Fourteen Avoidable Challenges in Professional Photography

by Skip Cohen

I've written for every Shutter Magazine since it started. For the most part, each article has been a building block for some aspect of your business. Well, for the September issue, I went a little off track and had some fun with my very first rant in a published magazine.

It was so much fun to write and hits on many challenges you can easily avoid, I decided to share a little of it in today's post and then give you the link to the rest of the article:

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Headshots that Uncle Harry Could Capture: This is right at the top of the list. You’re a professional photographer or at the very least aspiring to be. Your goal is to get people to hire you because of your skill set.  Remember that old expression: “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

In regards to your headshot, get rid of that poorly lit portrait. Throw away selfies that a teenager would use. Trade in horrible portraiture for a well lit and posed professional looking headshot.
 
Even better, get a shot of you working. Put a camera in your hand. Have an associate photograph you from the side and slightly behind you, as you’re working a subject. That will capture an image with you, your camera and done right, your subject in in the background, slightly out of focus.
 
You’re not going to impress anybody with a bad headshot, let alone support your claim to be the artist they should hire.
 
Doesn’t Anybody Proof-read Anymore? I get that you’re an artist. You didn’t go to school to be a writer, but that doesn’t mean you have to sound like a moron. Seriously, I’ve received email blasts from photographers and couldn’t understand what they were talking about.
 
So, you’ve got a few options. If you really can write, but are just too rushed, take the time to read what you’ve written out loud. Then read it to somebody else. There’s very little I ever write that my wife, Sheila doesn’t take a look at for me.
 
Here are two other options: Check out Grammarly.com. I love it. It won’t catch everything you’re trying to say, but proof-reading out loud together with Grammarly will help you dramatically. The other option, especially for those of you who truly hate to write, but you’re trying to maintain a blog, for example, is to hire somebody to write for you. Wander into the local high school and find yourself an “A”  English student.

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Read more...There are twelve more challenges with this month's article and they're just a click away. 

The article starts on page 12, making me really proud to have the lead spot this month. What's great about all fourteen of the challenges is they're all fixable. Some might take longer than others, but each one can help you build a stronger skill set, brand or business.

Check out this month's Shutter Magazine online  and then consider subscribing to the hard copy. It's become the  best looking magazine in professional photography and every month is loaded with helpful content. If my link above doesn't work, click the link below - you may have to subscribe to the FREE online version to read the rest of the article.