Your feedback and your thoughts are as always very appreciated.

By the way, please do send me your questions about the photography business. Who knows, maybe the next video will be the answer to your question about the photography business!

Is one of the big keywords circulating everywhere. What’s that all about?

No matter where I go these days, from conferences to forums and blogs and in articles everywhere, I read and hear the word ‘authenticity.’ Let’s take a look at what that means and how this can help your business.

The world is changing. While that is hardly news for anyone, there is an element that we should take a closer look at. That is the topic of generational trends- beliefs and ideas that identify entire generations. For the Baby Boomers and most of Generation X, it has been about making it to the top. Much of our drive was about money and success. The media outlets and movies talked about how to get to the top fast, climb the ladder, get the corner office, drive big cars, buy even bigger houses, and most of all, it was about consumption. The more you had – the better. You may remember the iconic movie Wall Street featuring ruthless stock brokers and expensive interior decorators. There was no such thing as too much. You were only worth how much money you made and what you had been able to amass in terms of career status and $$$.

These ideas no longer drive most people. There has been a major shift changing the way we act, see the world, and do business with each other.  So let’s take a look at what that shift is and how that affects the way you need to communicate, work and portray to your clients who you are.

Read this article in this month’s TipSheet – it‘s right over here on this page on this blog.

Another factor to note: the ability of the rep to ask the client questions effectively. In my personal experience as a rep and a producer, the one constant I see is that when an estimate request is presented to a photographer, the amount of questions the photographer has is much more extensive than the client can typically answer at this point in the process. Not all of the photographers I have worked with do this, but enough have that I have to mention it as something to be aware of. It’s as if the project has already been awarded and is a live project; the questions and comments about the production are so extensive that it is overwhelming to the client or buyer who just needs to get numbers together to present to their boss or client. This is probably something taught to the photographers. I’ve seen over and over estimating questions/lists that are provided in books and on photo association websites for the photographers to use when they get on the phone with someone looking for an estimate. Those lists are certainly comprehensive, but they can backfire on you if you ask every question at the beginning of the estimating process. A rep has the experience to do this well, and has learned how to read the client’s signals to know how extensive she can go with questions before turning the client off. This is also not the time to explain to the buyer or creative how you plan to produce the job, or what challenges there may be. There will be a time for this after the initial conversation(s). An established rep knows how to take all of the photographers concerns and questions and present it in a way to the client that helps seal the deal, and this will be after the initial conversation regarding the estimate. Trust me on this – I’ve seen more jobs lost in the initial conversation(s) with the client (when the photographer participates and asks questions) than in any other stage of the process. This is probably the most valuable step a rep/agent handles of all the tasks and responsibilities she has as your representative.

The Rep: Marta Aldriedge is an Artist Rep/Agent and owner of Big Picture Reps. From offices in Dallas and LA, the firm reps photographers, illustrators, and retouching/CGI studios. http://www.bigpicturereps.com

The Internet is not the only Source for Feedback and Critiques For Your Photography.

Regardless of the level of experience, one of the things I have noticed many photographers want is feedback or photography critiques on their work from other photographers.

Where to get good photography critiques is something many choose to seek out on the Internet.  While I’m certain, there are many sites that offer good advice, sometimes it is difficult to gauge the advice that is received.  What I mean is, if you are dealing with an Internet website, you are not able to hear the tonality of the person’s voice, the expressions on their face, and other physical clues that indicate how they perceive your photography.

For the last several months, I have been attending a photography group that meets at The Amory Art Center in West Palm Beach, Florida.  The group is called the Photo Salon, its modeled after the long-running New York City Photo Salon program.  It meets once a week every other week and costs $10/meeting and well worth the time and expense of attending.  This group consist of beginners, hobbyist, professional and commercial photographers along with a few photography instructors from The Armory Art Center.  In order to show your work, they request you attend a Photo Salon and sign up for the next meeting date.  You can do whatever you want with your 15 minutes.  The more you show, the less time there is to discuss and receive photography critiques.  The less you show, the longer you have to discuss and get photography critiques on your photographs.  It’s up to you.

