Photography or photographer? And presentation question, please give input :)

[trisha_f]

<p>Hi, I have mostly shot weddings/families etc.. What I really want to shoot now is model portfolios, and portraiture and eventually fashion advertising. <br>

So I am creating a very simple business card. I am not planning on putting any images on it. I am only putting on my name and either PHOTOGRAPHY or PHOTOGRAPHER and my website address and phone number. I didn't want to put any genres on it because I feel that that is limiting and more importantlly, I haven't done much of the kind of work I am moving towards. How does that sound?<br>

My question is should I put Photography or photographer? Which works better for what I am wanting to do. I tend to see PHOTOGRAPHY for people who do weddings etc and fashion photographers more commonly using PHOTOGRAPHER. Any opinions?<br>

Also, I am planning on giving my work to clients on cd or dvd. Do you think at this point I should get some printed (silk screened) with my name on them? Or is buying cd label sofware and stickers acceptable? It doesn't seem like the best presentation, except that you can customize each one with the shoot info. How do you present your work. I want to be professional looking for sure, I am just starting out and don't know what others do.<br>

Thanks!!!!</p>

[mark_chartrand]

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/user?user_id=4831490">Trisha</a>,</p>

<p>I really don't think it matters. Whatever you feel comfortable with should be find. If you use the word photography it could imply that you are a dealer of photography, but people who have your card usually know why they have it and what you do.</p>

<p>Good luck to you. I hope you achieve your goals.</p>

<p>Mark</p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>Several things to consider, roughly in this order:</p>

<ol>

<li>Are you positive you want your name on the business? Weddings, it's very common in many areas to use a studio name like "After Images", "Radiant Light", "Precious Memories", "Light of Dawn", etc. What is the standard in your location?</li>

<li>What sound does your name end with? In general, you should alternate the type of ending. My name is Wisniewski. "Wisniewski photography" sounds silly, especially when it ends the business name. "Wisniewski photographer" works better, and indeed, I used to use "Joseph S. Wisniewski, Photographer at Large". So if you're a "Trisha Farlee", avoid photography. If you're "Trisha Farmer", avoid photographer.</li>

<li>Next, say you're "Trisha Frank" and the ending sound isn't a problem. "Photographer" is a strong noun, while "photography" is a weak noun that can be used as an adverb or adjective. As such, if your name appears to be an adjective or an adverb, you go with the stronger noun "photographer". In my example, "frank" is an adjective, so "Trisha Frank Photography" has a certain awkward feeling. </li>

<li>Once you get past that, look at your target audience, and how big an operation you wish to appear to be. Weddings are almost always done by a small company: your client wants to know you've got the right team or teams. "Trisha Fenkel Photography" implies that they're getting a team lead by Trisha Fenkel, and that the assistants, retouchers, etc. have all been trained and supervised by Trisha Fenkel, but if a bus runs you over a week before the wedding, that someone else trained by and approved by Trisha Fenkel can shoot that wedding to Trisha Fenkel standards. (and a name like "Light of Dawn" also implies that there may be a "team"). While "Trisha Frederiks, Photographer" is better for the folks coming into the studio for senior pictures, because they know they're getting the legendary Trisha Frederiks, herself.</li>

</ol>

<p>I guess that's it, I've covered basic poetic and psychological rules, and exhausted my supply of "F" names.<br>

;)</p>

[jack_fisher1]

<p>"PORTRAITS BY TRISHA"</p>

<p>Weddings and Portraits<br>

Studio: xxx-xxx-xxxx</p>

<p>My thought...</p>

[trisha_f]

<p>Thanks everyone, I want to make clear that I don't want to do any more weddings. I want to focus on my other areas of interest. <br>

I think I will put my name and under it put photographer. Thanks for all the indepth analysis of it. <br>

Any other opinions welcome!<br>

What about the cd labeling question?</p>

 

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>I love custom CDs, it's a definite nice touch compared to screened on logos.</p>

<p>Stickers are totally unacceptable. They tend to run unbalanced in modern high-speed CD drives. They also catch on the slot loading mechanisms seen on many laptops and fruit-flavored computer substitutes like iMacc.</p>

<p>Get a nice pigment ink printer (do not use water based "dye" ink on CDs) that has a CD tray. Epson has some good ones.</p>

<p>Have fun.</p>

[tom_anderson9]

2nd the suggestion for printing on the CD's. A less expensive alternative may be a cd/dvd burner that does 'light scribe', or something like that, where it burns text on the CD. Not sure if they still make those. Labels are bad for the reasons pointed out above.

<p>

As far as 'photography' vs 'photographer', if it's just you, and that's the service you perform, 'photographer' sounds fine. If you're going to have other shooters or partners, then 'photography' makes more sense, because you represent the business, but aren't always doing the shooting. 'Photographer' sounds higher end to me, but is more limiting because it implies just you...but you could always change it later if you add people.

[alfredo orihuela]

<p>In my opinion to specialize a good photographer is a very difficult task for any expert, never-mind for the photographer itself. Now... when it comes to offering confidence to your client there is no other way. They want it cheap, but they also want the best, and only a dedicated specialist can offer that.(so they think) You see... not many (both costumers and photographers) understand photography. <br />Conclusion. The only way to solve it is by knowing how to sell the service accordingly to that particular costumer. They don't need to know how how much photography you know, nor how eclectic is your portfolio because they simply can not handle that. <br />Good luck. We all need it. Ps I'm wrong in about 50% of all said ;) Peace!</p>