Great Escape Publishing

Posted April 4th, 2014 by Bonnie Caton & filed under Travel Photography.

There I was, standing in a bathroom stall, my hands held above my head in a “V.” I would have done it out in the open, but when you stand still for two minutes with your hands above your head, people think you’re weird. Hence hiding in a bathroom stall. This technique, called “power posing,” in which you stand or sit in one of a few specific poses for two minutes, is super-easy and scientifically proven to lower your stress hormone while raising your testosterone. It’s a two-minute confidence booster that really works. You can see psychologist Amy Cuddy’s Ted Talk about her discovery, here. How is this relevant to you? Well I, for one, have started using power poses before every headshot. As a photographer, I want to project confidence to my clients. I want to let them know that they’re in good hands. And lowering stress right before a shoot helps in a significant way. Try it out next time you’re about to do something scary… like photograph a stranger! Or ANY time you need an extra confidence boost. Today I’m headed to Santa Fe for our big Ultimate Money-Making Photo Workshop, where I’m going to teach a class on understanding your camera settings, followed by a presentation on light, another one on headshots, a few photo reviews, and finally, a 10-Day Success Plan for anyone who wants to start selling their photos. (I will be doing a lot of Power Poses in the next few days!) You said in your Breakfast Stock Club survey from a few weeks ago that you wanted more success stories from fellow readers, more detailed instructions on how to get into stock agencies, and more about how to get started selling your photos, in general. SO I’ll start by sharing what I learn at the workshop this week. Look for an update from me next Friday! Until then, may the power (pose) be with you! — Bonnie Bonnie Caton Creator, Breakfast Stock Club P.S. Oh, and you can see a couple of reader success stories below. Breakfast Stock Club Premium members are riding the wave and cashing in on their passion for photography! Sign up to join their ranks, here. Your Weekly Breakfast Dish The Latest from your Breakfast StockClub Facebook Page Ann Sorensen-MacLellan: I have been a Premium member since day one, & it has not only given me challenges and discipline, but I now look at the world a lot differently & take the type of pictures even for myself that I would never have considered before & I have seen my creativity expand. The Roadmaps are terrific, & altho’ I am always trying to beat the shortness of time available & think maybe I should give a month a miss, I just can’t!!! From Theresa St John: Whhoooo-hooooo. Going to cash in my stock image earnings from five sites this month and take it to Miami with me at the end of April. Man, I remember starting out here in 2012, taking some classes, reading everything I could get my hands on to learn about stock photography. I remember reading the words “start by earning enough money to buy a cup of coffee or treat yourself to lunch.” I never thought – (always dreamed!) – that there would come a day that all my hard work would pay off in stock and help me travel someplace new. I lovelovelove money in my pocket! :o) I hope that all of us have the best year ever in stock photography, fine art, magazines, travel writing. Dream big – reach high – it’s never too late to make it happen! From Stephanie Ostrander Bishop: Have recently entered the world of stock photography and have had several photos accepted at two agencies – BigStock and CanStock. No sales yet, but hopefully they will come. Just excited to have some accepted! From Katrina Elena Trninich: Great day in stock… sold 9 enhanced downloads at Shutterstock for a $252 profit and reached $3000.00 or more in all time Shutterstock earnings for a payout rate increase to $0.36 per download. Yippee!! I also learned about a free app called DeepMeta which will greatly improve the time consuming chore of uploading to iStock.