Check This Video Out

Saw this on youtube and really liked the final shots this photographer got. Really connected with the styles of both Chase Jarvis and of Joe McNally. The photographer doesn't speak english, but you can get the just of things and the setup is easily seen throughout the video. Though they don't go over the settings, but he's got to be up there in his shutter speeds to have gotten such crisp shots and the flash setup really allowed the subjects and the background to really be on point and well exposed. Some great shots... Hope you enjoy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyLMv-kUaFs&feature=related

Always Preview The Venue The Day Before The Wedding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPE9Z8vVfDk&feature=related

Going to the wedding chapel the day before the wedding at the same time as the wedding will take place the next day to check your lighting, your settings, and of course take a crash course in the days scheduled events and pathways where shooting is great and there aren't any fountains. Enjoy the video.

Would you let your wedding photographer do this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otG19UUWBi0&feature=related

I always loved this video. It's amazing what hair and makeup do for us when shooting models or brides. Though the natural beauty is something great to capture there's a lot to do when you have hair and makeup available to you for your shoot.

When Using Strobes - Bounce!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snI7ehbC04k&feature=related

This is a good example of shooting with flash in the daytime. The benefit? Everything...

Reality of Getting Into Wedding Photography - Great Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-59qbnTUG4s&feature=related

This link is to a short youtube video about a photographer and how and why he got into wedding photography. Amazing how we can begin to love something that we once didn't want to do. Wedding photography to me is almost an addiction. I love shooting them and seeing how unique each one is from one before. Getting new images and working with new clients and locations brings a great challenge to the table that I love to step up to and see what I can do.

Affordable Gear For A Start Up Business

http://www.cowboystudio.com/index.php

Found a lot of interesting lighting kits here and some heads. I'm probably going to grab a set of these in the next couple months to see how far they can be pushed to get some cool shots.

Fulton Gas Works 2010

Up late editing an old shot from last year. Fulton Gas Works 2010. Just starting looking through my hard drive for images that I haven't played with in a long time and found this one and thought I would share it.

Playing In Aperture and Photoshop

This shot of my daughter was taken a couple of years ago when she was about 18 months old. She was climbing on the couch and the natural sunlight from the window lit the shot pretty well and after some work in aperture and photogshop, I got the result I was looking for to add to our family photo wall.

I placed all the images from start to finish on this one shot. The image to the right is the raw file unedited. The middle image is after some cropping and fine tuning in aperture. I then pulled it into photoshop to add the black boarder around the shot and adjust some of the saturation.

One Of My Favorite Videos On YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWLevMDWT2U&feature=related

These guys do some awesome work and have a great time over a 24 hour period shooting everything they can. Take a look. Great Video.

Some of Our Favorite Shots

This image was shot during Easter of 2010. The girl in the shot is my cousins daughter. Her dress was looking perfect in black and white and when she reached for the tricycle I grabbed a great pose and did some editing to get this great black and white.

This is a shot of my daughter playing with one of my dual lens reflex cameras. I got down onto the floor for a better angle and captured this right as she was looking through the viewfinder. One of our favorite shots.

Children Photography

In this shot I thought it would be nice to have my son and daughter playing with a board game. One became two and then three and then five and finally I got the shot I was looking for. I think I was shooting a total of about thirty to forty five minutes before everything lined up the way I wanted it. This is one of our favorite images. It shows the simplicity of child entertainment. The games took a bit to clean up, but the shot will be printing and framed to go on our living room wall. I'm sure it will stay there as one of our favorites for a long time.

Great Wedding Story In Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAR596fANk&feature=related

This video is a great example of what time and effort and imagination looks like in a wedding video that deserves some significant respect. The story is shown just perfectly.

Great Photography Promo Video I Watch A Lot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tKJBpwMUWY


This photographer really put some great work together with this video and some amazing images. Really original work I've always appreciated.

