The Internet is an amazing thing, and we take pride in providing you with content to help you with your passion for photography.  There is however, something to be said about printed material, just like it’s a different experience in holding a photographic print compared to looking at it on a monitor.  Magazines offer this same experience, and often in a format that is more easily read over a period of time whereas most Internet articles tend to be under 500 words for easy consumption.  Additionally, photography magazines have some of the best work which can be admired and inspire.  For that reason, here are five great magazines you should be reading.

Thomas Shahan’s Photos in Popular Photography Magazine

Popular Photography is perhaps one of the most comprehensive magazines for gear, technology and everything about cameras and accessories.  Packed full of articles on the latest and greatest, and how to use them, it’s an essential magazine for all photographers.

B&W, as the name implies, focuses on black and white photography, both analog and digital post-processing. By many, black and white is still the most pure form of photography and the striking range of a quality image can be breathtaking.  It’s also worth noting that the stock that B&W prints on makes is lovely to touch and produces a great backing for beautiful photographs.

Outdoor Photographer puts all their emphasis on those who enjoy, well being outside!  Nature, hiking, landscape and action sports, if it’s outdoor, Outdoor Photographer covers it.  More focus is put on actual shooting and not on the technicalities of gear.  Finding locations and working with your gear is what you can expect from this magazine.

American Photo is more than a magazine just showing pretty pictures, it covers the people behind the camera too.  The focus on the photographers and their work covers all aspects, from fashion and fine art to landscape and advertising.  So often the focus is on the photograph that the story about how or why it was created gets overlooked.  Get an inside look into how some of the best photographers’ minds work with American Photo.

Shutterbug takes a unique approach to their publication, focusing on the advanced amateurs and up and coming professionals.  Their articles focus on tips and techniques to improve your work and often feature articles and photos by everyday shooters, with real world examples.  This is a great learning tool for every photographer.

One nice thing about magazines is that they can easily go with you, it’s possible to cut out articles or photos and keep them as reference or inspiration or re-read with ease older issues if you forget something.  The Internet is alive and thriving, but magazines still hold a world of wealth.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Part of taking photographs is the enjoyment you get with sharing them.  Along with sharing, comes learning, and along those lines are criticisms.  This article will show you how to handle the three types of photographic criticisms without getting overly frustrated.

Photo by Paulo Brandão

Unsolicited criticism. Sometimes we hang photographs in our home, post to our website, Facebook or have on display at local businesses and viewers will offer their criticism.  Sadly, most don’t viewers don’t understand how to compliment and usually look for flaws in the work.

When an unsolicited criticism comes, and it’s negative, thank the person for their input and ask them what they would have done differently.  Don’t defend your work, rather ask for their input.  If they can’t offer you any, ask them to explain what they don’t understand, or if they’d like to know how or why you shot and captured what you did.  This will, hopefully result in a conversation about the piece, rather than a debate about what is or isn’t a good photograph.

Photo by Paul (dex)

This is good but… Posting photos to sites like Flickr and Deviant Art will without a doubt get you lots of exposure and room for comments, but the same rule applies here, most seem to offer negative criticism over positive compliments.

When you post to websites, or have pieces hung in public spaces, hearing this type of criticism can be really good.  Sometimes, as photographers, we fall so in love with how we made the photo that the end result might not show that, and someone who wasn’t with you when you created it might not understand.  This is a key point to focus on as a photographer, conveying a story, evoking an emotion or, in some cases, purely making something pretty and enjoyable to look at.

Take mental notes to how and what people are talking about in the photo, are they valid points?  Could you have made improvements, did you really deliver your best?  These types of criticisms can be some of the most valuable to you, especially if you have a willingness to listen with to the unbiased opinions of others and realize they may see things differently then you originally intended.  Consider your viewer when shooting and choosing photos to display.

