5 Tips for Gorgeous Nature Photography Lighting

By: Jaymes Dempsey 

In this article, I’m going to show you how to use light to create nature photography masterpieces.
And I can guarantee that they work.
Why? Because they’re the tricks that I use myself. All the time.
In fact, these nature photography lighting tips can be your photography secret weapon. They’ll get you creative, original photos, no doubt about it.
You just have to be willing to try them out!
Let’s dive right in.

Wait until last light for a breathtaking sky

Nature photographers love to shoot during the so-called “golden hours,” the hours just after sunrise and just before sunset, when the low sun casts a beautiful golden glow over the landscape.
And it’s true. The golden hours are a great time for nature photography.

But if you want truly stunning nature photos, I recommend you go beyond the golden hours.
Instead, focus on shooting at the very last light, when the sun is touching the horizon.
This is the time when the sky often goes brilliant with colors. This is when you get a sunset sky, one that can absolutely blow your mind.
And this “last light” makes for truly breathtaking nature photography shots.
If you’re a landscape photographer, this probably seems obvious. Nearly all landscape photographers shoot at sunset.
But even if you’re not a landscape photographer, I encourage you to shoot at this time. Because sunsets aren’t just good for landscape photos. They also make for beautiful backgrounds in macro photography, bird photography, and flower photography.

So here’s what I recommend:
Get out to shoot during the golden hours. Take some nice shots. But then stick around until the sun is touching the horizon. And start incorporating some stunning sunset colors into your images.
Note that you don’t have to stop when the sun goes down. The colors remain deeply photogenic.
So feel free to keep shooting until you no longer have the light to capture photos!

Photograph in inclement weather for moody images

While golden light is great for nature photography, it’s not the only type of lighting that works.
In fact, one of my favorite types of lighting is the opposite of golden light:
Dark, cloudy lighting. Or lighting in bad weather.

At first glance, this type of lighting seems questionable. After all, during bad weather the light gets low, and it’s often hard to have enough light for good exposures.
But here’s the thing:
Bad weather creates a mood. It creates an atmosphere. And it can give your nature photography something that’s hard to find under other circumstances:
Drama.
For instance, if you photograph when the skies are stormy, you can produce dramatic, breathtaking landscapes.
And if you photograph in rain or snow, you can create a sense of isolation and solitude that can absolutely take your photos to the next level.

Which is exactly what you want.

Use the broken backlighting technique for stunning bokeh

The broken backlighting technique is one of my favorite ways to create beautiful nature photography backgrounds.
Backgrounds like this:

If you look at the photo above, you’ll notice how the out-of-focus areas are intensely blurred. But they don’t look disjointed; instead, they look creamy and smooth.
How do you create such an effect?
By using the light.
Here’s how it works:
Go out on a day when the skies are clear, but the sun is low in the sky. Then find something on the skyline that can come between you and the light. (In other words, find something that breaks the light.)
Trees work especially well, but any type of vegetation will give you some good shots.
Finally, find a subject that’s between you and the “broken” background. Use a wide aperture on your camera, and take some shots.
You’ll end up with beautiful backgrounds.

That’s the power of the broken backlighting technique. You see, the broken backlight will be rendered as blurred pinpricks of light. And those pinpricks are just what you want for the best possible background bokeh.
You can use this for intimate landscape scenes. You can use this for bird photography. And you can use this for macro photography.
It’ll work every time.

Find backlit subjects for stunning silhouettes

Backlit photography isn’t all that common in nature photography.
But it should be.
You see, backlighting can add a lot of drama to your photos. This is often at the cost of color intensity, because the heavier the backlighting, the more underexposed your main subject becomes.
This can be a problem unless you’re willing to embrace it. By increasing the exposure, you can blow out the background but capture a beautiful foreground.
Or, even more dramatically, you can let the main subject become a silhouette.

