A place for you to learn, get inspired, and keep up to date with all things SmugMug and photography
Climber, world traveler, photographer, and author of Alaska Rock Climbing Guide Kelsey Gray is well-known for doing heart-pounding stunts like cliff jumping—stunts that most of us will only ever enjoy in his photographs. So we had to ask the burning question: Why do you bring the camera, and is it really worth the risk?
My first foray into climbing was back sometime around 2002, when I took an indoor rock-climbing course at the Alaska Rock Gym through the University of Anchorage Alaska. Before that time, I was purely a gaming nerd who had gained almost 65 lbs. after high school, eating cheeseburgers and pizza. With the occasional challenge of who can drink the most ketchup or eat the most salt packets, those were some very unhealthy years.
During a routine doctor visit (also partially due to the emotional issues that come with being overweight and with an astronomical blood pressure), my doctor said that if I didn’t get off the computer and fix my blood pressure, I would probably have a stroke by 30. I was 20, and that didn’t leave me much time.
After the indoor course, I enrolled in the outdoor course and found that to be even better. Soon after, I began climbing outdoors with a friend from Era Aviation, where we both worked. Later that year, I began climbing with John Borland, who would introduce me to many areas around Hatcher Pass and become a great climbing partner and friend.
Sometime during my first few years of climbing, I became more interested in hiking peaks. My uncle, Dano Michaud, had dragged me unwillingly up a peak called Harp Mountain and the 1,000+ ft. glissade (natural slide down the snow) hooked me. That summer I climbed peak after peak and soon realized that explaining the beauty of the areas was simply not enough. I needed to show it.
My very first camera was a small point-and-shoot with no screen and not enough megapixels to warrant labeling it on the front. I’m pretty sure it came free with a printer, which was also terrible. After a few trips, I realized I needed a better camera. I upgraded to a Fuji Finepix F700, which worked for me for a long time. I then moved on to a Fuji Finepix S9000 before finally making the jump to SLR with the Canon 20D. After the 20D, I moved on to the Canon 50D (which was later stolen from my car), and finally to my current camera: the Canon 7D.
During my years of climbing, I have learned some important lessons about myself, and how I view life. I am never more comfortable than when dangling from a cliff with the sun setting and the wilderness expanding in my view. I’ve often said that the journey is not the summit but in the adventure, which I’m pretty sure is a mashup of others’ quotes, but I can’t discount the great feeling of having made it as high as I can go without actually flying into the air. When I reach the top of a peak or climb and look out over the expanse, I have a ritual that I try to do as often as possible.
It is as follows:
There are times when I won't bring my camera climbing, and I usually regret it. The hairy times when the sheep dung really hits the fan are when the camera seems to really come into use, if not for just recording the trip for my own memory. The worst time to have a camera attached to you is when jammed into an off-width. This is the climber term for anything that you can’t wedge your body into but is too big to use a single hand or fist to climb. It’s probably the most uncomfortable situation most humans will ever find themselves in. A 60m off-width can feel like you’ve just run a marathon, sprinting, while holding a log over your head. (If you’re curious about just what an off-width has to offer, then Google for the video, Boogie Til You Poop.) Add climbing gear to your harness, and it becomes worse; add a camera, and you’ll pray it doesn’t shatter.
It is not easy to bring a camera as large as a Canon 7D up a climb, especially with consideration of the lens size. I usually stick with the kit lens that comes with the 7D: the 18–135mm. It’s not the best lens, but it is light and easy to carry. I would upgrade to a better lens, except I’m always spending all my money on traveling. I like to carry it in a waist pack that I often clip to my harness, just in case it comes off. I know others who use backpacks, but I don’t like having to take it off to get my camera out. That is my general kit for all adventures. Not much, but just enough so I don’t feel burdened by it.
The camera is there for my use to record everything I wish to keep for myself or show to others, so I’ve had to take a rather lenient stance on its value. If I consider it gold, then I’ll never bring it to the truly dangerous adventures. There are times I almost have to convince myself that my camera is already gone before I bring it, then I just try and make sure it stays in one piece. This allows me to continue to bring it to the most dangerous situations.
There are others in climbing who are much more advanced in climbing photography than I. I’ve often marveled at their ability to get paid to do the things I’m paying for! But with everything comes risks, such as the photographer who was with Johnny Copp and Micah Dash, two amazing alpinists who died in an avalanche, their photographer (Wade Johnson) by their side.
I’ve often had to decide just what it is I want to do; how far do I take this hobby that has become a driving force in life? I’m still figuring that part out. I have found that half the reason I travel is to take photographs. If I were to lose my camera today, it would probably take quite a lot of self-reflection to pull myself from the loss, even if I have the illusion that the loss is already imminent.
Like many other climbers, I am driven too heavily by emotions. I would love to say that most of my traveling began as a desire to see the world and experience new things. The truth is that many of my travels have been fueled by escape, the desire to escape the emotions that come with a loss, whether it is a relationship or the death of a loved one. Over time it has had to change as those emotions were hidden, or in my current case I found someone who truly makes me happy in life. Previously, I spent much of the time traveling the world alone, a few of the trips included others. Now I try to share it with others, those who I travel with and those who I get to show through the photographs I take.
Richard Burley is an educator, photographer, and the founder of Epic Action Imagery. He travels the world photographing sporting events from football and hockey to obstacle races like Tough Mudder and Spartan. We caught a moment of his time to talk about luck, sofas, and velociraptors, among other fun details.
