After a couple of years in business I have saved up a small amount of money. Should I invest the money back into my photography business or buying new equipment to update aging cameras and computer equipment.



Where you can spend money in your business to get someone kind of return. either by reinvesting or upgrading your current equipment.



9 Pros & Cons to upgrading camera equipment and reinvest money into the business?



Reinvesting back into your event photography business




* Using a WordPress.com site so you don’t have to worry about updates, backups and security.



* Advertising such as google adwords to get more leads



* Paying other people to help you in your business



* Branding e.g. new Logo



* Take someone out for coffee to network




Updating your camera and computer equipment




* Gaining more confidence in your photography by upgrading you camera



* Buying new equipment for added cash flow



* Increasing your productivity with a faster computer



* Investing in your Back up system




Hey Helen, thanks for your question, and it’s great that you’ve saved up a little bit of cash. It means that your photography business is making a profit, which is awesome.



Now, what would I do? I would actually reinvest back into the business, only because I would try to maximise my profits. If I’m buying new camera equipment or computers, it would mean that I may not see the results straight away.



Whereas if I was to say, do something like advertising, I could hopefully get a return on my money. But having said that though, everyone’s different.



I’m not too sure what type of equipment you have, or how old your computer equipment is, so what I’ll do today is just go through the things that you potentially can spend your money on, and just talk through some of the things that can come from that.



Reinvesting back into your photography business



I’ll start with investing back into the business, and what I would do is advertising.



Advertising



I really like Google AdWords, the fact that I can set up ads and bid for certain keywords within my local area. And as we all know, when you want to go find something, you always jump on Google, right? So, it’s one way that you can get results quite quickly, or leads quite quickly, without having to do a whole heap of work.



Now having said that though, you can’t just set and forget Google Ads, or any ads that is. Facebook included, Instagram and Pinterest, and all that stuff. You’ve got to keep on top of it, so if you don’t, you can end up spending a lot, a lot of money.



Because in effect what you’re doing with say Google Ads, is you’re bidding for a keyword. It could be like New York wedding photographer. It could be portraits New York. Whatever it may be, right? And, there’s obviously other photographers bidding for the same thing. The more people that bid, the higher the cost of the price of that keyword.



I’ve seen wedding keywords go as high as 10 dollars or so, depending on the time of year. A couple of years back, I noticed that, and obviously I did not bid for that, because what in fact was happening, is that if you are successful in that bid, and the customer had clicked on your link, your ad,

Cropping your photos for printing is easy once you know the size you want to print them at.  If you don’t crop your photos to the correct size they will print out with white space around your photo.



This is the issue that Melissa had and sent in a question to the podcast. She says when she took her photos to get printed at a photo kiosk, she was told to crop them to the correct size to avoid the extra white space at the top and bottom of her photos. Melissa had already cropped her photos to social media, but when printing them the photos had white bars or parts of the photos were missing.



No right or wrong to crop your photos



In general there is no right or wrong way to crop a photo.



Photography being a creative medium, you can crop any which way you want. But the advice I would give in this case, is to crop for the end result. So, your end result being that you’re trying to print your photos.



Generally, if you’re printing, say, to an 8in x 10in, and you haven’t cropped the photo, or it’s not resized in the correct size, you’re going to get the white space at the top and bottom of your uncropped photos



Cropping for printing



Cropping for the end result makes life a lot easier. Generally, what I would do is use the aspect ratio of the camera sensor, which is 2:3 for almost all digital cameras.  3 being the long side on the bottom, and the short side being 2. 



The aspect ratio of an 8 x 10 photo is, I think, four by five, which is close to a square.  3 x 2, , which is what most people’s sensors are, is a rectangle, which would explain why you’re getting those white bars.



RESIZE YOUR PHOTOS IN LIGHTROOM FOR PRINTING



When you don’t resize or crop your photos to the correct size. The printer is likely going to offer you 2 options that will not be ideal. 



* You’re going to get the white bars top and bottom of the photos for an 8 x 10in photo, because it shrinks the photo to the paper size. 



* It tries to fill the paper size with the photo. Because your photos start off as a rectangle, and it’s trying to fit it more into a square shape, you’re going to lose the two sides, or the top and bottom. So, you’re going to lose some of your photo as it will get cut off.



Generally not good if you’re printing portrait photos, because you’re going to chop heads off in the photo. So, that’s why you need to crop your photos for the output or end result.



What I would do, in lightroom, I would set the cropping tool to the aspect ratio of two by three, which is what my sensor is, and crop the photo in such a way that it’s pleasing to the eye.



Now generally, when you’re taking photos, you’d want to pre-visualize what your photo’s going to look like, how the cropping’s going to be done if at all, and how you’re going to edit it later on.



If you can pre-visualize, say, the cropping and what you could do is either crop in camera, meaning that you use your feet if you’re using a prime lens or use the zoom to zoom in. That’s how you crop in camera.



And when it comes time to print, you print to a print size that is suited for camera / photo aspect ratio, which would be a 4 x 6,  8 x 12, 16 x 24 inch, and 20 inch x 30 inch.  These sizes are 2:3 ratio prints that you won’t have to crop your photo if you don’t want to. Simply print them off,

Neil sent me an email asking for help to sort through thousands of photos. He said he took a one week holiday to France with the family and ended up taking over 25,000 photos. He made the mistake of leaving his camera in burst mode. Now he has multiple photos of every photo he took on holiday.



He uses a Mac and Lightroom for editing. What is the best way to sort through a large amount of photos?



The quick & easy way to organize your holiday photos



Neil, if you don’t mind me saying mate, that’s a bucket load of photos for one holiday. All right. To sort through thousands of photos is easy to do, and here is how to do it.



I know you mentioned you have Adobe Lightroom but, for this instance, the best thing to do would be to cull your photos outside of Lightroom and then import the photos you want to edit into Lightroom.



