Category Archives: Dear Photographer

When it Rains, it Pours [Dear Photographer, Midlothian VA]

Dear Photographer,

Like so many, I am a natural light photographer. What exactly does that mean? And, what doesn’t mean?

I’ve seen it on so many photographer announcing, “I only shoot in the golden hours…”  Guess what? Life doesn’t happen between the hours of  just after the sun comes up to right before it goes down!  YES, the light is often glorious at those times, but life goes on the rest of the day too, as do weddings, and parties, and so much more. You don’t want to miss those opportunities!

Natural light professional  photographers are able to use whatever light they have to get a great image. I’m not saying a wedding in a monsoon is prime time for outdoor wedding party or bridal photos (oh, how I know that to be true!), or a newborn session scheduled for high noon with no shade around in mid-July shouldn’t be rescheduled, but I am saying that a pro should not be limited to those 90 minutes twice a day known as the golden hours to shoot. There’s pretty light all around, so keep shooting and learning how to shoot well no matter what time of day it is. Do make smart choices when scheduling your book, and do learn how to shoot in full sun and find the best light all around you no matter what time of day you’re out there.  I scheduled a session for a very large group that had so many stipulations-due simply to the way life lines up sometimes- that I was sunk before I started light-wise, but I made the best of it. Is it perfect? No. But it’s beautiful and made several families very happy in the process. If I had no idea what to do with bright sun, limited space and no time, I would have been in big trouble!

There are a lot of circumstances where life will dictate the when and where of a particular photography session. I remember thinking I couldn’t, shouldn’t and therefore wouldn’t take on assignments that I couldn’t shoot HERE or THEN.  However, I learned a lot on the baseball field about light, and time, and everything that my little camera needs to be directed to do in imperfect situations.

Likewise, bridal sessions for portraits can be tricky too. This one, in the middle of a drought-ridden summer was rescheduled 3 times due to, you guessed it, RAIN. The problem is there were several wedding day vendors’ schedules at stake with each re-schedule: flowers, hair and the photographer-me.  We decided to go ahead on this particular day even though it again called for rain.  Keeping the location close enough to the salon that we could squeeze it in from hair done to photos done in no time if the skies were uncooperative again, was a great decision. I left my house as the rain started hoping to drive OUT of it, to no avail.

The bride looked stunning, the skies looked threatening, and the walk in stilettos from parking to posing looked scary.  But we did it anyway. I found a place that we could work. Covered the ground where it was wet so her gown stayed clean and dry. Placed her there and directed through an entire 10 minutes of shooting. Had the rain started to pour, there would be no way to make it back to the cars without ruining her wedding dress.  So not only was finding the light important, but time was of the essence! We were three nervous-nellies that day! Lord, please don’t let the rains fall, yet!

It was dark and gloomy. It rained before, it sprinkled during and it poured as soon as the car door was quickly slammed shut.

And, it was a good session!

Bridals in the rainuntitled shoot-092-Editbw

 

Professional Photographer [Midlothian VA Photographer]

I am a professional photographer. You may be wondering why I am telling you.  Believe it or not, it’s a common question from others: “How do you know when you’re a professional? When did you consider yourself a professional photographer?”

Welcome to my office!

The easy ways to tell:

1. I have a business license.

One morning my home phone rang and I answered it. There’s only one reason I did, because I was still asleep and didn’t know what I was doing. On the other end a woman from our county business office began questioning me. Before my mind caught up with my half open eyes, I was fumbling with my thoughts while trying to respond. The fact is, as far as my photography was concerned, I was shooting, but I was not charging anyone anything. I was past practicing, but just slowly building a portfolio for ‘what if.’ That was a hard sell.  As I explained I didn’t have a license because I wasn’t collecting any money or doing anything beyond favors, really, the voice on the other end said, “I’m on your website and I don’t believe you’ve done these photos for free.”

Now I was awake. It occurred to me that she was harassing me, or at least it seemed that way to me. I told her I was not in business and that is all she needed to be concerned with. I’m a big believer in being upstanding no matter what I’m doing in my life be it personal or business.  She informed me of Chesterfield County’s rule (unwritten?), “You need a business license if you’re pursuing clients or they’re pursuing you.”

By the time I hung up the phone that day, I was a bit shaken up. I had decided it wasn’t a good time for me to be in business and yet I felt like I was being cornered into it.  And, so I did.  Let it be known, what the IRS says is a hobby could very well be considered a business in your county…and never charge even a penny if you don’t have the license to do so.

2. I file and pay taxes

Check out your city, county, state and federal taxing requirements, and then pay them. Enough said.

