Each week the PPBF gives its readers a new challenge designed to help their studios grow. Sometimes the assignment involves shooting, and sometimes the assignment calls for a particular action to be taken. Whatever the assignment, you can be sure we will do our best to help you grow as a professional photographer, and not just as a photographer.

Congratulations to Last Weeks Challenge Winner, Kristen Bourdon Photography!

Judging by PPBF Print Competition Chairman, John Tucker:
This week’s winner was submitted by Kristin Bourdon of Kristin Bourdon Photography.

The slightly out-of-focus, shirtless boy with sunburned cheeks, sunglasses, standing in the harsh sunlight against a blue sky while holding a sharply-focused crab with a wet hand, speaks boldly of summer fun at the beach. Without a doubt, I knew immediately this was a beach image. Nicely done, Kristin!

Runner-up, Leanne Wildermuth!

The sharply-focused bone with the dog staring intently and in anticipation makes me think this could be an ad for a particular dog treat. Well executed shot, Leanne!

Thanks to all who participated,
John Tucker
PPBF Image Competition Chairman
John Tucker Photography

This Week’s Assignment:

Create a portrait with two or more light sources!

I think it’s safe to assume that the participants in the PPBF Weekly Challenge are all professional photographers, or are striving hard to become one. This weeks challenge is gong to help push you on your way if you are striving to become a professional.

The truth is, if I worked as fast as I could, I could complete a very nice bridal portrait session in less than ten minutes, but this will leave my client feeling as if she has received no value from me. So, with each shot I take, I really examine how the light is striking my subject. Do you know the names of the different types of portrait lighting?

Broad lighting: The main light completely illuminates the side of the face turned toward the
camera.
Short lighting: The main light completelyilluminates the side of the face turned away from the camera.
Butterfly lighting: The main light is placeddirectly in front of the face and casts a shadow directly under the nose.
Rembrandt lighting: This is a combination ofshort and butterfly lighting. The main light is placed high and to the side of the face turned away from thecamera and produces a triangle of light on the side of the face in shadow.
Split lighting: The modeling light is placed tolight completely one side of the face while placing the other side of the face in shadow.
Rim lighting:The modeling light is placedbehind the subject and places the entire face in shadow.

Really think about lighting your subject as you are doing it. Let your client see you are thinking about the lighting, and you will instantly add value to your finished portrait before it is even created. Is the light bringing out the natural features in this subject’s face? Are you making sure to remove possible unflattering features by keeping them in the shadows?

I want you to use two or more light sources while taking a portrait. I want you to direct my eye using light. Don’t just make your portrait all about the expression of the subject as so many amateurs can only do. You know the portraits I am talking about? The ones where the entire frame is filled with the subject’s face, and the face is all smiles. Show yourself and your clients that you are a professional photographer, and that you know the secret to great professional portraiture is more than just expression…. it’s great light!

First Place Prize:  To Be Announced.

How To Enter:

1) Complete the assignment and place the results on your own blog, linking back to the challenge post.

2) Post a comment on this blog entry that you have completed the assignment with a link back to your blog entry. A link will be posted at the bottom of this assignment pointing back to your blog entry, thus creating a reciprocal link and helping with your SEO.

3) The winner of the assignment will be posted in the following weeks assignment.

We would love it if you can place the Weekly Challenge Icon at the beginning of this post in your blog post to show your readers your participation in the weekly challenge.

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
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Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

This is really more of a production tip than a photography tip.

I have so many ways for people to chat or contact me. I can do one simple thing to help make sure I get the things done that I need to get done.

A few days a week, turn the chat off on Facebook, or anywhere else for that matter, and relieve yourself of one more distraction. You’ll be amazed how much more post editing you can get done.

While this seems really simple, it was about a year ago that I read this tip out there somewhere on the web and I followed the tip, and I am so glad that I did.

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
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Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

There is no such thing as time management. No one can manage time. There is only activity management.

