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.
Shoots that run smoothly will always produce better pictures and keep clients happy. Use this detailed checklist to avoid any major headaches and improve the chances that your next photoshoot is a huge success.
With over 3 million Instagram followers, and a client base that includes Apple and Nikon, Brandon Woelfel is doing something right. Now, in his new Skillshare Original online class, the photographer is sharing not only the secrets behind his shooting and editing techniques, but how he achieved his successes.
If you're thinking of taking the leap into professional photography, or have wondered if you can possibly make a living in such a saturated space, take this one piece of wisdom and chant it like a mantra.
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?
Everyone has projects they dream of and clients they would like to work with. Dream projects don't put food on the table alone. They have to be paid for, right? How do you manage to get both and be satisfied with the results?
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.
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.
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.
We live in a time where quick and easy are the ultimate goals of the many. That kind of mentality is bad for business unless you make a living off clients who'd like to buy quick and easy products.
Typically, regardless of where your prices are set, you are bound to run into someone that says your prices are too high, other photographers are cheaper, and will ask if you can lower yours. What's the best way to respond to these types of inquiries?
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.
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).
There are many smart tools and life hacks out there, which aim at making us more efficient in our work and life. The following method has been inspired by a former president of the U.S.
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.
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.
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.
Photographers are using social media to unite and prevent their peers from allowing global companies to use their images for free, via the hashtag #NoBudgetNoPhotos. The movement was started after one photographer revealed an international billion-dollar company refused to pay for the usage of her images.
We all start somewhere, and that tends to be with a nerve-racking first paying photoshoot. Here are some tips to help get you through yours.
You don't have to look for too long on Instagram to find some very hard-working and busy photographers. Is all that industrious activity doing them any good? Here's why being lazy may actually be a better option.
A Grammy-winning country music star visiting LA has re-ignited interest in a struggling photo shop in Koreatown after stopping by to develop some film. She ended up doing a shoot with the owner against his custom-made backdrops, before plugging the shop to her hundreds of thousands of followers.
Pricing your work is an incredibly tricky game. In this video, I go over how I price my work, how I progressed to that point as well as the calculator that I use to work out my usage license fees.
During the past decade, the world economy has experienced steady, gradual expansion. But what goes up must come down, and the question photographers are wise to consider is: "how will the next recession affect me?"
Canon’s chairman and CEO Fujio Mitarai acknowledged in a recent interview that the company expects camera sales to drop from 10 million to 6 million a year by the end of 2020. Despite this dramatic fall, Mitarai is confident for the camera manufacturer's future.
In this YouTube video, Brendan Van Son discusses with us the feelings and thoughts of what happens when you are working on assignment and your photos suck.
Even when you've got the skills, the equipment, and the creative vision, it can be daunting trying to land a videography gig. This great video will give you some helpful advice to increase your chances of landing that next job.
Taking a peek into the daily routine of a professional, photographer or otherwise, can produce some interesting sights. Every photographer’s professional life is unique, yet most of us face similar daily challenges and strive for similar successes.
Just back in town after three consecutive assignments, I decided to take advantage of a lazy weekend to test out a few theories about my cameras.
We've all read the motivational quotes about creating work that matters and the 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at something. This video gives us more than that and will make you understand the most important aspect of creating a life where you do what you love.
In the world of professional photography, the value of our work doesn’t always line up with our client’s budgets. But as tempting as it is to take the money and run, holding firm can often be more profitable in the end.
My business is about 90 percent dealing with individuals, and about 10 percent working with brands. I just moved into a new live/work studio and, to help break it in, I decided to hold a "Pay What You Can" sale and the results made me change my entire business model.
There is an abundance of books on making business. They cover a lot of ground, mostly emphasizing marketing and selling, especially the latter. How practical is their advice to you as an artist?
Booking clients is easy once you understand how you can be their solution. If a potential client made it from a search engine to your "About Me" page, they've somehow pre-qualified themselves as a client.
Humans are the greatest adaption machines in the world. We are, by nature, made to adapt.
Confidence is one of those important attributes that are really useful for a photographer. While too much can definitely be a bad thing, not enough can dramatically reduce the opportunities you'll have to make great work.
Starting out in commercial photography is a daunting prospect, especially for those who are more creator than entrepreneur. I was one of these people, and I'd like to share some tips that are very easy to implement that could save you from a lot of headaches down the road.
We all have goals and aspirations — and I think that's the only way for structured growth — but achieving these aims will often result in a false dawn.
Before I became a photographer, I had ideas as to what the career might be like, boy was I wrong. Here is what a week as a professional photographer looks like.
Just as Canon announced that profits from its camera division have dropped by almost two-thirds, Sony has given an indication that it is not optimistic for the future, predicting that it will sell 1.4 million fewer cameras than it did in 2017.
Getting new clients is exciting, but often difficult. If you've got no mutual connection, no contact to introduce you, or no event you can bump in to them at, you're against the odds. So don't make it even harder.
Taking the jump into becoming a professional photographer can be a bit daunting, and you might be wondering if the move is right for you and what you can expect. This great video features a photographer discussing what his first year as a full-time professional was like after leaving a corporate job and offering some great tips and advice for those of you thinking of taking the plunge yourselves.
"What is your budget?" Have you ever asked that question? Actually, the more important matter is: Have you ever been asked this question? How has it made you feel?
To make a living as a photographer, you have to do more than take great pictures. You have to be a photographer, a supply-chain management expert, an entrepreneur, and, perhaps most importantly, you have to be great at selling — selling both yourself and selling your product.
Today, I’d like to talk about one easy concept that will help you break out of your ruts and grow your business.
Journalist and photographer Wudan Yan went on vacation in May with about $5,000 in outstanding invoices for her work from three different publications yet to be paid. She didn’t think it would be a problem, until she came back to find that they hadn’t paid her.
"If you’re not on Instagram, you don’t exist." How many times have you heard a statement to that affect? I recently had a discussion with a fellow professional photographer about the value of Instagram. In this article, I’ll explore our conclusions.
The business of photography is unique in a specific way like few other careers are. Many people that call themselves professional photographers are also hobbyists that love to shoot whether they get paid for it or not. Is that a gift or a bonus to calling photography your career or is it an affliction?
Taking the leap in to professional photography is daunting and full of traps for you to fall into, but there's one that you can jump in willingly and without realizing it's a trap at all.
Whether you're a professional, new hobbyist, or somewhere in between, it's always interesting to hear photographers' answers to common questions on photography.
You can have all the talent in the world when it comes to handling a camera, but if you don't know how to properly market yourself, you simply are not going to get very far in the professional photography. This great video details 10 common marketing mistakes photographers make and what you can do to fix them.
