Recent Business Articles

How to Build a Website, Part 3: My Site Goes Live

For the last month, we've teamed up with Wix for a series called "How to Build a Website." In this series, Lee and I talk about some of the advantages and mistakes photographers make when creating their own website. Today, I release my new commercial photography website and walk you through the process.

Life as a Small Town Photographer

It's not all skyscrapers, helicopter flights, glamorous models, and huge budgets. So, for those who also find themselves in a small city or town, here are some tips to carve out a career.

Why I've Never Changed Camera Brands

There seems to be a flurry of “I’ve changed brand” going on again at the moment. I find the entire thing very alien, but mostly because I have never changed camera brands, and there is a good reason for that.

A Look at YouPic Pro

With an ever-expanding selection of community-based services and subscriptions to choose from, it can be difficult to find a platform that feels like your own and where your rights as a photographer are respected and protected. Let's dig into dig into why YouPic has grown into one of the most trusted home for photographers, and why celebrated and respected names such as Steve McCurry, Joel Meyerowitz, Adam Hinton, and David Yarrow utilize YouPic Pro's subscription in their photography work.

What Do Pro Photographers Do When Not Shooting?

It's not all jumping out of helicopters and shooting worldwide campaigns for household names. Sometimes, we just have to take the bins out and change the loo roll.

The Best Camera for Under $500

Photography is super expensive. There is no getting around that; even $500 is a lot of money, and there is very little at that price point. However, I think I have found the best camera for $500.

Why Are Photographers so Scared of Their Own Portrait?

Today we are releasing the second video in our How to Make a Website series with Wix. After reflecting on the content in this new video, it made me wonder, "why are photographers so intimidated by photos of themselves?" Could your view on this question be dramatically affecting your business?

What is Your ‘Photographer Type’ and Why Does it Matter?

As photographers, we’re a diverse bunch — this crazy industry is home to an array of different personalities. But many of us fall into specific patterns of behavior that affect the success of our businesses.

How to Make Money and Create Something

Trading or selling your time for money has long been viewed by classic economics as a losing proposition. As a professional wedding photographer, it’s typical to sell your time in hourly blocks. There are only so many hours you can sell, so how do you break through this earnings ceiling?

StudioBinder's Making It: Filmmaking Laid Bare

StudioBinder, the production management software company, has created a series of short documentaries to assist filmmakers in understanding and navigating production pitfalls in translating their stories to the screen. Making It.

Is Your Photography Name Actually Hurting Your Business?

What to name your photography business is one of the first questions any entrepreneur has to answer before venturing out into the freelance world. Many photographers simply use their full name as their business name, but could that be the worst decision ever? Today, we discuss some of the most important things to consider before making the jump into being a full-time photographer.

Five Real Tips to Get Clients

There are so many misleading articles out there sharing how you can make money from photography. Hopefully these tested tips to get clients will help to point you in the right direction.

What Camera Do Professional Photographers Really Want?

Camera brands are constantly trying to sell up new technology. But, what do professional photographers really want? We have finally made it through a megapixel race and seemingly into an autofocus and mirrorless arms race.

Why You Should Care That DSLRs Are Dying

I am not a big tech fan; I don’t overly get involved in tech reviews, but the death of the DSLR is something that does concern me, and here is why you should be worried to.

10 Tips for Turning Pro in 2020

If your goal for 2020 is to become a full time professional, make sure that you start doing these things now.

Knowing When to Upgrade Your Camera

Buying a new camera is a big investment and probably something you have been pondering for a while. In this video, I go over my three key decisions on if an upgrade is required or not.

Block Working for Photographers

If you haven't already heard, block working is certainly the trendy way of getting things done at the moment. I recently applied it to my working week and it has pretty much freed up one entire day most weeks.

Knowing What to Look for When Hiring an Assistant During the Busy Season

Recently the studio hired a new assistant for the busy holiday season. While the intention was for light assistant work it quickly changed when the applicant mentioned they knew album design, retouching, and much more. Before sitting down with an applicant, have you thought about the possibilities of what more they could do for you?

Why Inferior Photographers Are Doing Better Than You

What do Monet, Van Gogh, and Manet have in common? They were all underappreciated in their time, thus struggling with the poverty endured by so many creative artists. Why do such geniuses of visual craft have to cope with rejection and low sales of their work?

How to Find Your Photography Niche

In my opinion, if you really want to progress the level of your photography or your photography business, then finding a niche is vital. In this video, I go over some key steps to finding your niche.

The Five Pieces of Advice I've Gotten That Shaped My Career as a Photographer

Our lives are collections made up of people and moments. Every day, there is a plethora of wisdom that passes by, but sometimes, you get one piece of advice that can change the course of your entire life or career. In this article, I share the five pieces of advice I've gotten over my eight-year career that helped shape me into the photographer I am today.

Trying to Start Your Photography Business? Do These Things First

You can have all the artistic and technical talent in the world, but if you are not a savvy business-person, you are not going to have a lot of luck making a living from photography. This excellent video features an experienced photographer discussing seven things you should do before you start your photography business.

Beginner, Pro, or Photography Master? Find Out Where You Are

There are many people out there who call themselves photographers. Probably most of them are able to take decent images, a few are professionals, and hardly anyone is a master of the art. Where do you put yourself?

Six Misconceptions About Pro Photographers

I am sure you have all seen the "secrets about photographers" videos doing the rounds recently. As a full-time photographer, I find this really hard to relate to. I have yet to find something which depicts my working life at all.

Profoto's C1 Line: Who Are They Targeting?

As you can likely tell from my recent posts, I’m a user and big fan of Profoto. I realize their products are expensive, but they work. In real life, they never let me down.

Five Tips to Deal With a Lowballing Photo or Video Client

It is an unfortunate thing, but we will all have to deal with a lowballing client at some point. What do you do when that happens? This great video discusses five tips that can help you deal with a lowballing client and possibly turn them into a paying customer.

Investing in Laziness in Order to Make More Money

Photography and retouching are a lot of work. Framing, exposing, getting your color right, cropping, zooming, dodging, burning, sharpening: it's enough to do your head in! But sometimes, we can get lazy, and in my opinion, it can be beneficial to lean into your own laziness rather than burn yourself out working for 10 hours a day.

The One Tip That Has Made the Biggest Impact on My Photography

There are lots of ways to improve your photography. Getting your workflow in order, learning to light, but I think I have learned the one thing that has impacted my photography more than almost anything else. (Other than practice, of course).

Joel Grimes on How to Be a Successful Photographer

As I've gotten older, one thing I've learned is that it's often easier and quicker to learn from someone else who has "been there and done that" than it is to learn by trial and error on your own. In this video, Serge Ramelli interviews Joel Grimes about what it takes to be a successful photographer.

Are You a Photographer?

It’s too easy to think about how photography has been democratized and how anyone today with a camera can call themselves a photographer. It’s an excuse in fact.

Failing at Your Photo Goals

It can be really tough to be setting goals for your photographic work and then failing at the end of it. Mark Denney discusses his goals with us, and how the year 2018 turned out for him.