Changing my business name..

[mishele]

By learning the stuff he mentioned you might avoid another name change.

 

[mishele]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSBmK8X6hFEhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Xv6YTTPE0A&feature=related

 

[NikonME]

Jack Daniel's!!! Is that his real name?

YES, it was...until he tripped and injured himself on the safe in his office area, and died later of the infection from the wound he sustained...you obviously have not been to the distillery and taken the tour...Jack Daniel, born 1846, died 1911.

They changed his name after he died? Those bastards!

 

[gsgary]

How about Flat Lighting Photography got a nice ring to it

 

[SabrinaO]

How about Flat Lighting Photography got a nice ring to it

Some people are just so pathetic... lol. I see your bad feelings are coming back. Better go mask them and have another drink at the pub...

 

[The_Traveler]

......... I've been in business for about 7 months and I don't really think I've made a mark yet ............

A busines name change? Seriously, that's your concern? I see a fair amount of other concerns that should take priority. I can list two right off the bat.....

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...0835-quick-question-about-lighting-setup.html

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...photo-gallery/251058-snooting-speedlight.html


If it's that much of a matter, consider the name "idontreadusermanuals andgetmyinformation offphotoforums photography".

I really liked this but there arfe other alternatives like
'imnotembarassedtobewrong studios' or 'imjustlearningbutyourethescholarship photography'

 

[Gaerek]

In photography, you learn and grow as you go.

If you're a hobbyist or an amateur, I'd most definately agree with you. However, you're taking money from people by providing a product/service. I'm not saying you need to know everything there is to know about photography, but I know I certainly wouldn't want to spend my money with someone who thought that being professional (since you're running a business charging for you your time/effort, you are supposedly professional) means that you can learn as you go. Understand that learning as you go really means learning through trial and error. I'd hate to be that client who had to be one of your learning mistakes. I can't think of another industry out there where you can go into business without enough knowledge to know the basics. The business I'm planning on starting is a computer repair business. If I started this and decided that I'll just learn as I go, I know that disaster would be the outcome. The only reason I know I can provide this particular service is because I have years of real life experiences, and a laundry list of certifications after my name.

I'm not trying to be rude, or anything like that. I, like many others, are trying to help you. I wish you luck in your business, whatever it's name is. Your reaction will dictate whether I bother to try to help anymore.

 

[Scoody]

Crazy Beautiful...lol

An apt description of my first wife. She should be paroled anyday now.

 

[SabrinaO]

In photography, you learn and grow as you go.

If you're a hobbyist or an amateur, I'd most definately agree with you. However, you're taking money from people by providing a product/service. I'm not saying you need to know everything there is to know about photography, but I know I certainly wouldn't want to spend my money with someone who thought that being professional (since you're running a business charging for you your time/effort, you are supposedly professional) means that you can learn as you go. Understand that learning as you go really means learning through trial and error. I'd hate to be that client who had to be one of your learning mistakes. I can't think of another industry out there where you can go into business without enough knowledge to know the basics. The business I'm planning on starting is a computer repair business. If I started this and decided that I'll just learn as I go, I know that disaster would be the outcome. The only reason I know I can provide this particular service is because I have years of real life experiences, and a laundry list of certifications after my name.

I'm not trying to be rude, or anything like that. I, like many others, are trying to help you. I wish you luck in your business, whatever it's name is. Your reaction will dictate whether I bother to try to help anymore.

This is where portfolios and quality ratings come in. When you take a look at someones portfolio or read their ratings then you decide whether or not to pay for their services....
That's what an educated person will do instead of hiring someone blindly.
Photography IS a learn as you go process whether you like it or not. You can't recognize your mistakes and learn and grow if you don't have clients.

 

[Scoody]

Photography IS a learn as you go process whether you like it or not. You can't recognize your mistakes and learn and grow if you don't have clients.

Other photographers are the worst (best?) people to critque your work. They have a practiced eye and experience to tell you where your work needs improvement. Clients are too emotionally attached to what they see to be truly neutral. Case in point a client last week. We had to schedule the shoot at a lake at 2:00 in the afternoon. Unless we are both booked at the same time on seperate shoots, my wife and I always shoot together. The lighting was awful and the shadows were a bit harsh. In post processing we absolutely hated almost every shot. We were going to see if our client wanted to reschedule so we could get better shots. When we showed her the proofs, she loved them! So much so that she bought prints way beyond what she had originally ordered. Unless they are terribly nitpicky, clients will be unproportionally positive about your work.

 

[Gaerek]

In photography, you learn and grow as you go.

If you're a hobbyist or an amateur, I'd most definately agree with you. However, you're taking money from people by providing a product/service. I'm not saying you need to know everything there is to know about photography, but I know I certainly wouldn't want to spend my money with someone who thought that being professional (since you're running a business charging for you your time/effort, you are supposedly professional) means that you can learn as you go. Understand that learning as you go really means learning through trial and error. I'd hate to be that client who had to be one of your learning mistakes. I can't think of another industry out there where you can go into business without enough knowledge to know the basics. The business I'm planning on starting is a computer repair business. If I started this and decided that I'll just learn as I go, I know that disaster would be the outcome. The only reason I know I can provide this particular service is because I have years of real life experiences, and a laundry list of certifications after my name.

I'm not trying to be rude, or anything like that. I, like many others, are trying to help you. I wish you luck in your business, whatever it's name is. Your reaction will dictate whether I bother to try to help anymore.

