This video is another response to a reader question: how do I make a portfolio? This was planned as a quick video but that just didn’t do the topic justice. It was better to roll the camera just a bit longer, I thought, and here’s the result.
While the internet is primarily used for initial review of a portfolio, most commercial …

At the core of the photography business, whether it’s taking photographs or running the business end of things, my job is to be a problem-solver for the client. In order for me to solve their problems I need to ask questions. In this post I’ll mention three questions I find important to ask any new client. These inquiries naturally lead …

Portrait and wedding photographers usually have a price list. Want to know how much something costs? It’s there on the price list. Public relations photographers may charge by the hour. For commercial photographers it can get a bit more complicated because most every job is different. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to start and what questions to ask.

Last week …

What’s involved in delivering professional photography? There are a core group of services we provide on most every job. I thought it might be interesting to show you what services we charge for on most every commercial photography job. This is the basic “skeleton” of charges. If stylists, props, rentals, etc., are needed then that all gets added and a …

In high school I had a great class called “consumer decisions”. In that class we learned all sorts of practical things including defining purchasing decisions as either “wants, needs or desires”. Do you want, need or desire a new camera? When is it time to actually buy?
I’ve probably mentioned before that it’s much easier for me to make a purchase …

Today I’d like to share a letter from a reader. Questions like this are always welcome and they give genuine purpose to what I hope to accomplish with prophotolife.com. This young man is the future of the profession…
Hi, my name is Matthew,
I’m 17 years old, and a Junior in High School.
I’ve been taking Graphic Editing and Graphic Design classes …

If you’ve read all of the business responsibilities sections and are still with me then it’s obvious you really want to be a professional photographer. There’s no way around it, if you’re going to survive (and thrive) in business then you have to understand how business works, whether you’re running a bakery or a photo studio.
All of this learning …