We can talk about pricing all day, every day, but when it comes down to it, it's not just about how much you're charging but how you're displaying it. Most of the time we put a lot of thought into how aesthetically appealing our pricing pages look, but how they're laid out can end up making or breaking an up-sale.
From selling belts out his van to inventing one of the most popular cameras of our day – it must be surreal for GoPro founder Nick Woodman to look back at his companies growth. Not only is GoPro the go-to for the filmmaking community, but Woodman has successfully spread into a much wider market.
Everyone has to start somewhere, and for people seeking entry into the world of video production, or even studio photography, doing work as a production assistant is a great way to get your feet wet. I've hired lots of assistants, and before that I worked as one myself. I still do for some producers!
Adobe, in addition to announcing Q3 earnings which look to be a little lower than anticipated (but the stock is still doing quite well), also announced the availability of the Photoshop Photography Program that was revealed a couple weeks ago. To remind those of you who missed it, you can get a bundle specific to photographers for $9.99.
Announced today on their blog:
We're all human and we all screw up. Though, as Photographers, its not always noticeable to those around us. Of course we still notice, whether at the shoot, or after while we're reviewing our images. Here I've collected a bunch of screw up stories from some friends so that maybe next time you can think of these and not feel so bad.
Over the coming weeks I will be releasing a series of articles that will guide you step by step through the process of pricing your photography for commercial work. I will show you how to structure an invoice as well as go in depth to discuss the different parts of the invoice itself. I will show you how and why you should be using license agreements on all your work.
Did you catch the big news coming out of Apple this week? I’m not talking about the new phone announcements. I’m talking about Phil Schiller, Senior VP Marketing for Apple claiming that you no longer need to learn about photography to take better pictures, you just have to buy the new iPhone because (apparently) it does it all for us.
Because most of us fear rejection to some degree, speaking to a complete stranger and asking them for something, let alone asking if you can photograph them, tends to be pretty challenging.
When you ask most filmmakers what their next purchase is, you'll like hear an answer like "A new camera body, some lenses and better audio gear". It's always easy (and fun) to lust over new and expensive gear, but often we forget to buy the little things that make our life on set much less stressful.
Have you ever seen a photograph taken for a large, expensive advertising campaign and thought: "I could have totally taken that picture." I see photographers charging unbelievably high prices for mediocre images all the time. It makes me wonder; what is more important, the quality of my photography or the business of selling it?
Keeping your models and clients happy on set is vital to creating images that evoke the full range of emotion. Part of your job as a photographer is to bring everyone on set to a mind space that is calm and comfortable. Here are a few tips on how you can play the good host.
Sam Hon takes fighting to an entirely new level with his campaign for Optical Panecea. Sam's creative vision in this campaign was to make each fighter fight themselves while drawing creativity from each fighters raw character to make each image unique.
In the photography world, social media connects you with a multitude of people and not a month goes by where someone doesn’t mention they’re moving.
Heather Hansen O'Neill, award winning author and speaker, recently gave a very inspiring 15-minute talk at TEDx in NYC. It has nothing to do with photography or videography. Not even related to retouching. It's not related to our industry at all. But it can't be more related to the way you think and work as a photographer.
Photography is a dream career for many of us. The reality is, few of us can actually turn that into a full time career. We keep our regular 9-5 jobs to pay the bills and grab the odd photography gig here or there.
When dealing with clients every little thing we do or don't do can affect whether or not they will refer us on to their friends or colleagues. The digital age not only helps us communicate and run our business but sometimes it is a hindrance to our ability to run a successful and personable business.
Have you ever felt inadequate as a creative artist? Have you internally credited luck to your success rather than give yourself credit for the hard work you put in to get where you are today? Maybe you even just feel like a fake? All of this even though you have worked your ass off to become the successful artist you are today. I know I personally have felt this way on numerous occasions.
When this post is published I will be on my way to Moscow, Russia somewhere above the North Atlantic Ocean. I have a couple of shoots booked with my regular clients there, and my relationships with those clients are so great and long-lasting that they inspired me to write this article.
As a fellow commercial photographer I know that clients come to us for consistency and reliability. They hire us because when they are spending the big bucks on advertising campaigns they don’t want to leave things up to chance. It is part of our job to deliver the end product on time and free of flaws, but even a professional at the top of their game still battles with human error.
On Friday, calls started rolling out to all North American Freelance Sports Photographers on contract with Reuters informing them that their sideline services would no longer be needed.
Yesterday, wedding photographer Elaine Huguenin of Elane Photography, LLC was ruled against by the New Mexico Supreme Court stating th
Welcome to the instant-generation: a generation that loves taking Selfies and also taking Instagram photos of the food they or their friends are having that same moment, and of course share it right away on Social Media.
Alright, So you've made it past the hard part, making contact and getting the ok from the agency to work with their talent (As discussed in Part 1). Now what? Well now you book your first model!
Transitioning into commercial photography is no easy task. For some it’s the holy grail, end game, and ultimate dream job to have in the industry. For others it couldn’t be further from what they want- and that's fine!
Certainly, we've talked about how to always protect your photos and watch for thieves. In fact, Fstoppers' very own writer, Noam Galai has had his photo stolen, and turned into one of the most iconic pieces of pop art in the last 15 years. So what happens when Samsung foolishly awards a fraudulent submission a Samsung NX300 camera?
