5 Financial Steps to Launching a Photo Career—and Avoiding Pitfalls
Starting a career in photography can be tough! From setting pricing to finding a space and paying for expensive equipment there are so many things that can go wrong! Check out this article from Photo District News, they asked professional photographers about what they did when they started out and how they grew into successful photographers.
The times they are a changing….
Prints vs discs vs USB/flash/thumb drives?? The many ways to share photos keeps increasing! Back in the day, the only way to get photos was to order prints from your professional photographer. But with technology moving rapidly it’s hard to keep up. I love this marketing piece from Yanman Photography.
It really proves how much technology can change, not just from decade to decade but from year to year. One of the best sellers at Neil Enterprises is the cd/dvd folios. But as technology advances we must too. New slim laptops do not come with disc drives anymore. Same with televisions, at one time they had built in DVD players but that’s not the case anymore. What these new devices do have is usb ports for flash drives. So Neil Enterprises is preparing for the days ahead and now offering flash drive boxes. You can check them out here: http://www.neilenterprises.com/flashdriveboxes.aspx Are you thinking about making the switch? Or are you one of those few photographers that still doesn’t offer digital files? (And there’s nothing wrong with that.)
Holiday Gift Ideas!
Looking to incorporate photos into your presents? It’s a great way to give it that extra special touch!
Checkout Photojojo’s post on DIY Photo Gift Tags. They truly make your packages look unique!
How to Make Personalized Photo Gift Tags
And if you’re not the artsy type, Neil Enterprises has a cute photo tag that can be used for gift giving and then turned into a luggage tag. 2 gifts in 1! Check out the Bag Tag Here.
Remind your customers to PRINT PHOTOS!
This article was originally posted on October 30, 2012 by PMA Newsline’s Paul Worthington. Click here to see the original post.
InfoTrends studies end-user photo printing habits
Connected devices such as smartphones and tablets will play a very important role in the development of the photo print market over the next few years through apps and simplified ordering processes, research firm InfoTrends says — and “consumers still need to understand the value of print to stay in the habit of printing photos, with whatever device photos are taken with.”
InfoTrends’ most recent survey research shows “most consumers are still printing photos.” Nearly 73 percent of participants say that they print photos at least occasionally.
The real change is happening in the devices used to take photos, the company says, as 45 percent of survey respondents say they own a smartphone, which is up from 31 percent in 2011. 30 percent of smartphone owners use the phone most often to take photos, which is up from just 17 percent in 2011. The percent of respondents that own a tablet is also up considerably, from just 6 percent of respondents in 2011 to over 17 percent in 2012.
InfoTrends says it is “encouraging” that more than 20 percent of respondents say they are not printing photos now — but plan to in the future.
InfoTrends recommends retailers and vendors educate consumers on the archival benefits of printing photos as well as promoting redundancy for safeguarding photos. “More consumers need to be made aware of the importance of photo printing, and stakeholders in the photo market need to work together to make sure it is easy to order prints from connected devices, such as smartphones, tablets, or connected cameras” the firm says. Also, vendors must focus on the development of more intuitive photo printing apps to facilitate printing from mobile devices.
InfoTrends’ 2012 U.S. Photo Printing End-User Survey is available here.
How to Photograph a Ghost
HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Can you believe it’s almost November?? In honor of this fun holiday check out this fun activity from on of our favorite photo blogs, Photojojo. Click here to see the original post.
How to Photograph a Ghost — A Spooky Photographic Trick (That’s Quite a Treat)!
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This tutorial is not for the faint of heart.
We’re about to tell you how to photograph a ghost and it’s going to be terrifying(ly simple).
In just three little steps you can have a photo of a real live ghost that looks a lot like one of your real live friends.
A photo so spooky it’ll send you running for mommy (to get her to pose for more ghosty photos).
But wait, sneak over to our archives for more ghastly photo misadventures like our Halloween Photo Tips, How to Carve Photo Pumpkins AAAAND through Oct 31st, Free Secret Squirt gun Cameras w/ every PJ Store order!
Photograph Ghosts in 3 Steps
(This idea came from reader Julliette)
p.s. Thx again to ScanCafe for sponsoring Photojojo this week. Thought about having your old prints digitized? They’ll do 20 scans, free.
Step One: Take your best shot (and then take it again)!
This is the big secret right here.
Don’t tell anyone, but you’re going to need to take two photos of almost the exact same thing.
You need one photo of your friend (soon to be ghost) and a photo of the exact same thing, minus the friend.
The easiest way to achieve this is to put your camera on some kind of tripod, or set it on a table, or on the ground. Anywhere stable really (i.e. not your hot little hands).
Now that your camera is stable, take a photo. Done.
Make sure everything in the shot stays consistent. No cars driving by in the background, no wind blowing the trees every which way, no gophers poking’ their darling little heads up out of the ground…
Now, put your buddy in front of the lens and take a second shot.
Step Two: Layering (easy as cake)
So, once you’ve got the two photos into your compy, it’s time to layer away.
You want to get the photo with your friend layered on top of the photo that is friend-free.
You can use Photoshop or Gimp or any program that lets you work with layers.
The process is pretty simple: Open photo number one (no friend). Open photo two (hello friend!). Select-all of photo two and copy. Now click back on over to photo one and paste.
