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Posts Tagged ‘Potential’

Canon’s New 1 MP SPAD Sensor Offers Potential for Highly-Sensitive Imaging

04 Jul

The post Canon’s New 1 MP SPAD Sensor Offers Potential for Highly-Sensitive Imaging appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

Canon has just announced the completion of a 1-megapixel single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) image sensor, making it the first of its kind.

Traditional CMOS sensors work by capturing photons (i.e., particles of light), and converting them to charge (which are ultimately transformed into digital pixels).

That way, when you press the shutter button, your camera’s sensor starts capturing photons, with each photon equivalent to a very small amount of light. These photons are turned into pixels, so that areas of a scene that produce or reflect more light are rendered brightly compared to areas of a scene that produce or reflect less light.

Now, CMOS sensors only offer a certain level of sensitivity. If you shoot at 1/8000s, unless the light is unusually powerful, you’re not going to capture many photons at all, resulting in a completely black image.

(That’s essentially what underexposure is, after all: The failure to capture a sufficient number of photons for a bright image.)

Anyways, that’s how a standard sensor works.

But as explained by Canon, a SPAD sensor works differently:

“When a single light particle…reaches a pixel it is multiplied – as if creating an “avalanche” – that results in a single large electrical pulse.”

In other words: Each photon gives you far more charge to work with, resulting in much greater sensitivity overall.

While Canon’s current SPAD sensor only captures 1 megapixel images, an imaging device that sensitive could offer plenty of benefits in terms of scientific technology. For instance, Canon’s SPAD sensor can expose its pixels in 3.8 nanoseconds, which makes it possible to capture events and features that were previously considered impossible.

Canon argues that “thanks to its ability to capture fine details for the entirety of events and phenomena, this technology holds the potential for use in a wide variety of fields and applications including clear, safe and durable analysis of chemical reactions, natural phenomena including lightning strikes, falling objects, damage upon impacts and other events that can’t be observed with precision by the naked eye.”

There are also applications in terms of 3D imaging, due to a SPAD sensor’s capacity to record precise exposure times.

While it doesn’t sound like SPAD sensors will be reaching consumer sensors any time soon, it’ll be interesting to see how this technology gets utilized!

Now over to you:

What potential applications can you imagine for SPAD sensors? Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post Canon’s New 1 MP SPAD Sensor Offers Potential for Highly-Sensitive Imaging appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Jaymes Dempsey.

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US government warns of potential spying by Chinese drone companies

23 May

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (USDHS) sent out an alert that was first obtained by CNN. It states that drones manufactured in China are a ‘potential risk to an organization’s information.’ The products ‘contain components that can compromise your data and share your information on a server accessed beyond the company itself.’

‘The United States government has strong concerns about any technology product that takes American data into the territory of an authoritarian state that permits its intelligence services to have unfettered access to that data or otherwise abuses that access,’ the alert continues.

‘Those concerns apply with equal force to certain Chinese-made (unmanned aircraft systems)-connected devices capable of collecting and transferring potentially revealing data about their operations and the individuals and entities operating them, as China imposes unusually stringent obligations on its citizens to support national intelligence activities,’ the alert adds.

While the report doesn’t name a specific company, Shenzen-based DJI, which dominates the U.S. and Canadian drone markets with close to an 80% share, according to a market sector report from Skylogic Research, is of utmost interest.

While the report doesn’t name a specific company, Shenzen-based DJI, which dominates the U.S. and Canadian drone markets with close to an 80% share, according to a market sector report from Skylogic Research, is of utmost interest. The manufacturer’s drones were recently banned in the US Army several years back, despite no clear evidence of spying or data transfer from the aircraft being presented.

Still, concerns about hacking or the siphoning of data remain at the forefront. The USDHS alert follows an executive order, signed by President Donald Trump, prohibiting U.S. companies from using any telecommunications equipment from Chinese company Huawei. An escalating trade war between the two countries doesn’t help matters and also raises suspicion on the timing of this latest USDHS alert on drones.

The United States leads the world in the number of drone platforms being developed. China comes in a close second place. If the trade war continues to escalate, many upstarts and manufacturers in the U.S. are going to face unexpected challenges with their supply chain if they built their platforms around any Chinese components, as sUAS News points out.

