We follow a lot of photographers on Twitter and often see tweets that are an obvious attempt to vent due to a problem client.  This inspired us to create an article where you can vent to the photography world or read others' struggles and hopefully realize you're not alone. 

Here was our tweet to you: "I hate it when my client....."

1. thinks they are my only client. :-p - SusanDoddPhoto
2. i hate it when my client sends tons of emails, has me do all sorts of extra work and then places a really small order. - kellydecoteau
3. I hate it when my client grrrrrrrs like a tiger and then asks " should I do Blue Steel or the Magnum" - coryweberphoto
4. hires another photographer to shoot a wedding with me and doesn't understand why "we need to talk" - austinjwalker
5. i hate it when my client comes to my site and can't scroll the bar to the right. it's frustrating. - seloti
6. my client:makes me wake up at 6am for a conference call and then have him say he didn't get a chance to review the changes. - minonina
7. I hate it when my client asks me to shoot at high noon on a FL beach. Sure sure bc squinty eyes & sweat is in this year. - alisonwaring
8. I hate it when my client doesn't warn me about how awesome their event is gonna be & then we get there & it's magic - jenaew
9. let's their mother make all the decisions for their wedding!! - chrisward86
10. I hate it when my client.....doesn't read emails and I have to repeat myself :) - theKaraSchultz
11. isn't happy. - memycameraandU
12. wants to see EVERY image I shot of them. - jesset23
13. when clients get their prints from Walmart (instead through @pictage) and show those off to their friends ;) - CorinnaHoffman
14. calls me at 11pm thinking it's cool to chat about there wedding.. - Jason_McGrew
15. keeps asking for something free repeatedly...like "oh well this other photography was doing..." that's OK for them not me - ericavelascowed
16. shows up for a family session for 4 with 20 relatives and says, we want group shots and individuals, at the same price. Ugh - kolodczak
17. I hate it when my client.. Is unhappy. - christinearnold
18. I hate it when my client not happy with my work.. i need to get better and better.. :) - melvinnyacindy
19. when a client shows up in k-mart like wht chunky tennis shoes. You know the kind that a 60yr old man would wear! - getnickeled
20. doesnt let go and have fun! - ameliakatephoto
21. ....reprimands and/or bribes their child(ren) during a shoot. doesn't happen very often, thankfully ;). - urbanbaby
22. make ridiculous request to remove things from photos to please their own asinine attitudes about class - scoooooooooooty
23. ...bugs me to get their design done when I am busy riding my bike and goofing off. - itinerantstudio
24. ...wants to form a large heart shape for their family photos in hopes it will look cool when shot from above. ick. :) - katienealphoto
25. asks for a discount- stacybroganable
26. Would love to win, but I have clients that follow me on twitter! So maybe: "I hate it when my clients don't follow me" lol - freshsugar
27. .....calls with "just one more thing..." - WeddingsByRyan
28. I hate it when my client.....asks if they can get a discount for ordering "so much". - Audreywoulard
29. ...I hate it when my client... doesn't communicate! - josefnorris
30. naaah, we love our clients, as much we'll love that horizontal template... cheers team! - mcorrea
31. I hate it when my client...haggles on the price:( - sarahstepan
32. when my client feels the need 2 ask my advice on every single detail of her wedding advice regarding her underware is 2 far - ELITEVENTS
33. I hate it when my client...serves roast beef at the wedding...highly overrated :) - sharileephoto
34. I hate when my client thinks they look pale & wants the photos 'warmer' to the point that everything looks orange! - NicoleDavis
35. doesn't trust me! - BrookelynP
36. ...forgets my birthday. - ericalovesry
37. says they have a hard time navigating my blog;) - thewhywelove1
38. says photgraphy is so important to them, books The Ritz, books our basic package and then go to Fiji on the honeymoon. - RBothwell
39. Thinks I am a virtual plastic surgeon. - mikebrice
40. designs her own album in microsoft publisher an shows me so i know what she is looking for. - radphotographer
41. says "I can't afford "x photographer" but I love her work. Can you shoot just like her? Lol - LHensleyPhoto
42. decides they'd prefer to see their landscaped color photos in portrait black and white, contradicting their consultation! - snapshotartist
43. I hate it when my client... ...gushes about the gallery and then only buys desk prints. Ugh. - mzihlman
44. ...brings their friend to a consult. and the friend hates everything. - gregghart
45. doesn't like the vision i have....but waits until after to inform me. - austinjwalker
46. I hate it when my client wants to talk photo gear to passive aggressively let you know how to shoot! - thelongcut

