Great Food Photography: October 2016

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Friday, October 28, 2016

Photographer of the Day: Michael Lawrence

Photofocus Podcast October 28, 2016 — Mirrorless with Scott Bourne & Marco Larousse

Photograph At Eye Level

Colour – A selection of images from our #ThursdayTheme

Last week’s #ThursdayTheme was ‘Colour’ and we have some absolutely stunning colourful images for you to view this week – I’m sure you’ll agree!

Our #FridayFoto was this cracker by Chantal Macleod Holdsworth. 286 Facebook likes and loves on Chantal’s image made it an easy winner! Isn’t it interesting how some images just resonate?

Here’s what Julie had to say about Chantal’s image:

“This jumped right out of the newsfeed at me.

Firstly because of the colours. The contrast of orange and the blue/purple of the background is just superb. So rich and deep and beautiful. If you know your ‘colour wheel’ you’ll know that these are colours which work brilliantly together but only if done well – which is definitely the case here. But that little pop of green from the eyes is stunning too, right?

And what about those eyes? Sharp as a tack! There is so much clarity and crispness in the face and then a beautiful, creamy background. Dreamy.

A gorgeous portrait of a beautiful cat Chantal – one to be proud of. Thanks for sharing it!”

Thank you so much for all your participation!

Join us…

Anita Szvoboda

Audrey Boniwell

Cara Olson

Claire Bell

Dave Simpson

Gary Hill

Hannah Lamprell

Janine Ward

Jo Watt

Joanna Higgins-Ware

Julie Byrd

Lone Kiter

Marcee Tenorio

Maree Nicolson

Merry Adrian

Monika Grzesinska

Tanya Brown

Tina W Brikland

Zaneta Gorham

Which is your favourite?

Pop by and request to join – you’ll love it!

The post Colour – A selection of images from our #ThursdayTheme appeared first on Tea Break Tog.

source http://www.teabreaktog.com/blog/colour-images/

Monday, October 24, 2016

Introducing the FREE Week of Learning on LinkedIn

Lens Choice is Everything

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Photographer of the day: Dean Holland

Jump From Premiere Pro To Photoshop And Back

How to Avoid Ugly Skies with Polarizers

Live Speaker Schedule for Saturday at Photo Plus Expo

Friday, October 21, 2016

Photographer of the Day: Tomas Salinka

The InFocus Interview Show | Photofocus Podcast October 21st, 2016

How to Get a Quick “Film-Look” in Photoshop

12 ways to run successful mini-sessions (without killing your full session bookings)

If you market and run your mini-sessions well, they can be a GREAT addition to your photography business. But how do you make sure your mini-sessions are not so good that your potential clients just wait for them to come around and never book a full shoot with you? Today’s video is about how to run successful photography mini-sessions without killing your business!

TRANSCRIPTION

Let’s talk mini-sessions! These are just very short portrait shoots usually done back to back over the course of a day or a couple of days. It’s a great way to get an income and exposure boost when things are a little quiet or you’re just starting out.

Clients who book a mini-session with you are obviously going to pay you substantially less than those booking a full photo shoot. However, because you can fit more in to a short time frame, if you’re savvy, you can make them work very well for you financially.

Will you get bargain hunters? Yes, some will be looking for a bargain. But that’s totally ok – we all do that sometimes, right? And, because you’re going to be very careful with your time when it comes to these shoots – you’re going to make sure it’s worth it for you.

However, if you get your marketing right, you’ll also get some of your ‘ideal’ clients booking a mini-session. Maybe you’ve been on their radar but they haven’t quite got round to booking a full shoot with you yet. Or they aren’t quite convinced to part with that money yet. You want to impress these guys and leave them wanting more of you.

Because If you’re not careful then your minis will be so appealing and so satisfactory to these potentially great clients that they have no reason to ever book one of your full custom sessions. Why would they? They’ll just wait for your next round of mini-sessions.

And so will all their friends!

Believe me, I learned this the hard way…

You might end up with a business that’s just one never-ending cycle of mini-sessions – and that would be utterly exhausting!!!!

Some photographers actually stop offering mini-sessions because of this or they only do a very small number of them once a year.

