Hi there buddy, 

Since we miraculously invented time-travel in 2020, I’m sending you this message in the hopes of making your future life as a professional photographer much easier.  

First, stop eating chicken fried steak, hamburgers and ice cream. You’re going to get chubby, and that makes your life as a photographer much harder. It’s easier to lay on the ground, bend your knees and jump on furniture if you’re not carrying around extra pounds.

20 Productive Things to Do For Your Wedding Photography Business Right Now

Next, stop using Rogaine. You’re going bald. It happens. And clients will still hire you even when you have no hair. Some folks will even say you have a nicely shaped head—whatever that means. Stop going to the barber and invest in some nice professional clippers. You’ll save hundreds of dollars every year.

After that, sign up for speed light workshops right away. Experiment with your flashes. Try them on-camera and off-camera. Put your practice time in on that equipment first. You’re going to use your speed lights on almost every job, so it’s as important to know and understand your flashes as it is to know your cameras. Cliff Mautner teaches a good workshop. Take his class first. If you don’t, you’ll struggle with speed lights most of your career.

Six-Figure Wedding Photography: Seamlessly Incorporating Off-Camera Flash

And stop buying the latest camera. Or lens. Or magical pixie dust. In fact, before you buy anything, ask yourself if buying that piece of camera equipment is going to make you more money. If it won’t, go buy something else. Or better yet, put your money in the bank and keep it there for when you really need something.

Also, be nicer. To everyone. All the time. That includes being nicer to your friends, your clients, your family and the folks you run into every day. Even when you’re in a bad mood. Even when you’re hangry. People like to hang around nice people. And they like to work with nice people. So be nice.

Creating a Wedding Photography Experience That Truly Caters to Your Couples

Finally, go to the 2019 Kentucky Derby and bet every cent you have on Country House to win, Code of Honor to place, and Tacitus to show. Then you’ll never have to work again. The end. You win.

Houston Photographer Rob Greer’s WPPI Platform Class “Photography SEO: Make Google Work for You!” took place Feb. 27, 3:00-4:30 p.m., at Mandalay Bay.