My friend and I simply can't think of a good name

[Vascilli]

So my friend and I have decided to make some money doing portraits and any other photography people want. (No weddings and other "stressful" stuff) We just got an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 kit and our lenses serve us fine. (28-135 stopped down does fine) We are all set to go... but we don't have a name for ourselves. Would anybody care to inspire us? Names that involve initials or even the word "Photography" bores us. (Not so much the latter)

PS any other tips for pros in the making would be great.

[Anke]

What are you and your friend called?

[Vascilli]

What are you and your friend called?
..We don't like mixing our names into a company name, if that's what you're after. Again "lame" and played out. :lol:

We're picky. ;)

[Anke]

..We don't like mixing our names into a company name, if that's what you're after. Again "lame" and played out. :lol:

We're picky. ;)

Ah well I tried.

How about calling yourself Bipboppumboopumbappumskiddlybappumboo? Hmm perhaps not good for business cards or answering the phone.

Kidding aside, perhaps you should incorporate "Photography" or "Photo" in there somewhere otherwise people won't associate you with the art.

[Vascilli]

Ah well I tried.

How about calling yourself Bipboppumboopumbappumskiddlybappumboo? Hmm perhaps not good for business cards or answering the phone.

Kidding aside, perhaps you should incorporate "Photography" or "Photo" in there somewhere otherwise people won't associate you with the art.
Yes we probably will put Photography in. But really, does the name EJH Photography excite you? (No those aren't our initials)

[Anke]

Yes we probably will put Photography in. But really, does the name EJH Photography excite you? (No those aren't our initials)

Not particulary, you're right it has been done to death. But so has calling your company Banana or Elephant or MoonPig (which has to be the worst of all).

A new avenue must be found :)

How about "Picture Portrait" or "Face Shot"?...ok clutching at straws now :confused:

[Gary_Evans]

But so has calling your company .... MoonPig (which has to be the worst of all).


Its a twist on Aardvark, one of the first words in the dictionary. Aardvark means Earthpig in (I think) Afrikaans and from there a lateral jump takes you to moonpig.

[HaroldC3]

My suggestion is to go find a domain name generator and try that but here's one I thought of.

Northern Lights Photography

[CamDiver]

When friends ask you to take images, is that modeling shots? Are you into concept imaging puch? Product ID etc. It would help if you could list the styles / genres that you will be shooting in greater detail.

[superstes]

Friends Photo Services

:D

[NathanJK]

Choosing a name can be very difficult and in my opinion, you rarely will like what you come up with yourself. I personally don't really like my business name, although it was the best I could come up with after lots of thinking, polling friends and family etc. However, the clients don't seem to care and I've even gotten positive comments on it! I think its more important to just pick something, stick with it, and move on to worrying about other things that matter to your business. Think about how many times you've heard slightly silly business names from other people and just thought "huh, I guess that's what they liked" and that was it. I doubt anyone chooses not to go with a photographer as long as they have a semi normal name. IE: if it is a personal name or photo related your probably going to be just fine. Calling yourself "Evil Sith Lord Photo Fantastic" might not earn you any points though. Although, if you go with Evil Sith Lord Photo Fantastic, the domain name www.EvilSithLordPhotoFantastic.com IS available! Of course, there is another problem...finding out that your ideal business name is already taken in the domain name hunt!

[valentinephoto]

Unless you think you and your friend will be in business doing the same photography together past high school (since I see you're 15 now), go ahead and name it anything you like. It's likely you'll want to start your own company and then you'll be ready to pick a name that sticks forever.

Finding a business name is hard. Sure a lot has been done in terms of using initials, the person's name, or "photography", but like others have said, there are so many not-usual names out there that nothing is really unusual or unique anymore. Although I'm sure someone is going to google some names and find something crazy.

But yes, telling us more about the styles of photography you are going to offer will be more helpful with people helping you create a name. Portraits can be many things - are they kids? families? couples? engagement?

Good luck picking a name. I'm sure you and your friend will find something that sticks.

[OneEyedJack]

maybe a little background about your and your friend, and the type of photography you like will give us something more to work with

[Floriantrojer.com]

Headshot Anyone? Photography LLC


:cool: I'd go for it. It's portraits after all :rolleyes:

[710 Studio]

Here's my story... perhaps this will inspire you to look in places you may otherwise not have looked:

I was going to call my photography business (My Full Name Here) Photography. However, web URL's that would have supported that name were all taken. So, I figured I would incorporate numbers into the name. I tried random numbers from 1 to 999 followed by the word, "studio". All numbers were taken. At that point, my wife groggily stumbled out of the bedroom to tell me about a really vivid dream she had, before waking up. It was so vivid, she could even remember what time it was. It was 7:10.

At that point, in my URL search, I looked for "710studio.com". It was free! So, from that point, I named my photography business, 7|10 Studio Photography.

