Spring is here, so we’re sharing a series of Best Business Practice posts featuring the team of ACEs and select photographers who have integrated ShootQ and Pictage into their studios. Get to know these fantastic folks and learn tips and tricks that will streamline your studio and help you conquer busy season! Today’s profile is Ashley Davis, above, owner and principal photographer at Ashley Davis Photography. As a professional photographer, Ashley seeks the human experience – authentic, organic, fresh – and a real connection with her subject. She photographs weddings and portraits across the country. When not shooting, you can find her hiking, gardening, or doing yoga in the foothills of Boulder, Colorado with her husband and dog. Q. How long have you been using ShootQ? A. Five months. Q. What were you using to manage
Archives
Best Business Practices – Part 6
Spring is here, so we’re sharing a series of Best Business Practice posts featuring the team of ACEs and select photographers who have integrated ShootQ and Pictage into their studios. Get to know these fantastic folks and learn tips and tricks that will streamline your studio and help you conquer busy season! Today’s profile is Denise Birdsong, above, owner and principal photographer at Modern Love Photography. Denise’s studio specializes in weddings, beauty and boudoir with the goal of creating gorgeous evocative imagery. Q. How long have you been using ShootQ? A. I’ve been using ShootQ for about two years. Q. What were you using to manage your business before ShootQ? A. Shoe strings and some band aids. Really, nothing and it was a mess! Q. What prompted you to move over to ShootQ? A. Being the most disorganized person on the planet, when
The Power of Personal Projects – Sin & Salvation in Baptist Town
Sometimes a simple assignment turns into a multi-year photographic project. Just as Shawn Reeder spent years creating a visual essay embodying the vast beauty of Yosemite National Park, Virginia-based photographer Matt Eich spent years documenting the rural Mississippi neighborhood of Baptist Town. For some photographers, subjects that start as mere curiosities turn into longterm fascinations. Established in the 1800s in conjunction with the growth of the local cotton industry, Baptist Town is one of Greenwood, Mississippi’s oldest African American neighborhoods. Eich initially focused his attention on Baptist Town, but then launched into a second chapter of the project about the adjacent area of Greenwood. His goal is to display the resulting images in both communities in an effort to actively engage residents in a dialogue about improving
Best Business Practices – Part 5
Spring is here, so we’re sharing a series of Best Business Practice posts featuring the team of ACEs. Get to know them and learn tips and tricks that will streamline your studio this season! As any ACE will tell you, you can’t do it all. Successful photographers understand this, which is why they partner with advisors and trainers who help them stay organized! This week’s featured ACE is Will Jacks, a guy who grew up wanting to play centerfield for the St. Louis Cardinals, but wound up preserving wonderful moments as a photographer. As he says, “I deal in happiness, and I couldn’t be more grateful.” Q. What’s your primary area of photography and when did you start shooting full-time? Will: I began my career as a photographer in 1997. I didn’t know what
“Range of Light” – The Power of Personal Projects in Timelapse!
Imagine spending years on a personal project. That’s exactly what photographer Shawn Reeder did to produce his spectacular time lapse film featuring the grand wonders of Yosemite National Park. A true example of patience, persistence and passion, Reeder’s five-minute film is composed of nearly 7,000 unique photographs. Expansive, explosive, energetic and enlightening are all words that leap to mind when viewing Reeder’s “Range of Light.” In fact, it’s less about viewing and more about experiencing. By examining Yosemite in such deep detail, with each changing glint of light or hint of shade, Reeder produced a visual poem. It’s appropriate that the film’s title ties in John Muir’s legacy. Each individual photograph in Reeder’s film, strung together masterfully, completely conveys Muir’s sentiments, “Nature is ever at
The Power of Personal Projects – Part III
The question deserves to be asked again: Are you balancing work that fills your bank account with work that fills your soul? In the first two posts in this series, we heard firsthand from Dan Milnor and Dave Wittig about the power of personal projects. In Dan’s case, a desire to pursue personal projects changed the trajectory of his career. Dave, on the other hand, discovered how personal portrait projects infuse his commissioned wedding work with passion and insight. If you’re facing burnout, boredom or just a nagging feeling of “stuckness,” then maybe you need to embark on a personal project? So how do you start? First, you’ll need an idea. What interests you? What challenges you? What inspires you? What enrages you? Seek stories or
Out of Synch: Photographers vs the Music Industry – Part 4
During the last few posts, we’ve been discussing music licensing within photographic and video work. Part 1 covered the value of music within photographic and video work. Part 2 talked about the growing accessibility of legal, low cost music licenses. Part 3 explained how licensing works and what approach you should take to fit your brand. Now that you have the tools, I’d like to conclude by explaining what can happen if you choose to ignore the information that’s been shared in this series. As photographers and videographers, most of us are aware of copyright law and what infringement means. Still, the question that circles in our professional community is, “if I use unlicensed music, will I really get caught?” Over the years, the RIAA
The Power of Personal Projects – Part II
Are you balancing work that fills your bank account with work that fills your soul? We’ve all made excuses. “I’m too busy trying to finish projects for my clients.” “I’m too exhausted to wake up a the crack of dawn to chase perfect light.” “I’ve got to focus on work that pays the bills!” Sure, there are plenty of good excuses. But the truth is: you can’t afford to avoid personal projects. Consider the risks. Without work that fuels your creativity and feeds your spirit, you’re sprinting down a path to boredom and burnout. To explore the power of personal projects, The Photo Life is publishing a series of posts from photographers who have embraced risk and pursued long-term personal projects. The second post in
The Power of Personal Projects – Part I
When did photography become just a job? Have you ever asked yourself this question during the dark hours of morning when you’re lingering in a drowsy dream state? You’re not alone. Many creative people who turn their passion into a profession have asked themselves this same soul-searching question. Ji Lee, former creative director at Google Creative Lab, summed up this frustration: “I really wanted to not only think about ideas but also make something happen!” Instead of staying stuck in the politics of commissioned work, Ji Lee harnessed the power of personal projects to fuel his professional development. He quickly changed his career trajectory with 30,000 stickers and a guerrilla art approach. To explore the power of personal projects, The Photo Life is publishing a series of posts
What Every Professional Photographer Should Know about Business
A few weeks ago, I was in a strategy meeting for a project I’m working on, and the question was asked, “which of these two buildings are we building?” The difference is pretty clear. On the left – the leaning tower of Pisa. It’s famous for one reason: it’s falling over! Sure, structural engineers are slowing down the inevitable, but because of its poor foundation, the tower is falling after just a few hundred years. On the right – the Pyramid of Giza. For most of modern history, this was the tallest man-made structure on earth. It has lasted thousands of years and has withstood earthquakes. We don’t know know exactly who built it but it stands firm. Its foundation is solid, even as it