Here’s how it works:
Wait until the end (or the very beginning) of the day, when the sun is low in the sky. Position your main subject so that it’s between you and the sun. You don’t want the sun itself to be featured in the frame, so you can cover it with your main subject, or keep it just outside the shot.
You also want to make sure that your main subject doesn’t intersect with anything. Ideally, the subject should be framed against the sky, so you have powerful dark-light contrast.
Then switch your camera over to manual exposure. Choose an aperture like you normally would, but dial in a very fast shutter speed. You want your main subject to be underexposed.
And then…
Shoot. Take a number of shots, experimenting with different shutter speeds. You want to capture a beautiful background, but with a completely dark foreground. It may take a bit of testing before you arrive at the perfect shutter speed, and that’s okay.
I also want to emphasize that you can capture beautiful silhouettes of any subject. Trees, flowers, birds, and leaves all look great.

You just have to make sure you get the right backlighting and a carefully positioned subject.
And your shots will look stunning.

Use dreary clouds for beautiful intentional camera movement photos

I’ve already talked about the value of dark, cloudy light. It can add mood and drama to your photos.
But I like dreary days for another reason:
They offer very little light. Which is perfect for capturing long, artistic exposures. And it makes them look incredible because the diffused light results in saturated colors.
Of course, when it comes to doing long-exposure photography, you need a tripod for tack-sharp images.
But in this case, you don’t want tack-sharp images. Instead, you want to capture a beautiful blur, like this:

This is sometimes referred to as ICM or Intentional Camera Movement photography. Low light is perfect for this type of shot because it allows you to keep your aperture wide while still creating blur. This results in especially artistic, abstract images.
Here’s what you do:
Start by finding a subject that’s nice and colorful. The deeper the colors, the better, though the cloudy light will help bring out the hues regardless.
Then set your camera into Manual mode. Choose a shutter speed in the area of 1s to 1/10s. And choose an aperture that will give you a good exposure, while keeping the ISO down as low as possible.
Take some photos while moving your camera up and down, and left and right. Different motions will result in differently-styled photos. So I recommend you experiment with as many options as possible!
One tip is to move your camera along lines in the scene. So if you’re photographing trees, move your camera so that it follows the trunks downward.
Note that you shouldn’t feel constrained to landscape subjects. Yes, ICM photography is often done by landscape photographers. But you can create beautiful ICM shots photographing macro subjects, flowers, and even birds.
So feel free to photograph the subjects you love!

5 Tips for gorgeous lighting in your nature photography:

While it can be difficult to use lighting to your advantage in nature photography, it’s not impossible.
And if you use these tips, you’ll be able to capture nature shots that look just stunning!
So have fun shooting and good luck!

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The 7 Nature Photography Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making

By: Jaymes Dempsey 

Do you like to do nature photography?
Then you might be making these 7 mistakes.

And here’s the thing:
These nature photography mistakes are the kind that you don’t even know you’re making. They’re the type of mistakes that are easy to miss, but they’re absolutely critical to your photography.
To discover these mistakes (and to ensure you never make them again!), read on!

1. Shooting under bad lighting

I’m going to start with the single most critical, most common mistake I see nature photographers making:
Shooting in poor lighting conditions.
Because good light is absolutely essential to good nature photography.

In fact, I’d go so far as to say that without good light, you cannot get a good photo. It’s so easy to have the perfect setup, the perfect composition, and the perfect settings…
…only to ruin the shot with bad light.
So what counts as bad light?
Two main situations.
First, shooting under the harsh, midday sun will pretty much always ruin your shots. The midday sun just isn’t good for nature photography!
And second, shooting in low light, at any time of the day. Unless you’re shooting with a tripod, your shots will end up grainy or blurry, which you definitely don’t want.
Which begs the question:
What is good light?
I recommend that you do nature photography at two main times.
First, you can capture some great nature photography under cloudy skies. Cloudy light is especially great for photography that involves color because the clouds diffuse the light and saturate the colors.

Second, you can always rely on the golden hours, which are the two hours after sunrise and before sunset. Golden-hour light is warm, wonderful and, well, golden. It’s perfect for capturing that stunning, once-in-a-lifetime shot.
In fact, most of the best nature photography you’ve seen was probably taken during golden hour. It’s just that amazing!