Hope this inspires you to look in places you ordinarily would not look for your name!

[LBaldwin]

Well we wouldn't want to BORE you, now would we? vbg

So is are you're photo chops any good? Are you gonna be a photo xerox machine or are your attempting something never seen before. Because it is not about your names, it is about your photography...

If we knew more about your photography, skills, talent, technical ability, then perhaps we could help. Just purchasing gear won't cut it!

Show us your talent, then we will come up with a cool name for you, of course there is a fee.... DOH

[ofdphoto]

Headshots Anonymous
Hot Head Photography

[turaund1]

call yourselfs friendly fotos

[Vascilli]

If we knew more about your photography, skills, talent, technical ability, then perhaps we could help. Just purchasing gear won't cut it!

Pictures are coming. :D We're still getting the hang of our lights, and being in a very cramped space does not help. (Wrap from the background light..)

And yeah we still don't have a clue on what to name ourselves.

[alabama1980]

I came with mine on a whim. I was tooling around trying to get an invoice laid out, and wanted to put SOMETHING at the top to get a better idea.

My favorite bible verse is Isaiah 40:31 "...mount up with wings as eagles"...

I stuck Wings as Eagles Photography at the top just to get a visual...but then I liked it...

Like you I LOATH seeing "Joe Blow Photography"....very uninteresting.

Think of maybe songs you like, lines from a movie...something like that and play off it...

Probably not as sound advice as the others, but just sharing my experience!

[NickSimcheck]

Think of colors....

Red
Blue (even the names of a shade, like Cobalt)
Pink
etc...

Then pair it to everything/anything you can think of. Redbird, Bluestone, Pinklite, etc.

[plattepro]

How about "The Flashers"? :D

[SoccerRef]

Two Guys and a Camera

[JayCee Images]

Two Guys and a Camera

No comment... :lol:

[stathunter]

Two Guys and a Camera

Are you guys or girls?

If you are chicks how bout: Portrait ManiacS (PMS)

other worthless suggestions: Double Duface , Irritation Photography, Canadians with a Camera (CWC), WGAR Who Gives A Rip

[dbvirago]

Pictures are coming. :D We're still getting the hang of our lights, and being in a very cramped space does not help. (Wrap from the background light..)

And yeah we still don't have a clue on what to name ourselves.

Yeah, you might want to get the hang of your lights before opening the doors to your business. That and come up with a name.

[big_apple_ken]

I am totally in the same boat. Trying to start a website (probably on smugmug or zenfolio) to house my little portfolio. Totally stuck on names. Wanted originally to go with FlirtPhotography.com but it was taken. Was think my greatest passion outside of photography is snowboarding (which I am going to try to merge together this upcoming season) so I thought about stuff like:

PowerPhotography/PowerPhotos
PowPhotos
ShredPhotography/ShredPhoto
BackcountryPhoto
BluebirdPhoto

Thing is I want to do mainly people & skate/snowboard photography so I don't want to name to kind of pigeonhole me...but I really don't want to do the (whole name)photography.com thing....:( Any suggestions?

[SlowBlink]

+1 for Moon Pig.

[S.Horton]

Eyes First

[Vascilli]

Good lord, I'm starting to think Moon Pig isn't that bad.

I need to think more.

[Jacc]

Here's my story... perhaps this will inspire you to look in places you may otherwise not have looked:

I was going to call my photography business (My Full Name Here) Photography. However, web URL's that would have supported that name were all taken. So, I figured I would incorporate numbers into the name. I tried random numbers from 1 to 999 followed by the word, "studio". All numbers were taken. At that point, my wife groggily stumbled out of the bedroom to tell me about a really vivid dream she had, before waking up. It was so vivid, she could even remember what time it was. It was 7:10.

At that point, in my URL search, I looked for "710studio.com". It was free! So, from that point, I named my photography business, 7|10 Studio Photography.

Hope this inspires you to look in places you ordinarily would not look for your name!

Why not Vivid Photos?:confused:

[S-S]

:) i won my company name domain after a several-month long e-mail discussion with the previous owner: the trump card in my hand was that i had just registered that name with the companies register here, and so altho he was free to operate under that name he wouldnt be able to register it later on. and i also made sure to buy the other 3 next most obvious domain name choices, and luckily he hadn't yet made use of the primary domain name even though he had owned it almost a year. so he agreed to sell it to me but it did cost me lol.

i was toying with other company names for a while, and then i checked the companies register for the name i really wished i could use: and it had just become free! it was all about timing.

the advice i have for you is choose something that really resonates with you, dont just force a company name on yourselves that you arent really happy with, because rebranding is expensive and confuses your clients.

[PhotoJourno]

What SomethingSimple just said.

Even if you could use Magnum Photography as the name of your business (or Playboy), perhaps it matters most that whatever that is, it reflects a mental image of your work.

