PhotoBiz has been working extra hard behind the scenes to offer some great new features for your current products.  We have implemented some great new features to both the Flash Websites and our Online Proofing and Ordering Systems.

  read full blog entry…

In a time where everyone is trying to cut costs and save a dime, it can be really important to try and make an alliance with a reputable company that shares a mutual benefit.  As a business owner, you know that these types of alliances can really save you a lot of money; however, they can be hard to find.  Here at PhotoBiz, we already have a strong alliance with one of the most powerful merchant providers for you.  This offers you a way to save money while giving your customers’ the convenience of accepting credit cards. read full blog entry…

There are a lot of technical things that go along with Merchant Providers and the security of a shopping cart, but as you know we try to lay this out simply for you.  You would like to think that when you’re dealing with a large company, everything is taken care of and both you and your customers are safe and out of risk.  Well, this isn’t always the case. read full blog entry…

Our April Featured Photographer of the Month

John Edgar – Oakville, Canada (Just outside Toronto)

Click on the above image to view his PhotoBiz Website

John’s Blog

 I’ve been in this business for a while now and have had to deal with many companies that cater to pro photographers. My experience with PhotoBiz has been second to none. Their customer service is TOP, they are polite, attentive, and really cool! Their product is also really excellent. I’ve used many other template websites and PhotoBiz takes the cake with a really intuitive, well-built backend and classy well-designed fronts. I highly recommend PhotoBiz.

1.  What equipment you do you use?
I’m a Canon boy through and through.  You’ll generally find me sporting a 5D or two. Gotta have the full frame, so right now the 5D is really the prime camera for me. I shoot Canon mostly because I really enjoy their fast primes; they have a great look to them! I’m almost always shooting wide open; I love the 24 1.4, 50 1.2, 85 1.2. These are my staples for lenses. I’m also really enjoying rocking a tilt when the moment is right, either the 45 or the 90.  I won’t shoot anywhere without my trusty BODA Bag. I’ve had loads of camera bags in the last few years and the BODA bag is the one that fits me perfectly.

2.  How long have you been shooting?
Seriously, I’ve been shooting for a little over 4 years now. Generally, I’ve been taking pictures for the last 8 years of my life.

3.  Where are you located?
I live in Oakville. It’s about a 20 minute drive from Toronto. I don’t shoot in Oakville much though; most of my work is done in Toronto and thankfully across the whole world!

4.  What type of photography do you take?
While I’m primarily a wedding photographer, I do concentrate on children and family as well.  I’ve shot a lot in my life, though, and I’m more than happy to shoot anything!

5.  Price range of events?
I start at $3,500 for coverage. After albums and whatnot, my couples generally expect to pay between $6,000 and $8,000.

6.  When did you notice that you had passion for photography?
I’ve enjoyed photography since forever, and I’ve always had a fascination for cameras. It’s really only in recent years when I left a job in I.T that I decided to move into it as a career.

7.  Is there anything unique about what you do?
I’m generally quite a quirky guy, and I’m always trying to be happy and fun with my clients. I think it’s super important to create a good friendship with my clients. Most of them meet me for lunch and we just hang out. I understand the seriousness of what we do as photographer, but I also think it can be a really relaxed and interesting process. I try and get my clients as excited about having their picture taken as I am about capturing them. If I owned Speedos, I’d probably shoot in them.

8.  What’s the funniest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
Well, interestingly, the most amusing thing I’ve seen at a wedding was my very first.  It was a tent wedding in the backyard of someone’s house and mostly consisted of just family and friends. The priest read the vows for the bride to repeat and she started to tear up. In the few moments of silence that followed, the 4-year-old ring bearer took a step forward. He looked at the bride, looked at the guests, and then loudly proclaimed, “I just pooped”.

9.  What’s the scariest thing that ever happened during a shoot?
I’m not sure if this is scary, but I was shooting a wedding in  Mexico, and I dropped my 5D with a 24 1.4 down a pyramid and smashed them both… that wasn’t pleasant.

