.

In short, our main business is now 15 months old.

Since then, however, it has been a wild ride. We have:

• Added 7,000 customers.
• Doubled our team in the last 8 months. We’ve hired two new rockstar developers to improve our theme code and get releases out more quickly and we’ve added a second full time support person. Even with these additions, Photocrati is still just 7 people serving 8,000 customers and managing all of our other projects (below). We are a small, close-knit family, and we’ve been lucky to bring together some great people.
• Launched Photocrati versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.01, 3.1, 4.0, 4.05, 4.06, and 4.07. 4.1 is coming soon.
• Launched our own, built-in gallery management system (until V3.0 in October, we still based our theme on NextGen, the free gallery management plugin).
• Launched the first full-blown ecommerce system for photographers using WordPress. This is now a distinctive feature of our theme, but it is only 5 months old.
• Re-launched our members’ area to improve how we provide help and tutorials, and to increase the speed with which we reply to incoming support queries. This has dramatically improved our response times.
• Launched the Photographer’s SEO Community to help our users as well as others learn how to optimize their websites for search engines. I believe this is the most important thing that most photographers – or any businesses for that matter – can do to ensure success. Visit: www.photograpehrs-seo.com to learn more.
• Launched Best of Wedding Photography to promote excellence in wedding photography. BOWP is an invitation only association for some of the world’s top wedding photographers. Visit: www.bestofweddingphotography.com to learn more.
• Organized and given away our first two $5,000 Photocrati Fund grants, one for a project on Chilean fisheries, and the other on a conservation and development project in northern Canada. See 2011 winner and top finalists here: http://www.photocrati.com/announcing-the-2011-photocrati-fund-winner-and-top-finalists/.

ROADMAP: A GLIMPSE AT THE FUTURE

In short, we’ve had a rockstar year.

That’s great news because it means we’re doing a lot of things right. But such rapid growth has created significant new challenges and demands that we need to tackle for the sake of our user community. We are in transition from a small photography blog and a small-time theme shop to an established software and hosting company, and that requires a completely new way of operating.

In the next 12 months, we’re planning for major changes, additions, and expansion, including:

• Putting in place best-practice systems for handling code updates and releases, as well as a completely new way of handling in-bound support queries, escalating them to developers, and delivering fixes quickly to customers.
• Photocrati 5.0. We’ll be recoding our theme framework to give it world-class foundations. This will be an epic and time-consuming undertaking, but we know it will be worth it. The recoded version, Photocrati 5.0, will be more robust and will provide a platform for awesome new features.
• Doubling our team by bringing on critical new people, including:
  • A full time designer to improve our branding and theme styling.
  • A full-time SEO professional to manage our SEO communities and help with SEO across our current sites.
  • A third world-class developer.
  • A dedicated system administrator to manage our hosting infrastructure.
  • A community point person to blog, build social media followings, and to build a stronger sense of community around Photocrati.
  • Two more support staff with outstanding WordPress expertise.
• Launching a Photocrati Gallery plugin that will make our gallery and ecommerce systems available to those using non-Photocrati themes.
• Launching a hosted solution that allows non-technical users or those new to WordPress to just set up an account with us and have their site up and running in minutes. By this time next year, our hosting service will be as integral to our business as our theme is now.
• Beginning to tackle awesome new features like integrating with online print labs for automatic order fulfillment of ecommerce orders and creating a store in which designers can sell designs they create and export using our backend theme options.
• Making constant ongoing improvements to Photocrati’s other projects, including Best of Wedding Photography, the Photographer’s SEO Community, the Photocrati Fund, and a few new projects we have up our sleeves.

-

Our core team has been aware of these plans for a while, but we haven’t, until now, communicated them publicly.

We constantly get questions from our community about what we’re working on and when we’ll be delivering certain features. Normally, we respond individually to specific questions. What I wanted to do here was take a step back and provide a “big picture” view.

Thanks again to everyone in the Photocrati community. Without you, none of this would be possible. We look forward to creating and sharing an awesome future with you.

Erick Danzer
Photocrati Founder

Before diving in, the first thing I want to do is to thank everyone in the Photocrati community – especially the 8,000 great photographers using our theme – for sharing this journey with us. It’s exciting for all of us at Photocrati to be a part of something that’s moving so fast and taking on a life of its own. We’re thankful and we feel a great deal of responsibility to give all of you the best experience that we can.

A SENSE OF HISTORY: WHERE WE’VE BEEN

People now know us as a maker of one of the leading photography WordPress themes. But as late as March/April 2010 (15 months ago), we weren’t primarily a theme seller. We were a general photography blog that happened to sell WordPress themes.