We are giving one of our new horizontal blog templates away to one random person who responded to this question.  We will announce the winner on our Twitter account on Monday, July 26th.  If you missed the tweet and would still like to enter to win you can leave a comment below that finishes this sentence: "I hate it when my client.....".

The winner of the horizontal blog is @seloti!!!  Thank you to everyone for participating.  As a thank you we would like to offer you all this 50% discount code for the horizontal blog template, Perilla:  PERILLA5.

1.    Akismet


This fantastic WordPress plugin eliminates those annoying spam comments that are otherwise unavoidable.  The setup is a little more work than most plugins but it is well worth the effort in the long run.  We think this plugin is so important, in fact, that we created a step-by-step guide to setting it up on your blog.


2.    Google XML Sitemaps


Google XML Sitemaps automatically generates a sitemap that is crawlable by all of the major search engines.  This ensures that the search engines don't miss a page when crawling your website.


3.    All in One SEO Pack


The All in One SEO Pack is an incredibly comprehensive SEO tool, possibly even too comprehensive.  Most of its users will only use about 5 percent of its functionality but right out of the box it provides the ability to change the all important Title, Description, and Keywords for each post, an otherwise missing element in WordPress.


4.    SEO Smart Links


This is another great SEO tool.  It automatically links phrases in your text to other relevant posts.  This interlinking of posts is important to your rankings and SEO Smart Links does all the work for you.  This is especially useful if you already have a bunch of posts on your WordPress blog that aren't interlinked.


5.    WP Super Cache


Want your blog pages to load faster?  This nifty little plugin is your answer.  WP Super Cache speeds up load time by caching your pages on your server.  This is a very handy plugin for photographers who put a lot of images in their posts.


6.    WordPress.com Stats


We recommend using Google Analytics to acquire your web statistics but if you don't want to go that route then this plugin is the next best thing.  It is hands down best stats plugin for WordPress, but does require a little more work to set up.


7.    LinkWithin


LinkWithin adds a "related posts" section with pictures to the bottom of your posts, which is great for keeping your readers on your website.  You won't find this plugin in the marketplace so don't waste your time searching for it.  You have to get it on their official website.


8.    WP-DBManager


WP-DBManager may be the best plugin you will ever use.  It allows you to schedule automatic backups of your database, which will be a life saver if something tragic ever happens to your database.


9.    SexyBookmarks


SexyBookmarks is the ultimate social media WordPress plugin.  It embeds social media icons on the bottom of your posts, allowing your readers to share your blog with the world.  The best part: it allows you to choose from an astounding 90 social media sites.


10.    Flaunt


Our photography slideshow, Flaunt, isn't a WordPress plugin but it can be embedded in your posts to give your blog an edge.  Each Flaunt album has an embed code that you simply copy and paste into a post and viola, Flaunt is in your blog.  Why is this useful?  Well, for starters Flaunt looks awesome, duh!  And using Flaunt will improve your blog's load time dramatically because it eliminates the long, almost endless, trail of images down your blog.

We recently sent out a message on our twitter account asking for your favorite piece of photography equipment and we received quite the array of responses that we thought we would share with all of you.  You can read them below.