SmugMug: Hi Richard. To start with, tell us about yourself!
Richard Burley: I’m a sports and action photographer based in the UK. Prior to taking up photography as my full-time job, I worked in education. Initially as a college teacher progressing up the career ladder to management roles. In 2014, just as my photo business was starting to grow, a conversation about volunteers for redundancy saw my hand shoot up. A few weeks later I packed up my desk and headed out of my office and on to what became a huge adventure. I do still teach a few hours and enjoy that side of my life too, but I fell in love with action photography early.
SM: How’d you get into photography?
RB: I’ve had an interest in photography since I was a child watching my dad in his home darkroom developing photos. It wasn’t until much later that I started to think more seriously about taking photos professionally, but my interest in capturing sport, action, and movement was growing.
I bought my first DSLR with the royalties from a text book I co-authored and started to learn lessons by trial and error. I prefer to learn by experimenting and finding out what works and what doesn’t rather than reading or watching others. The only qualification I’ve actually got is a badge from Cub Scouts. I’m very much self-taught.
SM: Tell us about starting and growing a photography company?
RB: The real start of it was in January of 2010. I’d stopped coaching football and decided I wanted to get into photography, and was shooting semi-pro matches for a friend. But I just wasn’t getting the shots I wanted, because I was convinced I didn’t have the right lens.
So I go to the camera shop, just to look at a new 70–200mm lens…and 30 seconds later I’m walking out with the box. [laughs] And I’m thinking “I’ve just spent the sofa deposit on a new camera lens, this is gonna take some explaining.”
So I told my wife I spent the money we’d saved for a sofa on a camera lens, and she responded “Well you’re gonna have to take that lens and make that money again.” Which I took very literally! I said okay, I’ll start a business.
SM: The right equipment can make all the difference! What happened next?
RB: A couple of months later, I’m shooting the occasional sporting event, making a little bit of money, but still employed full-time with the college, when on a trip to Cambridge with the family I spot a billboard. On this billboard is a picture of someone jumping over burning straw bales, and I thought “that looks like fun, why don’t I see if they’ve got a photographer?”
There’s a concept people in business will often refer to called “luck.” I think I’ve benefited from an enormous amount of luck. This was a billboard for Spartan Race. They’d just started — one event in the US, no events anywhere else, this was their first event in the UK — and they said “you know, we hadn’t thought about course photography, of course you can come!”
That first moment at a Spartan Race really told me what it was gonna be like: I’m set up along the course, waiting for people to come from the right, and suddenly they appear to my left like velociraptors. And that was it. That said to me “don’t ever expect everything. You know that thing where you like things to be predictable? You’re gonna have to part with that.”
SM: What a lesson to learn on the first day. How’d you grow that into the Epic Action Imagery we see today?
RB: Well, one thing led to another and soon Spartan was asking me to shoot their international events. Then other events start asking me to shoot, because they’re pulling from Spartan’s pool of course photographers, and suddenly I’m doing this full time and building teams. I’d call it an accidental business, really. An experiment that got entirely out of hand.
I think I was fairly lucky, again, because I was an educator and a manager in my full-time work before this. I was used to recruitment, I was used to building teams, passing on information, delegating, and allowing people to grow. Everything I did was very developmental.
The whole purpose of education is to help people grow to become better than yourself — and not be intimidated by that, which is a great fit for photography. It’s really something I look for while building a team of photographers: work that makes me stop and go “whoa. I’ve gotta know how you got that.” I’ve had the privilege of working with other photographers that inspire and enthuse me to work hard and to keep learning.
SM: What is it about action photography that calls to you?
RB: I enjoy the challenge of capturing movement at the right time. Facial expressions in sport really tell a story too. Emotions are often amplified in a sporting environment and seeking to tell the story is a challenge that I enjoy. Participants on a Tough Mudder course emerging from ice filled pools or getting zapped by electricity really brings out a range of expressions. And I’ve done a couple of the events myself so I have an inkling of what they’re experiencing.
I enjoy the people too. Sports events have an energy and a vibe that I find motivating. Capturing people overcoming fears or beating their personal bests is a responsibility I take seriously and I work hard to ensure that moment is captured for them to share with their friends and family. There’s been several moments where I’ve captured people who’ve overcome significant changes in their life to achieve a sporting goal. Often I find there’s a bit of dust in my eye when seeing such a victory.
A big motivation for me to make amateur sports people look like pros, giving them an image in which they look truly epic. From my personal perspective I always try to take a picture that makes a person look and feel like Usain Bolt. When they’ve had a bad day and they’re reaching for that beer in the fridge, they can see a picture on the fridge door of themselves leaping over flaming hay bales and think “I am awesome! I am epic!”
SM: Last business question: what’s the biggest challenge in shooting action photography?
RB: The vagaries of the weather, absolutely. I’ve worked in 42 degree heat (108° F) in Bahrain, and I’ve worked in -20 cold (-4° F) in Canada. Thigh-deep snow, I’ve been swatting flies off, days where it feels like someone’s hitting me with a firehose, but I love that. I love being outdoors. To reframe that: I don’t think there’s a challenge apart from loving what you do, really.
