The Missing Ingredient To Your Photography Dreams

Last night we had dinner with some very dear friends. We met them over 15 years ago at a bridal expo, and have been friends ever since.

They’ve been in the photography industry for over 30 years now, and I have to say they are in love with it as much now as they were when we met them. They’ve changed direction along the way, and are doing things completely different even from a few short years ago. But sitting with them is a motivating experience. They love what they do. They never run out of ideas. And they always reach their goals because of their passion.

So last night I started thinking about what separates photographers like them from other photographers. And I came up with five characteristics – or ingredients you have to have to find success in this business. 

1. Dreams. The first ingredient is where everyone starts. It starts with your dream of doing something different and meaningful in your life. You can’t accept what you already have. You have to dream of where you want to be. The more vivid your dreams, the easier you’ll be able to make them a reality.

2. Make it positive. What motivates you to do better has to in a positive light. “I hate my job and want to do something else” will only get you so far. It doesn’t have depth or commitment. Instead, “In 2011, I will work as a full time photographer out of my studio in XXX location” will provide you a positive direction.

3. Knowledge. I’ve owned my own business for 20 years now, and I can tell you I still don’t have all the skills needed to be successful at many different things. The only way to get better at what you are doing is to educate yourself on where you need the most help at the moment. If you’ve never operated your own business, get help from someone who has. Take a class. Sign up with a coach. Always, always, always learn. If you’re excited about it, the key is there for you to learn from.

4. Belief. Do you have the belief you can do it? Many people say, “I’m going to have my own studio one day.” But secretly they don’t believe they have what it takes to make it. They like having a stable job with a paycheck on Friday’s. They like the stability of their life and don’t want to “rock the boat”. 

While those 4 ingredients are mandatory for every successful businessperson, I discovered last night there is a fifth. It’s what I saw in our long time friends. And it’s something that you have to have if you want to guarantee your success in the future.

The Missing Ingredient
A desire and a vision of what’s to come. If you don’t have a purpose for what you will be doing, it puts everything else on the back burner. You have to know that in a few months (weeks, years – you choose) time, everything you are working for will lead you here. It might be a vision of a new home on several acres, with a kitchen that overlooks a beautiful lake. It might be the ability to take three months a year off to travel with your family and friends to exotic locations.

Everything you do, everything you work for puts you one step closer to that desire – that vision. Ever created your own vision board? I have had many vision boards over the past 20 years. When you put things down, you make them a reality. It really works – give it a try.

Better Outdoor Portraits – 10 Photography Tips

I’ve been a professional photographer for over 20 years. Even though I have a ton of ideas and styles, sometimes I find going back to the basics creates portraits that clients truly love. Here are some simple solutions that everyone can benefit from when capturing your next outdoor portrait session.

Select a location
Locations are very important and should be thought out in advance. Look for locations that bring interest and enhance your session. Parks, lakes and other open spaces offer natural scenery and tend to be the first places people think of. But don’t forget about architecture. Buildings and other structures bring warm elements into a portrait. Doors, windows, walls, a staircase or pillars will bring wonderful life to a portrait.

Choose a location that is not busy and bustling with activity. A quiet area will allow a client to be more focused, and allow them to be able to listen to your posing instructions without distractions or loud noises that would otherwise interfere.

Repeating lines
A great way to add depth is to find a location with repeating lines. Columns, pillars or other structures add interest to a portrait and create a portrait that stands apart from others.

Use a longer lens
By selecting a longer lens, you can put the focus on your subject, leaving your background soft and out of focus. This adds to the drama of the portrait, and can give you a unique look and style. One of my favorite lens to use is a 70-200mm F2.8. Use your longer focal length (150mm – 200mm) to separate your subject from the background.

Clothing selection
To ensure optimal results, consult with your client about clothing selections prior to your portrait. Stay away from busy patterns (ie plaids, polka dots or flowery prints) and use darker to medium tones.

If you have more than one person in the portrait, teach your clients about matching. If one is in jeans, they all should be. Black turtlenecks always work well. Long sleeves work better than short sleeves or tank tops. Put the emphasis on the face, and you will really increase your sales.

Pose by example
Show your subject how you want them to pose, what to lean on or how to sit. I always find that it’s easier to pose by example, so each person can see the pose you’re looking for. It saves a lot of time and frustration on both parts, and makes the whole experience more enjoyable. It’s easier to make minor moves when they are 90 percent there.

Groups -start with the smallest and grow
Once you have a setting selected, start with the smallest groups and build up. When one person is posed and comfortable, its much easier bringing in the second to them. Try and build in triangle formation within your groups (two people on the ground as a base and one behind and between)

Use a tripod
A tripod gives you stability and the ability to move quickly. Your camera will remain focused on a particular area while you move the subjects in and out in different group formations. A tripod will also ensure a crisp image, no matter what size lens you are using.