Photo by * Etoile

Sugar coated goodness. One of the positive things about posting photos to sites like Flickr is that you won’t know anyone personally who leaves you comments.  Unlike friends and family who may sugar coat their criticisms in an attempt to not hurt your feelings or stifle your creativity, strangers often offer the most blunt and honest feedback.  This is not to say that some sugar coated goodness isn’t nice to hear, but you’ll need to be aware that there’s a chance you’re getting positive feedback from friends and family because they are your friends and family.

Not all criticism biased and the intention of most is not to be hurtful, but often times it can appear that way.  Photography is art, and art is biased.  If you can wake up every day and look at a piece you’ve done and feel good about it, that’s all that should matter.  Above and beyond that is just silver lining.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Photography is one of the rare hobbies that many people can earn their investment back on and actually make money.  For example, if you snowboard, it’s very unlikely that you’ll ever make back the investment in gear, lift tickets and travel from that hobby, where in photography there’s a chance you can.  Many hobby photographers are now starting to recoup their photographic investment by turning pro, but the reality of doing so is often something that’s left only as a dream.  For the sake of this article, we’ll break down one of the more popular avenues of professional photography, wedding photographers.

The Dream

Photo by TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³

• Working for yourself
• Making a lot of money for a day’s work
• Traveling
• Working only selective days
• Shooting, which is what we love doing anyway

The Reality

Photo by Elsie esq.

• The daily grind is hard
• Working by yourself can be lonely
• One day of shooting often means up to 40 hours of associated work
• Medical insurance, equipment and liability insurance is expensive
• Weekends are all but gone
• Shooting stops being fun and turns into a job
• Marketing costs skyrocket

Again, this article is focusing on wedding photographers, but the concepts can be applied to many other types of photography.

Most of us dream of being able to quit our day job and shoot full time, but few actually put into consideration what that all will entail.

Let’s talk about money first off.  An initial investment in photography gear is needed, and if you’re shooting weddings, you really should have two bodies, two flashes and you’ll need a handful of lenses.  Going middle of the road, let’s assume you spend between $3-4,000 buying new bodies and used lenses.  You’ll need to incorporate your business, or at the least make it an LLC.  Depending on your location in the world, this can cost a few hundred or a few thousand in forms and lawyer fees.  Next is insurance, on your equipment, medical insurance and photographer insurance.  The last is perhaps one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of starting out shooting professionally.  The Professional Photographers Association has a great guideline on insurance and why you need it.  If you don’t know, read it.  One of the aspects it helps protect you against is the inability to shoot an event due to sickness, or other circumstances.

Some more expenses can also include lawyers fees to draft contracts, logo design, business card & letterhead design, website development and traditional marketing techniques including magazine ads, billboards and printing samples for trade show events.   Just starting out can quickly put you $5-10k in the hole, but for a new business, that really isn’t so bad.

Many people think that wedding photographers make a lot of money per event, which is true, until they actually break down what is involved.  For the sake of this article, lets assume you charge $2,000 for a wedding and offer roughly 10 hours of coverage, which includes the bride and groom getting ready all the way through the end of the reception.  Your arrival time is to be 10am and you will not stay past 8pm.   Quick math says that’s $200 per hour!  But wait, that’s not exactly true.  Lets assume we don’t factor in any of the hardware, insurance, branding or marketing expense, and break down what the true hourly salary is.

The soon-to-be bride and groom contacted you via email, you replied back and forth a few times, total time of 30 minutes.  You set a date to meet, review your work, go over costs, expectations and have them sign contracts – an hour.  Various phone calls and email correspondences over the months leading up to the wedding – one hour.  Assuming the wedding is local, we won’t count travel time in since you’d have to travel to a traditional job anyway.  Shooting the wedding and reception -  10 hours.  Post-production, which I understand varies greatly for everyone, but for arguments sake lets say it’s 5 hours.  Organize and upload all the photos to an online proofing website for the bride and groom – 30 minutes.  Order prints and assemble book for the bride and groom, in addition to taking print orders from other family and friends – 2 hours.

Real time invested for one, 10-hour event: 21 hours, or roughly $95 per hour.  Again, that’s not taking into consideration investment expenses, cost of operation (taxes, accountant, insurance, gas, etc.), that’s just gross income.