Even when you’re shooting the same thing — someone jumping over flames or crawling through mud — how do you tap into the journey they took to get there, to be fit enough to run five miles and leap over these flames? The biggest challenge, and the biggest joy, really, is tapping into the energy and euphoria of these participants each and every time.
SM: What gear do you use to capture those moments?
RB: Canon 1DXs (3 x mk1 and 1 x mk2) with a range of lenses from 16mm to 400mm. I started with Canon in 2006 and have yet to be tempted to try anything else. I am curious to try a few mirrorless options and listen to the experiences of other photographers when considering my kit choices, but the 1DX is a versatile workhorse and has coped very well with the range of conditions that I find myself working in and the image quality means that I can get the images I want.
The lenses I favor for events are the 16–35mm and the 70–200mm. My kit gets a fair amount of scuffing on rocks and hard ground so I use an EasyCover to try to keep my kit protected.
For football, I’ll have the 400mm and 70–200mm as a main set up and the 16mm on a remote camera positioned behind the goal using a PocketWizard set up. The 400mm is my favourite lens. It’s an old-school mark 1 IS 2.8, but so crisp and ideal for capturing the action that unfolds at the other end of the pitch. It’s a little heavy and if the teams change ends before kick off, it’s quite a challenge to run round the pitch perimeter with all the gear. I hear the mkIII may be a little more mobile and I may make the switch in the future.
SM: Speaking of gear, what got you started with SmugMug?
RB: I started with SmugMug in 2013. I met a representative at the PhotoShow and at the time was looking for a platform to host event images in a cost-effective, reliable, high quality, and simple to use manner. I was also in search of something that would let me search my photos by keywords and bib numbers so I could easily sort participant photos. We had to be able to deal with the kind of peak demand that these events generate. Fortunately, SmugMug met all these criteria and I signed up that evening. 4.7 million photos later we’re still going — if I posted one photo every minute, it would take me 7 ½ years to get through them all. We love it.
SM: What’s your most-used or favorite SmugMug feature?
RB: I actually just redesigned the site last week. Part of our post-COVID recovery has been taking the time to think about what we do and why we do it, and engaging with my local business community. I met with a local marketer who told me “your photos are amazing, but man your website’s old fashioned.”
So I tried a landing page, liked the look, and three hours later I’ve got the whole site looking brand new. It was that easy.
In terms of what I use a lot, it’s image library management. SmugMug works as part of our client relationships, so Spartan or whoever can go in and retrieve images easily, and we manage their photo library as part of the business relationship. They tell us what details they want for the photo — keywords, metadata, factoids, you name it — and we’ll get those set up for them.
Photo sharing is a big part of it, too, and obviously sales, which we like because they’re all seamless. It’s also visibility. I can see what photos people are buying, track stats, keep up with what’s popular. Sometimes you get excited about an image as a photographer because all of the elements came together, and you get to see people excited about those same things enough to buy and share them, too.
SM: Lastly, any tips for a new SmugMug user?
RB: Learn. Keep learning. See what others do, interrogate the style, and let that style influence you as you capture your images and organize your site. There’s so many wonderfully talented photographers showcasing their work on SmugMug, it’s a great way to find inspiration and to showcase your own work.
_______
Follow Richard Burley on Instagram and Facebook. Also, visit his website at https://www.epicactionimagery.com.
And, tell us what you think of this interview! Start a conversation on SmugMug’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
A newborn baby is one of life’s most precious additions and the source of many joyful moments. But how to capture those moments, fleeting as they are? Enter LA-based photographer Erika Seress, founder of The Pod Photography, a modern portrait studio specializing in helping make parents and their little ones look their very best. We sat down with Erika to talk to her about the work she does, why she does it, and what advice she can offer anyone new to SmugMug.
SmugMug: Hi Erika, thanks so much for chatting with us! Your work shows off such wonderful passion. Please, tell our readers more about you.
Erika Seress: Hi! So nice to chat with you today, and thank you! I’m Erika Seress, and I founded The Pod Photography in 2008. I had a vision of creating a modern portrait studio for today’s sophisticated clientele, and I love photographing people—especially tiny ones! I specialize in documenting baby’s first-year milestones. I’ve also authored The Parent’s Pocket Guide: Taking Kids’ and Family Photos, am a photography workshop teacher, and appeared on Lifetime, Hollywood Access Live, and various celebrity reality shows. I’ve also been published in Cosmopolitan magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
SM: That’s incredible! You’re one busy and successful photographer. Our readers always love to hear this part, so please tell us how you got started in photography.
ES: I started taking pictures to document my travels while living abroad in Thailand and Germany. I loved capturing the culture, people, and my daily life so I could look back on them. When I moved home to Los Angeles, I got a degree in photography on top of my business degree and then started my portrait studio in 2008.
SM: Amazing. Thailand and Germany are two incredibly stunning areas of the world. Another insight that our readers like to know is what equipment do you use and why?
ES: I am a Nikon shooter. I love how intuitive the gear is as well as the sharpness of their lenses. I shoot 90% of my photography with a Nikon 70–200mm f/2.8 lens since it is perfect for really flattering portraits of people, plus I can zoom in and out to take both full lengths and close-ups of a child without moving my body. You've got to be quick when it comes to kids!
SM: It’s so true! They definitely change and move in a blink of an eye, but It sounds like you enjoy the challenge and have mastered it. Your photos definitely reflect how good you are at capturing that moment. Could you tell us more about the type of photography you shoot and why?
