Sales is a dirty word to creatives. In conjures images of a greasy haired used car salesman trying to twist people’s arms into buying things they don’t want to buy……But the reality of the situation is that every single business that is in business sells something.

So rather than run from the word sales, as photographer entrepreneurs, we need to learn to embrace the potential to help our clients make purchasing decisions.

The first step to that is to understand what solutions our clients are looking for from us. 

We sell one thing…..memory. 

Our goal is to document life’s moments for our clients…BUT if we are truly solving the problem of memory, then our JOB is to help our clients accomplish that solution, and we can typically do that through offering products like albums and artwork. 

Look, I don’t need to be captain obvious and tell you that photographers that offer products...

Change can be hard for creatives to adapt to. In fact, for some, it can be the source of a lot of stress. But the fact is that some of most successful business people in the world have learned to embrace is as part of a constant strategy of improvement. 

Last year we experienced a HUGE shakeup. For those of us in the wedding/event industry, we experienced change that has had (and will continue to have) massive impact on our industry. For those with enough experience, this type of change is nothing new, despite how drastic. If you think about our industry made the shift from film to digital, overcame the 2008 financial crisis, and now a world pandemic, you could say that seasoned photographers are well adapted to change. 

But today I don’t want to focus on large scale industry changes…..I want to focus on the micro changes that you make in your own business. 

As creatives, we tend to be creatures of habit. In fact, I would argue that creativity in an of...

For those of you who have connected with us through our Elevate platform, you probably remember when I first reached out to you I asked you the question “what is the biggest question you have about running your photography business”

Without a doubt, the number one response that we get is “how do I increase my existing client base”

It's understandable that this would be a question that many of you have. Elevate is a place for you to be able to ask these questions and get actionable advice on how to become a better photographreneur……

So today I was teaching a class to a large room in Chicago at the Clickcon photo conference alongside some other amazing photographers, and I realized that there are so many others that struggle with this exact same thing. 

We live in a world that has an abundance of choices….specifically as it applies to us…choices on who they can pick to be their photographer. 

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Oftentimes in our business we only tend to look at WHY things happen when things are not going right, or as we expected. 

For instance, if a recent inquiry books a different photographer, you may look at WHY they booked them instead of you. You might compare your pricing to the other photographer, maybe your style, etc. 

But it's not often that we look at our business when things are going RIGHT to try to diagnose why people are choosing us, in order to build on those assets in our business. 

When I worked for LAPD, one of the department's core values was "Quality Through Continuous Improvement"

That was something that always stuck out to me as a future entrepreneur. 

So this month I was looking at our business and noticed a ton of new bookings. Our lead sources are more diverse than ever, and sales are...

by Michael Anthony

Download Michael's Free Posing Guide for Couples by Clicking Here

Any photographer will tell you that wedding photography is an art. It combines various types of photography and makes them into a single type. Our job as wedding photographers is to capture meaningful moments that allow our clients to recall their special day for the rest of their lives.  

One of the most challenging art forms to master is posing, typically done after lighting technique and compositional rules. This is because to create a good pose. You have to follow a set of entirely different rules for males, females, couples, and groups.

Many posing guides for adults can be found on the web or in books but tend to emphasize recreating a specific set of poses. The problem is that all poses have to be designed to accommodate the shape, apparel, light, composition, and environment of the subject. You can understand posing by understanding its basic principles and breaking it down further...

by Michael Anthony

The professional photography market may appear saturated and highly competitive. Moreover, many photographers’ prices are so low that, to compete with them, you would have to work for less than a liveable wage.

One solution to this issue is not to compete with them but to offer something completely different. Considering yourself to be ‘different’ in a creative industry such as photography might sound like a cliché, but there are tangible things you can do to set yourself apart. For instance, improve your website, make your branding and logo consistent and communicative, and hone your business skills. Above all, create a portfolio that is different.

Quite often, a client will not be experienced in assessing photographic quality. They’ll not be able to tell the difference between a good photograph and an exceptional one. Therefore, to get a client’s attention ahead of all those photographers offering a cut-price service, your...

by Demothy Tien

As a wedding filmmaker, clients expect 3 key things. Speed, consistency, and quality. This is why you need to be using LUTs in your wedding films. LUT let you meet all three of these expectations when used correctly. But how? Well before we get into that, it’s important that we cover what exactly a LUT is.

What’s a LUT?

LUT is short for “lookup table.” When talking about color grading LUTs, they take color input values and convert it to your desired look. It mathematically takes specific color values and modifies them into new ones for the footage you’re working with. 

LUTs are essentially color grading presets. Much like how you use presets for accomplishing different transitions or effects, or different color presets in Lightroom to edit photos, LUTs are presets that let you achieve a specific look in your video. 

Why use LUTs?

Why not? LUTs offer a ton of benefits to your editing workflow. It provides you with speed...

by Courtney Tomey

If you’re running a successful wedding photography business, it’s likely you’re conducting in-person sales sessions.  And if you’re anything like me, you probably didn’t anticipate that your love of photography would somehow translate into you needing to be a sales person… the two skills don’t seemingly share much in common and if you don’t have a background in sales it can be really nerve-wracking.  But, there is a silver lining!  Sales don’t have to be scary, and there’s actually one trick that will not only help make you and your clients more comfortable in the sales room, but will lead to even bigger purchases.  We’re talking small talk.

The secret to being an excellent sales person is being able to make your clients feel at ease, and transcend the situation beyond an uncomfortable, high pressure sales situation.  The goal is to make it not feel like a sale at...

by Demothy Tien

When the Panasonic GH5 released in 2017, it was an incredibly revolutionary camera for filmmakers. It’s a 4k mirrorless camera that packs phenomenal video quality in a tiny form factor. It’s been 4 years now since the GH5 released and we’ve had several incredible cameras come out since then. Does the Panasonic GH5 still hold up for wedding filmmakers in 2021 or is it time for an upgrade?

Build Quality and Buttons

The Panasonic GH5 is an incredibly well built and intuitive camera to use. Ergonomics are fantastic, especially for a camera of its size. It’s incredibly compact and lightweight. The GH5 is pretty much the perfect travel camera.Button layout is also great on the GH5. Everything is easy to access and clearly labeled. There are a lot of buttons so settings and features are right within reach, without having to navigate through clunky menus. The GH5 also features dual UHS-II SD card slots which support relay and redundancy...

by Michael Anthony

Hiring models is something that we photographers need to do from time to time, whether you want to practice a concept, build your portfolio, or complete a client assignment, there will come a time where you need to hire a model for something.

So many photographers have questions about how to do this correctly. There is not a one-size fits all approach to hiring models, and it has taken us many years of doing it wrong in order to finally get it right.

First, understand that there are different methods of hiring models for different types of needs, so the ones I am going to discuss today can be applied depending on what the best need is for you. Second, understand that today I am going to talk about hiring models, meaning I am not going to discuss trade situations. There is a time for that, but usually that is when both parties can benefit. Today, speaking from a business owner’s perspective, there will be many times where your needs will outweigh what you...