DJI responded to the USDHS’ alert, the full statement is below:

‘At DJI, safety is at the core of everything we do, and the security of our technology has been independently verified by the U.S. government and leading U.S. businesses. DJI is leading the industry on this topic and our technology platform has enabled businesses and government agencies to establish best practices for managing their drone data. We give all customers full and complete control over how their data is collected, stored, and transmitted. For government and critical infrastructure customers that require additional assurances, we provide drones that do not transfer data to DJI or via the internet, and our customers can enable all the precautions DHS recommends. Every day, American businesses, first responders, and U.S. government agencies trust DJI drones to help save lives, promote worker safety, and support vital operations, and we take that responsibility very seriously. We are committed to continuously working with our customers and industry and government stakeholders to ensure our technology adheres to all of their requirements.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

03 Jul

As an avid cityscape photography enthusiast (primarily shooting at the blue hour), I always spend quite a number of hours studying potential cityscape shooting spots before traveling to a new destination. Knowing everything from what to shoot, where to shoot from and how to get to those locations before departure will save you a ton of time and hassle, especially if your stay is rather short.

Hk 0106 - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

Thanks to my pre-departure study online, I was able to locate this vantage point along Lugard Road at Victoria Peak (Hong Kong) without any hassle.

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Hong Kong skyline shot from Convention and Exhibition Centre. Another location that I successfully scouted online before traveling.

You can always start this location study with the obvious (Google!), but there are also other resources that help you find photography spots. Those are Flickr, 500px, stock photography websites, and photography forums to name but a few.

Personally, Flickr is my go-to resource, as there are more than 10 billion photos (according to their 2015 stats) and numerous groups dedicated to many big and small cities around the world. You can ask questions and possibly get answered by local photographers.

Finding what to shoot is a piece of cake. 10 minutes browsing Flickr gives you a number of potential locations. You may argue that those places are over-photographed or that you’re just copying what others have already photographed. But as a first-time visitor, I’m happy to start with the most popular locations because they are over-photographed for a reason.

Flickr - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

With more than 10 billion photos available, Flickr is my go-to resource when searching potential cityscape photography spots.

Finding Out Where a Photo Was Shot

The next up is finding where to shoot from (i.e. The exact spot where the photo was shot) but this can be much harder. Sometimes the photo has a clue in itself, such as a name of the building (e.g. hotel name). Then, just get onto Google Maps and do a virtual walk around the area using Street View.

Let’s use Hong Kong, the city that never stops fascinating me with its amazing cityscapes, as a case study for this article. For the photo below, I shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central, finding the name of the building on the left (International Finance Centre) eventually led me to locate the exact shooting spot (see on Google Maps) after virtual-walking around a lot on Google Street View.

Hk 0171 - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

Shot from a footbridge on Connaught Road Central (Hong Kong).

Try Your Luck Asking Photographers Directly

On other occasions, this crucial piece of info (the shooting location where the photo was taken) can be found in the title or description of the photo. If not, check through the comments to see whether anyone has already asked this particular question.

What I’ve found interesting is that there are photographers who normally reply to comments but somehow don’t respond to this type of question asking where it was shot. It might be because they are not really happy to share that information with a complete stranger trying to shortcut their way to an epic shooting spot they discovered by themselves (possibly by walking around for hours).

That said, there is no harm in asking. The worst thing that could happen is that you receive no response.

Author’s note: If you ask me about cityscape shooting spots in Singapore (where I live), I won’t hold anything back. I’m happy to provide all the info you need!

Asking in Flickr Groups

In case you’re hesitant about asking the photographer directly, you can also try asking in a Flickr group. Once I found a nice Hong Kong street photo with a street name included in the description. So I got onto Google Street View and moved up and down the street, but couldn’t locate exactly where the photo was shot.

As I saw this particular photographer not responding to any comments at all, I went into a Hong Kong group within Flickr and asked whether anyone knows the exact location by including the street photo in my question. Then, a fellow photographer kindly responded with the answer, which led me to shoot the photo below (shot from a footbridge over Paterson Street Tram Station, see on Google Maps).

Hk 0144 - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

Hong Kong street view from Yee Wo Street.

Use Google Maps to Find Directions from Your Hotel

Lastly, let’s talk about how to get to those newly found amazing locations. Accessing directions have never been easier these days, thanks to Google Maps.

