Last summer at Summer School, Pulitzer Prize winning photographer, Vincent LaForet, talked about all the times he didn’t have the right equipment, but knew he needed to do a particular project regardless. When he did his short film, Reverie, he had none of the equipment he really needed to produce and edit the project, but that didn’t stop him.

Matthew’s post hits on the issue of how much gear you really need when it comes to lighting, but let’s look at some other options when you don’t have what you need:

• Rental gear is a great option. Cash flow is tough when you’re just starting out, so watch your budget and rent instead of fighting to buy gear. You can always buy it later on.
• Often, especially on commercial projects, build the cost of your lights into the shoot.
• Don’t forget about leasing versus buying. With leasing you get to utilize somebody elses assets without depleting yours. It’s worth checking out your local retailer to see what’s available.
• Use your network! Get to know photographers in the area and attend monthly Smugs, guild meetings, the local PPA chapter meetings. Often more seasoned photographers have used equipment they’re turning over and there’s your opportunity to pick up the gear you need.

The bottom line is you should never be sitting there saying to yourself, “If I only had the gear I need!” It’s not about the gear – it’s about your creativity and your skill set.  And, if you’re in need of a good dose of creativity and getting your mind in the right place, then put Matthew Jordan Smith on your radar. He writes a terrific blog and his videos focus on pure education, are reasonably priced and help you get the expertise you need to build a stronger skill set!

When I was seventeen I wanted every lens and light I could find.  I thought, if I only had one more lens or one more light I could do so much more.  I thought my photographs would be better if I simple had more.  I’m not sure when I snapped out of that mind-frame but I’m glad I finally saw the light, no pun intended.

Today, I often speak about the “power of less” in photography.  You don’t always need to have more photo equipment to make beautiful images.   Yes, today I have every lens and light I can afford, but I only use what I need for each shoot.   In my first instructional video Ten Ways To Use One Light Source I go over the many ways you can use one light to make great images.  I also often use one lens and for this months cover of Nail Pro magazine I use one light and one lens.  The camera used to make this image is the Sony A900 with a 85mm lens.  The lighting is also very simple in this image, just one  beauty dish.  To learn how to shoot images like this and more check out the videos in Photography Help Store.   They give you multiple examples and diagrams to help you learn everything from simple ways to shoot to complex.

Matthew Jordan Smith

People tend to talk about how they got started in photography or how long they’ve been doing it. Too often they talk about their awards rather than their heart.  A long time ago Scott Bourne talked about the importance of an artist’s statement. Whether you call it an artist’s statement, your about me section or any one of a dozen other appropriate titles on your site it’s about opening your heart. In Scott’s case he’s talking about his passion for photographing wildlife. While an artist’s statement is different from the about section of a wedding photographer, the sincerity and what needs to be shared is the same. Scott really says it best in this post below.

Corporations have “Mission Statements.” Artists have “Artist’s Statements.”

If you want to communicate with fine art buyers, galleries, museums and anyone who buys photography or for that matter, who sells it, you might want to consider creating an artist’s statement. This statement should help anyone interested in collecting your work understand where YOU are coming from. It should be about YOU not so much about a camera or a photo or a technique. To quote my friend Dane Sanders – “YOU are not your photography.” So tell us something about what it’s like for you to make a photo. Share your heart. That’s how you write an artist’s statement.

Rather than give you a checklist of what to include in your statement, I’m simply going to show you mine. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to do this. I think you just have to write from your heart or be inspired by someone or something else who shares your vision. I re-wrote my statement last year when some comments I received on my images helped me to see what others were seeing in my work, but which I lacked the proper mirror to see. Here’s my artist’s statement.
_____________________________
Artist Statement

For me, wildlife art photography is about two connecting themes: extraordinary craftsmanship in terms of technical mastery of photography and a fundamental understanding of the dynamics of the nature behind the image.

At a deeper level, however, I pursue this art form because of its almost religious qualities.

One day, I can have a vision in my mind that represents a photograph I want to make. This vision exists only in my head and my heart – it’s a silent vision which has the power to bring me out into the field, month after month, year after year, for a chance to turn that vision into something tangible that I can share with others.

The other religious aspect of my work is focus and devotion to an idea over which I have absolutely no control.

I learn all that I can about the natural factors behind each photographic opportunity, but I never know how they will play out. My artistry focuses on the beauty of things which are random. Wildlife operates within its own free will. The bird flies its own path.

