Every once in a while, you stumble across something so awesome that you cannot keep it to yourself. Examples being, great shopping websites, hair stylists, recipes... a supplier for free passes to the Nike employee store.. you get it. I have that one golden resource at my fingertips. I almost feel guilty because I didn't have to go out and figure out most of the things I know about the photography business myself. What is this resource I'm talking about? Jasmine Star.
She. Is. Amazing.
When I emailed her and asked if I could feature her in my blog, she emailed back saying yes, and was so so sweet, I squealed a little inside.
When I first realized I wanted to go into photography, I wanted to do a lot of research about what makes someone successful. I mean marketing, SEO, networking, business cards, etc. are all things that other people have much more experience than I do in terms of the photography business. It's a service. You're selling yourself and your skills. That's something I am not good at naturally. So when I stumbled across her blog and saw her story, I was like, "hey, I totally get her! I get what she went through!" From that point on, I always went to her blog and found helpful advice.Jasmine started out like me. I wasn't always in photography. She first was going to law school (and you can read her story more in depth on her blog), but at one point in her life she realized that the only thing she wanted to do with the rest of her life was be a wedding photographer. Before this happened, at her wedding she really grilled her own wedding photographer about all of his gear, etc., and was more interested in what he was doing and so in awe of his job that she became inspired to do what she's doing now (at least from my reading of her story)!
The best part about Jasmine is that she shares all of her secrets. She shares all of her knowledge and provides ways for you to be successful as well. Currently, she is gearing up for a class on Creative Live (which is one of the other resources I highly recommend). Her class is:
You can click on the image above to link to the page or click here.
It is essentially everything you'll need to know about being a wedding photographer, and guess what? Its FREE!!! You have to be online to watch it at the specific times, but it is totally going to be worth it.
I fell the need to talk about a few places on her blog and website that really helped me grow as a photographer.
1) Her ENTIRE blog is a resource. I don't think there is anything that doesn't help me.
- Start with the FAQ section so you can get right into the meaty stuff // Posing // Equipment // Marketing // Business Tips // Personal Growth // Client Relations // Dear Jasmine
- Then go to the Photography section to look at all of her tips and tricks.
- Editing + Post Processing
- The Photo Business Learning Curve
2) Her website is where you can look at her work and link to her store to purchase some of the resources she's made for photographers. I personally purchased her email communication packet. It is so hard for me to think of what to say to people in a professional manner that I bought what she put together to make sure my bases were covered.
So what have I learned from her that most impacted me and my photography? There are a couple things actually.
1) Follow your passion. Jasmine didn't let anything keep her down. I see that and how successful she is now and that makes me realize I can do it too. I just have to keep going. You have to keep going.
2) Support one another. Photographers don't need to be catty to one another. We don't need to feel threatened. The client chooses us based on our style and there are many clients to go around. We should send clients to one another when we know that we cannot help the client or are booked. This helps tremendously to create a network and have constant work coming in.
3) Keep learning. Push yourself. Create. (Technically these are three things, but I think they work well together.)
Next steps? Grab your camera, laptop, and a cup of coffee and get creating!
xo,
Casi
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