Ten Things to Learn About as a Photographer

One of my favourite things about being a photographer is that there is never a shortage of things to learn more about and improving on. It can seem overwhelming. After all, with so much stuff to learn, where do you get started?

While I enjoy reading "Top Ten" lists I don't like that so much gets left out. So disclaimer: this list is really just my opinion. In any case, if you're learning about another subject right now that you think other photographers would find useful then leave your suggestion in the comments.

1. Photography

I'm starting with a lay-up. You can always be learning m ore about photography! To put it another way, you should never stop learning about photography. Try to always be practicing new techniques, perfecting the fundamentals, experimenting with new ideas and taking risks!

2. Learning

Learning about learning? I think every photographer should be learning more about the best and most efficient way for them to learn. In this way they'll be able to get the most out of their time spent learning.

I know that I learn best by reading, watching videos and taking notes. That might seem similar to the way most people learn, but I'm pretty specific about things. I take notes on my computer because it syncs with my phone and iPad (and the internet) - so I can always update notes when I think of something new. I tend to watch videos on my computer because they're easy to pause and rewind (any my notes are on the computer as well).

And when it comes to reading, I usually take out a ton of books on a subject. I don't read a ton of books cover to cover; to be honest most books aren't very good. I usually read the book jacket, table of contents, skim the index if it has one, head straight for valuable content, take notes and then return the book. Occasionally I'll read entire books that I think will be value, but not often.

Also, audio books are a great way to get through a lot of content quickly (great for listening to in the car).

The point is that photographers (everyone really) should be figuring out the best way for them to digest and retain new information.

3. Graphic Design

The internet is where business is happening right now, given the way to world is currently. Given that so much interaction takes place over the internet it only makes sense that those businesses with the best online presentation and design will appear the most professional

This is reason number one to learn more about graphic design. Even if you don't do much graphic design yourself and hire people to design your online brand, you still need to know whether or not it looks good! If you're willing to learn to do some of your own graphic design, it's going to pay off for you big time.

Clients notice when you send them a piece of branded material (newsletter, price sheet, questionnaire) that looks amazing.

Besides designing your own marketing material, having a better understanding of graphic design is going to directly improve your photography, most strongly in terms of composition, but also when it comes to things like album design, notecard design, etc.

4. Video

When was the last time you saw a video online? Either on Youtube, or another streaming website, or embedded as an advertisement? It's probably almost every time you log on.

As some of you know, most new DSLRs have the ability to shoot high definition video (720p - 1080p). There are a handful of industry leaders working to promote this very accessible technology, but to be honest I'm surprised by how slow the majority of photographers are latching on to this.

Yes it's different, and yes it takes work, and yes it's something else to practice and learn more about - but it's the future! We're lucky to all be at relatively the same starting point. This technology is what we make of it.

All I can really say is start learning more about it, and practicing shooting it now in order to gain a significant competitive advantage.

5. Workflow

Time is money. This couldn't be more true for professional photographers.

From my perspective there is a widespread problem I'm going to call 'excessive outsourcing'. In order to save time photographers are hiring other people to sort and process images, design albums, print, and even handle customer service.

The problem with this is two fold:

1. Photographers aren't learning how to do these things themselves. Which means they aren't learning the skills essential to their craft! These photographers may be successful in the short-term, but in the long term they're going to lose business to other professional craftspeople who can do the job better (because they know how) and cheaper (because they don't have to hire anyone)

2. Photographers who outsource may not be learning how to properly manage their time. They may be outsourcing because they don't have the time for those tasks, which means their decision to outsource is based on time and not efficiency. Those might seem like similar things (time and efficiency) but take a closer look and you'll see how easy it is to be inefficient even when you're outsourcing the majority of your work. Work has a way of filling the exact amount of time you have

How does this relate to workflow? Time is money. Don't immediately jump to outsourcing if you don't have enough time, first try figuring out ways to make your workflow more efficient.

Practice sorting and you'll get faster. Reduce the amount of time you spend processing your images by getting better images out of camera. Batch your photogs and then make minor adjustments. Design your own albums, and create your own templates. Spend some time creating great canned response e-mails and you'll cut your e-mail time in half (and use Gmail).