What this doesn’t account for is the time spent on the phone, replying to emails and meeting potential clients who never hire you.  Additionally, savvy photographers will drop a custom photo greeting card in the mail around the one-year anniversary to congratulate the bride and groom and usually offer a discount on new photos, or to inquire about any new children they may have.  This is all done in the hopes of getting more work, but doesn’t always pan out.

While the pay is very high per hour, there are a lot of hours put in that most people never see.  Likewise, it can be a somewhat lonely job since most wedding photographers work by themselves.  Weekends are shot and since most weddings book six to eighteen months in advance, if you want to go on vacation you’ll have to schedule yourself out pretty far.

The reality of being a professional photographer is that it’s a lot of work and a hard grind that requires a lot of self discipline and constant self-motivation.  Staying on top of current trends, ensuring your equipment is all functioning properly and always marketing yourself will make your business flourish, but you’ll have to put the time in.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

For nearly ten years I’ve been taking photographs, capturing moments and creating art with a multitude of cameras.  I’ve had an interest in photographyp for over twenty years, but it wasn’t until 2000 when I started to pursue it more aggressively, actively learning and trying to improve, and breaching past the advanced amateur or hobbyist phase and move more into being a professional.  While the first few years were a lot of trial and error and cost a small fortune with film (pre-digital age for me), it was by far the worst day for me as a photographer.

July 11, 2008 was going to be an amazing day.  I had been invited to Manhattan for a birthday party to end all birthday parties for a friend, along with a few other people celebrating their birthdays.  The party would be held in a private loft, above a nightclub that was used to check IDs and verify age before special admittance was allowed upstairs.  1800 square feet of living space had been completely cleared out with the exception of a kitchen table to hold alcohol and a custom built DJ stand holding 4 turntables and a huge LCD TV on it.  Any movie you’ve ever seen that had an unreal house party scene in it pales in comparison.

The party was sponsored by a major beer company and had a high profile DJ spinning music all night; attendees were the it crowd of the Lower East Side and surrounding areas.  I asked my friend if it would be OK to bring my camera to document the night, and she told me it was more than OK, they wanted someone there to help document the mayhem that would ensue. It was also a great place to meet new people and contacts within several different industries.

A few weeks prior I acquired a Canon 5d camera from someone who barely had it a month and was switching systems.  This party would be the perfect place to test out the camera and having a full frame sensor for a small indoor event would be amazing.  So, after going through some normal test shots with it and familiarizing myself with the layout, as some things were changed over my aging 10d, I packed my gear on the 11th of July and head to New York City.

A few hours later we got to the party and a few shots in, my heart sank.  My camera wasn’t functioning properly, and I couldn’t figure out why.  I was going bonkers.  Not only was I missing shots, I felt like I was letting my friend and her friends down.  I checked and double checked the settings.  For this type of photography I typically shoot in aperture priority mode at 1/3rd of a second, rear curtain sync custom function ON in the camera and the flash on E-TTL mode, ISO around 200-320.  The end result is a look I’ve become somewhat known for, but it allows for light streaking and movement of the background while the rear curtain flash sync stops the person pretty much perfectly and exposes really well.  That wasn’t happening for me.

Instead, the exposures were going on for several seconds and the flash was way off sync.  I didn’t know what to do, baffled and completely flustered, clearly there was something I must have missed, but rechecking all my settings indicated nothing looked out of place.  Photos were coming out like this:

Cool effect, but not what I was after.  My only option was to go to full manual control and wing it.  The rest of the night was amazingly memorable, it actually ended up in Urb Magazine’s top house party of 2008.  Sadly, most of the photos from the night were junk and had to be tossed into the recycle can.

