New photographers ask us a lot - what should I do my 1st year in business? NewBs often wonder if they should buy equipment, rent a studio, take classes, attend workshops, etc.  And then they may wonder - should a new photographer get into this business inch by little inch, or just bite the bullet and dive in head 1st?

These are all excellent questions.

Any established photographer can tell you that it took a lot of work to get where they are.  For most of us, it didn’t just happen - we had to work hard to make it happen.  Since Belle’s Photography started, we have carefully planned our business and attribute much of our success to that.  Here are a few of my tips for your 1st year in photography business.

Lemmings are Dumb:  Yes, that is a tip.  If you do a simple google search for “photographer” and your city you will find that several 100 photogs show up.  If you add in all those with Flickr, MySpace, and Facebook you may find that your city has a large photographer population.  My local photog pop. makes up about 25% of the population, and most claim to be professional photographers.  Professional is defined (in this post) as a photographer for hire - if they are willing to accept payment for their services.  So think about this.  That means almost 1 in 4 folks I meet walking around is a “pro” photog.  And they are.  I kid you not.  My pizza guy is a photog, so is my librarian, so is one of my fav Wendy’s girls, the Chick-fil-a guy, and on and on.

So, what does this have to do with lemmings?  The 1st thing that newB photogs do is put up a website.  And how do they decide what it should say, what their prices should be, what products and packages they should offer?  They look at the other photogs sites and use it as a bench mark.  You may even be tempted to copy their text.  AVOID THIS BLUNDER!  First, copyright issues will bite you on the butt.  And second…Many folks are just like you and have no idea what they are doing.  You can look at the sites, but be cautious.  Don’t jump off the cliff just because everyone else is.

Identify your Products:  Decide what you are gonna sell and why.  This is really straight forward.  We believe in the KISS method (keep it simple, stupid).  There is no faster way to ward off clients than by giving them TOO many choices.  Too many choices puts your client into decision making overload and leaves you with no clients and small sales.  To be successful, you should refine your offerings and ONLY OFFER PRODUCTS YOU LOVE.

Establish a Sound Price List:  Don’t be a lemming.  Just don’t do it.  Make a sound price list.  If you use packages in your photography business, there should be a reason for it.  It should be to simplify ordering and create a win:win situation for you and your client.  Crappy packages only help one side - a good package will offer perks for you and your client.

Choose Your Niche Market (b/c I think you MUST have one):  Due to market saturation, I think you need a niche.  Ya know, the thing that makes your stuff clearly different and worth paying for.  It could be anything.  And hint hint - it may not even be your photography.  You might have a kick ass studio boutique, or shoot all your sessions in a top hat.  Choose your niche and refine your studio to dwell solidly within it.

Select Your Target Demographic:  You cannot be all things to all people.  That will doom you to failure.  If you want to be a photographer to affluent clients, then you need to understand their needs and desires, and be able to meet those wishes.  If you relate better to the middle class soccer mom, then realize her needs and meet them.  These are only 2 categories and their wants and needs are VERY different.  Wisely consider the target demo that you choose to work with.

Refine Your Skill Set:  Well, of course.  How do you do this?  Take classes, attend workshops of those who are successful and that have a style you admire; read books; learn how to use your camera in modes other than AUTO.  Learn everything you can about nailing exposure, and using light properly.  Some of you might think that the old fogie photographer’s style is lacking, but I assure you their skill set is tack sharp.  Learn the rules before you decide to break them.  Photographers with “style” are a dime a dozen.  Photographers with skill and style are few and far between.

Be a Sponge: Learn everything you can.  Read books, look at sites, forums, blogs, and immerse yourself in your craft.  Go to art museums, look for tutorials on composition, lighting, posing, etc.  Learn about off camera lighting and the different ways it can be executed.  There are so many things to learn the 1st few years in business.

And remember that a real photography business spends about 10%-20% of their time shooting.  The rest of the time they are doing business things.  They market, network, create price lists, refine their business and fine tune it until it runs they way the need.  Whether you want to have a photo mill and crank 50 kids out daily, or you want one affluent client per week, you will need to have ways to establish your business and refine it.

Good luck newBs!

I don’t think I shared this bridal portrait with you all on here yet.  This is a shot of a designer wedding gown by Robin Jillian.  It’s being used as a marketing piece.  Belle’s Bridal Boutique has up a BIG framed photo of it in their new boutique.  It printed even prettier than it looks on the web.  Ooohhhh. Pretty.  It almost feels velvety.

This image has painted hair and some hand painting on the backdrop/ drapes to subdue the pattern and pull the gold tones out more.  (To see what I’m talking about, see Belle’s tutorial on painting a photograph).

And, as you can tell, we set it up to have so the drama!  This is a single light source with some fill in front to soften the shadows on her face.  I love my short lighting, of course.  I ended up using almost a monochromatic color palate here, but I cheated and added a little bit of gold.

