The Beginner Photography Podcast

#51 In This Episode I talk to Alex Peterson who is a wedding and newborn photographer from New Jersey. She is half of the Husband and Wife Team behind Idalia Photography and also runs the popular Facebook group "Blogging for Photographers". She talks about how she grew her photography business to shooting 30 weddings while still working a full time job as a teacher. She shares some of her favorite tools and tips to balancing working a day job and growing your photography empire! In This Episode You'll Learn:  How a 365 photo a day challenge started her photography career How the cold winter months sparked Alexs creativity How blogging gave Alex a huge head start when she went full time When Alex decided it was time to leave her career to go full time in photography How important it was for Alex to switch to wordpress to start blogging more What Alex was doing to prepare to go full time How Alex gets inquiries without paying for advertising Some of the workflows Alex has in place to keep organized How Email templates save Alex tons of time Tips on what to write in your blogs when you hate to write An easy way to write 60+ blogs a year How often photographers should be blogging More blog ideas for photographers  Where you can get a cheat sheet with the best tips to running your photography as a side hustle! Resources Alexs Website Alexs Facebook Alexs "Blogging for Photographers" group Alexs Instagram 17 Hats Client Management Software The Cheat Sheet for Running Your Photography as a Side Hustle Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Connect with Raymond! 

• Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle
• Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group
• Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/

Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Todays Listener Question: What is Manual mode exactly and why is it so much better? Shooting in manual can seem scary. I've been there I know. Having full control of your camera means its your fault if you miss a photo. You may even think, I spend this much money on my camera why not let it do most of the thinking and decision making. On paper that makes sense but loosing that control will make you lose confidence. Part of what makes a good photographer is their ability to walk into a room and know what camera settings they need. When you shoot in auto you'll never know what your camera decided to do so you will always be shooting reactively instead of proactively. Shooting with your camera in manual mode will be scary in the beginning, but with everything once you gain the experience you will gain the confidence!

#50 Vincent Puglises is an accomplished sports photographer having shot almost every major sporting event like the Super Bowl, The NBA Playoffs, and the World Series. Along with his wife they are also Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers. Vinny Pugliese has accomplished many things in his sports photography career lasting more than 20 years. He is a Super Bowl Photographer, a World Series Photographer, an NBA playoff photographer, and even with his wife accomplished Pittsburgh Wedding Photographers. Today he talks about how to become a sports photographer and the secret to long term success.  In this episode you'll learn How long Vinny has been shooting sports and weddings Why Vinny got into photography The value of faking it until you make it Why Vinny wasnt even thinking of monitizing his sports photography Vinnys first portfolio review How Vinny started building relationships with the right people to shoot more games Who hires the photographers for sports teams Some of the best perks of being a sports photographer Sports photography workflow The biggest mistakes beginner sports photographers make  How to shoot sports without spending $10k on a telephoto lens How to shoot sports with the gear you have Why the quiet moments can be more powerful than the action The once piece of advice Vinny wish he knew about sports photography when he first started   Resources Vinnys Website Vinnys Facebook Vinnys Instagram Kyle Shultz Vinnys free sports course 

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Sign up for your free CloudSpot Account today at www.DeliverPhotos.com

Connect with Raymond! 

• Go from Confused to Confident behind the camera with The Ultimate Photography Education Bundle - https://beginnerphotopod.com/bundle
• Join the free Beginner Photography Podcast Community at https://beginnerphotopod.com/group
• Grab your free camera setting cheatsheet - https://perfectcamerasettings.com/

Thanks for listening & keep shooting!

