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Game Changers: How to Take Your Photography to the Next Level

05 Feb

The other day, one of the students I was mentoring asked me a really interesting question, “How do I take my photography to the next level?” The conversation that followed was the inspiration for this article.

Photograph subjects and experiences that you love, in a way that is unique to you

Air 39

“The artist sees what others only catch a glimpse of.” – Leonardo da Vinci

When you photograph the things you love, you will always be excited and inspired. If you are excited and inspired by something, you are naturally going to want to spend more time doing it. The more time you spend doing something, the better you become at it.

I spent the first half of my career focusing on fashion photography, because I thought that was what I should be doing. I was okay as a fashion shooter, but to be 100 percent honest, I never really got the whole fashion world, and it didn’t consume me like it does the best fashion photographers in the world. The photographers who excel in this genre live and breathe fashion; some of them are fashion.

It wasn’t until I started to focus more on portraits, and travel lifestyle photography, that I really fell head over heels in love with photography. I’d finally found my “thing”! I could happily shoot portraits or travel lifestyle images all day long. I felt energized, and on a high after each shoot. I was always exhausted after shooting fashion.

Are you photographing the things you really love? Is this work making you feel excited and energized, or depleted and flat?

The way we see and experience life is something that is unique to each of us. If you want to take your photography to the next level, focus on photographing the things that matter to you, in your own world, and in a way that is unique to you. This is the one thing that will set you apart from all the other photographers.

Passion, not perfection

Contender final 1

If passion and perfection had an arm wrestle, passion would win every time. Why? Because the thing that makes photography great, is the way it makes us feel. If there is no passion in an image, and it doesn’t inspire a reaction, then it’s just a snapshot.

If you want to take your work to the next level, show your passion for your work.

Given a choice to shoot a photo that was technically brilliant, sharp, correctly exposed, and perfectly composed, yet void of emotion – or an image that was a bit rough around the edges, slightly soft, grainy, with a few blown highlights but captured the feeling – I would choose the latter every time.

Don’t just focus on what something looks like, focus on how it feels.

Technique, not gear

Gear 05

Michael Schumacher is the best F1 driver in history. If he were to challenge me to a race, and I drove a Ferrari and he drove a 1981 Toyota Corolla, he would still win. Why?

Schumacher is a master, who has spent years driving. He knows how to drive fast, and take corners at high speed, without rolling the car. He would probably lap me three times before I’d even had a chance to get out of third gear. In the wrong hands, the best gear in the world is useless, if you don’t know how to drive it.

So many photographers get hung up on the notion that having the right gear will make them better photographers. While it’s true that the right gear will give you a better quality image, it’s not going to guarantee that you will be a better photographer.

Instead of worrying about the gear, focus on the technique. It’s what you do every day that makes you great; not what you use every day. Dedicating as few as thirty minutes a day to your photography, every day, will do more to improve your skills and develop your style than owning all the high end gear in the world.

Learn to peel potatoes before you cook a soufflé

Fat Tony & Co/Nine Network Australia

During the first few years that I was building my photography business, I had a night job working as a cook in an Italian restaurant. When you train to become a cook, you must master a task before you are allowed to move on to the next one. The first task each apprentice cook must master is peeling potatoes. Then they move on to the salads, entrees, pasta, steaks, and seafood. The last thing I was taught to cook was one of the most technically difficult dishes, the soufflé.

The photographer who attempts a complicated studio shoot right after buying his or her first camera, is like the apprentice cook who walks into a kitchen and insists on cooking a soufflé on their first day.

Taking a stepped approach to learning, will take your photography to the next level much faster than trying to learn it all at once. Many photographers will try complicated shooting or lighting styles, then become frustrated because their images are not working out the way they had hoped.

Master peeling potatoes first. It’s definitely a game changer!

FOG11FS 166

Ask for help

Putting their work out there, is something that many photographers struggle with. Yet, seeking and implementing constructive criticism is one of the fastest ways to take your photography up a few notches.

