Helping out & sharing each other's work & photography ideas

Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
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91,158
My best bet is just to get on with it and give it a shot , its Free after all , just need to dedicate 2 nights a week too it.

It is the only way you are gonna find out really - I've an acquaintance who started fairly small with an upholstery/detailing business on FB and from mostly word of mouth it became fairly successful to the point he is turning down business.
 
Caporegime
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FYI, I don't watch many how to YT tutorial videos. The ones that I watch and I would guess most people watch are ones that has to do with gear demos.

There are also plenty of great and VERY well illustrated with great production channels like Phlearn for photoshop or Adorama for both gear (it's more an ad) and How to, or Karl Taylor on Studio photography. Or there is always Creative Live whose entire existence is for professionals to go in and teach. All of whom have much bigger budgets than just you. They have studio space, models, live audience even.

Then there is the thing call personality, and I can tell you that if the person on screen annoys me, I'll click the back button because that's the nature of YT.
 
Associate
OP
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Some where in England
I don't think you have a clue.

The more I read your posts, the more i'm starting to think this is a wind up..

I'm being serious Steve , we are all here to help each other out, Photography is competitive but at the end of the day we all just want to create magical photos that others will enjoy and like as we do.

You're right I don't really have a clue that's why I'm asking for feedback. ;)
 
Associate
OP
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It is the only way you are gonna find out really - I've an acquaintance who started fairly small with an upholstery/detailing business on FB and from mostly word of mouth it became fairly successful to the point he is turning down business.

What did he go for my I ask ?

Weddings ? or Family locations shoots ? or Baby shoots is pretty good these days I see.
 
Associate
OP
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Some where in England
FYI, I don't watch many how to YT tutorial videos. The ones that I watch and I would guess most people watch are ones that has to do with gear demos.

There are also plenty of great and VERY well illustrated with great production channels like Phlearn for photoshop or Adorama for both gear (it's more an ad) and How to, or Karl Taylor on Studio photography. Or there is always Creative Live whose entire existence is for professionals to go in and teach. All of whom have much bigger budgets than just you. They have studio space, models, live audience even.

Then there is the thing call personality, and I can tell you that if the person on screen annoys me, I'll click the back button because that's the nature of YT.

I get this totally Raymond , I watch a lot of these guys too but these people all ready have a massive following and earn S*** loads of money , I'm just a little fish in a pond , I'd like to get too where these guys are but its going to take a lot of work & if I can build that with other photographers to get there then fantastic.
 
Caporegime
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Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
What I am trying to say is, be a professional first with a admirable body of work first. Teach later.

No one is going to want to learn from a guy who's photo is average.

And these people didn't start by doing it for the money, even PewDiePie started alone in his bedroom doing it for fun.

What I find is that the YouTube Channels who have regular weekly contents doesn't really have great photographs. Matt Granger does lots of videos, he shoots portraits too but he is no Mario Testino. Digital Rev has lots of great videos and they are fun to watch but they are not really editorial material. Fro Knows Foto has loads of videos, gear unboxing, pod cast but he hardly shows off his work.

The photographers that I like, wedding photographers that I like, don't have time to do YouTube. Jasmine Star does a few, but she use it in a way to promote her wedding business, to sell her latest workshops or sell her plugins etc.

People like Lara Jade or Sue Bryce does their own video on Creative Live where you got to pay $200 to download or collaborate with Joey L for a video series where they can sell through their website.

Sure you can go for the YT angle, but as a one man band, there is not enough hours in the day to get that content to juggle with paid work IMO, and I think you are trying to run before you can walk...also it comes across you are doing it for the money, not the art.

Good luck though, you will need it.
 
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Soldato
Joined
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Nottinghamshire
You don't need a YouTube channel to get 20 weddings per year, we've got 28 booked this year and 15 already for next year. Let your work and successes speak for themselves, Facebook has done wonders for us simply by letting the clients tell an honest story that everyone can see.

Though I'm not full time my business partner is and we've now got our own studio which is just about fully booked. What also made a huge difference to us is networking, we offered services to florists, hair stylists, beauticians, dress makers etc for free who all have us in their shops now as 'recommended' photographers and we've also just won a contract in local Sure Start centres for the next 12 months.