While this wasn’t a paid gig, rather a fun photo documentary adventure and the expectations from the photos were just, to be there and capture the moment, I let myself down.  The problem was an odd-ball custom function the previous owner of my camera had set, that I never bothered to check prior to shooting.  That stuff is essential photo 101, and it made me feel really stupid.  It was the worst day for me because I let myself down, and while we are always our own worst critics, it was sadly true here.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Weddings are a spectacular event and mark the start of a life shared between two people.  Those who shoot weddings know how to capture the moments and truly work for the photos that will make the bride and groom remember exactly how they felt on that special day.  Being a photographer, whether you specifically shoot weddings or not, one of your friends or family members is bound to ask you to shoot their weddings.  Should you really say yes?

Photo by Ka Red

There are many sides to this question, all of which need to be examined.  Right off the bat it’s probably a no, but there could be some exceptions.  Why not?

• Is your friend asking you to shoot the wedding because they expect you to do it for free, or for a fraction of what wedding photographer charges?  If so, the answer should be no.
• Are you an immediate family member of the bride or groom, or lifelong friends?  If so, the answer should be no.
• If you aren’t shooting the wedding, would you be asked to  be part of the bride’s maids or groomsmen?  If so, then no.
• If you have limited or no real experience shooting weddings, your answer should be no.

These reasons to say no may sound kind of harsh, but here’s the explanation behind it.  There is nothing wrong with saving a few bucks here and there – weddings can be astoundingly expensive, however, a service is a service.  Most wedding photographers book the majority of their gigs on a referral basis, start shooting at a deep discount for friends and family and you could be undercutting yourself!

Likewise, if you grew up with the bride or groom, or are an immediate family member and would normally be included in the wedding party, don’t shoot the wedding.  Shooting weddings is work – a lot of work.  It requires you to be there from the time the bride is getting ready through to the end of the night, then several hours of post-production followed by print and book making.

Shooting a wedding is not the same as being in a wedding, or being a guest at a wedding.  While you’re there, you aren’t enjoying and interacting with your friends and family in the same manner as a normal guest.   Lastly, if you have never shot a wedding or have very little experience shooting weddings because it’s not your niche, say no.

Shooting for friends and family often means higher expectations, cheaper prices and faster turnaround.  It’s also possible for friendships to be ruined, family members to stop talking to each other and overall, a huge headache.

Photo by Krister462

What would make you say yes to shooting a wedding for a friend?  Surprisingly, there are some valid reasons.

• They are a friend of a friend and while you may know some people there, chances are it will be just like any other wedding job.
• It’s a shotgun style wedding that’s being put together on a short notice with a small, selective number of guests.  Help your friend out in this last minute crisis with their weddings.
• It’s a destination wedding.  If your friends are willing to foot the bill for travel and lodging, it’s a nice way to get a free vacation plus earn some money out of the gig.  Destination weddings usually have a very small wedding party and guest list so the stress level isn’t always as high.

Photo by sharaff

Regardless of your reason for saying yes, still go through the motions of a wedding photography gig and have the bride and groom sign a contract and understand this is still work.  There is no sense in breaking up lifelong ties between friends because of a misunderstanding or expectations that weren’t met because they weren’t properly laid out.

Saying no can be equally hard, but let your friends know that you appreciate them thinking of you, however you’d really much rather attend as a guest.  Most understand and actually appreciate the honesty.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

We all have one of those moments when we wonder why we bother with this hobby. You know, the kind of “less than zero” moment when you begin to question if it’s really all worthwhile.

Share Your Worst Photographic Moment in the Comments!

I had been in New Zealand for a couple of weeks just relaxing and taking photographs. Not too far from where I was staying was a small grove of trees that I thought would be worth exploring a little further for some possible photos.

The day was a little dreary and I had missed the golden hour in the morning, but that’s not always a big problem in a shady forested setting so I decided to get my gear together and go exploring. I packed two camera bodies, a couple of lenses, a tripod and an umbrella. Packing them all on the quad bike, I started heading up to the grove on the other end of the farm where I was staying, with the weather starting to look a little ominous.

It was wet season in New Zealand so the ground was quite muddy, but the fields were very green too. It was very isolated and a very relaxing place to spend some time. Wearing Wellington boots, as they do on farms down there, meant that the mud was no big problem either.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten to check if the quad bike had enough fuel, which of course, according to Murphy’s Law, it didn’t.

