Zenfolio Blog

Easily design and add any content you can think of on your Zenfolio website with the use of Custom Pages. Show off a calendar with your available schedule, or a map with directions to your studio location. Get creative and embed slideshows, video, or social media plugins.

Watch this tutorial on how to embed all these goodies and more into your website:

With the organizational tools available you can place information - whether it be text, video or photos - to your liking. You can experiment with fonts, colors and sizes until the look you desire is achieved. Link to an external website or another page of your Zenfolio site. Build and design with absolutely no coding.

Search engines can also index your Custom Page. Including a META description will enable them to catalogue correctly. Adding a useful description or keywords will help with your Search Engine Optimization.

When you have finished you may add your Custom Page to your Site Menu for easy navigation. The link that is automatically generated can be edited as you see fit, making it easy to share with others.

Let your creativity take over and have fun creating a page with any content you can imagine!

As a team photographer for the Cleveland Cavaliers since 1991, David Liam Kyle  is one sharp shooter. His sports images have graced the covers of Sports Illustrated and many other publications. As a former athlete himself, David is used to being close to the action. His images show the perspective of a talented photographer as well as a true sports fan. David is also a part of our very own Pro Team. In this blog post David spills his tips and advice for taking your best sports photography shot.

Your Best Shot - by David Liam Kyle

Getting Down to the Basics: Baseball and Track

Spring training isn’t just for athletes. Photographers need to be ready when it is time to shoot baseball games and track meets.  Some of the best opportunities for great images may present themselves in the first week of the season, so be prepared. Here are a few basic tips that will help you get better sports photos of your youth league or high school athlete.

Be Prepared: Hey, it’s not just a slogan for Boy Scouts. If you are photographing youth league or high school sports, make sure you have permission from event organizers and know your restrictions in terms of photo positions. That way you will avoid any game time confrontations.  You want to document the event, not be part of the event. 

The Importance of Positioning: Be smart and considerate in choosing where you shoot. When walking into a sporting event, the first thing I do is check the lighting conditions.  Generally, I want to work with the sun, not against it. I prefer nice side or frontal light, and I make sure I have clean, dark backgrounds. Try to avoid signs, trees, parking lots, garbage cans, etc. Darker backgrounds make the athletes’ images pop. It is important that you try to find shooting positions where you will not get blocked by officials and umpires. At the same time, be polite and make sure you do not block the view of spectators. 

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Sacha Blue is an underwater portrait specialist located in the Greater Seattle Area. She focuses on creating one of a kind portrait experiences for expectant mothers, children, aquatic athletes and high school seniors. Today, Sacha reveals some of her underwater portrait tips so that you can create your own!

Underwater Portrait Tips - by Sacha Blue

Growing up I had both a portrait studio and darkroom in the house and I spent thousands of hours in the pool swimming and teaching others to swim. Ironically it wasn’t until I became scuba certified and started preparing for a dive trip in 2008 that I first thought about taking pictures of people underwater.

Knowing I’d be totally bummed to make a scuba trip without being able to photograph what I saw while diving I started looking at various underwater photography options. I talked myself into the added expense of housing a dslr instead of a point and shoot by deciding that I’d simply start offering underwater portraits when I returned.  At that point I’d found plenty of information for taking good pictures of marine life while diving and assumed when the time came I’d find similar articles about photographing people underwater.

Take advantage of another great Mpix promotion and see how gorgeous your photos look printed and framed! Starting today until April 25 receive 15% off all 5x7 and 8x10 frames!

There is no need for a coupon code, the discount is automatically applied when ordering from your Zenfolio account.

David Jordan Williams is a Professional Advertising Photographer based in Los Angeles, CA and is also a part of our Pro Team. Not afraid of experimentation, David’s innovative work can be found on album covers, music posters and in numerous print ads. With an extensive stock portfolio represented by Corbis and Getty, as well as art exhibitions across the country, Williams Studio is a force to be reckoned with.

Recently, David made a trip to Yosemite for an assignment and walked away with powerful, lasting images and an incredible experience. Read on to hear about his experience and how to always be prepared, even for the unexpected.

On assignment in Yosemite: Prepared for the Unexpected – by David Jordan Williams

Every year, as a ritual, I go to Yosemite as a prime source of nature-related work, and this year was no exception. I usually try to get to Yosemite the first week of November to take advantage of the color turning and maybe the possibility of catching one of the first snowstorms of the season. I've done this for many years now and can count on one hand the number of times I have hit a decent snow condition with enough impact to truly come away with memorable imagery.

This last November I drove up from Los Angeles with my wife, son and his girlfriend, expecting to find the foliage turning, but little else due to the very dry year we've been experiencing in California. I did come prepared for any possibility though and brought my full compliment of Nikon equipment and lots of enthusiasm - Yosemite does that to me in a big way. We arrived and I immediately did some checking of the weather conditions, discovering that there was little chance of any inclement weather happening any of the four days we would be there, so I settled into not shooting snow, my prime desire.
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Enjoy 15% off all Mpix prints starting today until Thursday, April 12th. This is a great time to try out different paper types such as Metallic, E-surface, and true B/W.

The discount does not apply to finishing services such as specialty products, gallery wraps, lustre coating, standouts, retouching, or mounting. As usual, there is no need for a coupon code, the discount is automatically applied when ordering from your Zenfolio account.

We strive to offer Zenfolians the best of everything, which is why we are partnered with MpixPro. As a division of Miller's Professional Imaging, MpixPro was created exclusively for professional photographers and is available for Zenfolio Business Premium subscribers. Today MpixPro shares their advice and tips to achieving the best prints you possibly can.

