Dear First name / Friend,

I hope this first day of February finds you well in both body and spirit. It's been almost a year since our lives were upended by the pandemic, and I know it's taken a toll on all of us. I'm holding on to hope that at some point in 2021, we can hug our loved ones and enjoy meeting a friend for coffee or breakfast and not feel like it's a risk to our health and the health of those around us.

I am looking forward thawing out on a work trip to Wellington, Florida next week! I'm doing both photography and videography work for some great clients as well as photographing a charity event. I'm ready to use my new Canon R5 without worrying about losing my appendages to frostbite! 🥶

Speaking of which, after this trip, I'l be making another video about the Canon R5 to share more in depth about my experience with it and what I've learned in the months I've been using it. Now that I've told you, I have to do it, so thanks for the accountability. 😁

I love sharing when my photos are published in magazines, but I do cringe a bit when I do because I know it may give the impression to other photographers that licensing images to magazines is a great way to make more money in their business. 

But I've got some bad news - magazines have very small budgets for licensing photos.

And the smaller the circulation, the less they have to spend. And it's really not the fault of the magazine - readership is down for almost all forms of print publication. Fewer subscribers means they can't charge as much for advertising which means a smaller budget for content. 

If you look at the credit line for many of the images in equine publications, you'll see that a lot of the images are licensed through Shutterstock or iStock, so they are paying around $5 an image or less. 

But I will admit, it's fun seeing my images in print! And figuring out what to charge for editorial licensing is easy - ask what they pay for usage. I generally just go along with their standard rates, with a minimum of $35 in order to make it worth my time to send the file and an invoice.

WHAT I'M READING

I may look like a type “A” person from the outside, but I'm really kind of lazy. This drives me to always be looking for a more efficient way to do things I don't enjoy. That's why when my Kindle suggested the book, The Lazy Genius Way Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done, I bought it right away! 

My favorite takeaway was in the first Principle of the book, “Decide Once." I'm not a fan of any kind of routine, but the author suggested that making fixed decisions like eating tacos every Tuesday or wearing the same shirt on Mondays or minimizing your cleaning tools to one per type of cleaning task, actually make your life easier. “Decide once, on purpose, about everything, from the items in your closet to what’s on your calendar. A single, intentional decision relieves your brain of effort, freeing you to think about what matters to you instead of living in a cycle of choosing this and that over and over again.”

WHAT I'M LISTENING TO

We Are Photographers - Audrey Woulard, From Conviction to Confidence

Business of Photography - Chris Monlux, Videomaker
Hair of the Dog - Using Video to Book More Clients with Andrew Hellmich

The 2021 Wings Mentorship is going strong! One of my students, Taylor Graham, shared with me just this morning… “I’ve learned from a lot of photographers, videos, or just PDF documents, but having a mentor and classmates to ask questions and learn from is gold.”

The Pegasus Mentorship for advanced photographers will open for applications in mid-March!

If a mentorship doesn't fit for you right now, keep in mind I always offer 1:1 video mentoring to anyone who would like help with their photography or business. 

If you’re interested in learning more about my mentoring and educational opportunities, visit www.shelleypaulson.com/education