Because if you were to import 25,000 photos into Lightroom in one go, it would take a very long time. Then you would need to work out which of your holiday photos you wanted to edit, which would be quite overwhelming because of so many photos in one area. Then of course, you should remove all the photos that you don’t plan on editing to free up space, and because of that it can get quite confusing.



I would recommend three things.



1. Set up a simple file structure to hold your photos for the purpose of culling and also editing.



2. Using an application called Photo Mechanic to cull your holiday photos



3. Import into Lightroom only the photos you want to edit. 



Photo Mechanic is a photo browser. It’s used by professional photographers in sports photography or editorial photographers. It’s super fast to open photos at full screen, even raw files. It’s really really cool.



I’ve been using it for many years and I actually use it for small amounts of photos, not just for a large amount of photos.



I can go through 2,000 to 3,000 photos in 40 minutes to an hour from a wedding when I’m culling and I’ll go through 3 – 4 memory cards in one culling session, it’s super fast.



Downloading & Organizing your photos



It’s going to take a long time. Get yourself a beverage and make yourself comfortable. I would grab all your memory cards, have them ready because we’re going to create a simple file structure so you can separate your photos to make the process more manageable.



I should note that for the culling and organisation of photos, I’ve written an in-depth article that takes you step-by-step on how to do this. But for you, I’ll briefly go over it giving you the information you need to cull and organise your holiday photos.



How to cull your photos



How to organize your photos



Let’s start at the beginning. 



* Create a folder called France 2016. * Within the France 2016 folder, create a folder for every memory card and label it; Card 1, Card 2 , Card 3, so on and so forth until you’ve gone through all your memory cards.



* Download one card to each corresponding folder until all your holiday photos are on your hard drive. * Next create a folder called selects.



The selects folder is going to hold the photos that you want to import into Lightroom and edit. Once your photos are in Lightroom and you have edited your holida...

Today I want to talk about customer service for event and wedding photographers. In particular the first point of contact and how in general photographers are slow to call new customers back.



I had a bride contact me and say that she had been emailing and calling different wedding photographers for 2-3 days, and I was the first photographer to answer her enquiry. 



This is a worry!



I’m seeing a growing amount of new customers contacting me, saying that they’re glad I answered their enquiry, because the other photographers they contacted never got back to them, either via email or by phone.



I find that mind blowing! because we all know how hard it is to get customer leads, good quality leads that is. 



I felt very bad for this customer that called me last week. She said that she spent three days trying to contact a photographer for her wedding.



I don’t know the circumstances of the other photographers, and it could have been their day off. Maybe they could have been shooting elsewhere, who knows.



But the fact that nobody got back to her after almost three days, is just bad customer service and it gives all professional photographers a bad name.



First interaction with a client is the beginning of your photography workflow



Let’s start with the basics of customer service,  setting expectations. 



My idea of a photography workflow is from the moment you interact with a customer, to the moment you deliver the final product.



If we can just look at how customers contact us, and our websites are probably one of the most common ways that we will receive leads. 



It doesn’t have to be complex, it just needs to be repeatable regardless of your workload. This means, listing one to two ways your customers can contact you and will receive a response within 24 – 48 hrs during your hours of operation. 



Set expectations on your contact page



What I do is put a couple lines on my contact page, that says, 



“Please fill out the form below and I will be in contact within 24 hours. If you wish to speak to me sooner, you can contact me via phone.” 



This does two things. One, for the people that aren’t in a rush, they’re more than welcome to use their email and they will know that I will get back to them within 24 hours.



If it’s something a little bit more urgent, because they need to move their wedding date, which has happened many times to me, having my mobile number on the contact page is convenient for them. 



Plus I have seen a growing number of new clients that simply prefer to talk over the phone and not deal with email.



Setting the expectations of how long the client has to wait for an answer, is one area you can start to improve your customer service. That is if you don’t already list it on your website.



Using templates to streamline your customer service  workflow



Using templates, for when a prospective customer contacts you, will help to be consistent with your customer service.  It means that regardless of how busy you are, the service you provide will be the same.



If someone contacts you via email, and they’re asking about pricing or availability. There’s no reason why you can’t have a simple template on our phone to answer the question in a clear and concise way. 



I’ve had 20 templates for different parts of the customer onboarding ...

Last minute cancellations can seriously affect the cash flow in your photography business.



What’s worse is if you have multiple people wanting the same date, and if you don’t have the capacity to photograph more than one session at a time, it adds a lot of stress when someone cancels a session and you struggle to fill the spot.



You can limit client cancellations by putting in place policies that protect your business. Such as asking for a deposit for a sitting fee and putting in place a cancellation policy, where it prevents clients from cancelling at the last minute.



Here is a question I received; 



A family contacted me through my website for a family portrait session.



I spoke to the mother on the phone. I explained my process from start to finish, including how the portrait session will go. I even emailed my price list and available dates the same day.



The client emailed me back the same day, picked a date and time, and booked their session.



The morning of their photo session I got a text saying, they had a family emergency and couldn’t make it.



I tried contacting the family a week later to reschedule but they wouldn’t answer my calls or emails.



Avoiding last minute cancellations



* Explaining your product and services to your client* Talk to all the decision makers* People booking you because of fearing of missing out* Contact 3 times and move on* Asking for a Sitting fee or deposit



Yes, it is annoying and can be extremely frustrating when clients cancel at the last minute. 



You go to the trouble of explaining everything, book in a time, and set aside time to prepare for the session. Then they cancel at the last minute, or simply don’t turn up without any communication.



It’s unfortunate that this particular client may have had a family emergency, but if the client is not answering their phone calls, or emails, this most likely means they didn’t want to go ahead with the portrait session.



The reason I say that is because I’ve had similar experiences. It can be frustrating, especially if there are other people that wanted a session on that same day, or you could have booked an event that could’ve been more profitable for you. That’s the frustrating bit!



1. Explaining your product and services to clients



I like the way you explained your process from start to finish to your client.



