Archive for the ‘Photographers’ Category

You Spin Me Right Round

June 23, 2010

The Lomography Spinner 360 camera is pretty fantastic. It’s fully panoramic and you make it spin around by actually pulling a retracting cord- yeah, like the cord on the back of Woody the Cowboy. And if the act of spinning it wasn’t enough to make you want to try, it also takes amazing panoramic 35mm film pictures.

I also love their instructional illustrations on the techniques page. Behold the “Toothbreaker:”

So even if you have no interest in film photography, you should definitely go here and virtually pull the cord. Because well, spinning things are fun.

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The giraffe in the room.

April 30, 2010

This is so different from the kind of photography most of us do, but it’s always interesting to hear about someone else’s creative process. And I’m pretty sure if I were in the same room as a baby giraffe, I would squeal like a little girl.

Check out more of her work here.

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Photography Business in the First Year. (Part 3) | Being a better photographer.

April 26, 2010

Just in case you haven’t read any of the other posts, I am doing a 4 part post about what I learned in my first year of business.  Part 1 was about the foundational ideas I built my business on, Part 2 was about specific practices I use to distinguish myself from other photographers.  This is part 3 titled “Being a better photographer”…

Learn your equipment. My assumption is that if you are going to start a photography business that you already have some natural talent in photography.  So other than talent, this is the first step to work on in becoming a better photographer.  It is amazing how much better you get when you can get your equipment to deliver on the creative idea inside your head.  So as much as you don’t want to hear this: spend time reading the manual of every piece of equipment you buy…then go practice!   I firmly believe that if you are a professional your goal should be to shoot fully manual and sub-consciously make adjustments on your camera based on the environment.  Once you can do this you are in position to get THE shot, because you aren’t stumbling around with your buttons.  I have still have far to go in this department.

Develop your style. Once you start to know your equipment, you will inevitably want to try all kinds of new tricks in the camera and in Photoshop.  Along with this comes the desire to try to mimic other photographer’s work.  You’ll learn that with PS and all the actions for sale out there it’s really easy to look like other photographers.  Resist!  I’m not saying to not try new things, that’s how we learn.  Somewhere along the way you have to be yourself.  Way back in post #1 of this series I said that if you are yourself the kind of clients you want to work with will find you.  This is where it is the most true.  The truer your style is to who you are, the more likely you will have people contacting you that understand  and appreciate you.  If you are constantly trying to be someone else you will be miserable.  It is a good day as a professional when you have clients say “Do what you do, you’re the professional”.  It takes off loads of stress after the shoot when you know that clients chose you because of the kinds of shots and post-processing you do.  You no longer will think, “Will they like it better edited like this or like this?”  They will like it because it is in your style, which is what they fell in love with in the first place.

NEXT POST: Working less for more reward.


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Photography Business in the First Year. (Part 2)

April 15, 2010

In celebration/reflection of my first year in business I have been jotting down some of the lessons/ideas I would tell a photographer who either just started or is considering starting a independent photography business.  If you didn’t get a chance to check out the first post about our basic values click here. Today’s post is more about the everyday ins-and-outs.  Hopefully you will find some of it helpful…if not, formulate your own and make it work for your business.

These are some more specific things I do to try and stand out from the crowd of other photographers that are out there:

Return your emails/phone calls fast! I hesitate to make this claim because it’s a little outrageous but…I think this is the single biggest factor in booking a family session or getting a wedding couple meeting.  Here’s why: there are TONS of photographers out there and with a bad economy and improving, less expensive technology there are only going to be more.  What this business and so many others lack is people who believe in “over and above” service.  With something as simple as an email or phone call you have the ability to show a potential client that you will make extra effort to meet their needs.  The best part is you can do it with your first interaction!  At my initial bride/groom meetings I ask them why they chose to meet with me over the other photographers they contacted.  Pretty often one of the answers I get is, “Because you emailed us back and set up a meeting with us before most of the other photographers ever even responded.”  Wow.  That communicates volumes to two people who are planning the most important day of their life.