2. Shooting your subject from a standing height

Here’s another common nature photography mistake:
Not paying attention to your angle!
(More specifically, photographing from a standing height, so that you’re shooting down toward your subject.)
This is especially problematic in wildlife and macro photography, where shooting downward conveys a sense of dominance and separation.
Instead of shooting downward, try to get on a level with your subject. That way, the viewer will feel much more connected, like they’re in the same world as your subject.

And don’t just shoot from a single angle. Try to experiment with different possibilities, and take note of the way a different angle results in a different nature photo.
This is a great way to get out of a creative rut: Force yourself to shoot a subject from an angle you’ve never used before. Get on the ground and shoot upward!

3. Using a (slightly) messy background

In nature photography, the background is absolutely essential.
If you don’t include the perfect background, then your photos just won’t stun the viewer.
And one of the easiest mistakes to make is using a messy background.
You’ve got to do everything you can to avoid the mess. You must avoid chaos. Instead, you need to produce a background that’s as simple as possible:

• Uniform in color
• No additional subjects
• No lines or shapes

Your goal is to make your subject stand out. And to do that, you have to eliminate everything that’s unnecessary in the background. Only include the essentials.

4. Photographing low-quality subjects

Once you’ve found a subject…
…do you check to make sure that it’s not damaged, dirty, or poor quality?
It’s so easy to forget this step. And yet it’s critical to capturing a stunning nature photo.
I recommend you always do a quick evaluation of your subject.
If it’s a flower, then you’ll want to ask yourself:

• Are there any blemishes or holes?
• Are there any spots of dirt or mud?
• Are there any insects in the center of the flower?

If it’s a landscape, then think about:

• Whether there’s any litter or human-made items
• Whether your foreground subject is damaged

Your evaluation doesn’t need to be in-depth. You should just spend enough time to be certain your subject is in good shape.

5. Not including a point of focus in your compositions

This is another quick way to ruin a great nature photo.
Because basically, every composition must have a point of focus.
By this, I mean that you must include a subject. Something that viewers can latch onto. The subject can be whatever you like (as long as it’s there!).

If you’re shooting landscapes, then try to include a subject in both the foreground and the background. Ideally, the foreground subject will lead the eye to the background.
If you’re shooting wildlife, then your subject is pretty much guaranteed. Just make sure that you emphasize the wildlife in your photo!
And if you’re shooting macro photos, then make sure that an aspect of your subject is tack-sharp, so that your viewer’s eyes go straight to it.

6. Shooting low-contrast scenes

This mistake is a bit more advanced, but still important to keep in mind.
When you’re doing nature photography, you should strive to avoid ultra-low contrast scenes.
By ‘low-contrast scenes,’ I’m referring to those with very little variation in tone (that is, lights and darks) and color.
A low-contrast scene might be almost entirely white.
Or it might be entirely red, or blue, or black.
What’s the problem with low-contrast scenes?
The lack of contrast makes every element blend in. So no single element stands out, and the photo becomes boring.
Which is exactly what you want to avoid.
Instead, look for scenes where the subject pops off the background. And look for scenes where you have some nice shadows and nice highlights.

I should note: It is possible to use low-contrast scenes for an artistic effect. But you have to do it deliberately, and it’s extremely easy to mess it up.
So I recommend you stick to high-contrast scenes. That’s how you’ll avoid low-contrast issues!

7. Not post-processing your nature photos

There are three fundamental aspects of every nature photo. They are:

1. Light
2. Composition
3. Post-Processing

If you can nail all three of these things, then you’re set. Your photos will be stunning. And we’ve already talked about light, and how you should shoot during the golden hours. We’ve already talked about composition, and how you must include a point of focus.
But we haven’t talked about post-processing. And here’s the thing:
Without post-processing, your nature photos just won’t stand out. Because editing is what adds that finishing touch, that last bit of shine, to your nature photography.

Now, you don’t have to do much editing. But there are a few things I recommend you do to every photo:

1. Check the exposure. It’s especially common to let your photos remain underexposed. So make sure that the shadows in your photo still look nice and detailed.
2. Check the contrast. In general, I recommend boosting the contrast of your nature photos. This gives an extra bit of punch and will help your images stand out.
3. Check the saturation. While it’s easy to overdo this step, a little bit of saturation goes a long way. You want your colors to look deep, but natural.