Ensure that the eyes are in focus
When the eyes are in focus, you have a guaranteed seller.  The client will not be happy if the eyes are not sharp.

Perfect time of day
With a wedding or event, you have no control over the timing. Not so with a portrait. Always work around the sweet light – early morning or late evening. By having the sun in the lower hemisphere of the sky, you can work in a variety of situations without dramatic shadows, squinting eyes, and harsh lines.

Use a reflector
I have never been a fan of adding flash outside during a portrait session. With beautiful, natural light, why bring in “fake” light? A reflector can be an invaluable tool for a portrait session. You can easily direct light right where you want it – the face and eyes.

Softboxes
While reflectors are great if you have directional light you can bounce into place, sometimes you are working with much softer light, and a reflector won’t work. Try a softbox. A softbox separates harsh sunlight spots from beautiful natural, light. Softboxes can easily be made with pvc pipe for a frame and stretch white material, rip-stop nylon or a cotton bed sheet, to fill the frame. I use elastic corners to keep mine snug on the frame. You can make a variety of sizes to easily tuck in your bags for travel.

Capture in RAW
Unlike the larger exposure range that film has, digital cameras have a smaller exposure range. Shooting in jpg mode where the camera processes each image into a final processed image limits the ability to adjust in post processing.  If your exposure is incorrect, the image will be underexposed (loss of detail in the shadows) or overexposed (loss of detail in the highlights) and could be a complete loss. Another issue associated with jpg format is loss of information every time the file is saved causing a degradation of image quality. RAW is an unprocessed format, which allows adjustments to color, contrast and exposure. Once adjusted, the RAW format can be processed into a final jpg image without image quality loss.

Equipment Needed For a Wedding Photography Business

If you are contemplating opening a wedding photography studio, use these guidelines to help you understand what equipment is needed for a photography business.

To start, spend a few minutes thinking about the type of photography you will be offering your clients.  Will you be photographing commercial work? Are you in your studio, photographing portraiture? Are you out on location photographing weddings, and traveling to many different states and countries? Will you be offering your clients a combination of these services?

Once you have a goal in mind for your business, then you can begin gathering the proper equipment.

To give you an idea of what I consider to be the minimum amount of equipment needed, I’ve created the following list.

Equipment needed for photography business

*At least 2 camera bodies. At all times, under any circumstance, you should always have at least 2 camera bodies. Not only is it important to have an extra in case one shuts down or quits working, but it’s also nice to be able to have two cameras ready with different lenses – so you are ready to capture anything at any time.

* Flash cards. Most photographers are now shooting with digital cameras. Having a variety of flash cards handy is a must. I recommend having several available for each of your camera bodies. I don’t recommend buying large cards with capacity to do an entire shoot. If you have an error in your card (low chance, but you never now), you’re better off using a variety of cards for different portions of your shoot.

* Laptop computer. And shoot can be better managed if you can place your flash cards into your laptop at the time of the shoot, download the images, and save them to one or more sources. You can view the images, and begin organizing them immediately.

* Lenses. I feel lenses are a personal choice, depending on the type of photography you will offering. Have a variety to use in many circumstances. Fast shutters are great for low light situations. Telephoto lenses are great for working event photography.

* Flash units. Depending on your photography specialization, you will need to have at least one on-camera flash unit, and at least one stand alone flash unit for a more controlled light source.

* Internet access. This is a must for any business, old or new. With Internet access, you should monitor your own website to market your business, and should have the ability to connect with your lab for quick results.

With these basic pieces, your photography studio will be off and running in no time at all. The better prepared you are at the beginning, the easier it will be to grow along the way.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

25 Ways To Generate Leads For Your Photography Business

1. Submit your stock images to one of the many online stock agencies such as IStockPhoto. Stock companies allow you to build a bio page, and list links to other sites and information. Use this to selectively promote yourself to people that enjoy your work.

2. Send a press release to your local paper submitting a story idea. Newspapers, television, and radio shows are always on the lookout for a good storyline. Provide them with a story that’s relevant to the season, and makes for good news.

3. Visit a local networking group and offer to photograph the group for the website. Many of today’s networking groups have a website to promote their services. Adding photographs provide a personal touch, and will allow you to capture attention as a photographer.

4. Send out letters to your past clients with a new promotion. Your best client is a past client. Make them an offer they can’t refuse.

5. Visit a local chamber of commerce and sign up for the next networking group. Your chamber of commerce offers a variety of groups for you to network with. Choose a few groups and visit them to make a handful of new connections.

