One of the hardest things for artists to learn is how to make it professionally. In this video, a commercial photographer describes his journey and the obstacles he overcame to achieve success.
If like me, you have always wanted to be a commercial photographer, then having a good agent is a really important part of this. However, there are far more photographers than there are agents, so how do you get one?
Landscape photography is not my thing. I use it to exercise the fundamentals and have something to do when I need a break from the family on camping trips, but that's the extent of it for me personally. But I feel for landscape photographers. It's a crowded field in an already crowded profession. It's hard to make your images not look like everyone else's, especially when everyone has access to the same subject matter you do.
Photography is undoubtedly the art with the lowest entry point. You can just pick up your phone and snap away. With billions of images created every day, they sometimes follow trends. Many beginner photographers start following pages on Instagram that “repost bangers.” However, those bangers are very far from what photography is about. In this article, I will talk about some of the worst photography trends that have become memes.
The cinemagraph was introduced over 10 years ago when I was in college. It offered an amazing new set of creative possibilities, and world-class artists were creating mind-blowing moving still images. Where did they go?
Many of us photographers rely on solid-state drives to store our important images. Did you know these types of drives only have a limited life span? Here's how to check how long your current drives have left on them before they urgently need replacing.
If like me, you were told to work out your overheads, how many days a year you plan to work, and calculate your fees from this, you have also been pricing your photography work incorrectly.
In the past, location has been everything for commercial photographers. However, times are changing, and it isn't an option for all of us to up sticks and move to NY. So what do we do if we find ourselves living in a small city?
A few years back I wrote a lifetime review on the Canon EOS 5D II. Since then I upgraded to the Canon EOS 5ds and 5DS R cameras, 5 years down the line I thought it apt to have a detailed look at them.
Photography studios come in many shapes and sizes, from family portrait studios on the high street to elaborate YouTuber sets. In this article, I walk you around my studio and explain why I have the layout and kit that I do for my work.
Today, I will begin a series of three lengthy and in-depth essays discussing my experience shooting with the new Nikon Z 6II over a three-month period.
The commercial photography world is tough to get into, but it is made even tougher if you don't live in certain cities like Paris, London, or New York. Here is how we can get around this.
Marketing is tough. It is hard, a bit of a dark art, and also very much something that you can't learn overnight. Chances are your photography is good enough, but you are still struggling to get work.
As all medium format shooters know, moving fast with larger sensor cameras can be a challenge compared to their full frame counterparts. So, I recently tried out the Fuji GFX GF 45mm-100mm f/4 R LM OIS WR to see if it would speed my workflow and unlock additional potential in my Fuji GFX system.
Let’s assume for a moment Nikon was a genie and could grant me one wish. Aside from wishing for 1,000 more wishes, here is what I would ask for.
When it comes to your images, how often do you think about the colors? Do you know what effects they could create or how to balance them together? Understanding color science can play a bigger role in your images than you thought.
To look at Jabari Jacob's life as a successful commercial photographer who flies from coast to coast working with brands like Nike and Sony, you would never guess he slept on an air mattress on the floor during the beginning of his career.
In today’s article, I thought it might be helpful to those just getting into the business to take you through my real-time thought process when bidding on commercial assignments, from the initial query email to whether or not I take a job. Over the years, I’ve made a lot of good decisions and a lot of bad decisions, and hopefully, you can learn from my journey.
It’s a question that everyone who picks up a camera asks at some point. But how do you know if a career in photography is right for you?
Knowing when to buy and when to borrow can make a big difference to the bottom line of your photography business.
A year ago today, I decided to start a photography YouTube channel offering advice from a commercial photographer's perspective who makes the vast majority of his income from ad campaigns. Here is what I learned.
Ella Grace Bell is a commercial photographer based out of Vancouver British Columbia who has worked with brands like Bootlegger Jeans, Poppy Finch, and Mobiado Watches, but freelancing isn't her main gig. She has a nine to five photography job that pays her bills, which seems to be a vanishing commodity outside photography studios.
The majority of a commercial photographer's income does not come from their day rate, but from their license fee and usage. Let's explore this.