This is where portfolios and quality ratings come in. When you take a look at someones portfolio or read their ratings then you decide whether or not to pay for their services....
That's what an educated person will do instead of hiring someone blindly.
Photography IS a learn as you go process whether you like it or not. You can't recognize your mistakes and learn and grow if you don't have clients.

Anything where you are taking money from someone to provide a product or a service is not a learn as you go type of thing. I've been shooting for something like 13 years now, and although I know if I decided to open a studio or whatever, I'd probably do fine, but I also know that I would have a lot of learning to do. That learning and practice would come before I decided to take people's money. Let's put it another way:

How come wedding photographers almost always start as second shooters?
How come if you get a job working at a studio or for a photographer, you'll usually spend most of your time holding reflectors and things like that?

The reason is, you learn everything you need to know about those particular fields by doing those things. As a second shooter at a wedding, you get to shoot, and you will likely get feedback from the primary. If every single one of your shots suck, it's not a huge deal because the primary was there and got what was needed. Holding reflectors, watching a photographer work, pose his subject, light his subject, etc, you learn how to do those things. You'll have the opportunity to ask questions and find out why things were done the way they were. You'll see the results of that shoot. Doing these things gives you the knowledge and experience you need to be the primary at the wedding, or to be the one shooting in the studio. I call this the Mr. Miagi approach. You do menial tasks, and you might wonder why you're not allowed to do the fun stuff. Until one day, you realize you've been learning all along, and you're a better photographer for it. Instead of "Wax on, wax off" it's "Tilt the reflector forward, tilt the reflector back."

It seems like you got yourself a DSLR and thought, "I can make money taking pictures!" You got yourself a business license and realized that you have a lot to learn. So while you're taking people's money for them, and (honestly, not trying to be rude here again) misrrepresenting yourself as a professional photographer, using their photos, that they paid good money for as "learning experiences." With the business I'm going to open, if I did this, it would fail.

"Sorry ma'am, I couldn't fix your computer. I looked it up on Google, and I couldn't get an answer. Here you go. Maybe try sending it back to the manufacturer. That'll be $120 for the time I spent!"

I'm not saying your business will fail, but there is a reason you get criticized here a lot. You do a lot of studio shooting, but know very little about studio lighting. I saw your pinup shoot thread, and while I think they photos are pretty good, you didn't even know how to touch up imperfections. I really hope she wasn't a paying client, because if she was, you might want to give her a discount or do it for free and tell her that she was just a learning experience for you.

If I went to a computer forum and was asking people things like, "A client wants me to remove the viruses on his computer. Can you guys tell me how to do that?" I'd be laughed off the forum. People would be questioning why I'm presenting myself as a professional, and why I ever decided to go into business in the first place. You really should be an expert in the field you're running a business in.

 

[mwcfarms]

In photography, you learn and grow as you go.

If you're a hobbyist or an amateur, I'd most definately agree with you. However, you're taking money from people by providing a product/service. I'm not saying you need to know everything there is to know about photography, but I know I certainly wouldn't want to spend my money with someone who thought that being professional (since you're running a business charging for you your time/effort, you are supposedly professional) means that you can learn as you go. Understand that learning as you go really means learning through trial and error. I'd hate to be that client who had to be one of your learning mistakes. I can't think of another industry out there where you can go into business without enough knowledge to know the basics. The business I'm planning on starting is a computer repair business. If I started this and decided that I'll just learn as I go, I know that disaster would be the outcome. The only reason I know I can provide this particular service is because I have years of real life experiences, and a laundry list of certifications after my name.

I'm not trying to be rude, or anything like that. I, like many others, are trying to help you. I wish you luck in your business, whatever it's name is. Your reaction will dictate whether I bother to try to help anymore.

This is where portfolios and quality ratings come in. When you take a look at someones portfolio or read their ratings then you decide whether or not to pay for their services....
That's what an educated person will do instead of hiring someone blindly.
Photography IS a learn as you go process whether you like it or not. You can't recognize your mistakes and learn and grow if you don't have clients.

Sorry darling I am going to call bull**** here. You do NOT learn by taking their money first, your taking money from these people as paying clients and your representing yourself as someone who is a professional and yet you have some of the most basic questions posted every week. How is that benifitting you or the clients? Which is what your doing taking money, I assume, although I do not know how much and then every week post questions like you do, people are going to be thinking WTF was she thinking? Build your portfolio first and get what you need to know and then start charging clients. I am not trying to be a harsh ***** here but you seem to have a pattern to your threads and you end up looking like just another weekend warrior who bought a camera and thinks that with a bit of general knowledge and the studio type set up you are an accomplished photographer. It absolutely is a learning process but most of us aren't trying to be spoon fed. And I'm not saying you are, it just looks that way when your posts come across that way and I think this is why you get such flack from some of the seasoned photographers who know there **** and you can learn from. Anyways you can hate this thread, think Im a crazy ***** but I am just telling you how I see it.

 

[Ronaldo]

I wouldn't listen to anybody here who comments on you being a "professional", "taking money", "learning as you go", etc.

You demonstrate your work product on your website and in your portfolio, so there is no misrepresentation whatsoever. If someone then decides in a free market to pay you for your work product - - GO FOR IT!! - - and continue to bill as much as you can an learn and grow as much as you can.

Best of luck with your future endeavors.

 

[PhotoWrangler]

SURGEON GENERALS WARNING: THIS THREAD WILL SELF DESTRUCT AND MAY CAUSE MENTAL DEFECTS.

 

[Gaerek]

I just thought about something. If it's ok to learn as you go and be a professional photographer, why not change your business name to "Learn as you Go Photography".

No one in their right mind would use that as a name, because it's not ok to learn as you go and be a professional in your field.