6. Find a complementary business willing to hang samples in their offices. Provide them several framed images at no cost. Because these images will potentially hand in the office for many months, make sure you use your best work, and provide top quality in both mounting and framing.

Read the entire list>>

Top 10 Ways To Fail As A Photographer

Every once in awhile I find something while out searching that gives me inspiration to write a new blog post. Today was one of those days. While I would never name names, I decided to give photographers some ideas on how to change their business around. 

I just read that under normal times, the 80/20 rule applies. So in normal times, 20 percent of businesses will thrive and prosper, and 80 percent will hold steady or slowly go into decline.

But in today’s economic times, we move to a 95/5 rule. Meaning only 5 percent of businesses will thrive and prosper, and 95 percent will hold steady or slowly go into decline or failure.

And I know why.

You can’t give up; you have to work a little harder.

You can’t quit marketing; you have to market more efficiently.

You can’t do what everyone else is doing; you have to clear your own path.

So with those thoughts in mind, let’s discuss the 10 ways you can currently fail as a photographer, and hopefully you’ll see some ideas that can help turn around your own business.

1. Create a website like your competition. A ton of photographers use Flash presentation sites where they can input a little content and a selection of their favorite photographs. And yes, I’ve been to multiple sites that look exactly alike – the colors, photos and logo change, but they’re all so similar, they immediately lose their impact. Do something new and fresh. Make them say wow. Create a web presence that knocks the socks off of your prospects.

2. Charge what your competition charges. How did you figure your pricing structure? Did you look at other studios, and lower your prices because you’re newer at the game? That’s how today’s prices got so low. You have to charge what you’re worth. Great artists charge for their years of experience and training. They charge for their talent. And they charge for their expenses.

3. Give the same items in your packages as everyone else. “I give away the complete digital files because everyone else does.” If that’s your attitude, you’ll be in the 95 percent group very quickly. People start comparing when you’re just like your competition. If everything stands equal, it comes down to price. So give them something so unique, they’ll never be able to compare.

4. Photograph just like everyone else. Where’s your flare? What’s your style? Sure, everyone starts out at the bottom, and spends years working on their talent. But eventually you come up with your own style, and you become recognizable.

5. Work at your pace and on your time. Do you work at the convenience of your clients, or for you? While everyone needs to set boundaries, its important that you meet your customers expectations as well. Being available by cell phone 7am to 11pm 7 days of the week is not necessary, and it also shows you’re clients you’re willing to be manipulated. But being available Wednesday nights until 9, and all day Saturday from 9am until 5 pm gives flexibility. Make sure they know when they can reach you – and when they can’t.

6. Give average customer service. Photography is a service business. Depending on your focus, you probably don’t have more than a handful of customers per day (on the high side). How much time does it take to give a little extra?

7. Charge for the extras. You do need to get paid for what you do. But do you really need to charge for little things? Incorporate them into your fees, and become an easy business to do business with. If you charge $1500 for a wedding, do you really need to charge $100 extra for weddings 50 miles or beyond from your studio? Instead, raise your fees to $1600 for everyone, and it will all average out.

8. Keep your fees low. It’s not about what you charge. It’s about what you provide. People want value, not low prices. Everyone has a different threshold in mind. You can’t be in charge of their pocketbooks. You simply have to charge what you need to build the business of your dreams. And there’s no way you can ever do that on your own charging $500 for an all-day wedding. (There simply isn’t enough weekends in the year to help you get to a full time income.)

9. Market in the same ways. If you’ve always advertised in the phone book or the local wedding guide, stop. Is it bringing in a full time business? If not, its time to change. Try a new website. Try creating a blog. Try networking with a new group. There’s a ton of opportunity – many for very low fees.

10. Complain. What do you say when you’re out networking, or meeting with potential clients? Do you say things like, “business is rough” or “I haven’t had a new client in a month” or “the one business that referred me just shut their doors”. Would you want to work with someone that constantly complains? Or would you rather be around someone that’s always looking at it positively. Attitude is everything in this business.

One of my favorite sayings is “fake it till you make it”. Even if you’re not at the Six Figure level yet, there’s no reason you can’t act like you’re there.

image source mikebaird

Finding Your First Five Photography Clients

After years in the business, sometimes its difficult to think back to the very first day you opened your doors, and waited patiently until the first client came in.

Chances are even if you’re brand new, you’ve started out with friends and family. I remember doing a ton of friends, just to gain experience and to get my portfolio up to where we had something to show other prospects. That’s the best way to start.

I remember one of our dreams was to do love portraits, or photographs of two people in an image that portrayed a scene of romance. In order to get exactly the right look, Andrew photographed his brother and myself in a variety of photographs, which we used to show potential clients what we had in mind.