Here is a great, but simple tip, on how to sort out all the things you have to do. It’s how I get so much done.

I have multiple to-do-lists, and each one has a ton of things on them. One list is for my studio, the other is for things I need to do for the community. I am on the board of the PPGH, so that most certainly gets a to-do-list. I have a to-do-list for my family needs (here’s my boy). And I even have a to-do-list for my intern. But there is one to-do-list that I like the most. This is my 24 hour to-do-list. This list only contains three items on it, and these items are taken from the other lists. Once an item goes on my 24 hour list it stays there until I have completed that item.

I start an item on that list, and I continue with that item until I have finished it, giving that item as much of my energy as I can. If I don’t finish it, it carries over until the next day. I don’t think about the things I have completed, and I don’t think about the other things I need to do. I focus on the activity at hand until it is done, and I give it my best energy.

To be great, just do single actions in a great way every day. Keep your 24 hour to-do-list small and manageable. Keep moving forward.

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
Subscribe to the PPBF Podcast!
Join The Pro Photo Business Forum
Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

This eBook normally sells for $9.95. Receive it free by joining our mailing list to the right. Once you join our mailing list, you will also receive two additional gifts.

1. A free download of a past teleseminar entitled “Working On Location” This lecture educates beginning wedding and portrait photographers on how to run their business without a brick and mortar studio. It’s packed with great information.
2. A generous 50% discount code to join the Pro Photo Business Forum.

Thank you for visiting the Pro Photo Business Forum. We hope you enjoy your stay.

“I‘ve been a professional wedding photographer for 14 years, and I can honestly say we have generated thousands upon thousands of dollars for my studio by using just one of the calls to action described in this eBook, and we continue to use this business technique today. The information is worth so much more than the price of the eBook!”
David Jones, CPP

“Aric quickly takes you to the next level in your profession as he shares his secrets of success.”
Alvin Gee
Master of Photography PPA
Photographic Craftsman PPA
Camera Craftsmen of America

“If you are even considering entering the Wedding Photography World, this is a must “hands on primer”. Read the book, study the book, then DO the book.
Aric has such great practical ideas to save you such headaches and heartaches, and well as the all important Money matters…..You should know this book like you know your camera manual!
Best wishes and blessings to all who strive to create such precious memories and stories for others.”
Carol Andrews
Master Photographic Craftsman,
Approved Business Instructor
SMS photographic Consultant and Instructor
PPA Board Of Directors

“These no nonsense tips aren’t just for beginning wedding photographers. Everyone can benefit from Aric’s insight. I wish someone had told me some of these when I was first starting out – it would have saved me a lot of trial and error.”
Brad Barton
A major contributor of The Texas Photo Forum with over 10,000 posts.

Do you feel like you are a business owner standing in a 50′ hole?

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
Subscribe to the PPBF Podcast!
Join The Pro Photo Business Forum
Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

Today’s photography tip is about marketing, and helping your site go just a bit more viral in the world of Facebook. After all, we are a community about the business of photography.

Would you like to know how to add a Like button to your site as we have done on the top of this page? It’s really very simple. Follow this link, fill in the form, copy and paste the code onto your site.

Leave a comment on this post with a link back to your like button!

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
Subscribe to the PPBF Podcast!
Join The Pro Photo Business Forum
Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

If you’re like me, you want to advance everything about your photographic life. To do this you need to come up with new and fresh ideas that will cause you and your business to grow. New ideas can be a hard thing to come by. However, part of what it means to be an entrepreneur is the ability to convert ideas into money in the bank account.

I have plenty of individual ideas of how to move my business forward, but what is more important is how I come up with these ideas.

Ready? This works for me, but please take it with a grain of salt.

First, I imagine something that I want. Something that will change my lifestyle. A new camera is nice, but not large enough a goal for this exercise. I try to think of something that is out of my current capabilities of obtaining. To make this example easy, lets think of a larger home than you currently have.

Imagine your dream home. Don’t covet someone else’s home. Imagine your dream home. Imagine it in every detail.

