Tips

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My Freelancing Story - A Beginners’ Guide in 10 Steps

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I’m writing this as an introduction to a series of blog posts about freelancing and creative entrepreneurship and solopreneurship that I will be publishing. I’ve noticed lately that I keep being asked for advice on the topic and I realized that people need real life tips (not just general practices) to help them with their own businesses. And I am happy to help. I guess having a business degree gives me more knowledge and understanding to properly organize my freelancing business. So if you’re thinking of doing a career change to freelancing, or you’re simply looking for help juggling the multiple hats of solopreneurship, keep reading and keep following my blog. 

What follows is a list of steps that I took in my path as a freelancer, more or less in chronological order. I will expand on some of these in my future blog posts:

1. I had been working on switching careers for a while. I initially invested in professional photo gear, then I started preparing financially. When I quit my job I had enough savings for a well-deserved time off and to smooth my transition. I cannot emphasize enough how important having a financial cushion is. If you’re planning to do a similar career change, make sure you either have a consistent amount of clients lined up or a solid savings account.

2. Register your business: this is one of the first things I did after quitting my job. In Quebec you can work as a freelancer without having a registered business, as long as you are using your own name. So in my situation, my name in my ID’s is Teodora Chirila, but I really wanted to use my nickname Tora. In order to use Tora Chirila, or Tora Photography I needed to register with Registre des Entreprises, which was a really easy process. You follow this link, you fill in all the information (the form is available in French only), you pay $34 (annual fee) with your credit card and it’s done. As part of the same process you register your business name. In Quebec you have to register a French name & they allow you to also register a translation in other languages for the same name. So in my case, I had to register my business as Tora Photographie and the English name Tora Photography as a translation of that name which I am using. I did call several times before registering and I asked and explained clearly that Tora Photography is what’s in my logo, and they seemed to be totally fine with the use of English, as long as what I register as the main name is the french version. If you only need to register a French name, it’s easy. If you want to use English branding it gets more complicated and I advise you to give them a call. 

3. Social Media: If there is something I wish I had done much more earlier was solid social media marketing. It’s slow building but it’s very time consuming, so unfortunately I only had the time to invest in this after I quit my full-time job. Even though I’m focused mainly on Instagram & Facebook, i also have Linked In, Twitter & Pinterest. I tried a few    others (more niche) such as Behance, 500px, Model Mayhem but it’s getting too much to juggle so I almost never go on those websites anymore. (More on this topic in a future blog post) 

4. Set up contracts, invoices & base pricing: This is generally one of the most challenging parts of a freelancing business, and it was challenging enough for me as well. The contracting part was easy though. My previous business education & business law classes I had taken helped me with this + in photo school they actually taught us how to do a photo contract. I just designed a template for myself, included some standard clauses & the rest is on a case by case basis. Depending on the industry you work in, I suggest doing a solid research on standard contracts and see what must be included in your contract. For photographers, CAPIC and ASMP offer really good resources. The pricing part is very complicated though and it’s a very case by case situation. (More on this topic in a future blog post)

5. Logo & Business cards: I designed my logo myself (but I’m thinking of working with a designer on a new one; if you’re a designer, contact me). But don’t get stuck on the logo design (like i did), and procrastinate launching your social media or printing your business cards. Talk to a designer, or buy something from a website such Fiverr or Creative Market. I ordered my business cards from Vistaprint and I recommend them. They’re fast, they always have sales (don’t order full price, wait for a sale) and their customer service is really good. To see their products/paper you should order a free sample package before ordering your actual cards. I also considered MOO, but they are much more expensive. I did order a sample package from them and they do offer really nice quality, but it’s pricey. 

6. My website: I had a website & a domain for a while but at one point last year I redesigned it. My website is with Squarespace, so I was able to do everything myself. I’m happy with Squarespace but nowadays there are so many website solutions out there. Do your research and invest in something professional looking. It will pay off (I’m telling you from my own experience) (More on this topic in a future blog post)

7. Home office: Since I am working from home, it was really important to me to have a dedicated office workspace and a studio. It was a longer process, but I pretty much had to redesign the whole layout of the place around my office and studio.

 

8. Accounting: having a system of actually recording and keeping track of your revenues & expenses is really important, not to mention required by law if you’re a registered business (No, not a shoebox!). I tried a few options (Excel, Quickbooks, management software). I’ll expand on this topic in my next blog post. 

