Photo Field Notes Podcast: Career Advice for Photographers

Stories and career inspiration from professional photographers

Episode 120: Photographers Share Their Most Cringeworthy Moments Behind the Lens

embarrassing stories from professional photographersPhoto by Kayla Kitts Photography

I have a real treat for you today—I’m finally sharing the craziest and most embarrassing moments that I’ve been collecting from other photographers. These stories are hilarious, horrifying, embarrassing and just plain insane. Sit back and enjoy!

If you have your own crazy or embarrassing story to share, message it to me on Instagram (@photofieldnotes). Or, if you have a story about a lesson learned that could help others, send it along for a chance to be featured in a future episode.

Episode 119: Taking Control of Your Money with Megan Lane

Taking control of your money in your photography business with Megan Lane

Today on the podcast, Megan Lane of Megan Lane Photography is talking all about money management, including:

  • Why our business finances are so important
  • The eight goals we should have with our business finances
  • Tips to get started if you struggle with money management
  • Bonus: Why limiting what we offer to our clients will create a better client experience

Get more money advice from Megan:

Related Episodes:

Stratejoy Summer Camp Photos:

Here are a few of many great photos that Megan took at Stratejoy summer camp. If you’re interested in going to summer camp next year, you can check out the details here.

Stratejoy summer camp for adults Stratejoy summer camp for adults Stratejoy summer camp for adults Stratejoy summer camp for adults

 

Episode 117: How to Make Kids and Families Look Great in Photos with Jessica Weinstock

how to make kids and families look great in photos

Jessica Weinstock is a family, child and newborn photographer in the Chicago area. In today’s episode, she’s sharing:

  • How she went from vet tech to full time family photographer
  • What happened when she nearly tripled her prices
  • Where her clients are coming from
  • How she books out her year in advance
  • How she preps her clients for a successful session
  • Her tricks for getting young children to smile in photographs

Take 25% off any products in Jessica’s shop (excluding mentoring) with the coupon code jwpfriends25

Related Links:

Related Episode:

Episode 116: What it Costs to Run a Photography Business

What it costs to run a photo businessDuring money month on the podcast, I’ve talked about the psychology that goes into seeing something as high quality or valuable, ten ways to add value to your photography services, and how to price your services based on value. This week, I’m talking about a different money topic—spending and budgeting.

I’m breaking down what it costs to run my photography business, and I’m sharing how I set up my budget for the year.

Related Resources:

 

Episode 115: A New Way to Price Your Photography Services With Blair Enns

photography pricing guide for professional photographers

We’re talking about money all month here on the Photo Field Notes Podcast. First, I talked about understanding consumer psychology as a photographer (and how consumers actually perceive value). Then I shared specific ways for you to add value to your photography services so that you can charge more and stand out in your market.

Today, I’m sharing an interview with pricing expert, Blair Enns. He’s sharing his technique for pricing your business based on the specific value that your client is looking for (and thus the specific values that you bring to the table). He’s throwing out the old model of three set packages—and even a la carte pricing—to bring you a whole new way of pricing as a photographer.

Related Links:

 

Episode 114: 10 Ways to Add Value (and Charge More) as a Photographer

how to charge more money as a photographer

This week, I’m diving into 10 ways to add value (and thus charge more) as a photographer (listen to the full episode for more details). Here’s a quick outline of what we’ll cover:

  1. Help them design the session.
  2. Help them do something with their photos (e.g. printed products).
  3. Show them a slideshow.
  4. Share quick tips to prep them for the session ahead of time.
  5. Use a system to manage contracts and invoices and to manage your workflow so you respond more quickly to emails.
  6. Get your posing down.
  7. Get your clients published.
  8. If you’re a wedding photographer, write out their timeline.
  9. Buy a styling board.
  10. Bring an assistant.

Thanks to my contributors this week:

Related Episodes:

Recommended Tools:

 

Episode 113: Understanding Consumer Psychology as a Photographer

understanding consumer psychology as a photographer

I’m officially dedicating the month of September to all things money—this week we’re going to talk about the psychology of how consumers perceive quality, next week I’ll share specific ideas for creating more value for your clients as a photographer, and then we’ll get into specifics about pricing your services based on value (with some great tips from a pricing expert—I can’t wait to share it).

This week, I’m sharing some basic concepts related to consumer behavior. You may think that you’re judging a product based on the general quality of the product itself (intrinsic cues), when in fact, a huge part of your judgement comes from other factors that make us feel a certain way about the product (extrinsic cues). I’ll share some specific examples, both photography related and stories about other products, to illustrate how consumers are actually judging the quality of your work (this might surprise you).

Related Freebie:

 

Episode 112: Conquering the Technical Side of Photography with Dawn Richardson

Conquering the technical side of photography; what kind of computer do I need as a photographer?
I was talking to my friend Jess from Bella Tu Photography about my Lightroom woes—ever since I updated Lightroom, my editing life has been a nightmare. She sent me a blog post from Petapixel that confirmed that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way, and then I saw another post about Adobe’s next release that won’t support older OSes (good to know for those of you who haven’t updated in a while).

Fear not. Today on the podcast, Dawn Richardson is walking through some of the key points that will help you conquer technology in your photography business, including:

  • Creating a backup system for your files
  • Why you shouldn’t delete individual photos directly in your camera.
  • Buying a computer that can handle your editing needs (Lightroom and Photoshop)

Find Dawn on Instagram @dawnelizabethstudios, and be sure to check out her photography website to sign up for her newsletter and to learn more about her mentoring.

Episode 111: Photographers: How to Deal with Photoshop Retouching Requests

how to deal with retouching requests as a photograhperHave you ever had a client ask you to touch up their skin or whiten their teeth? Maybe they’ve even asked you to make them look a bit thinner. Today on the podcast, I’m talking about how I deal with Photoshop retouching requests, and how I protect myself from getting bombarded with hours of extra retouching work.

You can also download the language I use in my contract that lays out how I will handle retouching. Note that I’m not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. This is simply how I do it. Please consult your lawyer before adding language to any contract.

Follow @photofieldnotes for quick tips, episode updates, and to be featured in a future episode. To get future episodes and other goodies, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, follow @photofieldnotes on Instagram, and sign up to get bonus guides, freebies, discounts and goodies below:

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