No big problem. While I was in a paddock with a couple of bulls, they were a fair distance away and there was a wooden step built to get over the fence and to safety about 20 meters away.

The rain started coming down a little harder so I put up the umbrella (one of those nice, big, expensive graphite ones), put my camera pack on my back and carried the tripod in my other hand. I started off towards the step.

I swear, the mud didn’t look that deep when I stepped in it, but it was enough to bury my Wellington boot up to mid-calf. No big problem when both hands a free to balance and help you get out, but remember, I had a tripod in one hand and a big open umbrella in the other as well as all of my camera gear on my back.

It started raining harder and the wind picked up.

Perhaps more worryingly, the bulls at the other side of the paddock started to get curious and move towards me.

It was also pretty clear that my foot was stuck in the mud quite firmly. With the bulls getting nearer, I was starting to get nervous.

I put the umbrella down resigning myself to getting a little wetter from the rain which, by this point, was coming down quite hard. The wind blew the umbrella away towards the fence.

With the bulls getting to an uncomfortable distance, I made the decision to abandon the boot and make my way with haste to the step over the fence wearing one Wellington boot and one muddied sock, while grabbing the umbrella on the way.

I was starting to worry about my camera gear getting wet, so I took it off my back while walking and held my camera bag in the same hand as the tripod while protecting it from the rain with the umbrella in my other hand.

The step wasn’t too far, but the bulls, sensing my growing alarm, were coming towards me a bit more quickly now.

Now the step itself was simply three pieces of wood in a frame through the fence so you could step onto it, over the fence and then onto the other side of it. Unfortunately, it was soaking, worn and muddy – not exactly a stable thing to step onto when you’re carrying a couple of thousand dollars in camera gear, wearing one muddy boot with pouring rain and driving wind and rushing so you don’t get gored by a bull.

I stepped onto it with my booted foot which promptly slid straight off banging my knee.

After much cursing, I stepped onto it with my muddied, socked foot which at least had more grip.

One of the bulls started to snort and kick the ground with it’s hoof.

I heaved myself onto the step and threw my booted foot over the fence with freedom and safety only inches away now.

I was muddied, soaked and panicked, but i knew my gear was still dry so it was all good.

Astride the fence with my large umbrella in one hand, my camera bag and tripod in the other, I made a most unfortunate discovery.

The wire fence between my legs was coursing with enough electricity to make a two thousand pound bull flinch.

Now I took the first jolt on the inner thigh, but to my own credit I kept my spot on the step, but now I was overbalancing and the wire was inches away from… well, let’s just say I was in a bad place.

I had no choice but to make the leap off the step into the mud while tying to throw myself clear of the electrified fence and away from the bulls.

In an effort to save my gear, I put both of my arms to one side as I landed on my side – of course in even more mud. It was the lowest moment of my photographic history.

I eventually managed to make it to the grove of trees (muddy, wet and without a boot) and get some shots, but the one legged walk back to the farmstead was slow and explaining why I was covered in mud and missing a boot was a little embarrassing.

I was cold, wet, muddy and thoroughly humiliated. But at least I saved my gear and got some shots.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Photography, like most arts, is something you can master in concept, but never stop learning, evolving and pushing the limits.  If you are just starting out, learning the basics and understanding the principles of photography are important, but as you become more proficient in the craft, you shouldn’t stop.  As a seasoned shooter, the day you stop learning is the day you fall behind the pack, and when you stop taking the best possible photos you can.  If you’re a professional shooter, learning the newest trends, techniques and equipment is essential so in turn, you can offer the very best product to your customers.

The web has opened up an amazing resource of knowledge and knowledgeable people who are willing to share for free what they’ve learned through years of practice, trial and error.  Here are seven websites for free photography lessons sure to fill you with the knowledge and information you crave.

Digital Photography School. DPS covers the three main focal points of photographers, shooting tutorials, camera & equipment and post production.  Each section offers several updates per week from novice to advanced levels with plenty of sample photographs and great explanations.  They also offer an in-depth newsletter the features bonus tips and tricks not always on the website.