Our front page was a blog style front page, and we had a great team of writers covering diverse topics from gear reviews to travel photography. Below is screenshot of Photocrati.com from April 2009 (a little over two years ago). That was before we had themes at all. You’ll see some Google Adsense boxes and even a donation request on the sidebar!

We released our first theme in August of 2009. It was a clumsy first effort. We decided to recode it from scratch and we finally released what people know as Photocrati in April 2010.

In short, our main business is now 15 months old.

Since then, however, it has been a wild ride. We have:

• Added 7,000 customers.
• Doubled our team in the last 8 months. We’ve hired two new rockstar developers to improve our theme code and get releases out more quickly and we’ve added a second full time support person. Even with these additions, Photocrati is still just 7 people serving 8,000 customers and managing all of our other projects (below). We are a small, close-knit family, and we’ve been lucky to bring together some great people.
• Launched Photocrati versions 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0, 3.01, 3.1, 4.0, 4.05, 4.06, and 4.07. 4.1 is coming soon.
• Launched our own, built-in gallery management system (until V3.0 in October, we still based our theme on NextGen, the free gallery management plugin).
• Launched the first full-blown ecommerce system for photographers using WordPress. This is now a distinctive feature of our theme, but it is only 5 months old.
• Re-launched our members’ area to improve how we provide help and tutorials, and to increase the speed with which we reply to incoming support queries. This has dramatically improved our response times.
• Sponsored the first developer-focused WordCamp conference in Vancouver to give back to the WordPress community.
• Launched the Photographer’s SEO Community to help our users as well as others learn how to optimize their websites for search engines. I believe this is the most important thing that most photographers – or any businesses for that matter – can do to ensure success. Visit the Photographer’s SEO Community to learn more.
• Launched Best of Wedding Photography to promote excellence in wedding photography. BOWP is an invitation only association for some of the world’s top wedding photographers. Visit Best of Wedding Photography to learn more.
• Organized and given away our first two $5,000 Photocrati Fund grants, one for a project on Chilean fisheries, and the other on a conservation and development project in northern Canada. See 2011 winner and top finalists here: Photocrati Fund 2011 Finalists.

ROADMAP: A GLIMPSE AT THE FUTURE

In short, we’ve had a rockstar year.

That’s great news because it means we’re doing a lot of things right. But such rapid growth has created significant new challenges and demands that we need to tackle for the sake of our user community. We are in transition from a small photography blog and a small-time theme shop to an established software and hosting company, and that requires a completely new way of operating.

In the next 12 months, we’re planning for major changes, additions, and expansion, including:

• Putting in place best-practice systems for handling code updates and releases, as well as a completely new way of handling in-bound support queries, escalating them to developers, and delivering fixes quickly to customers.
• Photocrati 5.0. We’ll be recoding our theme framework to give it world-class foundations. This will be an epic and time-consuming undertaking, but we know it will be worth it. The recoded version, Photocrati 5.0, will be more robust and will provide a platform for awesome new features.
• Doubling our team by bringing on critical new people, including:
  • A full time designer to improve our branding and theme styling.
  • A full-time SEO professional to manage our SEO communities and help with SEO across our current sites.
  • A third world-class developer.
  • A dedicated system administrator to manage our hosting infrastructure.
  • A community point person to blog, build social media followings, and to build a stronger sense of community around Photocrati.
  • Two more support staff with outstanding WordPress expertise.
• Launching a Photocrati Gallery plugin that will make our gallery and ecommerce systems available to those using non-Photocrati themes.
• Launching a hosted solution that allows non-technical users or those new to WordPress to just set up an account with us and have their sites up and running in minutes. By this time next year, our hosting service will be as integral to our business as our theme is now.
• Beginning to tackle awesome new features like integrating with online print labs for automatic order fulfillment of ecommerce orders and creating a store in which designers can sell designs they create and export using our backend theme options.
• Making constant ongoing improvements to Photocrati’s other projects, including Best of Wedding Photography, the Photographer’s SEO Community, the Photocrati Fund, and a few new projects we have up our sleeves.

-

Our core team has been aware of these plans for a while, but we haven’t, until now, communicated them publicly.

We constantly get questions from our community about what we’re working on and when we’ll be delivering certain features. Normally, we respond individually to specific questions. What I wanted to do here was take a step back and provide a “big picture” view.

Thanks again to everyone in the Photocrati community. Without you, none of this would be possible. We look forward to creating and sharing an awesome future with you.

Erick Danzer
Photocrati Founder