With 2018 being the year of mirrorless, it is tempting for many of us to fall into the trap of trying to spend our way to good photography rather than using our own talents. And while having appropriate gear is essential to the trade, it’s equally important to think twice before sacrificing your business for the latest trends.
Raising your prices will not only keep your bank manager happy, but it will also help to accelerate your career. Time to add a few more zeros to your next photography invoice.
I’ve been working as a full-time professional photographer — meaning that 100 percent of my income is from photography — for over eight years. For the most part, I know what I’m doing. But I still make the time to assist other photographers when I can, and here’s why.
There is a ton of information and so many great resources on how to raise money for a project with crowdfunding these days. So I’m going to skip the tips and show you proven strategies to fund your projects no matter what they are.
If you’re just starting off with marketing yourself and your photography business, building and displaying your portfolio is probably at the top of your to-do list. Here are a few aspects to consider when putting together your initial photography portfolio.
Staying afloat as a photographer means having several revenue streams. Here are seven ways I had not expected to be paid as a photographer.
When a photographer is desperate for bookings, an inexperienced business owner will turn to the only option they know of: lowering their prices. Before doing this, you should consider all of the other options you have before deciding to compete with others on price.
For photographers, taking pictures comes naturally. Marketing, creating content, and blogging, however, may not flow as easily. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing when creating content for your blog.
Most of you might be saying: "you're nuts! Haven’t you been sailing? Luxury car driving? Golfing all over the place?" And luckily, I have, and let me tell you, photography is the most expensive sport I have ever practiced.
We all get stressed about our gear at some point in our careers. Knowing how much and what quality of photography gear you need is complicated. This will help shed some light on exactly how much equipment a professional photographer needs.
Once you’ve had a measure of success in your business, the next step is to figure out how to sustain it. This video shares what areas to continue to focus on to avoid failure in our industry.
Have you ever wanted to step up and shoot high-end wedding clients? I am sure we all have that yearning to improve our clientele circle and keep progressing. Guess what? It is not all that difficult.
If you’ve done photography professionally for any amount of time, you’ve probably found yourself succumbing to the daily grind of the job, and in turn, it becomes an obligation. If this is you and you’ve found yourself in a creative rut, here are a few ways to climb your way out.
At some point in our career, we all have to deal with a nightmare client. Here are a few tips to help spot them and then avoid them.
Back in March, I got an email saying that my website had been taken down due to malware. Essentially, I got hacked. In the months that followed, I learned some things about being a photographer, about web design, and about myself.
Sometimes the lessons learned as a child are the most useful as an adult. Even if they were lessons to forget.
A recent anonymous social media post is being spread like wildfire all over many photography groups and pages. In it, a woman claims she has had all of her accounts frozen, has a lien on her home, is being held liable for over $45,000 in delinquent taxes, and might possibly be banned from doing business in her county, because for five years, she has failed to report income she has made from photography.
When it comes to sending an important email, timing can be quite literally the difference between success and failure. Take the following things into consideration before you next hit the send button.
Saying "I do" to a business partnership with your spouse or partner can be enticing. You love your spouse or partner, but does that mean you should be business partners? Is it worth risking the personal relationship for the business relationship?
If you’re trying to build your photography business, having a brand is essential to your success. Here’s why you need to focus on building your photography brand.
Sometimes there are lessons that can affect both new photographers and veterans alike.
In a small town in West Texas, one photographer has established a thriving business that rivals big city photography studios. “We’re in podunk Texas,” Kaleigh Horelica says with a spirited, self-deprecating laugh. Although Abilene isn’t an affluent market, it has been the perfect place for Kaleigh to grow a successful studio that earns over six figures in annual revenue.
Many photographers love spending time in the outdoors, photographing the natural world. But not everyone can sustain their passion into a full-time job. Watch this video to learn how one landscape photographer makes money with his craft.
Attempting to break into the professional scene is the same for most aspiring photographers, and any advice is welcomed by the novice. But, anyone who's more interested in photographing large inanimate objects than people might want to watch this.
