- Home
- About Us
- SmugMug Tips
- 5 Frustration-Free Ways to Reboot Your Photo Website
- The Making of a Digital Newsletter
- Take Your Photos Further With These Smug Features
- SmugMug for Special Occasions
- Why Upload Your Full-Res Originals?
- Essentials for a Successful Website
- 3 Flavors of Privacy
- Build a Custom Website on SmugMug
- Your Own Photo Home in 4 Easy Steps
- A Photo Organizer Worth Switching For
- Unleash the Power of the Menu Bar
- Special Occassion Print Order Deadlines
- Understanding the Crop Tool
- Picture Perfect Wallet Size Prints
- Guide Your Guests to the Gold
- How to Make a Photo Blog
- Your New SmugMug Site in 5 Minutes... or Less
- The Save Photo Reminder
- Get the Legacy Look in the New SmugMug
- FAQ: Why Switch to the New SmugMug?
- How to Customize Your System Pages
- The No-Hack Custom Page Tutorial
- Encyclopedia of the Watermark
- For Pros
- How to Get Paid for Being the Real You
- 5 Simple Steps to Building Your Brand
- Photography Pricing Cheat Sheet
- Market Your Photography: Share Your Photos
- Create a Great Experience on Your Site
- 8 Tools For Selling Photos Online
- Protect Your Photos from Theft
- Why Events Are Best for Your Business
- Maximize Your Wedding Photography Workflow
- Sports Shooters: How to Win More Sales
- How Can Search Help My Sales?
- The Great Pricing Hoax
- A Winning Portrait Business Model
- 5 Things Your Client Needs to Hear
- The Changing Business of Wedding Photography
- Make More Money with Digital Downloads
- Photo Tips
- 5 Reasons Why We Fell in Love with Lightroom
- Aim to Impress: Go Beyond Paper Prints
- Prep Your Files for Great Prints
- Why Print in a Digital Age?
- 5 Camera Tips Pros Wished They'd Known Sooner
- Get Your Photos Done in Record Time
- Keeping Your Phone Photos Safe, Too
- Get That Shoebox of Photos Online
- Punch Up Your Sport Portraits with Levi Sim
- Travel: How Gary Arndt Does Everything, Everywhere
- Mobile Phone Travel Photography with Michael Bonocore
- Underwater Model Photography
- What Not to Wear (to That Photo Shoot)
- The Art of Making Things Delicious
- 5 Killer Locations for Your Photo Shoots
- Color Calibration for Perfect Prints
- How to Shoot Winning Sports Photos
- Taking Beautiful Macro Photos
- How to Organize a Photowalk
- Get Out of That Photography Rut
- Kickstart Your Lightroom Workflow
- 5 Lies Your Camera Likes to Tell
- What Photos Sell?
- How to Take Delicious Food Photos
- Inspiration
- iSmile Studios, Inc. Maximizing Profits With More than Just Seasons' Greetings
- The Mompreneur: Kelly Lester
- Andi Grant: A Wedding Pro's Love Affair with "Events"
- Wildlife and Travel: Chris McLennan
- Awais Yaqub Photographic
- How to Create Your Own Success
- Sports Photography: Glossy Finish
- SmugMug & Pro Cycling Photographer Graham Watson
- Sports Photography: Kent McCorckle and SmugMug
- Quit Your Job and Run For the Hills: Ron Coscorrosa Speaks Out
- Adventure Photography: Is It Worth the Risk?
- Picture Perfect Pets: Kira Stackhouse
- Spooky Storytelling: History Trekker
- High-Speed Macro: Liquid Drop Art
- Underwater Wildlife: Scubazoo
- Meghan MacAskill Photography
- Matthew Jordan Smith Photography
- Smilebooth
How to Get Paid for Being the Real You
"My style is very interactive. I am talkative, funny, interested, silly, loud at times, and from the instant I meet a new client I treat them like an old friend. There is no awkwardness, no breaking the ice. I jump right in and start playing peek-a-boo with their kids and asking them about their childbirth stories. I love people. I love hearing about them, their family, their job, their life. I want them to be comfortable enough to relax and show me who they are in the course of our shoot.”
What's your style?
We don’t mean those blingy jeans you wear. We’re talking your photographic style. Customers have a certain style in mind when searching for a photographer, so it's important to make sure you are expressing a style that's true to you.
When describing your style, think about:
•What makes you unique? What is your signature? What about your photography will attract clientele?
• What are you passionate about conveying with your photography? What inspires you?
• Do you capture moments? Tell a story? Make time stand still? Freeze the action? Are your photographs edgy? timeless? fine art? modern? grungy?
• Do you make heirloom portraits, or gorgeous landscapes? Are you a photojournalist? Do you travel far and wide in search of exotic wildlife?

Photo courtesy of http://www.jerevele.com/
The one word common to each of those questions is YOU. People hire you for you: your personality, your expertise, your demeanor, your creative vision. Identifying your style will help you to establish your brand and your business model. It will help you understand who your customers will be, or who you want them to be, and will help you to establish your place in the market. Your style leads to creating your brand.
Admirers have called Grant’s work "traditional," a label that used to amuse her until she began to grasp the implicit compliment. "It’s interesting because I don’t come from a classical photography background," she says. "Now I want to be considered timeless. My images are very clear—sharp, well-exposed images that are not over-manipulated. Very organic. People see that and like it."Andi and Zoe Photography
What can you do to find your style?
You’ll find inspiration in all kinds of places - in art, from other photographers, in magazines and books, in the way that you decorate your home and office. What speaks to you the most, what inspires you to try something new?
Look at the work of others, try to understand how they achieved the result, think about situations that the technique would be appropriate, and if it is something that you would like to be able to emulate.
Search out other photographers on forums, at workshops, in local meet up groups.
Use the powerful SmugMug Search tool to find photos you love.
Pinterest can help you collect ideas for setting up, posing, lighting and more.
Shoot, shoot and shoot some more.
Try new things, expand your horizons, and you will come to understand what you enjoy creating and what you don't.

Photo courtesy of http://www.awaisyaqub.com/
Think about your business like a customer.
What kind of customer do you enjoy working with? Are you more comfortable with the formal family portrait, or a play day in the park? Do you prefer dramatically lit studio portraits, or edgy outdoor backlighting? Are you the master of the speedlight? Make sure prospective customers understand what you offer. You can’t be everything for everyone, and that’s alright. Hone in on your style, attract the customers that dig your style, and create the best experience possible for them, and for YOU!
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Make sure that your style is clearly reflected in your portfolio, in your website and in your messaging so the prospective customer can get a good sense of you, your work and whether or not you are a good fit for their needs.
Whatever your style
SmugMug provides a beautiful platform for the display of your beautiful photographs.
• Advertising free, super fast image loading,
• a variety of display styles to choose from,
• tools to help share with fans easily and quickly,
• privacy controls for client galleries and
• eCommerce tools to help you sell your work.
Identifying your Style will help you to Build Your Brand

Photo courtesy of http://www.macaskillphotography.com/