9. Networking: this is something that I did instinctively. I really liked the Creative Mornings concept so I started attending, then getting involved more and more. And if Creative Mornings is not for you, nowadays there are so many networking events you can easily find on Facebook, from all sorts of industries. You just need to do some research. And you will see results, maybe not right away, but it’s really important to go out and meet people. (More on this topic in a future blog post)

10. Collaborations with other creatives: This one was a big one for me; that’s how I started doing makeup. My personal projects are generally collaborative projects. Whatever your field of work is, I really recommend creative collaborations; this will help keep you inspired and it’s also good networking. 

I will be releasing more blog posts on the topic of freelancing in the upcoming weeks. Keep following my blog. And if there are other topics you’d like me to address or you have questions, please let me know in the comment section below.

Cheers,

Basic Makeup Tips & Must-Haves for Portrait Photography

Makeup has been hobby that I had lately ('cuz, you know, i felt I needed a hobby from my photography "hobby"). And by lately i mean it's been going on for a while...I've been doing the makeup for many of my photoshoots, and even collaborated with other photographers as a makeup artist. 

Makeup tips are something i get asked quite a lot, either by my clients/models and especially by my fellow photographers, so i think a blog post on this topic would be a great idea. So If you are thinking of getting a few makeup essentials for basic portraiture, or wondering what product you might need to look best in your next headshot, here are a few essentials from my makeup bag and few really awesome tips, that will help you push your portrait game to the next level, whether you are the photographer or the model.

Tora Photography - Product Photography Montreal - Makeup Products Layout

A few reasonably-priced essentials from my makeup kit:

Primer:
This is a very useful product for close-up portrait photography. It fills in lines and pores and leaves skin more smooth and beautiful. Use it on the bare skin, before applying foundation. I use REVLON Photoready Prime + Antishine™ Balm. You can find it in drugstores. It's around $15. I'm quite happy with it. 

Foundation:
Foundation is a tricky thing. If you're a photographer or a makeup artist just building your kit, you'll need a bunch of shades, to be able to match different skin tones. When I was in photo school I was asking my models to bring their own foundation and powder. You can also buy a few shades, several tones apart, and mix them up.
If you're preparing for your next headshot, and you don't want to get a professional make-up done, make sure you are using the right shade for your skin tone. It's basic, but it's very important. Depends on the lighting, but tone differences might become very visible. 

Powder & translucent powder: 
Powder is good for removing the shine. If you are a photographer, consider getting a translucent powder. This is a real must-have for me. I generally use this one on men. It removes shine without adding colour. I use Marcelle Translucent Face Powder, again an inexpensive solution (around $15).

Blush:
Use a natural colour. Blush looks good if it's applied well. Use these guidelines (click on the image to view in full): 

Brushes:
This is a whole other blog post, but for starters you will basically need a big brush for powder and a smaller one for blush. Generally, eyeshadow comes with those small spongy brushes, which are easy to use, but you'll need extra ones. 

Eyeshadows:
For a startup portrait kit, consider buying a nude eyeshadow palette. It's extremely versatile for day to evening looks. For an inexpensive solution, i recommend The Nudes or The Blushed Nudes palettes from Maybelline; for a drugstore brand, not bad at all.  Also, you can save money if buy an extensive palette with many shades. The biggest one I have is the Color My Life palette from Sephora, with 36 eyeshadows and 6 lip glosses.

Lip gloss:
It's basic, natural and goes with everything.  

Mascara:
Drugstore brands are generally OK. A classic one is this one from Maybelline.  

Tips:

- For headshots, keep makeup natural. It also depends on your daily look. If you generally wear a lot of makeup, you can wear more makeup in your headshot. But normally. a subtle makeup goes a long way in a professional headshot. 

- Make sure you keep your make-up brushes clean. I have a shampoo for brushes and i put medicinal alcohol in a spray bottle, which I use all the time. I wash my brushes as often as I can, and especially before applying makeup on someone else.  

