For the last several weeks I have really been struggling with myself. When it comes to photography and even writing this blog I still feel like I am a newbie and that I am not really accomplishing anything or learning anything for that matter. With my photography I have been finding it very hard to convince myself to pick up my camera and do anything with it. I know that I need to practice or I am not going to get any better, but I just can't seem to do it. I am guessing that it is a lack of motivation on my part, however I am not exactly sure what it is. When it comes to the things that I write here I am honestly writing because I like too, and in some cases it gives me a sense of purpose. When I scroll through different groups and I see things that they struggle with I try to find the answer and see if there is something that I can do or explain to help, and on the same token apply it to myself. Once I am able to do that I share it here so that everyone who takes the time to read my blog will learn as well. I thought that if I shared my short comings and my accomplishments and things that I learned on each shoot in order to improve for the next that it would not only help reinforce it in my head, and potentially at the same time benefit someone else. However over the last few weeks I have felt like I am failing with that as well. I have felt that I am just doing it all wrong, or maybe I just wasn't smart enough to do all of it. This thought process has really weighed me down as a result.
This was all washed away today.
A few weeks ago my daughter had her senior pictures taken by the assigned photography company. Now I am going to leave their name out of it as a professional courtesy. We just received the proofs today, and I was horrified. They took 20 shots of my daughter and 19 of them are completely unacceptable. The background is horrible, the shadowing (that the photographer created on purpose is horrific) they have her tilted and leaning in weird directions. Not to mention, the posing. It was not flattering at all. I just couldn't believe that these were suppose to be the photos that she was to purchase to represent her senior year. When I saw them I wanted to cry. I know that when she sees them that she is going to hate them as well, and I have nothing that I can say that will make it better. I am planning to call the school and see if I can take her yearbook photo and submit it, but I am almost certain that this will be shot down because it will not be done by the contracted photographer which I can respect. I just feel sick for my daughter.
In an effort to not be to biased about the situation I did show the photos to a close family friend and my husband to see what their thoughts were. I did not say a word as they looked at the photos. They were horrified as well. They both told me that in knowing my daughter as well as they do that she is going to hate them and not want any of them. At that point both of them looked at me and told me that I should take her photos as they will be a million times better than what was originally produced. I reassured both of them that this was the plan and that my daughter had already asked that I do her photos for her. (Which was a confidence boost as well.)
Just for further investigation we decided to look and see how much the photos were going to cost. I could hear my wallet tuck its tail between its legs and scream when I saw the prices. The most expensive all you could get package was almost $600 and this is with out "premium retouching" (Whatever that is) and the killer was the lowest package. This package really had nothing to it, but as a professional courtesy I will not go into detail about the specifics. Needless to say, for virtually nothing they wanted $160. I sat for a very long time in disbelief and the expectation that this company had.
I charge no where near what this company charges and in a side by side comparison my work is much better. Which is not something that I take lightly in saying. It is horrible that my low self esteem about what I am attempting to do with my camera was washed away at the expense of my daughter's senior pictures, but it does make me realize that I can offer so much more to a client than what was offered to my daughter.
Sometimes I think we all just need a reminder that we are not as bad at something as we feel. Or I guess a shorter way to say it is that sometimes we just need a reality check. It is something I needed to remind me that I take great pride in my work and the products that I produce in order to have happy clients with beautiful work.
Just remember, you can only go forward from here. Going backwards is not an option. If this is your dream, as I am sure it is... Take it and run with it. Work hard and continue to improve. Never stop improving. If you stop... that is when you fail.
Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Monday, June 27, 2016
Things to work on
Recently I was lucky enough to work with a beautiful young lady and produce her senior photos. As I have been slowly working through her photos and editing I realized there are some things that I need to work on.
1. Posing- I realized that I am very weak in this area. I have been under the impression that teenagers know how to pose, I mean, seriously they are in front of the camera all the time. They are always taking selfies for snapchat, and Instagram, and Facebook. With this in mind I really did not think that I needed to instruct her on posing. I realized in the first 10 minutes I was wrong. I am not sure if it was because mom was there or if was because she was not in control of the camera, but posing was not her thing. So I was having to give her guidance, and of course I was not prepared so I was flying on a wing and a prayer that it would look good. I must admit that God came through though and gave me amazing weather, not to mention a light breeze that assisted with a beautiful hair blown look with almost every single shot. I could not have been more pleased with the looks I got, even though I was not always pleased with the posing. Which is my fault as I had failed to be prepared for this particular issue.