Personally, Pig and Photography do not go in the same conversation, specially if the word portrait is in the neighborhood.

With that being said, here are my suggestions based on your request:

Das Fotos (or Das Photos, but it would not be quite correct)

Spartan Productions (Productions is a broad concept, and mythical names are always good, phoenix, Zeus -ok, not to get carried away with that one-).

20/20 Photography (or any derivative from the notion of perfect vision and the word photo)

45 Revolution (There you go, the old vynil discs, you got a number and a stylish name).

Sorry, it is late and so other ideas aren't as oomph.

Names to avoid: Prince, Beatles, The Who, Clapton, Hilton, and Mandella.

[Vascilli]

the advice i have for you is choose something that really resonates with you, dont just force a company name on yourselves that you arent really happy with, because rebranding is expensive and confuses your clients.
That's why I want to think of something good from the start. :lol:

[renegade]

"Images By MoonPig" ??

[Mark]

The competitive image?

[S.Horton]

Moon Shots

Logo = shot glass

[Vascilli]

"Images By MoonPig" ??
:lol:

Moonpig is actually a card website. Google it.

How does "Box Rabbit" sound? Really, really weird, but would you remember it?

Business card:
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/8302/boxrabbit2zn5.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boxrabbit2zn5.jpg)

[valentinephoto]

:lol:

Moonpig is actually a card website. Google it.

How does "Box Rabbit" sound? Really, really weird, but would you remember it?

Business card:
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/8302/boxrabbit2zn5.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boxrabbit2zn5.jpg)

"Box Rabbit" really sounds like a sex toy - sorry to say it, but a Rabbit is a popular vibrator and a "box" is slang for a woman's parts :lol: But that's where my mind goes when I hear "Box Rabbit" - probably because I used to sell sex toys.

Maybe someone with a less perverted mind won't go there and think it's great. But you asked if you'd remember it - yes I would... but not for photography.

Hey, I'm just being honest!

[Vascilli]

"Box Rabbit" really sounds like a sex toy - sorry to say it, but a Rabbit is a popular vibrator and a "box" is slang for a woman's parts :lol: But that's where my mind goes when I hear "Box Rabbit" - probably because I used to sell sex toys.

Maybe someone with a less perverted mind won't go there and think it's great. But you asked if you'd remember it - yes I would... but not for photography.

Hey, I'm just being honest!
:lol: I'm still thinking........

[S.Horton]

Caged Rabbit

[MMD]

Siamese Snappers, Two In The View, Shoot To Thrill, Profit Splitting Images, Double Trouble Photography, Moments In Time, Pixel Pair, 3's A Portrait...

These probably all stink but I just chugged a Red Bull!!

[S.Horton]

Rabid Rapid Rabbits

[scrapbookworker]

oh HOW FUNNY, teeheeeeeee

"Box Rabbit" really sounds like a sex toy - sorry to say it, but a Rabbit is a popular vibrator and a "box" is slang for a woman's parts :lol: But that's where my mind goes when I hear "Box Rabbit" - probably because I used to sell sex toys.

Maybe someone with a less perverted mind won't go there and think it's great. But you asked if you'd remember it - yes I would... but not for photography.

Hey, I'm just being honest!

[Lunajen]

"Box Rabbit" really sounds like a sex toy - sorry to say it, but a Rabbit is a popular vibrator and a "box" is slang for a woman's parts :lol: But that's where my mind goes when I hear "Box Rabbit" - probably because I used to sell sex toys.

Maybe someone with a less perverted mind won't go there and think it's great. But you asked if you'd remember it - yes I would... but not for photography.

Hey, I'm just being honest!


Yeah, didn't Charlotte get addicted to the thing and wouldn't leave her apartment because of the "rabbit"...

and white rabbit is too Jefferson Airplane/Alice and Wonderland.

I have no clue, I am still trying to go with one myself.

How's about..

Two Lens Photography or even True Lens Photography.

I suck at this...Good luck.

[S.Horton]

Bento Friar

[NicD]

Eyes First

+1 for Eyes First

[LBaldwin]

I am not sure about Canada, but in the US before you can choose a name for your business you go down to the county court house and see if there are any existing businesses that are exactly or similier to the one(s) you wanted.

[S.Horton]

TFM2

"Two friends making money with a camera"

[Vascilli]

..I _think_ we're going with Box Rabbit. Weird, weird weird, I know. And I have to say, as a 15-year-old boy, I am obliged to be really.. sexual. And Box Rabbit really doesn't remind me of anything of that nature. (And I can give almost any word a sexual double-meaning, being a teenage boy and all)

[S.Horton]

..then make the logo a little bunny with boxing gloves?

[S-S]

ppl are going to ask how did you come up with that name, does it symbolise anything?

so make something up that doesnt involve explaining how you asked a bunch of strangers and it randomly appeared in your head LOL ;)