Prior to the trip, get onto Google Maps and find the directions starting from your hotel. To record the route, take a screenshot or copy the link from your browser’s address bar so that you will be able to revisit the page using hotel’s WiFi later.

This may not be commonly known, but Google Maps also lets you save a short URL of the directional map. Just go to “Menu”, then click “Share or embed map” and check “Short URL”. You can also save maps for offline use as well if you don’t want to incur roaming charges and can’t access any WiFi.

Google map - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

Saving a directional map using “Short URL” feature on Google Maps.

List Photography Spots in Order of Priority

Let’s say I’m traveling for a 5-day, 4-night stay. Then, I’ll make a list of four cityscape photography spots to shoot at dusk. Plus I’ll add one or two backup spots just in case any of the original choices are unexpectedly unavailable due to a special event taking place or something. I select only one spot per day, as I’m only interested in shooting cityscapes during evening blue hour and try to gather as much information as possible before traveling.

It’s also important to list them in order of priority so that you know which place to drop if you can’t shoot on the first evening due to heavy rain, for example. In fact, such a situation often happens, so you should establish a clear order of priority for your shot list in advance.

Consider Revisiting: You Learn Something New Every Time You Go Back

Up until this point, I’ve talked about the importance of pre-departure preparations such as knowing where to shoot from. However, it’s also true that a single visit may not be enough to let you go home with best possible photos unless you’re staying for weeks. If you’re only staying for 4-5 days like I typically do, you may get unlucky with the weather and not be able to capture any photos that you’re happy with.

If that’s the case, consider revisiting the destination! The great thing about revisiting the same place is that you learn something new every time you go back, such as discovering lesser-known photography spots, finding a faster way to move around, etc. Besides, you can try new restaurants and coffee shops alike, and after a few visits, you’ll be able to walk around the city like a local!

Hk 0182 - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

On my second visit to Hong Kong, I found this lookout point on Stubbs Road through a bus window on the way to Victoria Peak. So the next day I dedicated one evening to shoot at this spot. This is a good example of learning something new every time you go back.

Hk 0029 - How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling

I planned to go back to Lugard Road lookout point at Victoria Peak to shoot Hong Kong skyline again, then accidentally diverted from the road to find this spot behind Peak Tower, so changed my plan to shoot here, instead.

Conclusion

I hope this helps you with your pre-departure search on what to shoot, where to shoot from, and how to get to those locations. These tips are quite basic, but it’s almost a prerequisite in order not to waste your precious (but limited) time at the destination, especially for those of us traveling only for a few days.

If you have any other cityscape photography tips to share, please do so in the comments below.

The post How to Search Potential Cityscape Photography Spots Online Before Traveling appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Tips for Finding Potential in the Obsolete – Photographing Trash

27 Jun

Most people like photographing the new and the fresh – a bright flower, a laughing child, a dawning day, the beginning of an era. Yet beginnings are but a small and rare part of the human experience. The persistent passage of time leaves us with ever growing piles of both literal and figurative garbage; maybe that’s why we seek out the new, for a glimpse of something different.

Finding Potential in the Obsolete - Photographing Trash

Sometimes we have no choice but to dwell in the past. Why not take the chance to explore it? There is something to be found and shared in that which is already past its due date – items that have been thrown away or left behind. Let’s open up this world of opportunity I like to call Trash Photography and see if we can find something of value!

The Left Behind

You may have heard of Urbex, or urban exploration photography, where the photographer visits and captures abandoned urban places. The photos often have a haunted feeling. The same atmosphere can be achieved on a smaller scale as well, all you need is something that seems to have been abandoned.

Tips for Finding Potential in the Obsolete - Photographing Trash

I found this old, rusty pair of scissors hanging on an old shelf at a friend’s cottage.

It doesn’t have to be something eerie. It can also be something out of place, something intriguing or different; a scene that gives a sense of a time gone by.

Old fuse insulators found in storage at my grandparents’ place.

Found Treasure

Trash and treasure might not be synonyms in your vocabulary, but for a photographer, they can be! Many things are thrown away because they don’t serve their original purpose anymore. That doesn’t mean that the object is useless – all it takes is a bit of inspiration and a creative mind.