Strobist. The Strobist blog and Flickr Group showcase some of the most amazing photographs that feature small, portable flashes.  In studio or on location, people, products, objects, interior architectural lighting or even pets, if it needs to be lit by an off camera flash, Strobist will tell you how to not only accomplish the task, but do it on a budget.

Photo.net. If there was a grandfather to photography knowledge websites, Photo.net would be it.  To this day I suggest their Making Photographs article to people who ask me how to get started in photography and understand their gear.  Because of the time they have been online, the site has amassed a huge collection of articles and hundreds of thousands of postings to their forum, making it a one-stop place for all things photography.

Digital Photography Review. DP Review is a great resource for finding unbiased, factual information on the newest camera gear available.  Within there site is a no-nonsense learn section that clearly breaks down functions and purposes of gear and how to use it.  The forums on DP Review are also a wealth of knowledge.

PhotographyCourse.net. Bringing you all the secrets of the pros, by professional photographers, for free, PhotographyCourse.net has lessons for photographers of all skill levels in an easy to navigate website.  In addition to shooting, they also feature extensive articles on digital post processing.

1MillionDollarPhoto.com. While the name is somewhat misleading and the actual layout of the site isn’t entirely user friendly, the content within the pages are worth their wait in gold.  You may need to dig a bit deeper to get to the content you want, but it’s all here, written well and very informative.

School of Photography. This for fee site offers some great courses, however they do have a rather intensive list of free tips, tricks and lessons available.  It’s nice to see that a site who charges for so many online courses still maintains an intensive list of free lessons for anyone to learn from.

Never stop learning, when your craving for knowledge slows down or stops, your photography will surely suffer.  Inspiration, information and know-how are essential tools that you can never have enough of with photography and hopefully these 7 websites will provide you with some more lessons and concepts to keep moving your photography forward.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

We’ve already touched base on cashing in on your existing photo collection, but what if you’re more interested in making money from stuff you’re shooting now?  There are two main ways to make money from photography; getting hired to shoot or selling your work as art – each requires a unique approach to acquiring clients and making sales.

Photo by Shoken

What if you’re still making sales though?  Photography is about telling a story through still photograph, capturing moments and building memories – here’s some tip to get the sales that maybe you are missing out on.

Things to Remember if You Want to Get Paid to Shoot

If you’re the type of photographer who’s getting hired to shoot, weddings, event coverage, etc. then your job is to capture the event exactly how the people attending it remember it, and the intimate moments and interactions between two or three people.  Blend in, mingle and look for these moments.  What should set your photos apart from say, Uncle Joe at the wedding reception with his DSLR is how you shoot these moments.

• Utilize fast lenses, shoot wide open, the depth of field alone creates the separation from subject matter to the background that most amateurs don’t know how to capture.
• Get a flash bracket to move your flash off the camera, this will greatly reduce red-eye, but also should flip so the flash stays directly above the camera for less harsh side-to-side shadows.
• Take the time to do a custom white balance in mixed lighting situations so color representation is accurate too.

If you’re a wedding photographer specifically, one of the newest trends is giving a kick-back to your bride & groom for orders placed by guests.  Get the photos into your online store as soon as possible and offer your bride & groom 10% credit towards any purchases they will make, or 10% off the package they bought from you for everything friends and family order.  By doing this, it turns your clients’ into salespeople, pushing your service and prints onto their friends and family.

The other current trend is to offer prints from the wedding at a slightly lower price for the first two weeks, then drastically raise them.  Some photographers offer 8×10 prints for $10 during the first two weeks, then the price goes to $30.  This tactic is extremely effective because the event is fresh in the minds of the guests and they can be swayed to purchase in fear of the prices going up.

With both of these methods it’s imperative to get marketing materials in the hands of the guests, so work with bride & groom and perhaps offer to print their table cards or place settings for names and roll that price into the package.  This would allow you to get your website and possibly some small marketing info on them and home to friends and family of the bride & groom.

