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Can you really get good commercial photography for $19?

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The race to the bottom never seems to end. The latest is a new service claiming to produce marketing photography for as little as $19. Yes, that’s right, photography that normally costs thousands for only nineteen bucks. The service is called Catalog and they’ve raised $1.5 million to kick the business off.

They’re not the only company starting up with a similar model, either. Photographer Daniel Norton discusses these types of services in this video, and how they’re really not a great thing for either the customer nor the photographers who might shoot for them.

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This Kansas City district is fighting back against photographers

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The historic West Bottoms district of Kansas City is fighting back against photographers. They’ve been battling what seems to only be describable as a “swam” of photographers taking over the area for photo shoots. It’s a beautiful place, photographically speaking, so the draw for photographers is obvious. But these local business owners have had enough.

They’ve had photographers coming up to use their buildings as photographic backdrops to the point of not only hindering the operation of their business but also blocking entire streets. The business owners have even gotten to the point of putting up “No Trespassing” signs with the words “No Photography” written on them.

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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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Most Marketers Can’t Quantify The Value of Social Media – So Why Are We Still Investing In Likes?

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I just read an intriguing article by MDG Advertising that breaks down a new report showing that approximately half of the marketing professionals studied have no idea how to actually quantify the business value of social media.

The question then becomes: if marketing professionals cannot calculate a return on investment for social media, why is everyone still investing in likes and followers?

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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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This is why you’ll never make it as a photographer

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Photographer James Popsys puts forth an intriguing argument. That you won’t make it as a photographer. Why? Well, because it’s impossible for anybody to really make it as a photographer. What does “make it” even mean? It’s interesting to hear James talk in this video about what he thought life would be like as a successful photographer vs. the reality of actually being a photographer who makes their income from it.

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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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