It’s different than working in a photography studio where I have control over the set, the model and the lights. As a wildlife artist, my gift is to know how to “show up prepared” to interact with beauty that I do not control. I must learn to be at peace with my subject on their terms, not on mine.

I struggle with finding the patience and the path. But when that struggle becomes the hardest, I remember my calling. I speak for the creatures which have no voice. Perhaps this is why the experience is so emotional for me.

Each time I get a perfect moment and capture that with my camera, I experience joy and sadness. I am joyful because the finished work provides me with a lifelong memory of a successful vision. But I also feel sadness that the pursuit is over.

After that moment, the cycle begins again, and I launch the pursuit of the next creative vision. I hope to share that vision well enough that others may someday wish to help speak for the animals too.

Scott Bourne

Husbands and wives, brothers, sisters, parents and children all make up so many of today’s small businesses.  It’s not easy working with a relative, especially your spouse.  Your roles in the business need to be well defined. You need to identify each partner’s expertise and then you need to respect each others responsibilities. It’s not an easy task, but it can be so rewarding in the long run.

I asked Byron if he’d consider a few guest posts on the subject and I’m delighted he accepted the offer. Byron and Wendy should definitely be on your radar. Here’s the link to their blog. You need to add them to your network, just like I did! In fact, that’s one of the biggest benefits of shows like WPPI…meeting new photographers and sharing ideas about the business!

Expanding on our Ignite presentation this year at WPPI, I began looking for effective ways family members can begin to create that harmonious work environment between each other.  I believe there are simple steps you can take to create a better working environment for everyone and as an added benefit, create a stronger company in the process!  After further research, (i.e., taking a hard look into my own business relationship with my wife Wendy) and  interviewing other groups of family businesses, I came to the conclusion that the whole process centers around the idea of validation.

Validation is the key to a happy marriage, productive interpersonal communication and a happy life working with family members in general!  I think we all know that right up there with the need for love and belonging is our need, as humans, for self esteem and the desire for respect by/of others around us.  We can tell ourselves whatever we want but without validation from people around us we respect, (and unfortunately, sometimes don’t respect) we seem to be left in this limbo of always wondering, “are we good enough?   Doesn’t it feel great when someone sincerely says, “Wow, you really are an amazing photographer,” or “We had so much fun having you photograph our wedding!” or even “You made me/us feel special?”

So why aren’t we more vocal about this to others?  Why do we seem to hold back rather than give positive feedback?  We surely have much less trouble focusing on the problems and giving negative feedback don’t we?!  We say things like, “I can’t believe you put that image on our blog!” or “That’s way too much contrast” thereby condemning them in the process!  Are we afraid to pump people up too much for fear of them getting a “big” head?  Or are we scared that by saying, “Good job” or “I appreciate you” we’re saying to ourselves, “Maybe I’m not as good?”  As we all know, most of the time it’s a balancing game with our egos right?  Human’s are amazing creatures in that deep down we have such compassion for one another but none of this compassion can do any good when our egos are threatened.

Unfortunately it’s not easy to give love to others when we’re not feeling it ourselves, kinda takes the steam away from your motivation at times.  Now, if we add to this concept the much deeper emotional connection you have with family members, it’s easy to see why it doesn’t take much to create a problem.  Well, with that in mind, are you ready to begin?

Before we sit down and sing Kumbayah together, your company needs to create a list of goals that’s consistent with all family business members.  Think about the main results each of you wants your business to achieve and what’s the purpose for achieving each of these results?  We’ll call these our Strategic Objective (S.O.) and our Primary Aim’s (P.A.) for the company.  Some of our own Strategic Objectives dealt with revenue goals but others were about establishing set boundaries for work and personal time in our wedding photography business.  With our Primary Aim’s or purpose for wanting the Strategic Objective’s we’re even more specific and  along the lines of, “Become a memorable part of our clients entire wedding experience” and “Create a harmonious and peaceful working environment between us.”