ES: Sure! As mentioned, I am a portrait photographer specializing in newborn, maternity, babies, kids, and family photos. I have always loved photographing people, and at the beginning of my career I did mainly fashion and commercial work. I came to realize that I felt much more fulfilled by working with private clients and creating art for their families, so I have shifted my business toward that focus.
Today, my company, The Pod Photography, has really flourished in Los Angeles where we focus on a mix of modern natural-light portraiture and elaborate set design. I love the art of creating custom sets that reflect a family’s or child's hobbies or personality or just bring some whimsy to the portraits. I was recently commissioned to create intricate sets recreating a Starbucks store, the Oval Office, Star Wars, as well as design elegant tea-party sets for my newborn and first-birthday clients. We have a lot of fun at my studio!
SM: What brought you to using SmugMug for your photos?
ES: I've been using SmugMug since I created my very first website in 2008. I love SmugMug because of its integration with sales, and how I can seamlessly sell digital and printed products through my website. I'm also a big fan of the unlimited storage!
SM: That’s awesome! OK, one last question: Do you have any advice for someone who’s just starting to use SmugMug themselves?
ES: Get creative designing your website! Start with a template but don't be afraid to customize it so your website stands out from the rest. SmugMug makes it so easy to have a unique website.
SM: What a wonderful tip! Thanks so much for sitting down with us today and for sharing your story with our readers—we really appreciate it!
_______
For more about Erika Seress of The Pod Photography, visit her website at https://www.thepodphoto.com/ or follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
This month, we had the pleasure to catch up with Heidi Anderson of Legacy Livestock Imaging. Heidi is a long-time SmugMug customer and an incredible photographer. She and her husband, Charles, have grown their business and now employs a staff of professional photographers ready to capture and tell the agricultural story. Read on for our conversation with Heidi.
SmugMug: Hi Heidi! Thanks for talking with us today. We would love it if you could tell our readers more about you.
Heidi Anderson: I’m a professional photographer specializing in agriculture and rural America. We work hand in hand with producers of beef cattle, specifically for advertising and marketing purposes. We also shoot a variety of livestock shows, seniors, weddings, and families throughout the country.
SM: Wow — that’s so interesting! Please tell us, what first interested you in photography?
HA: I’ve always had a camera in my hand for as long as I can remember. I started my career as a portrait photographer and I also photographed a number of professional ballet companies. Then, I married a rancher and our business took a shift in that direction. I found a niche in the Agricultural industry.
SM: That is definitely a niche market, but you’ve been incredibly successful! What camera gear do you use now?
HA: We use all Nikon cameras and lenses. We currently run with the Nikon 850 and z7. The dynamic range extraordinary and honestly I have had a Nikon in my hand since I got my first 35mm film camera in junior high.
SM: Tell us more about what type of photography you shoot and why you decided to gravitate towards this genre.
HA: I shoot senior portraits, family sessions, corporate agriculture, and livestock shows. You should always photograph what you love and where your passion is. Communicating the realities of life in rural America is my passion — the people are amazing.
SM: We love the stories that you tell and can see that coming through in your photos. How long have you been using SmugMug and what got you started?
HA: I’ve been using SmugMug since 2009. I was venturing into digital storage and delivery and have been thrilled ever since.
SM: Do you have any tips or advice for a new SmugMug user?
HA: Follow your “why”. As long as you communicate through your lens the heart and soul of what you do your art will reflect that. And the success of your business will follow.
SM: Most definitely! Thank you for sharing your words and thoughts with us today!
_______
Follow Heidi Anderson at Legacy Livestock Imaging and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Originally published at https://www.smugmug.com.
In this SmugMug Spotlight, we had the privilege to meet aerial and landscape photographer Andy Yeung. Based in Hong Kong, Andy has been taking spectacular photographs since 2005. You may even recognize some of his photos — his series called “Urban Jungle” went viral on social media a few years ago.
SmugMug: We are so excited to sit down and talk with you, Andy. Your work is stunning. Can you tell our readers a little more about what got you started in photography?
Andy Yeung: I developed a passion for photography at an early age when I received my father’s old camera as a hand-me-down. It was this early exposure that introduced me to the world of photography, which I believe has a healing power. I believe that a great photograph can speak to people’s emotions and make people pause and think.
SM: You definitely do give us all such a unique perspective of the city! Can you tell our readers more about the gear that you currently use to capture these images?
AY: I use a Canon 5D Mark IV. It is a full-frame camera and has excellent image quality and multiple lens choices. That makes this camera really convenient for me. I also use a DJI drone. This drone provides me a new perspective of where I’m at and is very reliable and stable to fly.
SM: Awesome. Tell us more about why you chose to shoot your genre of photography.
AY: I photograph cityscapes and architecture — mostly capturing the unique visual and structural characteristics of Hong Kong from the perspective of a local photographer. I got into drone flying in 2015 and that has added the new perspective that I was looking for.
SM: Your aerial shots definitely show a unique perspective of Hong Kong that you wouldn’t get if you were just walking the streets. Why did you choose SmugMug to be your partner in presenting and preserving these amazing shots?
AY: I’ve been using SmugMug since 2014, if my memory serves me right. I started using SmugMug because it is very user-friendly and a great platform for photographers to promote themselves and offer prints for purchase. Plus, many well-known photographers are using it.
