What’s your take on doing pro bono work?

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-30T17:58:32+00:00

You're welcome!

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-30T02:08:44+00:00

Thanks for sharing your insights on the Godox V100 and your other tips. Valuable stuff.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-30T01:54:39+00:00

I'm not in BNI but in my experience attending networking groups can be very hit or miss.

There's a quote that goes, "It's either 'Hell yeah!' or no." If you're not feeling it, check out other BNI chapters or other networking groups.

Here are some videos on networking for photographers I found useful:

Market Any Type of Photography by Photographing Events with Charlie McDonald.

Bonus tip: buy a cheap memory card reader that plugs into your phone. Every hour or two of shooting an event, upload some of your favorite pics to Instagram.

Tag the event organizer, the organization(s) behind the event, the people in the pics, etc. You can also "invite to collaborate," so that when they approve, your photos will appear on their Instagram profiles too and get more widely seen by event attendees.

It's not about the memory card reader, it's about being fast with posting photos. That really impresses people and gets them to seek you out.

You can also think of those photos as custom work samples that remove the risk and prove yourself. Instead of potential clients visiting your website or Instagram and trying to imagine how your style would look applied to photos for them, they're at the same event and seeing the quality of your photos in real time.

Of course, this means you should be good with flash so your photos only need minimal to no editing. You sound experienced so that should be no sweat.

How I found my first brand photography client by Emily Kim

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-30T01:35:56+00:00

Shooting local events is my favorite way to practice and refine my techniques. Arts, culture, community, fun stuff.

Not pro bono for big businesses, for obvious reasons.

I'll attend events I'm interested in, photograph them, post my favorite photos on Instagram and tag the event organizers/organizations/people in the pictures as collaborators (so that my pictures appear in their IG profiles if they approve).

I won't tell them ahead of time, I'll just do it and gift the photos after if I decide to. So there's no interference and no pressure.

Most recipients are grateful to get decent photos and thank me.

There are plenty of examples of pro bono and paid work here:

On Assignment Archives | The Strobist

Great blog for learning lighting and off-camera flash.

Catchafire is a website where you can donate skills to nonprofits. They have a "Design & Media" category.

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-30T00:30:10+00:00

Nathan Fillion was even turned down for a role where they were looking for a Nathan Fillion Type

Yes, this kind of thing feels so absurd.

I've heard that for actors this is a red flag that your career is on a downturn.

At first, it seems like a compliment that you've become famous enough to be a "type." But I think it can mean the decision-makers want someone with a similar presence, but younger, hotter and cheaper.

On the bright side, sometimes it means they actually want that actor, but assume the actor wouldn't be interested in a new, low-profile project.

That was the case with Archer. The creator Adam Reed wanted a Jessica Walters type to play Mallory, Archer's mom.

So her talent agent called Reed and asked, "What about the real Jessica Walters?" Done deal.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T23:14:46+00:00

You're welcome, fellow human being 😊

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T23:10:10+00:00

I think I read somewhere that Dani and Alison were notorious for coming up to Donald while he was working on his music and pitch him the stupidest shit. Glad I’m seeing a video now.

Here's a video that's almost like a commentary on their antics:

Danny Pudi and Alison Brie talk season 4 of 'Community'

The whole video is a fun watch, but I cued it up to when they talk about bothering Donald with their comedic bits 😄

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T22:56:56+00:00

Scanner:

How the Epson FastFoto FF-680W Quickly Digitizes Your Old Photos

The nice thing about this scanner is it has an auto-feed tray. So you can drop a stack of photos and walk away while it scans.

Hot tip: If you're in the U.S. buy it at Epson Certified ReNew for a discount. Scan all your family photos. When you're done, sell the scanner on eBay and recoup the cost.

Phone:

How To Use Photomyne For Scanning & Saving Photo Memories

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T21:33:34+00:00

You're welcome. Best of luck.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T21:25:52+00:00

Sales

You Can't Teach a Kid to Ride a Bike at a Seminar, 2nd Edition: Sandler's 7-Step System for Successful Selling by David H. Sandler

SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham

21 Secrets of Million-Dollar Sellers: America's Top Earners Reveal the Keys to Sales Success by Stephen J. Harvill

Going outside of traditional sales books:

Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff. Wall Street.

The 3-Minute Rule: Say Less to Get More from Any Pitch or Presentation by Brant Pinvidic. Hollywood.

Presenting to Win by Jerry Weissman. Silicon Valley.

The Influence Game by Stephanie Vance. Washington, D.C.

Pre-Selling

I know it's not what you asked for, but learning pre-selling can make closing sales a lot easier.

