The Exposed Negative

S2 #6 - Important lessons in running a photography practice w/ Dan Kennedy

Mar 2, 2023

Celebrity Portrait Photographer Dan Kennedy discusses the importance of saying no, avoiding burnout, and top tips for running a successful photography business. Topics include outsourcing work, the first hour of the day, end of year review, and recommended tools like CaptureOne, Asana, and Dropbox.

01:04:57

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Episode guests

Dan Kennedy

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Saying no to certain projects can improve work-life balance and maintain motivation and creativity.

Outsourcing tasks and streamlining workflows can improve efficiency and create a sustainable business model.

Photographers need to adapt to industry shifts and prioritize projects that align with personal goals and values.

Deep dives

Importance of saying no to certain projects

One key takeaway from the podcast episode is the importance of saying no to certain projects. The guest speaker, Dan Kennedy, emphasizes the liberating effect of turning down projects that may not align with one's goals or priorities. By selectively choosing projects that are a better fit and learning to focus on specific areas of expertise, photographers can improve their overall work-life balance and maintain a higher level of motivation and creativity.

Introduction

3min

Excitement for upcoming episodes and a new service provider

2min

Learning on the Job and Photography Assignments

23min

The Importance of Organization and Systems in Running a Photography Practice

4min

Reflecting on the Past Year and Improving Productivity

16min

Notion vs. Evernote and the Future of Photography

12min

Desert Island Camera and Book Choices

6min

On todays show we talk to Celebrity Portrait Photographer Dan Kennedy. We discuss the importance of saying no, avoiding burnout and top tips for running a successful photography business.

Shownotes:

Some of Dan’s lessons

The importance of learning to say no to stuff
Outsourcing work eg. retouching, PR etc
The importance of not burning out
Businesses generally need Sales, Tech, Admin - most photographers do this themselves and that is not ideal

Annotations in CaptureOne

Overlays in CaptureOne

First one hour of the day and how you spend it

End of year review - positives and negatives

The importance of prep and creating mood boards etc

Joko Willink book - Extreme Ownership

Asana and Open loops

Dropbox and Synology for back ups

Notion

Tim Bret-Day

Levon Bliss macro work

Desert Island Camera