So, sit down with your spouse, dad, etc and have each person list off their own S.O.’s and P.A.’s.  Then find 3 or 4 that are consistent ideas, (regarding both results and purpose) everyone can agree on.  Congratulations, you’ve now created the beginnings of a company culture!  A baseline has just been created that will allow you to always fall back on when issues arise, (like when your spouse drops that nice 85mm 1.4 prior to the wedding that day).  These two lists are what your company stands for (at least for now) and everyone in the company, for any issue that may arise, can now ask themselves, “Is how I’m handling this current situation consistent with our companies (S.O.) and (P.A.)?”  Many of you might find that you’ve done or said things in the past that go completely against the S.O. and P.A.  This is the way most of us run our businesses daily and let me be the first to tell you there’s a BETTER way!

In the next blog post I’ll get into ways we can start to positively validate each other!

Byron Roe

If you’ve ever met John, then you know he eats, sleeps and breathes photography. He’s all about passion for the craft and he’s definitely somebody who should be on your radar. You’ll find him at Tamron, as their Senior Education Manager, but even better you can spend some time with him “live” at Skip’s Summer School this August in Chicago. John will again be there with a full compliment of lenses for everybody to play with, as well as answer questions and help you expand your skill set!

Altering Perspectives With the SP 10-24mm Di II
I love the 10-24mm lens for its power to alter perspective and create unusual views, as well as its ultra-wide yet non-fisheye effectiveness. I tend to use this lens for very tight spaces (very helpful if you’re doing wedding or portrait photography) and landscapes, as well as if I need to manage the relationship between very close objects and those farther away.

I love the fisheye effect, but a fisheye lens can cost a lot of money and has few practical uses. Using the 10-24 allows me to get that fisheye look without having to buy an additional lens. It gives me two different ways to sell a particular image: first, the square rectilinear image, then a second image created with the “Free Transform > Edit” feature in Photoshop. I can adjust the degree of “fisheye-ness” so that I can set it to be where it’s most effective for the image.

My image of musician Emmanuel “Captain Hook” Fipps was taken from a session for his website and for a possible album cover. I wanted to emphasize his face and also his musicality and tie them together in a visually striking way – I didn’t want him to just be sitting at a piano.

I was up on a ladder about 2 feet from his face as he stood in front of a green screen, which was later dropped out. Three-quarters of the picture is exactly as I shot it; the only thing added was the second keyboard below his feet, which I added in Photoshop. I also applied a bubble wrap texture in Photoshop for extra effect. The final result looks like he’s surfing along on his music, riding the airwaves.

I chose the 10-24 for this image because I could distort Emmanuel the way I wanted to. It’s not really distortion, though: It’s what your eye could see if it actually could see that scene from that close (it can’t). It’s not normally possible to get that field of view in focus, because your eye selectively focuses as it moves up and down his body — you only see each individual section you’re staring at as sharp. When you control the camera to include the whole depth-of-field and field of view with a lens like the 10-24, you’re able to see something different than what the human eye can see.

The SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC: The Perfect Portrait Lens

I’m usually photographing people at social events and meetings, so the 17-50mm lens is pretty much my standard lens (or what I call my “supernormal”) lens. It’s so versatile and handy, and I like the separation from the background I get with the wide aperture selection, focusing the viewer’s attention on the subject, not on insignificant surrounding details.

I also use this lens for most of my close-in work — it’s great for “grip and grins,” small groups, individuals, and tabletop shoots. The 17-50 allows for a great deal of compositional flexibility, especially when you’re in tight spaces and there are tables in the way and people trying to crowd in to get the shots.

For available-light situations, the F/2.8 aperture offers me better viewing brightness and the ability to work within practical ISOs. That’s another great value of Tamron’s Vibration Compensation technology: It allows for available-light photography at exceptionally low light levels. In effect, you can make images in as little as just 6 percent of the volume of light with the VC enabled compared to without it (4 stops less light). That’s an extraordinary expansion of photo-making opportunities. It’s also terrific for creating special motion effects in certain situations.

When I photographed singer Ingrid Smalls, she was such an elegant, regal person with such terrific posture that I didn’t want to just take her headshot. That 17-50 allows me to zoom from a headshot to a bust shot to a waist shot or a three-quarter shot, all without having to make a lot of lens changes, which could have been disruptive for the shoot. The more you make your subjects wait while you’re fussing with the camera, the more uncomfortable they can become.

That same versatility came through for me when I shot welterweight boxing champ Shawn Porter. For the article I was doing, I needed both a headshot and an image that would impact the viewer’s understanding of just how dominant a force he is athletically. The 17-50 allowed me to do both without any downtime, getting a heroic shot of him with the American flag and a shot of him holding a number of his belts — which is only a portion of the ones he’s won.

