Why Adding Workshops to Your Photography Business Is the Smartest Pricing Move You Haven't Made Yet

Why Adding Workshops to Your Photography Business Is the Smartest Pricing Move You Haven't Made Yet

The Session That Made Me Rethink Everything I Was Selling A few years ago, I ran the numbers on a quarter where I felt completely slammed. Booked solid. Exhausted. And when my husband sat down with me and we actually looked at which projects had generated the most revenue per hour of my time, I nearly fell out of my chair. It wasn’t the big portrait sessions. It wasn’t the corporate headshot days I’d been chasing.

What the IRS Sees When You Run a Photography Business (And How to Make It Work for You)

What the IRS Sees When You Run a Photography Business (And How to Make It Work for You)

Every January, I pull up my accounting software and run the same report I’ve been running for seven years. Revenue by client type, expenses by category, net profit by quarter. My husband, who is a CPA, looked over my shoulder one evening a few years ago and pointed at a number I had been ignoring. My product sales, the albums and wall prints I was half-heartedly offering, were generating a 68% profit margin.

From Side Hustle to Six-Figure Campaigns: What Scott Choucino Taught Me About Building a Real Commercial Photography Business

From Side Hustle to Six-Figure Campaigns: What Scott Choucino Taught Me About Building a Real Commercial Photography Business

I used to think the photographers landing big advertising campaigns were just better than me technically. Sharper images, fancier gear, some mysterious creative gift. What I eventually learned, running my own studio here in Miami, is that the gap between a photographer grinding through small gigs and one billing for national ad campaigns is almost never about the camera work. It’s about understanding how the commercial industry actually operates, and most of us never get that education until we stumble into it the hard way.

One Platform to Rule Them All: Why Photography Businesses Are Moving Away From Tool Sprawl

One Platform to Rule Them All: Why Photography Businesses Are Moving Away From Tool Sprawl

One Platform to Rule Them All: Why Photography Businesses Are Moving Away From Tool Sprawl I’ve watched countless photographers spend more time managing software subscriptions than managing clients. It’s a real problem—and it’s finally getting addressed. The photography industry is experiencing a significant shift. Instead of juggling five different platforms for websites, galleries, booking, payments, and business management, photographers now have viable alternatives that consolidate these essential functions under one roof.

Your Portfolio Is Losing You Clients: Here's What to Fix This Week

Your Portfolio Is Losing You Clients: Here's What to Fix This Week

The Portfolio Problem Most Photographers Can’t See Last month I reviewed portfolios for twelve photographers in my mentorship program. Every single one of them had the same problem: too many images, wrong images, no clear message. One photographer had 94 photos in her online gallery. Ninety-four. I asked her who her ideal client was and she said, “families and couples, but also seniors and sometimes corporate headshots.” She was showing everything to everyone and booking almost no one.

How Hosting Workshops Quietly Became My Studio's Second-Best Revenue Stream

How Hosting Workshops Quietly Became My Studio's Second-Best Revenue Stream

Last spring, I ran a full-day workshop out of my Miami studio for eight photographers. Ticket price: $397 per person. I spent about $200 on snacks, printed materials, and a Zoom license for a follow-up Q&A session. That’s $2,976 in profit for one Saturday, and I was home by 6 p.m. I’m telling you the numbers upfront because too many photographers treat workshops like a passion project instead of a product.

The $5,000 Lesson: Why Your Photography Contract Is Either Protecting You or Costing You

The $5,000 Lesson: Why Your Photography Contract Is Either Protecting You or Costing You

A few years into running my studio, I lost a $5,000 client over a contract so vague it might as well have been written on a cocktail napkin. The client wanted unlimited revisions, a full gallery reshoot, and prints I never agreed to deliver. Because my contract didn’t explicitly define any of those things, I had no ground to stand on. I swallowed the loss, spent a week furious at myself, and then sat down and rebuilt every document in my business from scratch.

Why Your Photography Studio Needs a Brand Strategy (Not Just a Logo)

Why Your Photography Studio Needs a Brand Strategy (Not Just a Logo)

I’ve watched countless talented photographers struggle with the same problem: they create stunning work, but their businesses plateau. The issue? They’re confusing a logo with a brand. Here’s what I’ve learned after years covering photography business trends: your brand isn’t what you think it is. It’s not your Instagram aesthetic or your tagline. Your brand is the consistent promise you make to your ideal clients—and whether you deliver on it every single time.

Your Portfolio Is Losing You Clients (Here's the Fix That Doubled My Bookings)

Your Portfolio Is Losing You Clients (Here's the Fix That Doubled My Bookings)

The Gallery That Was Working Against Me I had 847 images on my website. I know that number exactly because I counted them the morning I realized my inquiry rate had flatlined for three straight months despite decent traffic. Potential clients were landing on my site, clicking through my portfolio, and leaving. My bounce rate was 74%. That is not a “maybe they’ll come back” number. That is a “they made a decision and it wasn’t you” number.

The $5,000 Mistake That Taught Me Everything About Photography Contracts

The $5,000 Mistake That Taught Me Everything About Photography Contracts

I lost a $5,000 client because of a sloppy contract. Not a missing contract. A sloppy one. She was a corporate client who hired me for headshots across her entire executive team. We had an agreement, but it was a generic template I’d grabbed from a photography forum years earlier. It didn’t specify delivery timelines clearly, it had a vague usage rights clause, and it said nothing about what happened if she requested additional edits beyond what we discussed.

Why Meta's Enterprise AI Push Matters for Your Photography Business

Why Meta's Enterprise AI Push Matters for Your Photography Business

Meta’s Playing for Bigger Stakes I’ve been watching Meta’s massive investments in artificial intelligence, and frankly, the company needed to justify those expenditures somehow. But here’s what’s interesting: they’re not just building AI for their own platforms anymore. Meta is now actively positioning itself as an enterprise AI provider, selling these capabilities directly to other businesses. This shift signals something important for photographers and creative professionals like us. What This Means for Creative Workflows For years, we’ve watched Meta’s AI improve photo recognition, content moderation, and ad targeting on their platforms.

Why Adding Workshops to Your Photography Business Can Double Your Revenue Without Doubling Your Hours

Why Adding Workshops to Your Photography Business Can Double Your Revenue Without Doubling Your Hours

My accountant husband sat across from me at our kitchen table in 2019, laptop open, spreadsheet pulled up, and said something that genuinely shocked me: “Your most profitable hours aren’t the ones you’re spending shooting.” He had run the numbers. Actual numbers. My portrait sessions were generating roughly $180 per hour when I factored in shooting, culling, editing, client communication, and delivery. My one-day business workshop that I had offered almost as an afterthought the previous spring?