If you’ve shot a wedding you’ve likely had that moment where some obscure family tradition threw you off balance, you struggled to attach the right lens in time, and missed that once-in-a-lifetime shot. You can shoot a thousand weddings, but without knowing what to look for, you just might miss the biggest moments of the couple’s wedding day. But, if Continue Reading
The post 5 Ways Travel Can Inspire Your Wedding Photography appeared first on Photodoto.
Many dream about becoming a professional photographer, but unfortunately it can be difficult to last longer than two years in business, if you don’t have the right plan. People fail every day. They question themselves, wonder if their work isn’t as good as they thought it was, then pass along the common belief that it’s impossible to make a living in photography.
Corporate portraiture. Every business needs photography.
You commonly hear that everyone is a photographer these days, but that’s just not true. There are lots of photographers, in the same way that there are many people who enjoy writing – as there should be, because it’s an incredibly fun passion. But there are not as many professional photographers pushing themselves in the right way and making a living, and this is solely due to their marketing ability, not the state of the industry.
If anything, there is more opportunity than there used to be. With the Internet, LinkedIn and social media, everyone needs a good portrait. Companies need their events documented to then be shared. People are spending so much money on weddings. Good photography is more important than it ever has been. What people really mean when they talk about the industry being saturated with photographers, is that the old gatekeepers who once sought out the skilled photographers are gone. Now to succeed you have to figure out how to do it on your own, and to raise above the noise.
Here are some tips to help you find success in your photography business.
Gowanus, Brooklyn. This photograph sells very well due to its uniqueness.
There is no way around it, if you want to succeed as a photographer, you have to learn how to create strong work. There are no excuses these days. Everything you need to learn is on the Internet. There are videos, courses, ebooks, YouTube, you name it. Map out what you need to learn, particularly where you feel your weaknesses are, and seek out content to address them. Maybe it’s posing, or studio lighting, or printing. Everything’s out there, and it’s not hard to locate. Go to town.
Train your eye. Find 10 photographers whose work you love, and figure out how to do what they do. Study them, go deep into their archives, and then try to recreate the look of their images. Use friends as models, do whatever you need to do. Recreating their look is not copying, it’s learning, and eventually as you continue to improve, you will take elements from all of your favorite photographers, and mesh them into your own style.
Plan creative days. It’s not good enough to say that you will find time within your schedule. Set aside entire creative days, and put them in your calendar. Turn off all other distractions and treat it as a job, because it is a job. Plan what you are going to do ahead of time and execute it. This is where your portfolio will begin, and what you will use to get jobs.
Another New York print that sells well.
It’s important to understand how people see you, and they don’t. Everyone is being bombarded with imagery everyday from so many sources. Even if you put yourself out there, people aren’t going to notice you. It takes time and persistence, so keep at it.
The reason that you need to understand this, is because you have to grind at first. The beginning is always a grind, particularly as you’re trying to get to an income that can stabilize you for the long term. People may not notice you the first time, or the second, and when they do first notice you, they will probably write you off. It’s common for some people’s first reaction to be negative and dismissive about you, before they even give you a chance. But, the more they see you, the more they will notice you and warm up to you. It takes time, and people appreciate seeing others work hard for it. One try is not enough. Neither is two.
Every successful photographer that I’ve spoken to has received their first smattering of jobs through word of mouth. Who else is going to hire you right away? Your personal community is so important to your early and ongoing success. Your friends and colleagues know you and trust you. They will give your work more of an eye and a chance right away, and they will recommend you. Be social, surround yourself with a strong community, and your professional life will benefit.
A job I received through a fellow photographer.
However, these word of mouth referrals are not going to happen on their own. Your community isn’t going to help if they don’t understand what you are doing. Make it official. Create an email list and send out an official announcement about your business. Explain, and show what you do, and make it clear how you can help people. If you are building a portraiture business, explain that you do photography for engagements and families, businesses, law firms, actors, and artists. You know who that covers? Everybody. Suddenly, everyone will have you at the top of their mind. They will understand how you can help them when they are in need of your services. People will not know this unless you tell them.
Start fostering a community of other photographers around you. It can be easy to think of other photographers as competition, but that is so far from the truth. The only one keeping you from getting jobs is yourself, and photographers are the ones that you can bounce ideas off. If you need to gain experience, offer to assist for them whenever they need. This is particularly popular in wedding and commercial businesses, but every photographer can use a hand. This will teach you more than any Internet website or tutorial can. As you get closer, this community of photographers will give you advice in times of need, and will pass you jobs when they are booked. It’s a win-win for everybody involved.