Todays Question: In Lightroom I have a lot of snapshots but after a while I forget all of the snapshot images of from throughout the year. Is there a way to filter them so I can see all of them at once? Adobe Lightroom is the industry standard when it comes to editing photos (not manipulating photos like Photoshop) and its categorizing capabilities are some of the best if you use them correctly. We take a ton of photos every day. We took more photos in 2015 than every year previous... COMBINED. So coming up with an easy solution to be able to easily find that photo of your kid doing that hilarious thing with their nose from 2 summers ago is important. Most people when first starting out in Lightroom just import all of their photos into one folder. All of their images are in one place which is fine if you just have a few hundred photos. After a few years you will have amassed thousands if not tens of thousands of photos and if they are still in just one folder it can get hectic. Luckily Lightroom has thought of this by letting you search by a photos "metadata" which is just info that is stored in the photo like what camera took the photo, what lens took the photo, what your aperture was for the photo, or if your camera has GPS built in (Like your phone!) it can show where the photo was taken. Im great at remembering what camera I took a photo with (iPhone, Galaxy s7, x70, 5dmkIII, xPro2) and can go back and look at all the photo I took with that device helping me find the photo I was looking for quicker. Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Todays Question: Photography Is A Hobby For Me, How Important Is It For Me To Have A Website? Having a website is essential if you are running a business. Having a place online of your own that you can convert viewers into paying customers is best done with your website. Like just about everyone else photography starts off as a hobby. Its up to you to decide is photography is going to stay a hobby or if you are going to make a go at becoming a full time photographer. For a lot of people, keeping photography as a fun hobby is more than enough for them and they wonder if they should get a website? In short I would say that if you know you never plan to become a full time photographer and you just love taking photos of your kids or fun events you go to, then no there is really no need to have a website. There are so many places online where you can share your photos like Instagram, Flickr, 500px, Facebook, etc so starting a dedicated website would be a redundant and could be costly. But if you think there will ever be a possibility that you would want to make money off of your photography and get clients to find you then do not hesitate and get a website right now! Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Todays Listener Question: What can you legally take photos of and sell? I heard you can take photos of buildings if you are on a public road. The legality of taking photos in public can be a hot button question. As laws vary from state to state, county to county, and even city to city it's hard to get a direct answer. This week a listener asked about what she could legally take photos of in public and then sell. So here are some generalizations. Everyone is entitled to a certain amount of privacy specifically in their own home or other private property.  Once you go into public you no longer have that same amount of privacy and people may take your photo and there is nothing you can do about it. If the photography is in the public domain the photo they took will have almost no restrictions. You take the photo, you own the copyright. Paul also shares a great idea on who to talk to locally about the legalities of taking photos. Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Todays Listener Question: How Can I Figure Out How Much To Charge For My First Wedding? The Pricing of photography is a hard subject to talk about. There is no right answer for everyone. There is no guide book to tell you how much you should be charging to shoot your first wedding or event. You want to charge enough for it to be worth it to you but you cant charge as much as the pros who have been doing it for years and have business insurance and quarterly tax payments, and tons of back up gear so how much do you figure out what to charge? Doing a little research for this for this question I thought back to when I shot my first wedding and I also googled what other photographers were saying. Most other photographers had graphs and spreadsheets and mathematical equations to figure out how much to charge. At the core of running a business this is a great practice. Taking an analytical approach to making decisions. It asks questions like "What is your hourly rate?" "How much is the yearly depreciation of your gear" "How much did it cost you to book the wedding?" "How much will you be spending on deliverables?" "How long will it take you to edit the photos, Times that by your hourly rate" Woah! Thats a lot of questions, a lot of specific business questions that a beginner photographer might not know right now. So the question remains how much should you charge?? I thought back to my first wedding and tried to remember how I came up with how much I charged. I charged $700 to shoot my first wedding. Talking to other photographers Ive learned that I charged way more than other photographers who shot their first wedding. I came up with $700 by asking myself one question. "How much money would it take for me to be away from my family for the day?" Family is super important to me, spending time with them is super valuable and because of our work schedules I only got to see them on weekends. So I determined that to shoot that wedding I would have to charge what I was making per paycheck at my day job. If this wedding was going to take half of the time away that I spend with the family, it had to be worth it. And an additional paycheck from my day job was that price.  Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Todays Listener Photo Question: What's The One Piece Of Advice You Wish You Knew When First Started Out In Photography When I first started out in photography all I cared about was taking better photos than everyone else. Obviously if you take the best photos possible people will come running your way just throwing heaps of money at you to take their photo right? I couldn't have been more wrong. The truth is your clients are very uneducated about photography. The fact that you have a DSLR and shoot in a mode outside of AUTO will result in photos much better than they would ever take. So if you could create a better photo than the client could, and so could a photographer charging 10x what you do, why would they ever hire the other photographer? Because "You're not selling your photography to people, your'e selling yourself to people who need photography" -Nick McArthur The photographers who are successfully charging 10x what you do even though you might take better photos can do so because they are selling them self. Their personality. Their ideas. Their life goals. When people can make a personal connection to you, they will be way more willing to pay for your photography even if there are photographers who charge 10x less than you.  Todays Listener Question: What's The One Piece Of Advice You Wish You Knew When First Started Out In Photography Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Todays Listener Questions: I'm looking for a new camera, how many megapixels do I need? When youre looking to buy a new camera one of the biggest specifications camera manufacturers focus on is Megapixels. With a range all over the board from 8 to 50 megapixels its hard to know how many you need. Back when photographers were shooting film they would blow up their photos to print on large billboards but a lot of people don't know that film has about the same useable resolution as 5.25megapixels. Today you almost have to go out of your way to find a camera or even a cell phone for that matter with less than 8mp. The megapixel race is dead, its over, its a number that does not matter any more. Now a sensors ISO sensitivity is the metric camera manufactures are paying most attention to, and in 4 or 5 years time it will also become a non issue and people will be able to take totally useable photos in near darkness. So look at those metrics more than megapixels when you go to buy your next camera!  Todays Listener Question: I'm looking for a new camera, how many megapixels do I need? Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]

Todays Listener Question I Answer: What Is The Best Lens To Take On A Vacation? Going on vacation provides us some incredible photo opportunities that we would not have in our normal day to day life. Thins like swimming with dolphins, or parasailing, or hiking up to the top of Yosemite at dawn to see the sunrise over the valley are the types of things you will want to remember and save forever with a photograph. A vacation is also time to enjoy yourself and be present with your family and friends. I have found that when I think back to the vacations where I spent most of my time trying to capture my families activity or experience I remember it in my head as me looking through the camera and not being as dedicated or in the moment as I would like to be. Thats when I gave up bringing a full frame DSLR with a 24-70 2.8 and 2 primes with me on vacation. Ease of use and portability is the name of the game here. Often I will just take photos on my cell phone or if I brought it with me, my Fuji x70. Because its not the quality of the photo that matters, its just a ticket stub to your memory. My general rule of thumb is a lens in the 28-35mm range. Wide enough to get capture a lot of context but still able to get some great portraits of your family.  Check out more at www.BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Have A Question? Reach out to us on social Facebook: www.Facebook.com/BeginnerPhotographyPodcast.com Instagram: www.Instagtam.com/BeginnerPhotoPodcast Or Email us at: [email protected]