Don't let comparison steal your joy.

*Side note before I start: For all you photographers, Charlie and I are hosting a workshop next month! Get all the details here. 

Now... 

I consider myself really lucky to be blessed with a sense of urgency and passion. I've always considered myself driven and motivated, and these are things I wouldn't trade for the world. But like every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And just like my obsessive motivation, I'm also an obsessive over-thinker. I'm very rarely content, and while I try to justify my discontentment by labeling it as "drive", I'm realizing that no matter what, if I don't change my perspective, I'm never going to be content.

To put this in perspective, Charlie and I booked four full priced weddings and one discounted wedding with a trip to Maui this year. The number that we are working towards as a business is between 20-30. This number is what we would consider full time and financially stable enough for only one of us to work a day job.

Now if I had a healthy perspective on this year, I would be grateful for the five that we did book (and the fantastic trip to Maui), I would be focusing on the couple's who we delivered great photo's to, and I would be content with the fact that we have maintained a great friendship and reputation with each of our clients. Having happy clients is the number one thing to generate future referrals, so I should be encouraged! These are all great things.

But the obsessive, discontent part of me can't stop over-thinking. "Are we really getting any better? Are we really worth the higher prices we've set for next year? Are we going to continue only booking five weddings a year? Does anyone even like our work? Are we to similar to all the other photographers out there? Do we stand out?"  These are insecurities, and I know that every artist has them. I wish I could reveal that I had the secret to overcoming them, but I don't. But I do believe that with little changes and persistence, I can change my perspective and learn to ignore these voices.

Because the real problem, is that when I'm insecure, I produce horrible work. If I go into a shoot with this mindset, I can't let go and be creative, I can't feel inspired. Because inspiration comes from confidence. After the shoot I mull in my failure and disappointment with my work, and the cycle starts all over again. I try to think of ways that we can differentiate and be better, but the truth is that confidence and inspiration are the only thing that makes anybody's work stand out, and by hanging onto my insecurities, I am holding myself back from that.

So what small changes am I going to make to shift my perspective?

I am going to count my blessings, the things I listed in the third paragraph. The truth is that Charlie and I are doing a great job. We don't cut corners, we don't use cheap tricks or shoot like amateurs. We practice, we improve, we perfect, and we work hard. Those are things to be proud of, and they will pay off.

I will choose not to compare myself to others, based solely on the fact that it hinders my confidence and creativity.

I will focus more on the relationships with my clients and discovering who they are, because caring about people and their big day is the most important thing.

I will remember why I wanted to be a photographer in the first place. Before I ever thought about money, business, success or accomplishment. I shot for fun, for the people I loved, and to create beautiful art.

What inspires you?

Inspiration can be such a loose term with artists. Everything under the sun can "inspiration", which can sometimes be more hurtful than helpful.

I've found that it's taken me a long time to really narrow down what inspires me to be more me.

There are thousands of amazing photographers in the world. People so talented, so creative, so experienced, and so skilled. When I first started investigating other people's work I was overwhelmed. Everything was so good. I wanted to make art as well as all of them!! But that was not inspiring, it was hindering. My only goal then was to just get better, to make amazing photo's, but that's not very specific, now is it?

Over the years I have learned to listen to myself more when I look at other peoples work. I'm able to distinguish between a photographer who is great, and a photographer who I want to learn from. I've learned that no matter how great a photographer is, it doesn't mean that their style is similar to what I want for my business.

For example, when I first began studying photography, I followed a very random assortment of photographers. I found these people via google, flickr, friends and other local sources. Some of my favorites were:

Julie Watts 
Ross James
Ryan Flynn
Susan Stripling

Now if you are familiar with photography at all you should be able to tell that that is a very eclectic group. And surely if I was a photographer just starting out, trying to find inspiration, all those different styles would be down right confusing and exhausting. Imagine if I tried to take after every one of those photographers, they're all so different! But what I didn't have at that time was a sense of my own taste. Like I said earlier, the only thing that I was in tune to was that they were all great photographers, and much better than myself.

But once you do start to become aware of your own taste, don't be afraid to close the door on other inspirational sources. I've found that what I am really drawn to is natural, real, story telling photojournalism. Which is why out of the four photographers I mentioned, Ryan Flynn is the only one I still "follow", and in fact, he is shooting mine and Charlie's wedding next year! I'm inspired by his ability to make me feel like I am in a room he is photographing. I'm also inspired by Sean Flanigan, and the way he is unafraid to photograph the unconventional moments, the one's people think aren't "art". I'm inspired by how natural and consistent Julie Harmsen is with her color.

These people inspire me not to try to be like them, to copy them or to do what they do. But they inspire me to stop, dig into myself, and listen to what I love. They inspire me to have a unique taste for what I do. They inspire me to be unafraid and go my own way.

