A new macro lens, a new mini adventure!

May 12, 2013

Ok, so this post isn’t about the business of photography, but it’s about my new Canon 100mm f/2.8 lens which arrived this week. I’ve coveted this lens for YEARS, and found the money by selling a piece of jewellery that I no longer wore. I acquired a Zeiss lens this way a few ago – in this household, we call it “re-purposing assets”.  So really, the lens kinda came from bonus bucks. And as I’m married to another photographer (who shoots with Canon gear), the purchase of new gear for the communal kit bag never really requires much negotiation.

As well as terrorising my kitten all week with close up shots, I’ve played with water drops and leaves out in the backyard. I also have a collection of lego minifigs which find their way into all manner of mischef (and my photography).

When we were out for lunch today, I came across these little figurines. They apparently come from a cartoon series which I’ve never seen, but they looked like a bunch of interesting critters….endless macro fodder! I set up the light tent and had a bit of a play – at one point the kitten wandered into the light tent to see what all the flashing was about. Screwy cat!

The one business parallel I can draw from these little dudes, is that you constantly have to find a way to differentiate yourself – to stand out from the crowd. These little characters demand attention because they are quirky and different (they did with me, anyway!). They’re also a bit out there. Perhaps think about what you do that is different from every other photographer. Is it your photographic style? The way you process images? Your pre- and post-shoot service? Is it your marketing? It all ties in with my previous posts about articulating what you can offer to your potential clients.

Meanwhile, I invite your thoughts as to what each setof characters is saying to each other below 🙂

When your photos go viral

May 11, 2013

Photographer Ben Roberts recently wrote an excellent article for PetaPixel, about his thoughts on having photographs go viral.

Ben describes how his series of photographs, Amazon Unpacked, which were commissioned by the Financial Times Weekend Magazine to accompany an article published in February, have since gone viral on other news sites, blogs, Facebook pages and Tumblr sites.

It’s an interesting dilemma for photographers. Social media makes it easier than ever to promote and share your work, and it’s a great medium via which to build awareness of your business – but it can be so easy to lose complete control over where the images end up.

Despite acknowledging that the whole scenario has provided more exposure for Ben than he could have otherwise imagined, his main gripe about his photos going viral is that not one of the news outlets or sites that republished his images contacted him to seek permission – and many of the blogs published 8-12 of the 13 photos, giving the reader no incentive to seek out the original article.

The article goes on to discuss the big issue of “fair use” vs “theft”, and the comments which follow provide a great read – although confusion still seems to reign about the copyright and intellectual property laws that are applicable to cases like this.

I remember a case a couple of years ago, when Adele Enersen shut down her hugely successful blog, Mila’s Daydreams, because she was justifiably outraged that the gorgeous photos of her daughter were being used without permission all over the place. I believe she even identified examples of where the images were being used in advertising campaigns. The Mila’s Daydream blog is back online, and has a pretty clear (and firm) press and usage rights statement, but Adele has since started another blog.

Some of my photography buddies and I were discussing the article, and the things we do (or could do) to better secure our images:

• Don’t publish photos online at all (yes, this is extreme, but it prevents image theft!)
• If you are going to publish photos online, reduce their size substantially
• Use visible watermarks on your images
• Use programs such as Digimarc which digitally embed watermarks into your images
• Check out the Digital Watermarking Alliance, which has some great resources about digital watermarking.
• Have a press and usage rights statement (like the one on the Mila’s Daydream) blog, to at least outline your expectations about the use of your photos, and the laws which govern their use.

As a marketer, there’s a small part of me that wishes my photos (even just ONE!) would go viral in the way Ben Roberts or Adele Enersen’s images have. But as a photographer, I completely agree with the points Ben makes about the downside of this happening.

What are your thoughts about photos going viral over the internet?

5,000 photographers give their verdict for 2013

May 2, 2013

Copyright 2013 Photoshelter – see link below for full infographic

This week, I came across a great infographic and survey by web-hosting provider Photoshelter, where 5,000 photographers gave their outlook on photography in 2013.

I’ve been following Photoshelter for several years, and I really love what they do for photographers. Building a website can be an expensive, complicated process, and Photoshelter takes away much of that hassle for what I think is a really reasonable price.  They enable you to create stunning websites, while providing a wealth of resources to help you optimise your site and generate more traffic and leads. Who doesn’t want more leads? Anyway, back to the survey…

Optimism is high but there is a need to pursue additional specialities

The survey showed that 73% of photographers are optimistic about this year, and expected to make more money than last year. Happy days!

Interestingly, 98% of photographers grow their business by pursuing secondary specialities in addition to their primary niche. So perhaps for example, you can’t focus on just wedding photography alone – you may have to expand into portrait work to ensure you keep bookings up. Similarly, you may decide to add photography tuition or books and calendars to your product offering to supplement the income you derive from your primary specialty.

We love our gear!

As I (very impatiently) await the arrival of my new Canon 100mm f/2.8L macro lens, I could relate when I read that 93% of photographers will invest in 2013 to improve their photography. New gear is high on our list – 63% will invest in lenses, 47% in lighting, 47% in camera bodies and 34% in editing software. We’re a keen bunch of learners too, with 56% investing in workshops and classes.

On the gear front, just remember that new gear doesn’t translate directly into revenue – and one of the most frequent reasons small businesses fail, is their failure to contain costs. Just sayin’…

What marketing techniques are working for photographers?

The survey reported that 54% of photographers found that word of mouth was the best channel for finding new clients. The secret to word of mouth referrals is that you have to talk about your business. A lot.  And you have to deliver great stuff! You have to leave your clients with a great impression of you and ultimately deliver awesome photography services to them. If your photos are great but service is questionable, their entire experience of you may be tarnished. If you go out of your way, every time, to provide both a quality product and service, and your clients tell you that you’ve done a great job, ASK them to tell their friends. Often.