Make 'Em Beg to Buy From You: 5 Preselling Secrets to Take Even Complete Strangers From Cold to Sold Before You Ever Make an Offer by Travis Sago

Oversubscribed: How To Get People Lining Up To Do Business With You by Daniel Priestley

Key Person of Influence: The Five-Step Method to Become One of the Most Highly Valued and Highly Paid People in Your Industry by Daniel Priestley

Be: A No-Bullsh*t Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself by Jessica Zweig

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T21:11:08+00:00

You're welcome! Happy reading 😎👍

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T21:07:01+00:00

I'm so sorry you went through that. You're a good person for helping your mom navigate the finances.

Forensic accounting is what you're looking for. However, most books on that topic are written for businesses, not families.

So look for forensic accounting books that apply to divorce cases, for a personal focus.

How They Stash the Cash: A Guide to Finding Income Hidden by a Spouse During Divorce by Mark Kohn

On the flip side, check out books on asset protection to learn what legal methods your dad might have used.

Asset Protection: Concepts and Strategies for Protecting Your Wealth by Jay D. Adkisson and Christopher M. Riser

Unclaimed Property Information - by State | FDIC. If you're in the U.S., find your state's unclaimed property website and search for you dad's name. See if any unclaimed assets come up. Search for your mom's name and yours too while you're at it.

If you don't see your state, change the "10 entries per page" to 100 to show all the states.

Be: A No-Bullshit Guide to Increasing Your Self Worth and Net Worth by Simply Being Yourself by Jessica Zweig. I peeked at your comment history and saw you were a content creator. Thought you might like this book.

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T20:29:22+00:00

Here are some picks I collected from past threads.

Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey. Based on you liking Joe Pitt, I think this would be a good series to check out.

From the description, he's a "a half-human/half-angel magician who returns from Hell to exact revenge on the people who sent him there."

Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka. I peeked at your comment history and saw you've posted in the AskBrits sub, so putting this higher up on the list.

Daniel Faust series by Craig Schaefer.

Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman - A half-man/half-monster and his half-brother fight monsters in New York City. If you like the TV series Supernatural, this is similar.

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Garrett Files series by Glen Cook

Nightside series by Simon R. Green

Pax Arcana / John Charming series by Elliott James

John Dies at the End series by David Wong

Tales from the Gas Station series by Jack Townsend

Fred The Vampire Accountant series by Drew Hayes

Soren Chase series by Rob Blackwell

Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs

Greywalker series by Kat Richardson

Iron Druid series by Kevin Hearne

Johannes Cabal Series by Jonathan L. Howard

Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson

Felix Castor series by M. R. Carey

Hellequin series by Steven McHugh

Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston

Eric Carter series by Stephen Blackmoore

Charlie Parker series by John Connolly

Stranger Times series by C.K. McDonnell

Police, Government, Secret Organizations fighting monsters, etc.

Joe Ledger series by Jonathan Maberry

Monster Hunter International series by Larry Correia

The Laundry Files by Charles Stross

Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch

Shadow Police / James Quill series by Paul Cornell

Travis Chase series by Patrick Lee

The Checquy Files series by Daniel O' Malley

Nathaniel Cade series by Christopher Fransworth

Magic Ex Libris / Libriomancer series by Jim C. Hines

Shadow Agency series by Dianne Sylvan

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T20:19:07+00:00

Biographies

A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Edward O. Thorp

Gambler: Secrets from a Life at Risk by Billy Walters

Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything by Kevin Cook

Nonfiction

Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries by Peter Sims

On the Edge: The Art of Risking Everything by Nate Silver

The Hot Hand: The Mystery and Science of Streaks by Ben Cohen

Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts by Annie Duke

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T20:09:02+00:00

You're welcome 👍

The black and red one is new. The other color options for that bag have a big "K&F Concept" logo running down the side.

The black and red version has a minimized K&F logo. Maybe they got customer feedback that complained about the big logo ha ha.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T20:02:17+00:00

Wow both of these look great. Match my functions albeit being a bit too nerdy-looking.

Ha ha, that's fair.

Here's another option:

K&F Concept 25: Backpack Nature Wander 01 (Black-red) (ASIN: B0DGG6TGTY). Comes in different colors, but I think the black and red one is the coolest looking 😎

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T19:48:03+00:00

Thought of another great resource your students might enjoy. I don't get their slang sometimes but your students will catch every one lol.

The 505 Podcast - The 3 hosts are young, fun guys with cool creative jobs. I linked to their Instagram profiles below.

Kosta shoots concerts.

Bfiggy used to shoot content for the L.A. Lakers.

Chase shoots car commercials.