- Contouring: If you really want to push your portrait game to the next level, you should learn contouring. This is one of my favourite parts from makeup. It's amazing what you can do with good contouring. The idea behind it is to accentuate shadows and highlights that form naturally on the face, in order to sculpt. Here's a really cool contouring tutorial (but you can find countless other ones all over the web). I use the Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Palette, but there are other more accessible alternatives, as well. However, the contouring kit is a product I suggest investing in.  Also, I don't recommend using bronzer for contouring, it's much too orange. Also, for photography I suggest keeping in mind the type of lighting you use. Studio flashes will wash out colours, so you might need to go more extreme with the contouring.

- Use luminizer. I bought the Sephora Collection MicroSmooth Baked Luminizer to test it out, and it's absolutely amazing. You know that shimmery shine along the cheekbones you see in professional makeup photos? That's what it is. 

All these being said, I will wrap things up here. For more makeup ideas and tutorials, check out my Pinterest Makeup board.

But I'm still learning, so I would love to hear some of your comments. What other makeup essentials do you recommend?

Hugs,

Tora

10 Places to Find Inspiration (And Feed Your Creative Mojo)

I've been in a less inspired mood lately…a sort of creative block almost. I know it's normal and it happens to every creative brain out there, but it's still extremely frustrating. It happened to me before, it will happen again, the thing is to work through it… And I'll tell you a few of the things I do, or the websites I visit to stay inspired and to jumpstart the creative side of my brain when I'm in such a block. 

1. Pinterest - Good old Pinterest…I've spent so much time on it that it's almost a classic. I love it, it's great for ideas and inspiration and for putting together mood boards and styles for photoshoots. I didn't really focus my social media activities on Pinterest, but it's great for that too. Oh yeah, and tutorials too…I sometimes use it alternatively with Google. 

2. Creative Live - Well, you see, one of the ways I stay inspired is through learning new things and doing tutorials. Creative Live is a website that offers online classes and workshops for aspiring creatives. They have two ways in which you can watch the classes: Live streaming, for free, on demand access, for a price. And they really have cool classes too, but they are long, full day workshops. But what I do if I find a class that I'm interested in, I let it play in the background while I do other things such as editing or preparing my gear for a photoshoot or cleaning my studio. 

3. Behance - Behance is a social platform for showcasing creative portfolios. There's a lot of sites like that for photographers, like 500px, Flickr, etc., but Behance is a community for all types of creatives, from photographers, to graphic designers, retouchers etc. I love it because I love visual creativity. I love graphic design, I love fonts, I love photo manipulation and retouching, and of course, I love photography, but I like to get inspired from other creative forms. I didn't spend much time on Behance lately, but it's been one of my inspiration sites for a while.

4. YouTube - On the same idea as with Creative Live, my content consumption on YouTube generally revolves around tutorials, talks, lectures, inspirational stuff that people like to talk about. Before Creative Live (oh ya, and Lynda for a brief moment), I used to listen to YouTube tutorials and inspirational stuff all the time. I still do. If you run into me doing groceries and listen to what's playing in my headphones, you'll probably hear some Gary Vaynerchuk keynote or some Ted Talk. I also do a lot of tutorials…go YouTube University. 

5. Magazines - I have a subscription to Next Issue, and I like to browse magazines mainly to look at photos, keep up with visual content trends and get inspired. I have the app on my iPad and it's a cool way to stay inspired while in transit or travelling. There's also this other magazine I've been buying: Renegade Collective. It's a lifestyle magazine from Australia, and its content is a mix of inspirational stories, business advice and creative tips. I always keep a few copies on my coffee table. 

6. Networking - One of the advantages about being a freelancer is that you get to work from home, but it can be quite isolating. For some people it might not be that much of a problem, but for me (an extrovert and a social butterfly) it really is. I need social interaction with like minded people to stay inspired and motivated. That's why I've been going to networking events, such as Creative Mornings or the Instameet etc. It's cool, I got to meet really interesting people in the process, listened to great inspirational talks, even got a free Zipline ride at Instameet. Waddya know? Networking can really be fun. Where I find a lot of these events? Word of mouth, or Facebook. 

7. Instagram and Facebook - You know, you follow other creatives, you see cool stuff they share…but it's a tricky thing, endless pit. I start off reading a post from Von Wong and two hours later i'm on the cat side of the Internet. You know how it is.  

8.  BAnQ (Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec) - Yes, the library. It's a vast free resource of great content. When I first started discovering photography I used to spend hours in their photography section.  

9. Creative Market - Graphic design content. Cool freebies too. 

10. Last but absolutely not least:

life around me…