Shakodo Community

If it were just about money I would have been a lawyer. I know too many photographers who hate what they do or at best they look at it like a 9-5 job. I never want to look at photography as a 9-5 job. I always carry a camera so that when I am inspired I can shoot. It is something I always loved about my mentor, Jay Maisel. You can’t make a great image if...

Hello. I got some really good advice in another thread and I'm implementing it. This is entitled: Please Fix My Web Appearance. The website is my first for photography. I know nothing about layout or anything like that. I just know that looking at it, it doesn't look "right"....

Hi everyone, When I first started using Shakodo I was really excited to have a place to go and ask questions about pricing that would be answered by REAL professionals. And for a while, things were great. However, as much as I appreciate the pros on here that answer questions...

As I get closer and closer to the half century mark in age, I have been doing a bit of soul searching about my chosen profession. At my age, I have lots of experience and hopefully enough youth left to do something with it. In other words, I would say near the peak of a career....

It would be great to see a couple additional features in the future, like those:-> See who is online-> Interact directly with another member-> Get an email when somebody is replying to your post->Invite other photographers to join Shakodo->Post questions to...

I receive quite a few proposals from prospective clients and I understand that they try to get the most for their money. Sometimes though, I just have to shake my head and ask "Are they that ignorant of what it takes to run a business or are they just that bold to suggest...

Hello, I just transitioned to working as a photographer "full time" last April. I was lucky enough that a friend of mine has been in the business for years. He was able to get me on as a second shooter at a festival. I made a ton of contacts, took a zillion pictures, even did...

Later today, I've decided it's time to put up our advertised prices. I've taken the view that having -some- advertised rates works really well in getting me new clients, and when I've asked clients their views (part of our 'customer satisfaction surveys') several have said that having an idea about rates helped convince them to give us a call. - You do ask...

They lost me at the "Cost of Doing Business" calculator. You know, the formula everyone starts you out with: Your overhead expenses + desired salary = your total annual cost ÷ number of billable days = your CODB.

I started to shoot over my house and transform my basement into a studio , i do have a green backdrop ,softbox and others but it seems that i made a mistake by doing that .A lot of clients are hesitant to come over someone's house to get their pictures , i had some models...

I am currently working at a mechanical company(I'm not going to use the name) who found out that I was a photographer. The job is at a coal plant and they work with large machinery and structures. They have asked me to go onto the job site and take some photos of the job while...

At one time the Internet was going to be the "Great Leveler." Small companies would be able to play on level playing fields with the large multinationals, thanks to smart web search engines like HotBot, Yahoo, AltaVista, Lycos and later, Google.

This is a general question I'd like to ask the community, concerning qualifications gained by professional bodies.  Here in the U.K we have the Master Photographers Association, The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, The Royal Photographic Society etc. All have a...

I didn't notice a bug report section anywhere, so I'm posting this here. admins, please do what is appropriate with this thread.So, I've got a bunch of Chrome problems lined up. First of all, yesterday I got automatically logged in after registration, and wrote a five paragraph...

For companies working with images in their day-to-day business - such as print providers dealing with graphics for a P-O-P project, for example - they must be certain those images are indeed free and clear to work with. No print providers want to go through the legal hassles and expenses that can arise if it's found that a project comprises images whose...

I recently found out that a 25 year old photograph of mine was included in a dvd version of a music history documentary film. I don't have my copyright registered on the photo and the dvd has already been distributed on a global basis, so I don't suppose I can even request to be...

Some food for thought: I was wondering what many of you feel about registering (if applicable in your country) your copyrighted work prior to any publishing or licensing agreement(s)? Is it worth the effort to you and if so why? Would you consider charging a client copyright...

The web is buzzing but where are the visual artists ? What will SOPA do for us? Will it harm us or help us?

Photography is one of the most common 'what I'd like to do for a job if...' occupations, and when I recently looked at the UK photographers trends survey I noted just how many people were entering the profession at a later age, and without the traditional photography background.

I recently read an article about this on the Atlantic Wire, and was quite astonished at how the item performed at an auction (Photograph by A.Gursky). What are the processes behind gaining this kind of success level? Thanks