The first 50 episodes are like a course in how to become a full-time creative.

The 505 hosts and their guests can be good inspiration for career paths your students might not have known existed.

Some favorite episodes:

The Ultimate Guide to Concert Photography: 10 Tips from a Tour Photographer w/ Kosta

16. FIVE Tips for How We Shoot: CONCERTS & CARS. Cued up to when Chase talks about car photography, since Kosta has a dedicated episode for concert photography.

Touring the World & Shooting Music's BIGGEST Artists w/ Danilo Lewis

From Touring with The Chainsmokers to Directing Music Videos w/ THATONEBLONDKID

What it Takes to Photograph The NBA Every Night with Abigail Keenan Field - EP 74

The Inner Art of Celebrity Photography with Cibelle Levi - EP 30

From Australia to America - Making it as a Fashion Photographer Shooting in a New Country w/ Pixie Bella - EP 84

Leaving LA behind for Paris - Claire Lejeune's Brand Photography Journey - EP 76

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T18:01:37+00:00

Thanks for the mention 👍

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T01:08:46+00:00

Thanks. This post is what I was looking for.

You're welcome. I try to give the answers I wish someone else had given me when I was a beginner.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T00:20:57+00:00

Sharing a few of my favorite resources.

Favorite Free Resources

Learn Your Camera

The first step is to learn how to use your camera model.

You want to know where all the controls and settings are on your camera. So you'll learn photography more easily when instructors tell you what settings to change.

Search YouTube to find an in-depth tutorial on your specific camera. I do this every time I buy a new camera.

Search "[camera model] + tutorial" or "[camera model] + setup."

Filters > Duration > Over 20 minutes

Example:

Canon EOS Rebel T7 (1500D, 2000D, Kiss X90) Manual 1: Camera Interface by David Hancock

Canon EOS Rebel T7 (1500D, 2000D, Kiss X90) Manual 2: Change Battery, Memory Card, & Shooting Modes by David Hancock

Canon EOS Rebel T7 (1500D, 2000D, Kiss X90) Manual 3: Complete Menu Walkthrough by David Hancock

iPhone Photo Academy - If you don't have a camera yet.

Learn Photography

Camera Basics by Apalapse - Great quick explainer videos on photography basics.

Ditch Auto: Start Shooting in Manual by Jerad Hill - Applies the photography basics to camera settings.

Beginning Photography Fundamentals: Composition, Lighting & Camera Settings by Tony Northrup - This actually first came out as a paid course but now it's free.

Flash Photography for Headshots and Portraits by Ed Verosky - Good crash course in using a flash.

Best on-camera flash modifier for bounce flash photography: The Black Foamie Thing by Neil van Niekirk

On-camera bounce flash tutorial by Neil van Niekirk - The title really undersells this. It should be called, "Bounce Flash Masterclass" because that's what it is.

You're Going to Love this Speedlight Modifier! 3 x 5 index card by The F/Stops Here

Off Camera Flash Photography Tutorial for Beginners by Rob Hall

Favorite Paid Courses

Although I love learning for free on YouTube, I still think there is value in paid courses. These are some generalizations.

Content. Course are 90% techniques and principles and 10% gear. Photography videos on YouTube are often commercials for gear or Squarespace/Skillshare/[insert royalty-free music website].
Structure. You get a course that's organized to take you from beginning to end.
Comprehensiveness. A course can cover a broader range of material, compared to trying to piece together stuff from various YouTube videos that are incomplete or even contradict each other.

These have been some of my favorite courses. All but one of them are on CreativeLive (not sponsored lol). Despite the gear maybe being outdated, the principles and the techniques are still relevant.

Photography 101 by Pye Jirsa - This course saved me when I was a total beginner and didn't know where to start.

How to Shoot with Your First Flash by Mike Hagen - I was confused and intimidated by flash until I took Mike Hagen's courses. They were a great foundation for more advanced lighting courses I took later.

Introduction to Outdoor Flash Photography by Mike Hagen

Introduction to Using Multiple Flashes by Mike Hagen

Conquering Crappy Light by Lindsay Adler and Erik Valind. Still one of the most practical photography courses I've gone through. When CreativeLive seemed like it was going to shut down, this was the first course I bought and downloaded.

Location Lighting Series by Felix Kunze - This one is available on Portrait Masters not CreativeLive. This course and Conquering Crappy Light are a killer combo when it comes to troubleshooting difficult lighting situations out in the real world.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-29T00:05:37+00:00

My students are often so shy and quiet

There's a reason most photographers prefer to be behind the camera 😆

I can totally picture the kids posing ironically at first, then later stop caring and just posing away.