So you know your business inside and out and your image quality is top notch, but there's always room for improvement. A factor that many people overlook is the experience that a client has when they work with them, being on one side of the operations gives you a very different perspective and because of this you could be overlooking little important details that make the world of difference.
The music we use in our work, whether for videos or slide shows for stills images, is an integral part of the narrative and story we are trying tell. The genre, artist and music track we choose, sets the tone for the entire story we wish to tell.
The biggest mistake I see when reading a photographer’s blog is the choice of words used in blog page titles. The words you choose may be keeping your blog invisible to the world forever.
"Do you think we could do these photos that I found on Pinterest?" If you are a wedding photographer, or even a family photographer, it is more than likely you have heard this phrase before.
Over the last couple years, more and more photographers are turning towards a new business model of sharing the digital files with their clients rather than requiring them to place print orders to generate revenue.
There are many factors to success in the creative industry. Of course a big chunk of it has to do with the quality of the work, but we know quality isn’t the only factor to being successful as a photographer, otherwise, there would be a lot more of us.
It's been about two years since Facebook introduced their timelines, and a short while after that, pages were forced to conform. To this day, people still mention that they wish they had their old Facebook page back. Here are a few different tips on how to get the most out of the Facebook Timeline system for business pages.
Being a professional photographer isn't just about the thrill of shooting photographs or the endless hours of work editing them behind a computer screen. A photographer worth their salt knows that the business aspect of marketing is just as important. Jolie O'Dell's new book, Blogging For Photographers, explains how a blog can help expand your business.
We can often get swept up in the world of digital video. Topics like 'What it will mean for the future of photography when we can pull stills from video?' occupy a lot of time and thinking.
If there’s one thing we know about Robin Thicke, it’s that he recently put out a VERY controversial music video, and he’s taking over the radio waves with this sexy song! To many people he’s an overnight success, but he’s been in the business for over 13 years! How can you become an “overnight success” like him?
Facebook changed up their News Feed algorithm again in an effort to constantly improve our experience on the site. Their goal is for us to spend as much time as possible on Facebook and in an effort to keep us there they will now be featuring the most highly ranked posts first in our news feed followed by those with less engagement. What does that mean to all of us?
We live in a digital age where we can showcase our work to possible clients all around the world, but what's the point if we cannot shoot for clients outside of our home market once in awhile?
If you've used Dropbox, then you're probably going to love Copy! Ultimately, it's an almost identical product, but with a few features that will have you ready to switch by half way through this article. I like to think of them as Space, Interface and Sharing, even though Sharing doesn't rhyme.
Yesterday, I showed you the process of pre-producing a successful photoshoot and used a recent session as an example on all the steps it takes to put together a successful session with a large team. Today, I put together a breakdown of the entire production and post production process on creating a successful portrait session and a behind the scenes look into what all goes into it.
"Trevor, I see that a lot of people are visiting my site, but no one is contacting me for business. What can I do better?" I get this question quite a bit either via email or at the workshops I teach and while there is no magic solution that will work for everyone, I'd love to share what has been the biggest game changer for me in my business.
Looking on photography groups and forums, you'll quickly find a reoccurring problem among photographers. No Call, No Shows. It’s going to happen regardless of your location and the seriousness of the industry, and security deposits sometimes scare clients away all together. So how do you counteract this and ensure that your talent and team are timely, and even show up?
Ami Vitale is an award-winning photojournalist who has traveled across the globe covering assignments for major publications.
What does it mean to have a successful business? What does it mean to have a successful family? What does it mean to have a successful life?
As a wedding photographer I am always on the hunt for that perfect second shooter. Over the last 4 years I have shot 120+ weddings and worked with over 70 different second shooters. Most of them have been fantastic but I have always thought it would be nice to have a list of second shooter tips I could send them before the wedding day.
Running a photography business is hard work. As many of you know, it's usually more pencil pushing and email writing than standing behind a camera taking photos. With it being among the art community, it's incredibly easy to find excuses on why your business isn't reaching its full potential. But is it your business thats lacking, or your motivation?
As many of you know I am a big fan of social media. Search for me on Google and I hardly show up in the results, you won't find me at a bridal show, nor in paid ads inside a magazine. Instead all my business comes from word of mouth referrals and exposure via social media.
Quite often when Facebook rolls out new changes people start raising their pitchforks and torches. This time however Facebook got it right and I have a feeling it is going to be nothing but high praise. They are rolling out new fan page analytics (insights) that are quite impressive and definitely worth checking out.
As most people know, over the last few months and years, a number of laws have been passed that make operating a legitimate drone and aerial photography business a nightmare. Being a huge aviation geek and photographer myself, my jaw about hit the floor when I saw this, and I knew I had to share it with Fstoppers.
I have had the privilege of traveling all over the world as a photographer and love shooting photos of locals. They always light up seeing the images of themselves. However, I realized that while they loved seeing the images on the back of my camera, I was missing something important.
Last week we saw a few news worthy announcements from a couple of the larger photography portals. Livebooks went dark from their clients until the announcement was made that they are now under Wedding Wire and PhotoShelter released their new Beam portfolio service.