Shazam. Magic. A new layer is born.
Step Three: Hold on to your hat
It’s about to get spooky. Just adjust the opacity of the top layer to somewhere around the 50% mark.
In Photoshop and Gimp, the opacity slider is right on the layers palette. (You can see it up there in the photo for step two).
Everything that is in both layers will look just the same. Your friend will fade… What you’re left with is one friendly ghost!
Pretty Little Packaging
Are you bored with your packaging? Think it may be a little stale and time to try something new?
We’re big fans of Laura Winslow Photography. Her whimsical and super colorful branding always put us in a happy mood! She often blogs about new packaging ideas.
Click here to view some of her awesome packaging ideas, perfect to incorporate into your holiday sessions! Or view her Pinterest Board here.
Let your voice be heard!
Neil Enterprises recently ran a promotion…
And the feedback we received was fabulous! Even though you will no longer get a discount, we still encourage you to TALK TO US! You can submit a review, e-mail customer service, leave us a note via social media or even do the old fashion thing and pick up the phone! If you’re unhappy with your products, thrilled by customer service, or just want to say hello, we’d love to hear from you!
Product Spotlight: The SnapLab Printer
The SnapLab Printer
SnapLab features:
- NO computer necessary
- 8″ Touch Screen
- NO messy ink
- FAST prints come out dry, coated and trimmed to size
- Accepts most media cards
- Crop, color-correct, eliminate red eye
- Convert Images to B&W and Sepia
- Refill 4×6 paper & ribbon once every 200 prints
- Lightweight and portable
Click here to purchase the SnapLab Printer from Neil Enterprises. Are you worried about making the investment in a SnapLab Printer? Call Martin, the SnapLab Expert at Neil Enterprises (1-800-621-5584). He’ll help you figure out if it’s the right decision for you. Martin also can put together a custom package that includes photo keychains and mounts at a discount!
Halloween — Don’t let it go unnoticed!
Halloween is about a month away! Many photographers completely overlook this holiday. It is considered a holiday, right? Whether you’re a candy corn lover or not, Halloween is one of the most photographed days of the year. Parents and children alike break out the silly costumes on this day. Capturing these memories is something you don’t want to miss out on.
Ways to cash in on Halloween:
- See if there are any special events nearby (usually hosted by schools or park districts) that need a freelance photographer
- Hold mini sessions where parents can bring their kids in costume
- Contact local costume stores to see if they’re looking to update their ads with new photography
- Go cheesy and offer “spooktacular” savings for a limited time on future sessions
OR…
Since the crazy busy holiday season will be here before you know it, take this opportunity to RELAX, get one of those pumpkin flavor somethings that are currently being offered!
The Most Common Portrait Sales Mistake That Almost All Photographers Make
This article is from Jamie M Swanson AKA “The Modern Tog”. Click here to see the original post on The Modern Tog Blog.
When I was first starting out in photography, I had no idea what I was doing.
I think I charged something insanely low like $50 for a session plus a disc of all the digital negatives. I put the images in an online gallery, but I didn’t really sell many prints. I got lots of compliments about how people loved that they got the disc and could do what they wanted with it.
I told myself this was simply a case of meeting my clients’ needs and giving them what they wanted, so it was a good business practice.
The problem was, my ideal clients, the ones who valued photography and really wanted to preserve their memories didn’t just want the disc. They wanted someone to walk them through the photos, help them decide which ones would look best on their walls, and suggest products that would truly help them preserve this time in their lives as best as possible. I just didn’t believe that.
Not only that, but sometimes life gets busy and sometimes people simply don’t do what they intend to do. Eventually I stopped just giving the disc away and started charging for it to help encourage print sales, but then I’d get clients who raved about their image but never actually bought anything. Life just got busy and they never got to it.
That made me a Sad Panda. See?
I wanted to keep this from happening in the future and find a better way to make sure that clients placed their orders. I had heard that projection sales were the way to go, but I didn’t have a studio so that didn’t seem practical.
I made excuses. I even believed them.
Honestly, I was afraid to do in-person sales. I didn’t want people to feel pressured. I didn’t want to offend them or annoy them.
I was even afraid they’d hate the photos and I’d have to sit there with them in person and feel their disappointment the first time they looked through them.
There were SO many things that kept me from wanting to do them. They were inconvenient, and I’d have to drive to their homes or meet in a coffee shop and find a way to go through everything without the luxury of a studio.
Not doing in-person portrait sales is a HUGE mistake, and almost every newer portrait photographer makes it. Including me. So here’s what moved me to start doing in-person sales and what you can learn from my mistakes.
The first in-person portrait sale
Eventually, I realized that I was putting far too much time into portrait sessions to be making only a few hundred dollars and that I needed to increase my average significantly in order to turn a profit.
I raised my prices, mostly to prints, and thought I’d give in-person portrait sales a go. I didn’t have much hope in it, since I live in a small, blue-collar town where average salaries are low. But I talked to other photographers, and they assured me that it was going to be awesome.
And it was.
My first in-person sale was triple what my average sale was in the past.
My next one was even better.
And it blew my mind.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AND GET SOME AWESOME ADVICE FROM JAMIE!