The colors you choose really help set the feel of your image, along with the pose.  A bridal photography pose can be simple, like this one, and still be ubber elegant depending on the color scheme and lighting.  When we were creating this image, I wanted it to feel very lush, warm, and regal.

I LOVE shooting bridal portraits.  It’s one of my fav things to do.  Its so much fun to take a girl and a gown and make them into a masterpiece.  :o)

Ooooh. Aaaaah! Check out the little face lift our blog got. Nothing too fancy. Just some more drama. Seemed suiting. My last blog design was me trying to be less dramatic, and I have to say, that didnt really work out. lol. Still lovin the single light set ups, contrasty images, and velvety smooth fall off. Yeah so. This NYer likes black. Im OK with it. I got me some sparklie purple kicks to liven up my solid black outfit. Its cool. Groovy. K. I think I covered every generation’s lingo who’s following this blog. PEACE OUT!

Belle’s Photography has compiled their best boudoir poses from their boudoir division, Abilene Boudoir, into a hard cover book.  This deluxe pose book is AWESOME!  It showcases our top 20 poses and tells you how to shoot them.  That alone is totally wicked, but we went a step further and noted which poses are universal, petite, plus, and 40+.

Universal poses are just that - they work for any figure type and any age.  Petite poses are for women with a smaller frame and petite proportions.  Plus size poses will help flatter the curves of your plus size clients.  And the plus 40 poses are specially made considering the things you need to do to make a +40 yr old’s figure look awesome.

This limited edition book can help you in three different ways.

1.  It highlights Abilene Boudoir’s BEST SELLING poses.  These are money making poses, that have mass appeal and our clients LOVE them!  We have included our #1 best selling pose that grossed over $20K in the first few weeks it was used.  Prospective clients saw the pose, and called to book as a direct result.  And this book has, not 1, but TWENTY of our best selling poses.  This book is a wonderful springboard financially for the betterment of your studio.

2.  It tells you how to achieve each pose.  Not only is there a photograph of the pose, but it tells you what aspects of the pose are important and must be maintained in order to make the boudoir pose perfect.  It also lists tips every boudoir photographer should know.  So, you are not only getting the top TWENTY poses, but you are also getting the directions on how to execute the pose.

3.  The Deluxe Boudoir Pose Book is a LIMITED EDITION.  What does that mean?  It means there are only FOUR (4) books.  Why?  Because, I made it primarily for use with my clients, and added notes so I could run through my poses faster.  I have created a repertoire of about 200 poses that I rely on for the boudoir studio.  Rather than trying to remember all 200 at a time, I fished out the 20 most popular poses and had them bound into a beautiful, hard-cover leather, book.  The book is so pretty that I can show clients the different poses to see which they like best, but the notes are so subtle that it doesn’t look like a cheat sheet.  This book is not going to be mass produced, so everyone is not going to have it and be using the same poses.  This provides for some exclusivity for your studio.  This book was made for in-studio use.  I ordered a few extra books because I have had people asking me for a boudoir pose book.  Well, you asked for it - here is your chance!

The Deluxe Boudoir Pose Book by Abilene Boudoir goes on sale now.  The sale ends when all FOUR books are gone.

So, who should buy this?  A photographer who is looking to start their own boudoir/ burlesque studio.  The reason Abilene Boudoir has so many clients who are willing to pay a premium is because of these images.  There is no doubt about it.  The poses are a key part of boudoir & pin up photography, and having good, solid, established poses will help give your business the boost it needs.

To order your own hard-cover book just click the buy now button below.  If you attempt to purchase the Deluxe Pose Book after they have sold out, your payment will be returned in full.  Due to the nature of this item, it is not refundable.  And just to make it 100% clear - this is a HARD COVER BOOK.  You can hold it, touch the leather cover, and flip through the pages.  It’s 10″x8″ so it’s a good size, but it isn’t too big.  It contains Abilene Boudoir’s (Belle’s Photography’s boudoir division) top 20 poses.  There are notations on how to achieve the pose, as well as boudoir tips scattered through out.  The book will ship within 24 hours of purchase.  It will be sent via USPS Priority Mail to the address you provide via PayPal.  Your book will arrive in 2-3 days after shipment.

QUANTITY: Only 4 Books 3 Books 2 Books ONLY 1 BOOK Remaining (this will be updated as the books sell out)

Investment: $225 + tax

S&H w/ Insurance (via Priority Mail): $12

Click the button below to get yours before they are all gone!

We are SO excited! Holly sat down and made an awesome boudoir pose book of her top 20 pin up poses. Its due to arrive tomorrow. We had it printed.

We can’t wait to see them! Photogs have been begging Holly for months to put together a pose book for them. As you may know, Holly is the primary shooter for our sister studio - Abilene Boudoir. She shoots women age 18-70 years, petite to plus size. And they all look gorgeous! She’s a master of light and shadow. And her poses are…well, you already know!

This hardcover book will be for limited edition sale shortly.