10.  How many events do you photograph each year?
I’ll shoot between 20 and 25 weddings a year.

11.  Have you had to change anything to adjust in current economic times?
I think playing to your strengths is really the best thing you can do when times get tough. A lot of photographers I speak to are preaching diversification, and while I totally agree that a diverse and well-rounded repertoire is always a great thing, I worry about many of my colleagues spreading themselves too thin.  Do what you do well; stay competitive by way of unique product offerings, concentrate on the stability of the core of your business, and the rest will follow. Don’t forget, shoot shoot shoot!

12.  Describe your shooting style?
I’m pretty far from your typical traditional photojournalistic wedding photographer. I believe in capturing great real moment in really interesting ways. I think it’s also okay to pose your clients and show them what you’re looking for. I love fashion, editorial, and glam, I love making things larger than life. My hats off to pure PJ shooters; I can’t do it, it’s not me.

Welcome to the Blogger’s Corner where I will be featuring my favorite websites to share with you.  This section will consist of Past Featured Photographers as well as just some really sweet websites with unique style.  Think you’ve got what it takes to be listed here…leave a comment below with a short testimonial and a link to your website.  Check back as this will be an evolving page!

Larisa Frankoski - MOYA LARA :: Exquisite Wedding Invitations
PhotoBiz has been the single most valuable investment I have made in my business! In this day and age, you are nothing without a web presence. PhotoBiz has helped me not only launch a website, but through their blog, video tutorials, OUTSTANDING customer support team, and Facebook discussions, I have learned how to promote my site and my business in more ways than I imagined. Surprisingly, I’m not even a photographer, but PhotoBiz is versatile enough for just about any business. And best of all, PhotoBiz is constantly releasing new features to always keep your site fresh and exciting. Thank you PhotoBiz!

Maayan Ziv - Maayan Ziv Photography
“As a photographer who’d rather be spending her time out in the field shooting than nit-picking through website construction, it’s been great to work with PhotoBiz. They’ve made it so easy for me to set up my website and keep it running smoothly. I love their full screen template, it looks great and works well. With PhotoBiz I got everything I wanted; a real professional look plus awesome customer service. PhotoBiz has been great!”

Brock Johnston - Brock Johnston Photographer
“Pure and simple, right from the time our eyes first met, at www.photobiz.com, I was in love. In love with a system that saves me soooo much time and allows me to look both professional and innovative to our valued clients. Using photobiz is like having a graphic and web design team on staff minus the expense. I wish photobiz all the very best in success (as long as not too many photographers in Wagga Wagga NSW Australia discover my secret). Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone!”

Lindsay Horn - Lindsay Horn Photography
“I didn’t take the process of starting a website lightly – I did a lot of research.  PhotoBiz always seemed to float to the top in discussions of both customer service and product.  They have certainly lived up to their reputation.  Having no experience in website creation at all, I made MANY calls to the customer service line.  They kindly and happily answered all of my questions, and on the rare occasion that I stumped them, they found out the answer immediately while I waited on the line.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  I was able to choose and customize a template that really reflects my style – both personally and as a photographer.  I’m constantly amazed at the options available to me from the actual website to the Shopping Cart.  I have received an overwhelmingly positive response from my clients as well, and that’s what really counts.  I give PhotoBiz two whole-hearted thumbs up!”

Hiram Trillo - Hiram Trillo Art-Photography
“After workin for some great photographers, I decided to open up my own studio.  I knew that in this competitive market I needed to have a strong web presence.  I looked and used other companies and was greatly disappointed.  A colleague mentioned Photobiz and the rest is history.  Photobiz gave me the tools to get that strong web presence needed in this market, their designes are top of the line and the customer service goes above and beyond. 80% percent of my customers have mentioned how easy and well balanced my website is. My customers enjoy the fact that they can view, order, and book dates online.  It has cut the expenses of proof books, saved us time by avoiding in studio viewing appointments, and my customers love that they can pull their slideshows anywhere and purchase as well.  I have highly recommended Photobiz to all of my collegues and most have signed on. Thanks guys and keep it up!”

Monica Burby - Photoumbra Studios
“I must say that I love your blog and the FB thing is great too! You guys have really worked hard since I joined a couple of years ago. I have been very pleased with how the site has evolved. I love the new full screen templates and the SEO options and the color picker is wonderful. I have converted 3 of my photographer friends to your site and I have 4 sites of my own (3 for Photoumbra and 1 for my husband’s company).”

