Photo Field Notes Podcast: Career Advice for Photographers

Amy and Jordan were high school sweethearts— they met when they were 14 years old in freshman english class. After becoming teachers in the same school, Amy found herself getting pulled in by the world of photography. Jordan soon followed, and within a few years, they had both quit their day jobs to run their wedding photography business full time as a husband and wife team.

A few topics from today’s show:

* The journey toward becoming a full time husband and wife wedding photography team, including why Amy and Jordan chose to quit both of their jobs at the same time rather than having one jump all in first, and how they made it work.

* How Amy and Jordan have used their blog to attract clients (sometimes they even attract clients before they meet their future spouses).

* What does the client experience look like for Amy and Jordan couples? How many touch points do they have with clients throughout the experience?

* Why do Amy and Jordan always meet couples at Starbucks for their first meetings?

* Learn why Amy and Jordan insist on engagement sessions.

* Listen to how Amy and Jordan talk about how they connect with clients throughout the year through personal social media.

Check out Amy and Jordan’s free ebook, Make Your Dream Job a Reality for more advice about making the leap into full time photography.

Check out some of their beautiful work below, and be sure to check out their website and follow Amy and Jordan on Instagram to see more.

Your Turn to Share!

I’ve set up a call-in line you to call in and have your comments included in future episodes. To share your feedback to this episode, photography questions or your own tips to be featured on the show, call my Google Voice number and record your message: (616) 522-2515

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A few topics from today's show:

- The one mistake Jean made in the beginning.

- Building a brand.

- How Jean approaches social media marketing and built a Facebook audience of 17,000 (50-75% of her business comes from social media).

- How Jean and Travis took a full year traveling Europe and Asia with their four kids while working along the way.

- Balancing home responsibilities when both spouses are self employed (hint: outsourcing helped).

- Advice for beginners getting into business.

International travel seems to be quite a trend in my interviews lately for getting people started in photography. When Jean and her husband, Travis, traveled to China for an internship for her husband, they knew that they wanted to bring a nice camera along. What they didn’t know was that this camera would change the course of their lives. Jean became obsessed, and after getting back to the States, she started her business.

They moved to Michigan soon after for Travis’ job, but when the economy took a nose dive around 2009, Travis was told that he needed to start looking for a new job. That’s when he jumped into commercial video and photography, making the couple completely self employed in photography.

A few topics from today’s show:

* The one mistake Jean made in the beginning.

* Building a brand.

* How Jean approaches social media marketing and built a Facebook audience of 17,000 (50-75% of her business comes from social media).

* How Jean and Travis took a full year traveling Europe and Asia with their four kids while working along the way.

* Balancing home responsibilities when both spouses are self employed (hint: outsourcing helped).

* Advice for beginners getting into business.

Check out some of Jean’s work below, and be sure to check out her website and Facebook page for more.

Your Turn to Share!

I’ve set up a call-in line you to call in and have your comments included in future episodes. To share your feedback to this episode, photography questions or your own tips to be featured on the show, call my Google Voice number and record your message: (616) 522-2515

Never Miss an Episode

To get future episodes and other goodies, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and sign up below:

First Name

Email Address

A few topics from this show:

- Why Jonathan never switched to digital photography

- How shooting film impacts how Jonathan approaches weddings and sessions

- How many photos he shoots for weddings and sessions, and how many he delivers

- How Jonathan preps for a wedding

- Why Jonathan doesn’t work with second photographers

- Why Jonathan thinks photography specialization is a bad idea

- Jonathan's biggest wedding disaster story

Jonathan Canlas discovered photography while living in Japan. 20 years later, he’s running a thriving business, and he’s still shooting film.

* FIND: Families Guide (From Jonathan: “I’m laying out how to shoot a family portrait session in a way that’s fast, fun and profitable.”)

* FIND: Biz Guide (From Jonathan: “What if a single book could turn your photography business around? Whether you shoot film or digital photography, FIND: Biz covers the nuts and bolts of operating a profitable photography business.”)

A few topics from this show:

* Why Jonathan never switched to digital photography

* How shooting film impacts how Jonathan approaches weddings and sessions

* How many photos he shoots for weddings and sessions, and how many he delivers

* How Jonathan preps for a wedding

* Why Jonathan doesn’t work with second photographers

* Why Jonathan thinks photography specialization is a bad idea

* Jonathan’s biggest wedding disaster story

Be sure to follow Jonathan’s latest work on his website and Instagram.

Your Turn to Share!

I’ve set up a call-in line you to call in and have your comments included in future episodes. To share your feedback to this episode, photography questions or your own tips to be featured on the show, call my Google Voice number and record your message: (616) 522-2515

Never Miss an Episode

To get future episodes and other goodies, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and sign up below:

First Name

Email Address

A few topics from today’s show:

- How the Chicago Photography Center got me interested in photography

- Apprenticeships and mentorship

- Why and when I decided to focus on photography full time

After my interview with my friend and fellow photographer, Mikkel from Mikkel Paige Photography, she came back and told me that she wanted to interview me for the podcast so that I could tell my own story. It was fun to be on the “other side” of the interview for this one and share how I went from running a multiple six figure marketing company with my husband to essentially quitting it all to focus on photography full time.

Sadly, the Get it Together Kit that I mentioned in the interview is no longer available. I’ll have to get Millie on the podcast soon to find out what she’s up to next.

A few topics from today’s show:

* How the Chicago Photography Center got me interested in photography

* Apprenticeships and mentorship

* Why and when I decided to focus on photography full time

And in the spirit of the podcast, here’s a grab of some of my favorite photos.

Your Turn to Share!

I’ve set up a call-in line you to call in and have your comments included in future episodes. To share your feedback to this episode, photography questions or your own tips to be featured on the show, call my Google Voice number and record your message: (616) 522-2515

Never Miss an Episode

To get future episodes and other goodies, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and sign up below:

First Name

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A few topics from this show:

- How Heather gravitated toward newborns and babies

- Why Heather has never taken a newborn workshop

- Setting up a home studio

- Collecting props

- Referral programs

- Video marketing

- The most important thing photographers can do for themselves

Heather Woodward of Artful Heart Photography started getting into photography when her first child was born. She obsessed over learning the skills for herself and her personal photos, but soon began getting requests to take photos for others, which led her to start and grow her business.

A few topics from this show:

* How Heather gravitated toward newborns and babies

* Why Heather has never taken a newborn workshop

* Setting up a home studio

* Collecting props

* Referral programs

* Video marketing

* The most important thing photographers can do for themselves

Check out Heather’s beautiful photos below, and be sure to Artful Heart Photography for more.

 

Your Turn to Share!

I’ve set up a call-in line you to call in and have your comments included in future episodes. To share your feedback to this episode, photography questions or your own tips to be featured on the show, call my Google Voice number and record your message: (616) 522-2515

Never Miss an Episode

To get future episodes and other goodies, be sure to subscribe in iTunes, and sign up below:

First Name

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David Bean is the founder of Visual Reserve out of Nashville. David grew up on what he calls "hippy communes," barely graduating high school and never going to college. Now he's built a successful business photographing celebrities from Nikki Taylor to Taylor Swift. In this interview, David tells the story of how he created his own business out of nothing.