My Favorite Photographers

I try to see as much photography work as I can. Watching images flow out of another photographers camera with amazing results provides me with new directions and ideas to shoot. I watch a lot of videos about my favorite photographer Chase Jarvis of Chase Jarvis Photography, Joe McNally, and August Bradley. Chase Jarvis and August Bradley are pros with hasselblad and know how to kick out some amazing images. Chase Jarvis has a couple books out that I read on occasion The Best Camera and Seattle 100. Last year I had the great opportunity to meet Chase and spend a few moments talking about photography. It was great to shake the hand of a photographer that brings so much to the table when it comes to amazing images. These guys are the best. I recommend taking a look at as many videos as you can that are on youtube by chase jarvis. He discusses in detail everything from fill lights, flash, workflow, data back up, and many other really interesting and educational videos. Joe McNally has quite a bit online following his career. He went from having to sell his gear to pay bills to being one of the countries most talented photographers. His images are everywhere and great videos about photography and gear are all on youtube by Joe McNally. I hope you enjoy some of the videos and the work of these few photographers. They are truly my favorites when it comes to photographers I watch.

New York Print - 01 - Available in - 8" x 10" or 16" x 20"

Photography As A Business

This blog is about photography as a business. I hope to provide as much information as I can about starting out as possible while I create a new business online and in real life. I'll do my best to share my ideas and successes as well as failures throughout the year of 2012 as we begin our first year in business as Joseph Schiffman Photography. Below is a list of the first 12 steps to starting a photography business. Number one unfortunately starts at the very bottom of this page and goes up from there as I posted them in order and the blog displays the newest ones first.

The next step in my start up is my website. It will hopefully go live on January 1st. I am hoping to have the editing and design completed by then but it's a huge task and a total of 36 pages of work. Hope you enjoy it when I finish the design. I'll provide a link of the site once I'm done editing.

Please leave any questions that you'd like answered here on this page and I'll create a new post for the questions and answers that come up.

In addition to my photography company advertising I'll also be adding the companies and people who's services will ensure that my business is successful. Everything from who I print through to who does my taxes. Check in frequently to see where we're at over the next month with start up.

T-23 Days and Counting Til Launch Please Share With Your Friends. Would love to see this blog in a few places if you know anywhere that this may be helpful blog let me know and I'll add it.

Thanks for all the support we've had in getting to the point where we're ready to launch our new business.

12.

What is your backup plan for your financing to maintain your business? I have a full time job to support my family and business as I grow into my photography lifestyle. It can take a couple years of heavy work to be in a position to work as a photographer full time and be able to take care of all your bills and expenses annually. My wife and I have four kids, a house, a car, and both work full time to support our family. I've just recently begun working more and more in the field of photography and am beginning my first full time year in 2012. I'll have at least 80 hours of work each week to work at my regular job and as a photography business owner. The foundation of my business must be stable enough to carry my family throughout the year. My hope is to have the ability to quit my day job of course, and have my wife be able to quit her job and help with the photography company. But that's all in 2013 at the earliest. I keep this business plan as a long term goal. I know from starting businesses before that it can take at least two years to really get into a business that will support you throughout your third year and that's about it, your fourth and fifth year are where you can really see the benefits of the previous years of work. Our goal is to earn at least $104,000 after taxes. This will give us the room to move into a larger home, buy a more efficient vehicle, have a little more spending options throughout the year, and create enough income to begin saving each month for our personal lives and retirement. Don't plan on striking it rich with your photography in just a couple years. You won't see a huge profit until your third year. Plan slow, plan smart, and take every possible scenario you can think of and move through your plan with every angle covered.

Good Luck... There is much more to come over the next few months and throughout the year of 2012. This is just the start of my blog that will show the preparation of what it takes to start your photography business from literally nothing. No cameras or lenses. A small budget, and a huge plan.

The ultimate goal is to have a fully functioning professional grade studio with the best gear and the best rates we can offer. We also want to create openings for staff and assistants but that is way off in the future.

I hope this blog provides you with as much information about a photography company start up as it can. I'm happy to add any information that is requested and answer questions as they come in.

Happy Shooting!!!

11.