For the last two years, John, thanks to Tamron has joined us at Summer School with a full stash of incredible optics. During the Summer School program he’s had all the gear there for attendees to just borrow as needed during the workshop. The cost is free, but better than that is John’s enthusiasm when he’s able to help answer the questions each attendee might have.

In this special guest post John talks  about his favorite Tamron lenses and how he seamlessly incorporates them into a variety of photographic applications.

Lens choice is one of the most critical factors to take into consideration when you’re planning your photographic endeavors. What you’re shooting, when you’re shooting, and the look you’re trying to achieve all play a part in impacting what lens you ultimately decide to use. Let’s talk about a few of my own favorite Tamron lenses, what I like about them, and how I apply them to real-world imaging challenges.

The Versatile 18-270mm Di II VC PZD
I can’t say enough about the 18-270mm VC PZD lens. It’s an extraordinary piece of glass that covers almost everything that the vast majority of people are ever going photograph until they decide to specialize in a specific type of photography.

The 18-270 is especially phenomenal for travel photography. It’s tiny, very powerful and can record almost anything, as my shot of a flower box in a small plaza at the base of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France, shows.

The tulips looked so strange with the skyline dominated by the huge, snowcapped mountain, so I had to find a way to bring them together. The 18mm focal length on this lens allowed me to include a few flowers, a bit of the street, and the mountain.

The huge dynamic range in the scene was also a challenge. The flowers were in deep shadow from the surrounding buildings, yet the mountain was covered in gleaming white, sunlit snow. I didn’t think I would get enough shadow detail to make a usable image, but with this lens, I got it. Using the Vibration Compensation (VC) feature on the 18-270 in the bright sunlight allowed me to get both the flowers and the distant mountain nice and sharp using a small aperture and very slow shutter speed.

The top of the mountain shot was taken from almost the exact same spot as the flower box. The 18-270 is simply amazing in its versatility. I used during my whole trip for a great variety of images.

In the Wild With the SP 200-500mm Di
The 200-500mm lens is a perfect lens for shooting wildlife. It offers a way to remain unintrusive and unthreatening to the animals, yet still get in close enough for real emotional impact and stunning detail. It also gives compositional flexibility thanks to its focal-length range.

I took two distinct images of a bull elk along the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park using the 200-500: one at the 200mm end and one at the 500mm end.

Because it was rutting (mating) season and the bull was guarding his herd, I didn’t want to get too close, so the extreme focal length (equivalent to 800mm on my APS body) was important, but I also wanted to be able to show the environment and light. I took those images right at sunrise, just minutes apart in fast-changing light.

What you don’t see in either image was that there were 10 guys standing around, trying to inch up closer to the elk, when a baby elk wandered out of the woods. These guys were suddenly in between the baby elk and the boss. That’s exactly why I have the 200-500 – especially for situations like that when I don’t have a tree nearby to climb!

The kind of detail you can get with this lens are amazing. In the image taken at 500mm, you can see the striations in his antlers and the mud on his flanks. That kind of imaging quality is pretty hard to do, particularly on a tripod with that super-telephoto magnification.

John Van Steenberg

Tomorrow, we’ll hit Part II of John’s favorites. He’ll talk about the SP10-24mm Di II lens and portraits with the SP 17-50mm F/2.8 Di II VC lens.  What a kick it is to be hanging out with John at so many different shows and Summer School over the years!

If you’re looking to get in touch with John, he’s Tamron’s Senior Education Manager.  He’s photographed everything from landscapes to rock stars to prize fighters. He’s got an amazing technical background and put together with his artistic abilities make him a great speaker and writer about all things photo-related. You’ll often find him speaking at various workshops and always in the Tamron booth at virtually every major convention.

You don’t have to agree with every one of Joe’s points, but put his post together with the in-depth post from David Ziser just a few weeks ago and you’ll have a solid foundation to make intelligent decisions regarding how you price your products and services.

The real “secret” of any successful photography business—if there is any— is the establishment of practices and policies that protect your profitability and help your operation grow. Here are nine suggestions to help insure profitability no matter what kind of photography you do.

#1. Adopt a pricing/packaging policy that ensures that you’ll make money. This seems obvious, but too often new photographers will set their prices based on what their competitors charge without analysis of their own overhead and out-of-pocket costs.