You’ve given her a price list, you’ve explained the products, told her how the day will go. The client had some time to think about it, and booked a date and time. That’s perfect!



I don’t think there’s anything wrong you did in your phone consultation with the client.



2. Talk to all the decision makers



One of the reasons some customers book and then later cancel, could be because they didn’t consult with their spouse.



Sometimes a client will book because they have a fear of missing out. When they’ve told the family afterwards, the other family members may just go, “No, we do not want that.” That does happen. That’s why it’s, extremely, important to speak to both parents/partners or decision makers for the family.



I get a lot of clients call over the phone, and there is only one person organising the whole session. So it is very common for one person to organise a session,

Luke wants to know, Do I need Photoshop or Lightroom to edit my photos? I was having a conversation with a friend, He said you don’t need Photoshop or Lightroom as there are plenty of other packages that will do the same.



Luke, thanks for your question. Yeah, your mate is right. You don’t really need Photoshop or Lightroom to do any of your photo editing, unless you have a specific reason.



Today I will be discussing, 



* Using your camera software to edit photos* Using your operating software to edit photos* Free alternative to photoshop & Lightroom * When to use Photoshop or Lightroom



Software that comes with your camera



When I first started, I was using the software that came with my Canon 20D. The EOS Solution Disc came with software called The Digital photo professional.  It was the editing software in the suite,  it allowed you to edit your Raw and jpeg photos and also offered photo management. 



I mostly used levels, contrast and crop tools to edit my photos using the software that came with my camera. 



As a freebie with the camera I was given Adobe Photoshop elements, as you know it’s the kinda cut down version of photoshop, geared towards the consumer. 



So, no you don’t need photoshop or lightroom because you will receive software with your camera to edit your photos.



Free alternatives for Photoshop & Lightroom



There’s software that comes with your computer like iPhoto, Mac photos or even the editing software that comes with Windows 10. These are free and more than capable to edit and even manage your photos.



Top free alternatives to photoshop:



* GIMP* Pixlr Editor* Photopea



Top free alternatives for Lightroom:



* darktable* RawTherapee* Irfanview



With anything that is free, there will be some drawbacks. Like the user interface might not be as refined or the feature might not be as extensive. The tech support might be limited, software updates not as frequent as their paid software equivalent. 



But to be honest, all of these drawbacks might not even count if you only use the software for very basic editing. Barely scratching the surface of what the editing package has to offer.



Then you really don’t need paid software like Lightroom or Photoshop and the free alternative will do the job nicely. 



If you do get stuck with any of the free software, simply use Youtube to find your answer.  You would be surprised how many photographers use other software other than Adobe.



When to use Photoshop or Lightroom to edit your photos



It’s not to say that any other photo editing and management software, paid or otherwise, can’t do the same thing as Adobe’s suite of software. 



They both have had their share of issues, But Adobe has had time to work on and refine both software packages, since 1990 for photoshop and 2006 for Lightroom.



Lightroom was designed for photographers. The features keep on growing and fit a specific workflow for event photographers. 



For instance, the catalog I have, an online library for all my sports images. There’s over 10,000 images of editorial and club photos for 9 years of photographing sports.



All the photos have embedded metadata and keywords.  So if you type the name of a player, game,

Let’s talk about camera bags that are suitable for amateur photographers, that are able to hold 1 – 2 camera bodies,  3 – 4 lenses and some room for your photography accessories.



Today’s question came from Oliver,  who says he has a camera system that consists of a Nikon DSLR and 3 lense, 1 flash and lots of memory cards, cable release plus batteries.



He is  looking to add another camera body when he gets the money and maybe a prime lens. He won’t always be carrying the whole camera kit when out taking photos. 



He currently uses a lowepro backpack and it holds his camera kit nicely, but is very empty when he takes a single camera body and lens setup.



He has looked online and came to the conclusion, No camera bag is going to work for every occasion.



What are your thoughts?



What is the Best camera bag for an amateur photographer?



I have to agree with you there mate, there is no camera bag that will suit every single occasion.



I must have accumulated at least 10 camera bags over the years and each bag serves a different purpose, and I assure my wife every time I buy a new one it does too.



Just like a pair of shoes, there’s no pair that suits every single occasion, but there is a pair of shoes for every occasion.



Anyway, back to camera bags. When choosing a camera backpack, it comes down to how much equipment you want to carry when you’re out photographing.



Often with new photographers, they tend to take their whole camera kit and they don’t necessarily use all of it.  Why? 



Well, it has to do with where they store all their photography equipment and not planning for the photo session ahead.



Now, you say you’ve already got a backpack and it holds your camera kit nicely. It’s only when you take one camera body and one lens, your camera backpack feels empty. 



The solution is depending on what else you want to carry with you and how long you’re out photographing.



* Camera pouch or camera bum bag  –  Holds only your camera and lens.  Perfect for short photo sessions or when you want to carry the bare minimum.* Small camera sling bag – To hold your kit and other essentials like water or a jumper. Perfect for a day out photographing with some walking.* Small camera backpack – Will hold your camera kit and a few camera accessories or water and clothes. Perfect for longer sessions, the two shoulder straps will make it easier on your back, especially if your camera kit is heavy and you’re walking a lot. 



That’s what I would recommend.



How to choose the right camera bag for the job



Now if you’re using your camera bag for storage, like a lot of us do, then having a bag that accommodates your whole photography kit in one camera bag is a good storage option.



For instance I store my event photography kit in a photography roller bag. And the rest of my camera equipment in two other photography bags. I know what I need when I go out to photograph events and have packed my bags ready to go.



So you can understand why most photographers have more than one camera bag, as your camera kit grows you need more places to store it and not everyone has shelf space to do that.



Small camera pouches / camera bum bags



The Lowepro sideline shooter bum bag is no longer sold by Lowepro.

Today I will be going through the process of creating a photo portfolio for your website. I received a question from Dean who says, 



I’m looking at starting a career in photography.  I need to build an online photo portfolio to attract future customers. My interests are street photography, family portraits and headshots



What are some tips for creating a portrait portfolio and should I use paid models or real people?



