Sep
30
What makes a professional photographer stand above an amateur? It’s the way they present their products and their services to prospects and clients.
Whether you photograph weddings, families, children or babies, adding a professional album to your list of services can showcase your photography in an elegant and impactful way.
With each of our weddings, it wasn’t just the photographs that made us special. It was the way we presented them. We would design multiple volume sets, and show a client an album design (via software) along with the digital proofs. We assumed they would buy albums – that was our service – and it was a strategy that never failed.
Imagine selling a four volume set to your client – each with 60-70 pages. What would that do to your bottom line?
Let’s look at 5 different album companies.
Art Leather
I
t’s all about options. Art Leather can offer you a variety of different styles and looks. I’ve always been a fan of the flush mount albums. You create digital image collages in one size, and have them flush mounted in an album. With their high quality pages, you get a look that screams “professional”. I also like that they have a variety of add-on products, from gift albums, to folios, to image boxes. Image boxes were always a big hit. Place a selection of matted images in the image box. Your clients can display them, use them as signature frames, and have an elegant way of displaying them as well. They are great for bringing along to coffee houses when you’re showing your clients your work.
Zookbinders
Z
ookbinders does a fantastic job with both their albums, design and customer service. We worked with the staff at Zookbinders for years, and loved everything about this company. They have a variety of products and styles to ensure you have something for every taste. Instead of offering your clients one item, why not give bonuses along the way? A two volume album earns you a discount on The PhotoBook. With a variety of lines, you can find many ways to create special offers for your clients.
Queensberry
Queensberry offers you a variety of options in album 
format, and a wide array of sizing options. How about a 20×16 album – imagine the look on a prospects face just looking at these large images. We used a variety of sizes throughout our business, and size does matter when it comes to album design. If you give something out of the ordinary – something your customers’ friends won’t have – you’re sure to be a hit.
White Glove Books
What attracted me immediately to White Glove is their take on albums – they don’t just produce albums, they produce First Editions. It’s not just what you create, it’s how you present it. White Glove allows you to present your images in a variety of ways, and choose from different layouts and cover designs. Each book is uniquely your own.
Albums Australia
Another thing that makes a professional photographer stand above the crowd is offering som
ething a consumer can’t get anywhere else. Change the size to something out of the ordinary – maybe an 11×14 album. Or give them the newest magazine style album. In either case, make a sample that shows your client what to expect, and what you can do that’s different from traditional and more available options. Albums Australia has great products for the professional, and gives you access to software to make your job of album design easy.
These are five of the great companies available to you as professional photographers. Get on their websites and take a look for yourself. I would recommend that you offer a variety of album companies in your product line. Different clients like different things. We had some clients who were vegan, and wanted a quality album that adhered to their vegan beliefs. Some love an artistic look, while others like a more traditional look. By offering several choices, you can develop a package that is perfect for your client.
Sep
29
Part Time Photography
Filed Under Photography Training | 1 Comment
A week or so ago I was introduced to Dan Eitreim with Part Time Photography. He has a great ebook available for anyone that is trying to use their camera to bring in a part time income. Its a book filled with tips and s
trategies from a variety of different professional photographers. And that is really what makes this book so valuable.
You’ll find 16 chapters, each by a different photographer, filled with ideas to help you get your business up and running. I finally had a chance to read it cover to cover, and was impressed with the ideas. These ideas go hand in hand with my Six Figure philosophy, and are sure to spark your interests with a few new ideas.
Each chapter brings a distinct idea to you, and provides you with enough detail to put it into action. If you want to make money with portraits, family and children portraiture, this could be a great investment for you. You don’t need to come up with new ideas; take ideas that are already tried and profitable, and incorporate those into your business.
On top of that, the price couldn’t be better. In these trying times, if you’re great with a camera, its time to use your skills to bring in some extra income. And with the upcoming holiday season, and more people sticking close to home, family photographs will make perfect gifts. Go to Part Time Photography and get your own copy now.
Sep
26
While searching the web today I found a great article on using ultra wide angle lenses. Here is an excerpt from the site:
Most people use ultrawides too sheepishly, and get crummy results with tiny subjects dwarfed in the middle of an open frame. When I use my 14mm I constantly have to force myself to get closer and pay rapt attention to the sides of my viewfinder, which are too often blank or loaded with junk.
