The owner of a Bury St Edmunds photography gallery has said he has made the difficult decision to close at the end of this year.

John Martyn, who opened Guildhall Studio three years ago, said the rising cost of energy had made it difficult to remain open.

“It’s obviously sad because we’ve been going for about three years now,” he said.

“We started just as Covid was happening. It’s been a great time, we’ve met some fantastic photographers and artists, we’ve run three or four exhibitions which are always well attended.

“The downside is just the cost. Things like gas and electricity – they’re just going up and it’s making it difficult to justify keeping the studio open.”

The studio, which sells a range of John’s photographs as well as the work of other photographers and artists in the area, will now be an online business.

John will continue to do photography commissions and hopes to exhibit his work at other venues around the town.

He hasn’t given up on the idea of owning a studio and would like to open another in the future, but on a smaller scale.

There will be a final exhibition running until December 22 which will feature the work of Tom Crittenden and Weina Xu Penhaligan.

According to plans submitted to West Suffolk Council in October, the studio could become a tattoo parlour.

For John’s website, see here.

More information about the studio can be found on the Guildhall Studio website.

Buried among the headline Black Friday camera deals are some less bombastic savings on some very, very good photography books. 

I love taking photos but I also love getting inspiration by thumbing through other people’s images. So I’m always looking to add to my bookshelf, and I thought I’d share some recommendations as I think these brilliant books deserve a place in everyone’s library.

Take a look at the best books on photography, including the best coffee table books on photography, the best books on portrait photography, and the best books on street photography. 

As photographers, we just want to photograph. But if you want to make a living in the world of photography, you need to know how to work the business side of things as well. This often means dealing with clients, understanding marketing concepts, and learning how to create and optimize websites.

Today, I’ll be revealing three tips I learned from my time as an Enterprise SEO Consultant working with multi-million dollar companies such as Allstate and Bill.com.

In fact, these exact tips have been pivotal throughout my career as both an SEO consultant and photographer, consistently earning the trust and loyalty of clients and coworkers alike.

Let’s dive right in.

3 Photography Business Tips

Here are three tips you can apply to your own photography business:

1. Settings Expectations: The Early Delivery Advantage

Have you ever ordered something online that you really wanted, and it was expected to arrive on a certain date, but it arrived earlier by a few days? You know that surprise and joy you feel when it arrives early? That’s the early delivery advantage. It’s a concept rooted in expectation management and customer satisfaction.

You see, people act based on their expected outcomes. If you have a client that expects a certain delivery date and they receive their product or service earlier, their positive outcome is exceeded, leading to increased satisfaction, and a positive perception of you and your business.

As a consultant, we used this trick all the time. My boss once told me: “What is offered as a surprise doesn’t have to be very much. It just has to be unexpected.”

If I had a report or audit I needed to complete that I knew would only take me seven days to finish, I would tell the client it takes 14 days to complete. After seven days, I would tell the client I finished early. This surprise element enhanced client satisfaction and loyalty. I have used this exact same technique in my photography business as well.

Do you have a lot of photos you need to retouch and send to a client? Figure out how long it would take you to retouch them and tell the client it will take 3-5 days longer than it will actually take. Do you have a photo package that states you only take a certain number of photos on the shoot? Take a few more photos over the limit and tell the client they can have them free of charge. These are just a couple examples.

It’s the little positive surprises and impact of exceeding expectations that will reaffirm your client’s decision to choose your service, gain your trust, and lead to positive word of mouth referrals. Now, there are two things I wanted to note on this tactic:

• The product or service still has to deliver value and be of high quality.
• This will not work if you do it all the time. Sprinkle this tactic out throughout the lifespan of your client relationships. If you do this all the time, the client will come to expect that you deliver early all the time.

2. Craft Your One-Liners: Clarifying Your Market and Niche

The second photography business tip I learned from consulting is to craft your one-liners. And no, I’m not talking about jokes. I’m talking about one-liners in terms of how you can succinctly communicate your product and service for effective market positioning.

Working with multi-million dollar companies, they had refined and reworked their one-liners numerous times. Everything these businesses do and offer, from sales, to marketing, to accounting, to HR, revolves around that one-liner.

