Photographers, what have YOU done today to advance your business?
How serious are you about succeeding as a photographer in your business, whether part-time or full-time? I know, I know, we are all serious about photography. After all, we all have a passion for photography. So there's that. But really, how serious are you, and what are you doing to advance your photography career?
A while back I did a presentation to a group of photographers, and as usual, there are distractions that you as the presenter have to overcome and work against. Distractions can be as crazy as competing Read more inside...
So you think P on your camera stands for Professional?
I know, I know .. it's a funny comment that P stands for professional. But somehow it always irks me to the extent that I just can't suppress my reply. Maybe it's the purposeful dumbing-down making it seem okay not to want to know more and continually improve. Maybe that's what gets to me. Still, I think my reply is more cute. Read more inside...
When was the magical moment when you first got hooked?
I'm sure we all have similar stories - how we got hooked on photography, and it became less of a mild interest, and more of an over-riding fascination. A fascination bordering on compulsion, where you felt you just had to take photographs of everything around you. What was the moment where you realized you're hooked on photography?
Let me kick this off then - My own interest in photography started somewhere during high-school years. I was an avid nature enthusiast as a child, devouring anything to do with animals and nature. Read more inside...
Are you truly passionate about photography? Great. But I need to have a quiet word with you about that, because here's the thing - no one cares. Truly, no one cares that you have a passion for photography. Probably not even your mom by now.
Ever seen a guitarist shred like crazy? A glass-blower carefully creating delicate art pieces? Or a dancer performing gravity-defying moves? Yes? Well, do you think they have passion? Sure they do. Otherwise they wouldn't be doing what they are doing, at the level they are doing it at. But do they insist Read more inside...
Your photographs are wonderful - you must have a great camera
There is an amusing anecdote doing the rounds as a graphic on Facebook and elsewhere - it's a quote ascribed to Sam Haskins. Now, if you consider the number of quotes that get propagated on Facebook that are ascribed to Morgan Freeman, I'm surprised Sam Haskins even got a mention. But I digress.
The quote relates a story where a photographer smacks down a socialite in New York for some comment about the photographer's camera. Well, here it is, and it kinda rankles me ... Read more inside...
Make your personal photography more than just snapshots
This just might be my most favorite photo of my daughter, Janine. It's from 2003 when she was 9 years old. I was trying out my new Nikon D100, reveling in being able to instantly see any photos I took. We were outside in the garden area of the apartment complex we lived in at the time. With a long focal length, I concentrated on capturing her expression, and some element of who she was at the time - that interesting blend of confidence and shyness ... and a fortunate dose of just indulging her dad with the new Read more inside...
Wedding photography - Where to start building a portfolio
I do get some interesting emails and Facebook messages. The strange ones run the whole range from trippy & bizarre, all the way to obscure. One of my favorite weird emails was one that had the title, "Nikon D100" with the body of the email simply asking, "How do you do that?"
This morning, I saw news that Facebook is once again altering things, including the way that messages are delivered. Paid messages from strangers now seem to be on the horizon. So with that, for the first time in forever, I went through the backlog Read more inside...
I know there's a lot of curiosity about this topic - whether I shoot with Nikon or Canon or Sony. Or why I would have multiple systems, or shoot with a camera other than they expect. It seems that whenever I post here about which camera gear I use currently, some people are surprised that I'm not using Canon.
This article was first posted in 2012, and this is the 2024 update, with some necessary changes. The theme remains though : I can honestly say that I will never use Canon cameras professionally again. At the moment (2024) I do have various Read more inside...
Your website is most likely the first contact that others have with your work as a photographer. With that in mind, your website is of huge importance in marketing yourself and establishing yourself and your brand. With an ever-proliferating number of websites competing for the attention of any potential visitor, you have a very small opportunity to make an impression and make someone linger a few seconds longer.
Looking at the websites of other photographers (and I am even asked sometimes to do that!), I regularly notice specific Read more inside...
Over a lunchtime conversation with a photographer friend, the discussion went back to something I've prodded her a few times about .. her self-doubt as a photographer. In my estimation she's a better photographer than she thinks she is, but it is as if she holds back on some decisions to advance her business. Then I asked her, "what are you afraid of?"
Ironically enough, her biggest fear is the fear of failure. The fear of not being able to cope with certain challenging photography shoots. The fear of not being ready. The fear of being Read more inside...
