Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time
Since my first photography job, I’ve been commissioned by top brands including Adidas, Jose Cuervo, Amazon, Sony, AEG, Land Securities, Heineken and many more. I hope to be able to help others take their first steps into professional photography.
Beginning with your first photography job, when you first start getting photography commissions as a photographer it can be very tempting to just take them all on.
We’ve all had those awkward clients at some time or another. If you haven’t, then you will, don’t worry. I’ve been working in various creative fields for around 25 years now, and I’ve experienced all of these. In fact, one particular former client springs to mind that single-handedly embodies at least six of them all at once.
Fortunately the folks at Coplex (formerly Ciplex) have come up with this handy guide on how to deal with them. They highlight 15 of the most common types of clients, and the tell tale signs to watch out for.
So you’ve got the knowledge and skill, you know your gear and the direction in which you want to go with your photography. Now it’s time to attract clients. You will inevitably do some shoots you won’t be too excited about, and that’s okay. But you should make an effort to attract clients you really want to work with. After all, doing the kind of shoots you like is what will make you really love your job and enjoy it to the max.
Rachel and Daniel from Mango Street have three quick and useful tips how to attract your dream clients. It takes time and effort, but these are useful guidelines that will take you to the point you want to reach with your paid work.
Another new feature is coming to Instagram, and it can be useful for photographers. People will soon be able to boom appointments with business. For all those who make a living from photography, this means your clients will be able to find you and book a session directly through your Instagram.
A frequent and normal question I often get from my first-time direct clients (non-agency) is; “What is your rate?” (I never work on a per hour rate for many reasons) but often the real question should be, “How much will this cost to create this image?”
Surprises are never fun for a client, so education from the get go is key.
So how much does a commercial shoot cost? Well there are many factors to keep in mind, but let’s keep it simple and break the costs into two categories.
Production costs are easily described as the cost to CREATE the image, where Commercial Licensing Fees are the cost to USE the image.
Every photographer has gotten the question after a successful shoot: “The photos look great, but can I get the rest of them just in case I need them later? You don’t need to edit them or anything.”
If you’re here for the short answer, the answer is no, but it’s important to me for people to understand why. Throughout this post, you will see side by side photos comparing a completely unedited photo, next to the final edited shot. Using advanced psychology trickery, by the end of the article, you will realize that you don’t even want my unedited photos.
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As much as your photography career relies on your work, more than most people acknowledge, it’s also about creating relationships with your clients. Not only are they the ones currently providing you a source of income, their connections can be future clients and their referrals can be gold in a business where who you know is as important as what you know.
To help ensure you keep as many clients as possible, photographer Jay P. Morgan of The Slanted Lens has shared a video titled 7 Ways to Lose Clients. In it, he walks through seven things you shouldn’t do if you want to keep your clients happy.[Read More…]
We’ve covered this topic before, but it’s always worth a second mention. RAW photos. Specifically, why photographers don’t share RAW images with clients.
In one of her latest videos, photographer Jessica Kobeissi shares a collection of anecdotes and analogies explaining why it’s beyond reason to expect photographers to hand over their RAW files.
Working as a photographer has plenty of advantages and you collect awesome experiences along the way, varying greatly depending on your niche. You might get to travel, attend music concerts or sport events, encounter amazing wildlife or meet amazing people.
The problem is that at the end of the day, at one level or another, you’ve got to deal with clients – and sometimes that’s harder said than done.
“Life as a photographer isn’t as glamorous as you might think,” DigitalRev say in their latest funny video, and here’s why.
So, today we’re going for another trip to the softer side of photography. Specifically we’re going to talk about portraiture, and the importance, benefits and winsomeness of meeting your clients before you shoot them, instead of just emailing a bit back and forth. If you take a couple of minutes and read through the post, and implement some of it into your workflow (if you haven’t already), I promise you it’ll make your portraits more personal, more intimate and just make for a much more pleasant experience during the actual shooting session. So, without much further ado, a couple of lists of reasons for, and ways of making the most of, meeting your clients before you shoot them. This week I’ve even tried to cut down on the fluff words (tried being the operative word here).[Read More…]
You can find out more about John on his website and follow his adventures on YouTube and Facebook.
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.
To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.
JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.
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