3. I know the importance of insurance for both liability and equipment.

4. I support the industry in a professional way.

My husband works for a company who sells paper and corrugated. If another in their industry came in with quality material and sold them at a mere fraction of the price, it would be detrimental to the industry, to his company and to any hope of longevity for the other one. Same is true with photography.  I remember thinking I would never consider charging $30, $40 or $50 for a single 8×10 print or why it mattered to any other photographer how I did things on my end…I was so naive’  and had zero idea how to run a successful business.  Things have changed, and I now help other beginning photographers with just these types of things. It’s important to build your own clientele, your own business plan and your own success while supporting your peers in this business.  Not only will they be thankful, they’ll support you, too with kindess, friendship and even referrals for work.   There are a million stories I could insert here, but just take the high road as you start out. No need to dig out from the bottom and throw dirt on anyone. It’s much better for everyone to just do it right from the get go.

5. I have a solid mastery of the basics of photography.

While I’m learning all the time,  I can walk outside (or inside)  to a session in any given weather or time of day and know where I’m going to set my wb, meter, ss, ap and iso before picking up my camera and lens. I can make adjustments on the fly and create the style I’ve grown to love and make my own. I know what I’m going to hand over to my clients and I am confident that it’s going to be consistent with what I show on my site and fb page. I do not depend on editing to ‘save or fix’ an image.

6. I invest in education (vs cloning myself to become someone else or some other photographer)

I’ve invested time and money, and time and money, and time and money, and time and money, and time and money, and time and money…you get the picture. (Ha, I made a funny!)

More to come, but I want to stop and elaborate on point #3, because this was hard for me. I’d rather just give everyone everything.  Reality check was looking at my youngest son one day and realizing, at the risk of being cliche’, time is money.  This job I was doing was time intensive.  

Every single day I see a local fb page announcing –photos for CHEAP, FAIR, BEST PRICES ANYWHERE….

So, what does one session look like in numbers? 

I’ll take the infamous $50 for all edited images:

* Session is 2 hours (prep and travel to/from time bump it to 3 hours)

* Editing 30 images is minimal 30 minutes and I can say with confidence it’s probably 3 HOURS or more.

* Uncle Sam’s hand is out and an average of 30% is due him.

* Booking and delivering/uploading a session even without prints is another 30 minutes at least.

* So far, no problems encountered, you’ve done a 4 hour job…if you’re really good and have honed your editing skills and sooc shots (not likely as you begin). I wonder if any of you just starting out would be willing to tell me how long it takes you to edit one full session?

* That $50 is less $15 for taxes.  Congratulations, you’ve got $8.75 an hour IF you got it completed start to finish in 4 hours and IF you didn’t have any costs of goods involved.

* How much did that camera, lens, computer, editing program, card, extra battery cost you?  (gas???), childcare? insurance? fees?  Oh and so much more. Double it, $20 an hour…still not going to make a profitable business out of it–can you imagine how many of these sessions you would have to do to just pay for one lens?   I hope you can see some aspects of photography business to consider, and that you’ll reconsider your pricing if you need to. There are smart ways to build your business once you have #4 above solidified , and that includes pricing.

Email me; I’d love to  help you out!

 

Photography Learning, Practicing, Portfolio Building & Business [Photography Adviser, Midlothian VA]

Dear Photographer,

It’s kind of like a slow dance-running a business and working for yourself. The music starts, you have hearts in your eyes as you take your sweethearts hand and you get lost in the euphoria of the moment.  And then, the music stops.

These are  questions that come frequently: When should I start charging?  What is portfolio-building? How should I practice? What do I need to learn before I open my business?

Well, I’m so glad you asked! Again. 🙂

If we were to put these things in order, it would look like this: Learn, Practice, Build a Portfolio of consistent images and editing, *Start your business. (Note, check with your local county/city office to see when you need to be in business.)  *I was told that I needed a county license the moment I was pursuing clients or they were pursing me. Therefore, I had to be legally in place during my pb’ing stage. Definitely, if you’re taking money from anyone, you should be certain that you’re doing so within the laws. I’m a firm believer in doing things the right way and respecting laws and other businesses (ie only using music I have the rights to, not copying other photographers words as they own those by copyright as much as they own their images etc), and in turn I like to expect that others will do the same. Integrity can’t be over emphasized.

Let’s look at a professional photographer in the making:

1. Learn

There is so much to learn in this business. I think it can’t be argued that when just starting out, the more you learn the more  you realize you don’t know. Keep learning. There’s no shortage of information on the web and in the book store.  A great basic start is Bryan Peterson’s, Understanding Exposure. Scott Kelby is a great starting point, also.  If hands on is a better way for you to learn, find a class to take. I offer Getting Started Classes and Beyond GSS Classes locally. What takes a few months of ‘hunt and peck’ through websites and text can be easily tackled and learned with someone like me showing you what you need to know and then how to apply it.