If you can just follow these three steps, then your nature photography will look so much better.

Nature photography mistakes: conclusion

Now you should know all about these seven deadly nature photography mistakes.
And you’re prepared to avoid them!
The key is to just keep a lookout. Maybe even create a checklist.

Then, when you’re shooting in the field, you’ll make sure that none of these happens, and your photography will turn out better than ever.
Have any nature photography mistakes that I didn’t discuss? Share them in the comments!

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Why You May be Failing to Reach Your Potential as a Photographer

By: John Davenport 

There are a number of reasons why someone might not succeed at reaching their full potential, more than I can cover in this article, so please feel free to add to this list by telling us what obstacles get in your way. If you have solutions to someone else’s problem, feel free to offer up some advice, and help out a fellow photographer.

What does it mean to reach one’s potential?

Reaching your potential can be a bit arbitrary as everyone has different ideas of what success means. In order to simplify this article a little, let’s make a couple of assumptions to define the photographer we are talking about.
Assumption #1 – The photographer in question is someone who wants to improve their work through the long haul. This photographer may or may not want to become a professional, but they do want to look back on their portfolio and be proud of what they have accomplished.
Assumption #2 – For the sake of this article things out of the control of our make believe photographer – i.e. financial situation, health, and social/family aspects of life – are not the cause of their failure to reach their potential.

What then, are the obstacles that may be holding you back?

Lack of confidence

Think about learning a new skill. At the beginning you’ll most likely have a low level of confidence, but this is off-set by a high level of excitement to try something new. As time goes on though, that newness wears off and you’re left feeling like you’ve gotten yourself in over your head – does that sound familiar?

With photography there is so much information available on the web, so many people to compare yourself to, so many clubs to join, and so many things to buy, that it can become overwhelming for you to figure out the right path to take forward.
This frustration can lead to confusion, or even doubt over the decisions you’ve made, making this a common question, “Did I buy the right lens/tripod/software?”.
The simplest advice that can be given in this situation is to try to block out the distractions around you. Try to focus on your own improvement, and benchmark your current photography against what you did last month, or last year. This will help showcase your personal triumphs, allowing you to stay confident in your progress.

Lack of Motivation

If there’s one thing that will stop you from reaching your potential, it’s lack of motivation. Photography requires a lot of time and energy. You have to plan shoots, find subjects, work with models or nature, often travel to a location – a lot goes into photography.

To compound this, motivation will often peak when something is new, but as you visit the same location a few times, use the new lens repeatedly, or master the new technique you read about, the level of motivation you get from these things starts to wane.
In order to avoid stalling out due to lack of motivation, one thing you can do is to keep trying new things. One of the best ways to do this is to participate in themed challenges, like those here on dPS weekly. Another option would be to join a local photography club, or even an online community, to allow you to meet other photographers and share ideas.

Not investing in the right gear

You probably know that gear alone can’t make you a better photographer, but the wrong gear can certainly hold you back.

Trying to cut corners on cheap tripods, poor quality bags, or inferior lens filters, will do more harm than good. One could argue that poor quality gear will actually hurt your photography, more than high quality gear will improve it. So invest wisely, but be careful not to fall into the next hurdle.

Relying on gear to carry you

As mentioned above, some investment is necessary in order to set yourself up for success. However, too much reliance on the gear you buy will only hold you back. Thinking that upgrading to full frame will improve your photography is not the right reason to buy a new $2,000 dollar camera.
When it comes to investing in new gear there are two questions you should ask yourself:

1. What is the driving force behind your desire to upgrade?
2. How will the desired upgrade fill a need in a way that your current gear cannot?

Hopefully by answering these questions you’ll be able to find out whether or not the gear that you’re inquiring about is a want or a need, and how big of an impact it will have on the photographs you produce.

What else stops you from achieving your potential?

Let us know in the comments what hurdles you face as a photographer. What stops you from achieving your potential, and maybe we as a community can help you find ways to tackle that challenge.

