medina photography cherry

I have found that that is a heavy burden to place on a consumer. Most people are afraid to tell their honest opinion (I guess that is a good thing).

I asked a couple (not why they did not choose me, but rather is there anything that I could approve upon) It took her 6 months to reply, and when she did she told me it was my racist comments. That really blew me away. They live in Philadelphia (they are a white couple) and I was travelling through a very bad neighborhood and had to photograph a roof top installation for the company I work for. I was getting looks like crazy (had my $3600 camera out for all the world to see)Now in this neighborhood people get killed for a hundred dollar pair of sneakers.

Anyway, I was trying to have conversation and was expressing how unsafe I felt- They took that as racism. Anyway, I learned an important lesson-Keep my mouth shut and only talk about either Photography or the couple and ask them alot of questions.

Oh well, what ya gonna do?

I have the same idea. I want to do family portraiture and offer in an album. It is not being done where I live. I wish I had a full time studio or resources to market it, I think it would be a big hit.

I can email you a copy o fthe one I use if you like. medinaphoto1@msn.com

I will sell mine half the regular price. email me at medinaphoto1@msn.com

I will sell mine half the regular price. email me at medinaphoto1@msn.com

I forget how long it took to get mine but it sure aint "FREE"

Sorry- got hung up in the first part. Insurance. I had to do the same thing. They are asking for general liabilty. Contact an insurance company and ask for a general liabilty policy. After I got the insurance the venue said I could have just signed a waiver that if anything went wrong they are not liable. Ask about that.

A B S O L U TE L Y!!! without question!

Jeff,

 

I have one. It has about a 1/2" of dust on it (just kidding) I really do not use it at all, it is very limited, and when you are working fast you will have less keepers. I now do not use any diffusers and don't miss them at all.

 

Rob

One thing for sure, this is something you can start right now. You don't have to quit your job to start either. Forget the exterior shots, go for the dramatic interior shots and make some prints (of your house or a friends that is nicely decorated) and show Realtors WHY they should be using a professional. This idea will work better for the high end listings.

Me personally, I am glad that the realtor who listed the house we bough took crappy pictures- we got a great house under market value :)

Same as above, don't know between 1V and 1D MK IIN, but will say it is definetly bigger than the 20D/ 10D. Funny thing, I lost my eyecup off my 1D KM II and "just to see" put my eye cup off my 10D on my 1D. It fit perfectly and there was no vignetting in the viewfinder. The only thing was it did not click in, like the eyecup for the 1D does. It made me double check the viewfinders to actually see that the 1D was bigger, it is though.

This one is my favorite!

http://www.photo.net/photo/4686485

I should post this as a link to my site!

 

http://costofwedding.com/WeddingCostLocations.cfm?zipcode=08003

Oops, I thought you said Brides needs NJ Photographer. Never mind.

Vlad,

 

Of course the catch 22 of photography is you need a portfolio (For all intense purposes) to show clients your work, but you need clients to take pictures. Anyway, when I was first starting out I put an ad in the local community paper. I offered free photo sessions to the first 25 people that contacted me (need some motivation) Well out of the three who called, I shot none. None of them wanted me to do it for free and all of them wanted to come to my studio- of which I do not have. So in the end I wasted my money. One major thing that probably killed me was that I advertised in a community paper where the average readers income is $120,000.00, so they aren't hurting. On the flip side, I did not want to go to a regional paper and have to go to the slums to shoot either.

So I got a website and subscribed to service like weddj, etc, where you buy leads. I got a couple of jobs from that and helped me build my portfolio. I started out trying to take pictures for the lower income families. I believed that they deserve great images regardless of their income as well. But let me tell you a very clear message that I learned. If someone works hard for something, they appreciate it alot more. I found that everytime I gave a break to a lower income couple, they did not appreciate it at all. I vowed never to do that again and trippled my fees and work for people now who actually tell you how much they love your work!

Just my story- sorry to be so long winded.

Call the FBI and report it. This is as old as the internet.

Y E S, Y E S, Y E S, YES YES YES YES YES , ok well maybe, no, no no no , yes Ok Yes, well maybe, no it;s no, no yes, yes no, no yes yes its yes, well no, maybe yes, yes maybe. No, yes.Ok Yes

I did not read any of the responses, but I will tell you this. Once you use a camera that turns on fast like the 1D MKII, 20D, 30D etc. You will come to hate the slowness of the 10D, sometimes it seems like an eternity for it to come on, especially when the shot is happening and you are waiting for the bodies electronics to kick in.

Not to be smart, but if I did not want to carry anything around I would have gotten a P&S camera.

William,

I started including engagement sessions with every package. It gave us time to shoot, let go and have fun without the pressure of time. This helps relax the couple because when they see the engagement session images they realize that even though the felt stupid during the shot, they look great. They always are more free on the wedding day now! Give that a try.

Rob

Michael, who is Mike Colon? Just kidding! I know exactly what you mean, also look at David Jay.

I have improved significantly by shooting more. When I first started out 3-1/2 years ago my stuff was mediocre. I was shooting once every 6 months at best (weddings) now I am shooting more frequently and including an engagement (love) session with each package which doubles my shooting time and it is really paying off. I now offer family packages (where I just document a family being together) that is doing pretty good- I am getting more recognized. I doubled my prices and the inquiries have not slowed down, so that is good.

One thing that, well two things, that Mike Colon and David Jay have going for them is beautiful scenery and beautiful people. You just do not get any better than California- That helps!

"Important: Giving regular clients an occasional discount (5-10%) is a good way to tell your client how much you appreciate their regular business. "

 

I wish B&H would read that!

Just to add a note. That poll is based out of MN. It is obviously going to be different in other areas.

I like Gino's work. Lok at Jeff & Julia woods, Doug Boutwell, David Jay. Go onto David Jays photography forum and you will see a ton of talented photographers.

Shutterfly.com. I just bought one for my clients, very very nice. It has full page prints as well. alot of options. Leave on page blank, or the two last pages for signature. make sure you get the pen that won't smear onto adjacent pages.