#2. People not only ask me how to establish shooting rates but when and how much to raise them. I always tell them to gradually raise your prices until you get some price resistance… then stop at least for a while. That’s when you’ve reached your market level. That’s why it’s important to maintain an up-to-date Rate Sheet and Schedule of Costs that you can show or even e-mail to potential clients.

#3. Most of your work will come to you over the telephone, that’s why being able to quote rates and prices quickly and easily is important. I think it’s a good idea to keep all your studio’s forms and product information in a binder (or maybe an iPad) so that anyone answering the phone can quote price and state studio policies to potential clients.

#4. Here’s one rule you should never forget, “every exception you make to your policies costs you money.” When someone tells you “give me a deal on this one shoot, and I’ll throw a lot of work to you in the future” don’t do it because so often the sad experience is that future day never comes.

#5. Don’t begin any assignment without a written agreement specifying what you’re going to do and what the client is going to do, including method and timeliness of their payment.

#6. Get advance payments for all your work involving on-location photography. Ask for a 50% advance on or before the day of the shoot. I think wedding photographers should collect 100% of the amount due before the big day. More often than not, once the loving couple returns home from their honeymoon, they’re broke.

#8. Don’t sign an agreement with anyone other than the party for whom the work is being done — unless you can bill that party directly. Some photographic consultants tell you it’s OK to wait 120 days to get paid but my banker disagrees. If you’re willing to live with that kind of payment schedule, so be it, but you should be charging a high enough rate to cover the time value of the money you’re waiting for to finally arrive.

#9. Be original; don’t be like everybody else. When that happens it reduces your photographic services to the commodity level and commodity purchases are based on price alone. All photographers are different and it’s important that we express this difference to potential clients.

Joe is the author of the new book “Studio Lighting Anywhere”and “Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography.”

I found this post from Scott a little while back and the point he makes is so relevant. Instead of being overwhelmed at what you don’t know and letting your frustration throw you into an I-give-up mode, think about all you do know. Even better think about how much more you understand about the business today than you did yesterday.  Then smile over how big your network is growing in comparison to the  ”Uncle Harry’s” out there.

We’re in the peak of convention season and Scott’s thoughts are so appropriate to your attitude in the weeks ahead. All of you should be planning on at least one convention, be it a big national show or a local state convention of photographers. Use these opportunities to reinforce your skill set by attending programs to help fill up your bag of tricks and at the same time build your network. Make it a point to meet new people. Talk with other photographers about what they’re doing in their communities. Share your ideas as well as the frustrations you have in your own market.

Most important of all – don’t give up and don’t let yourself be intimidated by how much you might still need to learn. My old buddy Don Blair when once asked, “What’s the best photograph you ever took?” answered back, “I don’t know I haven’t taken it yet?”  Photography is a never-ending educational process and there will always be more to learn!

Copyright Scott Bourne 2010 – All Rights Reserved 

There’s a documentary film called “I Can’t Do This But I Can Do That.” Upon seeing this movie I was motivated to consider how this saying can and does apply to photography.

It dawned on me that low self-esteem, combined with the bullying that is prevalent online, might work to stop some potentially great photographers from moving ahead with their photographic pursuits.

If you find yourself doubting your ability to become a serious photographer, try this exercise.

Make a list of things that you struggle with. It could be focus, or posing or composition or post-processing. Okay. So there’s the elephant in the room. All too often, that’s where people stop. Don’t be that person. Do the second and more important step. What do you do well?

It could be any of those same things. Perhaps you’re great at getting sharp focus, or devising great poses or you might be a master at Photoshop. If you’re good at remembering names and making people feel comfortable – write that down too.

Now here’s the important part. Start thinking about, talking about and living in the world of the stuff you CAN do. Concentrate on what you CAN do and not on what you CANNOT do.

I am not saying that you shouldn’t pay attention to improving in the areas where you need help. I am saying that 80% of your focus should be thinking about what you can do and not what you can’t. There’s a way to make this even more successful. Only surround yourself with positive, supportive people. Ask them to stop you dead in your tracks if they start hearing what you can’t do. Ask them to remind you what you CAN do. I bet you have more going for you than you realize.

Good luck.

 

You should be following David’s posts at Digital Pro Talk. I can promise you that you’ll never be disappointed.