2. Preparing my client- I realized when I got to my shoot that what I thought was going to happen in my head was not going to manifest into an actual photo on my camera. I had ideas of very specific shots, and with specific attitudes or well I am not really sure how to describe it. However I failed to prep my client and her mother. I also failed to be prepared for the visions of my client and her mother. This was a failure of communication. This makes me realize that prior to booking I really need to sit down with each client in person or on the phone and discuss my thoughts as well as there so that both sides are prepared and all expectations are out in the open.
3. Understanding rules and policies of the location or having a point of contact- This one sounds scary I know, but it is not as bad as it sounds. I didn't get into any trouble, however there was just a lot of stress. Our location was a botanical garden/zoo. Due to the fact that I knew we had to pay an entrance fee, I also assumed that there would be some sort of media rules. Of course there was. However I did not quite understand where I fell within the media policies. My biggest question was am I considered commercial or non commercial? There was no specific definition within their policy in order to differentiate, and there was only an outlier of rules for bridal shoots which left me to wonder if I may fall into that outlier. Of course with this in mind there was a potential of extra charges and such. However there was no way to determine by policy where I fell. I emailed the one point of contact, and of course I got no response. It finally came down to a phone call and finding a specific point of contact and speaking to a live person to get clarification. From all of this I learned it is much easier to have a point of contact and a person to speak with versus having to play the guessing game, or functioning on a hope and a prayer that I am not going to get in trouble. A liaison is the best way to go! This helps relieve your stress and that of your client.
3. Scope out where you are going- Yes I failed this one. I allowed myself to get cocky and think that I did not have to look at the location prior to the shoot. I figured that a botanical garden was a great place and there was nothing to worry about. Which it was not a worry. However had I looked at the location I think I would have planned out my shoot 100 times better! This place was beautiful, and full of nooks and crannies that were just amazing for such a tiny garden. It was overwhelming to look at and running from spot to spot, and now I wonder if there was a chance that I may have missed some amazing shots.
4. Being early is amazing!- We opted to do this shoot in the morning as soon as the garden opened. This was the best decision we could have made! We were the first ones in and we were over half way through our session before people really started to show up and becoming a problem with the shoot. It was amazing to not have to work around other people and worry about shots being inadvertently ruined by other guests. Not to mention the lighting was amazing for a 9AM shoot!
5. Editing- I noticed after the fact while I was editing that even though for most shots that I had great skies and I was super excited, however there were several shots that the sky failed me. It was flat, gray and just plain boring. This called for a sky replacement in Photoshop once I realized there was nothing that I could do in Lightroom to save the sky. I thought that I understood enough to be able to do this. However I realized several things. The first is that I am not great when it comes to more technical things in Photoshop, and two that I did not have the files to do what I wanted. I initially tried to use the sky from another portrait in the same shoot, but I just could not for the life of me make it realistic. Due to time constraints and the need to get these photos processed I did not feel that I had the time to do the research to teach myself how to do the replacement, and I did not have the extra money to purchase sky replacement files. So this left me at a loss. Sadly some of these portraits were amazing, but had I been able to replace the sky this would have made it perfect! So I have learned not only do I need to spend time behind the camera, but I need to invest more time learning to work with and learn Photoshop and Lightroom. I have the basics, but there are times that the basics, or a preset is just not enough.
With every shoot there is something new to learn and something new for me to share. I hope that in sharing where I have failed and the things that I need to work on that this will help you avoid my downfalls, and also help everyone to realize that no one is perfect. Mistakes happen, and as long as you learn from them there is not much more anyone could ask for.
5. Editing- I noticed after the fact while I was editing that even though for most shots that I had great skies and I was super excited, however there were several shots that the sky failed me. It was flat, gray and just plain boring. This called for a sky replacement in Photoshop once I realized there was nothing that I could do in Lightroom to save the sky. I thought that I understood enough to be able to do this. However I realized several things. The first is that I am not great when it comes to more technical things in Photoshop, and two that I did not have the files to do what I wanted. I initially tried to use the sky from another portrait in the same shoot, but I just could not for the life of me make it realistic. Due to time constraints and the need to get these photos processed I did not feel that I had the time to do the research to teach myself how to do the replacement, and I did not have the extra money to purchase sky replacement files. So this left me at a loss. Sadly some of these portraits were amazing, but had I been able to replace the sky this would have made it perfect! So I have learned not only do I need to spend time behind the camera, but I need to invest more time learning to work with and learn Photoshop and Lightroom. I have the basics, but there are times that the basics, or a preset is just not enough.
