If you are reading this, it is likely that you take copious amounts of photographs. A few years ago, families would gather around their Kodak carousel slide projector and look at 35 mm slides of family vacations. There was something that was almost magical about seeing images on the big screen in living color. Really, back then, a homemade slideshow Continue Reading
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As an online store owner, you are constantly striving to design your shop in the most appealing way to your customers. And the first step to success is to make your product photos shine bright like a diamond. Why Exactly You DO Need Great Product Photos for Your Online Store People don’t buy before they see. Some of them even Continue Reading
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Thinking of buying your first camera? Congratulations! Upgrading to a DSLR or mirrorless camera is an exciting time, and will open up many opportunities for you to expand your photography. Maybe you’re thinking of upgrading from your camera phone –and are looking for a DSLR that’s up to the task. Regardless of whether you’re looking to take your photography to Continue Reading
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Many photographers own two cameras – a DSLR plus lenses for ‘serious’ photography and a compact camera of sorts to carry around for unexpected photo opportunities. Or else they may opt for a so-called ‘bridge’ camera with a built-in zoom lens. Some of these are almost the size of a DSLR which may then lead to the need for a Continue Reading
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The digital era is here and photography has taken many strides into the future of artificial intelligence, thanks to camera lenses that beat human imagination. That is not all. There are many different brands to choose from such as Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus among others. But, does it mean everything you are going to buy should be automated and have Continue Reading
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Moving from the APS-C to the full-frame world can be a very intimidating thing to do. After all, you’re going to spend a significant amount of money; money you have most likely been saving up for quite some time. There are so many options out there, and we know you want to pick a camera that will give the most Continue Reading
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Since the first consumer camera was introduced more than 130 years ago, photography folders have provided a solid means for organizing and protecting developed and printed images. Somewhere down the line, ambitious photographers began to use them to market their services and separate themselves from the pack by branding their work. Presentation folders for photographers should be taken seriously because Continue Reading
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The post How to Get Started With Your Photography Promotions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.
When it comes to the world of commercial photography, print is not dead. Although the Internet and your website are great tools to promote your photography, to really get noticed by agencies and other buyers of photography, you need to make printed promotional pieces, known in the industry as “promos.”
You can get really creative with promos, like sending them out with branded gifts, but this article will focus on printed promos.
Here are some tips on creating your photography promotions and sending them out into the world.
Before you can send out promos, you need to know whom you’re sending them to.
This necessitates doing your research and coming up a list of targeted clients that you wish to work with.
If you haven’t already done this, know that this should be an ongoing process in your efforts to attract work. You must narrow down whom you want to work with and pursue those clients to get them to notice you. Printed promos are one way of doing this.
Find out the names and contact information for the people you want to send a promo to. Keep track of them in a spreadsheet or a client management tool aimed at creatives, like Nutshell or Dubsado.
This will help you stay organized and remind you of when you last contacted them and what the outcome was.
Decide on how many promos you want to send out. Fifty is a good number to start with. You may choose more or less, depending on your niche and target market and the realities of your budget.
Before you can design your promo, you’ll need to decide what form your promo will take. Will it be a magazine? A newspaper? A poster or postcard?
I generally don’t recommend postcard promotions because they often get thrown away. However, they can be used to augment your promotions, or you can send them to smaller clients that you would be open to working with.
Printing a promo can be a costly undertaking, so you don’t want to send them to leads that are not likely to pay off.
For example, as a food photographer, I might send a promo to high-end restaurants or restaurant chains that have a marketing person or PR agency because this signals that they have the budget to hire a good photographer. I can reserve the postcards to send to smaller restaurants, such as family-run businesses who might want to hire a photographer and are more likely to keep a postcard than an art director at an advertising agency.
Browse a few websites that print promos for photographers to see what the options are and how they might best represent your photography.
You can choose someone local in the city you live. Alternatively, search nationally or even internationally, depending on what you’re looking and the value provided.
For example, as a Canadian, I have some good choices in the city where I live. However, I also regularly seek out US Sites that can give me good results for a similar price, despite postage and exchange rates. Some good options are Paperchase Press, Next Day Flyers, and Newspaper Club.
A promo is a visual calling card. It should include a bio or artist’s statement, your logo and contact information.
Depending on the niche, some photographers give their images titles or captions. If you’re an assignment photographer who is submitting collected images from a trip or assignment, you might want to preface the promo with a bit of a backstory.
A food photographer may include a short recipe with one of the images.
If you choose to include text, keep it brief. The point of the promo is to focus on your photography.
Don’t make the mistake of taking the time and effort to design a great promo and then hire the wrong printer in order to save money. Your efforts will be wasted.
A promo is meant to showcase your work in the best possible light. A poorly printed piece degrades the quality of your photography.
If you’re in the commercial photography world, then promos should be an important part of your marketing strategy and require investment. There is no getting around investing in marketing to grow your business and appear as a professional.
Successful and established photographers with a regular client list still send out promos.
Research printers and their offerings as you would a potential client. You may want to seek out recommendations in forums or from other photographers you know and trust before you make your decision.
Promos pay off, but sometimes it can take a bit of time. We live in a world saturated with information, so it can take a few attempts on your part to get the right people to notice you.