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Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles this week that are Open for Discussion. We want to get the conversation going, hear your voice and opinions, and talk about some possibly controversial topics in photography.
Let’s get it started here – do you agree or disagree with the points in the article above? Do you have any others to add? Give us your thoughts below, and watch for more discussion topics each day this week.
See all the recent discussion topics here:

• 7 Commonly Accepted Photography Beliefs Debunked
• Is HDR dead? Some dPS Writer’s Thoughts on this Controversial Topic
• How to Find your Personal Photographic Style

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The Importance of Diversification as a Photographer

By: Adam Welch 

There’s an idea that has been perpetuated, however unintentionally, that photographers do one thing and one thing only. The illusion is that someone who carries the title of “professional photographer” must simply make photographs, sell them, and that is the sole source of their income. It’s true that there are some of us who do in fact make our way exclusively through our photography as an end in itself. I feel that most if not all of us camera jockeys (especially the landscape and nature types) hold as an ultimate goal the notion that one day we can reach a point in our careers when our photographs alone can carry us through life.

A few years back I was happy to learn and am equally glad to tell you now, that most if not all photographers are extremely diversified in the way they make a living from photography. Even most of the greats…from Ansel Adams to Cartier-Bresson, did other forms of photo-related work until they become famous enough to concentrate on their photography as a full-time job.
Almost every photographer diversifies to some extent. In this article, we’re going to talk about why it’s so important to branch out into other areas of photography beyond just making photos.

The Art of Diversification

It’s not generally disclosed to us when we first start out in photography that the majority of professional shooters don’t simply make their living from selling prints. This is especially true during these enormously competitive days when everyone with a cell phone is a “professional” photographer.
The truth is, it’s just plain difficult to make money from the sale of prints alone. You have to diversify in order to survive. The great thing is, if you’re truly in love with photography, everything that you do that centers around your beloved medium doesn’t seem like work. And it’s that word, “work”, that makes the world go round.

Diversifying yourself means that you will likely need to take a tiny step just outside the perimeter of your comfort zone. You must actively be on the watch for new opportunities to either market yourself through new outlets and to investigate what possibilities might be available to you. The key is to not limit yourself just because a certain opportunity is new to you or because it may not involve actual camera work.

Ways to Diversify Yourself

You may be thinking, “Alright, I need to diversify…but how and with what?” This goes back to what we spoke about a little earlier about how today’s world of digital photography has become more far-reaching than ever before. There is an incredible number of new ways for you to branch out into other areas of photography. Really, you are only limited by your ambition and your willingness to seek out brand new streams of creativity and dare I say, fresh revenue.

The most rewarding method to diversify yourself and your horizons, is by helping your fellow photographers through artistic and technical education.
I got my own start in the photographic educational world right here at Digital Photography School. That opened up amazing new opportunities for me to not only expand myself as a photographer but also to help others who are just beginning their own journeys. Look for ways to give back to your peers and teach what you know. This could be through writing, giving photography workshops, educational videos, and even gear reviews.

By no means are these the only ways to branch out and diversify yourself. The key is to start looking for the outlets to begin with. Once you do, you might be shocked to learn about all the ways photography impacts people’s lives beyond the obvious.
If you’re not keen on the educational route (you should really try it) then keep searching and be open to other areas of enrichment. Start a newsletter showcasing your work and link to gear you use (there are some great affiliate programs out there to help you make an income that way). Try blogging about your photo outings. Building a simple blog space is easier than ever these days. Most importantly, don’t allow yourself to grow stagnant and stop looking for ways to grow.

Some Final Thoughts….

Is it possible to make a living from only selling prints or through only making photographs? Absolutely. Depending on your own genre of photography it could be more or less difficult. Generally, the majority of photographers whose main income does, in fact, come from print sales find themselves looking for other ways to incorporate photography as a part of a larger professional whole.
I found that I loved teaching others about photography and writing about all the aspects of making photographs. This led me to produce my own Lightroom presets and a whole host of other unlikely photography related jobs that I could never have imagined were possible only four or five years ago.
The most important thing to remember is that diversifying yourself and your talents can do nothing but good and help you to grow as a photographer. Never stop looking for ways to advance yourself not only monetarily but also creatively in your work. Branch out. Reach out. Carpe consequat…seize the photography.