The fear of ridicule or criticism prevents some from sharing their work. This is really sad, because many of the fears people may have are imagined. FEAR is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real, it’s our mind trying to keep us small. When you create beautiful art, and you don’t share it with the world, you deny so many people the opportunity to experience beauty.

If you are ever in doubt, take Mother Nature as an example of best practices for artists. Every day she puts her work out there – sunset, sunrise, storms, sunshine, and rainbows. Some are absolutely spectacular. Other times, her art can be mediocre, yet she puts her work out there every day for us to enjoy.

Other ways you can ask for help:

Join a photography group
Find a mentor
Attend a workshop where your work can be critiqued by an expert whose work you respect

Confidence

Ecove Hyde15 2977

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” Henry Ford

You can read books, take courses, and listen to podcasts until the cows come home. But if you don’t have self-confidence, it will be very difficult to take your work to the next level.

Confidence is knowing that you’ve done the hard work and put in the hours, and can now turn up and nail the shot.

Many photographers and artists really struggle with confidence. It may be due to old programming from a lifetime of being told they weren’t good enough, of having the people they spend the most time with not offering enough support, or a hundred other reasons, all of which undermine a person’s self-esteem.

Look for ways to improve your self-confidence. Spend more time with people who value and respect what you do. Find ways you can get rid of destructive self-talk.

The good news is that self-confidence can be trained, just like a muscle in the gym. Gaining self-confidence and self-belief is, by far, a major game changer. It will help take your photography to the next level.

Do you have a strategy that I might have missed? What techniques have you used to take your work to the next level? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

All images: Copyright Gina Milicia

fastflash_book If you want to learn more about using flash for creating portraits, pick up Gina’s brand new dPS ebook: Fast Flash for Portrait Perfection. Now on sale for an introductory price for a limited time only.

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The post Game Changers: How to Take Your Photography to the Next Level by Gina Milicia appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Dylan Goldby and the Art of Adoption Photography

04 Feb

Dylan Goldby shoots large projects for major clients. He is a Nikon Ambassador and a staff writer for F-Stoppers. He has held the title of photo editor for Groove Magazine and is the go to shooter for a multitude of international publications. As if these resume showstoppers aren’t enough, the Australian is the co-founder of Flash Light Expeditions, an endeavor Continue Reading

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How to Avoid Fake Smiles in Your People Photography

03 Feb

DPSarticledee_cover750

A genuine smile is one of the most attractive expressions of the human face, and as photographers, we love them because they brighten up our pictures with warmth, and create connection.

When you look at it on a body language level, you discover that a genuine smile informs others that we are:

A friend, not a foe
Happy
In a good place mentally.

It’s a universal safety and happiness cue that we recognize on an instinctive level. It draws people in, and creates a sense of positive connection with the person in your image.

I’ve been talking so far about a genuine smile, because a smile can also be deceiving. We humans have developed the ability to fake smile when we want to pretend that we’re happy or friendly, even when we’re not… and this happens a lot in front of the camera.

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Let’s face it, standing in front of a lens is not the most happiness inducing moment in most of our lives. To many people, this is actually really uncomfortable, but yet you are asking them to smile, which often ends up looking tense and fake.

What a fake or tense smile says about the person in the image, is that they are not being honest, that they are uncomfortable, or even submissive.

People will fake a smile to appease others, when:

They are nervous or uncomfortable
Showing submission
Being polite (when someone cracks a really bad joke for example)

No matter the reason, a fake smile will give off a low-power impression of the person in the image.

So what’s the difference between genuine and a fake smile?

A genuine smile is visible mainly in the eyes. Smiling eyes are relaxed, with raised cheeks, and a nice tension appearing on the side of the eyes. The mouth can be anywhere from slightly raised or wide open, but it’s the eye action (not the mouth) that communicates the honesty of a smile.
A fake smile on the other hand, will have no, or very little, eye engagement. The mouth smile can still be very wide, but you will not see any action in the upper cheek and eye areas. It looks more like a grin, than a smile.
The expression of contempt is often mistaken for a smile. The most obvious sign of disdain is a one sided smile, with the lip slightly pulled up.