Be sure to send out a new promo 3-4 times a year to your contacts, and don’t overlook your current clientele. They should also know what you’ve been up to. Regular promos will keep you looking fresh and relevant and busy with other clients, which always reflects well on you and your photography business.
To see samples of a variety of promos, check out @photoeditor on Instagram by Rob Haggert, a former Director of Photography for Men’s Journal whose feed is dedicated to showcasing the various promos sent to him from photographers around the world.
Do you do promotions? Share any ideas with us in the comments below.
The post How to Get Started With Your Photography Promotions appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Darina Kopcok.
The post Tips for Using Negative Space in Photography to Create Stunning Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sandra Roussy.
“I’m filling in all the negative spaces with positively everything.”
– Edie Brickell
Negative space may tend to suggest something that is not good. But negative space in photography is also often referred to as white space or minimalism photography. There’s nothing bad about it. It’s truly a unique technique to try out in your photography practice.
We sometimes tend to fill our compositions with lots of objects and color. When we talk about negative space, it’s the opposite that rules. The final image is mostly composed of blank or neutral space, and a small portion of the composition has an actual object in it.
This type of composition emphasizes the subject in the photo and also adds a unique value to it. This type of composition is powerful and, when done correctly, can take your photography from ordinary to truly impressive.
It can be a little daunting at first when you begin to do negative space photography. Not all attempts will be successful. There are opportunities to create negative space photography practically everywhere around you. You have to know how to observe and apply a few techniques to achieve amazing negative space masterpieces.
This is the area in the photo that attracts the viewer’s eye. It’s the main subject that commands attention in the composition. This is usually where the eye goes first.
This is the space in the composition that is typically the background. It usually doesn’t attract very much attention and is, in most cases, the intention of the photographer. It is used to define or contour the positive space.
In negative space photography, the photographer uses the space that is usually not the primary focus and uses it to fill in most of the composition. The negative space commands more attention than the positive space and creates a unique perspective. It also adds definition and can create strong emotions.
Negative space photography can evoke a sense of wonder, mysteriousness, and peacefulness. The viewer will have a greater connection to the object if the photo has no clutter, visual distractions, and a multitude of colors.
You may be presented with opportunities to create negative space photography more times than you think. It’s all in how you visualize or train your eye to look at things.
For example, a few years ago, I stood at a popular lookout overlooking an iconic rock sitting in the Atlantic Ocean in Eastern Canada. It was early morning, and some fog had rolled in, covering most of the impressive structure. The woman standing next to me at the lookout observing the same landscape turned to me and said, “It’s so sad, we’re driving by today, and I wanted to get a photo of the Percé Rock, but it seems like it won’t be possible.”
She left disappointed that she didn’t get her shot.
I stood there for a long time afterward examining the fog and the way it draped the rock like a heavy blanket. I thought that this was one of the most amazing things to happen that day. I felt so lucky to be there at that exact moment to capture the wonder unfolding.
Sometimes a small shift in perspective can make a huge difference.
Negative space is absolutely not blank space. If you think of it this way, you will have difficulty seeing the opportunities that you will be presented with. You want the negative space to be the main focus of your photograph, and it will hopefully evoke strong feelings.
We are trained to follow some basic composition rules, like the rule of thirds, for example. However, with negative space photography, these rules mostly don’t apply. Your imagination is what rules the composition in negative space photography.
© José Velasco
However, there are a few things to remember and consider if you want to achieve this type of photography.
Fill your composition with the negative space. Try to put minimal distracting objects in your composition. Texture or solid colors are great elements to use in negative space photography. Use the texture or color to fill in most of the composition.
The object should be secondary and placed somewhere that is usually not primarily capturing the eye of the viewer. Placing the subject somewhere in the corner of your frame will frequently provide you with a good result. Try to balance the negative space with the white space so that it flows.
A good rule of thumb is to put twice as much negative space than positive space in the composition.
Try to avoid shallow depth of field when doing negative space photography. This is so that neither the object nor the negative space in the photograph is blurry.
When you look at things differently and step outside of the traditional rules, you will find many great opportunities to create some unique shots. Look at a scene and try to create your own story.
© José Velasco
Negative space photography is an excellent way to expand your skills and your photographic eye. So remember, less is sometimes more.
Have any negative space photographs that you are proud of? Don’t hesitate to show us in the comments section below.
The post Tips for Using Negative Space in Photography to Create Stunning Images appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Sandra Roussy.
Hope Kahn is a Maryland-based journalist who is doing all of the sorts of things I was doing at her age: honing her writing and reporting skills, putting out a student newspaper, and always scrambling to find a good local story.
Over the last couple of years she's been punching above her weight class, having been published in national outlets such as Ms. and The New York Times. Suffice to say those are not exactly things I had accomplished before graduating high school.
Her work in the #SinceParkland project is a fantastic example of a product of Generation Lockdown working to effect real change.
Recently we did some head shots that will hopefully allow her to start visually branding herself as the serious, thoughtful journalist she is fast becoming. The setup we used was classic Lighting 101 head-shot-in-a-corner fare, with an L102 and L103 twist. Read more »
Strobist
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