Four Awesome Ideas From Around the Architectural Photography Community

I love seeing the brilliant ideas photographers put into place on their websites, Instagrams, or mention in forums. I’ve noticed that the ones I’m particularly drawn to have less to do with how to make great photos, and more to do with how to run a great business. They typically deal with copyright, marketing, and setting client expectations.

Here are four of my favorite things I’ve seen around the architectural photography community lately that I think you’ll love too.

Duccio Malagamba’s Instagram publishing guidelines

Duccio Malagamba is an architectural photographer in Barcelona with over 25 years of experience. I was pouring through his beautiful work when I noticed the “publishing guidelines” he includes in all of his captions on Instagram:

Each of Duccio’s Instagram posts contains this little blurb at the end, stipulating the guidelines for publishing/resharing the image.

I loved the way Duccio demands a “clickable” credit in the first line for accounts sharing architecture photography, and a credit after the architect or designer’s name in all other cases. The best part though, is that bit at the end that says “The above should not be considered irrevocable permission to post Duccio Malagamba images [on] Instagram. Any use outside Instagram must be previously authorized.”

These clear-cut terms set proper expectations, and for violators, you can’t say he didn’t warn you!

Roehner & Ryan’s Dropbox pop-up

When the guys at Roehner & Ryan shared their photos of Osborn Residence with us for Project of the Week via Dropbox, I noticed this little gem:

A Dropbox business plan gives you the ability to use branding for your Dropbox folders. When you click on the link they deliver, this handy pop-up appears before giving you access to the folder. I really love how they used this opportunity to include a reminder about not sharing the images with third parties, and how to reach them for licensing. R&R noted that this is helpful, especially when the Dropbox link to the final images gets passed around. “We’re trying to do our best to alert people ahead of time so there isn’t an awkward ‘you owe us money’ conversation later,” they share.

This seems like a helpful way to gently remind clients about your licensing practices.

Stephen Goodenough’s contact page

Christchurch New Zealand based architectural photographer Stephen Goodenough has a great addition to his website that establishes his business and operational practices before you even reach out to him to inquire about a project!

Under his contact information, Stephen emphasizes that he works under The New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography & The Advertising and Illustrative Photographer’s Association’s guidelines and T&C on each project. He then links to the Industry Standard Terms and Conditions, which include explanations on licensing, copyright, client confidentiality, etc.

This is a perfect way to set expectations and show you are firm on your business practices from the start.

Victoria Hely-Hutchinson’s about page

If your potential clients are reading your website bio, it is safe to assume they like the work that they see and are eager to know more about you before they reach out to hire you. It’s a tool you should be using to give them a glimpse of your personality. Victoria Hely-Hutchinson has my all-time favorite “about me” page:

I don’t know about you, but I think Victoria seems like someone I would absolutely want to hang out with on location all day!