We are now open!! A&T Photography

[ATphoto]

Hello, Our business is now up and running. if you would take the time to check out our Photos and offer any tips on how to maybe change some stuff around and Market our self better.

https://www.facebook.com/AandTphotographycullman

Oh and give us a like if you like what you see.
thanks,
kyle

 

[snowbear]

First, the best of luck to you; I'm sure running a business is quite hard (I've never done it) and I commend you for going the legal route.

Perhaps it's just me, but I see some issues with compositions, white balance, and overexposure, though I suspect the latter is an intentional style.

Try not to cut off body parts at a joint, like the hands at the wrist, the feet at the ankle, the legs at the knee. I think the B&W photo of the dark haired woman needs a bit more contrast on her sweater/blouse, as it blends in to the background. That, combined with her dark hair looks a bit like a floating head; at least on my monitor. The young teenage girl looks yellow-green, to me.

Good luck. Hopefully someone with more knowledge and experience will chime in, as well.

 

[Rick58]

I think Snowbear nailed it. I see exposure control and cropping issues. The very first thing I look at in a photo is exposure. Even before composition. For me, there's nothing that will ruin a photo quicker then blown highlights or lost shadow detail. Maybe in the portrait world, there's a different way of thinking. Good luck in your adventure.

 

[Dagwood56]

I'm not into portraiture, but I found the photos to be very over exposed and agree with the other comments that composition is lacking as well. I wish you luck with your endeavor, but suggest you brush up on lighting, exposure and composition.

 

[tirediron]

Agree with Snowbear, kudos for going about it the right way (You do have insurance as well, don't you?), but a'splain me this Lucy... 15 images, 30 minutes... $50... HOW do you make any money that way?

 

[KmH]

Or with any of the other packages.

Reality check.

Pre and post shoot time is usually 3x longer than the shoot time.
So a 1 hr shoot requires about 4 hours of your time in total.

At 4 hours of work to do a 1 hour shoot, if you charge $100 for the 1 hr shoot you're only generating revenue of $25 an hour.
That $25 has to pay all your non-reimbursed business expenses (includes your salary) and your cost of goods sold.

Now lets consider the disc of images. 20-25 images for a $100 - 1 hr shoot but you provide 2 edits per pose so it's really 40-50 images.
40 images / $100 = $2.50 per image.


A very well run retail photography business not based in a studio can generate salary at about 25% of revenue.
A not so well run retail photography business may only generate salary at a lower % of revenue.
But without a studio revenue is limited by the weather, how much traveling is involved, set up and tear down time, etc.

So that $25 per hour I mentioned above will generates salary (@ 25% of revenue) - of $6.25 an hour - not even minimum wage.
At @20% of revenue the salary is $5 an hour.
At @15% of revenue the salary is $3.75 an hour.

 

[pixmedic]

Me and the wife do mostly portrait photography and we charge $200 for approximately 1 hour,(I don't gripe much if it goes a little over) up to 10 pics on disk, one person. Extra charges for extra people, extra images on disk, and prints a la carte.

We aren't considered very expensive for our area, but we are way over the $30-$50 "mini sessions". I know it sounds kinda pretentious but....i wouldn't break out the camera's and lighting equipment for $50.

I can't speak much on your Web page until I am back at my computer. Hard to critique much from phone.

 

[ATphoto]

Me and the wife do mostly portrait photography and we charge $200 for approximately 1 hour,(I don't gripe much if it goes a little over) up to 10 pics on disk, one person. Extra charges for extra people, extra images on disk, and prints a la carte.

We aren't considered very expensive for our area, but we are way over the $30-$50 "mini sessions". I know it sounds kinda pretentious but....i wouldn't break out the camera's and lighting equipment for $50.

I can't speak much on your Web page until I am back at my computer. Hard to critique much from phone.

Pixmedic, if you have time would like to hear your feedback on our site and pictures as an Portrait photographer.

www.facebook.com/aandtphotographycullman

thank you

 

[ATphoto]

Agree with Snowbear, kudos for going about it the right way (You do have insurance as well, don't you?), but a'splain me this Lucy... 15 images, 30 minutes... $50... HOW do you make any money that way?

question to you tirediron, i have seen others talk about insurance, I'm wondering why would we need it? like could you give me an exp of something going wrong and we needing it?

as starting off we are not making that much money right now with it. We both still work 40 hour jobs and are hoping to make this our only job when we get it off the ground.

 

[IronMaskDuval]

Agree with Snowbear, kudos for going about it the right way (You do have insurance as well, don't you?), but a'splain me this Lucy... 15 images, 30 minutes... $50... HOW do you make any money that way?

question to you tirediron, i have seen others talk about insurance, I'm wondering why would we need it? like could you give me an exp of something going wrong and we needing it?

as starting off we are not making that much money right now with it. We both still work 40 hour jobs and are hoping to make this our only job when we get it off the ground.

