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5 reasons to consider a photographic specialty

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I am in many networks and circles comprised of professional and aspiring professional photographers. There are a lot of questions that get asked on a regular basis, but one of the ones I hear the most is “Should I specialize?” Should they focus on one genre or a couple of related genres, rather than being the Jack/Jill-of-all-trades?

When we first start out in photography, most of us will take pictures of pretty much anyone. We have no idea what our artistic voice and vision will be. We explore and experiment in nearly any field we can, finding our styles and preferences. Eventually, we figure out what we like and don’t like to photograph.

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How to overcome your fear of failure and become a successful photography business

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Being a full-time professional photographer requires plenty of different skills and a lot of your time and devotion. A fear of failure and “playing it safe” is what prevents many people from starting or developing a successful photography business. In this video, Roberto Blake discusses this fear and gives you some techniques that can help you not just overcome your fear, but make the best out of failure even when it happens.

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Very nice…how much??! – a breakdown of day rates in commercial photography

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It’s standard practice for commercial photography clients to ask photographers their ‘day rate’. Most estimates that photographers provide start with a day rate before going on to production costs and expenses.

Now I used to think I could simply take it for granted that anyone involved in the industry would be able to appreciate this isn’t exactly what a photographer or for that matter any independent creative professional working on a short term project earns for every single day of the year.

I’ve realised that the world of photography is in so much flux that this isn’t a safe assumption and now I much prefer to provide a rate for each job. My reasons can be best illustrated with an example.

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If you want to start making money from photography, avoid these five mistakes

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If you want to turn your love for photography into a business, there’s a lot to take into consideration. To make things easier for you, Peter McKinnon has created a great video about the things he wishes he’d known sooner. If you’re about to turn pro, this will spare you some mistakes many photographers make at the beginning of their career.

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Be careful what you post on social media, it can ruin your business

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Nowadays, social media are an important part of running a business. Most photographers use Facebook, Instagram, and other outlets to promote their business and build the audience – but few of them think about how their personal accounts can make them lose clients in an instant. In this video, Scott McKenna talks about this issue and suggests how to use your personal social media accounts so they don’t drive the potential clients away.

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BluDomain Killed My Website and Email – What’s Next?

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A few weeks ago I noticed that I had not received any new emails for a day or two. Odd I thought, but it’s summer and maybe people are just on holidays.

This was a day before I was leaving for a trip, so I was in the process of checking in my family for our flight, and making a number of last-minute AirBnB reservations…using my email – which I quickly realized was offline.

What was a minor inconvenience became a major problem – I thought maybe my account had expired or something had gotten disconnected in my email settings. OK, that shouldn’t be much of a problem, so I opened a support ticket with my website hosting service BluDomain…which is when I learned that not only was my email offline, my entire business website had been permanently deleted, and was unrecoverable.

This is now an emergency.

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Here are the secret ingredients to achieving your dreams

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If you read the title you are probably thinking what the hell is this douche on about. This sounds like some new age bulls***. Well, welcome aboard the new age bull**** train! I’ve decided I am going to write some smaller personal articles on self-development, mindset, and routines. It’s not always easy working in this industry, and sometimes it’s nice to know we share our struggles, and experiences with thousands of other creatives…..we just don’t hear about them.[Read More…]

Three things to consider before you quit your job to become a full-time photographer

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For most aspiring photographers, there’s a turning point when they consider whether it is worth quitting their day job and entering the exciting, but scary, world of being a full-time professional photographer, or not. It’s not an easy decision. In this video, Jeff Rojas shares three things that you should have in your mindset before you take this huge step. It will help you to decide if it’s the right time to make the change and teach you what you need to consider before the time comes.

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Ten steps to follow if you want to become a full-time photographer

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Taking a leap into the world of full-time professional photography can sound tempting and scary at the same time. And it sure has its upsides and downsides. In this video, Adam Karnacz of First Man Photography shares some tips that will help you make this decision and help you grow your brand and make a successful business as a full-time photographer.

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Breaking down how much you should charge for video work

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Charging for video work, especially when you’re quite new to dealing with clients, can often be quite difficult. You don’t want to quote ridiculously high and scare off the potential client. But you also don’t want to quote far too low and risk not being taken seriously. Or, worse, them accepting it and you making no money for your time and effort.

So, how much should you charge? In this video, Caleb Pike chats with producer and director Corbyn Tyson about how to price up and quote for a video shoot. Now, every client’s needs will be different, and you’ll need to adapt this to your own workflow, but it should give you some idea of where to start with even modest projects.

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