With every shoot there is something new to learn and something new for me to share. I hope that in sharing where I have failed and the things that I need to work on that this will help you avoid my downfalls, and also help everyone to realize that no one is perfect. Mistakes happen, and as long as you learn from them there is not much more anyone could ask for.
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Are we as photographers considered commercial or non commercial?
Lately I have had a number of eye opening experiences, and I have just had another one. I love to learn, however it has been rather complicated as of late. Let me explain.
I had a returning client contact me about a session. They wanted to do this session at our local zoo/botanical gardens. This made me slightly nervous. I have never shot at a place where I have had to pay an entrance fee and not to mention I have been ridiculed by other photographers for posting photos from the Zoo on my business page due to their beliefs about the zoo's media rules. With this in mind I went to the zoo's website to see what the exact policy was. This is where the confusion came in.
Per the zoo policy if the shoot is a commercial shoot there would be a $1,000 a day fee, plus extra fees if you needed to have a zoo Representative or not and than there were additional charges for other things based upon the number of hours that you were there and the equipment you may or may not need. There was also the charges per photo depending on if you were going to use them for textbooks, or other items. It was a lot overall. However there was also a clause about non commercial shooting. Which basically as long as you did not interfere with the flow of the visitors to the park and did not sell your photos you were in the clear. However if you were shooting bridal photos those had an extra charge and could only be shot after hours in the park. As I said it was all confusing.
After reading the policy the first thing I needed to do was figure out if I was going to be considered commercial, non commercial or potentially fall into the same classification as a bride with this particular shoot. I did some research and asked in several Facebook groups and came up with the same problem. It was a fifty fifty choice. Some stated that I would be commercial because I am being paid to shoot, and others stated non commercial because this is a senior photo session, it is not an advertisement shoot which is what made sense to be. However no one could really answer if I would fall into the bridal category or not as sometimes portraits in general can be lumped together like that.
In an effort to figure out where I fell I began some research on line. I was directed to this article from F-Stoppers https://fstoppers.com/other/fstoppers-answers-what-commercial-photography-2963 where various well known photographers described what they thought the difference between commercial and non commercial shooting was. Needless to say they seemed to come across as though they were not sure. I tried to find a state law or some guidance and there was just nothing that I could find, even with the help of Google that could answer my question. Which honestly I was surprised. Google usually never fails me. The last step that I could think of was to see what other photographers in the area had done. I noted that there were a large number of them that had shot at this location, and I noted that they had even linked back to the zoo itself. So this caused me to really stop and think. My thought process than became, "If the photographer linked back to the zoo they must have signed a contract stating that they had too." Which this led to the thought that this session would be considered a commercial session. At the same time I tried to contact a few photographers in the area, and sadly they had no information for me. Some chose not to answer when I called or when I asked they had never shot there and were unaware of the procedure.
I know that a number of you are probably wondering why I didn't start with just talking to someone at the zoo. To be honest I had started to get in contact with them. The minute that I was asked to do the session at the zoo I looked up a point of contact at the zoo and sent off an email. I let 48 hours go by with no response, and since this was a last minute shoot I needed to have my ducks in a row or I needed to find another location. I personally did not want to have to find another location because this zoo with its gardens are amazing. So I was holding out hope that it would all work out in our favor. After no contact was made from the point of contact I tried calling the zoo, and the first phone call was a complete failure. They wanted a message and they would get back to me at a later time. So I waited, until the next morning. I can almost bet I was the first call of the day. I called as soon as I knew the gates were open and I was praying someone would actually want to talk to me. As luck would have it there was someone who wanted to talk to me, and they even had the answers that I was looking for. Per the interpretation of the policy I would be shooting as a non commercial entity. Which seems odd because I am still selling the photos. Here is the catch. I am selling them to an end user. I am not creating them for marketing and they will not be used to advertise for a specific business. That is where the difference lies. This session also did not fall into the bridal category because there was not going to be all the extra things like hair and makeup and a huge dress that was going to be in the way. In their eyes this was nothing more than a family trip to the zoo.