I don't know about the service itself, but take someone on location and they hurt themselves, it's on your time.

 

[astroNikon]

I'm a newbie at best .. I don't charge anyone anything for anywork ... but I see exactly the same issues in general as stated above.

Don't take it as a negative
take it as a checklist of what to improve on as photography isn't something where you just shoot and that's it. You learn new things and improve your knowledge and technique.

I CONSTANTLY underexpose when using flash. Constantly. I even know NOT to do it but I still do. Now i'm adding a light meter to get it right.
you seem to overexpose, so just learn to dial it down

I learned to focusing on the closest eye in the photo as an easy correction improvement.
then the horizon needs to be leveled (unless an artsy photo).
then little things one thing at a time to improve one's technique. Do alot of reading.

and keep the kids from pulling up their shirts in a family photo, or don't use that one.

as you get better you may be able to charge more and get more discerning clientele

Good luck

 

[tirediron]

Agree with Snowbear, kudos for going about it the right way (You do have insurance as well, don't you?), but a'splain me this Lucy... 15 images, 30 minutes... $50... HOW do you make any money that way?

question to you tirediron, i have seen others talk about insurance, I'm wondering why would we need it? like could you give me an exp of something going wrong and we needing it?

as starting off we are not making that much money right now with it. We both still work 40 hour jobs and are hoping to make this our only job when we get it off the ground.

Sure:

-You're shooting children, you run, following the kids through the viewfinder, not looking where you're going, trip over a rock and *smash* $7500 worth of body and lens are on the ground

-You're shooting a family in a local park and have a light on a stand; junior walks over, pulls the stand over and the light lands on his head cutting him. You're out a light, and Mom and Dad march straight to their lawyer to sue you for tens of thousands of dollars.

If you buy nothing else for professinal work, PLEASE, PLEASE buy insurance! I have infinitely more respect for the professional who shoots with a T2i and kit lens, but is fully insured then I do for the one who has 3 D4s in his bag, $25K in glass and no insurance!

 

[TinySquid]

Agree with Snowbear, kudos for going about it the right way (You do have insurance as well, don't you?), but a'splain me this Lucy... 15 images, 30 minutes... $50... HOW do you make any money that way?

question to you tirediron, i have seen others talk about insurance, I'm wondering why would we need it? like could you give me an exp of something going wrong and we needing it?

as starting off we are not making that much money right now with it. We both still work 40 hour jobs and are hoping to make this our only job when we get it off the ground.

Sure:

-You're shooting children, you run, following the kids through the viewfinder, not looking where you're going, trip over a rock and *smash* $7500 worth of body and lens are on the ground

-You're shooting a family in a local park and have a light on a stand; junior walks over, pulls the stand over and the light lands on his head cutting him. You're out a light, and Mom and Dad march straight to their lawyer to sue you for tens of thousands of dollars.

If you buy nothing else for professinal work, PLEASE, PLEASE buy insurance! I have infinitely more respect for the professional who shoots with a T2i and kit lens, but is fully insured then I do for the one who has 3 D4s in his bag, $25K in glass and no insurance!

How about insurance being a prerequisite to obtaining the permits necessary to photograph that family in said local park? There are few things more embarrassing than having a park official tell you to leave right in front of your clients because you didn't obtain a permit for the shoot.

 

[tirediron]

question to you tirediron, i have seen others talk about insurance, I'm wondering why would we need it? like could you give me an exp of something going wrong and we needing it?

as starting off we are not making that much money right now with it. We both still work 40 hour jobs and are hoping to make this our only job when we get it off the ground.

Sure:

-You're shooting children, you run, following the kids through the viewfinder, not looking where you're going, trip over a rock and *smash* $7500 worth of body and lens are on the ground

-You're shooting a family in a local park and have a light on a stand; junior walks over, pulls the stand over and the light lands on his head cutting him. You're out a light, and Mom and Dad march straight to their lawyer to sue you for tens of thousands of dollars.

If you buy nothing else for professinal work, PLEASE, PLEASE buy insurance! I have infinitely more respect for the professional who shoots with a T2i and kit lens, but is fully insured then I do for the one who has 3 D4s in his bag, $25K in glass and no insurance!

How about insurance being a prerequisite to obtaining the permits necessary to photograph that family in said local park? There are few things more embarrassing than having a park official tell you to leave right in front of your clients because you didn't obtain a permit for the shoot.

Absolutely! LOTS of venues demand proof of insurance before they will let you shoot.

 

[ATphoto]

keep the kids from pulling up their shirts in a family photo, or don't use that one.

That is a priceless photo, meaning that photo sums up that family. The boy pulling up there shirt is a result of over an hour taking photos and the kids had been out all day. Mix that all together and him untucking his shirt was his way of a 3 year old saying he was done. The family LOVED that photo more then the others.