You might be thinking: “what’s the big deal with having a one-liner?” Listen, if you don’t know what you offer in terms of value, how can you expect potential clients to know? Crafting a one-liner will allow you to succinctly communicate what your photography business specializes in, your approach to the business, and what your clients can expect from you. The clarity will make it easier for potential clients to understand and remember what you offer, making it easier for both your marketing efforts and client communication.

How to Craft a One-Liner for Your Photography Business

I’ve found there are three steps you can follow that will help you craft your one-liner:

1. Identify Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

Marketing lingo. Gross. I know, just bear with me. The first step is to identify your Unique Value Proposition, or UVP if you want to sound like a fancy marketing exec. You start with identifying the core service or product that you offer. Think about what makes your service or product unique. It could be your approach, style, or particular benefit that sets you apart from your competition.

2. Focus on the Benefit or Outcome for Your Client

The second step is to put yourself in the shoes of your potential clients. Think about what they would be looking for or what problem they need to be solved. Why would they be coming to you to solve that problem? Figure out what that is and highlight the positive outcome or benefit your clients would experience from using your service or product.

3. Combine These Elements Into a Concise, Memorable Sentence

The third step is to combine these elements and make your one-liner.

A formula I like to follow is: What You Do + Unique Aspect + Client Benefit

For example:

[Photography Service] + [Unique Approach] + [Emotional Benefit/Outcome for Client]

Here are a couple examples in real-life:

For a Family Portrait Studio:

• What You Do: “Family Portrait Photography”
• Unique Aspect: “using natural light to create warm, candid moments”
• Client Benefit: “capturing your family’s love and bond in every photo”
• One-Liner: “Capturing Your Family’s Warmth in Candid Moments with Natural Light Photography”

Here’s my one-liner as a photographer focusing primarily on providing SEO and marketing tips:

• What I Do: “Provide SEO education and services for photographers”
• Unique Aspect: “Full-time experience as Enterprise SEO Consultant”
• Client Benefit: “Grow business and brand through SEO”
• One-Liner: “Providing Enterprise-Level SEO Expertise to Accelerate Photography Business & Brand Growth.”

Try using this formula to craft a one-liner for yourself. Start with the service or product you offer, then try to think of a unique benefit you have over your competition. If you can’t think of a unique benefit, use these points to help you brainstorm:

• Specialized Industry Knowledge
• Professional Background
• Personal Approach
• Innovative Techniques
• Comprehensive Services
• Educational Component

3. Discoverability: The Power of a Website

The third photography business tip I learned from consulting is the importance of discoverability and the power of your website. Throughout my career as an SEO consultant, I’ve always had a mantra I told my clients: “You can have the best product or service in the world, but if no one can find it, is it really the best?” This quote revolves around the power and importance of discoverability in our digital-first world.

So how do you become discoverable? Well there are many ways, such as through social media, paid ads, speaking events, referrals, radio, TV, billboards, existing platforms like Reddit, Quora, and Pinterest, and through search engine optimization.

I’ve always been a strong believer that as photographers, our website is our home base and foundation within the digital world. Our website allows us to create a photography portfolio, list our pricing, create a personal brand, list our contact info, display our products and services, and allow us to create thought leadership content.

While you can make a living as a photographer on social media or through other platforms, you have to remember that your profiles on these platforms are owned by another company. At any moment, they can decide to shadowban you, change their algorithms, or remove you. And all that hard work you built on that platform is gone. With a website, however, it is yours. Your little home on the internet.

Now, the strongest way to drive traffic to your website, is through search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, around 70% of online experiences begin with a search engine. While new platforms have come and gone, search engines like Google and Bing have stood strong. It’s why multi-million dollar companies are willing to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars each month to up their SEO game.

I could spend hours talking about what SEO is and the different strategies, but I’ll save that for later posts on Fstoppers. For now, you need to know that SEO revolves around ranking for certain keywords and optimizing your photography website to have the best possible chance of ranking for those keywords.