I found an abandoned LCD TV in the recycling room and decided to borrow it for a project. The screen was indeed broken but not completely. With the addition of some intentional camera movement I managed to create something quite abstract.

But treasure doesn’t have to be shiny. It can also be a fascinating pattern or a revelation.

An alien skull or an old hair clip?

Contrasts

If you’re attempting to make an interesting photograph, capturing some kind of contrast usually works surprisingly well. When focusing on garbage or trash, the most obvious thing to contrast it with would be something new.

Apart from the contrast between old and new in this picture, there are also contrasts between organic and metallic, and a rusty color versus the green of the leaves.

You can also create contrast by challenging expectations.

This broken laundry machine standing outside in the rain, surrounded by laundry, offers another kind of contrast.

Which brings us to the last topic . . .

The Story

Telling a story with just a picture is hard, but it’s a challenge worth taking on. In terms of trash, it can be a story about human nature, environmental issues, the passage of time, there really are no limits.

The pile of discarded water bottles with a beautiful waterfall in the back might seem significant – what does it tell you?

Try it out and see what stories you might be able to tell!

The abandoned fishing net begs the question of why it was abandoned. Was it lost? Thrown away? Might it pose a threat to someone or something?

Conclusion

What do you think, is there any point in photographing trash, or does this just seem like a waste of time? I would love to hear your ideas and see your creations from Trash Photography in the comments below.

The post Tips for Finding Potential in the Obsolete – Photographing Trash by Hannele Luhtasela-el Showk appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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A look at Google Pixel’s sensor reveals potential HDR video tech

14 Oct

Example of a sensor pattern with spatially varying exposure, in which pixels of the same color receive differing amounts of light. (From the Computer Vision Laboratory at Columbia University.)

Steven Zimmerman over at XDA Developers has just published an article with some insights into the Sony IMX378 sensor used in Google’s recently announced Pixel smartphones. Although he covers a number of technologies likely familiar to DPReview readers, such as stacked BSI-CMOS technology and on-sensor phase detect autofocus, there’s an interesting section on Spatially Multiplexed Exposure (SME-HDR) which has the potential to provide improved HDR video capture. It’s an interesting read, and one worth taking a look at if you’re interested in sensor technology.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Why You May be Failing to Reach Your Potential as a Photographer

03 Jun

There are a number of reasons why someone might not succeed at reaching their full potential, more than I can cover in this article, so please feel free to add to this list by telling us what obstacles get in your way. If you have solutions to someone else’s problem, feel free to offer up some advice, and help out a fellow photographer.

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What does it mean to reach one’s potential?

Reaching your potential can be a bit arbitrary as everyone has different ideas of what success means. In order to simplify this article a little, let’s make a couple of assumptions to define the photographer we are talking about.

Assumption #1 – The photographer in question is someone who wants to improve their work through the long haul. This photographer may or may not want to become a professional, but they do want to look back on their portfolio and be proud of what they have accomplished.

Assumption #2 – For the sake of this article things out of the control of our make believe photographer – i.e. financial situation, health, and social/family aspects of life – are not the cause of their failure to reach their potential.

What then, are the obstacles that may be holding you back?

Lack of confidence

Think about learning a new skill. At the beginning you’ll most likely have a low level of confidence, but this is off-set by a high level of excitement to try something new. As time goes on though, that newness wears off and you’re left feeling like you’ve gotten yourself in over your head – does that sound familiar?

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With photography there is so much information available on the web, so many people to compare yourself to, so many clubs to join, and so many things to buy, that it can become overwhelming for you to figure out the right path to take forward.

This frustration can lead to confusion, or even doubt over the decisions you’ve made, making this a common question, “Did I buy the right lens/tripod/software?”.

The simplest advice that can be given in this situation is to try to block out the distractions around you. Try to focus on your own improvement, and benchmark your current photography against what you did last month, or last year. This will help showcase your personal triumphs, allowing you to stay confident in your progress.

Lack of Motivation

If there’s one thing that will stop you from reaching your potential, it’s lack of motivation. Photography requires a lot of time and energy. You have to plan shoots, find subjects, work with models or nature, often travel to a location – a lot goes into photography.

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To compound this, motivation will often peak when something is new, but as you visit the same location a few times, use the new lens repeatedly, or master the new technique you read about, the level of motivation you get from these things starts to wane.