How to Get Great Prints From MpixPro

The single largest question we get at MpixPro is “How do I make the best prints I possibly can from my images?” We are here to shed a little bit of ‘light’, no pun intended, on such information packed question.

Work Space

A common misconception is that you need to work in a room that is completely dark…you don’t. However, you do need to take into consideration such items like windows and lights, and keep those variables as consistent as possible throughout the day. We do suggest that you use daylight bulbs so  you will be view your prints under the same conditions as we do here at MpixPro. A search on Amazon for 5000K bulbs will give you a variety of options.

The next step to great prints is making sure that your photo editing tool of choice is set properly. This would be Photoshop, Lightroom, or Camera Raw. The color range of photographic media is most closely represented by the sRGB color space so this will be the color space of we will use when processing and adjusting images to send to MpixPro for prints.

We strive to offer Zenfolians the best of everything, which is why we have partnered with One Vision Imaging, one of the best professional photographic laboratories in the UK. For well over 30 years One Vision Imaging has been servicing professional photographers with the very highest standards of processing and finishing. Today, One Vision Imaging gives a sneak peek into their way of life and how they achieve their unrivaled quality of prints and products. 

Donna and Mark Archibald, the charismatic husband and wife team, really know their way around the wedding business. Shooting together since 2003, but friends for much longer, Archibald Photography has been featured in multiple publications and have received many honors in the industry. This dynamic duo is also a part of our Zenfolio Pro Team. Today, Donna Archibald addresses the question on everyone's mind - how do they work together without killing each other? Read on to find out...

How to work together without killing each other - by Donna Archibald

The question I am most often asked by friends about running our photography business is what it is like to work with your other half. The fact that Mark and I live together, have two kids together and run a successful business together seems to be a constant source of fascination for other people.

On some days, we must spent just about every waking and sleeping minute in each other’s company! We have a photographic studio within our home and aside from shooting client assignments or client meetings in the studio, our working time is spent sharing an office. In fact, we actually share a desk as we make use of a huge vintage partners desk. Partners desks were made with drawers on one side and drawers and cupboards on the other, making it possible for two people to work on the same desk at the same time.

Mpix is having another March promotion! Enjoy free USPS on all orders over $10 starting Monday, March 26th until Wednesday, March 28th.

The base price total must be over $10 in order to take advantage of this deal.

There is no need for a coupon code, the discount is automatically applied when ordering from your Zenfolio account.

As a way to show our love and appreciation for all of our wonderful Zennies we will be giving away prizes everyday the week of March 19th on Facebook. You could win big from Drop it MODERN, Lensbaby, Spider Holster, Nik Software, and Manfrotto!

For your chance to win from one of these awesome companies you will need to:

1. Like Zenfolio on Facebook, as the contest is exclusive to our fans.

2. Check our Page each day of the week to see what goody we will be giving away. We will post an image of the featured prize along with a question.

3. Answer the question as a comment on the image.

4. Have all your friends, family, neighbors and acquaintances "like" Zenfolio and "like" your comment. The comment with the most likes by the end of the day wins! (Keep in mind that creative answers have been known to get the most likes!)

Good luck Zennies!

Laurence Kim is a Seattle-based portrait photographer who blogs about the business of photography and coaches photographers worldwide. We are fortunate to have Laurence write a small series of posts for us sharing his insight on the photography business. Previously he has shared the power of pre-selling for more portrait profit and how to stand out from your competition. Today, he goes over how to create packages that work.

*Did you know you can create and offer packages with your Premium and Premium Business Zenfolio account? See here for step-by-step instructions.

Creating Packages that Work – by Laurence Kim

Here’s the bad news: my conservative guess is that the typical wedding photographer easily leaves $500 – $1,000 on the table with every single wedding. That’s based on what I’ve learned about their pricing practices during dozens of coaching sessions.

Now the good news: you can earn back that extra $500 – $1,000 per wedding overnight just by redesigning your price list. You can do this without improving your photography, marketing, website or sales skills.

This post is about my pricing principles and how I use those principles to construct packages that work. Now there’s more than one way to successfully price wedding photography, so please don’t get all bent out of shape if you’re successful doing the opposite of what I’m recommending here. What follows is a method developed through trial and error that has worked for me. Your mileage may vary.

Mpix brings you another awesome sale! Enjoy 50% off 8x10 prints starting today until Wednesday, March 7th. This includes e-surface, metallic and true B/W prints!

Note that this discount does not apply to finishing services such as Specialty Products, Gallery Wraps, Lustre Coating, Standouts, Retouching, or Mounting.

As usual, there is no need for a code when using your Zenfolio account, the discount is automatically applied to your base prices at checkout.

Zenfolio made quite a splash at SWPP this year! If you didn’t stop by or you missed the show you can still catch us at FOCUS on Imaging.

At FOCUS stand B23 you will have the opportunity to meet your favourite Zen team, ask them questions or give them a big hug. You will also:

• Get a free book about creating a successful photography website written by industry experts

• Try out all the latest features for yourself

• Take advantage of an incredible show special

• Learn how to make the most of your photography website

Whether you’re concerned about SEO, design, marketing, or generally setting up your website, we’ll have experts on hand to answer all of your questions.

TRADE SHOW HOURS:

Sunday, March 4

10AM to 6PM

Monday, March 5

10AM to 6PM

Tuesday, March 6

10AM to 6PM

Wednesday, March 7

10AM to 5PM

Mark your calendars and register for your expo pass here.

See you at the show!

Now is the perfect time to order gallery wraps! Starting today until Wednesday, February 29th Mpix is giving a 25% discount on all gallery wraps.

There is no need for a code when using your Zenfolio account, the discount is automatically applied to your base prices at checkout.