8 Tips how to create a portfolio for your new website



We discuss the topics:



* Hiring models vs real people for a portfolio* The added bonus of using real people* Using ads to get people to photograph* Photographing what you want to photograph* Get someone to critique your portfolio * Learn to relax your subjects* Have a contract for your portfolio subjects* How to organize your portfolio on your website



Let’s get stareted!



1. Hiring models vs real people for a portfolio?



In regards to hiring models vs finding real people to photograph for your portfolio. As you can imagine, there will be a bit of a difference with the end result.



If you’re new to portrait photography, hiring a model that is experienced with posing themselves and understanding how to interact with the camera can help you ten fold because your job will be so much easier.



You literally just have to set up the lighting, if you’re using natural lighting, it’s even easier and then it’s just a matter of interacting and photographing your model and you’ll get the photos your after for your website portfolio.



There’s pros and cons to using paid models, some models are very good looking, which is not a bad thing, but if you have a portfolio on your website people like to see themselves especially in portrait photography or family photography.



They want to be able to picture themselves in your photos. Otherwise they may not be able to relate to your photography. 



With a professional model their poses may look too posed, like what you would see in a magazine. As a result future customers may get put off with static poses, that’s something to think about.



When some people get family portraits done they’re not perfect. They’re not really perfect in the sense that there’s giggles and laughter and sometimes the posing is not 100 percent perfect and these natural looking facial expressions and reactions are what parents and families see themselves.



So that’s just something to think about. There’s nothing wrong with using professional models for your  online portfolio. 



In fact, I’ve done it a few times early on in my career.  



What I did learn when first transitioning from sports photography to portraits, Family portraits and weddings is it really helped me to try and understand what a difference good posing makes to a photo.



The few times that I did hire a model,  I didn’t learn everything,  but I could see the difference between somebody that knew what they were doing compared to a family that was going to get their first portrait session.



It’s worlds apart. So just keep in mind that hiring a model may give you a false sense of security because they will make your job a lot easier and that’s what I found.



When editing my photo portfolio,  the photos with the paid model, you could see they knew how to direct their face towards the camera and how to move thei...

Today we will be looking into how much equipment you need to start a photography business. Paul sent in a question and said,  I often get asked to photograph different events like parties and dance concerts for friends. They offer to pay me, which has made me wonder.  What would be the least amount of equipment needed to start a photography business?



I have a camera body, 2 lenses and a Macbook.



The minimum equipment needed to start a photography business



The minimum amount of equipment needed to start a photography business is one camera body, one lens, one memory card, one flash and a computer to edit your photos and that’s it, really. 



That’s the utmost minimum you need to get the job done. 



But, We all know that if we’re in business and we want to be professional, and we want to be the type of person that wants to do the right thing for our customers, then having backup equipment is a must.



Minimum equipment



1 camera, 1 lens, 1 flash, 1 memory card and computer



Recommended equipment



2 cameras, 2 – 3 lens, 2 – 4 memory cards, 2 flashes and fast computer



Here is the path I took to build my photography business, through small equipment upgrades.



For about 2 years I used to photograph with a Canon 70 – 200mm, Canon 20D, an 8 gb compact flash card and a computer that was five years old, and thinking about it now just makes me cringe.



If I had to photograph late in the afternoon, it would be a struggle. Anything past 1600 ISO was just so grainy.  Loading photos into the computer was so slow, It took 40 minutes to download the photos off from the memory card. I’d go and have dinner, come back, and it’s still hammering away. Thank God I’ve progressed from there.



When I added another camera body, It was great. I had two camera bodies to work with. But they  weren’t the same model.  There are pros and cons with that which I’ll explain in a bit.  But It was nice to have the ability to use two different lenses at the same time, but also as a backup if only just using one camera.



What I noticed was that because the cameras were a few years apart, the quality of the photos that came out of each camera was worlds apart. 



Low level ISO, I could shoot 6400, even higher, and be quite comfortable, with the other camera anything above 1600 ISO, it was just so grainy, you might as well just pack up and go home. It was really bad.



I had two different cameras. One naturally became the backup, which I slowly didn’t use over time, and I got more clients and put more money into the business. It got to a point where I could actually purchase two camera bodies that were exactly the same, and it made photographing and editing a lot easier.



I’m not saying you need that straight away, but having two camera bodies that are the same, because you can set them up the same, you will get the same performance from them, so it doesn’t matter which camera you picked up, as long as you have the correct exposure, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference unless you are at a different focal length.



Also having two camera bodies in case you drop one on the job is a must. Same thing applies with your camera lenses.

Today we are going to be discussing, as photographers, should we work for free?



Maxwell sent an email saying, The forums he is a member of have had a lot of talk about working for free and how this can negatively impact you and your business. 



The post was directed at new photographers, giving away their services for free just to portfolio build, while making it hard for professional photographers to get work.



Is there ever a good time to work for free as a photographer?



Should you work for free as a photographer?



Absolutely, there is a good time to work for free. 



We all probably have done it and probably still do it to some extent. There’s nothing wrong with giving your time or photography away for free, provided you get some benefit from it.



I know that it sounds selfish, but let’s be honest. Our time is important and should always have a value attached to it. We could be spending time with our families instead. We could also be learning new things, and even making money during the time we give away for free.



Which is why If you’re giving your photography away for free, you should definitely be getting something back in return.



Before I run through some of the places that we could give our photography away for free and how it will benefit us, let’s start with the perspective of how it can negatively impact you and your business.



The consequences of working for free



Think of it this way, If you have a lot of photographers charging $5,000 for their services, they offer premium products and excellent service. When you come in to view your photos, they give you food and drinks, basically they pamper you. 



Your products will arrive in beautiful packaging, it’s a full service that they offer.