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Photography Freebie 

How to Photograph Dragonflies (free eBook!)

 

This weeks' Ebook is yours FREE of charge.  Get your copy here:

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If so, just click on the link at the bottom of this page,  "Amazon Kindle Unlimited".  They have a 30 day FREE trial.  You can access any of the Titles above (and more) free of charge for 30 days.  Enjoy! 

 

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How to Get Started Making Extra Money with Your Nature Photography

By: Will Nicholls

Photography is expensive, there’s no doubt about that. Nature photographers have it bad, though, especially if you’re buying long telephoto lenses for wildlife. The Canon 200-400mm lens will set you back $11,000 – ouch. So it’s no wonder that many people want to make it in photography and start monetising their work. But can you make money with your nature photography?

Making money from your photography isn’t easy, and it doesn’t get any easier as a nature photographer either. There’s less demand, and more people doing it. That means increased competition for a smaller slice of the pie. If you want to make money from your nature photos, then you must realize that it’s not easy by any means – but it’s also not impossible.
I’ve been working as a professional nature photographer for about six years now. What I’ve learned over my relatively short career so far is that you need to think outside the box to stay ahead of the competition. A bit of a cliché statement maybe, but one that you’ll have to embrace – especially if you want to be a full-time photographer.
But you’re probably reading this wondering how you can make a bit of extra cash from your photos on the side, rather than an entire life-altering career move. Well, that I can help you with! Let’s take a look at some of the main ways you can start to make money with your nature photography.

Prints and Other Products

The first print I ever sold was in 2008. That’s eight years ago now, and I’ve been doing it ever since. To the surprise of some, people do buy photographs to hang on their walls. This isn’t a space reserved solely for paintings.
Personally, I have my photos printed and framed myself, but you can have this process automated by dedicated web hosts. Zenfolio is a popular choice amongst photographers for a website, and they offer the ability to have orders automatically fulfilled by printing labs. This means you can sit back and relax, selling prints from your website.

Beauty and picturesque scenes sell better as prints, rather than action-packed shots.

It’s not just online though. You can sell prints in the real world too! Head to a market or trade show, set up a stall and get selling. It’s great fun talking to customers about your work and to sell your photos this way. Doing just a couple of shows a year can buy you a new camera or lens, so that’s something to think about.
What sells best? Well, I find the more traditional wildlife photography like; clean bokeh shots, cute animals, or dramatic scenes. You’re looking for something that someone will want to look at over and over again. After all, when was the last time you moved a framed picture in your house? They stay up for a long time.

Workshops

If you really know your way around your camera and can take a decent photograph, then this is something you could consider. Day workshops offer clients tuition in photography, let them know your secrets and just help them to take a better photo and understand their equipment. It’s a popular move amongst photographers nowadays, and almost everyone trying to make a living out of nature photography is offering workshops.

The best thing about it is that you can set your own hours and choose when you work. You can fit sessions in on the weekend around your full-time job, and have a little extra money coming in on the side. All of this helps to take the sting out the costs of new photography kit.
There are different types of workshops you can offer. Some photographers partake in one-to-one guiding days, showing clients different locations for landscapes or wildlife sightings while imparting photographic knowledge. Others may rent out a blind they have built to view a particular animal (see image above), something that is often in high demand by those who don’t have the time to create such possibilities themselves.

Sell Stock Images

The stock photography industry is depleting day by day, unfortunately. It used to be the case that you could make a five-figure salary, or more, from stock photography alone. Maybe not just as a nature photographer, but you could definitely make big bucks in comparison to nowadays.

But with the rise of microstock, photographers are seeing their earnings decrease. On top of that, many stock websites are taking increased percentages as a commission, leaving photographers with little left of the few sales they may still make.
Despite that bleak picture, there are specialist nature photography stock agencies you can submit to. The likes of Nature Picture Library still sell well, at least in the UK, and photographers are able to make a decent income from them. However, they are very selective about who they work with – you need something unique in your portfolio to be accepted.

Selling to Publications

This is where there is definitely still money. Selling images to newspapers or magazines can be pretty lucrative indeed – the trick is making it a regular gig. Publications are often looking to buy not just one photo, but a sequence of photos that tell a story. That’s where your best chance to get published sits.

