One of the biggest mistakes new photographers make when trying to do photography as a profession is not investing enough in a light kit that lets them take photos with the light source off of their camera.

The super simple kit I have above is so inexpensive to take off-camera flash photos.

Here is what I recommend for just about everyone, and they make this kit for Nikon, Canon, Sony, and Fuji. There are many other solutions but invest in an off-camera light source.

$225.00 – Godox VING V860II TTL Li-Ion Flash with X1T TTL Trigger Kit
$57.15 – Manfrotto 5001B Nano Black Light Stand – 6.2′
$17.90 – Godox S-Type Speedlite Bracket for Bowens
$20.50 – Westcott Optical White Satin Diffusion Umbrella (45″)
$320.55 Total

This alone will make your photos stand out. This photo below is without a flash.

Now, look at everything the same, but an off-camera flash can do at 45º from the camera.

The only difference between the photos, for the most part, is the off-camera flash.

Which one of the photos will people pay you to take more often than the other? The one with the flash, because they can get the other photo with their camera on their phone.

Matthew 18:3 ESV
And said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Little children have an extraordinary humbleness and are easily taught. Most adults are not this way. A little child is enthusiastic and eager to learn and has a forgiving love. He has simple trust.

My mentor Don Rutledge says, “Photography … forces us to see, to look beyond what the average person observes, to search where some people never think to look. It even draws us back to the curiosity we experienced in our childhood.

“Children are excited about their surrounding world: Why is the sky blue? Why is one flower red and another yellow? How do the stars stay up in the sky? Why is the snow cold?

“As the years go by, that curious child matures into a normal adult with the attitude of ‘who cares anymore about those childish questions and an­swers?’ The ‘seeing beyond what the average person sees’ fills us constantly with excitement and allows us to keep the dreams of our youth.”

I am just a child who has never grown up. I still ask these ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions, and occasionally, I find an answer.
— Stephen Hawking

“When you stop learning, stop listening, stop looking and asking, always new questions, it is time to die.”
— Lillian Smith

If you have a staff job in the communications field, the odds of being let go are higher than ever for good reasons.

One of the highest costs for an employer is healthcare. Freelancers come without that cost to the employer. When it comes to cost savings, many companies see this as a good reason to outsource their communications to freelancers and agencies.

When a company hires a creative person, they are stuck with that person’s creativity. As the company grows and needs to change, it is much more challenging to do that with creatives who cannot produce different kinds of work beyond their style.

“Say goodbye to full-time jobs with benefits”

“In the Future, Employees Won’t Exist” was the headline of the Tech Crunch story.

Microsoft has nearly two-thirds as many contractors as full-time employees. Even the most straightforward business structures, sole proprietorships, have increased their use of contract workers roughly two-fold since 2003.

“40% of America’s workforce will be freelancers by 2020,” said Quartz. [Update 7-27-22 about 35%]

“Stanley, if you put in as much work as you have been doing at Georgia Tech into your freelance, you will be successful,” said a friend in 2002 when I started freelancing full-time.

That was the most profound statement at the time and made me think of treating my freelancing like a full-time job.

One of the best mentors I have ever had in my life is Ken Touchton. When I started freelancing full-time, Ken called weekly to check on me.

Ken told me how when he started; he would get up, get dressed in a shirt and tie, and then go to the next room and start his day, even if he had no assignments to go anywhere.

If you find yourself laid off and having to look at freelancing, let me give you just a few tips that are very general but worked for me.

Here is one blog post for those who have yet to take the plunge – 9 things you need to do before going freelance full-time.

Some of these tips will link you to past blog posts to help you explore each piece of information more in-depth.