Listen to yourself and don't be afraid to be different. Learn from people who's art makes you feel, learn from people who have a good sense of who they are as photographers.

Part three: Sweat the small stuff.

This is the third post in a series about what you should be focusing on during your first year starting a photography business. 

In the beginning, you insist that it is the little things that will get you noticed. I was sure that once we hired a graphic designer to make us a "real" logo, that people would think highly of us. Once we got a Prophoto blog and started looking professional, that the inquiries would begin to flow in. Business cards. We Must. Get. Business Cards. These things are important, and for people like me who are perfectionists when it comes to presentation, these things are a must. But it's important to realize that these things are not "the key".

Because there is no one key. There are a lot of keys, and a lot of time, and a lot of work. Instead of spending months obsessing over the things I described, ensure that every interaction you have with someone is positive. Become friends with your clients, become friends with their friends. Have coffee with them, listen to them. Being a great photographer is a must, but without building a lasting friendship with your clients, you are losing a lot of potential referrals.

My friends sister recently got married and hired a well-known, husband and wife photography team to shoot their wedding. I respect this couple's work and from the few interactions I've had with them, they seem polite. But one of my good friends was at the wedding, and he noticed the photographers being rude to the family, friends, and even bridal party during the portraits. He overheard one of the photographers chew out a guest for shooting over his shoulder, which really stressed the bride out. My friend was shocked and disappointed when he left the wedding.

My main focus during a wedding second to taking photo's is keeping the bride relaxed and happy. Often they will apologize to me for running behind, which I always refuse to accept and give them a kind smile. It is their day, they are not burdening me! I am merely a fly on the wall, stepping in when they need me, and tagging along when they don't. At our last wedding the bride thanked me for being so relaxed and easygoing and told me I was reducing her stress. That made me so happy! Photographers often get stereotyped as being all business and schedule bound. But I insist on going with the flow during every wedding, no matter what. Because the bride and grooms happiness is the most important thing, not your portrait time. If you have an hour to take wonderful portraits, but you rushed the bride and made her feel guilty for holding you up, you have lost.

Your patience, kindness, friendliness, and helpful attitude during a wedding will gain you friends and future referrals. I often get friend requests from bridesmaids and family members after a wedding, and I can remain confident that I not only left a great impression on these people with my work, but from the interactions I had with them as well. And that is the type of person you suggest when your best friend is getting married.

Part Two: How to shoot for free (or cheap) and get the ball rolling

This is the second post in a series about what you should be focusing on during your first year starting a photography business. 

There is no shame in shooting for free or cheap when you are practicing your art and trying to get your business off the ground. In fact, if you are unpracticed and inexperienced, then you absolutely should. Charging people a lot of money to perform a task that you have not yet mastered is shameful and wrong.

As I talked about in part one, the main purpose of shooting a lot is to practice. This work eventually builds up and represents your business through your portfolio. Your portfolio shows your work to the world, it shows what you can (or can't) do, your style, and your passion. Your portfolio should also focus more on the type of work you are aiming for. Just because you shoot something, doesn't mean it has to go in your portfolio. If you don't like it, aren't proud of it, or don't want to do it again: don't put it in your portfolio! 

The business advice I'm about to give you is not for professional business owners. This advice is by no means mathematical or intended to be used long term. This advice is for beginners only, a starting point to get your business off the ground.

So here is my advice to you beginners, on how to shoot for cheap and get things rolling...

1. Make a list of what you want to do. Finding your niche or specialty may not come to you in the beginning, but it will form while you do more work. But start by making a list of the work that you want to try. For example, family photography, engagements, weddings, children, newborns, maternity, events, car shows, food, etc.

2. Make a list of the absolutely essential things you need to start your business. If your current equipment is hindering you from doing a great job, it's time to upgrade. Do you need a business license, a website, a blog, a logo, or some business cards? Write down what you need, find out how much it will cost and create your goal.

You want to be looking at a short term window, one year or less, that you will try to reach this goal and purchase the things you need. For example, let's say this is your list:

-A new Canon 5D MkII $2500
-A Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens $399
-A Prophoto blog $300
-Logo/business card design $400
Your goal to "raise" in one year: $3,600

3. Look at your portfolio and see what it needs. If you are just starting out, that probably means everything. But if you have some work under your belt, look at your portfolio and see which area is lacking. Even after years of being in business, Charlie and I will still look to see what our current portfolio is lacking and will exercise the next few steps to fill the gap.