I have a printer so that I can handle some of my own printing and it's saved me some time and money. Before you think to outsource think how you could do it faster yourself (check Google to see how other people are saving time doing the same task).

Now this isn't to say that outsourcing is always bad. I just think photographers should be very proficient at the tasks that are essential to their art (like editing, sorting, communicating with clients), before trusting it to someone else. By all means, outsource your legal and accounting.

6. Social Media

Like it or not, social media is here to stay. If you aren't using Facebook or Instagram to promote your business you're going to be left behind. While I use both Facebook personally, and have a Facebook page for my photographer, I've barely scratched the surface in terms of marketing potential. I can't even image how much business I've lost because I haven't been diligent in pursuing my social media presence.

Photographers care about Instagram page rand, and I think they should forget about it.

Photography is a referral business. Social media tools like Facebook are basically automatic referral machines. People search out their friends photos, want photos like that for themselves, and can easily see who took them. They don't even need to ask their friends who their photographer was, it's brilliant!

Find new ways of using social media that make your business unique and help your business stand out.

7. Marketing - Customer Service

You'll notice that this is a combo category (almost a 2-for-1). First off I should mention that I don't do any paid advertising or marketing.

Print advertising is more about creating brand awareness than covering viewers into clients, so I haven't spent any money there.

To be honest, I don't want to invest any money in something unless I know it's going to pay off for me - that's kind of a fundamental principle of investing isn't it? When it comes to marketing what I am willing to invest is time, because at the very least I'll learn how difficult or easy something is to do. And what I've found is that it's pretty easy to market for free using your brain.

So what do we do? Focus on the client experience.

Take-away: Learn more about customer service techniques that you can use all the time. Think about ways you can care more about your clients. Do this well, and your clients will do the bulk of your marketing for you.

8. Sales

Because your time is limited as a photographer and your business isn't greatly scalable you need to think of and learn new ways of maximising per client sales. I think this is something that artists have a huge problem with. They think they shouldn't charge a great deal for something they love to do.

I want to share something with you. I love being a photographer so much that I want to do it all the time, forever. And I love my clients so much that I want to constantly be producing the highest quality work for them, and providing them the best possible experience. It's going to cost me money, and it's going to take time and effort of my part - so I'm going to charge accordingly for it. I'll charge less when I lower my expectations for myself.

So the first thing you'll need to learn is that you need to charge accordingly for the work you produce.

This varies for every person, so never copy another's price. That XYZ's a surefire way to fail.

The next thing is that if you want to make a decent living, or find a way to give yourself a raise, you're going to need to learn how to increase and maximise your sales. A hint I'll give you is that the 'hard sell' died a long time ago. Persuasion is a great thing to learn more about, but something that I use little of in my business.

Another great hint in sales is that it's vital to educate your client about the process (before, during and after the sale). Most people aren't used to getting their photos taken, and doing whatever you can to help them through the process is going to create whatever you can to help them through the process is going to create a better experience for them

Finally: learn about pre-selling, up-selling, and post-selling - but always keep the clients best interests in mind. Pushing hard for the highest sale possible can mean a few more dollars in your pocket, but the loss of a great client (and referral source) as they leave with a negative feeling.

9. Light

This is photography. Without it you may as well leave the lens cap.

To become a better photographer, you need to become better at understanding light. And the best part is that light is (almost) always out there in spades, waiting for you to find it. So start looking!

Find new ways of describing it. Spend time pouring over fine art photography books, and take note of the light.

Now, of course, there is beautiful and exceptionally flattering light at certain times of day (golden hour), but what I've learned is that you can create a great portrait in nearly every kind of lighting condition.

The best way to learn more about light is simply practice shooting in different kinds of light.

Push yourself to shoot when it's tough. Get to know light, and love it. Talk so much about it that your friends get uncomfortable. Dream about it. Write love poems to it. Whatever it takes to really develop a relationship with light.

10. Printing

I have a HP Officejet printer, and I can't believe the quality that the images turned out when printing.

Being able to quickly create a print, make changes if necessary, and then create more prints is an incredibly rewarding process.

If that doesn't convince you to learn more about printing (and there is a ton to learn) consider that your printing options through a professional lab are limited to a few paper choices. If you do your own printing you have access to hundreds of different papers! You're now completely in control of the quality of output - I'm sure I'm not adequately conveying how exciting that is.