5 little gems of good advice for commercial photographer's

This month I’ve been rubbish when it comes to blogging. Sorry. It has been the busiest month in my two-and-a-bit years as a photographer. Lights-camera-action-Photoshop have taken precedence. After that marketing has filled what time has been left. But I don’t want a whole month to go by without an entry so here’s a quickie: 5 excellent 'rules' for happy commercial photography business (in no particular order)...

Be a glass-half-full business person, not a glass-half-empty cynic. If there was a vote offered to decide on the collective noun for pro tog’s mine would be for a ‘Moan’ of photographers. Much of your competition is pessimistic, bitter and in a self-imposed rut. For the sake of your spiritual well-being and your business don’t go down that road.

Take regular time-out to learn and develop as a photographer. Not just organically or inadvertently, but systematically and intentionally. Keep moving forwards (or sideways) with your personal work, lighting, Photoshop, etc. Devote at least 2 days a month purely to development.

Be your own toughest constructive critic. Fact: Every image we create could have been better. Take the time to step back, detach, and view your work in the cold light of the competition that are getting better commissions than you are. Work out what needs to be improved and do something about it (see above). This is not an exercise in negativity but an exercise in realism. It’s not about plagiarism but about awareness.

Work with good people. Build a good team. By ‘good’ I don’t just mean technically competent. I mean warm, positive, outgoing, intelligent & hard-working. Assistants don’t need to know how to use your lighting system or software. These are learnable skills (that’s why they’re assisting). What they do need is energy, a ‘can-do’ attitude, and a sociable demeanour. The same goes for producers, stylists, models (and even clients to a degree).

Never set foot out of the door for a commissioned shoot unless your client has signed their approval to your pricing, licensing, T&B's and the finalised brief. This can all go out as an emailed PDF estimate and be returned signed and dated approved by fax.