Why should you care about keywords as a photographer? Let’s do a little math exercise.  Let’s say you are a portrait photographer in Manhattan and you rank #1 on Google for “portrait photographer in Manhattan.” To keep it simple, let’s say that keyword has a monthly search volume of 100 searches a month. You need to know that the first ranking spot on Google receives about roughly 30% of all the clicks.

Doing the math, that would mean about 30 people are finding your page every month organically (for free). This means that by effectively optimizing and ranking for that specific keyword, you could potentially secure bookings from these 30 people for your photography services every month. And the best part is that traffic would be only from one page. Imagine you had multiple pages targeting multiple different “money” keywords.

There is a lot of mystery and confusion around SEO for photographers that we hope to demystify and clarify. For right now, just know that if you have a photography website, you need to be prioritizing SEO, or else your competition will. If you have a specific question you need answered or have any questions, feel free to write us at Fstoppers or send me an email.

Final Thoughts

Those are my three photography business tips I learned from consulting $1,000,000 companies. I hope you took something valuable away from this guide. If you have any questions or comments regarding any of the tips, drop a comment down below! Or, if there is a certain tip you’ll be using in your own photography business, let us know in the comments!

In addition to winning the contest, the photo will be used to highlight Saskatchewan online and in Tourism advertisements. The photo also took home top prize in the ‘Prairie’ category of the contest while another one of his photos received an honourable mention.

Katerynych said with his first place finish, he wasn’t the only one to win in the contest.

“As much as it is a win for me, it’s also a win for the community as well,” he said. “It shows the underappreciated beauty of the area I live in, like with the North Saskatchewan River running by and all the wildlife, it’s a great place to be.”

He added that winning the contest came as a surprise.

“I was standing in line at [the store] and I was scrolling through my emails and I went into my junk folder,” he explained. “There were two in there and at the time and I didn’t notice the second one at first. I opened the first one which was one for an honourable mention then it my turn at the till. I went back to the second one and opened it and realized it was for the Grand Prize so it was really quite a shock.”

The winning entries and honourable mentions were selected by an external panel of judges. The aim was to capture the province’s natural beauty and dynamic spirit.

Each of the photos shows extraordinary landscapes, winter scenery, diverse experiences, magnificent wildlife and the unique character of Saskatchewan people.

The competition opened in June and received over 4,200 entries by the mid-September deadline.

—

loganc.lehmann@pattisonmedia.com

In the world of combat photography, there have been countless individuals who have risked their lives to document the harsh realities unfolding in front of them. Among these brave photographers, one name stands out with a unique legacy – Dickey Chapelle. Born Georgette Louise Meyer on March 14, 1919, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and adopting the nickname Dickey from a childhood friend, her remarkable journey not only left behind a trove of iconic images, but also paved the way for generations of photojournalists to follow in her footsteps.

From an early age, she displayed a passion for writing and photography, attributes that would define her future career led her to embark on an incredible journey as a combat photographer, covering some of the most pivotal events in modern history. Chapelle’s career began in during World War II. She volunteered as a war correspondent, making her one of the first female war correspondents in the Pacific theater. After the war, Chapelle’s career continued to evolve, leading her to eventually cover the Vietnam War, where her work elevated and became truly iconic. Her lens captured the horrors of war, the humanity and courage of the people involved. With her Leica M2, she became known for wearing her signature uniform: fatigues and a scarf, a combination that made her an easily recognizable figure in the midst of war where her work offered a reminder of the price of war in terms of casualties but also, in the sacrifices made by the civilian population.

Tragically, Dickey Chapelle’s life was cut short on November 4, 1965, when she was killed by shrapnel from an exploding mine in Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Her death was a stark reminder of the perils of her profession for all who decide to enter the horrifying and extremely dangerous theaters of combat. In recognition of her contributions to photojournalism, Dickey Chapelle was posthumously awarded the George Polk Award becoming the first female recipient since its establishment in 1949. Her work remains an inspiration to photojournalists today, reminding them of the power of the camera document history. 

In the video above from her hometown station, Milwaukee PBS, we’re offered a brief glimpse into her life, her career and her legacy to the world of photography.

Graphic courtesy of Jackson Williams.