What is going to be your monthly budget? You have factored in all your expenses. My monthly budget if estimated at $500 a week will be $2000 a month. This means I need to create an income of at least that to ensure I can operate my business without any issues. This can take some time. You should already be at a point where your earning fairly consistent money before starting your own business, weather it be from clients or a second job. You have to be able to float your business while it takes off. Some months you'll do better than other months. Keep in mind that the season for photography starts around the end of March and goes through til about October. These months will pay for the months where income isn't as easily acquired. Be prepared to pay out of pocket or from company savings for the months of November, December, January, February, and March. The rest of the year should take care of itself if you've really built a solid client base.

10.

What is going to be your specialty? What are you going to specialize in? I'm personally going to specialize in lifestyle photography, portraiture, and wedding photography, and in that order. I look through my area and in a ten mile radius I have about 5 strong competitors, a pretty flooded market. The benefit, my costs are much much lower than theirs so I have to bridge that gap and compete when the time is right. Until then I'm fine working in the market just below theirs financially anyway. There will always be a market below yours, you decide what level and cost your willing to make yourself available for. I'm locking in my day rate at $1000 minimum for weddings, and $300 for portraiture. My lifestyle work is mine and has no cost or fee, it's simply a work in progress and can sometimes cost money to complete a shoot the way I want it but adds quite well to the portfolio.

9.

What is your target audience in your area? Find out what is in your local area. There are a lot of questions you have to ask your self.

Do you have a lot of portrait photographers and studios in your area?
Do you have a lot of great wedding venues, are there great locations nearby?
How many photographers are listed in your areas yellow pages?
Do you have enough clients to compete with other photographers?
Do you have a comparable portfolio to local photographers?
Are you seeing a lot of people looking for photographers on craigslist?
Are there a lot of ads on craigslist by photographers?

Make sure your in a good market. You have to have the ability to compete with your competition. You have to have enough clients in one area to build your own client list and keep going from there. A saturated market of photographers will reduce your rate significantly just for you to be able to compete.

Research as much as you can about other companies in your area and what their packages are and their hourly rates for the same work you do. Don't undersell your services if your in an area that can handle a higher rate.

Keep an eye on local photographers images, uploads, clients, work, and chit chat to stay connected to the market and industry. Know what your competitors are doing. Check their craigslist posts and what they are currently offering. You can compete through the seasons. Keeping your business close to others who are already being successful can move your business and increase your clients just by a small price reduction or a better or different portfolio.

8.

What are you going to do for the first six months of your business? You know your expenses, your costs, your duties have been outlined and prepared. What are your goals for the first six months? I have a short list that I hope to achieve.

1. Get 250 "Likes" on My Facebook Page
2. Catalog Six Months of Craigslist Posts For 2013
3. Create an outstanding 2012 portfolio
4. Shoot at least 3 weddings.
5. Complete Design on My Website.
6. Upgrade my camera and lenses.
7. Create a list of 60 people who have supported my business
8. Dedicate at least two shoots to non-profits (advertising)
9. Upgrade Website To Include SEO Marketing
10. Print A 2011 Photo Book for Everyone in My Family (advertising).

By collecting your goals and creating a schedule that will allow you to meet your goals is a great way to motivate you. On my last launch I watched my Facebook friends climb from 0 to over 1,000 in just a year. Starting over to focus my work on portraiture and wedding photography. I also want to begin teaching beginners photography classes locally to students of all ages.

7.

Is there a need for a photography business in your area? Look online to find your competitors. Research the local photography businesses in your area. Is there a need for photography in your area. It's much easier to fit into a major city than in rural areas. If you think that you can compete with other photographers pricing and packages your in a great spot. It's a hard market out there. People are always looking at ways to reduce the amount they are spending on their wedding photography. Photographers are between 10% and 25% of a wedding budget and is a great place for your clients to shave off a few hundred to make a huge impact. We're seeing more and more armatures breaking into this business with $250-$500 dollar packages with disks that we just can't compete with. We know the hours it takes to truly create amazing images for our clients and we'll always go beyond what we charge for as it's part of customer service. But know that your worth more than those competitors and know that your portfolio is out there and much better than your competition.