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How to get a real smile? Don’t say cheese!

As a portrait photographer, your job is not only to make a beautiful image, but also to be the director of the shoot, helping your subject relax into the right emotion. If your subject is uncomfortable, you’ll most certainly end up with a fake smile or worse, an expression of contempt, and lose the warmth and honesty that comes from a genuine smile.

It has become a habit for many photographers to shout out, “Say cheese!!!” to get someone to smile in front of the camera. But this method usually ends up with embarrassed grins, or fake smiles, instead of genuine ones.

So what should you do instead?

It’s impossible to fake a feeling (unless you’re a sociopath) and the only way you can get your subject to genuinely smile is to help them connect with a real feeling of happiness. Asking them to think of something, or someone, they love allows them to connect with a genuine feeling of happiness, and you’ll see their cheeks raise and create a beautiful honest smile within seconds. As soon as you see it, let them know so they can feel it for themselves, and reproduce it. I ask my clients to give me a keyword for what they just felt and I use that for the rest of the shoot.

If they can’t think of anything, you can tell them a funny story, or a joke, and that can work really well, but can be a two edged sword if the joke falls flat and makes the situation very awkward instead.

Smiles are also a very useful barometer of your clients comfort level. If they can’t seem to relax and connect with a happy thought, it’s a good time to check your own body language and see if you are sending off stress, or discomfort, cues that they are mirroring back to you.

Differences between men and women

Contempt

Genuine smile

Smiling is recognized universally as a sign of happiness and safety, by both women and men, but there are a few differences:

For women, smiling is a way of creating rapport and a sign of appeasement, but to men a smile can come across as submissive.
Men smile less often, and less widely than women.
Women are attracted more to photos of men smiling, but men prefer more serious photos of other men.

When coaching your client on the image selection, it’s important to know the usage they are going to make of their photos. A man needing a photo for a dating website would probably have more success with a smiling photo than a serious one. But if he’s looking for a job in a male dominated workplace, then he’d probably be better off choosing a more serious one for his LinkedIn profile.

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I hope you have found these tips useful and I look forward to hearing about your own experiences with genuine and fake smiles. Please leave your comments below.

The post How to Avoid Fake Smiles in Your People Photography by Dee Libine appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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How Auto White Balance Can Hinder Your Photography

01 Feb

You’ve likely heard that auto settings like auto exposure and autofocus aren’t fail-proof. They’re strong features, no doubt, and most photographers take advantage of them at least some, if not all, of the time. But the key to success with auto-anything is to make it work for you; that is, to understand its limitations, and know when it’s not going to give you the best results.

If you’ve been a photographer for very long, you’ve likely run into the situation in which a very bright scene, a snowy landscape, for example, caused your camera’s auto exposure to significantly underexpose the shot, giving you murky gray snow instead of brilliant white. Likewise, a shot that was naturally dark, like a portrait of a black dog, might have been recorded too light, also resulting in unwanted gray or brown.

In both of these cases, the auto exposure was tricked by the scene’s overall light or dark tone, and attempted to compensate for this problem by doing exactly what it’s designed to do: choose an exposure that will average out the tones in the scene. For many photographs, auto exposure does a fine job of selecting a correct exposure, for scenes when average is correct. The trouble is when a situation is not average. In those cases, it’s up to you, the photographer, to make the necessary adjustments.

DJ ATM7 40 2

DJ ATM7 40

The exact same thing happens with your camera’s Auto White Balance, only in this case, the issue is not with light intensity, but with color.