1. a nice comfy desk chair for those long editing sessions. :) - @AsgPhoto
2. the lastolite ezybox :-) - @douglevy
3. canon 35mm 1.4L, can shoot everything with it! Its the swiss army knife of lenses - @william_kim
4. hands down, 50 mm 1.2. Close second: my husband/ second shooter. - @lisahessel
5. sense of humor. - @jennyjimenez
6. the 85L that I just ordered. - @StudioPhenom
7. My favorite piece of equipment is my eyeball. It sees what I need to shoot. - @KeithCzechanski
8. my video light for first dances... :) - @r_madrid
9. 50mm 1.2L Canon lens... perfection. - @marywyar
10. does my awesome blog count as my favorite piece of equipment? - @karenard
11. Tie between my Nikon 50mm f/1.4G or my Sigma 14mm f/2.8 - @joshuawhite
12. 27" 16gig i7 iMac...mmmmm hmmmm - @marywyar
13. my heart. - @jcogliandro
14. laughter... - @clints
15. my expodisc - @jennyboxmorphy
16. that would have to be my 70-200 vr - @photosbynick
17. the 85mm f/1.2L. "I love it more than taffy, and I'm a man that loves his taffy." - Mayor West - @dbickley
18. the 45mm T/S lense - @JNPStudios
19. My eyes. - @zoeica
20. my canon 70-200 f/2.8 amazing images!! - @sergioaruiz
21. My Nikkor 17-55mm 2.8 lens :) - @allisonbess
22. my mind is my favorite piece of equipment. Then my 24-70 lens :) - @iamparris
    
23. my eye... Does that count as equipment?!? :) - @soulmatesphoto

Do you have something you would like to add to this list?  If so, please leave it in the comments area below.

Being a photographer, there's always a period of time where you simply don't know what to do with your photography or you don't know who or what to shoot.  We call that writer's block or simply lack of inspiration.  Where do photographers go and get inspiration?  Some daydream, some start taking pictures of their family or what's around them, others read a book, or they are doing what you're doing right now and read a photography blog.

Here's a list of websites that have a great amount of photography that may provide some inspiration for those of you that are looking for some ideas for your next shoot.

Photography Served


Photography Served is part of the "Served Network" which takes creative and professional work from the portfolios found in specific categories on the Behance Network.  You can get a lot of creative ideas from this website and perhaps try out a different aspect of photography.  Why just do weddings or children?  Try out landscapes or other different types of objects.  As they say, the more you explore and practice, the better you'll be.

Fashion Served


Fashion Served is just like Photography Served but tailored for fashion design.  Even though it's more fashion related, you can still get some good inspiration on how photographers captured people and their motions as well as playing with lighting and perspectives.

One Eyeland

This is one of the most common questions we receive from our blog clients.  In simple terms, a trackback is a way for one blog to notify another that it was referenced in a blog post.  This reference is normally in the form of a link.  Depending on your blog's settings the trackback is usually sent automatically when you link to another person's blog post.

Here is an example:
- Blog A writes a post and links to a post on Blog B.
- Blog B receives a trackback from Blog A.

What does a trackback look like?
Each blogging platform handles trackbacks a little differently but in WordPress, the most popular blogging platform, they are treated very similar to comments and will even show in the comments tab in the backend.  

Here is an example of what it looks like when you receive a trackback in WordPress:


Here is an example of what it looks like on your blog after you approve the trackback:


Why are trackbacks helpful?
Because trackbacks are similar to comments, they are usually displayed in the comments area of a post or in a separate section near the comments.  The idea is that this will help your readers find blog articles related to yours when they read through the comments of your post.  It's like a person left a comment on your blog post that said "If you want to read more about this topic go here: [link to their blog post]".

On the opposite side of things, if you send a trackback, which most likely occurs automatically when you link to someone else's blog post, you have the possibility to gain readership through their blog post.  


Why trackbacks are dead.
While trackbacks are a great idea in theory, spam has all but rendered trackbacks extinct.  The majority of trackbacks that you will receive are going to be spam posts and you shouldn't approve them.  Because of this the majority of bloggers disable trackbacks completely.

We don't want to discourage you if you want to give trackbacks a try.  They are a great concept and if used properly they can add value to your blog posts.  Just beware of the spam!