Next…. put a monetary value on that home. Something truly obtainable for you personally. This value will of course change depending on where you live, but the point is that this dream home should be outside your current means, but also feel obtainable for you personally.

Now… Imagine you are living in the home now. You have somehow made it there! Now… to get new ideas on how to increase your business, think of how are you going to continue living in this home as a professional photographer. Will you just shoot more images? How will you maintain this level of income and new lifestyle with your photography?

I am not asking how you are going to achieve this home, but how are you going to change your current photographic business to continue living there? What actions are you gong to take? You don’t want to lose your dream home do you?

Have any ideas? Are you going to open a second location? Are you going to have more photographers working for you?

If you’re a member of the Pro Photo Business Forum, you are gong to be happy, as we have opened up a new section today called “Taking It To The Next Level!” This section is a place for new ideas on how to set your studio apart from the pack. Over time, I think this section of the forum will become very valuable for the PPBF membership as it gets filled with valuable ideas.

Join the Pro Photo Business Forum now.

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
Subscribe to the PPBF Podcast!
Join The Pro Photo Business Forum
Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

Each week the PPBF gives its readers a new challenge designed to help their studios grow. Sometimes the assignment involves shooting, and sometimes the assignment calls for a particular action to be taken.

This Week’s Assignment:
Subject Isolation With A Shallow Depth Of Field.

As photographers we are storytellers.  Our job is to provide elegant tools for our customers to tell their stories.  One way we can create a more elegant and polished story, and further define ourselves as professionals, is through the use of a shallow depth of field.  A shallow depth of field is a tool a photographer can use to draw the viewer’s gaze to a certain area in a finished portrait, making it more clear was to what the photograph is trying to convey.

This week, your assignment is “Shallow Depth Of Field”.  Tell a story, and make the subject of your story more clear through the use of a shallow depth of field.

And for this week’s contest, we have a prize for the winner!

First Place Prize:  Simply Selling

The winner of this week’s challenge will receive “Simply Selling” by Doug Box!  A $200 value!

How To Enter:

1) Complete the assignment and place the results on your own blog, linking back to the challenge post.

2) Post a comment on this blog entry that you have completed the assignment with a link back to your blog entry. A link will be posted at the bottom of this assignment pointing back to your blog entry, thus creating a reciprocal link and helping with your SEO.

3) The winner of the assignment will be posted in the following weeks assignment.

If you wish, you can place the following graphic above in your blog post to show your readers your participation in the weekly challenge.

Congratulations To Last Weeks Winner:

Professional Photographer Leanne Wildermuth – Artist By Nature

Second Place:

Houston Family Portrait Photographer, Aric C. Hoek of Solaris Studios

Here are the entries for this week’s Weekly Challenge!

Houston Wedding Photographer Bryan Lindsey has completed the Weekly Challenge!
Professional Photographer Leanne Wildermuth – Artist By Nature has completed the challenge
Houston Wedding Photographer Jonathan L Golden has completed the Weekly Challenge!
Professional Photographer Michael Bromley has completed the Weekly Challenge!
Memphis Family Portrait Photographer Clicne Ellis Photography has completed the Weekly Challenge!
Arkansas Wedding Photographer Michelle Posey has completed the challenge.
Collierville Family Portrait Photographer has completed the Weekly Challenge.

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
Subscribe to the PPBF Podcast!
Join The Pro Photo Business Forum
Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek

Would you like some helpful tips on how to conduct a wedding consultation? This talk is great for beginning wedding photographers looking to jump start their business, and increase the percentage of consultations which convert into clients. We discuss the physical aspects of your meeting as well as the language to be used. We also cover follow up language to be used should your consultation choose not to book your services during your initial meeting.

Aric C. Hoek BFA, CPP, Author
PPBF Administrator
Subscribe to the PPBF Podcast!
Join The Pro Photo Business Forum
Educational eBooks by Aric
Houston Wedding Photographer, Aric Hoek