4. Make a plan to meet your large goal. This means setting a price for your work that you feel comfortable with, and shooting as many sessions as you need to to reach that goal. For example, for your first six months you could charge $50 for a normal portrait session and $250 for a wedding. After you've gotten some work and feel a little more comfortable, you could raise portrait sessions to $100 and weddings to $500. Your year could break down something like this:

First six months:
7 portrait sessions @$50 each
3 weddings @$250 each

Next six months:
10 portrait sessions @$100 each
3 weddings @$500 each

Total of: $3,600

5. Identify people you know to meet your "needs". The above layout for one year is a lot of work! While it may seem tempting to put yourself out there for anyone to have, don't. Be picky. Select your target demographic that you want to photograph, and solicit yourself to them. If you want to shoot engagement and wedding photography, hit up your couple friends. Let them know that you are starting a photography business and are in a portfolio building stage for a limited time, and you would like to offer them the chance to have a portrait session with you for only $50 (or whatever price you decide upon). Contact as many people as you know who fit into your criteria for what you need, don't wait for them to come to you.

Continue this letter writing and phone calling until you have reached the amount of work you need, then raise your prices. Be flexible, if people aren't biting at your dollar amount, then work out a deal. Tell them you will take $10 off for every person they refer, or offer them an incentive for advertising your services on their Facebook page or website. Negotiate the talents you have for the connections they have.

6. Never work off of craiglist, no matter how tempting. There are so many reasons for this that deserve their own blog post, but just don't. It is unsatisfying, ungratifying, exhausting, depressing and meaningless. Only work within friends of friends of friends.

If you don't feel comfortable charging people yet, that's okay, shoot for free and get to a level where you can start charging. You can save up money from your day job to help meet your goal (that's what I did) and practice for free in the mean time.

So to sum up this post: Create a goal for your business and what it needs, make a plan for how to get that goal. At the same time, focus on practicing the kind of work you want to do and building the portfolio you want to show.

Questions? I'm always here.

-Sara

Have Heart Photography

Follow me on Twitter

Like Have Heart on Facebook

Part One: The Importance of Practice

This post is the first part of a mini-series about what you should be focusing on during your first year of photography business.

When you are starting a photography business, the best thing you can do for yourself is to practice. If you love photography you probably have a hard time putting your camera down anyways, so it shouldn't be too hard. 

It will take a long time to really know what you're doing and feel comfortable doing it. I know you just read that sentence and understood, but I want you to read it again. It will take a long time to really know what you're doing and feel comfortable doing it. I'm emphasizing this because that time in between where you know what you want and when you get it can feel like suffering. It feels like it's never going to come. But it does. It just takes practice. 

I cried the first time I ever watched this video, the man spoke directly to my heart and put me at ease. I never knew anyone else had felt the way I did everyday. Listen to the quote and be encouraged!

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

I share this with all of my friends who are starting out in photography. If you don't know what this guy is talking about, and you think your work is awesome all the time. Then you probably don't have the good taste he's referring to. It takes most of years for our work to match our taste.

This is a photo from the first family portrait session I ever did in 2009. They were mutual friends and since it was my first session I offered to do it for free. I was terrified and I had no idea how to pose them. Even though, in my mind, the pictures turned out horribly, the mother was still grateful and gave me a sweet present in return since it was around Christmas. Did I have good taste and know what I wanted in 2009? Absolutely. But without practice I had not gotten there. 

Fast forward about 9 months to another family photo session. It's worth mentioning also that in the first shoot I was using a Canon Rebel XT and a kit lens, and in this one I had purchased a 5D Mk II and a 24-70L f/2.8. More important than my upgrade in equipment though was the practice I had been doing throughout the year and the research I did on posing families. I memorized a few poses to be able to turn to during the shoot. These were also really close friends, practically family, so that helped create a natural flow.

I was a lot happier with this shoot, and I was proud to give them their photos. While I got some nice portraits of them I knew that I wanted to take more photos that were unique and different, something they couldn't get from anyone else. I was still disappointed at this point that my taste wasn't matching up with my work. 

This brings us to our session last fall in 2011, with my cousin and her beautiful family. After years of practicing I felt comfortable and confident going into this session. Together Charlie and I shot dozens of images that I would be proud to show anyone. And finally, I feel like my work is starting to catch up with my taste. 

You're never done improving, even after you start your business, even after you shoot dozens of sessions, even now, we will never stop getting better. With constant practice you will grow. Critique yourself, but don't be too harsh. Identify trends in your work that you like and that you want to see change, and then stay conscious of them while you are shooting.

As always, send any questions or comments my way.

Love,
Sara

Have Heart Photography

Follow me on Twitter

Like Have Heart on Facebook

What's your specialty?

When you are starting your own business in a saturated market, it can feel like you're never going to match up with other long-established businesses that are doing the same thing that you do.