So what I have learned that there is not a defining answer that goes across the board to determine if we are all considered commercial or non commercial. Even though we are getting paid for a service and a product it may not mean we are commercial. This is something that is determined by the location that we are shooting at, and what we are planning to use the photos for once they are completed. Which now that I know this is either going to be a blessing or a curse, as this now leads me to question every time that I shoot at a new location where am I going to fall, and I feel that I need to find a way to understand the policies as I read them a bit better in order to reduce the stress of trying to figure out what I am or am not based upon the project that I am working on. I feel like I have said all this to simply say, no matter what you do as a photographer when it comes to determining if you are commercial or non commercial it is left to the discretion of others whether you like it or not.
What are your opinions about this particular topic? I would love to hear them!
I had a returning client contact me about a session. They wanted to do this session at our local zoo/botanical gardens. This made me slightly nervous. I have never shot at a place where I have had to pay an entrance fee and not to mention I have been ridiculed by other photographers for posting photos from the Zoo on my business page due to their beliefs about the zoo's media rules. With this in mind I went to the zoo's website to see what the exact policy was. This is where the confusion came in.
Per the zoo policy if the shoot is a commercial shoot there would be a $1,000 a day fee, plus extra fees if you needed to have a zoo Representative or not and than there were additional charges for other things based upon the number of hours that you were there and the equipment you may or may not need. There was also the charges per photo depending on if you were going to use them for textbooks, or other items. It was a lot overall. However there was also a clause about non commercial shooting. Which basically as long as you did not interfere with the flow of the visitors to the park and did not sell your photos you were in the clear. However if you were shooting bridal photos those had an extra charge and could only be shot after hours in the park. As I said it was all confusing.
After reading the policy the first thing I needed to do was figure out if I was going to be considered commercial, non commercial or potentially fall into the same classification as a bride with this particular shoot. I did some research and asked in several Facebook groups and came up with the same problem. It was a fifty fifty choice. Some stated that I would be commercial because I am being paid to shoot, and others stated non commercial because this is a senior photo session, it is not an advertisement shoot which is what made sense to be. However no one could really answer if I would fall into the bridal category or not as sometimes portraits in general can be lumped together like that.
In an effort to figure out where I fell I began some research on line. I was directed to this article from F-Stoppers https://fstoppers.com/other/fstoppers-answers-what-commercial-photography-2963 where various well known photographers described what they thought the difference between commercial and non commercial shooting was. Needless to say they seemed to come across as though they were not sure. I tried to find a state law or some guidance and there was just nothing that I could find, even with the help of Google that could answer my question. Which honestly I was surprised. Google usually never fails me. The last step that I could think of was to see what other photographers in the area had done. I noted that there were a large number of them that had shot at this location, and I noted that they had even linked back to the zoo itself. So this caused me to really stop and think. My thought process than became, "If the photographer linked back to the zoo they must have signed a contract stating that they had too." Which this led to the thought that this session would be considered a commercial session. At the same time I tried to contact a few photographers in the area, and sadly they had no information for me. Some chose not to answer when I called or when I asked they had never shot there and were unaware of the procedure.
I know that a number of you are probably wondering why I didn't start with just talking to someone at the zoo. To be honest I had started to get in contact with them. The minute that I was asked to do the session at the zoo I looked up a point of contact at the zoo and sent off an email. I let 48 hours go by with no response, and since this was a last minute shoot I needed to have my ducks in a row or I needed to find another location. I personally did not want to have to find another location because this zoo with its gardens are amazing. So I was holding out hope that it would all work out in our favor. After no contact was made from the point of contact I tried calling the zoo, and the first phone call was a complete failure. They wanted a message and they would get back to me at a later time. So I waited, until the next morning. I can almost bet I was the first call of the day. I called as soon as I knew the gates were open and I was praying someone would actually want to talk to me. As luck would have it there was someone who wanted to talk to me, and they even had the answers that I was looking for. Per the interpretation of the policy I would be shooting as a non commercial entity. Which seems odd because I am still selling the photos. Here is the catch. I am selling them to an end user. I am not creating them for marketing and they will not be used to advertise for a specific business. That is where the difference lies. This session also did not fall into the bridal category because there was not going to be all the extra things like hair and makeup and a huge dress that was going to be in the way. In their eyes this was nothing more than a family trip to the zoo.
