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The tips are in no particular order of importance.

Tip 1 – Learn To Use Light
Light is a critical element to great photography. So many new photographers say “I’m a natural light photographer.” Grant it, natural light is amazing when used properly, but many new photographers don’t even know how to modify and use natural light to its fullest.

Getting into speedlites, constant lighting (artificial) and strobe lighting and using it properly both inside and outside can get complicated. However, any photographer can spend a couple of hours watching FREE YouTube videos to help get started in the right direction.

Whether you are a new photographer or a veteran professional, learning to use light will be the difference in getting paid or getting paid better as a photographer.

Tip 2 – Focus On Composition
Yes, you can crop in post. However, as a photographer, if you learn to compose in the camera, it will make a difference in your creativity plus save you time in post. In addition, there are some things that you cannot create in post like the use of a wide angle lens at a low angle that you could shoot with and focus on composing the shot in camera for a unique creative look. Professional photographers know composition.

Tip 3 – Get Off Auto Mode
To set the record straight, MANUAL mode is NOT the right fit for every photography need. As a full time professional, I typically shoot in manual mode or aperture priority mode. There are very limited times that I may turn the dial over to auto mode.

The key take away behind this tip is to not let the camera make the decisions, but to understand the dial settings enough to go beyond what auto mode will do.

Just like learning to use light, getting off auto mode can be scary for a new photographer, but there are also FREE YouTube videos available to help with this area of photography as well. The best way to get off auto mode is to use tip #5 “Never Stop Shooting.”

Tip 4 – Try Something New
It’s easy to become complacent and do the same type of lighting over and over and over. Never leaving your comfort zone as a photographer can cause you to stagnate and hinder creativity.

Our oldest daughter recently got married. I AM NOT A WEDDING OR BRIDAL photographer. So when my wife and business partner told me that she put doing our daughters bridal portraits on my calendar, I was definitely going to be trying something new and out of my comfort zone.

The shots below are what I came up with on location in 30 to 45 minutes of shooting which I think came out fine considering I was very much out of my comfort zone and trying something new.

Tip 5 – Never Stop Shooting
It’s nice to always have a phone along and always taking pics. However, if you are a photographer with a traditional camera (mirrorless or DSLR), you cannot afford to never stop shooting. Try putting your camera away for a month at the time and see what happens.

If you are a new photographer, you may not have the workload yet to always be shooting, but you should find something to photograph on a regular basis.

Even full time professionals likely spend more time doing other tasks than shooting which is why personal projects are important to do to hone skills and try new things. So whether you are part-time or full-time, never stop shooting because it’s likely what motivated you to pursue photography to begin with.

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Please use the comments section to answer: What is your favorite of the 5 tips?

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If you’ll notice that the title of this post also says, “Who Inspires You As A Photographer?” Therefore, the information below is just some random thoughts that don’t necessarily tie into the book.

There is no right or wrong answer to your approach on photography. It’s important that you create your own style. But if your style is not generating revenue, you’ll have to decide if photography is just a hobby or a business. I get it: Not everyone wants to do photography as a business.

I tend to gravitate toward more low key personality photographers not the off the hook guys like Peter Hurley. Although Peter Hurley is a successful photographer, his personality and his style are not a fit for me. I also tend to gravitate toward the photographers that started their career no later than the 80’s. That’s just me. You have to decide who inspires you.

Lindsay Adler is another very successful photographer who definitely took her career to the next level. Although her work is amazing, I’m not a fashion photographer or one that gets into really high level creative areas. However, I am still inspired by Lindsay Adler with the way she built a name for herself and achieved a completely new level.

Gregory Heisler inspires me for multipe reasons:

1) I think his work is simplistic in one sense, but it’s very technical.
2) I think his work is creative, but it’s well thought out.
3) I love the way he captures people. That is a key area of inspiration for me. It inspires me to think deeper about my own work.
4) He uses a lot of large format film cameras which is not for me, but it’s inspirational what he achieves with film.
5) I love the way he plans, tests and then implements his shoots. For example, the Time magazine cover of Rudolph Giuliani below that came from Gregory Heisler’s Pinterest account was planned and tested over the course of a week. Then, it was shot with a few exposures on film. The lighting, technique in general and more were all meticulously planned. He often only has minutes with people that he photographs, so he has to be ready.

Who inspires you as a photographer and why?

The post 50 Portraits By Gregory Heisler: Who Inspires You As A Photographer? first appeared on .

Peter Hurley in Manhattan consistently gets $1,200 for a headshot. That’s more than he could command in a small town in Eastern North Carolina. However, I’m sure that there are others in New York that charge far less. Peter has determined that his headshot services are worth $1,200 minimum. The nice thing for him is that there is a market willing to pay his asking price.