Have you ever had someone post your photos to social media with their own edits over your work? They most likely look far off from your creative vision, and that is a horrible feeling. Especially when you spent hours in front of a computer screen meticulously going over every little detail just to open Instagram to see the photo you were tagged in is an over-saturated edit, and it’s now online with your name associated with the work. Maybe you’ve been scrolling through Instagram and see that a big magazine brand has featured a photo you took and didn’t give you credit. Again — a very frustrating experience.

These are just a few instances of photographers’ work not being protected, but these are all completely avoidable situations. Implementing a photography contract as part of your regular client acceptance process will protect you and your work as well as ensure the client and their rights.

Aside from the instances I referred to, a photography contract is paramount to the success of any photography professional. It is a communication tool used between client and photographer to agree upon terms ahead of time, making the rest of the client-photographer relationship easy and effective. A few examples of why you would want to implement a photography contract are as follows.

Client Confidence  

It assures the client that the expectations are clear and that you, as a photographer, will fulfill your duties.

Photographer Protection 

It protects the artists and their art from being used in any way other than what was agreed upon. 

Proof

If matters arise in the future, you have a written document to fall back on to reference, making the process of solving possible issues a whole lot easier.  

Not every photographer’s contract is the same because everyone has different expectations. However, ensuring all aspects important to you are covered is vital in providing the most protection for you and your client. Let’s look at some of the integral components of ensuring your photography contract has everything you need to be effective.  

Identification of Parties Involved  

This might seem like a no-brainer, but it can be easy to forget. Making sure that it is clearly stated who you are entering into this agreement with is incredibly important because the whole contract would be void if left undone. Also, stating the work you are addressing in the contract and being as specific as possible will help everyone in the long run.  

Services  

Identify the expectations of the client as agreed upon by the photographer. Make sure it is as detailed as possible. Some things you might state in this part would be when the photoshoot is, who is expected to be there, who oversees specific elements of the photoshoot, and the content being shot.  

Delivery 

Highlight how you will return the gallery of images to your client, such as through Dropbox or Lightroom gallery link, etc. You might also want to include what kind of file downloads will be available as well as the number you plan to return.  

Usage 

Clearly state the acceptable usage for the photos you will return to the client. For example, if they should be used commercially or just for the client. This is important in protecting your work from being used in any publication if you don’t want it to be or if you are okay with it being used, making sure to stipulate you must be credited as the photographer.  

Cancelation Policy 

Do you have a non-refundable booking fee? If so, state that and articulate the stipulations if a client were to cancel. 

These are just a few elements of a contract to think about. However, as I mentioned before, every contract looks different, and designing yours to cater to you and your clients’ needs is incredibly important to their effectiveness. Depending on the job type, photographers will often have multiple contracts written up for them to be more accurate. If you want to confirm you have all your bases covered when writing your own contract, eForms, an online legal resource, elaborates on why you need one for your photo business. This article by LegalZoom has compiled a list of items you may want to include in the drafting process. Finally, if you need help articulating contract specificities, ShootProof has some great suggestions for using the best language for communication between yourself, your client and the law.

Making a contract part of your regular client photographic process will help you succeed in many ways, from making communication easier, establishing clear expectations and protecting your work so that you can focus on the most rewarding part of your craft: taking pictures and telling visual stories.

As a working photographer, I often receive messages from beginners who need camera-buying advice. While I do write for a photography outlet, I am not as updated with the latest camera tech as you might first assume.

While my technological ignorance is nothing to be proud of, I just don’t consider this knowledge crucially important to being a successful photographer. And I am still very much on my way to being able to call myself a successful photographer. This is why I don’t really know much about other cameras; I am focused on other things, such as the ones I am capturing with my camera.

Beginners often already have a subject choice, but they are looking for the right piece of equipment to capture that subject with. Should they buy a Sony, a Canon, or, God forbid, a Nikon? Which lens should you pick, which camera body? Is full frame worth it in 2023? Should you buy an entry-level camera or go pro immediately? So many questions, all of them have a simple answer: use what you have.