So what I have learned that there is not a defining answer that goes across the board to determine if we are all considered commercial or non commercial. Even though we are getting paid for a service and a product it may not mean we are commercial. This is something that is determined by the location that we are shooting at, and what we are planning to use the photos for once they are completed. Which now that I know this is either going to be a blessing or a curse, as this now leads me to question every time that I shoot at a new location where am I going to fall, and I feel that I need to find a way to understand the policies as I read them a bit better in order to reduce the stress of trying to figure out what I am or am not based upon the project that I am working on. I feel like I have said all this to simply say, no matter what you do as a photographer when it comes to determining if you are commercial or non commercial it is left to the discretion of others whether you like it or not.
What are your opinions about this particular topic? I would love to hear them!
Monday, May 23, 2016
Trying to dig out of that horrible rut
I have noticed over the last few weeks that I have lost myself. I have not created a fun image in months, and I am honestly struggling to figure out my next move. It has been enough to make me wonder from time to time if I am just stuck temporarily or is this going to be something I can never get out of. I love my photography and I love to see the excitement from my clients, or even my own family when I create images.However I have not had the chance to feel that enjoyment lately. I seem to struggle with making something that I am happy with and proud enough to show my family. With this in mind I realize that I must do something because I am stuck in a rut, which I am not happy about.
I am a big fan of the Improved Photography LLC. This group of photographers spend a number of hours creating podcasts, articles and training material for us to use at either a very low cost or no cost at all. With this thought in mind this was my first stop. I went to the Improved Photography website and went through the articles that are available and ran across one in particular that is entitled "In a Photography Rut? Project Workshop!" The article is written by Rowland Jones and is part of a series of articles that have been written. However at this point this is the only one that I have read. This article covers the basic history of portrait photography and how time consuming it was in the beginning stages. It also talked about how photographers began to change how things were done by creating new and different portraits that showed the emotion of the person that they were photographing versus just a stony face and a very stiff postured subject. The suggestion is made at the end of the article to create and schedule a formal portrait session. This includes finding a model, doing some research on a location and preparing for the shoot. There were also some suggestions about putting your subject at ease and discussion about post processing. If you would like to read this particular article in full here is the link:
http://improvephotography.com/30488/photography-rut-project-workshop/
After reading the article this has given me some perspective and to some extent has gotten the juices flowing about what I could do with a session. However this is something that I want to be personal and from my heart. I also want my personal project to tell a story through the photos that I take. This is something of a challenge because I have no idea how to tell this story. I have learned that unlike dancing, which can tall a story though movement, photography is something completely different. I have attempted this idea and failed several times. Each time I feel as though the photo needs an explanation or a thought bubble so that the viewer of the photo understands the story that I am trying to portray.
So as I sit here I am trying to figure out several things.
1. What is the topic, or title of my project?
2. What is the story that I want to portray?
3. Is this something that I am only doing for myself or is this something that I want to release to the public eventually?
4. What type of project can I do that is something that I can complete, and not become discouraged and quit?
I found an article about some of this at The digital Photography School. In the article it talked about why a personal project is important. There are actually several other reasons, besides getting yourself out of a rut. Personal projects can help to expand your portfolio, get you to step out of your comfort zone and get you out into your community. Which I believe these are all great ideas that may be very helpful.
If you would like to read the full article for further explanation here is the link.
http://digital-photography-school.com/importance-personal-projects-professional-photographers/
As I continued my research I found another article on the Fstoppers site that helped to define things a bit more. It talked about not letting your projects die and how to stay motivated which is something that I NEEDED more than I realized. This really brought things into prospective for me. This article broke down how to come up with ideas, and how to keep track of them and to expand on them to make the project specific and not quite so over whelming at the very beginning. As I said this is something that I needed to see as I believe that being over whelmed from the very beginning is a very huge issue for me as a photographer. I also found it reassuring to know that I am not the only one that struggles with the actual execution of the project, which in my case is the reason why it dies, and the ideas that were given to prevent this is great. I have come to realize that I need a time line for the project and it is not something that has to be a year. It can be as short as a few days to as long as I want it to be. However there need to be end dates and there need to be bench marks with dates in order to keep myself on track. Also one of the biggest take always from the article for me is that it is ok to fail. You can always go back and re-shoot. Which brings a lot of weight off of my shoulders.
If you would like to read this article as well please follow the link.
https://fstoppers.com/business/how-not-let-your-personal-photography-project-ideas-be-forgotten-83648
What are your thoughts? Do you have any suggestions for me? Would you like to see the project as I work through it?