Use social media. It feels like everyone has a Facebook page, right?  I know there are those few that are still boycotting but for the most part EVERYONE has a Facebook page.  When you are trying to brand yourself (and you should be, it’s the only way to truly be different) what better way to show people the real you than by letting them into your real world…i.e. Facebook, MySpace or whatever other social media you use.  I make lists of brides, grooms, families, vendors, other photographers, etc, etc and I check up on them and comment regularly.  I don’t do it as some kind of business ploy, I do it because I want to know them better and FB allows me to do that.  I also have a Twitter account which I use primarily for learning from other photographers and connecting with other vendors around town.  You would not believe the number of face to face meetings I have had with local vendors because I introduced myself to them on Twitter first.  I think the one lesson that should go without saying, but I will say it anyways, is “Don’t be a stalker!”  Nobody likes a social media stalker, especially wedding planners, venue coordinators, etc.

Learn what you aren’t good at and outsource it today. The word “outsource” has received a bad wrap lately because we associate it with jobs going to other countries and shoddy customer service.  That’s not what I am talking about.  When I started my business I knew that I could never keep up with things like online proofing, album creation, print delivery, etc.  I am not a very good details guy.  I hate “to do” lists and numbers and tax laws and building websites and all the things that are such a huge part of building a photography business.  The best decision I ever made was to outsource my website to Photobiz and the proofing/print/album side of my business to a company called Pictage.  (Before you think or ask, I’m not paid by them to say any of this.)  Photobiz allowed me to have a professional looking website with only 10-15 hours worth of work.  Pictage allowed me to present images and products to my clients with building and e-commerce site, finding vendors capable of creating products I believed in or any of the other million things that go into providing products for clients.  The cool thing is I bet that the first few portrait clients I had would have had no idea that I had not been in business very long if I hadn’t told them during our sessions.  I signed up for both the day I started the business because I knew that I needed them.  This is not to say that you need them…but I bet there is something you aren’t good at.  Find a company, person or whatever to outsource your weaknesses to and you will be soooooo much happier!

This is certainly not a formula for success, these just three areas that I try to use to set myself apart.  Some of these practices might not be right for you, but find your niche and work hard at making yourself stand out!
Next post: What I needed to learn about photography…and fast!

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Photography business in the first year. (Part 1)

April 13, 2010

This past week Fyrefly celebrated an amazing first year!  As of way of documenting what I’ve learned about business and photography over the last year I want to do a couple posts.

So let’s call this one “Photography business in the first year.” Clever, right?.  Just so you know, I am writing this to a person who is thinking about going into photography and wants the basics they need to know for their first year.  Some of these things I learned by being good at them, most of them I learned the hard way:)  So PLEASE don’t look at me as some kind of expert telling you what to do…feel it out for yourself!  Here are the values I think are most important to establish early on:

  • Be nice. This is actually the first one for a reason.  It’s a huge part of my business philosophy and what I think can set you apart from so many other businesses out there.  I try to treat couples, families, vendors, etc. the same or better than I would a good friend.  There have been times in my first year when I have had to choose being a good person over being a good business person.  Those are hard decisions to make if you haven’t clearly stated that “being nice” is a part of how you run your business.
  • Be honest. Obviously, this is an offshoot of the first one but it’s really important to separate this one out.  When you get into a business that is sales related there is always the temptation to fudge a little to make a sale or book a wedding.  Don’t give in!  At the end of any Fyrefly experience I want people to feel like I exceeded what I told them I was going to do, not the opposite.  Also, as much as it stinks, this applies to paying your taxes, carrying business insurance and just generally running a legal business.  With independent photography you could easily skirt some of these issues, but I think it’s really important be an honest, contributing member of the communities we are a part of.
  • Be yourself. I love how all of these are just flowing out of the one before.  Being yourself is one of the most honest things you can do.  When I first started this business I looked around to see who I could copy.  Obviously, there is nothing wrong with taking other people’s ideas and best practices and tweaking them to make them your own…that’s called good business.  The difference is that I would look at someone else’s brand, one that totally didn’t line up with who I am, and think I could be just like them.  I was lying to myself.  The only way you will succeed long term in this business (and I assume any business) is by being who you are.  The kind of people that you want to work with will only find you if you are true to yourself.  This is still a hard one and I work on it every day.

