As always, I’m working on some fantastic new material for Ground Glass. I’ve been sidelined by some crazy sort of illness for awhile, but things will be up and running again soon.

In the meantime, Jenika McDavitt is having a sale today and tomorrow (May 24, 25) on her fantastic ebook How to Build an Absolutely Irresistible Photography Website. Normally $159, it’s only $119 right now.

If you’re thinking about creating a new site and want to dig into the key business and brand considerations, this guide is chock full of great advice and exercises to keep you on target. It also comes with an interview from yours truly, as I deconstruct what went into the redesign of my … Read more...

Get ready for back-to-back fun for the next two weeks! First, I’m introducing a brand new subject – pricing psychology – this Thursday. Then, I’m doing a rework of my webinar from last month next Thursday. Don’t miss out! Signing up is easy. Just put in your name and email in the form on the homepage, and you’ll receive the link on the day of the Webinar!

Getting past NO. Pricing psychology for photography studios
Time: 2:00 pm EST on Thursday, 4/18

How Purpose Powers Possibility: Creating a functional mission statement
Time: 2:00 pm EST on Thursday, 4/25 

 … Read more...

My father is a smart guy. A research scientist, a mathematician, and a professor. He was the best in his class in high school. Then college. Then in his PhD program. Sometimes, I forget how much brain power is up there. You see a man toiling away on his computer trying to decide whether an instant coupon saving $5 at Walgreens is better than $5.50 at Rite Aid, and it’s shockingly easy to forget. But I know it’s true. My brother isn’t a slouch, either. He was a tack-sharp, Silicon Valley programmer, before essentially retiring at forty. My sister is pulmonologist who graduated from Stanford.

I, on the other hand, was not at the top of my class. I did … Read more...

Brilliant images tend to leave you with that odd mix of inspiration and humility we know as awe. At once, you see photography’s potential and your own limitations. But what’s remarkable is that whatever the reaction, it so frequently comes down to the same one thing. Whether it’s an unexpected moment, unorthodox exposure, a novel composition, or light like you’ve never seen before, more times than not, it’s not that you couldn’t have taken the shot. It’s that you wouldn’t have.

This is photography’s great challenge: How do you shoot something you wouldn’t think to take?

It’s curious that in a world so focused on the how-to, it’s really the why that gets the attention. Because great photography, though possessed … Read more...