While I may not have experienced many of the well known Internet options available for online photography critiques, here are some of the advantages I have discovered by participating in the Photo Salon and receiving my photography critiques in person rather than online:

1. There are typically at least three professional and commercial photographers in attendance that represent over 50 years of combined photography experience.  Hopefully, the group you get with will have this type of experience to draw upon for your photography critiques and feedback as well.
2. I get to see what others have done and what they are currently working on.  In addition, I get to hear why they are doing what they are doing, what they like and dislike about their photography along with what the others think.  I know the  Internet sites allow for this but I wonder if you really get to hear the raw thoughts people have that they may not choose to write for an online photography critique.
3. When the group views someone’s work, they start providing feedback and this generally gets going into a positive discussion about the photograph providing a wealth of information for those that are there.  What was done right and ideas of what could have been done different.
4. You get to see people’s expressions when you first show your photograph.  When someone says they like or dislike something about a photograph you can really see and hear how they feel.
5. Finding a group that gets together like the Photo Salon I attend, you get to know others that share the same passion for photography as you most likely do.  Within this group, you have the opportunities to get to know other photographers, learn about photography, information about other network opportunities, contests, jobs or collaborations you may not have know about otherwise.

For the Photo Salons I have attended, I tend to keep it to 10 to 20 photographs and have really gotten a lot out of the group.  The last Photo Salon I attended, I showed this photo:

2012 Lake Worth Street Painting Festival

The feedback I received from Greg Matthews and others that night, provided me something to concentrate on for the next time I was out.  He said to really focus on what he called composition.  What he and a few others said was they liked the photo above but not the people directly near and behind the subject (the girl on her knees street painting).  These people that were not the subject and were distracting.

Here is a subsequent photo I took when I was attending the Raising Cane Sugar Festival Rodeo in Clewiston, Florida:

2012 Raising Cane Sugar Festival Rodeo

Paying close attention to the advice I was given.  I think I improved with this shot and my photography overall from attending the Photo Salon.  I have quite a few photos from the Rodeo but I liked this one the best and will find out what the others think of it along a few of the others I took that night and I’m certain the next time I attend a rodeo, I will improve once again.

Don’t forget it also helps getting out and shooting events like the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival or Raising Cane Sugar Festival Rodeo to have photographs to show the Photo Salon.

So get yourself with a group of other photographers that can provide photography critiques.  The more diverse the group the better.

I’m sure everyone is happy I am getting a lot out of the Photo Salon I’m attending, unless you live in West Palm Beach, how do you find out about groups like this? There are several ways.  The way I found out was I happen to run into Robert Swinson who is an instructor at The Armory Art Center outside of Delray Camera Shop in Delray, Florida and he told me about it.  It took literally 9 months to finally attend my first Photo Salon and I have been attending every chance I get.   Here are a few ways I suggest finding a group:

1. Ask your local Camera Shop
2. Google: Photography Group, Photo Group, Photography Club, Photo Club, Photo Salon.  Plus your city or location.  This should get you some results.
3. Go to Internet sites for meeting groups.  One example is www.meetup.com .

I wish you good luck on finding a good group to meet with to get your photography critiqued with helpful feedback to improve your photography.

(c) This week guest blogger David Coblitz begins his series on Networking for photographers on PhotoBizCoach.com

What if you could get clients who don’t even ask the price, or who pay you more than your bill says they owe?

What if other people went out of their way to learn enough about your business that they excitedly recommend you to your ideal clients?

In this series of articles I’ll show how I have made it happen, but more importantly, how you can make it happen. I’ll share with you how you can get clients who are not looking for “a photographer”, but are looking for YOU.

The method is business networking. It is the systematic development of business relationships between business owners who help each other mutually improve their results in a consistent, planned fashion.

Does it work? When I first started networking, it paid for itself in the first 4 months & within 6 months was 91% of my business.

Where do you start? It starts with education and finding places to meet the right people, then meeting them in the right way with the right frequency.

There are many organizations to help you develop your business networks. Among the largest is Business Networking International (BNI). They are an outstanding source of networking education. They provide the starting education and an instant network of people who “get it”. Why do I bring them up now? I do so to introduce their slogan, “GIVERS GAIN”. Not a new concept, but concise. If you’re looking to help others, which is fun & can lead to amazing results, then you’re on your way.

Networking is not selling. Let me say that again, since it’s critically important. Networking is NOT selling! Networking is the systematic development of the right relationships with the right people who YOU can help, and who in return might want to help you.

Here are some actual situations in which I have found myself through the consistent application of the Givers Gain principle:

A client had me do a head shot for her business. She never brought up price, so I did, since I don’t like surprises in either direction. Afterwards, I asked why she never had asked about price. She said, “I knew you do good work and will treat me fairly, so I wasn’t concerned about it.” Would you like customers like that? You can have them by following the methods I’ll show you.

