Along the path of my photography journey there have been sooooo many helpful, encouraging, inspiring, giving souls. I mean, there is NO WAY I could have learned what I’ve learned, and all that I still need to learn, without some truly amazing and giving people. Over the last few weeks my heart has just burst with gratitude, amazement, and humility because of kind words of encouragement and questions from others on a journey with photography. It has made me want to give back, so I’ve decided to start a ‘photography Friday’ segment. That means that each Friday I’ll do my best to share some photography related tidbit for you to try out if you’re in the world of photography love. It’s kind of hard to know where to start, so for today I’m going to post some of my favorite resources.

In the meantime, feel free to email me a question or add a comment here of a question you have or some area of photography that you’d like to know more about. Disclaimer: I DO NOT know everything, but if you ask something I don’t know, I’ll do my best to find out (after all, if I don’t know the answer, it will help me grow, too!).

Favorite resources:

Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson – this is a great book to walk you through the ins and outs of shooting on manual, and you need to be shooting on manual.

The Digital Photography Book vol. 1 & vol. 2 – I remember carrying this everywhere and reading all the time. Seriously, I read it on the bike at the Y. I still have it as a handy reference.

ilovephotography.com – an amazing forum for all kinds of questions

blogs (cool tips, tutorials, and FAQ sections): MCP Actions, Little Moon Photography in her FAQ section, The Strobist (Lighting 101 & 102)

That’s enough to keep you busy for weeks, but feel free to send in your questions by either leaving a comment or emailing me (misti@mistiwhite.com).

I’ve had a few questions regarding my price restructure that goes into effect tomorrow (Oct. 15, 2010). I’ll try to answer two that have been the most common:

1. I booked my appointment last month, but we’re not meeting until November, do I pay new prices, or old prices?

You will pay the prices that were in effect at the time you scheduled your appointment. So, even if your date is after Oct. 15 but you scheduled with me prior to October 15, you are paying the prices that were set at the time you booked your session. If you can’t remember what those prices are, you can find them here: Pricing . This is true for those of you who are expecting in February, but have already let me know your due date; that counts as “booking” your session even though we can’t actually schedule until peanut arrives

2. Why did you make the change?

There were a few reasons.
~ When I first started, I knew that my product was not where I wanted to progress as far as artistically, and I was still searching for my style. I still had a lot I wanted to perfect, but I was giving my time to my clients, so I knew I needed to charge something. Now, not that I’m all that, but I feel I have honed my craft and set my style in a way that assures my clients know what to expect and assures quality at every session.

~ I see many clients (not picking on anyone) who never order any of their prints. That makes me sad because these are memories that are meant to be looked back on and produce the emotion of the moment. With the new structure, I’m assuring that my clients have their memories, and they’re not just prisoners in my computer

~ There is a lot of discussion in the photography world about pricing, prints, CDs of images, and so forth. There are a lot of people, like me, entering into the business with the advent of the digital camera and the reduction of cost (honestly, that’s why I never pursued it earlier in life, the equipment was astronomically expensive). I don’t want to undercut fellow professionals who have spent years of education, experience, and money investing in their business because my prices are cheaper than theirs.

~ Honestly, it’s costly to be a small business owner; more costly than I first thought. Taxes – sales & self-employment – are very, very real. I do have my Texas sales tax license and pay sales tax that I collect, and  I do report my income for photography to the IRS and pay taxes on it. Business costs such as packaging, internet hosting, insurance (no way I’m risking my equipment), props, equipment, and education add up