They also don’t sell anything that’s unframed. If you want to get digital files, it’s at a premium because they’re trying to sell you large wall collections and albums and other products. This is all fine and is a good way to grow your photography business.



Now say a lot of newer photographers start giving away their services for free or for little cost. If it’s only a few people, then it’s not a problem.



But when the ratio of newer, less business savvy photographers outweighs the amount of professional photographers who provide a premium service, it starts to dilute the value of photography. 



Therefore, diluting the price and changing people’s perception of the value of needing professional photography.



Here you are giving your digital files away or very cheaply, because it’s a side gig or you don’t have the confidence in your photos yet.



That’s how I can see it affecting the industry as a whole, if we get a lot more people that come in and saturate the market with cheap photography.



Now, if you’re giving your photos away for free because you love photography, that’s one thing.



If everyone is doing that, then that’s a problem for the business that sells premium products and a full service. You are potentially training everyone to no value photography. 



Now, say you’re providing good quality photos that are framed, but for next to nothing and then doing it at a cost. There’s no reason for families to go to the more expensive photographers, is there?

Today we are going to be talking about photographing a friend’s wedding, what to expect and should you do it in the first place?



Angus sent in a question and said, my friends like my street photography photos and I’ve taken photos of them in the past just for fun. When meeting with them they said they have confidence in me. The problem is I’ve never photographed a wedding before.



I have all the equipment I need including backup equipment. But I’m not sure if I should photograph their wedding as my first or even how much I should charge them?



Should you photograph a friend’s wedding?



This is a tricky one because it comes down to your confidence level.



Clearly, your friends have trust in you and they like your photography as a whole, which is excellent. You have the equipment by the sounds of things. It really comes down to how comfortable you feel.



There are going to be people who will listen to this podcast who are professional photographers, and they’re going to say “ don’t do it because you could stuff it up”.



You know what? They’re right. 



There are a lot of things that could go wrong and may even lose a friend in the process.



But, What people need to understand is sometimes the bride and groom want photography done for their wedding, ask friends because they want to save money, they feel more confident with a friend doing it, or they don’t value photography as a whole and just want to get it done the cheapest way possible.



Regardless of how they feel, don’t worry about people giving you negative advice and saying you shouldn’t do it.



1. Offer the wedding photos as a gift



What I think you should do is maybe use this as an opportunity to think about doing wedding photography and see if you like it.



Think of it this way, 



You could offer the wedding photos as a wedding gift.



By doing so, you can say to them, 



I am going to photograph your wedding. But I have no prior experience. I will only photograph the ceremony, bridal party, family portraits and a portion of the reception. After that, you’re allowed to sit down, enjoy the meal, and enjoy the festivities.



They may want more from you and it’s up to you if you want to do it. Think of yourself first as it is a big responsibility and will be a super long day.



2. Setting Expectations and price



You asked if you should charge your friends to photograph their wedding? 



I think you shouldn’t, especially for your first wedding and by not charging, it will reduce the stress of photographing your friend’s wedding day.



I would also ask your friends to sign a one page document that lists the price of $0 and what you are going to photograph, how you will deliver the photos and when the photos will be ready. 



Even though I’ve photographed weddings for a long time. I only ever offer free weddings to close friends as a wedding gift and I still get them to sign a contract.



I think your friends would be understanding, I think anybody would love to get their wedding photos as a gift.



The fact that they like your street photography, which a lot of wedding photography is about candid moments,

Ian asks, any ideas on what I can do to challenge myself in my photography?



This is a really good question, especially for anyone that’s photographed the same type of photography, or a genre of photography all the time, you may get a little bit stagnant.



But it might not be your fault as some types of photography have restrictions, such as access to your subjects like in sports photography or you have to follow certain rules like in wedding photography. 



So the only way to grow as a photographer is to challenge yourself in other ways, if it’s not possible with your main type of photography.



Here is what I would do.



8 ways to challenge yourself as a Photographer



* Trying a different genre of photography* Limiting your equipment* Photographing in less than favourable conditions* Start a project* Recreation of old photographs* Shoot only in b&w* Limit the amount of photos* Cover up the LCD



1. Try a different genre of photography



First thing would be to try a different genre of photography. So if you photograph street photography, then do something completely different like landscape photography or sports. Try something that is so far removed from the type of photography you normally do.



You’ll learn something new, especially how light falls on the subject.



If you’re always doing outdoor  photography, get inside and do something like still life, product photography, or real estate photography. Try to immerse yourself in the new genre and you will start to see your subjects differently.



2. Limiting your equipment to push yourself



Another thing would be to limit your camera equipment. You hear a lot of people using walk-around lenses like a 50 mm and a camera body and that’s it. 



They’re using their feet to zoom in and out, I think this is a really good thing to try since you don’t need to purchase other equipment. 



If you only have a zoom, that’s perfectly fine, set it on one focal length, try the widest focal length first as you won’t need to worry about the zoom moving. Simply use your feet to zoom and that’ll be a very similar exercise. 



This will help with composing a photo or simply moving to another subject if you can’t get the right composition.



Other settings you can try are limiting your shutter speed or limiting your ISO as you move into dimly lit locations. How will you steady your camera or will you allow for some movement in your photos?



3. Photographing in less than favourable conditions



Put yourself in less than favourable conditions in your next photoshoot to challenge yourself as a photographer. 



So if you’re always photographing in a well-lit environment, put yourself in a setting where it makes you think about where you’re going to put your subject, or how you’re going to light the area. 



You can use some flash to potentially bounce off the walls to illuminate your subject, or put them closer to a window or some other light source.



It helps with lighting, dealing with less than favourable locations and forces you to have a backup plan for a shoot.



4. Start a photo challenge



Have you tried a project or photo challenge? 



Before you rush off and start a 365 or 30 day photo challenge, as it does take some planning.

How To Take Better Photos With A DSLR Camera




To take better photos with any camera it simply comes down to understanding your equipment, technique and practice with a major emphasis on taking lots of photos.



