john_bellenis

Hi - this is John Bellenis. Thanks for the kind words. I've been extremely busy and haven't had time for photo.net unfortunately - my work takes me throughout the USA, Caribbean, South America and into Europe so I'm disconnected a lot. I do hospitality photography - hotels, resorts, cruise lines, spas and destinations which is great for me as I get to shoot a few genres of photography within the same niche - architectural, lifestyle, food and destination stuff. Thanks for asking about me, I'll make an effort to be a bit more involved! Best, John

<p>I agree that honesty and being totally upfront is always the best policy. However, being too apologetic about the situation may not be. You don't want to sound like you are admitting some 'fault" or that you might sound incompetent. <br /><br />I would explain that a party is a fluid situation and that you are overshooting to try to cover everything. Editing down the images is to be expected and is essential to ensure a quality product, to filter out boring images or images that simply "didn't work out". Hopefully these won't include important or pre-discussed set-up shots (those you should have down cold), but ad hoc ideas and playful moments can be a crap shoot in the best of circumstances. <br /><br />Ultimately you decide what to include, explain that the image she mentioned didn't work out, but it was worth a try, and bring her back to the 200 images that you love and make sure she knows you are proud of the results.</p>

<p>I think the question really needs to be better defined. Starting out on a personal creative journey using a camera to express yourself, or starting out on a lifelong career that will support a family, send your kids to college and provide a good standard of living and retirement? The answers could not be more diametrically opposed.</p> <p>Assuming (maybe wrongly) that it's the latter, then the abilities required go far beyond technical and creative photographic skills. You need to have solid personal and business skills, marketing, administrative and financial acumen and also the ability to change with the times, the market and technology to stay relevant and in demand.</p> <p>Additionally, you'll need to be a self starter, have boundless energy and enthusiasm and be willing to work all hours to balance the stresses of looking for work, doing the work, post production, archiving, billing and taxes and taking care of your clients, family, staff. equipment, administration and (very important) not forgetting to have fun in the process! Location is paramount - starting a career as a fashion photographer in New York may provide huge competition, but there is the opportunity at least to thrive. In small towns in the middle of nowhere there may well be no competition, but there's a reason for that. <br /> <br />If you are a professional, then like it or not, a part of your success is defined by income. This means that some of the more esoteric, artistic ideals can be a limiting indulgence and hard nosed pragmatism may be needed to keep the money flowing in. If you have a trust fund, an alternate career or are doing photography purely as an artistic pursuit, then have at it - the premise is totally different. A mentor can indeed be wonderful, choose wisely though, many older photographers can be overly cynical and negative, not good qualities to soak up when you're starting out.</p> <p> </p>