The owner of my favorite local restaurant.
Passive marketing is the act of putting yourself out there over and over again, while waiting for the jobs to come to you. This is so important for the long term, but it takes time to come to fruition, and in the short term it does nothing. Instead, take an active approach to your marketing and directly reach out to your potential clients.
If you want to work with local businesses, contact them and introduce yourself and your services. Make an appointment to show them your portfolio, or call them on the phone. If you want to work with restaurants, start with the ones you eat at, and work the town. If you want to do portraits of actors, go to acting schools, and the places where the actors hang out. If you want to sell your prints, seek out interior designers, art consultants, and businesses without art on their walls. Figure out who your clients are, where they are, and then plan out the best way to approach them.
Engagement and family photography can be a great business to start off and gain skills you need.
Creating a business plan is vital to your success. Figure out the income number that you will need to earn in the first year, and create a plan for how to achieve it. How much will your expenses be? How much will you charge, and how many jobs will you need to book to reach your desired income? Who are you marketing to? What are all the ways that you can reach your potential clients, and which have the potential to pay off the best? What promotional material will you need? Do this in a spreadsheet, map it all out, and continue to reference and tweak it as you go.
Corporate portraiture.
Once your portfolio and website are ready, start contacting the people on your list. Do this consistently, and not all at once, so you don’t burn yourself out. Try a few, see how your pitch went, then refine it. The first few might not go so well, and if that happens, try to figure out what went wrong. If they do not seem to have a strong reaction to your work, then maybe you need to improve or tweak it. As you achieve more success, you can start to contact additional people. This is the grind phase of your career, and it is the only way to succeed.
You will fail more often than not, but be elegant in failure. Someone who rejects you now could be doing it for so many reasons, and could be a great client down the road. Even if they can’t work with you now, make a good impression and don’t give up on them.
Every step that you did before this is how you got hired for the job. Don’t screw it up. You want your career to snowball, and the only way it will do that is if you impress everyone. Jobs are the quickest way to get more jobs and new referrals. Unfortunately, as some photographers start gaining jobs consistently, they can become cocky or complacent. You know how much work went into gaining these clients, and you want the grind to pay off.
Event photography.
Respond quickly. Under-promise and over-deliver. Plan out jobs, communicate well with clients in the planning phase, and don’t mess up details. Always keep a smile on your face and look confident, even during the many times when you will be freaking out inside. Make sure to talk to the clients when you have the chance, and get to know them. Send thank you notes, and don’t be afraid to ask for referrals.
Do you see from all of this how a career can take off when you approach it in the right way? It’s not rocket science, but unfortunately it often takes newer photographers much longer to figure all of this out than necessary. It took me a long time. Now you know it, so go do it. Fight the fear, and kick some butt.
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The post Tips to Help Newbies Find Success in the Photography Business by James Maher appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Get Andrew’s The Candid Portrait eBook at 43% off now over at Snapndeals, only until August 9th (AUS time).
The phrase candid portrait is often used to refer to the type of portrait taken when the subject is unaware of the photographer. This is usually seen in street photography, but also applies in other areas such as documentary style wedding photography.
If you think of a candid portrait as being one that captures someone acting authentically or with a natural expression, as opposed to one where the model has been directed to pose or act in a certain way, then it follows that you can also take candid portraits of people you know. Or even somebody that you don’t know, but have seen in the street and asked for permission to make a portrait.
Here are some tips for taking candid portraits of people with permission.
If you are taking photos of somebody in a formal situation and you want to capture natural expressions rather than a more forced one (or the sullen expressions preferred by many fashion models) then you need to become a keen observer.
Watch for the moments in-between, the ones where your model is relaxed while you pause before taking another photo. How do they behave while the camera isn’t pointing at them? How do they respond when you talk to them? What expressions do you see when they talk about something that interests or excites them? What unconscious gestures do they make?
I was taking photos of a friend when I noticed that she had a particular gesture that she sometimes made, when the camera wasn’t pointing at her. I waited until it happened again, then asked her to hold the pose while I took the photo (right). The resulting portrait is one of her (and my) favorites from the shoot.
I remember my first evening taking photos in Bolivia. It was late afternoon, quickly fading to dusk, and the streets were lit by a soft red glow, cast by the setting sun.