You have to have samples of what you truly want to do. A potential customer can’t read your mind, and they can’t picture what you describe. They have to see it to believe it, and want it.

You don’t need dozens of images. Just one or two to get your ideas across.

Then its time to get out and network. Bring your image with you and head out to a networking group. You can find dozens of them around your local area. Look in newspapers, call you chamber of commerce, or jump on Meetup.com. I had a list of a couple dozen networking opportunities after just a few minutes on Meetup.

Then go out and talk to people. It may take you several groups to find your first customer, so don’t get discouraged.

The funny thing is the more you network, the more you run into the same people again and again. I attended a lunch group yesterday and met someone new, and ran into the same person at an evening event. People at networking groups are out doing the same thing as you. You will run into the same people again and again. This builds trust and familiarity. Even if they don’t need your services, they may talk to someone later in the event and say, “You have to meet this photographer I just met…”

It will happen, just stick with it.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

photo source rockesty

Photography Business – Where Are The Leads?

Well that all depends on how much business you need in your studio.

Let’s say that you want to photograph 30 weddings per year. How many leads you need to generate those 30 weddings would depend on a number of factors:

• How much you charge for your weddings?
• Do you leads know and understand your pricing before they contact you?
• How good you are at turning leads into sales?

If your leads are pre-qualified, have a lot of information on you and your services before they contact you, know and understand your pricing, and have a strong referral, you might only need 30 leads to book your 30 weddings.

But if your leads come in with little knowledge of you or your services, they call in ‘blind’ from a vague advertisement with little information, and don’t match your criteria for your ideal client; you may end up having to meet 10 to 15 prospects before turning one of them into a client.

Which would you rather have for your business: 30 prospects turning into 30 clients, or 450 prospects turning into 30 clients? Obviously, your ultimate goal should be the first option. The better you define your perfect client, and the better your marketing strategy to reach your perfect customer, the easier your business will be.

Lead generation is all about understanding your customers, and reaching out to them in a way that makes them need what you have to offer. Refine what you have until you’ve developed your “perfect” message. Not only will you become better at business, but you’ll also have more time to concentrate on other things.

Photography – 7 Easy Ways To Bring More Money To Your Bottom Line

As a photographer, you ultimately have three ways to make money.

1. Bring in new clients

2. Sell more to each client

3. Bring in the client again and again

Bringing in new clients is your most difficult way of selling. Because they have no experience with you, they’re less likely to trust you. It takes awhile to build that trust.

Once a client is happy, it’s easier to bring them in again and again for more shoots. They know you, trust you, and understand the entire process. Yet in this economy, even bringing in existing client may be a little more difficult to do.

Instead, make 2009 the year you sell more product to each of your clients. If they are in your studio, like what they see, it’s your job to sell them what they truly need. Let’s look at 7 ways you can increase the bottom line of each and every client.

1. Sell duplicates at lower prices. If the bride gets a 60 page 10×10 album, why not sell a duplicate 5×5 album to her mom. The work’s already done; its just a matter of ordering two different sizes.

2. Put the images to a digital frame. Make sure its priced right and won’t destroy potential sales. Or make it incentive for a certain level of purchases.

3. Sell video presentations. The world is visual – make it easy for your clients to buy in any format they choose. You can sell your videos to your client, make it incentive for larger photos, or go viral by offering it online.

4. Sell collages. With Photoshop, there are so many ways to display images. Give your clients discounts for the more they buy.

5. Start up a payment plan. Stretch the payments out several months to make it reasonable for your clients.

6. Put together quick, informal books at weddings and events, and present it to your clients the day of the event. It will build their excitement in anticipation for the real thing.

7. Mat multiple images, and put them into an art box.

What are your ideas? What do you do to increase sales within your business?

photo source Jayray24

Photography Business – 5 Things To Make You Quit

The headlines everywhere read doom and gloom. It’s the toughest time of all to make profits with a business, not to mention the possibility of starting one up. Should you take all of this to heart? If you’ve always dreamt of starting and growing a photography business, and turning it into your career, is now the time?

Yes!

I’ve started up 3 separate businesses over the past 20 years, and I’ve seen good times and bad. While good times are great and people definitely spend a ton of money

Photography, Watch The Pendulum Swing

Think of how a pendulum works. It slowly swings back and forth. From one side to the next. It never stops, just swings from one point to the next, and always returns.

Business works in much the same manner. At some point you’ll have the best of times, with money flowing freely. And at some point you’ll have the worst of times, with financial crisis looming in the horizon.

Now let’s talk photography. At some point the photography industry is at