ian_cooke1

<i>"I am wondering how you could POSSIBLY be shooting NINE CF cards yourself.

<p>

Even if these were 1GB cards that is well over 900 shots for one person. That's more than

a shot every 30 seconds for hour after hour... (I am being hyper conservative too here)"</i></

i><p>

You can't say this, Ken, without knowing what camera is being used. It could be

6megapixels or 16megapixels. You also don't know how long the day was. It might have

been 6 hours or it might have been 12+ hours.<p>

To the original poster, be honest and forthright. Contact everyone you know, and have

the couple contact everyone they know, who were/are anywhere near any/all of the

locations you were at and tell them to be on the lookout for the card. Follow the other

good advice already given about safeguarding your media from now on.

It seems a bit awkward looking to me. The placement of things on the card kind of feels like

a poorly composed photo. The logo, itself, is a mix of styles. Looks like you have three

fonts, just in the logo. Then another font for your name/phone. I'm not crazy about the blue

gradient either.<p>

I suggest keeping it simple. No gradients. Maybe consider a graphic designer if you want a

real "logo". <p>

Wow! Slideshows? What a concept. I'm glad you posted this otherwise I never would have

heard of such a thing <p>

Unlike the others, I never acquired much of a taste for spam ;-)

just regarding the Christian comments..... this is another good example of why it is NOT

good to mix business and religion. <p>There was another recent thread about working for

your local Church, and it stirred up a lot of issues as well. <p>

Religion is just one of those things that a lot of people have extremely strong and personal

feelings about that no forum thread is going to change. It should be obvious that sooner or

later (more likely sooner) you'll come across a client or potential client who you'll butt heads

with. That's something that is definitely bad for business, no matter how you want to look at

it.<p>

I'm always open to helping. I love it as long as the people don't go overboard and expect too

much of my time (my time is very valuable).<p>

If you are afraid of competition, especially "potential" competition, then you have other things

to be concerned with. The way I see it, there is enough work to go around if you know where

and how to look, and everyone has something unique to offer.

Oops. Sorry Nadine. I missed that you wrote "option". And in that case, I totally agree.<p>

As long as we're talking about options, I would actually include an engagement shoot with

the packages as an incentive. Since Allan is just starting out, he could probably use the

added portfolio material and the shooting experience, both of which could be gained by

doing engagement sessions. Since they are very little cost if shot digitally, just include it in

the package, or maybe say "book a certain number of hours or a certain priced package and

it's included", ... but offer it somehow. But if a couple happens to not want it, then don't

discount your package price.

I'm surprised at that suggestion Nadine. I'm not aruguing it, but I wonder what your

reasoning is?<p>

The cost of 4x6" proofs, the proof box, this album, travel/gas expenses, time for

consultations/shooting/post-production, maybe an assistant, plus cost of operating a

business (license, insurance, accountant, legal fees, phone bills, camera equipment,

computers/software, website, marketing, promotional materials, etc). etc..... etc... Unless

he's shooting about a hundred weddings, he's still losing money, and that's even without the

album. Is the goal to have a big tax write off in the form of a loss :-)

I didn't look at the photos, but I'll say that to make money at youth sports, it's best to be

connected with the league or school (at least from my experience). You also need a fairly

streamlined mechanism for advertising, proofing, and selling the images.

I would say add NOTHING. Your business is probably still losing money in the big picture,

and frankly, your time and talent for doing the work alone should be worth more than that. If

you start at the bottom of the price range, there's no need to justify a price increase if your

portfolio and marketing skills can back it up.

When you shoot an engagement session for a wedding client, do you let them use those photos to create

their own invitations? I've been creating my own post-cards & greeting-cards for a while (for non-

wedding related work) and would like to be able to sell this as a product/service for wedding clients. Not

so much for the profit, but for the marketing I'd get by putting my name on the cards. <p>

Do you just give the files to the client and let them make their own (maybe cheap and poorly printed)

invitations or tell them they need to order the invitations through you? How do you explain to the client

that you won't let them do it themselves?

I've recently tried the ST-E2 on a bracket. It works great indoors, but in the open outdoors it

doesn't work well at all because the infrared doesn't have a direct line nor anything to bounce

off of.

The "Packages" page doesn't show up correctly for me on Safari & OSX. It starts okay but

then shifts way over to the left and outside the border of the frame. Overall, a little slow

navigating, but not terribly slow.

First, are you legally able to work in the U.S. ?

<p>

It would be much easier to find any job if you were actually already in the area where you want to work (which I don't think you mentioned).<p>

Photo.net is not the best place to be looking.

We are human before we are photographers or business owners.<p>

Whatever images and work you already have, absolutely give them to the family for free along with flowers and a nice card. <p>

Depending on the circumstances and your personal connection with the clients, I would suggest you would consider offering to do more. I know I would, but it depends on your specific situation. I'm surprised you held onto the proofs since 2004. I can't believe that you'd want to "negotiate" with them.

There's a cool post on <a href="http://thebschool.typepad.com/b/2006/12/

dealing_with_un.html" target="blank"> Becker's B-School blog</a> about Uncle Bob's with

big cameras. <p>

He's got this photo up there that's pretty funny. Most people would probably guess wrong

about who is the main photographer in <a href="http://thebschool.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/img9115.jpg">this photo...</a>

To me, it seems like there is a point where you have to be accomodating to a client (or

potential client) in some rare special cases. Not something you do regularly, but if someone

really liked my work, wanted to meet, but just couldn't travel for some reason, maybe I would

make a little trip. But definitely not a 4 hour drive. There's a point where the photographer

just starts looking desparate. You don't want that.

