Perspectives from the "Business of Photography" Workshop at Stritch

I really enjoyed the photography workshop today at Stritch. It was great to hear the perspectives of four working photographers and then to have another opportunity for a portfolio review.

Erinn Finlan was the first speaker. She is a family and children photographer in southeastern Wisconsin. During her talk she covered two parts of presentation that I thought were really important. First, when working with a client you present your images. However, a good image only gets you so far. You also have to present yourself and engage the client. Your have to present yourself as a person that they want to work with.

Doug McGoldrick was the next speaker. He is photographer that does advertising and weddings in chicago. One point that he brought is the importance of keeping his advertising work separate from his wedding photography. I think it makes sense to have separate websites for each type of photography because you are marketing to different audiences. Another topic that he talked about was how royalty free images are undermining photographers. Many mid range companies go with the cheaper images instead of paying a photographer to do the shoot. One way he combats this with his clients is by dropping the brand card. Royalty free images can be used by anyone. It and uncontrollable image and can lead to a brand being confused if more than one company uses the same image for different meanings.

Linda Gumieny was the third speaker and is a wedding photographer in Milwaukee. It is her 20th year in the business and she has shot over 500 weddings. She talked about staying true to your voice as photographer while keeping up to date with the trends, without simply following trends. One of her suggestions to staying up to date was to always be incorporating ideas from other types or photography or art into wedding photography.

Tom Lynn was the last speaker. He has been a photojournalist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 1984. I was really interested in the photographs he did of Milwaukee's last commercial fisherman. He spent a year photographing, documenting this man's life.  It was a really interesting story.

Overall, I am really glad I went to this event. It was very beneficial!