SM: Wonderful! We are so glad that you’re happy with the platform. One last question: Do you have any advice or tips for a new SmugMug user?
AY: I highly recommend customizing your website template! Spending the time to do that will help you stand out even more.
SM: Thank you, Andy! Great advice and again, thank you for your time and allowing us (and our readers!) to get to know you better.
_______
About Andy Yeung: Andy Yeung is an award-winning photographer specializing in architecture and landscape photography. As a born-and-raised Hong Konger, he learned to cull inspiration from the familiar, especially when it comes to coming up with shots of his over-photographed city. He relies on a good eye and knowledge of techniques to capture magical moments of Hong Kong and transform what he has seen into something that mirrors how he feels.
Meghan MacAskill is an extremely talented photographer, and this isn’t the first time we’ve featured her work. MacAskill’s love of family portraiture started with photographing her own children. A mother of three, she’s since gone on to establish a successful family portraiture business. We talked with her about what it takes to start—and succeed—in the business.
When I was about 10 years old, my whole extended family got together for a family portrait session. My grandparents had convinced everyone to dress up in our Easter Sunday best and drive an hour to a lovely park with a lake to get a portrait of us all together.
On the way to this photo shoot, my mother realized I had worn my ratty, old sneakers instead of my shiny, black Mary Janes. She was furious. I knew I was in big trouble. The photographer simply put me somewhere in the photo where my feet would be tucked behind someone else, and the problem was solved in less than a minute. Still, I was so upset by my mother's outburst, and she was so angry at my poor choice of footwear, that all either of us ever remember when we look at those photos is what a terrible time we had.
The photos turned out beautifully, but we only remember how we felt that day when we look at them now.
This is the key to being a successful portrait photographer: Clients will remember how they felt and the experience they had on the day of their photo shoot with you. The photos will merely be a reminder of that, so no matter how technically accomplished the lighting was, how perfect the composition, how meticulously posed they are, if your client is not enjoying themselves, they will hate the photos later.
It shouldn’t be your client’s job to get their child to look at the camera, smile, or have fun. That’s why they hire you! You can’t hide behind your camera and expect families to laugh together, or all smile at you, or give you a real expression if you’re not the catalyst. You must make the experience enjoyable for them. Stop worrying about the perfect setting and worry more about the family dynamic and how you can bring that into your photos of them!
Your clients will love the photos you produce when you take the time to get to know them and what they love about their family. Then, capture that.
My style is very interactive. I am talkative, funny, interested, silly, loud at times, and from the instant I meet a new client, I treat them like an old friend. There is no awkwardness, no breaking the ice. I jump right in and start playing peek-a-boo with their kids and asking them about their childbirth stories. I love people. I love hearing about them, their family, their job, their life. I want them to be comfortable enough to relax and show me who they are in the course of our shoot.
I also really love kids, and with three of my own, I understand when kids don't behave—in fact, I expect it! So when that inevitably happens, I roll with it and reassure the parents that their child is so much better behaved than so many kids out there, and we make it work by setting up a great candid moment or figuring out a way to get their child involved in the shot.
Family portraiture is not about perfection. It's about the beautiful imperfections that make us who we are. It's about capturing those imperfections and those wonderfully real moments in a setting and experience where we feel happy and connected. When you combine a fun and joyful experience with fantastic photos to show for it, that’s a powerful combination that will keep your clients coming back for more.
I used to offer one option for every type of session except weddings: One price for newborn sessions, one price for family sessions, etc. However, I noticed I wasn’t being paid accordingly for the time and effort I would spend on one newborn session versus another. My clients seemed happy because I would charge them one price and then I was willing to bend over backwards to give them whatever they wanted out of their photo session.
The unfortunate part is that the person who was getting the short end of the stick was me. I was spending additional time on some sessions to get the shots that client requested or to photograph their baby with every family member, and I was only getting paid my basic fee. It just didn’t make sense!
Next, my clients were not buying prints. Why not? I offer my clients the option to buy the high-resolution digital images, and they almost always do. This bothered me not only because I wasn't making a profit on those prints, but it wasn't doing any justice to my work to have my photos printed at the drugstore. Photographers are artists, and to have our work printed at budget labs doesn’t convey the full beauty of our art. I didn't know how to combat this; I’d tell my clients they can purchase prints through their proofing gallery on SmugMug, and I’d show them different print options. They just weren’t pulling the trigger.
So I decided to include a print credit in the price of all my packages, and I raised my prices accordingly.
It’s invaluable for my clients to have photos I produced on their walls. It’s a built-in reminder that they love their photos, that they love my work, and that they want me to photograph them again soon.
I also changed my pricing model. I now offer four different packages to gently steer my clients to purchase the two middle ones. The first and fourth packages are there for particular clients who want more or less. When my client is looking at the four packages I offer, they’ll see that Package #1 is a very basic package. It comes with a short time stipulation, much like a mini session, and a small print credit.
Then Packages #2 and #3 include more time, more coverage (different groupings, more detail shots, etc.), and larger print credits. Package #3 also includes outfit changes, multiple locations, and an album.
Then my largest package, Package #4, is my VIP package. It includes all the bells and whistles—a whole “day-in-the-life” session where I spend the entire day with my clients' family/child photographing their personality, activities, dynamics, and expressions. It includes a much larger print credit, a bigger album, and a very large price tag.
