Backyard Shooting
You don’t always have to travel far to get some nice photos. I shot these photos one January evening after my Grandma and I noticed how thick and gorgeous the fog was that night. Not really planning to shoot, I walked steps from my back porch and snapped these photos. You can even see my apartment building in the background. See more photos from that night on flickr, http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesliesgallery For now, leslie
Beaver Creek, CO: How’d the Mountain treat you Today?
Wow, what a place… from the aspen trees to the mountain vistas, Beaver Creek will take your breath away (not just from the change in altitude). There are endless things to do in Beaver Creek – snowboarding, skiing, hiking, snowmobiling, tubing… and the area is not just great for winter but in the summer too – you can hike, fish, rent an ATV, shop or just hang out at one of the many amazing resorts. My boyfriend and I had a blast this past week in Beaver Creek. And I must say, the people are so friendly! I felt like everyone was my friend. A place I definitely want to go back to. for now, les
What I’ve learned in Business… so far
Some of this may seem obvious but I feel maybe we all slip up or get lazy with our business practices. These are just a few things that I have learned in business.
Phone Calls
When someone calls you call them back, do not email them back, do not text them back, CALL them back. Only when you are absolutely unable to call them back may it be acceptable to email them. If you get too busy to make phone calls then get an assistant, at this point you could probably afford one. I am not at that point yet so if you’re calling “Leslie’s Gallery” or “Photography by Leslie Clements” you will get Leslie. The only time I was not able to call a client back was when I actually lost my voice from being sick.
When you call someone, call them standing up and smiling. Sounds silly but when you are standing you are more aware and on your toes (in more ways than one) to answer any questions thrown at you. When you are smiling (regardless of whether you are really happy or not) your voice will come across in a happy, friendlier tone. People like to talk to a friendly sounding person versus the possible reality of maybe I had been editing photos, sleep deprived, and slumped in front of my computer for the past 8 hours.
Last tip for calls (and for talking to people face to face as well)… say the person’s name at least twice in conversation. I will admit I do not do this enough but it does make the conversation feel more personal. That person is then more likely to listen to you and later remember what you said.
Social Networking
I have yet to figure this all out as I am new to social networking for my photography business. All I know is what I find to be tasteless and annoying to me when entering the social networking world.
Do not bribe people to follow you… “if you are the 100th person to like my page you get a free 2hr. photo-shoot”. If people like you or your work (hopefully both) they will “like” you or “follow” you on their own. Wouldn’t you rather have 100 true fans versus 200 resentful people who were just looking to get something for free? It goes along the same line as – would you rather have 5 best friends or 30 acquaintances?
Do not use social networking to tell people about giveaways, deals, discounts, or coupons. I don’t give coupons for my services or have special one time deals (see below on pricing) as I think your time is worth what your price is set at and never any less. Your products should always be the lowest price you can sell them for on an everyday basis. While this may work for some businesses to push people into buying, I think it’s down right tacky… especially on social networking sites. Leave the deals for Walmart.
People are on social networking sites to “socially network” and to share what they are up to in their lives. In business you can share your inspirations, your process, your work, updates and accomplishments, and advice on your specialty. Be positive with your writing and give compliments. Give thanks to those who give you compliments. Never write anything negative about a person or their work. It’s okay to show your personality, people like real people not dry businesses.
Lastly, never post a client’s photos to any social networking site without their written consent (this ideally is with a model contract, I use the Getty Images model release). Remember, posting to the internet is considered publishing.
Pricing
Configure your pricing ahead of time, stay firm on your pricing, never doubt your pricing, and do not crack to sympathy. I get a lot of clients who tell me their whole life story about why they are strapped for cash. This business is not a barter. Figure out what you are worth and stick to it. If you’re going through hard times, yes I get it, we all do… but photography is an extra, an add-on, as much I want to think it’s an absolute necessary service, lets face it, hiring a photographer is a luxury. During the recession it was understandably a service people cut back on. Instead of losing the business all together, I will work with someone on what they can afford. I give them what they can pay for at the prices I have set – this typically means cutting back on photo editing hours, if someone can only pay for 4 hours worth of editing, that is exactly what they get, without me having to adjust my price.
Most importantly, be completely transparent and honest not only with prices but with everything you do in business. People will respect that I promise.
