Photography Business | Photocrati

Pro Bono Work – continued

Recently, Steve Buchanan wrote an article on the value of pro bono work, or working for free.

This has also been a big discussion over at David Hobby’s blog (www.strobist.com), as well as Chase Jarvis’ blog (www.chasejarvis.com), which led to a scathing rebuttal by John Harrington.

The Strobist flickr forum also had a great discussion.

Personally, I’d like to share what “working for free” has done for me.

First, I think the phrase “working for free” is a misnomer. Nobody works for free. The second you pull the shutter release button, there’s wear and tear on your gear, which costs you money. Processing the photo requires a computer–which you had to buy. At the very least, doing all this costs you time, which is opportunity cost.

Personally, I prefer to call it “working for me”, rather than working for free. If someone else benefits, then that’s gravy–that’s all good–but just because I do something for free doesn’t mean I’m interested in doing YOUR thing for free.

Here’s a few things I’ve had the opportunity to do: (more…)

Sizing for Alamy

One of the best stock agencies I deal with, the UK outfit Alamy, is well-known for their meticulous standards, and I totally respect that meticulousness. Still, there is one particular part of the Alamy submission process that’s error-prone and resistant to automation, and that is the seemingly trivial matter of image sizing. Due to the amount of misinformation out there on the subject, I thought I’d take a crack on explaining what it is they want, and how you can reliably make sure you meet those specs. (more…)

Accepting Criticism

One thing I really like about this business is the fact that it’s subjective. There is no one right way to do things. Of course that can be a double-edged sword. An image you’ve poured your heart and soul into can elicit a reaction of, “meh” from a client. That’s ok because it can go the other way too. An image you considered a throw away can get a “wow!”

(more…)

Pro Bono Work

Being a photographer is a great way to make a living. Sure it’s challenging, but anything worth doing is. Sure it takes talent and hard work, but anything worth doing does. But c’mon, I’m not saving the world here. (more…)

Websites for Your Business: Yes, Your Images Matter

In my last two articles in this series, I talked about planning your business needs then organizing the structure of your site to best meet those needs. Today, I’ll talk about making sure your site and your images look great.

The background color of your site is important. Neutral colors are usually best, which leaves white, black, and shades of grey. Because colors tend to appear more saturated and lively against a dark background than a lighter one, I usually recommend darker greys (but not black) for color photographers, on the other hand, I think white or light grey backgrounds look great with a lot of monochromatic work. Spend a little time experimenting with your own images and different background tones to see just how big a difference it makes. (more…)

Site Navigation: Websites for the Business of Photography

Your navigation bar is perhaps the most important element of your website. — A navigation bar is perhaps the most important single element of your website.

Last week I covered some of the basic strategic questions you need to answer for yourself before putting together a web site. This week, I’ll talk about making your web site usable. If you have a large web site, it’s very likely that most folks who come to it will never see more than a couple of pages. It’s essential that your customers find the information they need.

To start, take out a piece of paper and jot down a list of what information you’d like to include on your site. Minimally, you need some of your images, and contact information, but depending on your business and how you hope to use your web site as part of your business (as we described last week), you may want to include: news, reviews, perhaps a blog or links to other social networking sites, and/or a biography that explains who you are, what you do and why. Don’t include an item on this list until you have a clear understanding of how it fits into your business. For example: “If a customer wants to place an order, they’ll need to contact me, so I’ll give them contact information.” (more…)

Determining Pricing

One process that plagues many photographers is setting pricing. Whether you’re just starting out or re-evaluating your business, having a deliberate process for determining your pricing is key. One of the common complaints among photo buyers, whether they’re professional art buyers or consumers, is that pricing seems to simply be arbitrary. To a certain extent they’re correct, but being able to justify how you’ve arrived at your pricing goes a long way towards blunting some of that criticism. (more…)

Getting started

I received a question the other day from a fledgling photographer. The question, a variation on one I get pretty regularly, was whether is was necessary to assist other photographers before putting yourself out there as a shooter yourself. Some of the variations on the theme are, “Is is necessary to go to college,” “Do I need to have a degree or will a certificate suffice,” or the classic: “How do I get a job as a photographer?” The answers to these, and similar, questions will be as varied as the individuals who ask them of course. With that said, there are some standard concepts that hold true. Please note that my area of expertise is in the commercial arena, many of the issues here will work across other photographic specialties though. (more…)

Websites for the Business of Photography

I’m just starting a third revamp of my own nature photography website, (the first two dating from 2002 and 2004), and I wanted to share my thoughts on creative, effective photography websites. While it’s tempting (at least for geeks like myself!) to drop immediately into the nitty-gritty of implementation details, it’s far more important to first plan out what your web site is going to be for and how it will function as a part of your photography business (or even hobby.)

First, consider how your website will fit into your sales cycle. What is the site supposed to do for you and your clients? The most common mistake I see from aspiring nature and fine art photographers is (more…)

Wedding Photography: Death of the Formal Portrait?

Oh Formal Wedding Portrait, we hardly knew ye.

It seems that lately I am beginning to see more wedding photographers who are “photojournalist only” or “natural light.” I don’t want to get into a debate about the merits of these specialties as I’m a big believer that whatever works for you and your clients is great. Everyone doesn’t have to do it the same way. In fact, it’s a good thing we don’t because then wedding photographers would be like gas stations: Whoever has the lowest price gets the business.

That being said, it still seems like we are starting to move towards a complete elimination of the “formal” wedding portrait. I know for a fact that many photographers hate to shoot them and some flat refuse to. I don’t understand that mentality. (more…)