In the first part of this series, where I discussed my subjective reflections related to photo post-processing in Lightroom and Capture One, I covered topics such as types of licenses, program interfaces, tethering, and the difference between a catalog and a session.
If you’ve been in this photography game for any amount of time, you most likely have some clients that you love, and perhaps a few who you’d be happy to never meet again.
Having high-quality clients is the bedrock of a fruitful career. Without clients, photography is just your hobby.
I remember the first time I used Adobe Lightroom. It had to be around the year 2008. It was a shock to me back then. I mainly had used Photoshop before, which is a powerful tool, but especially at that time, it wasn’t well-suited for quickly editing a large number of photos.
On May 18th, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in the case of Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith. In a 7-2 vote, the Court ruled in favor of photographer Lynn Goldsmith, finding that pop artist Andy Warhol had infringed Goldsmith’s copyright in a photo she took of the music artist Prince in 1981. The outcome of the case hinged largely on the Andy Warhol Foundation’s assertion that Warhol’s use of the photo constituted “fair use.”
After 10+ years of working in the industry, I have tried a lot of different processes for winning jobs. There is always a lot to learn from the sales process and while I have not figured everything out, I wanted to share some things that have helped me get to where I am today.
Let’s face it when photographing in the world of Architecture & Design photography, there are often other components that we are requested to capture by the client. A staged portrait of the client, lifestyle images, or food and drink photography for the hotel or restaurant.
I wouldn’t necessarily call it a trend, but something that I’ve noticed recently is (some) professional photographers advocating for NOT using contracts. I don’t think there are a ton of photographers doing this, but I’ve seen random comments in Facebook groups and YouTube videos suggesting that you as a professional photographer should NOT be using contracts.I’m
Even within the category of A&D photography, shooting interior design can be its own “beast”. Not only are there nuances to shooting techniques, but (some) interior design clients can be a different breed altogether…and that’s not a bad thing.
Once upon a time, whenever I’d watch a movie, I was focused on who the characters were and what the plot was about.
Now, I also look a lot at the cinematography, because if beautiful cinematography isn’t a complementary course in filmmaking and learning about light that’s going to help me with my interiors and architectural photography, I don’t know what is.
Throughout my years in business, I have been fortunate enough to have various mentors specializing in different areas of life and business. Whether it was my therapist to help with life challenges, a social media consultant for social strategies, or a photographer to aid with the development of photo and business techniques.
In the summer of 2022, a lot of buzz and hype was created around AI visual generator tools that would allow enthusiasts to create images simply by describing them with keywords. Artificial intelligence research firm OpenAI conducted a wide-scale beta test of DALL-E, a cutting-edge software that creates images from textual descriptions (APA writer Kyrre Sundal shows a great example of its functionality here).
Disclaimer: I loved Sprout Studio so much that I became an ambassador for the brand back in 2020. While I do receive a commission for new users signing up, this application has been a staple in my business since 2015. For anyone interested in trying out the program, please know your support is greatly appreciated and I am here to help if you have any questions.
For the past few years I’ve been focusing my energy on establishing myself as an interior design and architecture photographer and with that came a lot of very expensive purchases. The type of equipment we need to develop ourselves in this industry is very specialized and is often accompanied by a hefty price tag.
LinkedIn is a robust B2B social media platform with an abundance of business networking features that can often cause confusion on how to get the most out of it. I like to look at it as an in-person networking event, where you selected everyone in the room to be there.
It’s my favourite and most indispensable piece of gear.
My Logitech MX Master mouse.
Now granted, I probably spend a lot more time editing than out shooting than most but still, if I had to judge the most worthwhile investment by the amount of time I’ve used any piece of gear, this would be it by far.
A few weeks ago, my colleague Kyrre Sundal wrote a post sharing his favorite architecture-based youtube channels. One of those channels was that of Stewart Hicks. I wanted to hone in on one of Stewart’s videos that I particularly like – as it applies directly to photography and is pretty thought-provoking.
Marketing as a photographer is more than just showcasing your portfolio. There are many places for you to market your brand like social media, emailers, print mailers, etc. Wherever you are marketing, you’ll need content to go with it. Our instincts are to show portfolio-worthy content but, there is a huge benefit to being real with your audience.
Last year my fellow writer, Veeral, put together a fantastic article entitled, ‘Getting Started in Architectural Filmmaking’ which focused on the new opportunities the medium provides and showcases some beautiful examples of videos that take a more sophisticated and minimalist approach to capturing architectural space.
We all know that awful, sinking feeling at the end of a long day when the client says, “Oh hey, can we just grab one more quick shot?” When I had a day rate, those feelings of defeat, exhaustion, and frustration were real. Since I switched to billing hourly, those conversations go something more like this:
Client: “Oh hey, can we just grab one more quick shot?”
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.