The Color of Light

Not all light is the same; different types of light have different colors built-in to them. Daylight is basically white, while light from a sunrise or sunset has a red, orange, or pink cast to it (caused by the light being bent through deeper layers of atmosphere). Shade is usually a bit blue, as is snow, as both of these situations are receiving reflected blue light from the sky. Standard incandescent (tungsten) lightbulbs give off a strong yellow cast, while fluorescent lights, long the bane of photographers, can be anywhere from blue, to purple, to green.

Your camera needs to know the color of the light so that it can accurately record the rest of the colors in the scene. With film, this White Balance” is built into the product (i.e., Daylight film and Tungsten film), but with digital cameras, we have the ability to change the White Balance on the fly. If you shoot a room illuminated only by tungsten light with your camera’s Daylight White Balance setting, the resulting photo will show incorrect colors that are skewed towards yellow (try it and see for yourself). You could also shoot an outdoor natural-light photo with the tungsten setting and get some simply awful blue images. But when these situations are shot with the correct White Balance selected, the colors in the photos should be spot-on accurate.

The Auto White Balance Blues

Your camera likely offers a handful of White Balance choices, settings like: Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Flash, Tungsten, and Fluorescent. There is also, surprise, an Auto choice.

Many beginning photographers tend to set their White Balance selection to Auto and leave it there. This mistake can be the cause of quite a few photographic problems. Like your auto exposure, Auto White Balance is pretty good. Especially when dealing with artificial light sources, the results of Auto can be very satisfactory. The trouble arises when a color cast is desirable, or when shooting a subject that is mostly one color.

DJ CWG 3 11 E 2

DJ CWG 3 11 E

A great example is a classic sunrise or sunset scene. In this case, there can be quite a lot of red or orange light illuminating the scene. If you choose Auto White Balance for this shot, the camera will evaluate the scene and think, “Hey, something’s wrong! There’s a lot of red here! Better back off on the reds.” The problem is, you do NOT want your camera to correct for those colors. In this case, having a lot of red in the scene is correct according to the subject and your intention. Auto White Balance will probably deliver a sunset that has a much more bluish feel, not as dramatic, and not what the scene actually looked like.

Another way Auto White Balance can be fooled is with objects that are mostly one color. A good example is flower photography. Suppose you’re photographing a large pink flower that fills the frame almost entirely. Auto White Balance will look at this shot and think, “Whoa, too much pink! Gotta back off on that.” Auto White Balance has no way of knowing if subject is truly that color, or if it’s the lighting. The only thing it can do is try to deliver what it perceives to be an average color balance for the image. In this case, the flower in the photo won’t appear the correct, vibrant pink that it was.

DJ 776 9 2

DJ 776 9

Auto White Balance can even cause slight inaccuracies to everyday outdoor photos, often resulting in shots with just a bit too much purple than they should have (the result of Auto trying to over-compensate for green vegetation).

Use Presets!

So what’s the solution? Use those White Balance presets! Many photographers, including me, use the Daylight setting a great deal of the time, to help ensure accurate colors during all times of the day and in many weather conditions. The Shade and Flash presets can also be quite useful. If you’re shooting JPEG files, selecting the correct White Balance at the time of shooting is critical. But even if you shoot RAW files and have the (very useful) ability to adjust your White Balance in post-production, choosing the correct White Balance preset at the time of shooting can start your images off right, and save you plenty of time, and who doesn’t like that?

Do you have any other stories or examples where Auto White Balance did you wrong? Please share in the comment below.

The post How Auto White Balance Can Hinder Your Photography by Daniel Johnson appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Art of Photography: NYC Blizzard Photo Looks Like a Painting

01 Feb

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

blizzard photo painting art

As roads closed and kids turned staircases into sledding hills and snowboarding slopes across East Coast cities during Jonas, one photographer stopped to shoot a few pictures that turned out looking like modern-day impressionist paintings.

winter storm photo nyc

Photographer Michele Palazzo managed to capture not only the swirling snow around the structure, but an installation of snowflakes inside mirroring the exterior weather. Despite Sprint and Apple logos, hallmarks of the present age, there is something timeless about the composition.

winter storm photos

According to Colossal, “the snowflakes you see in the window of the Flatiron are part of a paper origami installation by Chelsea Hrynick Browne in the Prow Artspace. The cloudy atmosphere and gusty winds creates patterns that appear uncannily like brush strokes. You can see more of Palazzo’s shots from the morning of January 23rd on EyeEm.” (See more storm photos, thumbnails above, over at the EyeEm Blog).

