How To Vanquish Your Worst Case Scenario

So I was watching this show once where a bad guy grabbed a fat yellow highlighter, put it in his coat pocket, and started robbing a bank.  Everyone thought he had a gun, and not wanting to take chances, they did exactly as he said. And the whole time I’m shouting at the screen “It’s…

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2 Lies Photographers Tell Themselves

It was a hot day in Tunisia when it happened.  I had flown to North Africa to study Arabic for a summer, but I admit I was perhaps less diligent in studying than I was in photo-blogging the whole adventure.  I wandered the streets photographing old mosques, kids playing pick-up soccer in empty lots, the…

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The #1 Cause of Angry Emails and Client-Photographer Frustration

We all dread it.  Casually opening our inbox one sunshiny day expecting to find a few blog comments and maybe an Amazon ad, but instead there’s a client email with a storm cloud hanging over it.  They’re hopping mad.  They’re upset that you put their photo in an ad you ran in the local school…

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The Two Hundred Dollar Attitude

This week I want to talk about helping people understand and adhere to your policies.  Yep, we’re gonna talk contracts, repeat reschedulers, and even (cue ominous music) working with friends. But before we get into all that, let me tell you a little story. One well-known chef, Anthony Bourdain, wrote in his memoirs about a…

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Tip Jars & Copycatting

So you walk into your favorite coffee shop early one morning and see a new tip jar on the counter.  You know the kind, the plastic jug with a slot cut in the top and a handwritten note thanking you in advance for tips.  You see a few $1 bills and even a $5 bill…

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