Geoff Comfort

Ok this talk was really not very interesting or well presented. I do not respond well to this type of attitude and felt that Geoff was treating the class like children from the start. The talk itself was another waste of time talk about pricing, move along people. I will say no more about this presentation as I damn near walked out on it.

Ben Kopilow

Our guest this week was canberra based wedding photographer Ben Kopilow. Ben also does portraits and stock photography but he is primarily a wedding photographer.

Ben discussed with us some of the reasons why he loves his job as a wedding photographer, which included

• Gets to go to parties all the time and get paid for it
• Weddings are a happy time so you are always around people having a good time
• Wedding photography encompasses a number of genres, including portraiture, architecture, fashion, landscape, food and urban

Ben made a very interesting point about believing in yourself and self limiting fears. He demonstrated this by offering a $20 note and asking if anyone wanted it. It took several minutes before someone got up and took it off him, and they were allowed to keep it. The point Ben then made was about why no one got up to take it, citing reasons such as;

• "He's joking"
• "He'll take it back"
• "I don't deserve it"
• "Someone else will take it"

Often the only thing standing between you and your goal is nothing but air. Believe you are worth it.

Lindi Holly Photography

The talk for this week came from one of the teachers, Lindi Holly. The talk primarily revovled around how to start your own photography business, as well as a description of her business

Points brought up include;

• Keep the business name you pick simple, more often just your name with photography on the end works best.
• Have a simple website that minimises clutter. Also use blogs, good way to get your name out there.
• Dont show/give the client everything you shoot, obviously cull it down.
  

When it comes to costing there were a few points brought up

• Always charge a small retainer up front to get them to commit.
• Albums are where the real money is, avoid just giving prints or negs
• Try to get them into the studio as they will be more likely to buy extras in a face to face situation

She also discussed the legal side of setting up a business such as GST, ABN etc but this is covered in Business studies so i wont repeat it here.