1. Solve a problem, and then start the business – Your business is to solve a problem for another company. Ask yourself what business problems I am solving for my clients.
2. Photographer, are you Liked or Loved – You need table food and soul food. The best way to get both is the personal project that shows your business solution through a photo project, for example, that shows how you solved this problem for someone.
3. How much can you make as a photographer? – You need a good understanding of the cost of doing business. One key element is to know your family budget. If you don’t know what your bills are, how much you bring in, and the difference, you will probably fail in business.
4. When it comes to marketing: Act like a first-year student and not a senior – No one knows you or what you do, so you will have to tell them and communicate how your services will benefit their bottom line.
5. Create a calendar with actions for you to do. Here are some things that should be on your list:
   1. People to contact by phone [weekly] – These are your clients and prospects.
   2. Targeted marketing campaign – this is where you write a letter that targets people in your database in a particular industry.
      1. Education Market
      2. Editorial Market
      3. Sports
      4. Medical
6. Blog – this is where you share something that continues to build your reputation as an expert. I recommend three times a week.
7.  E-Newsletter – I send one out monthly to my clients. This is just a way to reconnect with your audience. Remember to consider why they want to get this, not that you want them to hire you.
8. Snail mail – you can send handwritten thank you cards to all your recently hired clients. Do this after each job. Maybe create a postcard or some other mailing. Remember, they have to physically touch this before it goes in the mail, whereas emails will get automatically deleted and never seen.
9. Networking events – You need to be out and meeting new people. I call this fishing with a big net.
10. Workshops – You need to continue to grow in knowledge, so plan to attend meetings throughout the year to help you expand your skills.

Still Too Busy

This photo illustrates my inner frustrations when I am asked to do just one more thing, or someone wants to add something to my load. The cops do not see the big sign saying “Still Too Busy” but are there to arrest me for not complying.

Usually, a request has two answers–1) Yes and 2) No. Sometimes, you can even supply more information to the person asking to see if they will withdraw their bid.

There are some legitimate responses that would cause most people to take back their request. Today is your wedding anniversary, and you have plans and should tell them. Maybe you have nonrefundable tickets to an event you have planned for a long time.

I will never forget when I was shocked when the person I was saying no to wanted complete access to my calendar to call everyone to reschedule so I could do their project.

At that particular time, I was reporting to 5 different directors. I needed a hand for a long time to overcome this difficulty.

I wish I had known then what I know now. What helped me was to see this from the requester’s perspective. When I said no, I wasn’t helping the client at all. If they still needed it done, they would find someone who could make it happen, and often then, I would no longer be used for future projects.

When I was in a staff job, I often said no because I didn’t have time with all the other things on my plate. As a freelancer, I was saying no because they asked for more without offering more pay.

Had I learned this tip earlier in my career, I would have become a more valuable team member when someone would ask me to do something; I would now be saying how I want to help them. I would be saying YES–IF.

Yes, I can make that happen for you if you tell me which of these other projects I can delay or not do to be able to take on this extra work.

As a freelancer, I am saying YES–IF you decide what on the list we were shooting comes off because I don’t have time to do all you have, or I might be saying yes if you agree to the extra XYZ cost.

Since learning this technique, my new goal is to say yes as much as possible and to be sure the client is saying no, not me.

As a freelancer, the client asks me to do something, and my response is I would love to help you. The additional cost to make this happen is XYZ. Just sign right here to the changes on the contract, and I will make it happen.

The client will then respond tremendous or no, we cannot afford to do that. If they have to do this, then you are not the reason it gets done; they don’t have the resources to make it happen, or maybe the request is no longer necessary.

As a staff person, I am not asking for more money. I am taking the burden of what is on my plate and the difficulties of making it happen back onto their plate.

My boss asked me to take photos of their event; I would have said no in the past, but I am already booked. I now say I am already covering another event at the same time. I am more than willing to have this event covered. Which event do you want me to cover, and would you like me to get another photographer to cover the event I cannot hide?

Saying No makes you a problem!
Saying Yes Makes you a problem solver!!!

When you say no, the person requesting help must find someone else. Had you said yes, their problem would have been solved.

Today, when I get a request for something and I am already booked, I always offer to find someone for them. One of the best ways to keep those clients returning is to handle the booking of the photographer and have the photographer work as a subcontractor for you. This way, they show up to shoot the project, and you handle the billing. This way, they continue to come back to you.