I raised my camera to take a photo of a mud brick building. From the corner of my eye I saw a small boy running down the street. He passed in front of the camera, stopped, turned towards me, and started waving his hands in the air. He obviously wanted to be in the photo, and a few seconds later he was joined by an older boy, presumably his brother, who also posed for a photo. Then they continued on down the street, and beckoned me to follow them.
Curious, I followed, and they led me to a car parked around the corner, where their father was waiting for them. They explained what had happened, and then the father asked me to take a photo of all of them together. He was a little drunk, and invited me to their house for dinner. I politely declined, although I would have liked to see the look on his wife’s face when I arrived.
When you are traveling and people are being open and friendly like this, take advantage. Be open to random encounters, and the possibilities that can arise from them. At the very least you will have some interesting experiences and new stories to tell.
A friend of mine is an experienced model. I have photographed her with an EOS 5D Mark II and an 85mm lens, which is a fairly large combination. I have also used a Fujifilm X-T1 and 56mm lens, which is much smaller. She commented afterwards that the experience was different, and that she felt under much less pressure to be a good model with the smaller camera.
If an experienced model feels this way, then imagine the effect on somebody who is not used to having their photo taken. I’m sure this is one of the reasons that people like to take photos on smartphones, and why the results can be surprisingly good – because the people being photographed feel no pressure to do anything, other than act natural.
The lesson is that camera and lens size matter. Cameras and lenses are tools, and it is up to the photographer to choose the most appropriate one for the job at hand. A smaller set up will help you capture candid portraits, even of people you know.
If you are not used to asking strangers if you can make a portrait of them, it becomes a lot easier if you can give them a good reason. You don’t always have to search very hard to find one.
For example, a few weeks ago I visited a blacksmith’s forge that uses forging techniques from 100 years ago. The smiths there do demonstrations for the visiting public, and I simply asked if I could take some photos while the smith was doing his demonstration. The result is a very natural portrait of somebody at work.
At carnival in Cadiz earlier this year there were lots of people dressed in costume, but only a few with face paint. When I saw somebody with interesting face paint I asked if I could take a photo (it helps that I speak reasonable Spanish). Each time I explained that I really liked their make-up, the person said yes, and I took a couple of photos.
This is one of the natural expressions I was rewarded with.
Early last year I thought it would be interesting to take some photos of people practicing parkour, and got in touch with some local traceurs through a Facebook group. Two of them in particular were interested in a shoot, so we went out into the streets of Wellington and they showed me some of the things that they do. I took photos and portraits as we went along. It was easy to create candid portraits as well as some action photos, because they were enjoying what they were doing and having fun.
I didn’t think about it until afterwards but now it occurs to me that what we were doing was a form of street photography, just one where I was working in a collaboration, rather than trying to take photos of people without them noticing me. That led to a entirely different set of photos than I could have made if I had seen them doing their thing in the street, and just taken some photos without any form of interaction.
A friend of mine made her own gypsy caravan to live in. I think this is a fantastic tiny space project, and once it was finished I asked her if I could take some photos of her there. Her natural enthusiasm came across as we talked about it. I asked her to sit outside and play her guitar. While she was absorbed in what she was doing, I made some candid portraits that captured expressions like this.
Do you have any techniques of your own for taking candid or natural portraits of people that you know? I’d love to hear them – please let me know in the comments.
Get Andrew’s The Candid Portrait eBook at 43% off now over at Snapndeals, only until August 9th (AUS time).
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The post 6 Ways to Take a Candid Portrait of Somebody You Know by Andrew S. Gibson appeared first on Digital Photography School.
When you’re starting out in photography, it’s quite easy to become obsessed with getting critique and feedback on own work to help you improve. Your peers may suggest a different crop, highlight issues with composition, and help you along your journey with camera settings and post-production techniques. Receiving feedback from your peers also provides a fantastic forum for you yourself to ask questions about specific items that have been brought up in discussion, and clear up any little issues that you may have.
While these are always very helpful methods of improving your photography, they are not the only ways. Another method is to simply look at others photographers’ work and ask yourself questions about it. You can even share websites of other photographers on social media, where you and many of your peers can have fantastic discussions about the work. Here are some tips for learning by reviewing other photographers’ work.
Some great topics to discuss may be:
For help on this read: 4 Steps on How to Read Images and Learn to Replicate the Results
We all like to discuss camera settings and possible post-production techniques, so this is an important question to ask. Reverse-engineering an image will help you understand how the photograph was made, and give you a better insight. It will help you replicate a particular technique for you to try on your own.