Lastly, keep your calendar updated with the dates of the weddings you shoot, about three weeks prior to the anniversary of each couple send them a nice folded card with an image you shot during their wedding, wish them the best and inquire if they would have interest in doing a follow up shoot and / or if they have had any children so you could get hired to shoot them.

If you’re hired to shoot something specific, say a family portrait, head shots or more posed photo, the idea here to getting prints sold is finding out exactly what your client needs and offering them that.  Try your best to never say no.  Provide the client with the best possible experience with you and give them a reason to use you for future events.

What About Selling Your Photos?

Selling photography as art can often be a bit more difficult, but with more options like Etsy.com and the ability to easily sell on your own website becoming available, more shooters are doing this.  If your art still isn’t selling there could be two reasons why.  Buyers of photography tend to pass on  pieces they think they themselves can shoot, so only sell your very best shots.  The other reason could be how you are presenting them.  Spending a few extra dollars on a custom cut matte and a nice frame will drive up your total cost, however the look of the piece is strikingly different, and for the better.

Next, don’t just look at making prints on paper, utilizing some of the new techniques out there from vendors, the ability to have prints made on canvas that’s stretched around bars and hung on the wall in the same way a painting is look simply stunning.  Metallic, or sometimes called Mica paper is a traditional wet processed paper the same as matte or glossy, but has a deep silver tone to it that’s simply amazing when light catches it.  Even printing on metalic surfaces can also produce stunning results. Offering your photos on more then just glossy or matte will give your buyers a unique option they may not even know exist.

When selling as art, don’t overprice your work.  If you’re an unknown artist, look to recoup your costs plus some profit, but make your work accessible.  One of the smartest things I saw a photographer do more than 10 years ago at a photo gallery was so simple and clever, but has stuck with me all these years.  They were offering 16×20 prints on canvas, beautifully done, but very expensive, I think around $1500 each.  They also offered the same photo as a 4×6 taped into a cardboard frame for a much cheaper price (which sold a lot better!).

The last step to selling photos is to let people know you have them for sale!  Utilize free social media tools like Twitter and Facebook to tell your friends and family about them.  Facebook also offers low cost advertising that anyone can buy, which you can use to target specific demographics of Facebook users to reach audiences larger than who you are just friends with.  Attend local art shows, meet with fellow artists of all backgrounds, mingle, exchange business cards and talk with them on how they are getting art shows, selling pieces and making money.  Attend photo workshops and seminars to continue learning what the new trends are.

Don’t Forget About Other Potential Income Streams

While shooting and selling prints are the two most common ways to make money for photographers, don’t forget that you also have a skill that people will pay to learn. Many photographers supplement their income by taking classes of students through the basics of photography. Once you get established in this way you can even start taking seminars of people (see Scott Bourne and Rick Sammon as photographers who have been very successful doing this).

The other option is writing about photography. And this doesn’t need to be as difficult as getting a book or magazine deal. The great little self-published PDF guides of people like Mitchell Kanashkevich and David Duchemin are in huge demand. In fact, we know that Mitchell financed his last overseas trip from selling his guide to lighting in photography! We also know well that there is a huge online demand for this type of information that is presented well.

In short, treating photography as a business is at the core of making money from it. If you want to go pro (and we admit not everyone wants to) then honing your potential income streams is how to do it.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Competition Closed!

Winners: Gabriel with 166 Votes, Sarah with 221 Votes and Bronwyn with 345 Votes and Knitting Satori won the Twitter section!

Congratulations to the winners!

We haven’t had a competition for a while! Well, now we’ve decided to remedy that and Udi from Bokeh Master Kit has come to the rescue with some great prizes! It also fits in nicely with our recent article showcasing 27 Incredible Bokeh Photographs!

What are the Prizes?

We’re giving away three Bokeh Master Kits to the top three winners of the competition. Udi will ship the kits out to you directly! They are funky little attachments that fit on your lens! They are ready out of the box and don’t require any special attachments or software. You can read more about how they work over at their website.