Rapidly advancing photo and video technology gives us a seemingly endless glut of new ways to create our visions. As creatives, it's tempting to explore every advancement in pursuit of our ultimate vision. The question is, should you?
It’s likely that if you're reading this, you are interested in some aspect of photography. If you are interested in making an income from your photography, something you may be struggling with is marketing yourself and your work. This video from Don Giannatti will give you the kick in the pants you need to get yourself out there and get paying clients.
Building a skilled team is a sure way to up the production value of your shoot and improve the quality of your work, but if you’re collaborating with other artists, you’d better give them what they need.
Jared Polin uploaded his latest video, “The Harsh Truth About Photography, Business, Success, and Life.” The video details a conversation he had with a film student in Philadelphia.
Wedding season is in full swing in the UK. It can be a tiring and stressful time, so here are five tips to help you get through.
Social media is a powerful thing that can vault photographers into the spotlight overnight. It can also bring them down in seconds.
The photography industry and it’s consumers would both benefit from introducing the predominant mobile phone sales model.
If you know anything about SEO (search engine optimization), then you know that finding good keywords is, well, key. Here are a few ways to find new keyword ideas and how to implement them on your website.
Today, I state the obvious. But sometimes even the most obvious things can be easy to forget.
Once you learn how to make Parkinson's law work for you as a photographer, you'll be taking your career to a whole new level in no time.
Being a professional photographer is about more than just excelling at creating imagery; in fact, that's often only a small part of what goes into being successful. This great video talks about exactly the kind of mindset you need to have to make it as a professional photographer.
Straight to the point today: is photography, or the pursuit of anything creative or artistic as a legitimate profession, a thankless pursuit and vocation?
“My client wants all the raw images,” or, “My client wants to see the raw images. What do I do?” The general consensus seems to be a resounding no, but handing over raw files to your client might be a great idea. Here's why.
Take a look back at some recent client work of yours, and simply ask the following question: Did I bring to the table a deep and thoughtful understanding of my clients' photography wants, and needs? Or did I instead find myself photographing based only on my own personal needs as a photographer?
Who we are as artists and photographers is usually a process that takes time and a deeper internal dialogue to understand, and the initial direction we go will almost always be left on the wayside as we develop our abilities and discover our passions. How do some of the most accomplished photographers in the world start in the industry and do they grow into or out of their genres?
In the early throes of your career, demanding clients with highly specified briefs can seem far more trouble than they are worth. I initially would be far more interested in the clients who offered creative freedom, but looking back, I believe I was wrong to do so. I'll explain why.
A video production technique is any method that you use to capture video. It's often incorporated into a specific style of video production, such as live event video production or staged video production. Here are a few things that you should consider when trying to determine which techniques to use.
Before you take on that new client, apply for an internship, or consider assisting that photographer, make sure you have done the following first.
For a lot of us, being able to spend all of our time taking photographs is very enticing. Here are five markers that suggest you are ready to make the leap from amateur to professional.
A few weeks ago in a boudoir forum I came across a subject on what was the most time-consuming portion of most photographers' flow. The majority of the comments referred to culling and editing. So if you are looking to speed up your own workflow with minimal editing this video is for you.
Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned pro, there seem to be a number of stock lines we hear over and over about the craft and technique of photography and making a career of it, but just because we hear them, it doesn't make them true. Here are five lies about being a photographer.
Photography dreams can come true, and for Adam Coppola, that’s just what happened this year when he opened his newly completed photography studio. I had an opportunity to tour Coppola's newly completed dream studio a few weeks ago.
They say that when you find a career that you love, you will never have to work a day in your life. That’s bull. Well, sort of.
What should you be doing today to ensure your photography studio is still viable decades into the future? Reflecting on 10 years in the business, Photographer Phillip Blume of Blume Photography offers advice on how to sustain a photography studio that will be productive for decades to come.
A legal battle that erupted between a photographer and a Film Festival after the latter used a copyrighted photo has concluded with a federal court in Virginia, which ruled that taking an image from the Internet without permission for a commercial website can be considered fair use.
It’s an idea that’s sat in the back of your mind for possibly years by now: traveling the world and doing what you love by creating films. How can it become a reality?
