{Girl Behind The Lens} Professionalism: How Much Does It Cost?

Professionalism is something that comes into question a lot of the time with photography. Whilst some people say you can only be a Professional Photographer if you do it full time, some suggest that you cannot even call yourself a professional photographer, because the word professional has certain connotations around its meaning (wiki it, it explains it!). How you act in your manor, is whether or not you are or are not a professional photographer. Nothing else.

Also. Manners do not cost anything, but the big photography debate of “Expensive Vs Cheap” photographers all come down to whether or not the “Cheap” are professional or not.
Surely how much anyone charges for their services as a Wedding Photographer isn’t attributed to their professionalism. Nor are how many professional bodies they are part of. Or…how many years they have been doing it.

I personally have met some rather rude photographers. Some have come to digital from film. Some have come from past generations of being photographers in the family. And some…think that manners don’t matter. Some of these are members of several professional bodies and are Award Winning and some, I feel in my opinion are just plain horrible and nasty people, or at least that’s how they come across!

The money you charge for a Wedding does not mean that you are or are not more professional than the next photographer. Also if you are part time or full time it does not mean you are any more or any less professional than the next person a long.

I do wonder that if the people who put into the arguments that “X photographer is undercutting me and stealing all my business” really need to look if that is the real reason they are getting all their business. And I feel that if the people who put as much energy into dissing said “part time and cheap photographers” as they do - then their business would be a lot better.

And then that is the other thing. Just because you are a part-time photographer generally doesn’t mean you are cheap. And just because you are an expensive photographer doesn’t mean you are full time. You are what you are. You do what you do. You get the business in. As long as your clients are happy. As long as you are getting the business. It doesn’t matter if you are full time. Part time. Half Time. Weekend Warrior, or whatever other terminology you want to call them. If you are insured. If you are earning money. If your clients are happy. AND, and this is a very big and…you are getting by. That’s all that matters.

Manners and being polite, doing your job to the best standard you can do. And people not feeling like they are getting “ripped off” then that’s great. None of that makes you a professional. It’s how you come across in your business.

I run my business full time. I am the sole photographer and chief, cook and bottle washer. I love my job. And I feel I try and have manners with my client and be as professional as I can be whilst still being friendly and keeping my clients happy.

If I was to win the lottery tomorrow…I would probably still do Wedding Photography. I’d probably happily shoot weddings at £500 a time, for a full day and an album, but limit them to 20 or even 10 per year so they were “exclusive” and why? Because I love my job. And I wouldn’t really need the money would I? It doesn’t mean that my professionalism would go down if I was charging less.

On Christmas Eve I am working for free. I ran a competition to “Win Your Wedding Photography” and the couple who won are getting married on Christmas Eve. Just because I am working for free, doesn’t mean my professionalism should be questioned in anyway. Because not only am I cheap for that wedding. I’m entirely free. ENTIRELY. Does that mean I am going to go about the wedding in an entirely unprofessional manner? No.

So the people who argue that “cheap is stealing my business” and “cheap is unprofessional” it really isn’t. Because we are all here to do a job. And the only people that matters are our clients.

{Girl Behind The Lens} Please Like Me!

After seeing a blog post about how I use social media from Keith Evans of In Smart Company, and then seeing someone asking someone to like their page (face book reference for those who are not social media literate, but then if your not how are you even reading this haha) I decided to write this post.

Facebook, is there, to be used. To be sociable and to get people to like the work that you do. I may know you, I may know your company, but if I do not like the work, it has no relevance to me, or I don’t simply like it. I will not actually face book-like it.

Harsh I know. Take for instance my friend Joe, from KJ Photography props. She set up her page. I liked it. Because I am supporting her. She posted on her personal profile, used twitter and blog and now has her own esty shop. The more other photographers who networked saw her work and liked her the more it got people to buy her work etc. That is using social media to be good. To do well…and to grow your business. You will grow your business and get more clients by getting people who want your services.

What this is about are photographers who ask other photographers to like their page. That isn’t going to get you business. I like pages of photographers work I admire. Who I know personally (and well) and who are my competition. I generally, do not like other photographers pages, nor will I like if they ask me to. (or anyone else for that matter).

Photographers out there who keep asking people to like your page. Posting it in forums that are just for photographers and on face book groups just for photographers. You will not gain exposure to clients by doing this. You will not grow your business by doing this!

Do offers. Give referrals. Be Sociable!! Its called Social Media for a reason! I have a business card that just has my social media contacts on it. Its separate to my business card but I give them both together. Put them on the same one. Naturally and Organically grow your business.

If you are doing portraits, look on face book and the groups for “items wanted for sale in….” groups and post your work in there. Granted you may think that some of the clients in there are beneath you, but if you are growing a business pull the finger out and go searching for it! You have to make face book work for you and 50 other photographers liking your page isn’t going to do that!

Don’t be scared to run competitions (not by comments or likes though its against face book rules) don’t be scared to ask questions, get people interacting…just if you are a photographer remember who is your client base…its not photographers.

Yes I understand the need to get to so many “likes” so that you can reserve your name as I have. But…please be careful how to do this its better to get potential clients to see your work who will go “Ahhh have you seen xxxx-photographers work” rather than a bunch of photographers who wont tell anyone.

And if you want to read the blog post Keith wrote you can read it here...

Alternatively you too can like me on facebook

{Girl Behind The Lens} Did you think you'd be running your business before you were 30?

Today is my birthday, I’m 27.

It seems strange that one of the questions I got asked when I started the {Girl Behind the Lens} blog was “Did you think you’d be running your own business before you were 30”.

I can safely say I didn’t think I would be running my own business. Ever.

It is not something that I aspired to be, to become my own boss, to look at possibly employing people. I thought by the time I was 30 (when I was a child it was 25 because that was “old”) that I would be married, in my own house, and have babies (yes more than one!).

I’m 27. Been running Blue Lights Photography, my own company, being my own boss, for 2-years in October.
It has been the most stressful, nerve-wracking and emotional time of my life.

It has also been the best, most rewarding and exciting time too.

I “fell” into photography, I took the opportunities that were presented to me and I moved forward with it. I imagined that I would end up being a manager of a retail-jewellery store, or into business training for a company that trained new employees for their own companies. I never thought that I would be where I am today.

I don’t brag about business, I don’t brag about how well business is doing, unless I am trying to express the importance of people making a booking decision. A lot of that is because I know how I got into photography, and how I became a business owner. It wasn’t something that I had dreamt about doing since I was a child. And it certainly wasn’t something I expected to be doing before I was 30! (Or EVER!)

And I think it makes me realise what I have (and what could be taken away)…