kristyberends

<p>This issue isnt clear to me, still. I read through the Michigan law on taxing services and photographers were not mentioned at all (about 40 other professions are specifically named as taxable). Plus I pay sales tax to my print shop for the 'tangible good' that I turn around and hand to my clients. I then have to pay sales tax on that again? That seems wrong...the markup that I make is for my service, not the tangible good. Not to mention I paid tax on my camera, lenses, my computer, my hard drives, etc... I am going to call Lansing on this and ask them to point me to the exact code and give me exact direction before I apply for my sales tax license. I'm sure I will end up paying, but as you can see, I am frusterated because I work my tail off to build a business, eek out a profit, and a bunch of it goes to the government to waste on their inefficient programs. I guess politicians have had 235 years to think of ways to tax me, so its no surprise that everything I do gets taxed. Thomas Jefferson is turning over in his grave, haha.</p>

<p>Yes! A meal is a necessity- shooting a wedding is about a 12 hour day for me and I get hungry. I only had one wedding where a meal was not offered and I needed to leave for fast food or pass out - I can't go 12 hours without food while working like mad! Also, it is nice to have a seat in the reception room where I can store my bags under the chair while I am working throughout the party.</p>

<p>Ok, thanks everyone for the great tips! Right now I have a little Access database that is keeping most of my records, but its definitely time to upgrade!</p>

<p>Hey all,<br>

I'm wondering if anyone here on photo.net with a successful photography business has software that you use to track all your clients, events, payments, etc...? I am looking for a program that would be fairly easy to use that would help me with accounting and sales, especially when tax time comes around.</p>

<p>Thanks for any input!<br>

Kristy Berends Photography</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I mostly want it for storage and a central place to house most of my gear. I won't be lugging it 2 miles into the woods or anything.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the tips, you guys are great! I have been researching all day, and I torn between the Lowepro and Dompke. Although if the Dompke bags shed dust, that might tip the scales the other way.</p>

<p>The lowepro magnum does look like a good option. I need to find the internal dimensions and see if will hold a canon 70-200.</p>

<p>Thanks for the good tips. I thought about a backpack, but I think I would rather just have a large soft satchel type bag. Ideally it would act as a 'headquarters' of sorts. When I am home I can leave the bag on my table and it can house my equipment. When I am ready to go do a wedding, I can zip it, load it into my car, and then unload it when I get to the site. Then I can strap on my dual harness and use a very small shoulder bag for my flashes, lenses, and memory cards. At the end of the shoot, or when I leave to go to the reception, I can load up HQ and travel safely. I just dropped my 5dmk2 on the cement with my 16-36mm f/2.8 lens. Luckily everything was ok, but I need a decent bag that is usable! Right now I have 3 bags, which is about as good as having zero because they don't hold much and its too much effort to keep everything organized.</p>

<p>I will check out Lowepro for sure, though!</p>

<p>Anyone have a recommendation on a good bag that will hold 2 bodies (perhaps with a smaller lens still attached), 3 lenses total, 2 flashes, and small stuff like batteries and memory cards. Preferably soft case, not hard shell. It seems like they are all just a little too small, not that I want something huge. Maybe duffel bag size? Am I dreaming, or does such a thing exist?</p>

<p>Thats a good reason in my book! Plus, GR and London have roughly the same climate.</p>

<p>Hi everyone! So excited to be a part of this forum! I have recently decided to take my business to the next level and I just know being a part of the coolest photography forum on the web will help me stay in touch. Feel free to check out my site (below hyperlink) and offer any feedback. PS, how do I name a hyperlink something other than 'hyperlink'? Thanks! <br /> <a href="http://www.kristyberendsphotography.com">hyperlink</a></p>

<p>Forgot to mention, you can offer a discount if one student brings a friend. Give them both 20% off, you still make 60% more money compared to doing one shoot, and it may only extend your time a marginal amount. In other words, you could get $150 for 1 student for 1 hour, or get $250 total for two students and only spent an hour and 20 minutes, if you get my reasoning.</p>

<p>You can take out ads in most high school year books. I think its around $100 for a half page, depending on the school.</p>

<p>I've done about 50 weddings over the last 3 years, and no brides were interested. </p>

<p>If I spend in hour with a family in an outdoor setting and try to get some of dad with son, mom with daughter, son alone, daughter alone, family together several times, some 'candids', etc... I usually end up with 30 or so proofs. Maybe more if the shoot went long or there were too many to chose from. I have heard that you want about 1 great image for every 2 minutes you spend with a client (so an 8 hour wedding equates to around 240 images, which is where I usually end up). </p>

<p>I dont think it matters a ton if you keep your sitting fees low and mark up your prints, or just package it all together, as long as you are covering your costs and making a nice hourly wage on top of it. I sat down with my business minded husband and went through all my equipment, how much it costs, how long it lasts, how much I drive on average to get to a client, how much time I spend in the car, with the client, and how much I spend on gas even. Add in software, marketing costs, prints, etc..., and I came out with a nice template for creating custom prices, covering my costs, and paying myself around $30-$40/hr (depending on how hard the client pushes on price) for every minute I working on photography, whether editing, driving, or shooting. I recommend really understanding your costs and your time and making sure you cover your all your bases. This is nice to have when someone wants a customized package. For instance, I had a client ask for a trimmed back wedding package with only about 5 hours of coverage and cd with release. I could easily determine what that would cost. You should balance all this with your personal style of selling and what has worked with your clients in the past.</p>

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<p>This girl is 5'5 and her (now) hubby is 6'8 or so. She rocked it with these beauties!</p>

<p><img src="http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv284/kristyberends/Kyle%20and%20Alyssa/IMG_7974a.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Maybe this is obvious to most people, but probably not everyone. The biggest effect going on here is the use of a wide angles lens. There is definitely some post processing as well, but if you have never seen a wide angle used in portraiture, its very cool. Maybe I am missing the exact nature of the question, but that is what jumps out at me. Here is a post from my site where you can see both wide angle t 16mm and my normal work with a 50mm (5d mk2 - full frame camera)--www.kristyberendsphotography.com/2010/09/alyssa-and-kyle-wedding-grand-rapids</p>

<p>The canon 16-35mm is the best $1,600 I ever spent! What is the corp factor on the mark3? I use the 16-35 on my 5dmk2.</p><div></div>