I was asked a question by Connor on the podcast who recently got a new digital camera for the family.  He and his wife have made it a point to learn how to take better photos of their kids. He wanted to know some tips for taking better photos in general.



Here is what I personally did to get better at taking photos using any camera, from mobile phone to digital SLR.



13 ways to take better photos with any camera



* Learn your camera equipment – Read the Manual!* shutter speed, aperture and ISO* Take photos everyday* Take lots of photos* Framing and composing* Slow down and previsualize the photo* Learn to read the light* Simple post processing* Using lightroom presets* Keep your equipment simple* Hold your camera properly* Clean your equipment* Printing your photos



1. Learn your camera equipment – Read the Manual



Let’s start off with learning your camera equipment since this is the simplest and most basic thing you could do with a new camera to start taking better photos.



You need to learn where all the dials are , you’ve got to learn what all the buttons and menus do. Even if you don’t use them, you will one day down the track.



To do that, other than playing with the camera is to actually read the manual. 



I know, it’s boring, but you’ve got to do it. 



The manual will tell you how the manufacturer expects you to use their camera.



Same thing applies for anything, right? We’ve all got to read the manual if we want the optimum results.



The manual also has other topics such as troubleshooting tips, which are usually at the back of the book. It also talks about accessories. It even tells how to hold the camera.



It’s one of those things where as much as we loathe reading manuals, you’ve just got to do it. 



What I find works for me is looking at the index and finding different topics that I want to learn about.  It cuts out the boredom. 



Because if you start at the beginning after the first couple of chapters, you may think, 



“When am I going to get to the good stuff?” 



Unless you are a complete novice as It’s usually the most basic information at the beginning.   You may want to skip to different chapters if you’re finding it a little bit boring. That way, hopefully, you will get something out of the manual, Instead of not reading it all.



2. Shutter speed, Aperture and ISO



Auto mode will take you only to a certain point once the conditions become a little bit trickier or you want to get more creative, that’s when you need to know about the manual modes or creative modes on your camera so knowing your shutter speed, aperture and ISO is very important to progress.



The ISO is how sensitive the camera sensor is to light. The lower ISO ( low number ), which you would generally use when it’s very bright conditions, and the higher ISO ( high number ) is when it’s dark like indoors, useful if you don’t want to use a flash.



The aperture dictates how much of the photo is in focus. A low number e.g f2.8 will only have a small section of the photo in focus leaving the background blurry.  A high number e.g f16 will have more of the photo in focus perfect for landscapes.

Working out how much to charge can be confusing if you don’t know your numbers or the customers you’re servicing.



First you need to know your cost of doing business, cost of goods, then you need to work out if people are willing to pay for the work you’re offering, because your local market will also play a part on how much you can charge.



I received a question from Alex who says his prices haven’t been updated since he started his business many years ago. The cost of running the business has increased, and his skills have improved enough that he feels comfortable to increase his prices.



Alex also sells prints, albums and digital files. But doesn’t charge a session fee, What is a good starting point for his prices and should he increase his prices because he is worried of losing customers?



Today I’ll go through some steps in working out your prices for your photography business and what happens to your customers when you do raise your prices. 



Let’s get started!



7 tips to work out how much you should charge for a photo session



Firstly Alex good on you for having the courage and the confidence to raise your prices.



We should all be doing that every so often to keep on track with making more money in our business. 



But as you’ve mentioned your costs increased, such as your vendors may be raising prices and that’s something we should always be aware of because otherwise we’re not making a profit, we’re actually losing money.



Pricing is one of those things  it’s very hard to give you a definite answer, Without working your expenses first. So instead we will go through a couple of tips to get you in the right direction and looking at your cost of doing business is a good place to start.



1. Working out your cost of doing business



First start with using my cost of doing business calculator to workout your running costs. 



The calculator is a form where you put in your expenses for your running costs such as electricity, accounting fees, subscription fees for your web hosting and software subscription, , equipment costs, insurance and so on.  



I suggest using a notebook and going through your bank account first to get an idea of the reoccurring costs than your business.



Some of these costs could be one off costs but also monthly and weekly recurring costs.



The idea is to work out where all your money is being spent so your photography business can operate at a profit.



What’s your workout where your money has been spent for the year divide that cost by 12 to get your monthly spend. 



The reason it’s important to understand how much money you need to make to break even. Is you need to make the bulk of your money in the busy season, and so you have enough money to cover the off season where your expenses will still be there but the work may not.  



This especially true for wedding photographers, event photographers and even for some portrait photographers to keep some money in reserve to pay the bills.



For example, if you’re home ba...

Camera lenses are an excellent way to expand the capability of your camera. But buying a new lens can be expensive, for the budget conscious, second hand lenses or pre-owned lenses are a good way to get the lens you want at a fraction of the price.



Buying second-hand can also give you the opportunity to purchase a branded lens for your camera rather than a third party lens from Sigma for instance, if money is tight.



Compared to camera bodies, lenses can keep their value a lot more.  So the perfect time to buy a second-hand camera lens is when a new model is being announced and everyone is trying to offload their perfectly good lenses so they can buy the latest and greatest.



If having one or two models behind the current model doesn’t phase you. Then you’re in the perfect position to get a good bargain.



10 tips when buying a second hand lens



* Try to buy in person* Check for any visible body damage* Check lens accessories* How to check the glass elements for scratches* How to check the lens for dust and mold* Bring a camera to test the lens* Has the lens been repaired in the past?* Does it have warranty* Don’t be forced to buy anything* Compare price



Today’s question is from Tom who is asking how do you avoid getting ripped off when buying a second hand camera lens?  He wants to add another lens to his event photography kit, but can only afford a 2nd hand lens.



Buy in person rather than online



To avoid any disappointment I would highly recommend you buy the second hand lens in person.  I’m not saying that you will be ripped off if you buy a second hand camera lens from an online retailer.



It’s just sometimes the photos don’t always show the true condition of the lens,  such as does it have noticeable dust in the glass elements, does it have mould, or even a scratch on the front glass element.