Selling to newspapers and other publications can be a good source of income.

Working with a press agency to get your photos syndicated and in front of the right people is the best way to go about it. While you can contact publications yourself, you’re likely to be ignored and if your photos are used you may have to spend months chasing them for payment. Press agents take the stress out of it. There are plenty around the world, and they’ll take a commission (usually 40-50%) of the sale price for their services. I work with
Press agents take the stress out of it. There are plenty around the world, and they’ll take a commission (usually 40-50%) of the sale price for their services. I work with REX Features, but there are plenty out there such as Caters News and Associated Press. If you think you have a good, fresh sequence of images then send some low-resolution copies over and you’ll soon find out if they are sellable or not.

Here are just some ways that you can make money as a nature photographer. It takes work and dedication, especially if you want to make it a full-time job. It’s definitely not the path everyone will be able to take. But, there’s no harm in trying to make a bit of extra money at first and seeing where it takes you. You just have to take that first step.

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Gaining Confidence to Charge Properly for Your Photography

By: Mat Coker  

Alexander Mils

So many of us are awkward about money – especially asking for it. A few years ago I was just starting out as a “professional” photographer. I did a free session just for the experience. The family insisted on paying me something even though I kept declining. They gave me $20. I couldn’t help but think, “is that all I’m worth?” I was happy to do it for free, yet $20 felt like an insult.
There were a lot of questions tangled up in that $20 session. Are my photos good enough to charge money? What is the right price to charge? How do I tell them my price when I feel so dirty about money? Why don’t they value me more?
I knew that I had to work through these questions or just forget about charging money at all.
Let me share with you how to:

• Know what to sell (a service, prints, or digital)
• Set your prices (to fund your hobby or go full time)
• Get over the dirty feeling you have when talking about money

This was one of my first and cheapest photo sessions, but also one of my most memorable. It 

rained the whole time and we had to keep ducking back into our vehicles to stay dry.

A riddle

When I first started out and my prices were low, people would tell me that my prices were too high. And now that my prices are five times higher, people keep telling me my prices are too low. Why is that? I’ll tell you at the end.

First, the truth about prices

You will set your prices based on assumptions you have. Many of those assumptions are wrong, which leads to wrong pricing.
I promise you that:

• The market is not over-saturated with photographers.
• Cheap photographers have not driven down prices for the rest of us.
• People do value photography and will spend good money on it.

I charged this family four times more for their next session and they gladly paid because they 

loved their first set of photos so much. I even got a call from the dad saying how much he liked 

the photos. And dad’s never want to pay for photos!

What do you really want?

There is little use in discussing pricing if you don’t have an end goal in mind. You need to begin by asking yourself what you really want.
Do you even want money? If so, do you want a little money to fund your photography hobby? Or, do you want enough money to count as income?
Money is a tool to get other things. So the question is, what do you want?

Don’t charge anything at all

Don’t feel as though you must charge for your photography. You might get sucked into the idea of making money with your photography just because so many other photographers do.
If you love photography for it’s own sake, you don’t necessarily need to make money doing it.
Keep your life simple and chase photography for it’s own sake. Go ahead and share your photography as a gift with no concern about money.

Figure out what you’re selling

If you do want to earn money with your photography, you need to decide what you’re selling and why.
You could sell sessions, digital files or prints (or any combination of these).
Don’t let anybody tell you what you must offer. Make your own decision.
Here are some examples of what you could sell.

• Photograph events and then sell digital files or prints.
• Do photography sessions (newborn, family, etc) and then sell digital files or prints.
• Take photographs of your own ideas and then sell fine art prints or digital stock photography.

Create a price list for whatever you offer and then you’re ready when people ask how much you charge.

How to set your prices

I prefer to keep everything as simple as possible, so here is my model for how to set your prices.

1. What do you want to make per month?
2. How many sessions would you like to do per month? Or, how many prints or digital photos would you like to be selling per month?