I am a big advocate for smartphone photography. While I haven’t started shooting on my phone, I would’ve if I had no cameras and only an interest in photography now. While “shot on iPhone” is more of a meme than a real statement, you can still get incredible images on your smartphone. I am almost certain that if you are interested in photography, you already own a fairly powerful smartphone such as one of the Pro iPhones. Having got the 14 Pro last year, my eyes were opened to the max (pun intended). Before that, I had a 12 mini, which was already strong, but nothing compared to how good the 14 Pro was.

A beginner photographer needs a camera that is simple to use and practice the skill of photography on. Smartphones offer just that. You don’t need to mess with a plethora of unnecessary settings such as metering modes, AF locks, exposure compensation, etc. Frankly, having shot since I was 16, I never changed or bothered about my metering mode. Not to diminish the importance and the validity of all the camera settings we are given, but some are less important than the others. Most beginners can get by without advanced features that a traditional camera offers.

What is more important for someone who is starting out in photography is to have a camera that they can use every day and that they can take with themselves in order to practice photography. I see far too many beginner photographers have a single shoot a month and slow down their progress because of it. Practice makes perfect, and I am a big believer in the 10,000-hour rule. For the exact same reason, I prefer not to count experience in years but rather in client lists and assessment of the work. Just owning a camera does not make you a better photographer. Internet photography forums are full of people who claim to have been a photographer for decades; however, their work doesn’t show it. Just because you bought a camera and had it stashed away, shooting once or twice a month, doesn’t make you a professional photographer. By that logic, my father has been a photographer ever since I can remember, as he technically owns a camera.

I am a strong believer in the fact that there has not been a bad camera since the release of the Canon 5D Mark II. The requirements for stills have not changed since then as well. What is important when starting out in photography is not so much the image quality of your work, but rather the content of the image itself. Practicing capturing that content is what’s important, not the new lens or camera body.

You might go back at me and say that suppose someone wants to capture bird or wildlife. Surely, they need a camera that can do this; they can’t just use their phone to hunt down a bear. You’d be absolutely right. I am not telling anyone to go hunt bears with an iPhone 14, even the 15 Pro Max with the superzoom feature. Having given it lots of thought, I think we can condense the practice of photography to capturing fleeting moments in time with a sense of aesthetic and artistic vision. Every genre of photography falls into that. The core idea is unchanged regardless of the direction you want to take with your work. Practicing the ability to capture fleeting moments in time with a sense of aesthetic and artistic vision can be done with any tool that fulfills the core functionality. While I wouldn’t pick a toy camera for this purpose, you could stretch it this far as well.

So, what can you do to practice the ability to have a style and the ability to see and capture moments? There are a lot of different things you can do. Let’s start with an example that’s closest to me: people photography. You can use your phone to take street images, capture street styles, and even do some basic portrait shoots with it. You can take this a step further and do entire shoots on a phone. Capture One offers tethering with an iPhone camera now, so there is really nothing stopping you if you have a phone and a laptop. The limitations that your phone sets will make you more creative when it comes to composition, angles, etc. You can also practice the ability to capture street and landscapes with your phone. Remember every time you walked through the place you live and thought to yourself: “that’s beautiful.” The more you shoot, the more beauty you will see, and the more ideas you will have. Just by having a phone camera with you, you can become more observant and end up a much better and experienced photographer. Someone who has bought all the kit but rarely uses it will only envy and ask you how was it that you progressed so fast in a year or so. You can take my word for it, as I am only in my early twenties, and I’ve already managed to shoot magazine covers, work with the biggest agencies, and get listed on Models.com. Before you go ahead and call me a nepo-baby, I will go out and say that I lived on baked beans on an inflatable mattress in a studio with no hot water for a few months. I still live in my studio, albeit in much better conditions. There is really no nepotism going on.

Closing Thoughts

So, as we can see, the best camera for a beginner photographer is the one they have already and ideally a good smartphone. Given that the core of photography is capturing fleeting moments with a sense of aesthetic and artistic vision, you need a camera. This camera is built right into your smartphone. So, instead of getting into a camera system just now, spend a few months shooting and practicing on your phone.

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