The number one reason I believe small businesses fail comes down to two words: competitive differentiation. This is essentially what makes your business different from your competition. To have competitive differentiation you have to have a niche, a specialty.

If you were to ask someone why they buy coffee from Starbucks, they are likely to tell you that no matter where they go, they can count on their drink to taste consistent. That from Seattle to New York, and everywhere in between, your "two pump, stirred, no-whip, mocha" should taste the same. Starbucks designs their branding and stores to reflect this consistent, "coffee house" specialty. No matter where I'm at, the stores always look pretty much the same, all the way down to the barista's uniform.

By heavily marketing themselves as a consistent chain, Starbucks knows that they are shutting out the customers who prefer a more local, personal cafe. But Starbucks knows that you can't be everything. You have to choose your niche, and make it your identity. 

Businesses that lack a specialty are afraid to committing their identity to one thing in fear of losing money. These businesses remain vague, and people walking by aren't able to identify what the business is "about", so they move on.

I worked at a Starbucks store in a mall for years. Another coffee shop opened up on the other side of the mall, they sold coffee and smoothies and tea and juice and red bull and muffins and cake and sandwiches and panini's and salads. Even though they served so much food the interior didn't feel like a restaurant, it felt like a combination of a bookstore and a cafe, it had carpet and a fire place... it was weird. The identity of the business was vague. The ladies who worked their weren't experts in making coffee or panini's or salads, they had to do a little bit of everything. If I was in the mall and wanted a great sandwich and cup of coffee, I would go to Subway and Starbucks. If I wanted an okay sandwich and cup of coffee, I would go to this place.

I was not surprised last year when the cafe closed down. Their lack of identity, presence, and differentiation made them vague and undesirable.

When you're starting your business, you have to ask yourself, "What makes me different? What makes my business special? Why would people choose me instead of the competition?" Highlight the answers to these questions in your advertising and don't be afraid to cut out the area's of your business that don't.

To give a personal example, there is a fantastic photography studio in our area who is great at what they do. In the few years they've been open, they have had amazing success. If people are looking for studio photography, I don't have a problem highly recommending them, because that's not what Charlie and I do. To differentiate our business from theirs, I focused on what we do great, such as finding unique locations for every portrait session and including all the digital files in our packages, which is not something that every photography business offers.

Make a list of some things that you think your business is awesome at. It may be different from what your competition is doing, and that's okay. Don't shy away from something just because it's not the norm. Make another list of things you feel like you have been doing without even giving a lot of thought to, just because it's what everyone else is doing. Narrow down your speciality, and capitalize on it!

I want to hear your questions or fears about this, so please comment!

Love,
Sara

Have Heart Photography

Follow me on Twitter

Like Have Heart on Facebook

Welcome to my brand new blog

(This paragraph might seem a little vain, but please bare with me). Over the years I've felt called to entrepreneurship. I have always been a natural leader and planner. I'm not afraid to take risks, I'm not afraid to fail, and most importantly, I insist on succeeding. The latter is both a blessing and a curse, sometimes I don't know when to calm down and just be patient. I love managing everything. People, money, projects, it's just what I've always done. I also love learning about the ins and outs of marketing and advertising (no, they're not the same thing). Charlie and I will often go into a small business establishment and he'll have to listen to me breakdown all the ways the owner is failing to competitively differentiate their business. Again, sometimes this is a curse, like when Charlie just wants to eat his ice cream in peace.

Now I also have many things I'm not so good at, like doing my homework and taking tests. But I'm in school nonetheless. This is the logical side of my personality forcing myself to finish school because it's the smart thing to do, even though the other side of my brain is reminding me that school isn't for everyone. When it comes to learning about business or photography, however, you can't pull me away from the computer. I do a lot of reading and learning online, through other photographers and creative professionals, and I soak up everything like a sponge.

But overall, one of my favorite parts about owning my own business is learning personal lessons over time. The things that you can't teach someone from a book. There are deep, emotional struggles that come with not only owning your own business, but a creative business; one that is selling your art or your services to the world. Some businesses don't have a huge emotional aspect to them. "You want this candy bar?" "No, thanks." No hurt feelings.

So I have decided to start this blog to inspire other people who are starting a business, especially a creative one, or who are within their first few years. I will write about personal lessons I have learned so far, strategies that have succeeded and failed, marketing tactics I think are being overlooked, and how to succeed at being fearless, shameless, and insisting on yourself. The overall theme of my posts will be to insist on success. Insist on moving forward. No one is going to help you or hand anything to you, you must insist on succeeding.

So as I write, I want to hear from others. Please comment, ask questions, e-mail me. I want to connect with the other people out there who are walking the same path in life.

Love,
Sara

Have Heart Photography
Follow me on Twitter
Like Have Heart on Facebook