This is why it’s important to be able to physically handle the lens and see for yourself. Does anything sticks out as a red flag when it comes to the purchase?



You could always ask the sell questions about damage,  If it’s been repaired in the past,  and the general conditions of a second hand lens if the online product description doesn’t give you all the information you need, but still not the same if buying in person.



How to check for visible damage on the exterior



The first thing you should do is to check for any visible damage on the lens.   



It’s natural for a lens to have some scuff marks or even a couple of dings depending if it was a professional that was used for everyday work if the lens is a few years old.



If the previous owner was a casual user that only took photos on the weekends would less likely have scuff marks on the exterior of the lens unless it was dropped or misused.



What you really looking for is for the 2nd hand lens to be as perfect as possible for its age. That means if the lens is only a couple years old and if it looks like it’s been through a war zone, I would personally think twice about buying the lens. One or two light scuff marks are ok,  but when you see deep gouges or dents should rings alarm bells.  



If you’re looking at buying an L series lens or a professional grade lens that are working professional used every day.  99% of the time you are going to get some sort of scuff marks and Dings.

Finding the correct exposure fast is something all photographers try to consistently do, especially when under pressure like during a portrait session or when photographing an event. There are a few fail proof techniques you can do to achieve the perfect exposure. Which can be used using manual exposure and semi automatic modes like AV and TV.



Today’s question is from Gary. He recently started doing family portraits, but Is finding that he is taking a lot of photos just to get the exposure right.  



Gary then starts to get nervous because he feels his customers are waiting a long time for a simple photo.  He normally photographs landscapes and brackets his exposure but using this technique for portraits is taking too long.



What are some tips to getting the right exposure fast?



10 Techniques to finding the correct exposure fast



* Practising before the session* How to read the exposure meter* Manually Setting your exposure* Find an exposure using semi Auto modes* Using your hand to set your exposure* Using the grass to set your exposure* Using spot metering mode* Setting your exposure as you walk to the location* Using the one of the family members people as a test* Telling them you’re taking a test shot



Gary, thanks for your question



Yes It can be daunting especially when you’re just starting out.



I can understand exactly where you’re coming from.  I used to feel the same way when I first started and I did exactly the same thing. Not having confidence and taking extra photos just in case.



The family is right there standing patiently waiting for you while you fumble with your camera while trying to stay calm!



The thing is you’ve just got to get your exposure correct before you put them in front of the camera. It will allow you to concentrate on them, so you can interact with them, getting them to laugh and posing them. But most of all it will remove a lot of the stress you’re experiencing.



Practising before the session



The reality is you should have the basics down before you can start to charge for your services.  That means practising by doing free photos sessions to get a feel for interacting with people.  



But before you get to that stage practice without people in front of the camera.  That’s going to be the easiest way.  You won’t get nervous since you won’t have people staring at you as you try to nail the exposure.



Using objects like a doll or stuffed toys or even a bowl of fruit.  Start by only changing one sitting at a time.  



Lock in your aperture and ISO first and use your shutter speed to fine-tune.



How to read the exposure meter



Your camera will have a metre that you can access via the viewfinder or by the rear LCD screen. Depending on the camera manufacturer the metre will be located at the bottom or on the side.



 It will have Zero in the middle with the numbers 1 to 3 on either side.



Each whole number is a stop of light,  and markings in between these whole numbers are a third of a stop each.



Think of your exposure metre as a scale.  The middle is neutral and balanced. The left hand numbers are minus so – 1 – 2 – 3, if the needle is in this area the photo will be dark. On the right-hand side + 1 + 2 + 3,

Today’s question is from Nicole who asks:



Question: What Photo Equipment Do I Need For Event Photography?



I prefer not to specialize and want to exposed myself to lots of different types of photography. Such as corporate events, christenings, bar mitzvahs, weddings and sports.



What type of cameras, lenses and other equipment do I need to be a successful event photographer?



In today’s episode:



We discus the topics



* The basic photography kit  – 2 cameras,  2 lens and a flash* Backup equipment* Lens choice is key* Lighting equipment* Batteries and flash battery packs* Camera straps* Camera Bags



The basic event photography kit – 2 cameras, 2 lens and a flash



BUY FROM AMAZONClick any photo for current pricing













































With a basic kit you want at least two camera bodies, two lenses and one flash.



That will get you through 99% of what you want as a event photographer. Having a short lens and a long lens will cover the focal range.



Having two camera bodies will help you have a bit of a back up as well, if one fails, double duty there. And having a flash will help you when it comes to low light situations,

Given the bond that some pet owners have with their pets, I would say absolutely, you can make money with pet photography.



I have a friend that she looks after animals that have been neglected that she gets from the pound and looks after them for a few weeks or even months, and then gives them back so they can find a permanent home, which I think is absolutely wonderful.



She has her own pets, and her house, at any given time, could have up to eight animals, mostly cats, but there are a couple of dogs as well.



Now, I know that, what I’ve noticed, is that she is quite, I guess I wouldn’t say obsessive, but she loves them, and you can tell by the way that she treats them. She treats them like regular kids. They’re her fur babies, as she puts it.



When her pets, have a birthday, she dresses them up, gives them a cake, puts a great background, just similar to what you would expect if you were to take your kid to go get the cake smash.



That’s, in essence, what she’s giving the animals, especially her dogs, is a cake smash. She dresses them up, puts a cake in front, and then the dog absolutely annihilates the cake, and she photographs that, and does that every year.



I find that very interesting, because if you can find people to pay you to do a similar thing, I absolutely think you definitely can make a living from it.



Can you make a living just from photographing pets? Well, I guess it really depends on how you’re marketing yourself, doesn’t it?



So, I guess before we move on, we probably should talk about, what is pet photography?



What is pet photography?



I think, in its most simplest form, it’s basically photographing animals, or our pets, in the same way that we’d photograph humans.