Ultrawides require you to get very close and personal to anything you are shooting. Even a fraction of an inch (or cm) will make a huge difference in your composition, so you need to be very deliberate with your movement.
If you use them properly, you’ll be rewarded with dynamic images. I’ve discovered that regardless of how many lenses I use, and however many photos I make on a trip, the ones I ultimately love the most are always the ones made with the widest lens I brought. ..read more>>
Sep
25
Wow Your Clients - Give Them Something They’ve Never Seen Before
Filed Under Photography Marketing, Questions & Resources | Leave a Comment
Okay all of you event and wedding photographers, I’ve got a site for you. It’s called I Dream Of Cake, and I guarantee you will be dreaming of cake long after you look through this site.
This company is not just a bakery, she is a cake artist. The difference is in the work she does. I have a screen shot from her site here, but you have to take a look at it. She creates cakes that resemble everything from shoes and purses, to the Eiffel Tower. And they look so amazingly real, you really have to stare at them awhile to see that they aren’t “the real thing”.
So if you’re an event or wedding photographer, imagine being able to give your client a referral to this site. Your client creates a true masterpiece for her event. Will she love you for it? You bet. Now reverse the situation. Imagine being a photographer this small business refers on a regular basis. I guarantee she’s staying very busy, and she has a ton of clients looking for quality photographers.
When this artist decided to go into business, she didn’t do the standard cakes that you can find in any shop from coast to coast. She went the extra mile and created something that made her stand out. That gave people a reason to talk about her. (I found her in a magazine.)
What do you do that says WOW? Can people find your work in every photographers gallery, or do they stop and stare when they see your work?
To be great, and to get people talking, you have to stand out from the crowd.
Sep
24
Create an action that will add a curled edge to any image.
With this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, I am going to show you how to create a curled effect to an image in just a few easy steps. This tutorial use the Warp filter added on CS2 and newer Photoshop editions
Let’s open a photo to start with for appling the effect to. For this tutorial, I’ve selected a stock photo
To start, we need to rename the background layer. I have renamed mine to "Curled Page"
Now we need to use the Marquee tool (Keyboard Shortcut - M) and select a small area
Next we need to add a gradient to our selection. Start at the inside corner and drag to the outside corner of the image
Now deselect (Select->Deselect) or (Ctr+D)
Next go to Edit->Transform->Warp.
Drag the bottom right point towards the center. Press enter when you are happy with your results.
Add a drop shadow to your image
Add an additional layer for a color background
Finished Image.
You can download the action here Page Curling Action
To install it just unzip the contents of the .zip file in your Photoshop actions folder.
Sep
22
Include Engagement Portrait Sessions In The Wedding Package - Think Again
Filed Under Portrait Photography | Leave a Comment
In today’s world its easy to find out what other photographers are charging and offering in their packages. With a quick search, I found the following package deal for wedding photography:
- Full day coverage, unlimited time, unlimited images
- Free engagement photography session
- Digital negatives included
- Online galleries for ordering
- Price $2500
This is pretty much the standard wedding package available today.
This is fine if you photograph clients in one location, and all of your clients are from that one location.
But what 
if you want to become a destination photographer? What if someone is from New York, but will be getting married in Hawaii? What if someone is planning a wedding from Germany, is getting married in Aspen, and won’t be in the States until three days before the wedding?
Let the negotiations begin. Anytime you include a free engagement session in your package, if the bride and groom can’t use it, they’ll start negotiating. Hardly the thing you want happening with a brand new client.
And yet most photographers continue to offer this. Why?
Engagement portraits are personal to the bride and groom. In many ways its a completely separate event from the actual wedding. Many photographers will tell you this is a great way of bringing in a new client. While this may be true, in today’s traveling world, its not nearly as important as it once was.
Instead of making it a part of the package, make it an add on. Make it a reasonable cost - $125 plus expenses. You’ll photograph in your local area, or they can fly you in to their location. Their choice.
You’ve just made some of your clients very happy for a very reasonable price. And you no longer have to go through negotiations with the clients that don’t want or need an engagement session.
Sep
18
When was the last time you sat down and changed your products, services and packages?
For a wedding photographer, it may be once a year. For a portrait photographer, it may be once every couple of years.
No matter what field your in, now is the time to rethink your current offerings, even if you restructured them within the last few months.