6.

How much are you going to charge for your time? Take into account the work you've already done. You've added all your expenses and gotten your numbers detailed to a point where you know your weekly expenses. Take your weekly expenses and divide them by the number of hours your going to work. If I'm working 40 hours and have a total of 500 per week in expenses to run my business I need to charge $500 divided by 40 hours a week = $12.50. I take this number and add 30% of the total $12.50 x 0.30 = $3.75 per hour in taxes, and I need my hourly income of $25 per hour starting pay so I have to charge my clients per week a total of $12.50 an hour expenses, $3.75 an hour in taxes, and $25 per hour in labor to total an hourly of $41.25 per hour. A full day of photography for a wedding must be the total daily charge multiplied by the total number of hours in the wedding day. 8 hour wedding shoot would be $41.25 x 8 = $330.00 This shouldn't be too difficult to charge $330 for wedding photography, but keep in mind this is just for the wedding photography day. This is only a portion of your billable hours. You will average 20-40 hours of editing, printing, back up, archive, and uploading. Add 40 hours to a wedding day at $41.25 and you get $1,650. Add your $330 for the day and your package is $1980. This is your price for your wedding photography with your numbers lined up to cover all your costs and expenses as well as labor. There are a lot of hours dedicated to a wedding day other than on the wedding day itself. Don't forget to charge for your follow through work to complete the package in its entirety. Otherwise your stuck working for free and that isn't business. This is just an example of what I will begin charging for my premium wedding photography package. It will include a disk with images and a small print package. Additional Prints will increase my income but if I can book a wedding to create an entire weeks pay I'm happy to put in the hours but be strict with your pricing. Don't reduce your rate too much in this equation keep in mind it will only pay for your company to operate for a total of 3 weeks after taxes, if that. Business is expensive when everything comes together.

5.

How Many Hours Are Your Going To Spend Each Week on your business? This is an important question. How many hours do you have to spare each week uninterrupted to manage the day to day operations of your business. You must create a schedule of duties to complete each day and a list of phone calls, open shoot dates, and begin to manage your weekly scheduled tasks. I plan to try and work at least 40 hours a week on my photography business when we begin in January. This means I must work at least eight hours a day in addition to my regular job that will be financing this endeavor until its off the ground and making its own money. I this month I've been working on the first months schedule and new tasks keep being added to the daily duties. I start out each day advertising on craigslist. One post per day in creative, one post per day in event categories. Each post contains about a paragraph of text and a single image all the way to a full page custom made advertisement with my images and text. Make sure that you date and save your posts to your hard drive and keep them in a folder with them all ready to post next year on the same date. This process will allow many people to find your portfolio and website online and provide a little movement to your companies exposure. Once I'm done with my posts which take about an hour for both, I move onto searching for an hour to see if there are any new potential clients in my area posting on craigslist looking for photography services. Once that task is complete it's onto facebook where I plan to upload at lease one image a week for the year to create my 2012 portfolio of 52 images. I save and organize these as well and date them when they get saved so they can be used for the following year posts called "A Year Ago Today". This takes those images and creates a second year of advertising this portfolio. The posts will be scheduled into my 2013 calendar and I can prepare disks and folders to hold my content and make it easily available the next year. By doing this I'm streamlining my advertising duties for my second year and reducing the amount of time I'll have to spend on those duties. I can't wait to have a years worth of craigslist posts and weekly images to add to facebook. Then I'm off to copy and paste an entire year of advertising in no time at all. A years worth of images in no time, and open up a lot more time for new ads, new posts, and new promotions. Eventually this process will make my time next year as efficient as it can and double the amount of advertising we'll have ready to go in 2013. This is important because the second year of business is the most important in establishing yourself as an entrepreneur.

4.