Suppose you would like to earn $1000 per month and you would like to do four sessions per month. You’ll have to charge $250 per session (but also consider your expenses).
Perhaps you want to earn $500 per month by photographing one event and selling digital images. If you price your digital photos at $10 each, you’ll have to sell 50 of them.
How about full-time income? Suppose you would like to earn $4000 per month. You could do 8 photo sessions at $500. Or, you could do a couple of weddings per month.
Play with the numbers based on how much you would like to make and how much work you want to put out.

Hovering on the line between amateur and professional, I just loved the fact that I could take 

pictures and make a little money doing it.

What should amateurs charge?

Don’t assume that because you are an amateur you should charge less. You could be as fine a photographer as the pros – maybe better.
Just keep in mind how much you would like to make and how much work you want to put out.
Some amateurs like to photograph sporting events and then sell digital files or prints through an online gallery. Others like to do photo sessions for their friends. Some sell a few of their prints here and there. It’s often just a way to make a little extra money to spend on new lenses and camera bags.
Consider how much money you would like to make and set your prices accordingly.

How to get over the dirty feeling you have when talking about money

There are many reasons you might feel awkward about money.
If you haven’t set your prices in advance you’ll feel thrown off when somebody asks you. You’ll feel hesitant or doubt yourself. So set your prices and be ready to tell people what they are.
Confidence plays a role in setting your prices.

Are you ready to charge?

A lot of people just need to know if they are ready to charge money for their photography.
If you take good photos then you are ready. If you don’t take good photos then you’re not.
Get feedback from other photographers about whether your photos are good. Ask them how you could improve. When you get to the point that you feel confident, or almost confident, then offer your services with a price tag.
Photograph an event and sell digital photos. Or offer family photo sessions. Whatever it is, see if people are willing to pay. You’ll know you’re ready when your photos are good and people begin paying.
At this point you may know you’re a good photographer and how much money you would like to make, but deep inside something tells you you’re not worth it.

Are you worth it?

I often see photographers charging low prices for their incredible photography because they don’t feel worthy of charging more. They have many reasons for their low prices, but they’re mostly just excuses. Underneath is a sense of inferiority – a sense that they themselves are no good. If this is you, then you need to get out of your own head and prove yourself wrong.
There are countless photographers doing the work they want and charging what they want. Why not you?

Get out of your comfort zone and make trying new things a part of your lifestyle. You’ll gain 

confidence more quickly and overcome those voices that put you down.

But will people really pay?

Yes, people will pay. A lot.
You’ll hear a lot of people saying that everybody is running to cheap photographers and it’s putting the higher priced photographers out of business. But it’s not true.
Yes, a lot of people go to cheap photographers. It’s natural to seek out lower prices when we can. But that doesn’t mean that people never spend lots of money.
Have you ever noticed that people have two polar reactions to the money they spend? People love to brag that they got a great deal. But they also love to brag about how expensive something was. People are funny creatures and you’ll learn a lot about us by paying attention to what we do with our money.

My family is even willing to pay more for apples, just for the experience of picking our own.

Cheap commodity or something meaningful?

Remember that curious thing I told you in the beginning? When I first started out and my prices were low, people would tell me that my prices were too high. But now that my prices are five times higher, people keep telling me my prices are too low. Why is that?
In the beginning, I priced my photography as a cheap commodity. Nobody wants to pay a high price for a commodity. We all want the price of things like food, insurance and fuel to go down, not up! I priced my photography to be the sort of thing that is cheap and is found anywhere.
But later on, when my prices were higher, my photography began to appeal to people who thought differently about photography. They valued it as something truly meaningful to them – not as a cheap commodity like toothpaste. They valued it like a fine bottle of wine and were happy to pay more for it.
Some people don’t value photography, and it’s just a commodity to them. However, others do value it and are proud to seek out a talented photographer and pay good money for their work.
The subject of my photography, and the words I use to talk about my photos, speak of meaning rather than cheapness. My prices have come to reflect the true value of my photography.
From a purely business perspective, my prices are probably still too low. Even some of the people who hire me say that I should charge more than I do (and they prove it by giving me generous gratuities).
So why don’t I charge even more? Because, like many of you, I struggle with that voice inside that says, “are you crazy? Nobody will pay that price.” However, the people who hire you and I will keep proving that voice wrong.

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