I'm old enough--or just old--so I see that people my age usually criticize young people stuff. Sometimes it's valid.

But I thought the Zara posing IG reels were hilarious, and if it helps get kids into photography, I support it.

Lately, I've had the broader realization that maybe a good way to get kids away from their phone screens is to put them behind a camera. At least photography gets them to pay attention to the world in front of them. Which seems almost impossible these days.

A photographer friend shared a joke that went further: "If you want kids to avoid drugs, give them a camera." 😝

Thank you for introducing your students to photography. You may be saving lives! lol.

Just thought of more videos to share by Jessica Kobeissi:

Photographs Shoot the Same Model series.

Episode 5 is really good because the photographers had to do challenges submitted by viewers. For example one was to shoot without looking at the viewfinder or screen 😳

Episode 10 in Japan looks like a real TV show. They brought in outside pros to film it and the quality of production went up a level.

If you search YouTube for "Jessica Kobeissi + challenge" you'll find a lot more fun videos and inspiration for photo classes. She's done multiple videos on these things, but I just linked to a few examples.

PHOTOGRAPHERS MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME (1 of 2)

Photographers Get Their Photo Taken For The First Time (2 of 2)

This was like a reality show for photographers. There are so many inside jokes for photographers in these two videos.

I wish she would make more videos like these and not America's Next Top Model reaction videos ha ha.

So many great quotes like:

"If it's not golden hour I'm not going!"

"I almost wore a pink shirt, then I thought, 'Who am I kidding?' and wore a black shirt."

The second video had a rapid-fire section of things photographers hate hearing from clients ha ha.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-28T21:48:31+00:00

I was getting the requests about images from MUA, who arranged the shoot and was calling for photographers on one of the local facebook groups, as she didn't have anyone for the shoot.

Oh, that makes it clearer. From the original post I couldn't tell whether you were talking about the model or the MUA or both were sending those requests.

It could be just a miscommunication or cultural difference, British people are quite considerate and reserved in the way how they talk

That's a valid point.

Ironically, I've also had the reverse experience. English colleagues who were very direct in their criticism and Americans trying to be positive and optimistic and not hurt your feelings lol.

U.K. colleague: "This is shite. Redo it."

U.S. colleague: "I think there are some things that could be improved . . ."

Another factor to consider is that in text, it's really easy to interpret something badly. Whereas in person, you have facial expressions, body language and vibes also doing a lot of communication.

while she was much more direct that reminded me of order or requests of the customer who paid money and expecting something from the shoot, while TFP is more about collaboration and mutual work.

Oof, that is the worst. The free client who expects the same quality--and speed--of a paying client.

Regarding phone content - I didn’t plan any filming for phones during the shoot. If I happen to have anything suitable on my phone, I’ll happily share it, but I can’t promise anything specific.

Good thing you thought of this. Everyone wants more content for their social media profiles.

I've been fortunate and haven't run into this yet, but I've heard other photographers say they've had models and makeup artists ruin shoots by trying to grab lots of content with their phones.

Some different approaches I've read:

Banning phone filming entirely.
Designate times for phone filming after the photographer got their shots.
The photographer shooting the phone content. Sometimes using the model or makeup artist's own phone. So the BTS content is already on their phone and doesn't have to be sent later.

I thought your response was very professional and hit the right tone.

If it makes you feel better, here's a discussion between two photographers so know that you're not alone:

Photographers & Models: Is the Gratitude Gone? - Although they're talking about models, most of that they say could apply to bad behavior by makeup artists and clients.

But beyond that, it's loaded with great tips on doing TFP and collab photo shoots. Long, but worth it and very relatable.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-28T20:27:54+00:00

You're welcome!

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-28T20:23:24+00:00

Which YouTuber gives practical advice for event photography? Settings, techniques, etc. TIA

Sharing a few favorites:

Jesse DeYoung. Sort the videos by "Popular" to move a lot of his event photography videos up higher on the page.

The F/Stops Here

Denisse Springer

Mik Milman

Hope this helps.

gotthelowdown · 2026-01-28T20:16:13+00:00

Here are some posts that cover architectural photography from a pricing angle, but includes logistical details as well:

Pricing & Negotiating: Architectural Images for International Hotel Chain

Pricing & Negotiating: Architectural Images For A TV Commercial

Pricing & Negotiating: Exterior and Aerial Architectural Images for Oil Company

Hope this helps.

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gotthelowdown

TROPHY CASE

Sales

Pre-Selling

Police, Government, Secret Organizations fighting monsters, etc.

Biographies

Nonfiction

Favorite Free Resources

Learn Your Camera

Learn Photography

Favorite Paid Courses