How Much is Your Studio Rental Space? This can vary, you can create a welcoming studio space in your home where you meet clients, have a changing room, have refreshments, and a great decor. You want a place that will be inviting, comfortable, and enough space for your equipment and your clients. You can rent studio space with another photographer and share days and split costs to get up and running. Keep in mind you might also get some overflow business from the other photographer or be able to turn business over to them in exchange for some rent reductions either way your saving money. If you have the budget for your own private space, this is best but very expensive. You can easily spend 6,000-36,000 a year on your studio space or more if it's in your budget. This makes a home studio space a great option to reduce one of your largest expenses. It also saves on travel to and from work daily, and provides a great area in your home to work uninterrupted while still being there for and with your family. You must keep a strict working schedule in the home environment, it's very easy to become distracted with the day to day operations of your home environment.

3.

How Much Are Your Costs Going To Be? This is both easy and hard to figure out. The easy part is you get to take every expense in your life and build out your rate of pay to occomodate that lifestyle or more. The hard part is to factor in each and every expense that you have in your life and categorize and prioritize it all to ensure a successful start to your new endeavor. Make a list of everything you can think of that you spend money on each month. Over estimate by about ten percent to twenty percent to ensure that there is a little gap to take in additional expenses if they come up. Once you have all your expenses written down, and I mean every little thing you might spend on each day, week, month, year. Take that number and divide it evenly throughout the year. Know what your daily, weekly, quarterly, and annual expenses are going to be, what you can reduce if needed, and what you might have to add to them should you need to support your business additional quarters or even a year. But make sure to include all your new business expenses. You'll have your website expenses, your business cards that have to be ordered regularly or enough to get you through the quarter, brochures can be extremely expensive and average 50 cents to a dollar a piece or more. Computer upgrades or a new computer for editing and storage, back up hard drives, etc. Be sure your financially prepared to handle the costs of doing business for at least the first year. You'll also run into many companies willing to put you out there for a couple hundred a month. It's a great investment to ensure a lot of hits to your portfolio and other social networking sites.

2.

Your business must make a profit. Your business must have the ability with every client to not only pay for the time of the photographer, but the materials, the time editing, the time going to and from printers, fuel for travel, the hours spent on the phone managing the clients your currently working with as well as past clients and obtaining new clients. There are hours and hours each week spent doing nothing but making calls to ensure a successful year. Plan on at least ten phone calls a day at about ten minutes each and your almost at two hours each day each week to total 14 hours a week at your rate of pay. You have to take the total number of expenses and basically triple them just to begin to reach your earning mark. Keel in mind, a client paying $300 for a shoot could easily cost that much to do it. You have hair and makeup, wardrobe changes take time, one assistant, electrical usage, travel to and from the studio for you and your crew for the shoot. So you budget $300 - $100 TAXES, $75 hair, $75 makeup, $50 for assistant. Your left with nothing. But you still have prints to sell. This is where photographers make money, in products. Calculate your prints like this - One 8x10 inch print costs $15 to make, travel, shipping, eidting, shooting, etc. total expense $15 x 3 = $45. Your $15 costs are covered, you'll end up paying about $15 in taxes and your left with $15 for yourself to cover your time. This is just in one 8x10 inch print. Your creating hundreds of images each hour for the client and the goal is to sell enough prints to cover your hourly rate what ever it might be. Be sure to communicate with your clients what expenses they should expect in print costs this will ensure good communication before the shoot takes place. Your business must also begin at some point in earning it's own money in order to expand in additional equipment, studio space, backdrops, gear, etc.

1.

Keep in mind that this is a business. There is a lot of math involved. You must take into account every expense you have from your mortgage/rent, food, utilities, taxes, equipment maintenance, equipment upgrades, new equipment throughout the year, advertising costs, materials (cds, dvds, business cards, brochures, fliers, packaging materials, shipping costs for your products, etc), vehicle maintenance, insurance (home, car, health, life, equipment, studio space, etc). To start your business you must be prepared to handle both the highest paying clients and the lowest paying clients and still turn a profit.

Photography As A Business

There are so many photographers out there working very hard at building their photography business. This blog is here to discuss photography as a business and to be a place for photographers to share their experiences.

The biggest question is what is the first step to creating your photography business?