If you want people to come looking for what’s desirable, not what’s cheapest, build your studio on high-end values. I recently visited an Audi dealership, not to buy a new car, but to learn how Audi sell their beautiful vehicles. Predictably I left desiring something I'd never considered before, and sold on Audi. My intention was to test drive the Audi Q5, but the salesperson suggested that the Q7 might be more comfortable for my height, so out in a Q7 we went. But not just any Q7, a Q7 Premium Plus with sport options! It was more amazing than I can describe … To View More >>

Sarah Brookes’ first boudoir shoot was for a friend getting married. She shot some beautiful images of her friend in her bridal lingerie and found the experience captivating. Now she wonders if it’s the best job in the world, working one-to-one with her clients on something so important to them, and witnessing their personal transformations. “I get lots of lovely comments from the husband/ fiancé too, thanking me for capturing their partner in such a beautiful way. What a privilege!” Sarah enjoys the technical challenges as well. Every booking is different, and To View More >>

Mark and Louise married on a really, really windy day, the 6th June 2015 at St John the Evangelist Church in the village of Langcliffe — the same Yorkshire Dales village church where Louise's Mum and Dad were married. We think Jade Doherty captured Mark and Louise's wedding  perfectly. We love the fully bled images, which create a perfect balance and highhlight the feature shots beautifully.  Tying of the gates, a local tradition: The church gates are tied together and coins thrown over for children of the village. The children collect the coins To View More >>

As a social photographer, it's so easy to get caught up working for clients and watching our bottom line that creative inspiration can become just another item on our To Do list. So how can we stay inspired, and so do our best work for clients, without getting burned out? How can we fill our 'creative well' regularly?' as Julia Cameron from The Artist's Way would ask. There is a way and it's called Instagram. As long as you can get online, inspiration can be yours in a non-stop stream of talent and buzzing creativity. When Instagram first arrived, it was known for its over-processed To View More >>

Last week we shipped the very first real live order for our new medium-weight lay-flat Q Books. Not a prototype, not a concept drawing or trial album, but our very first, real live order. These lay-flats were just a part of our 2015 launch, our biggest in years, with new cover materials, new panoramic flushmounts and much more. We showed them first at WPPI and SWPP, but despite our own excitement and the enthusiastic response, we’ve resisted shipping the lay-flats until now. Why? To make them perfect they needed a little extra love, so we went back to the drawing board. The last To View More >>

As told to Cate Scaglione In the photography world they’re sometimes referred to as the Texas Royalty for their dramatic aesthetic, their long-term success and their A List clientele … but spend five minutes with David and Luke Edmonson and you’ll discover they are anything but elitist. I was fortunate enough to spend time with Luke, who generously revealed the Edmonson sales ethos. With over $100k in album sales alone, their rather emotionally charged sales approach might come as a surprise, often counterintuitive to our industry’s professed sales strategies. To View More >>

By Megan DiPiero   Frustrated with this situation? You’re talking with a hot lead. Conversation is going smoothly. She loves your work! She’s excited about the possibilities for her shoot! And then her biggest question arrives: “How much will this cost?” You tell her your “starting at” prices and then… crickets. Hmmmm… maybe she didn’t love your work as much as she thought. The convo quickly wraps up and you have this pit in your stomach knowing that another one just bit the dust. : ( What to do? Here’s a sales adage for ya. “If To View More >>

Kate Hopewell-Smith believes that the more confident you are, the better photographer you'll become. But she worries about the lack of confidence in our industry, and wonders how many photographers are considering whether to carry on or not… From my experience meeting and communicating with lots of photographers there is a serious problem out there with lack of confidence, which for some can become quite debilitating. In fact I describe it as an “epidemic” –extremely prevalent, widespread. I read a lot of photography magazines but I can’t recall ever To View More >>

CHOICE, TRUST AND TECHNOLOGY Has your lab stopped offering traditional silver halide printing? It’s sad to see such a gloriously refined technology abandoned. With forty years pro lab experience, and chemicals in our veins, we aren’t ready to turn our backs on traditional photographic printing just yet. In fact we think it retains an important place, and we’re committed to the technology. But here’s why the Big Boy Labs are selling the line that silver halide is finished. Their top priority is, and must be, internal efficiency. They have expensive, high-volume machines to To View More >>

Written by: Koby & Terilyn Brown – Archetype Studio Romantic. Ethereal. Timeless. These are the words we want brides to think of when they look through our boudoir portfolio. As artists, we are always striving to define our style and break away from the pack. After a little more than a year of research and development focused on launching our boudoir line, a clear direction began to emerge and we have been refining it ever since. Walk with me and I’ll take you down our little path along the process. Koby and I had photographed a few boudoir sessions by request over the years, but To View More >>