Post 52: A typical work day

For some reason, a lot of people think that when someone is a photographer, and own their own business, the only days they work are the days they spend shooting. False. I wish this was the case. I wish I would get to just sit around and wait for clients to come to me, while I sit around and play NHL 13, or pet my cats. Anyone who owns any type of business, but especially my fellow photographers, know this is not how running a business happens. This post is going to focus on what a typical day for me when I'm not shooting might look like from when I wake up to when I go to bed. Hopefully this will extinguish the idea that photographers get to do whatever they want until they feel like working.

A typical day for me looks a little something like this:

6 a.m. Devan wakes me up before she leaves for work to say goodbye. Sometimes I wake up now, sometimes I go back to sleep. This day, I fell back asleep.

7:30ish a.m. I wake up and start checking emails to see if anyone wants to set up a session. Then I get out of bed, take a shower, eat breakfast, etc. etc.

9 a.m. After eating, most likely, some type of egg dish, I hop on the computer. For the next hour or two, I'll either look up ways to get more people to look at my website or how to get more clients. 

11 a.m. After researching how to get more clients, I'll usually spend the next hour or so emailing new, potential, clients, showing them my portfolio and discussing rates. Some days I don't do this because there are only so many people in my area I can email. Some days I'll think of someone or a company I haven't contacted yet, though.

Noon Next, I spend an hour or so looking at how my website has been doing using a number of different tools which keep track of visitors, how many people have clicked on my links, where the people who are looking at my site are from, etc. Usually I'll also take the time either during or after this to figure out more ways to make it easier for people to find my website.

1 p.m. After working on my website, I'll take a look at my social networking sites, primarily Facebook. I don't usually spend much time looking at this, but I'll usually respond to any messages I've received, look at how many people have viewed the "photo of the day" and pick out new "photo of the days" for the upcoming week or so. I might also type of a blog post, which can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

2 p.m. Lunch break.

3 p.m. I probably spend about an hour everyday learning about new things about photography, which will hopefully make me better and more consistent. I learn from either other photographers on YouTube, or by reading articles online. 

4 p.m. I check Facebook again, check my email accounts again, and check to see how my website is doing again. After replying to messages and emails and making any phone calls I have to, it's around 5, which is when Devan gets home. Once Devan gets home, I don't usually get much else done.

This is what a typical day might look like for me. Some days are shorter, some days are longer, and I don't always do all of these things in the order above. Generally, I try to put at least five to seven hours of work in at least four days a week. 

So, as you can see, I get the luxury of working from home and being my own boss, but in order to be successful and build my business, I have to put in work, just like everyone else. But, unlike everyone else, I wake up loving my job. 

Post 51: New URL

I have changed my URL from www.danpomykalskiphotography.com to www.danpomykalski.com.

Post 50

From now until the end of August, use coupon code "AUG2013" on my website to receive 50% off any order!

Post 49

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of bad photos floating around. I mean really bad. Criminally bad. Photos that were clearly taken by someone who has no understanding of light. Photos with unflattering shadows on people's faces. Photos that look terrible but could have been fixed slightly with some post-processing. Photos taken by people who were paid that shouldn't have been. I truly feel bad for whoever paid these people who are passing themselves off as "professionals." I'm sure the photographer charged some ridiculously low fee, so the person isn't out that much money, but wasted money is wasted money. Not to mention that whoever paid them felt that the occasion was special enough that a photographer was needed, now the only photos they have to remember the occasion are poor quality photos taken by someone who shouldn't have been taking them. I can't help but look at a lot of these photos and wonder if whoever hired them even bothered to look at their previous work. If you're going to spend the money on a photographer, you might as well spend more and hire someone who actually knows what they're doing.

Post 48: What Equipment Do I Need For XYZ?

This morning I was watching a video on YouTube where an established photographer/YouTuber was answering a question he received via email from a "semi-professional" photographer. The photographer basically said that they would like to get into wedding photography and asked the YouTuber what type of equipment they should get. The YouTuber then answered the question.

Had I been asked the question, I would have answered with: "I hope you aren't charging to shoot weddings if you don't even know what type of equipment you need to shoot one..."

Not only charging to shoot, but shooting weddings as the primary photog at all. Weddings aren't something that happen every day for people, which makes the photos taken extremely important. If you don't know what type of equipment you need to do a certain shoot, then I can't help but assume you have no idea about your equipment or the equipment available to you. Any real professional (someone who takes good photos and gets paid for it, not someone who has a fancy camera and thinks they're a photographer) will know their equipment inside and out, how to use it, and its limitations, as well as be able to determine what equipment they need for a specific type of shoot. If you have to go around asking other people what type of equipment you need, then you're obviously not ready to be paid to shoot.