my-portfolio

<p>Have you contacted any other agencies?</p>

<p>I would really not recommend messing about with tax forms and trying to get your payment reclassified as a "'gift" to try and get the IRS breathing down your photographer's back. I'm not a tax attorney, but that kind of tactic could interfere with any case you have against him and it could cause the IRS to come and take a look at you as well.</p>

<p>I've done a couple of shoots for a studio, but I really missed out on working with the couple ahead of time and getting to know them and then hearing from them afterward about how much they loved the photos.</p>

<p>How are you trying to pull in business and how are you setting expectations for pricing? I feel like that could be a reason, you're getting people looking for pictures on the cheap but they're finding someone who doesn't undervalue what they do.</p>

<p>You should consult with an attorney before going ahead with anything that has legal ramifications, however as far as I'm aware it is possible to get site releases for venues (just look on the back of event tickets at all the fine print).</p>

<p>Seconded, it really sounds like a race to teh bottom less concerned with quality than price.</p>

<p>The other problem is that the relationship is really built with the site rather than the bride and groom, which can make it tougher to build up future business (referrals, family photos).</p>

<p>The recovery portion really won't help you if your hard drive crashes, you might want to consider some external drives and an offsite backup solution to protect your files and your computer.</p>

<p>Honestly though, if you're looking for everyone to be "nice" and give you a hug when you ask for feedback then you should go teach little kids.<br>

Jeremy and Will were not saying that to be rude, they were saying it because in their experience that lack of polish can submarine your efforts before someone even takes a look at your photos. It's better that someone tell you that it's a potential hazard now, rather than letting you sit and wonder why you're not hearing back from anyone.<br>

As to your question, it really depends on what you want to do with your life. Commercial photography seems like a better bet for making money and no one ever said that it couldn't be fine art (though it often isn't in execution). Either way it's going to be tough but in the end you get to follow your passion and that will make it all worth it.</p>

<p>First you should figure out what exactly you're trying to sell and to whom you're trying to sell it. Also you may want to consider getting your own domain name, since it tends to appear a little more serious, a little more professional (and easier to remember).</p>

<p>It depends on your business model, your package prices and your expenses.</p>

<p>Go out and network with other vendors.</p>

<p>Lesson learned about the value of your time I suppose and keeping track of your contracts.</p>

<p>I'd ask if the aunt can supply you with samples from the photographer or a link to his Web site, it shows that you thought about your aunt's offer and lets her feel involved in her nephew's future. If you like them more that's great, but if you still like the photographer you've already picked out just tell her that your guy is more your style and you've already built a good rapport with him.</p>

<p>There are any number of books that talk about how to use flashguns as well as Web sites for flash photography. I would check out Neil Van Neikerk's work and the <a href="http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/">Strobist</a> for starters though the latter focuses on Nikon systems.</p>

<p>Do you shoot film?</p>

<p>Well, I work mostly in New England and am at a price point where it's not really worth it for me to go out and meet with every client. Generally I use the phone and e-mail unless they're somewhere between Providence and Boston. It works all right, but I'm new so I don't have much to compare it to.<br>

Generally if I have to travel far I try to schedule things in blocks, but my volume is rather low at the moment so it's tough.</p>

<p>I suppose it depends on where your facebook ad is landing, I had it go over to my fan page and all that did was get people who like to be fans of things and didn't seem to create any conversions. It depends on your market and your settings.</p>

<p>Hiring some assistants, I'm free.</p>

<p>Dumb question, but since you ordered the prints from the lab did you check with them?</p>

<p>You really shouldn't be too worried about what other people are charging, you should be concerned about offering a price that's sustainable for you. As I've learned in the past few months, after having just started myself, most people undervalue their own work as photographers or are just doing this on the weekends for some extra cash (so they're not thinking about the real cost of a shoot). So talk to your accountant and do the math for yourself and let your work and personality sell your product rather than price.<br>

As far as fulfilling orders, I have a lot less to say about that since I based my original business model around getting the money up front rather than relying on print sales. The easiest thing to do might be to use something like Zenfolio (with the 14 day free trial) to show your clients the proof gallery and then just have them e-mail you their order and you can process that yourself at a lab of your choice.<br>

I do like to have more lead time than a month for an event, but for you the important thing is to find out your costs and communicate that to your client and educate them so when they go to get their photos after the wedding they aren't bowled over by some large number.</p>

<p>I know I'm very late to this party, but Annie as a large guy (a bit younger, but I have a bear-like physique that usually tells people that I'm not a little kid) I've been asked by plenty of people to take their camera and just get a quick snap though usually when the owner is part of a big group shot. It's annoying but as long as you're not forced to do that with everyone's camera it's something you just grin and bear (after all they're giving you their camera because they think you'll get a good photo).</p>

<p>I would't antagonize the second shooter overly much, unless you have a better idea of the relationship between him and the main photographer (it might very well have been the first time he worked with the guy, coming in with a pro to get some experience). If the main has flown the coops the second might be a way to salvage at least some images, as others have said.</p>

<p>So you figure that it's about 7 (6 day of and one at rehersal) hours or so of shooting, and then another seven hours of editing (give or take) and then maybe another 3 hours for administrative stuff. So about 17 hours of work total (really guessing here).<br>

What's your overhead like for your Web site, your gear and all of that?</p>

<p>As an addendum on your "Life" page, when you use a lot of underlines, italics, bold italics, and bold underlined italics, it really draws away from the image of professionalism. You might consider restricting the types of font you use for emphasis (if you absolutely must highlight certain words and phrases) to just one.</p>

<p>I think that overall it has a good feel to it. I struggled to find a way to mute or turn off the music (regardless of how I feel about music on Web sites some people do like it) which was a bit of a turn off since I spent a lot of time hunting for that, time that could have been spent looking at your photos.<br>

You should change the title of your pricing page, investments sounds like you want people to add you to their stock portfolios not their mantlepieces.<br>

Also when going to your blog it takes everyone out of the experience of your Web site. If you could host it from your own domain or at the very least make it more consistent with the site, that would be great.</p>