Next post: Some specific things I do in business to intentionally stand out from the crowd.

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A community of competitor’s. Whaaaa? | Photography in Cincinnati

January 18, 2010

{photo by Nick Rider}

As 2009 turned to 2010 I was left with a lot of things to think about and reflect on.  So I sat down and wrote a letter to my “year ago self”.  You can read it here. In the letter I focused on lessons that I learned, or wished I learned over the last year.  It was really a pretty powerful experience for me.  I even cried a bit…I know, what a baby:)  As great as this exercise was one thing it didn’t do was help me focus on goals for this year.

I’m not a great planner. I’m not really the kind of guy who’s ever been good and sitting down and outlining goals for any given period of time.  I am sure it’s a great exercise for planning and preparing for a new season but I’ve found that life never goes as planned.  Don’t get me wrong, I am constantly thinking about the future and what it looks like (just ask my wife, I can’t switch it off).  I have always let my goals arise kind of organically, meaning: I always have places I want to go in life running through my head so that if it looks like I might be able to get there I go for it.  Sometimes when I do set goals I find a way to force the issue and things get off the ground before they are ready, which always spells disaster.  It might not be the best “business school” way of approaching things, but its who I am.

I like things that defy logic. I’ve always believed that the “norm” is dumb.  I question lots of assumed things (again, drives my wife crazy).  One of the assumptions is that photography, especially wedding photography, is a cut-throat industry where all photographers hate each other.  This is definitely the logical way to view things because that stuff exists.  I am sure that there are plenty of photographers out there that don’t like someone else because they under-bid a wedding or trashed their competition to get a job.  It’s the reality of business.  In spite of this assumption one of my business philosophies is “There is no such thing as a scarcity of resources.”  What this means is we live in a world, especially a country, where there are an abundance of opportunities, weddings, dollars, etc.  No matter how bad the economy  or how saturated the market people are still going to get married, want pictures and spend money.  If I do my job well no one can convince a client that is looking for me to book with someone else.  I am me, you are you and there are tons of people looking for both.

What does scarcity have to do with goals? Well. I’ll tell you.  I have lots of ideas swirling about what I want to do this year: consistent branding, more weddings, price increases, hire a second photographer full time, take a real family vacation, get tight on the business side of things, etc, etc.  Like I said, I am always thinking about all of these things because they are so important to me and my family.  Those things are great but I am going to leave them in my head for now.

I need a community of competitors. The one goal that I am going to officially set is to find or create some kind group of peers that learns, laughs and loves together.  I have been to plenty of “networking” functions where everyone has their name tag on and fakes a laugh because they think it might help their business.  That’s not what I am talking about.  I’m talking about a group of “competitors” that meet, share ideas, stories, drinks and some genuine laughs.  Yeah, you heard that right.  I want to tell my competitor’s what ideas I have for next season, next year, next decade.  I know, it’s crazy.  But remember: if I’m doing my job well, no one could convince a client to use a competitor…they want me.

Photography is a lonely business. It’s especially lonely if you work for yourself, by yourself.  When things get tight or slow you start to think that you are the only one experiencing it.  You need a group of people to say to each other, “I haven’t booked a wedding in 2 months”, “I had a card corrupted and had to reshoot a family session”, “I’ve been so focused on answering emails I haven’t taken proper time for my family”, “I don’t know how to use Photoshop the right way”.  These are all things only we can understand.  We aren’t alone.  But we think that because we’re “competing against each other that we can’t share this stuff.

Let’s do it! So I am proposing that if there are any Cincinasty photographers out there that think they might want to join in on something like this I will take the lead.  I will schedule it, remind everyone about it, find a cool place(s) and people to come talk to us about photography or come up with topic for discussion, etc. Basically, I’ll do the hard part.  You do the easier (but still hard) part by clearing your calendar once a month to show up.  “But wait, I don’t like commitment, that’s why I work for myself”.  No worries, come if you can, don’t if you can’t.  It will be so awesome that you want to miss it after the first one, so I’m really not that worried:)

So email me right now if you are interested and we’ll get this thing started.  And if you are sitting there thinking, “Yeah right, that’ll never work.”  Awesome.  That’s what makes me think it can.

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