How has the photographer composed the image? Have they used the Rule of Thirds (or as I like to call it, the Guide of Thirds!) or is the subject in the centre of the frame? How has the composition and placement of the subject helped the photograph? From what vantage point have they photographed the subject – straight on, from up above looking down, or down low looking up? How does this vantage point influence the impact of the subject (looking down on someone makes them look more vulnerable, for example).
What emotions does the image evoke in you, and why does it make you feel that way? For example, if the image has a blue colour-cast, this could make you feel cold. Or does the image have a lot of vibrant, warm colours which can make you feel warm and happy? How does the composition techniques employed affect how you feel?
For this, if the image has been photographed from above looking down, the viewer will feel more powerful where the subject will look more vulnerable – it is the opposite if the photograph has been taken from down low looking up.
Is the image confronting? Knowing how you feel about and image and why, are very important for you to be able to achieve the same result in your own work.
Has the photographer kept the frame clear of any distractions and gone for a minimalist look, or have they included extra elements in the frame? How do these elements work together with the subject; do they complement it, or do they clutter the frame and distract from the subject?
Discussing the light will help you see light better in your own work. Is the light hard or soft? To answer this, look for the shadows; the more defined a shadow is the harder the light (sunny day versus overcast day). How much light is there, and in what direction is it coming from? The direction of the light will influence the shape and form of a subject, as well as its colour. For example, if an object is backlit, this can create a silhouette.
Now that you have a list of discussion topics, it’s time to look around for some images to discuss! The internet is full of fantastic websites where you can view the work of other photographers. Websites such as 500px.com, 1x.com and Flickr all have some fantastic images, that span a wide range of genres.
Here is a list of some websites, and photographers, that I often look at: (this list is by no means exhaustive!)
Editor’s note: you can also come join the new Digital Photography School Facebook group where we encourage lots of images sharing and commenting.
While feedback on your own work is important, in many ways looking at other photographers’ work will help you more. These are just a few suggestions on what you can discuss about an image, and where to look for images, and they are by no stretch of the imagination exhaustive!
Do you have a favourite place to look at images? It would be great to hear about them in the comments below.
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The post How to Look at Other Photographers’ Images to Improve Your Work by Daniel Smith appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Hey folks,
Things may have appeared rather quiet around here, but there is a lot going on under the hood. You’ll remember that in 2014 Strobist transformed from a 2x/week blog to more of a knowledge bank. This was done to create the time and space to develop other projects.
The latter has included things like The Traveling Photographer and the Photographer’s Oil Collective, both of which are off and running.
But the flipside of this change in rhythm at Strobist was also to be able to put more time into the larger chunks of the site as opposed to day-to-day posting. I want to keep growing and improving the larger modules that create the real long-term value at Strobist, rather than just posting for posting’s sake. To that end, today and tomorrow a completely revised and updated Lighting 102 series will be debuting on Strobist.
Apologies in advance for the feast-or-famine situation in your RSS feed or inbox. I have been working on the L102 redo for a while now, along with Lighting 103 (in production) and Lighting 104 (fully mapped out).
Thanks for your continued interest and support. You guys rock.
Cheers,
David
Strobist
Welcome to the all-new, completely revised Lighting 102. If you are here, you should already have read through Lighting 101, and have a good understanding of its concepts.
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In lighting 101 you learned the basics of getting your light off camera, how to sync it, and how to position it to reveal form. In Lighting 102 we'll go beyond those basics. You'll learn how to create shape and form while at the same time controlling your light throughout the three-dimensional space in your photo.Read more »
Strobist
"One light for shape, another for detail."
This simple concept, which I learned from photographer Jim Richardson about 25 years ago, forever changed the way that I thought about lighting. It's like a switch was turned on inside of my brain. Read more »
Strobist
The legibility from our fill light doesn't call attention to itself. It just makes your other light look that much better. It introduces a balance; a range; a relationship between the two lights.
Think of it like a backup band behind a soloist: the band is there to fill in the gaps, add background and make the soloist sound even better. Fill light is the music machine to your drunken karaoke key light.
So just like we did in Lighting 101, lets take a walk around the block and explore some lighting angles. For consistency, we are going to keep the same key light source for every photo on this page. So it is just about the lighting angles — i.e., no other variables.Read more »
Strobist
Today we launched a brand new dPS course to help you get total control over Adobe Lightroom.
For a short time you can grab it with a 50% off early bird discount.
Are you frustrated with the time you’re spending perfecting your photos in Lightroom?