Every time you turn on the television or login to the Internet, the news isn’t good. Companies continue to fail. The housing industry is crashing. The stock market is falling. You can’t help worrying about your own business.
As much as you think of your own business, its also time to think of your prospects and customers. What do they want in this economy?
Now more than ever, your clients want value. I didn’t say cheap, free, or low cost. I said value.
Just because your clients are watching their funds, and are looking to save money for the future, doesn’t mean they won’t part with money if they find you of good value.
There will always be people in every income bracket, ready and willing to part with their money.
Let me give you an example. At one of our weddings, the bride easily spent over $1 million dollars. The reception site was $25k - just for the site. She spent $15k on a caviar bar. She wore a custom designed Vera Wang original gown.
Do you think she would have been comfortable spending $1,000 on her photographs?
Pricing is relative.
You can create a portrait package valued at $10,000 - if you are targeting the right clients that are willing to pay it, and offer the photography that attracts them to you.
Maybe now is the time to re-evaluate your current clients, and create a package perfect for them. What can you do to entice them to buy from you in the last four months of 2008?
Sep
15
One of the most popular field of photography is weddings. With millions of weddings taking place every year, it may seem like an easy thing to jump in on and make a few extra dollars.
As a professional high-end wedding photographer, I can tell you that it may sound easy, but in fact it’s one of the most difficult fields to get in.
- You have dozens if not hundreds of people to work with and capture images for.
- You must be good at posing groups of one to two, and groups as large as 100.
- You have to ca
pture great images in the church with no flash, outside with glaring sunlight, and on a dark crowded dance floor. No other place will test your skills as a professional photographer as much as with weddings. - Your two main subjects will give you the most photographic trouble - can you capture great images with the whitest white and the blackest black together on most images?
- Love photojournalism? Great, shoot several hundred images with a fresh new approach. Love portraits? Great, be ready to photograph dozens of different groups. Love product photography? Great, find ways of capturing all the intimate details your client spent hours putting together.
So why do it? Because of the reward. Where else can you have so much fun, attend amazing parties every weekend, and capture unique images that will never be alike?
1. Start with a plan. Every wedding must be photographed with a plan in mind. Know what images you will take before you get there.
2. Work with your client’s vendors. If you work as a team, the event will run smooth, and your client will be ever grateful.
3. Get paid what you’re worth. Wedding photography is hard work, and can take many hours of time [don't forget production, editing, Photoshop, marketing, building your business, meeting the client, networking to find your clients, etc.] In wedding photography, you definitely get what you pay for. Become one of the best, and be able to command the highest fees.
Sep
10
Every month we receive a postcard from a photographer. It’s a simple card, with a new image on the back, his contact information and a quote on the front - and that’s about it.
How did we get on his list? I’m not sure.
What is he selling? I’m not sure.
His postcards are beautiful, and he is a great photographer. But in all the months I’ve received his information, not once has he told me what he’s selling. 
Is he a commercial photographer? Is he looking for portrait work?
With any marketing campaign, there are a number of steps to ensure your success.
1. Create a ways of marketing and stick with in. In this case he mails postcards on a regular basis. He has my attention because I always recognize them when they come into my mailbox.
2. Make sure your branding is in place. Again, he has this area covered. I recognize his postcards. The coloring is always the same. The logo is always in the same place. He’s recognizable.
3. Tell people what you want them to do. This is where he is lacking. A postcard with a new photograph each month is great. But why should I care?
If you are offering a special, tell me. If you are showing me what a great commercial photographer you are, and want to know if I’m interested in hiring you, tell me. If you want me to refer you to my friends, tell me.
People can’t read minds.
If your marketing isn’t working, chances are you’re missing one key element that will make it a success. Sometimes it’s obvious to others, yet you simply overlook it. Marketing is about testing what you do to continuously get better results. And about asking for help from mentors around you.
Sep
8
Jason D Moore Photography
Filed Under Questions & Resources | Leave a Comment
Want to learn more about Photoshop, and keep up with great tips from someone w
ho knows the details? Check out JasonDMoore.
Jason’s site is filled with information for today’s photographer, and has a ton of resources and tips on everything Photoshop and photography. He has been featured in a variety of publications, and has some great videos that help you get things done.
He also has a featured blogroll - I was just listed as one of his featured bloggers. Check out my listing. [Thanks Jason!]
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