What I’ve noticed is there’s a couple of ways you can photograph them, and that’s just like you would have a photo session outdoors.



You can also photograph them indoors with lighting that was potentially set up for a human.



Dramatic lighting, lighting that shows off certain features, and it’s pretty amazing what some examples you find on the internet are. It’s pretty cool, the extent that people go to.



When you look at the photos, you can tell that there’s a personality with these pets, and that’s what they’re trying to achieve. It’s definitely a skill, because as people say, never work with young children or pets, and with that in mind, for you to photograph a pet, you really have to be into pets, so you’ve got to be a cat lover or a dog lover.



Don’t forget, it’s not just limited to furry animals. I’ve seen people photograph things as snakes, and other type of animals, and I guess if you can find a type of animal that you love and you can show that that’s the type of thing you want to do, and find the people that will pay you for it, well, absolutely. I definitely think you can make a living from it.



How to find pets to photograph?



There’s a few ways you can do this, and I guess using your own pets, if you have some, would definitely be a way to do it. If you’ve got a couple of cats or dogs, that’s a great way to start your portfolio.



You know your own pets, their personalities, can they take direction from you.



Sometimes there are animals that are very good at that,

Question: What Should A photographer Wear To A Photoshoot?



I’m a portrait photographer and attended a friends wedding as a guest a little while back.



I couldn’t help notice that the videographer was dressed very casually,  cargo pants and a polo that seemed stretched and not ironed.



While the photographer was dressed all in black and on the back of his t-shirt had his company name.



Typically when I do my photo sessions. They are in the park with families so I’m wearing a t-shirt with my logo on it and jeans.  I’m usually rolling on the ground playing with the kids trying to get casual photos.



Everyone has a different idea as to what is acceptable dress code. So I was wondered what should we be wearing to a photoshoot?



In today’s episode:



We discuss:




* Comfortable clothes are key



* Match your clothes to your clients



* Branded  v non-branded clothes



* Good fitting clothes



* It’s not a fashion show




That is true. What is acceptable dress code? Because we all do different types of photography and photographing indoors, you’d obviously be wearing different types of clothes compared to if you’re rolling around in the park very similar to what you’re doing and what you’re doing when you do portraits of families.



I think that what you’re wearing is acceptable because you’re matching your clothes to your clients or the situation at hand here.



Now, I should say I’m not a fashionista. I have no if you call that fashion, right? I’m very boring when it comes to my clothes that I wear. In fact, what I do is I actually match my clothes to my clients.



If I’m actually going to a wedding, I’m actually going to wear very similar clothes to what a guest would wear.



I wear a shirt and tie and pants, obviously. I don’t wear a jacket because I use a holdfast camera strap ,which has two cameras attached to it and I can’t wear a jacket because it keeps on catching.



Matching your clothes to your clients or the environment I think is key. It just projects a bit of professionalism.



If I’m out photographing the young family, I’m going to dress smart casual. If they got young kids, I may wear some jeans because I may be kneeling a lot to get down to their level that type of thing.



Same thing applies if I’m going and photographing a corporate event. I photograph an event where it was a lunch and it was business people so with one camera I could go around and photograph using shirt and tie and a jacket.



I think it’s just common sense.



As to branding and non-branding, you know you point out that the photography here had his branding on his back.



I don’t know I mean that’s just a personal preference. Same thing applies if you’re just wearing all black. It’s simple. You got one outfit. You don’t have to think and some people expect people in the background. You’d often see roadies or sound engineers are all wearing black. People just expect that from photographers and I don’t know.



It’s just personal preference if you ask me but wearing good fitting clothes that fits you well, that are not too baggy.

Question: How To Deal With A Bridezilla in your Business



I have been researching wedding photography for awhile now.  I’ve 2nd second shot with friends who said I have the personality for wedding photography.



It would be a dream if i could shoot weddings, even if it’s part time. One thing that is stopping me is the fear of having to deal with a bridezilla.



How do you deal with bridezillas in your business?



Answer:



What is a bridezilla or groomzilla?



A bride or groom whose behaviour is seen as demanding or unreasonable when planning their wedding.



How to avoid a bridezilla




* Set and meet their expectations, on first contact. If you can’t offer the service or products they are after, let them know.



* Have a contract drawn that covers you from events that are out of your control



* Make sure they fill out a timeline and it’s possbile to achive.



* Offer advice and make sure if you have spoken over the phone, they you follow it up with an email.




Dealing with complaints




* Don’t respond straight away, think the problem over otherwise your tone my come across as aggressive.



* Must respond within 24 hrs and try phone first



* Think of it from her point of view



* talk the issue with a college first before responding



* Have a solution to the problem that will benefit the bride and not you.




How do I deal with bridezillas as my business?



I run, I run the opposite direction.



No seriously, it’s one of those things that sometimes can’t be avoided. When your question came in, I actually had a bit of a chuckle because I was actually in the same position as you a few years back, about five years ago. I had this mindset that every single person I was going to meet was going to be difficult, partly due to the photographers I was speaking to and asking them had they done any wedding photography and what did they think of it?



The first thing that came up was, “Oh yeah, it was really difficult dealing with the bride, they wanted everything.” I guess reality TV doesn’t help either, it makes the regular wedding drama and it’s just full of drama, everything’s going to go wrong and yes, stuff does happen.



I haven’t been in a position where I’ve seen a bride go ballistic at the most smallest thing because I don’t know, the flowers were rearranged or incorrectly or the wrong one or they’re too small or I don’t know. I mean, I just haven’t really come across anybody that full on.



And bridezilla basically is someone, it’s basically someone whose behavior’s seen to be really demanding and unreasonable when they’re planning their wedding.



I think a lot of the times you’re not really going to get to see the stress of what goes into the bride and groom planning their wedding.



Let’s be honest, they are spending a lot of money for one day and I think they should be allowed to have things, well they should have things perfect. If they order for something they should get it.



I think that out of all the vendors,