Also think about its impact on you and your hobby, I do zero hobby photography these days simply because between my full time job as a senior manager, photography business, actual photography and editing, my wife and 8 year old daughter I don't have the time and if truth be told I miss it a lot.
 
Man of Honour
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
91,158
What did he go for my I ask ?

Weddings ? or Family locations shoots ? or Baby shoots is pretty good these days I see.

Oh not photography - was just that he didn't really have much in the way of expectations - tried it on the side as a punt mostly on facebook and to everyone's surprise it took off massively.
 
Associate
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1,675
If you start spending a significant amount of time answering others' questions on your work then it would be time to start considering starting up a YouTube channel.
 
Associate
OP
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You don't need a YouTube channel to get 20 weddings per year, we've got 28 booked this year and 15 already for next year. Let your work and successes speak for themselves, Facebook has done wonders for us simply by letting the clients tell an honest story that everyone can see.

Though I'm not full time my business partner is and we've now got our own studio which is just about fully booked. What also made a huge difference to us is networking, we offered services to florists, hair stylists, beauticians, dress makers etc for free who all have us in their shops now as 'recommended' photographers and we've also just won a contract in local Sure Start centres for the next 12 months.

Also think about its impact on you and your hobby, I do zero hobby photography these days simply because between my full time job as a senior manager, photography business, actual photography and editing, my wife and 8 year old daughter I don't have the time and if truth be told I miss it a lot.

Facebook is brilliant for getting work , 90% of my work is from that and word of mouth , Friends of friends so I will continue to do that , I started out doing weddings as most do with just family first and I enjoyed it so much I now do weddings for others and started advertising last year on Facebook & setup a website , It's early days & I'm still learning but I jumped in the deep end and have just been learning everything myself and I'm getting more experienced every time , I've made mistakes on the way but I feel that's helped me loads ! I can now turn up at a wedding and feel 100% confident that I know how the day is going to pan out and what kinda images I need to capture , I have decided I am going for the documentary approach as this looks really nice when you show your work of to clients as its shows the day from start to finish and shows of what images you can create for them , I'm not currently doing this full time but if I got 20 weddings a year then I could quit my boring 9/5 job and do something I have a passion for , It's not about the money it never has been , I really enjoy taken photos & I get so much joy out of editing the images in light-room and seeing the day all over again , and its really nice when your clients email you after they have had the images back thanking you for creating wonderful images & I like knowing that they will print these images for there albums and homes so I really do go all out to make the images the best I can , Currently it takes me a good 2 or 3 days to edit the images from a full wedding day but again its not a problem as I enjoy it so much , I always try new things , I've just started using VSCO Film in my images that I kinda like but I always try and keep my images pretty bright as thats my style and I stay away from the washed out dark Film look, I'm not saying YouTube is the right way to go , I can continue to post my images on my FB fan page and slowly build up clients from that but I want to aim my work at other people , not just friends of friends , what other ways do you feel photographers could get more clients and a following ?
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,618
With all his great experience, he has only had a flash for a couple of weeks, god only know how is earlier weddings worked out:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18714346&highlight=jasonsony735


It's not about the money, yet the OP is desperate to find any means possible to make money form his hobby:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18708322&highlight=jasonsony735



Best of all is what his clients think of him:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18683126&highlight=jasonsony735

"You rude *******! You were asked not to post ANY more photos on line before we had seen them. What part of that did you not understand? It's a special day for us not your ****ing business. Wise up."


And this is his attitude to clients:

Originally Posted by jasonsony735
No way in a million years will ill give them free prints ! If someone is rude to me like that **** em , To be honest my work is well above average for photographers in my area , this is the only guy out of 10 weddings that has been a gurk ! every other couple has asked me to post a sneak peek of photos . I am a documentary photographer this is how I role, , just because a lot of you follow the crowd , I have my own style and way of doing things, The bride was ok with me posting photos but her husband wasn't , a little mis communication, What bad can he say ? Oh don't hire him he will post your snaps on the internet before you see them lol , clients look at two things , one = How good your photos are , well mine are bloody amazing & two your attitude and how you interact with people when doing your job , again I am one of the most chilled out fun people too be around when shooting a wedding , I smile non stop and make everyone feel at ease and capture there day in the best possible way.

May sound a little cocky but I am good at what I do , if I wasn't people wouldn't hire me.

