Now on Twitter
Yep, finally did it. I’ve been putting off joining Twitter for a while but just had to do it. Twitter has become an essential tool for connecting with other photographers as well as potential clients and creating networks and gaining inspiration. The main drawback for me has been not knowing how to use it as a business [...]
Backing up while travelling: making sure you get those photos home
Camera? Check. Lenses? Check. Tripod? check. Backup solution? Um… One of the things that often get forgotten amid all the excitement of packing for a trip is to make sure you get those precious images home. We hear about the unthinkable happening to photographers who have lost images because of memory card failure, stolen equipment [...]
Expanse Photography on Facebook
After a long deliberation, I’ve finally taken the plunge and started an Expanse Photography Facebook page. Gratuitous plug HERE. The reason for holding off so long is that I was a bit hesitant about the time I would need to spend in updating the page, and driving traffic to it, but now that the page [...]
What are photos worth?
The photograph in question. Incidentally Gursky will not receive a penny from the sale of his image as it was sold from one collector to another. I’ve written before about the value of photography, but finding out that Andreas Gursky’s photograph, “Rhein II” (above) has just been sold for $4.3 million at Christies has caused me [...]
PhotoShelter Loves You!
The good folk at PhotoShelter are offering up yet more great photo business advice. Apart from offering a image storage and website solution for photographers, these guys produce e-books by the dozen and run a great blog that often includes webinars featuring art directors, photographers and people in the photography and publishing industries that provide some useful [...]
Earning with Photography
Putting your feet up is the last thing you should be doing between photography assignments. Continuing on with what has become a kind of accidental theme on this blog over the last few weeks, I thought I would post some thoughts on another important part of operating a photography business: the actual making of money. [...]
Getting Help for your Photography Business
A typical day in the life of a working photographer If you’re a working photographer, you’re almost certainly self employed. And chances are you’re a one man or woman band and are struggling to get your head around juggling your time and getting all the business-y things done that allow you to keep making photos for a living. For most of us, [...]
Long Live the Amatuer Photographer
There is a common misconception that the goal of every amateur photographer is to become a “professional”, and earn their living from shooting images. Firstly, let me say that I really don’t like using the work professional when talking about photographers as it tends to put those people on a higher plain than mere [...]
The World’s Most Photographed Cities
I came across this article recently over at Photo Licensing Options. The article discusses the world’s most photographed cities according to Alamy, Getty and some other well known stock agencies. It’s no surprise that the top four are made up of London, New York, Los Angeles and Paris, but the thing that hit home for me [...]
And another thing….More on the death of the photographic print
A couple of weeks ago I wrote some thoughts about the impending death of the photographic print. This was meant as nothing more than a nostalgic rant at the time, but it does throw up some serious practical issues. If, as a photographer, you sell a print to a client. You either print the image yourself [...]
Shutha: a new resource for aspiring professionals
Newly launched, The Shutha website is a free resource put together by some folks from some pretty prestigeous groups, including the American Society of Media Photographers and World Press Photo. The site focuses on providing aspiring professional photographers with an insight into photography markets and avenues to earning a living from photography. It is directed largely [...]
Building a better online portfolio- A Photoshelter webinar with Stella Kramer
Photoshelter recently published a discussion with Stella Kramer about how photo editors view photographer portfolios, what they look for and things to avoid. Stella is a Pulitzer Prize winner who has worked with many well known publications including the New York Times, Sports Illustrated and People Magazine, so it’s fair to say she knows what she’s talking about. [...]
Fear and Growth
Many photographers are uncomfortable with promoting themselves, feeling self conscious or thinking that self promotion is the same as bragging. But here’s the thing. Self promotion is not about you. It’s about your clients and your marketplace. You have a product. They need it. You’re actually doing them a favour by providing that product. Keeping [...]
Tweetface (to tweet or not to tweet)
Many people are singing the benefits of social media sites at the moment, with professionals from a wide range of industries joining sites such as Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and WordPress to improve their business networks. There are also the naysayers who fail to see the benefits. It’s not for everyone. Like most business tools, whether [...]
A Note on Keywording
One of the most time consuming and laborious tasks of preparing your images for the marketplace once you’re done with the fun part of taking the photos is to attach keywords so that your images can be found by people who may wish to license them. Occasionally I get asked how I go about it, [...]