In order to avoid stalling out due to lack of motivation, one thing you can do is to keep trying new things. One of the best ways to do this is to participate in themed challenges, like those here on dPS weekly. Another option would be to join a local photography club, or even an online community, to allow you to meet other photographers and share ideas.

Not investing in the right gear

You probably know that gear alone can’t make you a better photographer, but the wrong gear can certainly hold you back.

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Trying to cut corners on cheap tripods, poor quality bags, or inferior lens filters, will do more harm than good. One could argue that poor quality gear will actually hurt your photography, more than high quality gear will improve it. So invest wisely, but be careful not to fall into the next hurdle.

Relying on gear to carry you

As mentioned above, some investment is necessary in order to set yourself up for success. However, too much reliance on the gear you buy will only hold you back. Thinking that upgrading to full frame will improve your photography is not the right reason to buy a new $ 2,000 dollar camera.

When it comes to investing in new gear there are two questions you should ask yourself:

What is the driving force behind your desire to upgrade?
How will the desired upgrade fill a need in a way that your current gear cannot?

Hopefully by answering these questions you’ll be able to find out whether or not the gear that you’re inquiring about is a want or a need, and how big of an impact it will have on the photographs you produce.

What else stops you from achieving your potential?

Let us know in the comments what hurdles you face as a photographer. What stops you from achieving your potential, and maybe we as a community can help you find ways to tackle that challenge.

Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles this week that are Open for Discussion. We want to get the conversation going, hear your voice and opinions, and talk about some possibly controversial topics in photography.

Let’s get it started here – do you agree or disagree with the points in the article above? Do you have any others to add? Give us your thoughts below, and watch for more discussion topics each day this week.

See all the recent discussion topics here:

7 Commonly Accepted Photography Beliefs Debunked
Is HDR dead? Some dPS Writer’s Thoughts on this Controversial Topic
How to Find your Personal Photographic Style

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The post Why You May be Failing to Reach Your Potential as a Photographer by John Davenport appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Swing of Things: Framed Furniture Reveals Hidden Potential

14 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

furniture trace

Like door swings on architectural blueprints come to life, these works of metal-framed wood furniture express their embedded potential in physical space.

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The new Trace Collection from Nendo takes the architect’s approach to the next level, physically representing the movements of furniture doors and drawers via three-dimensional frameworks. Their installation was recently featured at the Collective Design Fair in New York.

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furniture twist

“Although they may not be visible, we are subconsciously aware of the ‘traces’ of their movements every day,” explains designer Oki Sato. For example, because of that, we do not put a vase in front of a door. It is essential for a person who specializes in space design to be even more aware of this, as they have to portray these ‘traces’ onto drawings.”

swing in motion

furnitureart

furniture swing collection

The visualized actions speak volumes about potential options for opening the various swing, flip and sliding doors in each piece. While the results may not be the most practical furniture, they do cause one to think a bit more about the embedded possibilities of everyday furnishings.

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Furniture & Decor. ]

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Potential Greenery: Topsoil & Time Shape ‘Empty Lot’ Artwork

04 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

emptylotdec2015

A recently-completed, six-month art installation in the Tate Modern imported soil from parks all around London, arraying them in the museum’s Turbine hall to show what weeds, grasses and ferns would grow from seeds and spores already present in the dirt.

Abraham Cruzvillegas_ Empty Lot.-25004509915 (1)

Empty Lot by artist Abraham Cruzvillegas involved equalizing conditions for the various samples of topsoil, which were evenly lit by lamps and consistently watered for half a year.

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The installation was set up as a large geometric sculpture placed on scaffolding, supporting an array of triangular planters. The samples were brought together from six parks, and kept separate between beds, growing in parallel.

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The outcome was unknown in advance, just like growth in nature or the evolution of a city, with elements of chance revealing the hidden potential in different park spaces (images by Sara~, Jennifer Morrow and Alexander Baxevanis)

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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10 Photography Website Mistakes That Might be Repelling Your Potential Clients

19 Oct

If you are serious about your photography business, then you most likely have your own photography website already (if not, you should set one up right away). You are probably really proud of it and consider it the best website under the sun. However, numerous mistakes can be found on almost every photographer’s site. These mistakes could be fatal for your business, since they can easily repel your potential clients. We are talking big agencies, companies and even government organizations, not just regular consumers who want you to be their wedding photographer.