The point of this package is not to get people to book it. If they do, that's awesome! The point is to show what you CAN do, and what you’re capable of offering. It makes people feel like you’re a true professional at your craft if you’re able to offer such an amazing experience; and, even though they can't afford it, they feel more confident in you knowing you could do it for them if they could. It also makes the second and third packages by comparison look very affordable.
You may notice that digital images aren’t listed on any of these packages. Technically, they aren’t. I don't advertise that I offer digital images, but when my clients ask about them, I say that with Packages #2–4, the digital images are my gift to them. I have priced my packages high enough that I can comfortably give away digital files. By telling my clients it's my gift to them instead of saying it's included in the package, now I’ve made the images a bonus instead of something that’s costing them more money.
I’ve found that this new pricing model has worked like a charm. The vast majority of my clients have opted to go with Packages #2 or #3. I still do, on occasion, have someone select Package #1, but when I do I don't mind because I’m meeting their needs and getting paid well for my time.
My business is 100% referral-based. I rarely blog. I stink at SEO. I hardly ever book a client from giving them my business card. I book clients when they see photos I have taken of their friends or family members and they instantly want photos like that of their family. My clients are also my biggest cheerleaders and always become really good friends. They send everyone they know my way because they adore my personality and the photos I’ve given them. I have a beautiful website with SmugMug that has been customized from top to bottom. My website is a huge marketing tool for me. People who see my website are always impressed, and it truly sets the tone and shows them my style and impressive work.
My client relationships almost always begin with an email. Somehow, they have made it to my website and have used the contact form there to send me an inquiry email. I answer every email personally and respond with pricing information, availability, etc. My pricing isn’t listed publicly on my website. I do this for several reasons:
I will spend anywhere from 15–30 minutes over the course of time between initial contact and our actual shoot purely on building the relationship with my client—emailing or talking on the phone about dates, locations, questions, wardrobe, tips, what to bring, etc.
At the shoot I will spend anywhere from 30 minutes to all day taking photos, depending on the package they’ve selected. On average a newborn session will take 4–6 hours, a child portrait session will take 1 hour, and a family portrait session will take 1.5–2 hours.
I process my photos in Lightroom, and I edit every image I give my clients so they’re print-ready. I usually will take between 500–1,000 images in the course of a session and provide my client with only 150 or so finished images. I do basic editing on most of the images, but I will do artistic edits on 20–40 of my favorite images from the day with some black-and-white conversions, antique actions, texture—whatever I feel the image needs. Editing will take 2–3 hours for a newborn session and 1–2 hours for a child-portrait session or family session.
My clients are allowed to ask for additional editing, and I will do it at no charge unless it gets crazy. I reserve the right to charge money when clients ask for too much in-depth processing. So far my clients have all been very respectful of this, and I haven’t had any instances of out-of-control editing requests.
I use SmugMug’s Events feature whenever my client has selected a package that includes an album so my clients can pick their favorites. After the photos are posted and I have provided them with their event-page information, I ask that they select their 50–75 favorite images; when they’ve done this, I begin work on the album using these favorite images.
I design my albums using Aperture. I have a very clean and classic style when it comes to my album design, and Aperture’s book-building software meets my needs. I have created many albums in Aperture, and I use these past books as templates but then go in and adjust or create new pages to fit the photos my client has selected. Bay Photo is a print lab for albums as well as prints, and I simply adore the Pacific albums. I like both their full photo-wrap cover and the covers with the photo and partial leather wrap.
Glossy Finish was born in 2006 when Haim Ariav was suddenly inspired to build a mobile photo lab in a trailer and cart it to sporting events, enabling families to view, purchase, and retrieve photos on site. Ariav, a classically trained photographer, saw an unfilled niche: he recognized that as a “want” industry, photography was taking a hit in a rough economy, so he set out to re-brand memorializing athletic moments as a “need” by making it easier to enshrine kids’ sports glory. Redefining how images are delivered on site is the foundation of Glossy’s business model, unique in the sports photography vertical.
But on-site sales aren’t Glossy’s sole revenue stream. After an event, Ariav’s team uploads its treasures to SmugMug’s cloud and follows through with additional distribution via SmugMug’s labs. Online sales, a significant supplement to Glossy’s revenue stream, run smoothly on SmugMug, along with back-office functions. “We rely on the website for 100% of our revenue for events that don’t utilize the mobile lab,” Ariav said. “Using the SmugMug infrastructure, reliability and scalability are key for us. Having access to the various products offered by the labs is a huge opportunity for us to carry out our online strategy.”
Ariav’s team uses online proofing to boost non-mobile sales. “Different events may not warrant the use of our patent-pending mobile lab,” he pointed out. “The success of those depends on customer satisfaction with images and ease of purchase. SmugMug allows us to deliver a successful experience.”
Ariav endorsed SmugMug’s decision to allow digital downloads to have watermarks. “We felt it would facilitate our ability to brand ourselves on social media,” Ariav said. “We wanted to have a presence on social networks like Facebook and Twitter, where so much photo sharing takes place. We know how important printmarks and watermarks are to both our business and our creativity.”
Ariav milks every branding opportunity he can out of SmugMug’s tools, even while focused on image protection. “Printmarks turn images from just a photograph into a memory,” he said. “Our logo is also typically part of the printmark. Watermarks deter people from stealing, but we also use them as a way to show what [clients’] prints will look like with the printmark. We are always marketing and trying to keep up brand awareness.”