How To Determine Your Pricing Schedule:

1- Determine what the average cost of a wedding photography is in your area. Call a few of the prominent photographers in your area explain your situation and ask their prices. Most are nice and are willing to help. Others will never give you the time of day. I know, I’ve been through it before. It is what it is.

2- Do a Craig’s list check just to see what the rock bottom prices are in your area. Now you have the knowledge of the range of pricing. Now decide where you fit in.

3- How good are you? Can your skills support the prices you want to charge? You’ll discover this invaluable piece of the puzzle when prospective clients check your web site, blog, see sample images at wedding fares and make the decision to book you for their event or to pass.

4- How well are you at getting the word out about your products and services? If you are really good at it, then that means you should be able to create a lot more traffic to your business. And, more consistent traffic means more bookings.

When you get to the place that you have all the bookings you want or can handle, it’s time to raise the prices to control the number of jobs you book. The bottom line is that effective marketing is super important if you want to be successful in your business.

This is the point most are striving to be in your business. Once you have this part figured out, you are on your way to bigger and better things. Don’t think you’ve ever arrived though, there is ALWAYS somebody nipping at your heels that wants the business as much or even more than you do! You must never stop growing and learning.

Time To Set The Prices

I’ve always been happy with my 5 tier pricing system. It’s worked well for me most of my career. If you want to use my pricing system as a model, this is how I would do it. Level 1 should always be the highest priced coverage and Level 5 should always be the lowest. And, always sell from high to low.

Let me give you an example of my pricing in the mid eighties just to give you an idea as to how I set up my levels of coverage. Remember those prices I shared with you earlier – $119, $179, and $259? Well, in the mid eighties those prices were $450 for 20 8×8 images in an album, $650 for 35 10×10 images in an album, and $850 for 50 10×10 images in an album. Proofs WERE NOT included at this point. Thankfully I learned that by giving away the proofs, I was killing my sale.

About that same time, 25 years ago, I met a photographer named Charles Lewis .  Chuck has been an inspiration to many, many photographers over the years. You can follow his blog right here. He quite literally turned my think/reasoning and my expectations around when it came to pricing. He told me I was giving my work away considering the quality of my images. He also told me I needed to offer some bigger coverages over what I was offering at the time.

More Lessons Learned

The Cincinnati wedding market was much grander than what I had imagined. A case in point is this. I got a call to do George Clooney’s sister’s wedding years ago. Yes, the real George Clooney. His family lived in Cincy at that time.  In fact he went to grade school about one mile from me. The bride and her mother came in to interview me and review my work. That’s how we did things back in the pre-website, blogging days. Anyway, I didn’t book the job because I didn’t have a coverage available that they felt would adequately cover their event.

I learned that lesson the hard way and decide to revamp my levels of coverage once again. Taking Chuck Lewis’ advice, I added two more coverages to the TOP tier of my pricing scheme – $1,150 for 75 10×10 images in an album, and finally $1,450 for 100 images in a top shelf leather album. My new Level One included a casual portrait session of the couple and a 20 image 10×10 leather album in addition to the 100 wedding day images in a leather album!

It was the best I could offer and included everything for the couple. And was the highest priced album plan in Cincinnati, Ohio at the time! I thought if anybody purchased it, I was on my way to early retirement ;~). The fact of the matter is that once I started showing my super big coverages, couples started to select them! I was thrilled.

Finally, Setting The Schedule

As my reputation grew in the area and my expertise increased, I continued to market like crazy, build my vendor relationship, nurture my reputation, and raise my prices about once a year. Every time I raised my prices, my mother who was normally always the optimist, told me I was not going to have any customers left – who in the world was going to pay those prices.

She didn’t see the bigger picture, and the much BIGGER parties/ events/celebrations that were happening in the Cincinnati, Ohio market. Thankfully, with my eyes newly opened, the clients kept coming and my business began to thrive. I was doing less weddings but the price difference offset the revenue and made the business much more profitable – all good stuff.

Even today, my pricing structure, while much higher than the 1980’s still follows the same general increase as I posted above. For those of you looking for the numbers, here they are.