I would love to know what you think and if this is something of interest to you. Please leave your feed back in the comments and give me an idea of what you are interested in.
As always thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts and give feedback. I hope that it is helping you as much as it helps me as we grow with our photography.
I am a big fan of the Improved Photography LLC. This group of photographers spend a number of hours creating podcasts, articles and training material for us to use at either a very low cost or no cost at all. With this thought in mind this was my first stop. I went to the Improved Photography website and went through the articles that are available and ran across one in particular that is entitled "In a Photography Rut? Project Workshop!" The article is written by Rowland Jones and is part of a series of articles that have been written. However at this point this is the only one that I have read. This article covers the basic history of portrait photography and how time consuming it was in the beginning stages. It also talked about how photographers began to change how things were done by creating new and different portraits that showed the emotion of the person that they were photographing versus just a stony face and a very stiff postured subject. The suggestion is made at the end of the article to create and schedule a formal portrait session. This includes finding a model, doing some research on a location and preparing for the shoot. There were also some suggestions about putting your subject at ease and discussion about post processing. If you would like to read this particular article in full here is the link:
http://improvephotography.com/30488/photography-rut-project-workshop/
After reading the article this has given me some perspective and to some extent has gotten the juices flowing about what I could do with a session. However this is something that I want to be personal and from my heart. I also want my personal project to tell a story through the photos that I take. This is something of a challenge because I have no idea how to tell this story. I have learned that unlike dancing, which can tall a story though movement, photography is something completely different. I have attempted this idea and failed several times. Each time I feel as though the photo needs an explanation or a thought bubble so that the viewer of the photo understands the story that I am trying to portray.
So as I sit here I am trying to figure out several things.
1. What is the topic, or title of my project?
2. What is the story that I want to portray?
3. Is this something that I am only doing for myself or is this something that I want to release to the public eventually?
4. What type of project can I do that is something that I can complete, and not become discouraged and quit?
I found an article about some of this at The digital Photography School. In the article it talked about why a personal project is important. There are actually several other reasons, besides getting yourself out of a rut. Personal projects can help to expand your portfolio, get you to step out of your comfort zone and get you out into your community. Which I believe these are all great ideas that may be very helpful.
If you would like to read the full article for further explanation here is the link.
http://digital-photography-school.com/importance-personal-projects-professional-photographers/
As I continued my research I found another article on the Fstoppers site that helped to define things a bit more. It talked about not letting your projects die and how to stay motivated which is something that I NEEDED more than I realized. This really brought things into prospective for me. This article broke down how to come up with ideas, and how to keep track of them and to expand on them to make the project specific and not quite so over whelming at the very beginning. As I said this is something that I needed to see as I believe that being over whelmed from the very beginning is a very huge issue for me as a photographer. I also found it reassuring to know that I am not the only one that struggles with the actual execution of the project, which in my case is the reason why it dies, and the ideas that were given to prevent this is great. I have come to realize that I need a time line for the project and it is not something that has to be a year. It can be as short as a few days to as long as I want it to be. However there need to be end dates and there need to be bench marks with dates in order to keep myself on track. Also one of the biggest take always from the article for me is that it is ok to fail. You can always go back and re-shoot. Which brings a lot of weight off of my shoulders.
If you would like to read this article as well please follow the link.
https://fstoppers.com/business/how-not-let-your-personal-photography-project-ideas-be-forgotten-83648
What are your thoughts? Do you have any suggestions for me? Would you like to see the project as I work through it?
I would love to know what you think and if this is something of interest to you. Please leave your feed back in the comments and give me an idea of what you are interested in.
As always thank you so much for taking the time to read my thoughts and give feedback. I hope that it is helping you as much as it helps me as we grow with our photography.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Advertisement, the struggle is real
As I have stated in a previous post this is a topic that I have struggled with since going full time as a photographer. It seems like there is a trick, or maybe it is an art to advertising yourself. This is something that I struggle with.
The first reason that I struggle with this so much is because it is hard to promote myself. It is easy for me to promote others and how great they are but when it comes to promoting myself I become self conscious about the situation. To an extent I feel like I am bragging about myself and throwing myself out there to get the attention of everyone around and it is just something that I am not comfortable with at all. I am not one that likes to brag or boast about myself. I have spent my entire life allowing my work and my work performance speak for itself. I never had the need to boast or promote myself in a manner to attract attention because my work ethic and values did that for me. However I am learning that is not the case with photography and it has been a fight for me to put myself out there and say "Look at me! You know you want to work with me!" It is very odd, and in a number of ways it is very unsettling for me.
