Show me the money.......

Havent visited in a while and offered my advise, or rather little bits of info that i pick up along my bumpy journey....anywho....here is a little something for you.....

Pricing is always a difficult thing when it comes to Photography and it seems like you may never get it right, or is that just me?!  Anyway, it is hard and having reviewed and reviewed my prices it is time i make a proper plan....something I should have done a while ago!  

Anyway for any of you out there looking for some pricing advise, please see below some of the websites I used and tips I found useful - good luck!

£ - Look at your competition.  Not just within your 'dedicated' skill set or specific photography type but also locally what people are charging and to whom.

£ - Be confident in your pricing.  Start low when less experienced and then you can increase your rates in the future, getting the work and word of mouth marketing is always better.  I have done a fair bit of free or low priced work and from what I have heard, as have other photographers.

£ - http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/phdigtxt.html

£ - http://www.freelanceuk.com/photographers/index.shtml
£ - http://www.photographers.co.uk/html/advice-centre.cfm

Hope this helps!

Foto x

Working out.......

If you thought networking was easy....you must be joking! It takes A LOT of time and its none of this join 3000 websites then let the magic happen, oh no.  You have gotta go out there and get it.  Keep regular contacts with the groups, email or message the individuals that make those groups, post discussion topics, add images, keep your profile regularly updated and looking fresh....the list goes on.  It is hard work.

However it seriously is who you know not what you know in many cases.  

My first photography job was through a recommendation or rather an emergency!  A friends sister headed an events company and their photographer had dropped out, it was taking Pictures for the Lords Lunch charity gig in association with Special Olympics Britain, so it was a good gig.  Anyway, after a small heart murmur I did the job and ta da....more work from them.  Someone I met there then offered me further work, then my friends who also owned an events management company passed my details onto someone else.  I did that job and they loved it, so I did more work for them.  I met their web designers for this second job and we got on really well, so they then recommended me to one of their clients.  This is networking....this is who you know & not what you know.  Ok ok, if you were rubbish at your job or not good to work with naturally people would not pass on your name so I am in no way saying quality and customer service does not pay....it's just a good indicator as to how networking can make things happen.  

Now it is more important than ever to network....times are tough and in all honesty, I am feeling it baby!  So get your name on those sites and make the most of them; have a good business profile written, get testimonials or comments from companies or people you have worked with, add pictures or samples of the product / service you provide and make it easy as a big slice of apple pie for people to get hold of you.

Work it baby work it.......

Foto x

a lost creation....

no quotes, just words... in his dark freedom
Sometimes, there is a shadow, a shadow that once, I know would scare you.
It would follow him, taunt him, and quite often made him too afraid of what could be....I watched it. I didn't want to help him for he had to learn-painfully I understand, but he had to learn.
He always knew extreme fear, but never did he learn how it strangled him or choked him. Alone, he would reach out for what felt like the last breath, clench for freedom but was constantly reminded of a void that could never be filled, there he would be pulled back down into the earths crust. Perhaps he was the void in this world...And I continued to glare into his lifeless spirit.
And one day, contemplating his exsistance in reality, he pondered in his own dreams. He screamed out to his shadow, perhaps this was the very thing he'd feared the most. It was the fear of letting go, watching time move as his life stood still, feeling no emotion only emotion of others around him. He knew that the depth of the sea would drown him but he didn't care. He felt the harsh and abrasive fire that wouldn't rest slowly melt him away, the sky could collapse in and brake him, but nothing mattered, it only shattered. I couldn't help but laugh, a dark and twisted cackle overwhelmed me, and I contined to stare at his weakness. My time of suffering was over and now it was his turn. You burnt the deepest hole in my heart and unleashed the deepest of sins in your own world. Now it is yours. Over time, this shadow taught this lost fellow that fear is a control, that you have power and wisdom to see and feel and hear and heal, it is a dark reality, a lesson to learn in uncertain circumstances, something to force you into a state of unawareness, and only you alone can be a guide. A wishful thing was knowing that this lonely stranger had an inner belief, an embracing memory, a side unknown to even himself that suddenly became apparent. It's not how his fear suffocated and swallowed him, it is how he let it become his friend, not his foe. It's not about being scared and getting on with it, it's about being petrified and coping, it's not about laughing it off, it's about crying through it, it's about every tear being as real as the next, not every tear deleted and forgotten, not simply moving on but finding who one really is, and not what one was before, it's about timing, not reality, it is genuine emotion that strips your soul of any pleasent memory. It's about knowing, feeling and seeing that it's the end, not just goodbye......it is his acceptance of a best friend once found, now gone for his own regret, may he now understand what it is to love and lose the only one who you had any faith in. Forever may you, my friend have your well deserved Freedom.

Words: Freedom

And a happy New Year......

What is the blog going to offer you in the New Year?!  Well we can promise more fashion tit bits, thoughts of the creative mind, tips and tricks, a dare to miss diary of must know creative events plus some steaming Hot Topics.  We will also be keeping a close eye on talent to look out for in 2009.....look out for an overweight, mince pied up, too much Christmas Cheer FAT BLOG!

Want to get naked?  Want to be exposed as a new talent to look out for?  Get in touch - carli@carli-art.co.uk / pr@fattalent.com

Music, Fashion, Art, young persons event to shout about - Want it listed?  Get in touch - 

carli@carli-art.co.uk / pr@fattalent.com

Want to see something on the Fat Blog, want us to nosey through a celebs fridge or start talking politics?  Let us know people!!  carli@carli-art.co.uk / pr@fattalent.com

MOTIVATING THOSE DONKEYS.....

Sometimes it's really hard to keep motivated, the work is drying up & you just can't seem to get moving; we have all been there.  Hopefully these tips will help to put that click back in your photo finger, that spin back in your record or the mojo back in your.....well ya know where I'm going with this......

1. Like J Lo said (was it her?!) go back to your roots.  What do you really love doing, what subjects interest you most?  Plan a personal project to increase your portfolio and get your brain ticking again.

2. All work no play makes for....well my life at the moment but seriously - remember to take some time out to do the things you really enjoy & to hang out with your mates etc.  (Much more riveting conversation than your laptop as well!)

3. Set yourself realistic goals and targets as to when you should reach them and a path as to how you will get there.

4. Share your thoughts and creative juices with others.  I am not talking kinky business here but go to networking groups, meet with others in your industry and just get yourself out there.  This will also be a great self promotion tool and that positive feedback which we know you will receive will be yet another thing to inspire you.

5. Reward yourself, my favorite.  I like to choose 3-kg of Cadbury's at the end of a long editing session but each to their own!

Foto x