Whiney Wednesday

Good morning and welcome to my Whiney Wednesday blog post (which I have affectionally come to call today).
First, I have to point out, Blogger changed things over the last week, since I blog weekly here, I know it was in the last week.  Not that I'm opposed to change, but it's a shock and now I'm learning something new, to navigate the new blogger.

I've been blogging for almost 3 months, wow this will be blog post 11 (there is one draft that I need to finish and post).  These 3 months of blogging have been the best therapy ever!  The changes and understanding of my own business as a studio and as a business owner have been awesome!  I can only hope other photographers who read this blog have benefitted as well.

I know the blog gets read, it doesn't get comments left, but I get questions and comments about it all the time by people who could be potential customers--local people, real people, not someone in Asia.
They get it.
I'm not preaching to the choir!
How awesome!

This blog has changed the way I see my business.  I don't feel bad about my prices anymore (or too much) I completely understand what I have been raving and ranting about and with what I thought I was comfortable with.  Pricing to make a living.
I wasn't.
Priced to make a living, or comfortable with the idea.
I am much more comfortable with it now....it's still scary and my husband does somewhat disagree, but he gets it more and more.  Food costs money, pictures cost money to print....somewhere there has to be a mark up so both can be covered, plus I like new shoes too, just not enough to give away the digital files....ever!

So three months of therapy in the guise of ranting and raving and it hasn't cost me one dime.
I spent enough of those last year through some expensive business coaching online....the book is less expensive.
For my pro photographer readers, you can find it below.

So I will continue to vent, rant and rave (both in a good way and bad) about life as it is.  Trying to make a living doing something I love.  Something I have wanted to do forever (15 years old is forever when you are my age).
Maybe it's time to put it in full gear, I know a couple extremely successful photographers around me who are making it.  There's room for one more
Successful is a personal term....everyone's idea of success is different.
Making it is also a personal term, and I see them living off their business, that is both successful and making it in my world.
Here's one more ready for a piece of the pie....Welcome to me and my studio!


That book I mentioned.  Written by Sarah Petty.  "Worth Every Penny" went on sale yesterday.  I received a surprise copy in the mail yesterday.  UPS deliveries are always exciting, they mean pictures to deliver.  Surprise UPS deliveries with my name are especially exciting!

Depending on friends and family

I don't.  I know we start out depending on friends to help build up a portfolio, but the cheaper you are and the more you give away; it just defines you and your business.  I never left the area I grew up in, I had a small graduating class, you'd think small town, people would support each other, nope.  Now, if you give it away, probably.   But, it does hurt to see people who were friends in high school, class mates etc, take their kids someplace else for their senior pictures, I won't lie, it hurts.   Now, if my work sucked, if I hadn't earned that Certification, if I was a nasty uncaring person, well, I wouldn't care.  But I do care.   I also know that to the majority of the population, it's just a picture and the cheaper they can get it the better...doesn't even have to be good.  I just remind myself, you just got what you paid for.  But, someone out there is going to appreciate a good professional portrait created just for them and about them.  Those are the people in my business who really matter.


So, as I grow even thicker skinned, I remember, I own a business, it's not a hobby and as a business owner, I can actually pick who I want to do business with.  I do it by pricing myself to make a living and offering customer service that is all about my customers.  So, while that CD and online pics look great now, I'll let you explain to your kids why there aren't any portraits of them to show their kids or share at the 25 year class reunion walk down memory lane.

"P" is for....

You know, that little "P" on the dial of your camera (Creative control dial).  The one between the square and TV on my Canon 10D. (yeah, I shoot the old stuff....still looks incredible - so that blows the camera theory out of the water)

Back to the letter "P".  Now, I'm not here to bash anyone, I'm here to educate...e d u c a t e.  I recently read that several photographers on a professional page, thought the "P" stood for Portrait mode or Professional mode.  Were they serious?  I don't have a clue, but they appeared to be serious or at the very least, confused.   It came from reading that someone decided it stood for Passion, as in Photography is my Passion.  -  I'm so not going there in this blog post.

