Hello everyone. I just found this forum the other day and figured I should give a little introduction. My name is Rob Vreeland and I'm a professional photographer in the San Francisco, Bay Area. I specialize in actions sports (more on the extreme side) and I currently hold a senior photographer position at Kiteboarding magazine. While I would love to be able to pay the mortgage with that type of photography, it just isn't possible. I'm now in the process of starting a new Pet Photography business and I do believe it will be a very fulfilling career, as well as a decent money maker that can pay the bills.





Photography for me started back when I was about ten. My dad purchased a beautiful Nikon FG and all I wanted to do was to play with all the cool dials and buttons. Unfortunately my father wouldn't let me touch the camera. In high school I signed up for a photography class which finally gave me a chance to learn how to use a camera. I was instantly hooked and by my senior year I was spending several hours a day in the darkroom and had been accepted with early admissions and a scholarship to Rochester Institute of Technology. At RIT I majored in commercial photography but after two intense years of learning the craft of photography, I was burnt. I sold my cameras, bought a computer and switched majors into Information Technology. Years past and I never picked up a camera until Nikon released the D1X. From that moment I realized I no longer had to live in a darkroom to do my photography and I was hooked once again. I experimented with all sorts of photography including landscapes, portraits, products, sports and pets. The sports photography really got me motivated but the income potential just wasn't there (unless I wanted to shoot kids baseball and soccer).

One day while organizing all my archives I realized I had a large collection of some great pet photography (mostly of my dog Murphy) and started researching the idea of doing it professionally. I did an incredible amount of research, wrote a business plan, secured some funds and I'm just now about ready to open it to the world.

My style is something that I can't simply describe. Other people just tell me I have, "the eye". Whatever it is, it seems to work and people are always amazed. Now I guess it's time to turn it into a real business.

My new Pet Photography website is now up and running. The "About Us" page is still missing as I haven't finalized what will go there. Please take a look and let me know what you think. You will find three portfolios. The first is, "the inspiration" which is pictures of my dog Murphy. The second portfolio, "the work" is images that I have done of friends pets. The third portfolio, "the adrenaline" is my action sports portfolio (I know, not pet related, but I believe it shows what a competent photographer I am).

Enough about me. I'm off to continue reading all the messages in this forum.

Murphy Dog Studios

Cheers!
Rob

Hello Rob and of course Murphy. I adore the underwater shot of your "water dog"! He looks like he is having such fun while you work. May your new venture prove to be rewarding.

Got any ideas on how you will be marketing yourself?

Looking forward to more of your images.

Welcome Rob. I hope the pet photography business takes off: as you already have good magazine experience, will you go that way with the pet work also?

Hi Rob,

I'm new here too. This is a very pleasant place and I can see by your portfolio and education you have much to offer this small community.

I recall seeing your website a few weeks ago when someone linked to it on fredmiranda.com,

here is the link:
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/386193/0#3293637

Coincidently, I see you live very close to my son and the eBay campus where he works.

Good luck with the new biz,
Jeff

Hey Rob,

Welcome aboard. You are right that you have some awesome shots of Murphy. I know you are talking about a business plan - do you want to share some of the highlights?

James

welcome, and nice shots. I'd love to see more, but i'm on a dial up and your site is much to large for me to view. . .

Oh well, i like the two shots you posted!

Take care,

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the link. I will definitely check it out in the morning.

James

Thanks for all the kind feedback everyone.

Peggy - There are a number of ways I will be marketing myself. I have already begun talks with a number of high end pet boutiques in the area (there are a lot of them where I live) and also have put together a wonderful 10x10 booth to setup at local events (dog events and farmers markets). As we speak I have new brochures, postcards and business cards being printed up. I will also be looking into places that I can market to people who are getting puppies.

PC - I do plan on submitting to magazines.

Blue Dog - Thanks for that link. I do have a pbase account where I have a large number of images from sports, pets, vacations, etc. http://www.pbase.com/robv

James - Kind of hard to share highlights of my business plan. Most of it deals with cash on hand, credit, marketing, package pricing, etc. Many, many hours of research. I will say I will offer several packages ranging from $350 to $700 (all for single sitting). I will also offer "puppy" packages that will include a number of sittings and those will range from $500 to $1000. I'm still on the fence about doing studio shots, I think I'd rather keep everything on location with natural light.

I do sometimes setup all my lights at my house and have some fun.


Final Shot - I definitely don't optimize any of my websites for dial up users, however I do believe my murphy dog studios website loads very fast for the amount of images it contains. All images are 120K or smaller (most around 80k).

Thanks again everyone,
Rob Vreeland
www.MurphyDogStudios.com

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the response. I am less interested in pricing packages than I am about the other logistics (as pricing is often very regional). I guess that I was thinking about the pieces such as developing advertising, salable product packages, studio space, financial guarantees (so that one can pay the mortgage during the development stage), etc.

The link that was posted earlier by Blue Dog was quite interesting (thanks for posting it, by the way). While it appears to be relatively generic in areas, it really does help create a framework for a business.

James