One thing that makes me good is this is not a profession for me , It's a hobby and I enjoy every moment of capturing peoples weddings for them.

Cheers.




You can see his photos here and judge for yourself:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsturgess/with/5480659244/

Certainly not someone I would spend 1 second of my life listening to. I've seen much worse before but horrendous HDR, and heavy processing over substance. Lots of poor compositions or weak subjects. Then there are like 3 varients of this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsturgess/17975870092/in/dateposted/
Why wasn't the OP on the front getting their faces!
And this is liekly the work he is most proud of.


HOWEVER, there are a few good photos in there that show potential. Drop the attitude OP, keep learning and maybe in a few years time the quality and consistency of your
work will be up there.

More photos like this OP:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsturgess/19535810208/in/dateposted/
Less attitude.
 
Associate
Joined
14 Dec 2007
Posts
1,587
I think the probelm with this guy is that he started the thread talking about "giving back" when he doesn't really have anything to "give back" that anyone would want.

What he was really after, was how to promote himself and his services. Nothing wrong with wanting to to that, but should have come out and stated his true intentions rather than trying to hide it and coming out with statements like: "engaging with people and sharing my passion with photography & helping others in the process"...

Seems to me though there's no real passion for photography what so ever, and the primary aim is just to make money.
 
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Associate
OP
Joined
17 Oct 2007
Posts
1,778
Location
Some where in England
With all his great experience, he has only had a flash for a couple of weeks, god only know how is earlier weddings worked out:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18714346&highlight=jasonsony735


It's not about the money, yet the OP is desperate to find any means possible to make money form his hobby:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18708322&highlight=jasonsony735



Best of all is what his clients think of him:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18683126&highlight=jasonsony735




And this is his attitude to clients:






You can see his photos here and judge for yourself:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsturgess/with/5480659244/

Certainly not someone I would spend 1 second of my life listening to. I've seen much worse before but horrendous HDR, and heavy processing over substance. Lots of poor compositions or weak subjects. Then there are like 3 varients of this:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsturgess/17975870092/in/dateposted/
Why wasn't the OP on the front getting their faces!
And this is liekly the work he is most proud of.


HOWEVER, there are a few good photos in there that show potential. Drop the attitude OP, keep learning and maybe in a few years time the quality and consistency of your
work will be up there.

More photos like this OP:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ijsturgess/19535810208/in/dateposted/
Less attitude.


1 :I Need to make a living hehe , just enough to live will keep me happy;)

2 : I made a mistake and held my hands high on posting images before the client had seem them , & you might not like this but once the client received his wedding photos from me he congratulated on my on how well I captured his day and apologised too me

3: I wasn't aloud to photograph from the front :( So that's why the images are from behind, this is the best I could do , a lot of people liked these shots.

4: The HDR images where done over 5 years ago when I first started out with photography and I used Photo matrix & was using Canon 500D with kit lens so don't expect them to be good hence why they are not on my website.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
17 Oct 2007
Posts
1,778
Location
Some where in England
I think the probelm with this guy is that he started the thread talking about "giving back" when he doesn't really have anything to "give back" that anyone would want.

What he was really after, was how to promote himself and his services. Nothing wrong with wanting to to that, but should have come out and stated his true intentions rather than trying to hide it and coming out with statements like: "engaging with people and sharing my passion with photography & helping others in the process"...

Seems to me though there's no real passion for photography what so ever, and the primary aim is just to make money.


Its not about money at all ! I didn't charge any money at all for the weddings I did in my first year :) Was all done FREE
 
Associate
OP
Joined
17 Oct 2007
Posts
1,778
Location
Some where in England
I think the probelm with this guy is that he started the thread talking about "giving back" when he doesn't really have anything to "give back" that anyone would want.

What he was really after, was how to promote himself and his services. Nothing wrong with wanting to to that, but should have come out and stated his true intentions rather than trying to hide it and coming out with statements like: "engaging with people and sharing my passion with photography & helping others in the process"...

Seems to me though there's no real passion for photography what so ever, and the primary aim is just to make money.



This is about me giving something back , obviously I want to advertise myself as well but the main thing is about me going of and making creative photos and sharing with others how I do it and become a better photographer. So its not all about me at all , I will make a youtube Video and share it with you guys and you can see if you like it and advise me on how I can make it better and engage with people.
 
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