Level One: 2.5x Level Five

Level Two: 2.0x Level Five

Level Three: 1.75x Level Five

Level Four: 1.4x Level Five

Level Five: 1.0x Level Five

There you have it. It’s how I’ve been doing things for years and it’s worked for me. What I ask you to do is re-read this rather lengthy post and and take in the nuances of what I’ve tried to share with you today. There just simply aren’t any hard and fast rules to follow.

As Michelangelo said, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.”

Also nothing is ever etched in stone. We each have to find our own way and what works for ourselves and our clients. There are other successful photographers that take a completely different approach from mine and it works for them. But my approach has worked for me and I see no reason to change, or do I;~)

It’s that time of year when two key events start to happen. First, you’re going to be doing your taxes and for most of you it’ll be the first time you understand how much money you really made last year. Second, it’s the slow season for many and the perfect time to review what you want to do for the new year ahead.

David’s post is one of the first ones I’ve read that really addresses the challenges in establishing a way to look at how you price your work and services.  But there’s a key point to remember – it’s not how much you charge that’s as important as how much you keep. 

If David isn’t on your radar you need to tune him in and follow his blog Digital Pro Talk. He’ll also be at PhotoPro Expo at the end of this month. A huge part of this year’s platform is all thanks to David’s hard work! 

Over the last few weeks we’ve been discussing wedding photography during these Thursday posts. Two weeks ago I discussed how I shoot a wedding and why. That post and it’s comments precipitated last week’s post about how I structure and sell my levels of wedding coverages. The comments from that post clamored for additional info on my pricing. And that, dear DPT readers, is where we are going today.

When I first set up my pricing in the early days of my studio I was determined to offer the best value wedding services available. For my way of thinking back in those early days, that also meant being the cheapest guy in town. I also quickly learned that being the cheap guy was not going to let me pay the bills on time. Funny, we see a lot of that same kind of thinking today – just do a quick check on Craig’s List for a city near you.  

My Early Pricing Schedule

I still remember my first printed price list – I was so proud. I used graphics and everything. Things are so much easier now in our computer driven digital world. Anyway, I had three levels of pricing in my early beginnings.

Level One:

36 4×5 color images in a nice TAP album. Heck, I even told my clients that they could use it as a parents’ album. I was not very good selling my work back in those days. I was merely an “order taker”. Ummmm… any of that going around our profession today?

Also included were 12 8×10’s bound in an inexpensive TAP album. Total cost for everything – $ 119.00. Oh, and no time limitations on covering the event. I managed to crank through a whopping 60 images for the entire wedding, too. Things sure were different back then.

Level Two:

Level Two upped the ante slightly. It included 48 4×5’s bound in the TAP album and 18 8×10’s also bound in a Tap album. And, get this, even included “double lighting” on the job. Yes, I was using off camera flash as early as 1978 – 32 years ago! Where were you back then David Hobby? ;~)

Actually, I used the fact that I was using a more “dimensional” lighting technique to encourage the client to book into that level of coverage. Wow! That was my big attempt at up-selling. Most of my clients booked Level Two at the whopping cost of $179.00! I shot about 72 images for this coverage.

Level Three:

This was my “Big Kahuna” coverage – 72 4×5 images and 24 8×10 images bound in Tap albums. I did upgrade the large album to Tap’s White Flower reversible album. looking back…I was such a classy act at the time – NOT!

With 72 4×5s, I even suggested that the couple could break those down into two collections of 36 each, buy another Tap album for $10  and have two parents’ albums – what a deal! Total cost – $259.00 – truly a steal of a deal! Oh, and by the way, I shot about 120 images for the entire job.

Extra prints were $6.00 for an 8×10, $4.00 for a 5×7. and $2.50 for a 4×5 print. I did 20 weddings in 1978, over 50 the next year, hired additional shooters the next year, and was on my way to fame and fortune! Not really. The fact of the matter was that I was working my tush off, barely paying the bills, and definitely not putting any money in the bank.

Time To Get Smart

Thankfully I was encouraged to start attending PPA seminars and workshops of the most successful and notable wedding photographers shooting in those days. That list would include Monte Zucker, Rocky Gunn, Al Gilbert, and many, many others. I tell the story occasionally that I was spending more moony on seminars than most college kids were spending on tuition.

Thankfully, that was the right decision to make for me. It turned my photography and my business acumen around 180 degrees and I started making money. By 1984 we were shooting 80 weddings a year at a $2,600 average. Not bad in those early days. This was also about the time I was developing my 5 level pricing strategy which I discussed last week.