With a holiday where people are expected to gather in large groups taking place during a global pandemic, I went a different way for my Fourth of July weekend.
With the heavy reality that many of us live in these days, allow me a brief moment to simply luxuriate in the completely pointless, utterly fun, and pleasantly diverting task of looking back at the best attributes of some of my past camera purchases.
As a commercial photographer who shoots predominantly for print, I need a very well-calibrated monitor and camera profile, but does anyone else need this?
Layer masks are probably the most significant tool/concept within Photoshop, but for the beginner, they can be a little bit confusing. This helpful tutorial will clear up any concepts that you might find baffling.
Working as a commercial photographer during the COVID-19 pandemic requires a healthy dose of creativity, and commercial photographer Kate Woodman, known for her conceptual images and mastery of color, is using that creativity to navigate how she can still be a viable resource to the industry while keeping an eye toward the future.
There's often some confusion among beginner Lightroom and Photoshop users about how they should be exporting files. In this video, watch how a professional photographer prepares his files for use on the web and in print.
His photographic journey developed much the same as most photographers, a slow burn of learning and exploration, but his destination has turned out to be anything but typical.
While most of us are sitting at home as non-essential personnel, many have come up with ways to keep the creativity flowing. Some are learning how to photograph wildlife, some leaning on their new love for macro, and some even testing out product photography for the first time. One photographer decided to test out some DIY options for products saving herself some money while she had the time on her hands.
As creatives, we all love opportunities to work out creativity muscles and test how far we can push it. This was how the shoot “Inception” came about for photographer Astrid Obert.
I have been sent a lot of messages and seen a lot of comments on this topic over the last year, and it is something I have shied away from tackling, but in this article I am going to delve into the taboo debate around internet photographers versus professional photographers.
I recently published an article about why photographers hate my images here, and I think I may have missed a few points, as well as feeling the need to cover more about why most photographers don't understand person work.
We all have a bit of time on our hands right now, and if you want to set up a photography business or perhaps reassess your current position, this is a great time to do it and this video offers advice on how to name your business and work out who it is that you are.
I know I harp on about gear not mattering. Nevertheless, there are individual purchases that I have made over the years that have had a real impact on my work. Having been a commercial photographer for some time, I thought I'd share my opinion on this.
For those of you with a neglected DSLR camera gathering dust on the shelf this is the perfect time to learn some new techniques, like a few basics of still-life photography. Whether you have a dusty DSLR or just a smartphone, this video has some great tips to help beat the self-isolation blues.
As a commercial photographer who tethers at every shoot, I’ve always relied on Tether Tools cords as part of my workflow. So, I was excited to hear that they had launched a wireless offering and wanted to put the new Air Direct through the paces.
I have spent the last four months working on a YouTube channel. Despite two-step authentication, I had my channel stolen. Here is what has happened and how it has been dealt with by Google.
Photography websites are here to stay, despite social media's best efforts. Having a website is really affordable and simple in 2020, but there are several faux pas that could be stopping your viewers from booking you.
Photography is a tough profession to get into. Just knowing how to get from A to B can be half of the battle. In this article I go over 3 tips to help get your first ad campaign.
Every day there is an unreadable amount of content that purports to tell you how to achieve success in everything from Instagram to business, but there's one important ingredient that is often missed out. And it's inconvenient.
For those of you who keep hearing about Capture One, but wondering if it’s worth the trouble, this one might be for you.
This is part two of my three-part, unreasonably in-depth real world shooting review of the GFX 100 after having shot with it as my primary camera professionally for the last three months.
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.
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?
Have you ever heard the argument that photography isn’t art, because everyone can do it? That’s bull. All forms of photography need artistic thinking to some extent.
If you have ever wanted to start a YouTube channel, here is my experience of setting up a new channel and giving it a real go for 30 days.
Despite heavily investing in new cameras over the last couple years, it is the still excellent Nikon D850, purchased two years ago, which has suddenly become brand new to me.
Being a professional photographer is becoming more and more of a sought-after career. If you are struggling to make the jump, here are some pointers that might help you out.