25% of photogs reported that social media has been the best marketing channel for finding new clients, followed by the 21% who said that in-person meetings worked for them. Much of this will depend on what type of photography services you offer. Corporate photographers for example, may have more success requesting face-to-face meetings with PR and marketing representatives in companies to secure Annual Report photography work, than say trying to target them via social media. That said, social media is free, so why not try both strategies?

Not surprisingly, about half the respondents said their presence on social media had bought in new business for them.

What challenges do photographers face?

Given that it’s something most businesses face, it’s not surprising that about three quarters of photographers said that “finding new clients” was a challenge. The next biggest challenge, reported by half of the respondents, was getting found online. In today’s online world, I think those two challenges are related. Word of mouth happens online (and in person). Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram and any of the other social media platforms make sharing content so easy with our social networks, that it’s logical you need a solid online presence (ie, website) and some form of a social media strategy.

I plan to write future posts about how websites and social media are critical marketing tools for any business owners, particularly photographers. In the meantime, I encourage you to download the full report and see what else the 5,000 photographers had to say about 2013.

I’m counting down to the Creative Photo Workshops: Casting Call Three

Apr 23, 2013

Photo courtesy of Creative Photo Workshops

I love photography! And I love learning about it. I love hanging out with other photogs and I particularly love shooting stuff that’s completely different to what I see everyday. So when I heard that Glynn Lavender of Creative Photo Workshops and renowned New Zealand photographer, Mike Hollman were doing one of their legendary “Casting Call” weekends in October, my husband and I had to be a part of it!

The weekend takes place in an abandoned film set, about an hour out of Melbourne, and encompasses everything from model shoots to landscape shoots, light painting, star trails and all manor of photobombing antics, if previous CPW workshops are anything to go by. I’ve been to a bunch of CPW’s 1-day workshops over the last couple of years, and I reckon I have learnt more about photography in those workshops than in any other workshops I’ve done.

Even though it’s still six months out, I’m SO excited about Casting Call Three! In the meantime I’m going to spend a few hours getting lost in Mike Hollman’s wonderfully inspiring Pinterest boards! Methinks there’ll be a trip to New Zealand next!

Finding your photographic voice; your photographic style

Apr 16, 2013

I came across a great blog post on currentphotographer.com by Chris Nitz, called Photography 101: What is Your Photographic Voice? Even though the post was written a couple of years ago, I believe it’s still incredibly pertinent for every aspiring professional photographer.

One of the fundamentals of marketing any product or service is to decide who you’re targeting and what you have to offer them. Determining your photographic voice, or in other words, your photographic or artistic style, is a critical step in determining what your offering actually is, and what makes you unique!

Determine what style you like

As Chris points out in the post, “the first part to finding your voice is to pinpoint the style of photography you like. Style is different from voice as style is the genre. Your style might be nature, animals, portraits, sports, architecture, or any of the other umpteen dozen styles that exist. For me, I found I really enjoyed macro, grunge, HDR, and landscapes. Keep in mind these don’t all really fit together as one cohesive style. I was able to finally pinpoint this by simply paying attention to the images I spent the most time gawking at.”

Your style might also include particular poses, styling, lighting effects, post-processing effects or elements of your product packaging – ultimately it’s about creating something unique (but consistently unique to YOU) that your fans, followers and potential clients can recognise in your photography.

Kirsty Mitchell, a British photographer whose work I’m constantly inspired by, created the amazing Wonderland series – you only have to look through a few of her images to see that her photographic style is very design-lead. It’s as much about styling and setting the scene, as it is about the painstaking detail of the costumes and makeup on the models in each scene. She chooses locations which compliment her vision for the scene and the costumes and props shes makes specifically for each shoot. Her images are indeed fine art, that you could imagine hanging on the walls of high-end galleries and hotels.

Of course it may not be practical, necessary or relevant to go into that much detail to create your photographic voice, but it is certainly worth studying the portfolios of photographers you admire, be they wedding, portrait, pet or sports photographers, to work out a way of achieving a particular look, in a way that is consistently unique to you.

Learn as much as possible about the styles that interest you

Chris Nitz goes on his his post to say, “The second part is to start learning all you can about the styles that interest you. This encompasses everything from looking at photos to reading up on techniques. I cannot even begin to tell you the amount of macro and HDR photos I have looked at and studied over the years. This was all part of the learning and growing process. Really, this area should be no different for you. You know what you enjoy looking at, and should work with those areas you enjoy and are comfortable working.”

So true – let’s face it, you’re far more likely to succeed doing something you love, than something which feels like a chore.

Questions to ask yourself

Whether you are just starting out, or have been in business for a while, it’s worth taking some time to reflect on your photographic voice. You might like to consider these questions to get your creative juices flowing:

– What is my photographic style?

– What do I enjoy photographing?

– If I could create any kind of end-effect on my photos, what would that look like (forget for the time being whether you know how to create that effect or not)?

– What sort of feelings do I want my images to evoke?

– Which photographers create the sort of work I aspire to create?

Keeping a visual diary

In a photography class I did a while back, they made a great suggestion about keeping a visual diary of photographs that appeal to you. With sites like Pinterest and Flickr, this is easily done online. I also use Evernote to store ideas about a whole range of stuff I’m interested in, so it’s all in the one spot, accessible from anywhere.

Honing in on your photographic voice, I believe, will actually strengthen your product offering. You can’t be everything to everyone – no business can succeed with that approach. The clearer you are about what your photographic voice is, the easier it will be to identify and target potential customers, and tailor your offering to suit.

What are your thoughts and ideas? Any advice about how you finally found your photographic voice?