Locally, I had a veteran professional photographer and cinematographer tell me back in 2013 that he had done the math and figured out that he could not go on location for less than $2,500 per day or he was losing money. That may not be the case for every photographer in the local area. However, this particular photographer is a veteran of the industry and had figured out what his minimum day rate needed to be. Do you know what your minimum day rate is based on actually crunching the numbers and not just randomly picking a number out because it sounds good?

A friend of mine knows a photographer that works full time, has some nice camera gear and only charges $60 for a family photo session. Even part-time and having another job, the $60 rate will not yield enough revenue anytime soon to buy new gear. Her mentality is that her target market can only afford $60. It’s up to her, but I think she might be better off donating her services to the less fortunate and targeting families that can afford to pay more.

Determining what your photography services are worth includes factoring in what the market will bear. For example, the Raleigh market is not a hotspot for $1,200 headshots. However, there may be a handful that will pay that price point. On the other hand, the Raleigh market will bear a $2,500 per day photographer. And of course, if your pricing is rock bottom at $60 per family, there will always be people willing to pay low prices.

Whatever you do, don’t under value your services and put a black eye on the photography industry because of your super low prices. It’s OK to make a profit and a comfortable living doing photography. Decide that you are worth more than the lowest priced photographer in town, charge what the market will bear and actually make a good living doing what you love. If you do photography on the side, there is nothing wrong with pricing at a fair market value rather than “I’m a part-time photographer. I’ll shoot for $25 because I just love taking pictures.” Surely you want new gear and at $25 a pop, it will be difficult to buy new gear.

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Headshots Taken Just Outside Our North Raleigh Studio

Brenda and I have been at our current location for almost 2 years as of this blog post. What is interesting to me is that it is just 2 miles from where we were located about 25 years ago. We have no intentions of moving anytime soon and that is one of many reasons that I have to continue to explore how to do things inside and just outside the studio to provide variety for our clients.

Be Aware Of Your Surroundings
The two headshots above were taken within 30 feet of our front door. As you can see, the backgrounds are different. What’s interesting to me is that I just started shooting in this particular area within the last few weeks. The key point is to encourage you to look at your surroundings and see what opportunities are in front of you that you may be missing. In addition, keep an open mind as you continue to shoot and find new opportunities.

Change Up The Lighting Inside And Outside
One of the most important areas in photography is lighting. You can easily change the appearance of an image shot on the same background inside or outside to get a different look. Experiment with your lighting by making simple changes to see what happens. For example, on the inside, you can simply cut one light off if you are using two lights and create shadow on once side of the face for a more dramatic look. On the outside, you can under expose the background which makes it darker but expose for a speedlite or strobe on the subject to create a more dynamic look. The example below which was shot outside shows both situations in use with light on one side and the background under exposed.

Oh, You Don’t Have A Studio? So What!
Sure, there are advantages to having a studio, but it also adds extra overhead which means you have to have enough business to support a studio. Don’t let not having a studio be a barrier for you. You can easily switch out two different backgrounds for headshots on location and change up the lighting to give a lot of variety in under an hour. As for outdoors, you can shoot outside at the clients location or find a spot like Joyner Park in Wake Forest that you ask clients to drive too. FYI, people will drive 30+ minutes. You just have to sell them on the value of what you are offering them and convince them that it’s worth their time.

Note To Photographers: As part of my ongoing blogging commitment to myself and to you the reader, keep in mind that this post is less than 500 words and only took a few minutes to write. If you are not blogging, what are you waiting for?

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In case you are not familiar with the term TTL that Mark uses in the video, it simply means that the camera and flash are working together automatically to determine the proper flash output based on the camera settings. In manual mode, you’d have to manually make the needed adjustments.

Mark also mentions exposure compensation on the flash which means that when in TTL mode it changes what the flash thinks it should be putting out based on the results that it puts out on its on. So if the flash is too bright and you change the exposure compensation by lowering it by 1 stop, it will put out less light on the future images.

The post Video Tutorial: One Flash, Three Looks: Exploring Photography with Mark Wallace first appeared on .

First Things First – Defining A Professional Photographer
Although some people say that being a professional photographer means that 100% of the photographers income comes from photography and that they have to be FULL -TIME, I think someone can be a part-time professional photographer. The dictionary defines a professional as “engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.” The part-time professional photographer may only do photography and nothing else for their source of income. Therefore, I believe that if a photographer is making all of their income from photography whether it it part-time or full-time that they can still be classified as a professional. To me an amateur photographer can get paid for photography, but they are someone that has another primary source of income.

Professional Photography Gear vs. Consumer Photography Gear
Here is where the argument begins because some people think it’s a misnomer (inaccurate name) for photography gear. However, at the end of the day certain gear is targeted to professional photographers and other gear is targeted to the consumer (amateur, family, hobbyist, etc.) market. Buying the more well made expensive gear does not make someone a professional photographer and buying the less expensive gear does not mean someone cannot be a professional photographer.