Kim Farrell - Kim Farrell Photography
“Photobiz.  Hmmm… RAWKS!!  I cannot tell you how much I LOVE photobiz!  From the very first time I had to call customer service until now, has been just an over the top, great experience!!  They’re customer service staff is always top notch!  They’ve been so friendly and helpful!  When it comes to utilizing their user friendly templates it doesn’t get much better! They’re design team has a really great sense of style for today’s photographer!  They are always updating features and adding additional templates & their user-friendly control panel is a dream, it is a breeze to change templates and change your look up, and be able to maintain your branding in one simple step!  Photobiz has helped me so much by easing the trouble of website design & I love that I have complete control and changes I’ve made are instantaneous!!  Thank so much Photobiz!”

Michelle Garcia - Country Rose Designs
“I’m a perfectionist. When my business opened in 2006 I wanted my husband to help me build our own website. I knew what I wanted and with my artistic style a template website was not going to fit. We got all the programs we needed and at the end of 2008 my home page and senior gallery was the only thing completed. It took 3 days just to do that much! My business was taking off and I still didn’t have my website up. My husband found PhotoBiz.com and thought it looked like a great idea. Yes, I think it was a fantastic idea! I fell in love with the Darkroom site as soon as I saw it. I grabbed my credit card and was designing my website that very night! I can’t say enough about the PhotoBiz websites and the people that work there. I didn’t think it was going to be as easy as it was giving up my creative website ideas for someone else’s but the truth is PhotoBiz had exactly what I didn’t even know I wanted! It is a perfect for my images! Their customer service agents really are there to help you, encourage you and to make things run smoothly! I get compliments all the time on my website! Thanks PhotoBiz!”

Sean Penhall - Sean Penhall Photography
“When deciding on which website to use I’d suggest no other site than PhotoBiz.com. Their full-service website is ideal for photographers that would rather spend more time behind the lens than to have to develop and deal with costly web designers. From start to finish you can expect amazing customer service; THEY will even call YOU if you are having any problems with one of the features of their website. Their new dynamic control panel is very user-friendly and takes the frustration out of updating your website. If you’re looking for good customer service, user-friendly website customization, efficient, and professional designs to build your website then PhotoBiz.com is the place for you. Many thanks to the people at PhotoBiz.com.”

Jen Avril Rae Shannon - Jen Shannon Photography
What a beautiful website!  She has multiple websites with us and has a unique style of photography.

Mary Shaffer Clark - DMC Studios Mary
Mary is one of our past Featured photographers of the month.  She has a great style paired with some beautiful photography.  Click here to view her full interview!

Fritz Liedtke - Fritz Photo
“I enjoy working with PhotoBiz not only for the beautiful, customizable websites offered, but also because of their service.  Whenever I email them a question, I usually receive a phone call in response.  This regularly surprises me; and it’s quite rare that I receive pleasant surprises from my vendors.”

Jennifer Farris - Jennifer Farris Photography
“PhotoBiz.com has everything I want in one place. I highly recommend them to every photographer that I come in contact with. PhotoBiz.com is the ultimate business solution for photographers! After I found PhotoBiz.com, I looked NO further. Customer service is awesome! I love you guys!! You’ll never get rid of me!”  Click here to view her full interview!

Danny Hommes - Pixelography
“For many years I designed, built and maintained the website for my digital imaging business.  Too often the site would become out dated because the process for building pages was simply too time consuming to be practical.  So when it came time for the 4th major revision to my site, I went looking for alternate solutions.  A friend referred me to PhotoBiz and the search ended.  I played with the sample sites for about 20 minutes and made a decision to commit.  Later that afternoon, with about 45 minutes invested, I had a new site up and running.  I can’t imagine how it could be much easier than that, but my favorite thing is that the templates simply look fantastic.  The designers have created lots of really nice layouts to match the personal style of different photographers.  I found one that suites me perfectly, and the best part, I can change it today or tomorrow or anytime and there is no re-coding, no “start over” and no waiting. I can’t imagine going back to the “old way” of keeping my website current, especially now that something as well thought out as PhotoBiz exist.”