How to Enter

Step 1) Post your best bokeh photograph in the comments below (Use the link under the reply box that says “You can add images to your comment by clicking here” to insert images into the comment). (If you’re not sure how to do bokeh, then check out this great DIY Bokeh tutorial).

Step 2) Make sure you click on the little thumbs icon ( )next to your photo to vote for it.

Step 3) Tell all of your friends to come and vote for your photo by clicking on the thumbs icon!

That’s it!

How is it Judged?

The competition closes one week from today. Which means I will log in next Wednesday morning (Sydney time) and find the three images with the most votes. I’ll then email all of the winners individually so they can get their prize!

The Rules:

If it feels like you’re doing something shonky to win the competition, then don’t do it. We have hired goons and we will use them! ;)

Here are a few bokeh images to get you inspired!

Photo by Astig

Photo by Anders Andermark

HOW TO POST AN IMAGE

It looks like a few people are having some trouble, so here’s how to do it.

1)Upload your image to your favourite image hosting service (Flickr, Photo Bucket or whatever)

2)Right click on the image wherever you have uploaded it and select “copy image location”

3) Come back here.

4) Click on the “You can add images to your comment by clicking here” link.

5) Paste the address into the popup box and hit ok.

An Extra Chance to Win

For an extra chance to win a Bokeh Master Kit, twit this exact message on Twitter:

Win a Bokeh Master Kit at LightStalking. Please RT Details to Enter: http://bit.ly/cuL5AJ

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.

Becoming a better photographer usually means being inspired by someone else, or at the very least, appreciating the work others put out.  In this article we’ll showcase 7 photographers that you will probably hear about in the future who are on their way up.

Alison Conklin

An eastern Pennsylvania based wedding shooter, Alison has been shooting for years and can often be found shooting in Philadelphia, New York City and as of late, Ireland, Mexico and just about anywhere else couples want to get married and have amazing photos captures.  Her unique style graces the covers and pages of wedding magazines on a regular basis and she routinely wins national awards for her work.

David Hessell

David has a resume longer then both my arms put together, the highlights of it include travel to six continents, 50+ countries, a photography degree from Columbia and professor at the college level, and he’s been published in dozens of magazines.  David’s style evokes that of a travel photographer, not a tourist and his images make you want to book plane tickets, lots of them.  Look for his work to continually appear in magazines and his workshops to grow in size.

Maciek Sokulski

Mac is a Canadian photographer who specializes in two main fields, people and landscapes, both of which he does exceptionally well.  His portraits and intimate shots of people capture a story, show emotions, something many photographers can’t do well.  The landscapes he shoots are nothing short of breathtaking, I’m sure you’ll be seeing them in print soon!

Jay Beckman

Based out of Arizona, Jay is a jack of all trades with a focus and passion in aviation photography, ranging from vintage to modern.  Shooting planes is a very specialized niche of photography that requires intimate knowledge of flying procedures and protocols, Jay has the skill-set that allows him to do just this.

Karl Johnston

Hailing from the Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, about as far north as you can get while staying in Canada is Karl Johnston.  Due to his geographical location, Karl has access to the most stunning light show on earth, the northern lights.  His masterful ability to capture the dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis is second to none and the photos are truly captivating and evoke emotions and wonderment.

Phamster

One of the rising stars of Flickr and many message boards is Phamster, who’s creative use of natural light and off camera flash has a style all his own.  He’s perfected the sunset portrait to perfection and his ability to bend light along with creative use of depth of field makes his images one of a kind.

SteveMPhoto’s

An unusual combination is SteveMPhoto’s, because he showcases his photography on Flickr, a digital medium, yet shoots nearly everything on film.  Analog meets digital and I couldn’t be happier.  He uses everything from toy and novelty cameras to medium format and his Americana subjects seem to work perfectly with whatever medium he’s shooting on.  This work is bound for a coffee table book in everyone’s living room sooner or later.

Photography Tutorials, Case Studies and Discounts - LightStalking Photography Newsletter.