I was always told to price like Wendy’s Hamburger chain. You know – single, double, and triple burgers. I basically was using that concept in my price list, but as I interviewed more and more clients, I saw the size and scope of the events was much broader than my near sighted early lack-of-experience had shown me. That’s when I decided to revamp my pricing schedule reviewing my levels of coverage and prices of those coverages.

Getting My Act Together

Last week I discussed those levels of coverages in great detail. Now let’s discuss how to set the prices for those levels of coverage. Your pricing needs to be determined by what your market will bear.

Back in the early days, I was the cheapest guy in town. Sure, the word got out that I was pretty cheap and did an adequate job shooting weddings. Notice I said “adequate” job. I was pretty much operating my business like the “low ball” wedding photographers advertising today.

As I advanced in my skills and talent I raised my prices accordingly. Hey, I was doing a better job so my work was worth more – better quality = higher price.

About the same time, I was learning from successful photographers how to understand my “cost of goods sold”. Even today, this is one of the biggest mistakes most new business owners make, including wedding photographers. They just don’t have any kind of grasp on the costs of gear, depreciation, marketing costs, overhead, staff, processing/lab fees, album fees – the list goes on and on.

Thankfully, I got my head around those numbers, and priced my coverages accordingly. If I was going to be in the wedding photography business, I was going to be profitable! That started happening in the mid-eighties. So, let’s finally get down to brass tacks as they say and see if I can point you in the right direction in setting your wedding pricing.

Tomorrow, we’ll finish up David’s post with his formula for pricing.  It’s a terrific way to look at one of the most important aspects of your business, but remember one important fact! You have to be worth what you’re asking people to pay. That means you make no compromises on the quality of your images and the effort you put into telling each client’s story!

Well, we all make mistakes and they can’t be avoided.  Depending on what you do with them, they can stunt your growth as an artist or just the opposite, create a growth spurt. It’s all in how you look at the mistakes and if you choose to learn from them.

My good buddy and partner in GoingPro, Scott Bourne, wrote the following post about making mistakes. No matter how seasoned you are, the pressure of business, the economy and new technology all change the game and suddenly you find yourself buried in mistakes you never used to make.  Scott’s put together a great check-off list for cutting out one serious variable in your life, mistakes with your gear.

Tomorrow we’ll come up with the same kind of list for promotions.  The secret is all in taking the time to plan rather than be reactionary. In the mean time, see if Scott’s list makes sense for your gear.

No matter how experienced, we all make mistakes. Sometimes we go out to shoot and nothing works. We’ve forgotten to reset the ISO from 3200 (shot the basketball game last night) to 200 (for the landscape shots at Mt. Rainier.) Or sometimes that odd custom white balance we set at the art museum gets saved and used for the next wedding. Oops.

Whatever the mistake, mistakes have a way of cascading. And it’s easy to get frustrated to the point where you simply can’t do anything right. When you reach this point it’s time to give up and start over – “reset,” as Joe McNally says.

To do this, you need to establish a baseline for your gear. Here’s my baseline. Your situation may be different, but this works for me.

1. Camera bodies off
2. Camera batteries recharged after each and every shoot – no exceptions
3. Flash(es) off
4. Flash(es) batteries recharged after each and every shoot – no exceptions
5. Set ISO to 200
6. Set aperture to wide open on all lenses
7. Set shutter speed to 1/125
8. Set mode dial to Aperture Priority
9. Turn off IS/VR on all stabilized lenses
10. Set all lenses with focus stops to focus maximum area of focus
11. Remove any and all filters
12. Check that the camera body and any/all lenses are set to autofocus (unless you just always use manual focus – in which case disregard.)
13. Set white balance to AUTO
14. Set exposure compensation to “0.”
15. Reset the focus point to the center.
16. Set motor drive to high speed advance
17. Make sure mirror lockup is disabled
18. Make sure to run camera’s auto sensor cleaning after each shoot, no exceptions
19. Do quick visual examination of the camera to look for damage defects
20. Reset additional gear like tripods, light stands, etc.

After bringing everything back to default condition, you can take a deep breath, find your subject, and start building the next shot knowing you’ve done all you can to be ready.

Remember, we all make mistakes. Even the pros. It doesn’t mean a thing. Fix it, reset, reshoot, repeat. You’ll be fine.