The Nifty 50 And The Argument Continues
The Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens that retails for $125 is meant to be an entry into prime lenses. The Canon USA site actually says, “great entry into the world of EOS prime lenses.” That doesn’t mean that it cannot be used professionally or capture professional quality images. It’s an amazing lens for the price point. However, professional camera gear is typically more expensive because of the build quality, in lenses because of having more glass, because of the features available, weather resistant and/or weather sealing, etc. And those are just several reasons that many professional photographers (those that get 100% of their income whether full-time or part-time from photography) choose to buy gear targeted to the professional market.

The Gear Doesn’t Make Someone A Professional Photographer
I believe that every photographer should do the best he or she can with the gear that he or she can afford without going into serious credit card debt to buy a camera that is way out of his or her budget range. And someone can be a professional photographer without owning photography gear catered to the professional photographer. It’s not the gear but the fact that a photographer gets 100% of his or her income from photography whether that is full-time or part-time that can classify someone as a professional photographer. Personally, I think it goes a little deeper than that, but I’m not going to be argumentative in this post. Although if you have read to this point, you probably already don’t agree with something I’ve said.

My Personal Choice When It Comes To Photography Gear
Yes, I own Full Frame Cameras catered to the professional market. Yes, I own Canon L lenses. Yes, I own Profoto Lighting. And I could go on and on about gear. However, as a full time professional photographer that has a lot of very large corporate clients, I feel that it is important to shoot with the best gear that I can afford. Gear catered to the professional market is meant to last for many years and the build quality is very solid. For day in day out use including airline flights and hauling gear from location to location, I’m sticking with gear catered to the professional market. That doesn’t make me a photography snob. It’s a business choice. You have to choose what’s right for your business and your budget.

Happy Shooting!

The post It’s True! Professional Photography Gear Is Not A Requirement Of Being A Professional first appeared on .

Buying a $699 camera body and lens kit, getting business card printed, being active on social media and doing family sessions for $60 is not a long term sustainable business model. There is a reason full time pros use professional gear and there is a reason that full time pros charge $600 for the same thing a newbie charges $60 for.

I have gathered some links that I will share at the end of this blog post. However, I have not read everything word for word nor am I saying that 100% of what is being said is correct. As you know, you can find lots of information on the internet and not all of it is good. Therefore, please treat the links that I am sharing with a “grain of salt” and do you homework far beyond this post.

Here are 7 quick tips to get you started. These are not the only 7 things to consider:

1) Do some planning by actually putting goals in writing.

2) Create a marketing plan by writing down how you plan to get business.

3) Don’t be the cheapest photographer in town. There is always someone cheaper. Low prices will put you out of business.

4) You need business insurance: Liability and Equipment. Ask your auto insurance agent if he/she offers it for photographers.

5) Set up your business properly with license, bank account, accountant, attorney, etc. Skip this step and you are asking for trouble.

6) Invest in the right equipment. A $699 kit does NOT make you a photographer.

7) Get some training. Whether you use YouTube, KelbyOne or other resources, please get some training.

Below are some additional links to information that should prove helpful:

This is my favorite one: 20 MYTHS ABOUT BECOMING A PRO PHOTOGRAPHER (AND THEIR SOLUTIONS!)

This one gives some solid info: How Much Does It Cost To Start a Photography Business?

Here’s a two part post:

26 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting My Photography Business // Part 1

26 Things I Wish I’d Known Before Starting My Photography Business // Part 2

Here’s one final resource that may be helpful:

5 Tips for Growing Your Photography Business in a New Area

The post Helpful Tips To Starting Your Own Photography Business – Don’t Just Wing It! first appeared on .

Is 2016 shaping up like you had hoped it would?
If YES, GREAT! If NO, then what are you doing to change that. No one will make it happen for you better than you. If you are still making excuses and letting other things get in the way, that is no ones fault except your own (barring any uncontrollable tragic events in your life which if you are reading this then that is unlikely).

What are you going to do the next 6 weeks different from the first 6 weeks?
In roughly 6 weeks, the first full quarter of the new year will be over. It will be around April 1st and 1/4th of the new year will be over. If you are having the kind of success you’d like in 2016, just keep doing what you are doing that is working, toss out what is not and keep your head held high. If you are not having the kind of success you’d like after the first 6 weeks of the year, you need to make some drastic changes NOW! I mean, today, at this moment, right now! Not tomorrow which is Saturday or next week because you’ll start on your revised plan Monday, but I really mean right now. Since you are at the end of this post, you can grab a pen and paper and write down what you are going to do differently the next 6 weeks to make things happen.

The post February Photography Business Checkup – How Are Things Going In 2016 So Far? first appeared on .