Here’s some good news: these mistakes can be fixed easily once you know what they are based on.

We have recently researched thousands of photographers’ websites when looking for professional vacation photographers for our new project. We were quite surprised by the number of mistakes we had encountered on them. On top of that, several particular mistakes kept constantly repeating!

Some seem obvious, some of them not, but almost every photographer’s website is guilty of at least one or two of these mistakes. So, here comes the checklist of some of the most common photography website mistakes that might save some of your serious assignments:

1) Your name is missing

This is probably the most obvious mistake. However, you would be really surprised how many websites are anonymous. A nickname may be great, it might help you look like a mysterious artist, but it definitely won’t help you to get new inquiries.

Your name is your only brand. You should be proud of it and present it to the public as much as you can. So put your name out there! Visibly! And buy yourself a domain with your name if possible.

1 example of good website be proud of your name

Example of good website, be proud of your name: Kristina Kislitsyna

2) You’re using cheap web templates

Do you want to run a successful photography business? Then you have to invest in it, at least a little. Start with investing in a decent website. A few hundred bucks and a skilled friend will have the work done in a blink of an eye, you’ll have a nice, basic, yet original website.

However, I implore you, do avoid those cheap template websites with the provider‘s logo all over the place.

3) Your contact information is missing

Email address is the key. Your client needs to find it quickly and easily. Contact forms might not seem like a bad choice at first, however, they most certainly are. Lots of big clients prefer to contact you via email, because they want to have a copy of the email that they send to you.

If you insist on having a contact form, put your email address next to it and let your client decide. Here’s a secret tip – insert your email address as an image with your email on it so bots cannot find it and you save yourself from getting tons of spam.

2 example of good website put your email address next to the contact form and let your client decide www sarahbel com

Put your email address next to the contact form and let your client decide: Sarah Bel Photography

4) Check your spam box

This one is closely connected to the previous point. Inquiries from agencies, companies, and other projects often end up in the spam box or junk folder. It doesn’t matter which email service you use to communicate with your client, but it is essential to check your spam box every few days. This is the only way to avoid those embarrassing moments when you respond to an important inquiry after several months, and indeed, it is usually too late at that point.

5) There’s music playing on your website

Do I have to add anything else? Hello, it’s 2015! Everyone is listening to Spotify or YouTube while browsing the internet. The last thing people want is to be interrupted by the blasting of your favourite music.

6) Your pricing is hidden

It’s okay if you don’t want to share the pricing on your website, it’s also okay if you want to share it, but you definitely need to decide which way you want to go! If you want to show your prices, do so visibly, clearly, and in a special menu category. If you don’t want to share them, then say so clearly (and add your email address at that point, so that the client can contact you regarding the pricing details right away).

There’s nothing weirder and more suspicious than a small hidden grey link to a PDF pricing guide that cringes at the bottom right corner of an About Me page.

3 example of good website clear statement about where to find pricing www verapavlovaphotography com

Example of what to do – clear statement about where to find pricing: Vera Pavlova Photography

7) Your website is too slow

On photography websites, this is most often caused by high-resolution and uncompressed photos. I know, we are photographers and we are proud of our latest cameras with great dynamic range and stuff. Still, these things are usually not that important for our potential clients. You need your website to be fast! And because of that, you need to compress photos for your website – compress them big time (150-200kb is a good maximum file size for website images, any bigger will slow your site down). Speed is the king in the realm of photography websites.

8) There’s no English version

This one is for photographers from non-English speaking countries. Yes, English is the most important language in the business world nowadays, so you need to have an English version of your website if you want to target the worldwide market. If you don’t have the time, or the resources, to prepare two language versions, then go for an English only site.

4 example of good website two language versions including English www barulaphoto com

Example of a website with two language versions including English: Baru la Photo

9) Your location is missing

Lots of (semi)professional photographers try to target the whole world, thus the only location info that you can find on their website is “available worldwide”. Okay, it’s great to know that you’re willing to travel, but clients are sometimes looking for local know-how. Always specify your location (at least by the city).