Get a Life
Don’t spend your entire day and week working. If you shoot a wedding on Friday and Saturday then take Sunday and Monday off. After editing photos for 4 hours take the dog for a walk or grab lunch with a friend. People want to do business with happy, healthy people not stressed out, sleep deprived, workaholics. If you can’t handle all the work that comes your way then outsource. If you take the time to balance work and play, your clients, friends and family will thank you for it.
In conclusion, you are your business, in everything you do. Whether it is your personal Facebook page or in person, always reflect how you want not only yourself but your business to be portrayed.
Inspiration
Refugees in the Korem camp Ethiopia 1984 by Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Salgado - Sebastião Salgado Books
Melissa Farlow & Randy Olson – olsonfarlow.com
Richard I’Anson – richardianson.com
Ingetje Tadros – ingetjetadros.com
Eric Lafforgue – ericlafforgue.com
Terry Vine – terryvine.com/blog
Ian Shive – ianshive.wordpress.com
The contributing photographers for National Geographic / The Photo Society – thephotosociety.org/members
Condé Nast Traveler – cntraveler.com
National Geographic Traveler – travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/traveler-magazine
Travel + Leisure - www.travelandleisure.com
500px Editors’ Choice – http://500px.com/editors
2012 Looking Forward
In my last post I cleansed my palate of photos from last year so that I can start anew in 2012. Looking forward, I have listed the 5 GOALS I have for this new year. Hopefully by having this in writing I must prove to do them.
1. SHOOT Shoot more often! I even made myself shoot for this blog post. The resulting photos are nothing brilliant but at least I could add them to my stock library. By shooting more frequently I can learn the ins and outs of my equipment and develop new techniques.
2. LEARN Take a Workshop. Take a class. Have conversations with other photographers. There is always more to learn.
3. OUTSOURCE I’m a photographer first and spend too much of my time doing everything else. I need to learn how to outsource effectively in order to grow my business bigger and in the direction I want. I need to focus more on shooting. I already donated all my printers to Goodwill and now the lab prints all my photos. This first step was a huge weight taken off my shoulders. I finally learned that printing is an art in itself and I never quite mastered it. Next step is to outsource digital photo-editing or cut it back drastically from my work-flow. This is the year of “No Fixing!”. I need to stress photographing everything beautiful straight out of camera, no exceptions. Lastly but most importantly, I want to sign with a photo rep. If a photo rep took care of the bulk of my marketing efforts I would be golden… lets face it, self-promotion is my biggest weakness.
4. FOCUS I need to focus my vision and my portfolio. When people find out that I am a photographer they understandably ask “what do you photograph?” This has been a hard question to answer in a few sentences, so I had a tendency to nervously laugh then say “everything!” But this is a horrible answer! And now I am going to try to answer this question for my own sanity.
At this point I seem to have two different portfolios and almost look like I am two different photographers. I have my editorial, lifestyle, travel photography… whatever you want to call it… I call it my passion. Not only do I wish to photograph for Conde Nast Traveler and National Geographic Traveler one day but this is also an outlet for me to document my favorite things in life – a good hike with my dog, sunshine by the pool, a lay in a hammock, my friends surfing, kayaking, or reading in bed. But then I also photograph weddings, fashion, corporate portraiture, bands, artists and houses, that’s right houses. What’s that all about? Well first and foremost I will admit this is what pays my bills. I started this business about one and a half years ago in order to shoot frequently regardless of the subject matter. And while I build on my editorial and travel portfolio and refine that vision I am still making some money photographing. In a sense I am a photo junkie and just look to always be shooting. While I approach each photo-shoot differently – I would never shoot someones wedding photos the same as I photograph foreign cultures – there’s always something to be learned from each shoot to the next. Both portfolios keep my creative mind constantly thinking.
5. SHARE Share more work, share whats learned, share inspiration, share struggles… I have set up this WordPress blog, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn and now Twitter, I just need to use them and use them effectively and efficiently. I am not one to share every breath I take every second of the day and I’m sure people don’t really care that my dog snores or that good guacamole makes me happy. My goal is to share good meaty photography related content. Actual sharing goals: 1 blog post a week, 1 tweet a day, 2 Facebook posts a week, enter 1 photo contest a month, add at least 25 images to Flickr a week, and take part in commenting on other people’s posts and photos. Lindsay Adler at WPPI helped me to understand the importance of social networking, so I thank her for the awakening that these websites can be used in an intelligent, informative and beneficial way. One hour a day, no more and no less, will be devoted to social networking.
With these 5 goals carried out I should have another successful year. I welcome feedback and I hope that you continue to follow my growth as a photographer. For now… Leslie
