Photocritic photography blog

A few months ago, I ran a story on how the UK government was trying to restrict public photography. It seems as if they’re now playing the back-pedalling game in a big kind of way. Once the petition hit 60,000 signatures, the Prime Minister’s office issued a statement which can be summarised into ‘uh, no, we never intended these kinds of changes to be made’.

What I really want to know: Do you have any stories of instances where people tried to stop you from taking photos? Leave a comment! Read the rest of the article »

The other day, I received a really interesting question from one of my regular Photocritic readers. Danielle lives in Ohio, is a Senior in high school, and wants to be a professional photographer. I’ve seen some of her photos, and while she still has quite a bit to learn (why not send in some photos for critique, Danielle? Who knows, perhaps I can help you along a bit), she certainly shows a lot of potential.

Her question, in a nutshell, was ‘I want to sell my photos. How much do I charge?’. It’s a question most photographers occasionally come across, but it’s important to everybody who wants to make a career in photography, so here are some of my thoughts on the matter… Read the rest of the article »

I’ve been a fan of JPG magazine for a long time. It’s like a photography magazine, but completely different. For one, the readers are the writers. The readers are the photographers. It’s like a big community website (think Flickr), but in magazine form. I have no idea exactly how their submission system for articles works, but I know one thing: if the articles are edited in a proper way, this could be a fantastic first step for an aspiring writer to get some of their writings published on good ‘ole woodpulp. Because, well, let’s face it: Holding a magazine with your name in the byline is a hell of a lot more fun than being published on-line, right?

Of course, you might not feel that your writing is up to scratch. In that case, fear not: You could submit your photographs on a theme instead! That’s right: Scour your library, or go out and take new photos specifically for the topics under discussion in the next issue of JPG magazine. Not only could you become a published photographer, but if they do use your photos, they’ll pay you for it! Bonza. Read the rest of the article »

We’ve talked about how photo licencing works before, but it seems as if people are just not learning their lessons. So, as the newest instalment in our Photography Business article series, an important reminder…

The newest horror story comes from a website called UK Expert. If you sign up to their website, and click ‘ok’ on the terms as conditions (Let’s face it - when did you last read the terms and conditions to anything), they are trying to get you to sign over the copyright to your photos. Yikes!

The lesson today? Read the terms and conditions before you upload any photos. Seriously. Read the rest of the article »

I’m all for petitions in an effort to try and get stuff done. Recently, the UK government introduced an on-line petitioning system, which seems to be working really well. In fact, the currently on-going petition to stop the introduction of progressive road taxing in the UK is a smashing success: it’s got a whopping 1,546,226 signatures as I’m writing this.

Of course, photographers in the UK also have things to be disgruntled about, and one crafty photographer decided to set up a petition in an effort to allow photographers some more freedom… Read the rest of the article »

The other day, I got an email - somewhat out of the blue from Miranda, who wanted to interview me for her High School paper on careers. She chose ‘photographers’, and found me somehow - presumably via this web-site.

Anyway, she sent over a list of quite interesting interview questions, and as I’m a right rambling mofo, I went on and on and … etc. But anyway: I figured that there might be quite a few other people out there who are young, aspiring to be photographers, and have questions about how to go about it, so I decided to just publish my answers. Read the rest of the article »

People really do come up with the oddest things, but it actually makes a lot of sense: People love their kids, and are willing to pay insane amounts of money for formulaic photographs taken by a photographer that really couldn’t care less. I’m not mentioning any names, of course, but I’m sure you can think of photography businesses who operate like that in your area…

So why not the same for pets? On my journeys around the Internet, I came across one person who claims he is making 500 US dollars a day taking pictures of people and their pets. Read the rest of the article »

So, I have a shitload of photos. I don’t know how many, actually, but there are a fair few - about 35 thousand, i reckon. And somehow, I manage to keep them organised. Mostly.

I’m a strong believer in finding your own way of working, and my system isn’t without flaws, but if you can draw any experience or help from any of this - all the better! Read the rest of the article »

One of the many ways you can make money as a photographer is to specialise on events. Weddings, christenings, and all sorts of other events where people make memories can be lucrative business. The great thing is that all you need is a good camera, lots of memory cards, and some business cards.

Let me show you how… Read the rest of the article »

When we first wrote about Photostockplus, a discussion was sparked as to whether there is any point in spending money to make money. I realise this whole thing is turning into a bit of a saga, but you guys keep asking such great questions that I can’t let it lie.

Long-term reader Andy asked:

After reading the original post I was immediately interested in signing up for photostock plus. It sounds like a great idea. My only question is how effective are their marketers? Does the site get enough traffic that it wouldn’t be difficult to make a profit with a modest sized portfolio?

Of course, they were all excellent questions, and I didn’t have any of the answers. But hey, that’s why I’m a journalist, right? So I decided to call up the company and interview them, to see if I can help find you guys some answers… Read the rest of the article »