But you can totally incorporate mini-sessions into your photography business and still get those full session bookings – here’s 12 ways to make sure your mini-sessions don’t kill your business.

Don’t schedule mini-sessions for a time of year when you are usually busy with full shoots anyway. If you get lots of full shoot bookings in the lead up to Christmas, for example, then why offer mini-sessions? It’ll just take you away from your great clients and add to your stress and workload!
Keep your mini-sessions short and sweet – drastically shorter than your full shoots. So if a full shoot with you is usually around an hour then 20 minutes is probably perfect. If your custom shoots are even longer, maybe 1.5 to 2 hours, then maybe you could stretch to 30 mins for your mini-sessions.
Don’t do too many sets of mini-sessions per year. If you do you’re much more likely to get people waiting for them to come around. I’d say 2 lots per year is probably perfect but 3 at the very most.
If your full sessions are special and tailored to each clients needs then your mini-sessions shouldn’t be. You should have complete control over where the shoot takes place and you could even consider having a theme like ‘mummy and me’ or a special ‘set-up’ like a toys tea party.
Make sure you limit the number of people you’re willing to photograph during a mini-session. Some photographers limit their mini-sessions to children only, others will accept families of up to 5 or 6.
If you have mini-sessions with full families – don’t take every possible family grouping like you would for a full session. Be selective about this. Maybe just the kids individually, the kids together and the whole family together.
Consider a lower age limit for mini-sessions. Young babies can be so unpredictable and generally need a much longer shoot with time for settling and feeding. Personally, when it came to mini-sessions, I only took babies who could sit unaided.
During the shoot don’t be embarrassed to talk to them about your full sessions and how awesome they are. This can be done conversationally and doesn’t have to sound sleazy and sales at all.
Whilst I’m a big advocate of over-delivering in terms of images, do not do this for mini-sessions. If you say you’re going to let them choose from 10 edited images of your choice then stick to that. If you end up showing them 25 gorgeous images then why would they book a full shoot with you in the future? Yes, there will probably be more than 10 keepers but be disciplined with yourself when you’re editing – you’re playing the long game here. This is business.
Knock their socks off with how friendly and professional you are. Yes, hold back on what they get for their money in terms of images but NOT on service. Make the whole experience seamless with respect to booking, communication, organisation, the shoot itself, delivery of images and follow-up. Leave them thinking, ‘Wow if this is what her mini-sessions are like, I bet her full sessions are amazing!!’ Leave them wanting more.
Decide afterwards which of your mini-sessions clients you would love to do a full shoot for in the future and send them a voucher with credit to spend on a full shoot experience with you. Make sure you put an expiry on that.
Keep in touch with them with regular emails and updates and, if you’re willing, friend them on Facebook and keep in touch that way too. Not everyone likes to have clients as friends on social media but it’s a very powerful way of staying top of mind – I love it!

I have so much more to say about mini-sessions. In fact I have created a whole course on how to plan, price, market, sell out and run your mini-sessions for maximum profit and exposure and it’s all going into the Togs in Business membership which you are about to hear more about…

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about mini-sessions.

See you soon!

The post 12 ways to run successful mini-sessions (without killing your full session bookings) appeared first on Improve your Photography.

source http://www.teabreaktog.com/video/12-ways-run-successful-mini-sessions-without-killing-full-session-bookings/

Live Speaker Schedule for Friday at Photo Plus Expo

Hands – A selection of images from our #ThursdayTheme

Last week’s #ThursdayTheme was Hand photography. Wait until you see the images – who would believe that such a simple thing as ‘hands’ could evoke such emotion!

Our #FridayFoto this week was this absolutely beautiful image by Agnes Moreschi.

Here’s what Julie had to say about Agnes’ image:

“For me this is just childhood at its best. You know when you just played with water just for the sake of it? I love that there are no faces to distract us here – it’s all about the action.

You’ve skilfully used the light here Agnes. I LOVE the contrast between the bright sun and shadows. The water drops are so crisp and crystal-like.

I can actually feel the warmth of that sunlight too!

What a playful, vibrant shot. Lifestyle at its best! Thanks for sharing it with us Agnes!”

Thanks so much to all of you who shared a doorway with us this week! They are fabulous!

Join us…