Here’s a testimonial from my Linkedin page that surprised me when I first read it, but it shows results of this process.

“David combines photography and art in ways that are very innovative. He is a man of many talents. He is one of those individuals that you want to be associated with not only because is he a great person, but because you just know that great things will result!” March 1, 2012 (http://linkd.in/LinkedinProfileDBC)

My goal with these articles is to help you position yourself so people feel that way about you. I hope you enjoy the results. If you have any tips on networking please share them in the comment field.

For a long time I have been wondering about the issue of limited editions. Let’s go over this together.

In Fine Art Photography the value of the images goes up when you produce a limited edition. The larger the edition the lower the price whereas the fewer images are available the higher the price goes. Yes, you got it, it is the idea of scarcity increases demand.

In the sculpture world the artist destroys the mold, which means that most of the time there is only one sculpture available. A one-of-a-kind piece has the most value in the art world. In photography back in the days of film – photographers destroyed the negatives to guarantee that this image could never be reproduced again. Obviously the digital age has changed this dramatically. Most photographers have scanned their images and are able to access their entire body of work at the click of their mouse.

The story in PDN ( your link is here) is about a collector of photographer William Eggleston’s work. The collector has been researching and collecting the work for years and invested a significant amount of money into building his collection. He bought limited edition prints and expects that the value of his collection will continue to go up. The artist was born in 1939.  Let’s do the math. There will only be a limited amount of work that Eggleston will be producing. That gives the collector as an early investor tremendous growth of the value of his collection because he has been at it for 10 years.

Eggleston has issued a new limited edition of some of the works that this collector bought. Here is an excerpt from the article addressing it:

The case hinges on whether Eggleston was within his rights as an artist to sell his photographs at a new size using a new type of printing. John Cahill, a lawyer for the Eggleston Artistic Trust, told The Wall Street Journal that the artist was within his rights to offer “new editions in new formats.” An official statement from Christie’s echoed Cahill’s assertion, saying “The artworks in question had never before been produced by William Eggleston in this oversized format and printing process, and they are a completely new addition to his oeuvre.”

Frankly, if I had spent $250,000 on a piece believing that there are only a few of these available and the photographer turns around to create more, just in a different size and printing method – I would feel misled and betrayed as well. The collector sued susequently.

Here is the twist.  The newly released print brought in over $500,000, which is more than double of what the collector paid which means that HIS PRINT from the original series is probably worth much more than he paid.

Irrespective on whether or not we can only congratulate that collector on his smart investment choices, the question remains: what is a limited edition? Should an artist issue a second or third limited edition on popular images? Is the issue of a different print size or printing method a valid argument or simply greed on the side of the photographer?

I am very curious about your opinion on this one. What do you think?

Hush, hush, I am in a secret location negotiating a deal. I recorded this quick 2 minute video for you sharing my 3 essential tips for your next photography business negotiation.

What are your negotiation tips that you can share with the readers of the PhotoBizCoach blog? Would love to hear what works for you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

How?

Go to the TipSheet page for download

(c) This week guest blogger Kirk Francis writes for PhotoBizCoach.com

Wow, I got paid to learn the photography business!  As someone that is emerging in this industry, I am in need of experience, referrals, and references.  How do you do that?  How do you get started?  How do you get experience?  If you don’t have experience, how do you get it?  Its a vicious cycle.

One way to get started in the photography business is to network with other photographers.  True professional photographers that are confident in their abilities will be more than happy to assist you get started in the photography business.  They want talented photographers to stay in the business and enhance it.

For this particular job I have been interacting with this photographer for over a year.  He has been critiquing my work and giving me advice.   I have asked to assist him and it just hasn’t worked out for us to get together.  Last month I received a call from him and he needed someone to cover a birthday party that he was unable to shoot due to a wedding that same weekend.

I showed up and completed the job, delivered the photographs and now I have not only a happy client but referrals and references.

If you would like to do the same, network, network, network with other photographers.  You never know when one of the photographers you regularly interact with may need a hand.  In fact, after completing the job, I called to let him know that the job went well and the client was happy.  During our conversation, he let me know he was short handed at the wedding.  I reminded him I was still willing to assist him when he required additional help.  Now that I did a small job well for him, he may be using me on something a bit larger like a bridal location shoot.

All I can tell you is to network, ask, gently remind, and be patient.  Your time will come.

PDN Pulse has written an article about it with the currently scheduled training sessions listed and how to sign up to attend. Read the entire story by going to PDN Pulse.