Blog-o-Tips and shit.

Here is my list of the top five things I think all of you aspiring photographers need to do.
1. The biggest glaring reason I'm writing this is because WAY too many of you are using Flickr and Myspace as your "websites" Get a real website, or nobody, and I do mean nobody, will take you seriously as a photographer. They're great networking tools, but nobody wants to sift through your spring break photos or wall comments about how drunk you got last night, or how hot you look in your profile photo.
2. Use your REAL name! I mean your full name. Unless your name is like Ursula Flaberfatz or something, and you want to be a wedding photographer, in which something like "Special Moments Photography" is appropriate. Using your real name will allow you to be recognizable, and people can remember a name. Nicknames are another thing. I got stuck with Megan Picturetaker about five years ago in Montana, so it's on my blog, and myspace, but not my website URL. Most of my friends have nicknames, and they do just fine because they've gotten to a point where people recognize their name just as much as their nickname. Sometimes your name is John Smith and you're screwed, so come up with a creative solution, like John Smith Media, or John Smith Images.
3. Get business cards... and put a GOOD photo on them. By good I mean one that reproduces well in such a small format. Live photos are sometimes okay, but for the most part I find them way too busy. The more simple a photo on the card, the more I connect with it and am likely to check out the site. At the same time don't put a really beautiful landscape on your card unless you're a landscape photographer.
4. Stop using your camera as an excuse to be a jackass at shows. Just because you have that shiny new Canon Rebel doesn't give you a license to walk out into the middle of the stage while the band is playing, unless that band has given you specific permission to do so! I can't tell you how many bands complain to me about kids with cameras getting in their way at shows. I've said this thousands of times, but no one in that audience paid to see you on stage, they paid to see the bands and you need to respect that!
5. Stop working for free. You might live in your parent's basement, and not have bills but the rest of us professionals are trying to eek out a living. It's totally okay to hook up your friends once in a while, but if you get a rep for working for free, it sticks. I know this as a fact because every time I go home every band in Montana expects a hookup because I didn't charge when I was starting out. Photographers that work for free drive down the market so that no one can make a living. Think about how much your time is worth, and go from there. It is a job, the only difference is that we enjoy what we do from 9-5.

These are all my opinions, so take them or leave them. This is just based on some questions I've gotten from my formspring.com account. Feel free to click and leave me more questions for more blogs-o-substance in the future.