John Edgar - John Edgar Photography
“I’ve been in this business for a while now and have had to deal with many companies that cater to pro photographers. My experience with PhotoBiz has been second to none. Their customer service is TOP, they are polite, attentive, and really cool! Their product is also really excellent. I’ve used many other template websites and PhotoBiz takes the cake with a really intuitive, well-built backend and classy well-designed fronts. I highly recommend PhotoBiz.”  John was our Featured Photographer of the month in April of 2009.  Click here to view his full interview.

Brett Tyler - Brett Tyler Photography
“PhotoBiz has the best customer service. They really care about their clients. The site is very easy to use and my Brides love the galleries. It is a perfect business solution for me.”  Brett has been one of our featured photographers for years and one of our biggest supporters.

Larry Perez - YRAY MARIE
“I stumbled upon PhotoBiz while searching for a web developer to make my business look the way I wanted it to look on the web. Needless to say, I saved a TON of money, a TON of time, gained a user-friendly online publisher to keep my studio up-to-date, & developed a great feeling about photobiz beng a long-term investment for my business. I recommend this to EVERYONE looking for a solution that is professional looking, easy to use & most of all….administered by a company that is flexible and willing to move forward with new ideas to suit my ever-changing needs. Keep up the awesome customer service!”

James & Jen Tarpley - Visio Photography
James and Jen have built one of my favorite websites out of all of our customers.  Beautiful design, unique style, and breath taking pictures.  They have built 3 different websites that all link off of thier splash page.  They were our past featured photographers in the month of March in 2009.  Click here to view their full interview.

Landon Day - Day Dream Photography
“Simply put Photobiz ROCKS! I have never had a single bad experience.  They are always polite and quick to be of assistance.  They always personally walk me through anything that gives me issues (even thought it is noramally just something I clicked wrong).  I have been using them since 2004 and as I have improved, so have they.  Going from a simple html site, to flash site that did simple slide shows, to full frame sites with neat transitions and custom music… Photobiz can not be beat.”

Michelle Moore - Michelle Moore Seniors
“I have been thoroughly impressed with PhotoBiz right off the bat.  I had been eying their websites for a few months, and I finally decided to make the leap.  After being with one of those “other” companies for a long time, I am well aware of the change.  I was impressed with having immediate access to get started on my new website, as well as the excellent customer service!  I had a few questions after getting everything set-up, and when I called, someone answered!  I can’t emphasize how important it is to be able to chat with someone, get answers, and make suggestions all in a matter of 30 minutes!  The back-end is very intuitive, and the front-end is simple & sleek.  I can’t wait to see how my clients respond.  Thank you!”

Julie Dessureault - D Creative Photographer
“Photobiz has the best customer service in the whole world!!! I had a million questions and with my big accent from Quebec, they have always been so wonderful and patient with answering every question that I’ve asked.  And I will not forget to mention their beautiful and effective design. I’m so proud of my website! It’s so easy to maintain too. Everything I have asked for on my web site is there: calendar, shopping cart, slideshows and contact form.  -Thanks Photobiz!”

Florian Wardell - Florian Wardell Photography
“Photobiz has helped me establishing a web presence. Their simple yet elegant templates are a joy to use, and the prices are very attractive, even to a college student like myself. The site was online is just a few hours, and the photo uploading process is incredibly easy.  One of the many joys of being a Photobiz customer is to discover new templates added regularly, which allows a very swift change in style, feel and flair of the site. Seeing my photographs being displayed in such a flawless gallery has inspired me to shoot more, and that’s probably the one feature Photobiz is the best at: Inspiring.”

Mark Sobhani - Mark Sobhani Photography
“Photobiz offered a great avenue to showcase my photos. I created a site that features both my photojournalism work as well as my fashion/glamour/weddings etc.  The website is already paying dividends as prospective clients are responding to it so postitively.  It was easy to set up, and didn’t come with a huge up-front cost. Best of all, it gave me a huge amount of control over what my final website would look like. As my whims change, so can my website. I’ve always been a fan of LARGE photos, so I went with a template that really makes use of the real estate on today’s large computer monitors.  Customer service with Photobiz has been nothing short of spectacular. I’ve only needed to call a couple of times — and with simple questions — the reps have been very accomodating. I think I can actually hear the smile in their voices!