Outlining a strong customization strategy for site design and gallery organization, and a reliance on SmugMug’s advanced customization tools, Glossy also has the cart-branding feature firmly in the “on” position: “Branding is a huge part of what we do best, which can be seen in our website customization. We [use] cart branding so our customers know they’re getting a great Glossy Finish product. We also use the box sticker. We want customers to know who they are getting a package from and, most importantly, thank them for their order.”
Ariav used to blanket events with trigger-happy shutterbugs. Now, by sending sales teams to pre-sign customers, he may only capture four or five kids out of 20, but the average order has increased from $25 to $125. “It’s okay not to photograph every player on every field at every game,” he said. “We focus only on those that want and love our photos. It works better for the customer and us
With SmugMug’s help, this focus on time-saving extends to online sales: “We try to keep pricing as uniform as we can to lessen confusion on our end,” Ariav said. “With the introduction of pricelists, it is much easier to organize pricing throughout the site. Now I can set up pricelists for sales and simply move galleries around once the sale is over.”
After cutting overhead and moving from the flea-market, on-spec approach to a more profitable, streamlined system scaffolded on a $20 deposit credited toward purchase, Ariav saw opportunities to reach a larger audience without snapping a photo. Envisioning his business as “an exclusive entertainment club,” Ariav created custom lanyards customers could don at soccer tournaments, showcasing that their kid’s athletic prowess was immortalized by Glossy Finish. The result? A flood of visitors to his trailer.
Photographers have never discriminated when it comes to capturing contacts; Glossy worked hard to collect home addresses and emails. Now, Ariav plays smarter, relying on texting select targets for marketing blasts. His on-site blitzes are wildly successful. “If we have a slow period, we can ping them and—boom!—the trailer fills up. We have a direct connection to our customers. And when we’re done with an event, we have more contacts in our database for future direct and instant marketing.”
What's "sportraiture?” Simply put, it’s unique portraits of fervent athletes showing themselves doing what they do best. Pro photographer and SmugMug educator Levi Sim has a place in his heart for the passion and thrill of this type of portraiture, and today he's sharing three key tips on how to make it work for you.
When I started photography four years ago, a local photojournalist, Eli Lucero, opened my eyes to sports photography. He said, "You know when you make a great portrait that shows emotion and it's awesome? Athletes are finally performing what they've been practicing, and powerful emotions show on their faces all day. It's great to be a sports photographer."
Ever since then, I take every opportunity I can find to shoot sports.
Still, I'm a portraitist at heart, and I can't help making portraits of people everywhere I go. Here are three tips that let me maximize every opportunity I get to shoot great sports portraits.
Athletes spend many hours every day for many years learning to perform flawlessly. They have worked incredibly hard to have the body and the skills to do what they do. It is disrespectful to put them in front of your lens and then mess around with your camera, trying to figure out the best settings. You owe it to them to be proficient at what you're doing because you're photographing other passionate people.
I'm not saying you have to be a pro who knows everything before you photograph someone. I'm saying that you do your practicing before you shoot the athlete. At the very least, grab a kid from the sidelines and practice your stup right before you invite the athlete over. Then you can be confident that you'll get a good image from that same setup.
I'd also recommend quitting while you're ahead. If you've just taken a good picture with a test setup, don't say, "Let's try this other thing," unless you've also practiced the other thing, too. They'll think you're the best photog in the world if you fire off two frames and have a great picture; if you mess around with the unknown, they'll be frustrated and disappointed.
Practice your setup, take a good picture, and say thank you.
I'm not likely to get the opportunity to spend a few minutes photographing a famous athlete, like John Elway or Danica Patrick. But, if I go to the open track day at the local race track, I'll definitely be able to photograph some very passionate people, and they are likely to let me spend more than a few minutes taking pictures of them.
This is my pal, Jeremy. He's the one who told me about the open track days, so he invited our photography group down to make pictures. The track is crawling with guys and gals who are so passionate about racing motorcycles that they travel across the country to race on a world-class track.
These people spend their lives working to earn money so they can blow it on a few tanks of fuel and a few sets of tires in a single weekend. They aren't the kind who ride because it's cool. They ride because they can't not. These are the kind of people you really want in front of your lens, and they are the kind of people who will be pleased to help make a picture.
It's interesting that when talking to athletes, they can describe the winning goal of a game they played ten years ago. Passionate athletes remember the intricate details of a split second for their entire lives. And if you think about it, that's exactly what we do as photographers, too.
When you make a picture after a game, that picture will be part of their memory and an important piece of the experience. I recommend that you prepare a few techniques that will allow you to create a memorable image—something your subjects will be happy to show off to future generations.
In these motorcycle portraits, the guys just got off the track where they broke speed records passing others around the turn, one knee dragging on the ground and sending sparks flying. They have the courage to get back on their bikes after tipping over and sliding through gravel for a hundred yards. I'm just taking it for granted that you have the courage to approach them and ask to take their picture.
After chatting for a sec about the bike, or the game (or whatever), I usually say, "There's some really good light right over here, and I wonder if you'd let me take a picture of your bike—yeah, with you in it!"
I've never been turned down.
