[CoastalTog]

You’re most welcome.  I try to be a straight shooter and sometimes that comes across as brash in the written word.  While we’re at it, I forgot to mention contracts, model releases, understanding copyright, print release, promotional releases, etc.   It’s 90% business and marketing, 10% photography.  An example of great branding is Jasmine Star.  She takes mediocre pictures but has marketed a brand that make women want to be her and they will pay out the behind to have the J* experience.

[CoastalTog]

There are many great online videos but the one I always recommend first to beginners is the AdoramaTV channel on YouTube.  It’s probably the best one stop channel for any skill level.

[CoastalTog]

@browneyedgirl- have you ever read any of  “…a man to fish…”?  It’s a great blog about the business side of photography.  I saw him speak last year and it really changed the way I do things.  I saw your Flickr.  You can definitely charge more.  All you have to do is rebrand and network with social groups such as the local small business owners association and chamber of commerce.  Those people have the cash and chutzpah to get you in the right social circle.

[CoastalTog]

Your processing needs a lot of work.  Are you editing on a laptop?  Taking any kind of education is a good thing.  Keep shooting and enjoy it.

[CoastalTog]

I’m going to give you an honest opinion which may sound harsh but I’m really not.  No.  You are not ready to charge. You should be focusing on producing consistent images.  You have a lot of poor angles (shooting down on a child), clipped fingers and feet (look up guidelines on where to crop limbs), soft images and images that lack/ or need a better depth of field.  You have images that could’ve benefited from fill flash.   You need to calibrate your desktop monitor and find your post processing style.  All of this takes time and thousands of shutter actuations.  Incorporate flash into your workflow now so it becomes second nature.  There are too many “natural light” fauxtographers who shoot at f/1.8 who are too scared to learn flash and when it’s needed.  Do you know it’s harder to raise your prices once you start out as a $50 Facebook photographer?  Master the skills and start out much higher.   Have a business plan, DBA, tax attorney, license, etc.  You’ll soon realize that your cost of doing business exceeds $50 a session.

A D3100 is a good beginner camera and that’s about it.  It lacks in good high ISO to low light, has a small sensor with poor image quality.  A D7000 is the minimum body for professionals (just my opinion only).  Of course, you need fast glass with a fixed aperture as well.

The good: you have potential, much more potential than the so-called pro’s advertising on FB.  Your candid shots are pretty good, too.  But it’s one thing to photograph candid and family moments then when you are hired to perform and produce a quality product.

Just my $.02.  Of course, you can tell me to stick it up my wazoo and go out and do your thing.  But you asked….and I replied. 🙂

P.S. for quick learning tutorials, check out the AdoramaTV channel on YouTube as they have videos for beginner to advanced.  Also, there is a widely accepted web article on the www called “Benji’s Rules of Good Portraiture”.  Google that.

[CoastalTog]

If they had a FB page, I’d ask them what award they won and how long ago it was.  Even funnier, if you search “reviews + phone number” you get a 5 star review from none other than the guys wife.  LOL.

[CoastalTog]

She should invest in monolights.  There’s inconsistent color temps, oof images, etc.  Or at the very least run down to the corner market and buy some batteries.

[CoastalTog]

Nikon D700 (2)

The Trinity Lenses

Sigma 28 1.8

Sigma 50 1.4

Nikon 85 1.4G

SB-910 (2)

Yongnuo triggers

 

Elinchrom monolights w/ various modifiers

PCB Vagabond Mini portable battery pack

[CoastalTog]

Military wives fuel the MWAC culture and stereotype.  They are usually 21-30 years old, married to a junior enlisted member, have no formal education beyond high school and LOVE to gossip.  I have quite a few friends who are in the military and their wives are hanging out the Facebook business shingle by the week (especially after their husbands bought them a new Canon Rebel for Christmas).  It is what it is.

[CoastalTog]

I used to let the whole Facebook “Mom With A Camera” irk me but then I realized they are catering to an economic status that I don’t want to deal with.  Cheap people demand more for lesser value.  People paying a higher price leave you alone because they are paying you to know your shit and value your work.

If these MWAC’s who charge $25 for a disc full of images with full copyright are taking business away from you then it’s time to re-evaluate your branding and marketing.

[CoastalTog]

Browneyedgirl- you have much better work on your Flickr page.  The images you posted don’t show your range.  Instead they look like heavily used actions and presets.

[Author]

Posts