2. Practice

Now it’s time to take those hours of learning and start practicing. Practice in every situation you can possibly think of. Is golden hour beautiful? Sure can be, but all sessions will not be happening at sunset. Learn to see and read light…practice, practice, practice. This is not  a time to start charging people. I promise you’ll thank me later.  Please, don’t start a ‘photography business’ when you can’t use your camera in full manual mode, or tactfully apply edits. How will you know? Ask a professional, or sign up on a forum such as Clickin’ Moms, or find a facebook group of pros who you could give you some insight.   The average person has no idea what a ‘great picture’ really entails. Smile with those compliments, but don’t weight their opinion with any professional weight.

3. Portfolio Building

You’re getting the basics down pat. Your changing your camera’s settings in your sleep. You are sure that you can get some great shots for others given the chance. This is a time to branch out. After I was finished practicing with anyone who was willing (always for free!), I decided to charge a tiny bit, but again, this was POST learning and practicing. Be sure you are set up with your business in all things legal. Google ‘your county starting a business’ and the information you need will come up.    Now that you’re ready, start getting the word out that you’re beginning a business.  Because you’ve learned both your camera and the foundation of great images, you can be confident that you’re worthy to charge for your work. If I was beginning today, I would start with my prices where I want them after my folio is padded and I’m booking full paying clients and discount from there. Because I use a session fee plus packages, I would have lowered my session fee to a fraction of the cost and sliced my full price list in half, to start.  There are two huge advantages to this method. First, you are ‘building’ a business that can sustain the longterm. Most small business fail in the first 2 years and this is numero uno reason why.  (More later on a mapping out a good business plan). Second, you are earning the respect of fellow professional photographers around you.  There’s a reason that Nordstroms doesn’t open another Nordstroms 6 miles from the first and sell the same thing for 70% less. They would kill their own businesses. Yes, photography is competitive, but undercutting the industry by giving away the farm for pennies is a no-win. In fact, it’s very much a lose/lose. You don’t want to do that.

4. Professionally Shooting

When you look back at your first sessions and see that you were taking 300 images and giving 65 of them to a client, you’ll laugh inside when you’ve come to the point that you’re shooting 1/3 of that and showing 30 great images. You’ll be able to shoot in any situation, use 80-90% of your images every time and sell what you show. Your editing has a style of your own and your foundation of basics is consistent sooc (straight out of the camera)…sale is over! Set your prices to full and away you go…congratulations!  It’s not an easy journey. We’re always learning something new. Business is hard to do. But, the rewards are satisfying deep down.

**Extra, what about pricing?

While I won’t tell you what YOU need and what will work for you, I can show you what will not work.

Free won’t work. Sound ‘duh’ but so many have sunk ship just for this reason.

Cheap won’t sustain a business. Have you considered how much money you’re putting into this business venture?  Here’s your homework, make a list of everything you have and need to buy for your photography business.  I think you’ll be surprised. Self-employment, federal and state/local taxes take the top 30% of your income. Now, what’s left for all those expenses? How are you going pay yourself (or, are you working for the fun of it with no bills to pay)?  You’re getting the picture.   Stay tuned. More on business plans and pricing upcoming.

Central VA photographers, contact me now for my Getting Started and Beyond Classes.  th_photography@ymail.com

 

 

FREE photography sessions [Dear Photographer]

If you’ve just jumped into things-got a camera, made a fb page and started shooting anyone who would let  you shoot them for practice (yes, another post altogether on practice vs portfolio building: not one in the same) and for FREE, you may want to read the rest of this.

I shot for free, a lot. Why? I wanted to learn everything I could about what I was doing, not only  with my camera, but also with my surroundings and those I was photographing. Did I learn a lot? Boy, did I ever!  I burned the candle at both ends for 18 months just learning everything I could, and I’d try to apply that on the field…and I gave away the farm to do so.   I won’t go into many details about those lessons here, but there’s one thing I want to share with you and I heard it over and over as I practiced and practiced: people do not value free.

It’s true. And what’s sure to come? Some, if not all, of those same people who don’t value your free will hop their babies, children and family right over to the next free. No if, but will. It will happen–and really it only makes sense because your target client when  you’re up and running is not the one who you sought out to practice with.So, is it worth it? Could be. If you’re getting from the session what you want, then yes.  Would *I* do the same thing all over again the same way? Not a chance!  I would  find those people who would agree to let me practice on them (and do be honest and tell them you’re practicing-no guarantees!), but I would NOT just give them all the files I worked endlessly on.  Yes, if I was beginning again, I would offer a free session for trade of willing practice clients. If they loved their photos enough to have them, I would sell them instead of giving them away.   This might not be the way you do  things/or did things. I’m open to hearing what worked for you and made you happy, because one day you will see your practice and freebies on to the next kind hearted and budding photographer.  I encourage you: be smart even in the beginnings of your business.

A r c h i v e s