Now, put on your widest lens and get in close. No, closer! These portraits were made within inches of the subject, almost touching their bikes with my lens. I used the incredible Nikkor 14–24mm f/2.8. When you get in close with a wide lens, you make a picture that is distorted and absolutely not normal. And not normal makes it memorable.
The key to these pictures is the lighting. These are all made within a half hour of noon, so the sun is straight overhead, and there is no light in their eyes to fill the raccoon shadows on their faces from their eyebrows and ball caps. My solution is to use a speedlight to pound some hard light back into their faces and the shadows on their bikes. These are hard-looking guys with sunlight casting hard shadows all around, so using a bare-bulb speedlight really fits the scene.
Remember: the speedlight is not mounted to the camera; that would be obvious in the picture and ruin the look. The flash is off to the side, and high, as if it's a little more sunlight from a slightly different direction. Whether you use your camera's proprietary speedlights controlled by the camera, a radio trigger, or an extension cord, you've got to get the flash off the camera to control the direction of the shadows. When using a very wide lens (shorter than 35mm), you can even handhold the flash to the side and it will be enough. I prefer to have my buddy or my subject's buddy hold the flash.
For best results in sportraiture, bring a friend. Or two. The more the merrier! You'll have more people there to help make your vision happen, and more visions to make things happen. You help each other hold stuff, ask each other questions, make the rest of the town jealous by talking about "that great time you spent at the track," which then gets more people to join in next time. Photography is always better with friends.
Do you know Lee Morris, pro photographer, video producer, and educator? He's a seasoned commercial, advertising, fashion, and wedding photographer, plus he's co-founder of the website Fstoppers.com. He took a moment to reflect on the wedding business, why it's so hard, how it's changing, and how pros like you can make the most of it by staying true to your heart.
When it comes to managing a business as intimate as wedding photography, it’s easy to let your emotions take over. I try my best to approach my photography business as I would any other business. I need to manage my time, keep my current clients happy, consistently book new clients, and make money. Many photographers fail to meet at least one of these goals. Maybe you’re really good at making your current clients happy, but you work too much and you don’t enjoy your job or have time to enjoy your life. Maybe you book a ton of work, but you don’t charge enough and you’re constantly struggling financially.
During the digital revolution, many photographers who didn’t change their pricing structure were incapable of making their current clients happy. Maybe their pictures were great, but as digital started to take over, couples felt like they were getting nickeled and dimed after the event. If you can’t make your current clients happy, you’re going to struggle to find new clients.
When I started my business years ago, I learned early on that I hated making prints and albums. I could shoot a wedding in a few hours and make a few thousand dollars, but it would take me a full day to retouch a few pictures, print them myself, or take the files to a lab, package them up, take them to the post office, and I would only make a few dollars’ profit. In many cases my clients would have to wait weeks to actually get their prints because I was out of the state shooting another job. I decided I was going to start giving away the digital files with each of my weddings. Maybe I would lose a few dollars on the back end, but I was also gaining a ton of free time; and my clients were happier because they could print their pictures how they wanted, when they wanted.
As a single guy in my twenties, money was important to me, but free time was far more valuable. Once I had booked my 20 or 30 weddings for the year, I knew I had plenty of income to support myself and had the security to start working on other things. With the extra time I had gained, I created the photography website Fstoppers.com. If I had focused on custom prints and albums like other photographers do, I have no doubt I would have made a bit more money, but Fstoppers has been far more rewarding. Creating videos for our website like Bon Jovi’s photographer behind the scenes, Peter Hurley’s: The Art Behind The Headshot, or How To Become A Wedding Photographer has been the most exciting experiences of my life.
My point is that you may love your photography career (I sure do), but if you can give yourself some extra time, who knows what you’ll be able to create.
When I found SmugMug, I realized it filled three major needs in my business:
By simplifying my business, I was meeting all four goals above; I had more free time, my clients were happier, I was marketing to new potential clients, and I was making money from print sales each month.
It’s easy to think we know what’s best for our clients. We may know that if they don’t book an album now, they will probably never get one made. But the sad truth is that many of our clients would rather put their pictures on Facebook than deal with an album. It’s important to remember that we are hired by these couples to do a service for them; if they don’t want prints, we should figure out what they do want and charge them accordingly for that.
If you’ve ever bought a car before, you know how obnoxious it can be when the salesman tries to sell you on something you don’t want. There are so many other ways to make money with wedding photography that may not involve expensive prints. I make far more money than I ever did selling prints by selling engagement and bridal sessions, setting up a photobooth at receptions, selling video slideshows of the event, and offering a video service. Many photographers also don’t know that SmugMug makes it incredibly easy to sell digital copies of files. If you don’t want to give away your files like I do, you’re able to set the size and price for each individual picture.
I want to make clear that I love high-quality prints and that many wedding photographers make a lot of money selling prints, even today. I love seeing my work printed huge, professionally framed, and hanging on a wall. My point is simply that times are changing and the current generation of brides probably do not want the same things that their mothers wanted. To stay ahead of the pack, you need to deliver exactly what your clients are looking for, not what you think they will appreciate one day.
If I could sum up this article into a single point it would be this: Listen to your clients, and give them what they want. A happy bride will tell her friends how wonderful you are, and you will never have to worry about a shortage of work. In some cases, especially this one, it can make your life a lot simpler, and you might even make more money.
All photos by RL Morris Weddings.