10) There are no links to social media

Social media is the new place to check testimonials and references to your work. It is crucial for your potential clients to be able to quickly find their way to your profiles on social media. The rule “the more, the better” applies here 100% – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are necessary. You name the others…

5 example of good website clearly visible links to social media www austinsheppardphotography com

Example of clearly visible links to social media: Austin Sheppard Photography

Summary

You put a great amount of energy and time to build up your website. It would be pity to reduce the possibility of attracting potential clients just by making some small mistakes that you can get rid of quite easily. I hope that this article will show some practical examples of such possible changes.

We would also love to hear from you! Are there any other mistakes that you suggest avoiding on photography websites?

The post 10 Photography Website Mistakes That Might be Repelling Your Potential Clients by Matej Slezak appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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2 Clumsy Mistakes To Avoid When Meeting With Potential Customers

31 Aug

You recently received an inquiry from someone who really likes your work, is interested in hiring you for a shoot, and wants to meet in person (or on the phone) to discuss more details. Naturally, you’re pretty excited. The thought of booking an event is something that thrills all of us. Then, as soon as the meeting starts, the two cardinal sins of salesmanship rear their ugly heads. What are they?

Talking too much and not listening enough.

Two Clumsy Mistakes Banner

Sure enough, once the prospect asks you a question, it’s as if you’ve suddenly been put in front of a classroom with the responsibility to lecture on photography for the next 25 minutes, flood gates thrown open. And because you want so badly to make the sale, you don’t leave anything out – linking your statements from one benefit to the next, emphasizing personal strengths, advantages, until you’ve suddenly dominated the conversation with what YOU wanted to say and talk about, not what THEY needed to hear.

This is the first massive mistake, and is actually the primary cause for the second mistake. Whether you are just starting to charge for your photography services, or wanting to increase and grow your existing photography business, you cannot allow yourself to command the conversation. When you do this, you miss uncovering the real concerns of the client, what they really want in the end, and ultimately it makes them feel as though they weren’t really heard. Remember, it’s not about YOU – it’s about THEM.

One way to turn this scenario around is to start asking them questions, turn the table. Get them talking about what their vision for the shoot is, what concerns they may have, how they view the end result. A great trick to get them to start talking is to say something like this, “____ (name), I’m fully prepared to discuss the event/project in detail with you, but first I want to get your perspective on it so that we can focus our time together on the things that interest you most.”

Meeting Cafe

By announcing that you’re prepared, you demonstrate your competence and responsibility – and by demonstrating your preparation, you build immediate credibility. Furthermore, by inviting your customer to articulate what’s most important to them, you recognize and validate their importance. In other words, it shows that you care about their thoughts and concerns, and that you want to work together to provide a solution that works for both of you.

The next step is to keep them talking. Again, this is all about them, not you. An easy way to do this is to keep asking questions that are easy to answer such as:

Tell me more about
What else should I know about?
Could you please expand on..?

It’s imperative that you uncover as many of their fears, concerns, wants, desires as you can. Consider asking questions like:

What worries you most about this?
I can tell that you are frustrated about that – how come?
You mentioned that you tried that in the past. Why didn’t it work so well that time? What could have been done differently?

Meeting Consult

The primary benefit of asking all these questions is to uncover what’s really important to them. This is the treasure chest, what they are really after. Once you know what’s most important to them, you can then frame your offer according to the specific desires of that client, which will skyrocket your chance of booking the shoot.

But all of these questions are worth nothing – if you don’t listen to what they’re saying. There are four primary elements to Active Listening:

Attentive body language (nod, make eye contact, smile, etc.)
Verbal attends (uh-huh, okay, sure)
Ask leading questions (open-ended questions that encourage them to talk more)
Restating back to the person what they just said

Meeting

Active Listening is not simply waiting for your turn to talk, and it’s certainly not interrupting them to demonstrate that you already know what they’re talking about. Active Listening is nothing more than allowing the customer to completely share their story with you, then playing back that story to them asking for confirmation and clarification. “Is that right? Did I miss anything?”

With any new skill, it takes time to get down pat. But this is something that will have an immediate effect on your ability to book more events because you are validating the concerns of your potential clients, and linking your services to their exact wants and goals.

The post 2 Clumsy Mistakes To Avoid When Meeting With Potential Customers by Mark Thackeray appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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