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How I got my drone confiscated in Morocco (the most important thing you need to know about drones!)

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With drone photography, things right now are very fast-paced, both in the development of the tech and the implementation of the rules. There’s a lot I can tell you about drone photography. Overarching all of the creative elements the single, most important piece of advice I can give you is this:

Make sure you know the local drone laws, wherever you are and wherever you’re going!

As I mentioned, there’s a lot I can teach about drone photography, I’ve written a lot about it and I have a course live on KelbyOne all about it right now. The appeal of drone photography is huge. It’s been maximized by DJI, who are now the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer (true story) and camera manufacturer. Others such as Parrot and Yuneec are also cashing in on us photographers and our constant quest for new angles.

These new angles are the big appeal, and rightly so. Creatives have it embedded within them. Since our childhood, we have been scoping out birds-eye views. Think about it for a second, when we’re on a plane and we come into land we often stare out of the windows looking for a point of reference in order to see what is familiar to us from a new perspective, such as searching for our home or our favorite stadium, or simply a city skyline. Drones are here to stay. The rules are being implemented and enacted for everybody’s protection. But what does that actually mean for photographers?

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This photographer’s response to a Shoot For Free request is a complete business class

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Tim Wallace is a top-notch photographer, he has shot for McLaren, Peugeot, Lexus, Aston Martin, and a bunch of other global clients. It’s always fascinating to me how some “potential clients” approach Tim Wallace for free work. It fascinates me, even more, when Tim takes the time to converse with them. The result of Tim patiently explaining to the client why he will not work for free is absolutely hilarious. Other than that, it serves as a good reminder to always be aware of your value.

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You can’t fight without an F-you fund

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When it comes to negotiations, as a photographer (or any freelance artist, for that matter) you’ve got to master the art of not being emotionally invested in the outcome – something that is nearly impossible to do. But without it, you’ll never be able to break free of difficult clients and underpaid gigs.

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These are five most common mistakes you’ve probably made as a freelance creative

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we all make tons of mistakes and it’s a way of learning. However, some mistakes are just cute little “hiccups,” while the others may cost you a lot of your time, effort and wear you out emotionally. In this video, Gene Nagata a.k.a. Potato Jet shares five biggest mistakes he’s made as a freelance filmmaker, and they apply to photographers, too. I’m sure we’ve all made them, and many of us still do. So, this video will remind us to stop making the same mistakes and starting making the best out of our filmmaking or photography careers.

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How to find your niche in photography, and why you should do it

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Finding a specific niche is one of the things you should do if you want to be a professional photographer. But it’s not as straightforward as it sounds. In this video, Scott Choucino discusses why photographers should find their niche and how it will affect their business. But what’s also important – he shares some advice on how to do it.

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The business of photography is always a constant hustle

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“It was constant hustle for me the first three years (in business) full time.”

I read this quote from a photographer-turned-business coach. It was advice in a Facebook group. I’m not certain the question that elicited this reply, but it doesn’t really matter. The statement stands alone.

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Eight essential marketing strategies for more successful photography business

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Why artists need to market themselves? So that, you the artist, wouldn’t starve to death.

No, but seriously. Otherwise, you risk ending up like Vincent Van Gogh who (in the words of Steven Pressfield) “produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.”

A lot of artists have this notion that they’re the creative person, and marketing belongs to the business world. Some even think it’s evil or dirty to promote themselves, and they don’t want to have anything to do with this” filthy” world.

The truth is, it’s your job to market yourself. You are the artist, and you know how to spread the word about your work. After all, you created it. You can’t rest after creating your art; you need to start marketing it.

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Here are five reasons to NOT start a photography business

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If you’re good at photography, people have probably already started asking you “Why don’t you start a photography business?” You yourself may also be thinking the same. However, there’s more to business of photography than just taking good photos. In this video from SLR Lounge, photographer Pye Jirsa gives you five reasons to not start a photography business. Or in other words, five reasons why running a business simply may not be right for you, no matter how great photos you take.

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Reasons why your photography business is failing

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The biggest and most common mistake I see in photographers in all genres is that they aren’t honest with themselves. They love the idea of being a photographer , the romantic side of it all, sounds cool, right? They hate the work part, the hustle, the grind, the guts of what it takes to run any successful small business.

They just want to do the fun part of taking pictures, spending their afternoons hanging out in coffee shops and shooting only things they are interested in and talking smack. You have the right to do this but you aren’t going to make a sustainable living doing things this way.  There should be a name for those photographers, let me think, more on that later.

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