Perhaps you’re a beginner and just don’t know where to start with the workflow?
Our latest online video training course Lightroom Mastery will have you mastering post processing in hours.
Photographer Mike Newton has created a complete Lightroom Mastery Course specially for dPS subscribers.
Whether you’re a Lightroom novice or an intermediate user, you can take the whole course and work alongside Mike or skip ahead and start on the modules/tools you want to learn.
here’s a little more on what it includes from Mike himself.
Promotional Video from Digital Photography School on Vimeo.
Checkout details on all 15 modules here.
No matter what level of Lightroom user you are, you will walk away with huge improvements in the quality of your edits and the speed of your workflow.
The best part is Mike makes it super easy to understand.
In this course you’ll learn how to:
Learn more and grab Lightroom Mastery with a Limited Time 50% Saving here.
PS: As with all our products this one comes fully guaranteed. If for any reason you don’t find it meets your needs just let us know within 30 days of purchase and we’ll send you a refund.
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The post Everything You Need to Know to Master Lightroom by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.
Let’s face it, we photographers are always looking for new stuff to add to our bag of tricks.
As a studio photographer with almost 20 years experience, I have found myself repurposing a lot of stuff to use as photography tools in my photoshoots. I came to the conclusion that most of the stuff I have around the studio, or in my camera bag didn’t came from photography equipment stores, but rather from the supermarket, home improvement stores, or even one dollar stores.
Here is a small list of items that you can find easily in a store near you, which might help out a lot in your future photo projects:
These nozzles are used by bakers to decorate cakes, and you can find them in many shapes and sizes. If you take them out of context, they make great light modifiers when used in front of a flashlight, allowing you to shape and control your light, when you want to do some light painting for example.
This is something you can buy really cheap or even get for free in hotel rooms. I always have some laying around in my camera bag, and I use the white ones as light diffusers for flash or LED lights.
I also use the transparent ones as a rain cover for the camera body. It’s not something for heavy rainfall, but it can save your equipment in an emergency situation, and you can still see the LCD and camera buttons with it.
These lights can be carried anywhere as they work with 3 AA batteries, and can be used in lots of different situations. I used them a lot as macro ring lights with the strip wrapped around my lens shade.
These lights are also great to create light bokeh backgrounds, just put them over a black surface and turn your lens out of focus.
This tool is made to be used around the kitchen, but I have been using it for years in my studio for a lot of different purposes.
The main use I have for it is for that really frustrating task of trying to unscrew a stuck filter on the front of your lens. Even though there are specific clip plastic tools for that job that you can buy in photography stores, I always find myself breaking them or scratching some really expensive filter.
This multi-purpose opener has a rubberized inside and offers a much better grip, besides fitting every filter size you might have.
It is also able to open any metal or screw cap bottle if you happen to get thirsty, and, last but not least, it is a great tool to open stuck thumb screws like the one you find on tripods or light stands for example.
These glow sticks, besides being a must at any cocktail party, are also really fun to use as a light source for light painting. They can be found in different colors and sizes and can glow for a few hours, allowing you to make fun images like this next one.
Shower curtains are usually made out of plastic or waterproofed fabric. They are really cheap and can be used as great accessories for light control.
I use white ones a lot as light diffusers, black ones as flags, and grey ones as backgrounds, but there is a lot that can be done with colorful ones for backgrounds or light color effects.
It’s amazing what some elastic cord and a plastic ball can do together. This simple, but really effective tool, is used most of the time to tie cables, but there are a lot more uses for it. I use them a lot to hold my flash triggers to the light stand.
I lost count of how many of these I bought through the years. Every time I see them on sale anywhere, I just buy a few more.
These are a must have item in any photography studio, whether it is to make your model’s clothes fit a little better, to hold cables and power cords in place so I don’t trip on them, or simply to hold that reflector in that position that will provide the best reflection possible.
These pans made out aluminum foil are great if you want to make a barbecue in a rush. But they’re also great to use as gobos that you can use in front of your light source to create special light effects.
10 – Reusable Putty-Like Adhesive
This type of adhesive is a lifesaver for product and macro photographers that need to keep small objects in a specific position.
It is moldable, reusable, and doesn’t leave any residue when you remove it. I use it a lot in jewelry photography to keep things in place, and just remove it (clone it out) in post-production afterwards.
So, keep these tips in mind next time you are dragging your shopping cart down the supermarket aisles. Maybe you can find some great accessories for your photography!
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