A big thank you to Jeff Smith of Jeff Smith Photobooks for this insight.

Is the profession of photography suffering from a credibility crisis?  I don’t want to sound like an “old guy” here, our profession has always had a large number of younger photographers ready and willing to hang out their shingle to turn their passion into their profession, but in the days of film photography you had to have a basic understanding of photography.  You had to know at least a little about lighting and exposure control to produce a printable image.  Back then our camera didn’t have preview and we didn’t have Photoshop to fix our bad photographs.  I think film gave all of us an opportunity to learn just enough to know how bad we really were and how much more we needed to learn.
In the digital world of today, learning photography is seen by some as just a roadblock in the fast-track of being a working Photographer.  I don’t ask this question or make these comments to judge or make fun of anyone.  There are some truly gifted young photographers (new to our profession, some are not young at all)  that have taken the time to learn about lighting, posing and composition who create truly professional work, but let’s be honest, there are a few of young photographers entering this profession I wouldn’t want photographing my daughter’s wedding.
We all have to start somewhere, but working for clients for money is not the training grounds for aspiring photographers.  We all hear the stories of weddings not coming out, once in a lifetime family portraits that look like snapshots and even the “On Your Side News Team” talking about photographers and making the comment, “As always buyer BEWARE”.  This doesn’t sound real good for our profession.
In simply asking this question, I am sure the emails will start coming in with the typical, “you just want all the business for yourself” or “you old guys have it made and worry about us young guys running you out of business”.   The single biggest tragedy in the current state of this profession is the young photographers that are talented, that have gone to college and done everything right, only to find the potential clients in their area won’t trust them.  Instead these clients prefer to go to a more established studio to insure a certain level of quality.
I thought about writing this post after a client told me a joke that she thought I would find amusing.  She said, “what is the next thing a high school student buys after he gets his very first camera……..Business Cards for his new studio!”  The joke wasn’t very good, but it did give me a great deal of insight.
For any of you young photographers that might be reading this I have two suggestions that were given to me when I was a young photographer and they served me well.  First, never charge for your work until it is of a similar quality and consistencey of the working professionals in your area.  Second and most important, be careful of who you ask to critque your work!  Most of us show our pictures to family and friends who love us and want to be encouraging.  You need honest feedback (not from someone who loves you or someone you just gave free photos to).  Ask a professor or teacher, ask a person or people who don’t know you took the images and listen to what the say.  If you don’t like the  Honest Feedback you receive get busy learning until you do like the feedback you receive.

http://jeffsmithbooks.wordpress.com/

New Year

I know it is already half way through January and I am just posting a Happy New Year greeting and for that I apologize. It seems the first two weeks of the new year have flown by.
The new website is up and going, stop by and have a look sometime. New price lists for wedding coverage have been finalized and I am almost ready for the Prestige Inn Bridal Showcase taking place January 31, 2010 at the Prestige Inn in Cranbrook. It should be quite interesting this year as there is someone new organizing it and there will be more exhibitors than ever before.
Stay tuned for more!

New Year

For the last post of the year I would like to wish all those who look at this blog from time to time a very safe and happy New Year. Take this time to reflect on the 'decade of change' as I call it. I look at how my business has changed over the past 10 years with digital taking over from film, how computers have changed life and how life has changed my being.
Things to look for in the new year: a re-designed website will appear (hopefully) early in the new year. A re-definition of my business will evolve. Making more time for friends and family will be high on the priority list.

Pets

This past Saturday I had the honour of photographing Pets with Santa at Top Crop Too our local garden and pet supply store. It is a worthwhile fun raiser for the local SPCA. Pets get to tell Santa what they want for Christmas and in return their owners receive a 5" x 7" print of their pet sitting with Santa. A good time was had by all.

Almost Done

Working through the new wedding price list is almost done. Some prices have gone up marginally while one package has gone down. It is all part of the process of developing a wedding photography price list. It will not be released until the end of the month therefore any weddings booked before the end of the year will receive the current price list pricing.

For samples of my wedding photography please visit the website.

Weddings

It is the time of year again when the wedding photography price list is reviewed and adjusted. This is a painstaking experience to say the least. In order for a business to grow and prosper and aging equipment be replaced, prices have to rise. The balancing act is to raise the prices enough that the company is able to update equipment, pay insurance, update education, yet not raise the prices so much that it turns clients away. It is a tough act to perform and it takes many hours of reviewing all costs involved in running a business to finalize a price list. It is not just throwing a dart at numbers to come up with a price list. But it shall be done and by the end of the year a new price list for weddings in 2010 will be available. Now where did I put my coffee!!

Directions

One of the advantages of being in business for yourself is that you can re-define yourself whenever you want. The thing about a photography business is that there are so many directions one can take. All you have to do is find a market for what you wish to offer. Up until now the main focus of my business has been wedding photography with a few other items being offered such as: commercial, sports, event, portraits. The wedding business has changed quite dramatically in the past few years. "Uncle Joe" with his $1000 digital camera has all of a sudden become competition to those of us trying to make a living at wedding photography. Plus in my geographical location there have been a number of new photographers offering their services. Competition is good as it improves what can be offered to clients. The problem is there are not more weddings taking place here so everyone gets a smaller slice of what is available. So alternatives must be found for those of us making a living at this business.
Back in the film days I used to be represented by a stock house in Edmonton. It was a good business and provided a good portion of my business. When film started to die out and digital was taking over a lot of stock houses closed up or where bought out by larger companies. For the past few years stock has become an item again.
I am in the process of submitting images to various stock agencies and waiting for approval on those submitted. So far I have been accepted into the following agencies: The Photo Storage, Dreamstime, Microstock Photo, Most Photos, Can Stock Photo, and 123RF. I am waiting for approval from iStockPhoto. This will add a much needed addition to what Kimberley's Photo West can offer various clients and add to the stability of my business.
Further updates will follow.