Elizabeth,<p>

You're correct that having Photoshop or not doesn't necessarily mean you are a "pro" or not. BUT...every professional photographer I know has it (LEGALLY) and uses it constantly. It's THE standard for professional work. Period. That said, I'm using Lightroom pretty heavily these days. But I still use Photoshop every single day.<p>

If you can't afford the full brand new Photoshop CS3, then you really should consider purchasing (legally), Photoshop Elements.... OR ... better than that (now that I think about it), you can probably find an older version of Photoshop CS2, CS, or 7 that would probably be better than Elements.<p>

In any case, the sooner you start using and learning Photoshop the better off you will be. Eventually, you WILL need it (if you continue to be a photographer that is).<p>

If you don't have the money for any of those options, then you what are you doing for your other requirements... equipment, lab fees, marketing materials, insurance, etc... A serious business venture requires some serious expenses. I wouldn't recommend going into debt, but you do need to consider that you need to make INVESTMENTS into your business if you want to be successful.

What Karen and Anne said.<p>

A basic understanding of <a href="http://www.copyright.gov" target="blank">copyright law</a> and licencing usage right is just basic to any type of professional photography.

"Hopefully my last question...where is a good place to go to compare all these products and

hopefully talk to a knowledgeable sales person? Is there such a place?"<p>

Download the trial versions and try them out yourself with your own images on your own

computer. That will be the best test. Software will run differently on different machines and

by trying it yourself using your own images, you'll get a true feel for whether or not you are

comfortable with the application or not. If there is no trial version available, I usually don't

bother with the software. Almost all good apps have trial versions. And sales people are

usually not in tune with photographer's needs.

Commercial software is usually licenced to a single user. If that copy is being used by him

or anyone else in addition to you, then you'd be breaking the copyright/terms of use set

forth by the manufacturer.... so yeah, it'd be NOT legal. <p>

Just research carefully and buy whatever software you need. Usually there is a trial version

that you can download to check it out first. Also, when you purchase a legal copy, usually

when the software is updated (all too often these days), the company gives you a

significant discount to get an upgraded copy. This is true with most Adobe products.

<p>

From what I've read, I'd highly recommend you check into Lightroom and Photoshop

Elements. If you continue with all this, you'll probably eventually grow into the full blown

version of Photoshop, but Elements should be more than enough for you right now and

won't be as overwhelming in cost or learning curve. Lightroom is easier to grasp and will

allow you both "editing" and "processing"..... a LOT of people are using it and loving it.

I just read this...<p>

" I actually can get photoshop for macs for free from a friend who I do work for"<p>

Elizabeth, I'm not sure what the story is behind how you'd get a free copy of Photoshop, but

I'd recommend that you do NOT use illegally acquired software. Yeah, I'm sure there are

people out there doing it, but I would say they are mostly hobbiests. If you are someone who

is serious about your business, then you need to just suck up the cost and purchase a legal

copy of your own. It's a tax write off

anyway. Of course, if it's some legit deal then ignore what I just wrote here.

I would recommend looking for a good freelance graphic designer who has worked with

photographers before. There are plenty to be found and likely some may be local to you

(depending on where you are). Someone good, who you can work one-on-one with will

probably give you better service and more personal attention, listening to your feedback and

input.

Elizabeth,<p>

Traditionally, "editing" has referred to the process of culling images... going through all

the images from a shoot and picking the good and throwing away the bad. The term

"processing" (I think) is more appropriate for what (I think) you are looking for... adjusting

contrast/color, dodging/burning, cropping, etc..<p>

For "editing", I would recommend looking at Photomechanic, iView Media Pro,

Lightroom.<p>

For "processing, I would recommend looking at Lightroom and Photoshop<p>

I think for almost anyone really serious about digital imaging, Photoshop is pretty much a

requirement, but that may be arguable by some.<p>

Personally, I use Photomechanic, Lightroom and Photoshop CS3.

I think everyone is different. I've been asking couples what they want. Some will only want a

few sets with parents and bridal party (those are great). Others will have a huge list and if so,

I will ask them to write it out and have someone to help out getting people together. I don't

think there is a "standard" list since every wedding is a bit different. Shot lists like this

harken back to the day of boring, cheesy, traditional, old-school wedding photography.

You don't necessarily need to "RUN"... Part of being a good business person is

communicating with your clients, listening and learning their perspective, and selling them

on your services on your terms (within reason). Talk with them and at least learn "why"

they don't agree with your terms. Maybe they just don't understand the meaning behind

them (without seeing your contract, I can't comment on the wording). <p>

Most people booking wedding photographers have never hired any type of professional

photographer and are unfamiliar with the process. Part of your discussions with them

should be to go over some of these standard terms and explain it to them in layman's

speak. When they hear it explained in a comfortable context, it's usually much more

agreeable than if they just read the fine print on their own without you there to

explain.<p>

So if after you do what I just mentioned, if they still disagree or want to change things in a

way that you don't agree with then just politely say "those are my terms... I'm sorry if you

don't agree with them... I wish you luck in finding another photographer."