I had a few beginner photographers contact me lately with a few of the same questions. I recently had someone contact me to give them some information for a school project they are doing. I never would have thought anyone would do a project on me. So Cool!
So here are a few of the questions I was getting.

Hope this Helps

 1.Do you have a contract for clients? If so, what does it include? 

I do have contacts for all of my clients. I have contracts for weddings and model release contract for all other sessions. There are a number of things that they cover. Cost, what the package includes, what happens if the photographer is ill, what happens if the client cancels, ect…

2. What type of marketing/advertising do you find works best? 

I have been shooting for just over 2 years now and Facebook has worked wonders. I have yet to pay for a single marketing or advertising item. With that being said, I have completely lucked out with this. I know there are tons of great ways to advertise your company. Facebook just worked for me.

3. How much do you charge? How has this fluctuated since you started out? 

Anything I do range from $150-$3600. I did a ton of free shooting when I first started out. I strongly recommend this to anyone starting out. Not that you aren’t worth being paid, but I found that getting out and shooting and having no dollar amount of pressure put behind it relieved a lot of pressure off of me. From there I started charging $100 a shoot and so on and so forth.

5. Where are some good places to buy supplies from? 

Depends if you are willing to pay shipping or not 🙂 I love Adorama and B&W. In town (Edmonton) Blacks,McBain, and Vistek are also really good.

6. Do you have travel fees? If so, how do you decide how much they are? 

I do have travel fees anywhere outside of Edmonton. I am not picky though, I will drive out to Sherwood Park and areas without charging a fee (normally). I charge $150. Basically it is to cover all cost of gas only.

7. I’m worried about copyrighting, what is your opinion on this?

Oh this is a big topic for me. In this field you learn to mind your business, and put your copyright logo on everything. You will see similar poses, similar edits, even similar marketing ploys and verbiage but at the end of the day you have to be true to yourself and in your heart know what you solely own. Stick to your style and don’t follow trends. Be your own photographer. Looking for inspiration is one thing, copying is another. Copying is a huge form of flattery; I have learned to love this motto!

9. What was your worst experience?

Worst experience? That is hard one. I normally don’t look at anything as a worst experience. I think that everything you experience whether it be in life or in a job, it has taught you something so what can be bad about that right? Nah, there are always ups and downs of anything. It’s all how you spin it and keep it positive. I have had my share of negativity or “bad experiences” if you want to call it that. But I am fortunate enough to have not had any bad experiences with clients…just those that aren’t.

10. If you could start over now, what would you do differently? 

Oh WOW. There isn’t enough time in the day to explain this one. I honestly do not know how to answer this. Hmmm, well I would follow my heart a bit more and keep only those that matter close to me. There are a lot of people in this field that will do anything to bring you down. Let’s just say, I wear my heart on my sleeve so it’s not hard to get at. And the biggest thing I would do differently is work on the work and home life balance. I still struggle with that to this day.