When I first started out I was only doing this full time, and honestly it was more for fun, and for my kids than anything else. Due to one picture that a friend saw word of mouth took off and I was able to shoot my first event, a family reunion. It went well and I was able to get repeat clients from this particular event. The family enjoyed working with me, and they loved the product that I was able to give them. Which was great for me. It was quite easy for me to get sessions and I really did not have to work that hard to get them.
Everything changed a few years ago when I had to move. This meant that I had to start over with my client base. I went back to my old ways, photos just for fun, my kids and just enjoying taking photos. There has been a few that have put out there that I am a photographer and I have had a few sessions, however nothing like before. Now that I am full time I realize that I need to up my game.
I have watched other photographers and read a number of articles on line, and even dabbled with Thumbtack and there has just not been the success that I enjoyed before. I wonder if I am putting to much stress on myself or if I am to reliant on word of mouth. I have discovered that sites like Thumbtack are just not worth it to me, as I am having to pay to bid on clients, and most of the time I do not get the session and this is very disheartening and expensive.
I know that there are many ways to advertise, however, finding the most effective way has been a struggle. Like many photographers I have a Facebook page, and my website. This is just not enough.
I know that there are things that I currently need to do, for example build my SEO with Google. However beyond flyers I am just at a true loss for how to market.
What are some things that you do to market yourself in your local areas? Do you hold local events or participate in various small business events? What has been the most effective marketing strategy that you have been able to find or develop?
Please share your thoughts and comments to help us all learn and grow our individual businesses! You are all are great!
The first reason that I struggle with this so much is because it is hard to promote myself. It is easy for me to promote others and how great they are but when it comes to promoting myself I become self conscious about the situation. To an extent I feel like I am bragging about myself and throwing myself out there to get the attention of everyone around and it is just something that I am not comfortable with at all. I am not one that likes to brag or boast about myself. I have spent my entire life allowing my work and my work performance speak for itself. I never had the need to boast or promote myself in a manner to attract attention because my work ethic and values did that for me. However I am learning that is not the case with photography and it has been a fight for me to put myself out there and say "Look at me! You know you want to work with me!" It is very odd, and in a number of ways it is very unsettling for me.
When I first started out I was only doing this full time, and honestly it was more for fun, and for my kids than anything else. Due to one picture that a friend saw word of mouth took off and I was able to shoot my first event, a family reunion. It went well and I was able to get repeat clients from this particular event. The family enjoyed working with me, and they loved the product that I was able to give them. Which was great for me. It was quite easy for me to get sessions and I really did not have to work that hard to get them.
Everything changed a few years ago when I had to move. This meant that I had to start over with my client base. I went back to my old ways, photos just for fun, my kids and just enjoying taking photos. There has been a few that have put out there that I am a photographer and I have had a few sessions, however nothing like before. Now that I am full time I realize that I need to up my game.
I have watched other photographers and read a number of articles on line, and even dabbled with Thumbtack and there has just not been the success that I enjoyed before. I wonder if I am putting to much stress on myself or if I am to reliant on word of mouth. I have discovered that sites like Thumbtack are just not worth it to me, as I am having to pay to bid on clients, and most of the time I do not get the session and this is very disheartening and expensive.
I know that there are many ways to advertise, however, finding the most effective way has been a struggle. Like many photographers I have a Facebook page, and my website. This is just not enough.
I know that there are things that I currently need to do, for example build my SEO with Google. However beyond flyers I am just at a true loss for how to market.
What are some things that you do to market yourself in your local areas? Do you hold local events or participate in various small business events? What has been the most effective marketing strategy that you have been able to find or develop?
Please share your thoughts and comments to help us all learn and grow our individual businesses! You are all are great!
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Mini Sessions, Are they really worth it?
Over the last year or so I have watched countless photographers advertise mini sessions. I am not always sure of the response or if they actually end up doing these mini sessions. With some I am positive that they do because I see the photos that they post on Facebook and they are constantly updating their clients until the day of the event and even after so that everyone knows when they are going to be getting their pictures. But every time I see it I wonder, is a minis session really worth it to the client.
