Are the currents swirling around you trying to pull you in a direction? You can resist and be like a rock in a stream, letting everything flow around you. Or, you can let go and go with the flow of the current. This week I am relating my own pe

The Experience Business

Aug 15th, 2022 14m 53s

What business are you in? You might say that you have a photography business. Or maybe you refine that to say that you create custom portrait art. Or you specialize in corporate headshots. Would it upset the apple cart if I told you that you re

How to quote and win new projects

Aug 1st, 2022 17m 27s

This week I’m talking about providing quotes for business projects that are maybe a little out of the norm of your everyday work. Many people struggle with these. Hopefully, I can help the entire process much easier for you. Monday Morning Cup

Tips for Surviving Inflation and Recession

Jul 11th, 2022 10m 14s

Inflation and fear of a recession are on the rise. It's a dilemma. Let’s face it. Professional photography is a luxury item for most people. Do you have to have the biggest and best senior portraits in order to survive? No. Not at all. Is there

How do I overpower the sun?

Jun 27th, 2022 14m 15s

Here’s a common question I get: How do I overpower the sun? What most people really want to find out is how to balance with the sun; they want to be able to hold the blue sky while using flash to fill in shadows and create a pleasing portrait.

Please stop killing your speedlights

Jun 6th, 2022 13m 27s

Today I am talking about speedlights, which are great tools when used right. But often, folks expect more out of them than they can deliver. So I’m going to run through the good, the bad, and oooooh, you shouldn’t do that with speedlights.In Go

Light Quality: the confusion about diffusion and specularity

May 22nd, 2022 13m 25s

I find that folks are often confused regarding the concepts of SOFTNESS and SPECULARITY when describing the quality of light. This is most often rooted in a misunderstanding of what role DIFFUSION plays in creating softness (it doesn’t...surpri

Softboxes and other modifiers

May 16th, 2022 13m 13s

Here’s a question: how many softboxes and other modifiers do you own? Here’s the follow-up question: can you ever have enough modifiers? Personally, I have dozens. Small softboxes. Large softboxes. Beauty dishes. Long-throw reflectors. Umbrella

Should we charge clients for storing their photos?

May 2nd, 2022 12m 43s

If you're like me, you probably have spent thousands of dollars to archive and store photos. In my case, it's tens of thousands of dollars. Which begs the question: Should we charge our customers an archiving fee for storing their photos? If th

Knocking off the rust

Apr 25th, 2022 11m 35s

As we emerge from the slow season like bears exiting hibernation, what can you do to shake off the rust and return to being the well-oiled photography machine that you are? The obvious answer is never to let the rust set in by staying active th

Which flash should I buy?

Apr 11th, 2022 9m 45s

One of the most common questions I receive is, “What flash should I buy?” It’s also one of the most common questions I see in lighting groups on Facebook. The answer will vary person by person and will depend on your specific needs, what you ph

The Power of No. Setting boundaries in your business.

Apr 3rd, 2022 12m 57s

Do you ever feel like customers take advantage of you? Or people in general? Do you feel like you sometimes or even often get the short end of the stick? It can be frustrating.My original concept for this episode was to chat about policies for

The 5 Steps for Turning Failure into Success

Mar 28th, 2022 16m 9s

Last week I presented the concept of turning failure into success and how we need to be the concierge for our respective businesses. While we can do our best to avoid screwing up, it will happen eventually. The important thing is how we respond

Turning failure into success

Mar 21st, 2022 12m 50s

Did you ever screw something up? I mean, like royally screw something up, especially in your business? It happens to everyone. Even with the best intentions we’re not perfect. Something will slip through the cracks, or we’ll make a poor judgmen

Pricing - The Race to the Bottom

Mar 14th, 2022 16m 35s

If you have been listening to my series of podcasts, you might be noticing a trend: I’m often taking on the problems I see in the industry. I try to educate everyone on what these issues are, and hopefully provide some insight and ideas on how

The Myth of High Speed Sync

Mar 7th, 2022 12m 50s

I want to tackle one of the biggest banes of my existence: misinformation or just plain bad information being shared constantly in photography forums. I sometimes feel like I spend more time correcting bad information than I do sharing and teac

The Cordless Studio

Feb 28th, 2022 10m 7s

Wouldn’t be great if you could cut out all of the cords in your studio and work untethered to anything? No power cords, with the freedom to put your lights wherever you want. And not have to worry about where to plug them in, or if you have a c

Condescending men with cameras

Feb 14th, 2022 12m 14s

This week’s topic will likely become controversial and in reality it really shouldn’t be. But it will be. So here goes:Guys -- quit talking down to women. I see this. all. The. Time. It’s rude. It’s cringey. It’s demeaning. It hurts our industr

Lighting with purpose

Feb 7th, 2022 12m 33s

One of the most common mistakes I see newer photographers make – and let’s be frank, I see some quote/unquote experienced photographers make the same mistake – is that they do not place their main light with an exacting purpose. Maybe they just

Finding the U in your photography

Jan 31st, 2022 14m 43s

Today’s we’re talking about finding the U in your photography. How can you do that? And why is it important? It’s something that every photographer struggles with when they are starting out. Truth be told, many continue to struggle with finding

Side Hustles

Jan 24th, 2022 13m 4s

Here’s a question: how did your start your photography business. Did you start part time while working a full time job? Maybe you’re doing that right now, and photography is your side hustle. That’s what we’re talking about today. Side hustles.

What's the deal with LEDs?

Jan 17th, 2022 21m 2s

Have you noticed there are a lot more LEDs on the market today? 10 years ago LEDs were barely a blip on the lighting radar. Now, there are tons of them out there, in all different shapes, sizes, and power configurations. So let’s talk about LED

Studio Space

Jan 10th, 2022 25m 37s

Is having a physical studio a dying concept? And if so, why? This week I share my thoughts as well as my experience when my studio reached the point where I needed to consider getting retail studio space.Also in the Godox and MoLight news secti

Curiosity

Jan 3rd, 2022 19m 43s

I get a little deep for this first episode of the Monday Morning Cup of Mo and ask the question: Are you naturally curious? Or has your curiosity waned under the weight of adulthood? Let's reengage that curiosity as it is vital to learning and

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