Honestly, I forget it exists, probably because my Big Girl camera I use in the studio does not have a letter "P" As a matter of fact it doesn't have a control dial at all. {gasp, but Kelly how can you take pictures without the letter "P"?}

The letter M.









"P" on the creative dial of your camera stands for "Programmable"  It lets you make a couple decisions and change a few things the camera has decided for you based on light and lens choices.  It may let you change  aperture or shutter speed.  But not both at once as in "M", but more than in "A" which gives you no control.  Basically, if you are a professional aspiring professional, charging at all, "P" stands for "Poor Choice"

How did I learn this?  That big fat book that came with 2 of my 3 used cameras.  And a class in digital photography from a real college, not a "workshop" online where you are charged outrageous amounts of money and never even get to raise your hand for q&a.  I paid less to learn the switch to digital than most of you did online through these "workshops" with "professional photographers" who no longer take picture or have been a "photographer" for 6 months.  The big names, I pay for, they count towards continued education for my CPP.  But again, that's another blog.

So, what have we learned?  If you are calling yourself an aspiring professional photographer or professional photographers, there is no room for "P" on your cmaera.   It's like using A (or that little green square on the Canon 10 and 20d).  Take a sharpie and black them out!  I don't care if you are just staring out.  Learn to do it the right way, then you can occasionally use "P" for your children's birthdays "P"arties.  If you are a novice, just take pics of your kids for your own personal use, that "P" can most definitely stand for "P"ersonal.

For  my local readers, I will be teaching a photography class at the AB Graham Center April 28th at 10am.  It will be followed up with a workshop learning to use your digital camera, advanced point and shoot to dslr, sometime in the summer.  If it has a camera with a shutter, I can teach you to use it....and the camera's book will be required. I will also teach you how to use "TV" and "AV".  This class is for people who just want to learn to take better pictures and use all those controls, it is not a professional class and absolutely not geared for those who are aspiring to be professional photographers.  I am not qualified to teach a class like that....yet.   But the rest of you, I do hope you will join me.  The class is $15, the workshop will be more.  The money helps the AB Graham keep it's doors open to the public.

Oh, BTW, If "P" stands for "Poor choice Mode", then "A" stands for "Amateur  Mode".  But "M" stands for Master Mode....kind of like, you are what you eat.

A picture is forever

And probably ever, on a CD if you go to a 24.95 CD photographer.  How can she guarantee that CD will open 6 mos from now let alone 18 years when your daughter is graduating from high school.  She can't, no one can.  I know it sounds good, it sounds great!  75-100 professional digital images of your 1 year old daughter and you get to keep every single image!  The first problem with this is the fact that NO professional photographer in her right mind would charge $25 for a CD full of retouched images, or even un-retouched images.  So, that right there should be a red flag.  And NO professional Photographer is going to let go of every single images on a CD unless they are desperate and have little respect for their work.

So, there's 3 strikes.

1. Can't guranatee it will open at any time in the future, forever (unlike a print that will last forever if printed through a pro lab on archival paper)
2. No respect for her work
3. No respect for you.

Remember, there are 3 choices, Fast, Cheap and Good.  The catch is, you can only pick two.  I.E. You want good pictures done in 3 days.  It's going to be Expensive.  Want a cheap CD to take to Walmart?  Want them to look like you spent 1000's?  Well, good luck with that, but I can guarantee, it's going to take forever to get that CD back from the photographer.  

Fast, Cheap, Good.  Your choice, but only 2.   And if you are a CD photographer and not charging correctly, at least have the decency to state this is a hobby and if a contact wants a professional portrait session,  recommend contacting a professional photographer.  I know professional photogrpahers who will sell you a CD of images to keep and print where you want, but they are going to charge accordingly and treat you like you just walked out with a 30x40 marquis framed print in that little tiny CD case.