For example I see some photographers who charge $275 for a 20 minute session and the client gets 5 digital images, and may or may not get the option to buy prints or at least print rights for an additional charge. However these same photographers charge $325 for a full one hour session and have multiple options for packages that are either prints or digital downloads or both. The difference in price and product in my opinion is just not enough. Let me explain.
Lets say this photographer is going to do a total of 8 hours for mini sessions. So that equals 24 sessions in the allotted time. Based upon the sitting fee alone that means that the photographer is going to make a total of $6,600 for that 8 hours. Now lets say a second photographer books 8 one hour sessions during the same time frame and at regular price of $325. Just in sitting fees alone this photographer is going to make $2600. Admittedly not near as much in sitting fees as a mini session. However this photographer processes their clients photos and holds an in person sales session with each client. The average for each session spent on product now jumps to $500. So for 8 sessions the photographer has now grossed $6,600.
In both cases the photographer ends up making the same amount of income. However the first photographer has only 20 minutes to work with each client versus a full hour, and they end up working with a total of 24 clients. Where as the second photographer only works with 8 clients, and produces the same amount of income in the same amount of time.
So where is the benefit of a mini session? The reason that I ask is because I am honestly not sure. From what I have noticed from other photographers is they put in the same amount of time editing the 5 images that they give the client of a mini as they would a normal session client. The only real difference that I have come across is that with a mini session there is less of a chance of an in person sale meeting. This seems to be negated because the client is only receiving 5 images and typically they are digital and it seems that once the digitals are delivered there is no longer contact with the client.
In essence what I see is a loss of personal touch between the photographer and the client with a mini session. Please understand this is what I see from the outside, so if this is not the case I would love to hear some input. I know there are a number of people that use mini sessions with in their business models and I am sure that they work, but I just do not understand how. Are these sessions used to draw in new clients? Are they meant as a promotional action? Are they to keep clients coming back? What is the true purpose of a mini session? And the even bigger question is, are they really worth it to the photographer and to the client?
I cannot wait to hear or see your answers about this particular topic! This is a very interesting and important topic for me.
Monday, May 9, 2016
How to spend your free time?
As I have said in previous posts I have recently gone through some huge life changes. To say the least it is not something that has been easy. I thought that when this transition happened that I would be OK. Why? Well I have my camera, I have a client base and I held the belief that between my family, marketing, editing, and actual sessions that I would be one busy lady. Oh how wrong I was.
First off I realized that over the years my family has learned how to function without me being there all the time. My children have grown up with the understanding that I have military obligations, and due to those obligations there are a lot of times that I will not be able to be there, and there is so much that I have missed. They grasped the concept and understood that I was doing that I had to do in order to take care of them and they in turn grew up much faster than I realized and now they function with, or without my presence, unless of course they need a ride somewhere.
Thankfully my camera has not gone anywhere. It has stayed ready in my bag with a charged battery and ready to jump at the chance to shoot a sporting event, prom, graduation photos or just personal project photos when ever I am ready to grab it. These various events have given me the chance to work on my editing work flow which has cut my time down significantly.
I have had sessions, however, not the number that I projected that I was going to have. Which has been disheartening. Some of this I attribute to the fact that the weather has been out of control this year and bouncing from one extreme to another, but I think that my biggest issue has been advertising/marketing. Prior to career changes I was not worried about the number of sessions that I did, and was more focused on personal projects in order to improve my skill as a photographer. However, the story has now changed.
Marketing/advertising has been a huge challenge for me. I have gone the traditional route and purchased business cards, and developed a web page, and I even created a Facebook business page. I also have started working through word of mouth for recommendations and even dabbled with bidding on the occasional session via Thumbtack.I have trolled Facebook, and watched how others have worked their marketing skills, which led to the addition of this very blog, and yet it all seems so ineffective.
As I sit here typing this I wonder how the rest of you spend your free time. As I have pointed out marketing is my weakness at this current point and I am sure that I as I continue to study and learn that eventually this will change, however I still struggle with my free time. In my previous line of work there was never a moment to sit down and breath. I rarely took a lunch break, and I was lucky if I had the chance to even take a restroom break during a twelve hour shift. Now there is all of this free time. Something that I am not use too, and I feel as though I am wasting time that I could be using for something more important, rather than sitting in front of my computer or reading another article.
What do you do with your free time? How do you continue to feel productive with your business even when you are currently not as productive as you need to be?
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