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Photography & Video. ]

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Should you Study Photography at College or are There Better Options Now?

30 Jan

If someone were to ask me whether it’s worth going to college or university to study for a degree in photography I would find that a difficult question to answer. I don’t think there is much value in studying photography at college, yet I don’t want to destroy anyone’s dreams (the good news is that there are plenty of other less expensive paths to a photography career).

If you are thinking about studying photography at tertiary level, these are the two most important questions to ask:

What will you learn during your course?
How much will it cost you?

You can learn a lot about photography by going to Amazon and spending a few hundred dollars on photography books, or purchase ebooks like on offer here on dPS. I’ve learned far more from books than I ever did from my photography degree.

What will you learn?

The first is important because, incredible as it may seem, you may not actually learn much while taking a photography degree. I know this is true because I studied photography at what was supposedly the UK’s top photography college, only to find that the level of teaching was so low, that I made my way through the three year degree learning next to nothing.

Let me give you an example. In our third year, the tutor gave a single one hour class per week. After a few weeks he gave up on doing that because only five or six students (out of a total of around 30) were turning up. The reason for the low turnout? Most of the others were so worried about writing the required thesis that they couldn’t concentrate on photography. And the reason they were so worried? The same tutor had spent weeks explaining how the thesis would be one of the most difficult things they had ever done, without giving any practical support or solutions to us.

Another example (bear in mind that I took my course between 1996 and 1999). We had one computer between 90 students, with an out of date version of Photoshop installed on it. The college had identified digital photography as an important trend – yet didn’t support the students enough to learn it.

By GotCredit

The truth is that degree courses are a tremendously inefficient way to learn. Whereas a typical working week is filled with 40 odd hours of work, a typical week in our course only had a few hours work. The rest of the time was wasted.

Plus, you may have the additional living costs of moving to another part of the country to study, and the loss of income from not being able to work a full time job while you are at college.

My theory is that our course was caught in bit of a time warp – the tutors probably came from an era when it was normal for arts courses to take a relaxed approach to education. University education was free in the UK at that time, and there was little concept of students paying for an education and expecting to receive value for money in return. Whether that has changed since then I have no way of knowing – I hope so.

The world of education has changed tremendously since I was at college. You can go online and learn by reading the blogs of some of the top names in the business. You can buy books, ebooks and video courses for just about any aspect of photography you care to learn about. Computers are much cheaper, and almost every student would have one.

You can also learn by taking workshops with some of the best photographers in your field. They may seem expensive, but it is a pittance in relation to the cost of obtaining a degree.

dPS writer Valerie Jardin runs photography workshops in the United States, Australia and Europe.

If you were going to study a photography degree today, the main question you have to ask is, what value does it give you over and above what you can learn from books, online resources, and workshops? Here are some ideas.

Interaction with other photography students: If you struggle to find like-minded people to talk about photography with, then this may be an attraction.

Industry experience: Does your course give you actual experience working in the area of photography that you want to get into?

Industry contacts: Very important, as these contacts will help you when you leave college to embark on your career.

Solid business training: Most photographers are self-employed, so it is essential to know the basics of self-employment and running a business. If your chosen course doesn’t teach these, then don’t even consider it. You won’t be prepared for the practical side of a career in photography.

An understanding of the newer ways of earning money from photography: Do the tutors on your course understand the emerging world of the business of workshops, and creating ebooks and video courses to sell online? This is important because these are all ways you can bring income into your business. One day there may be more money to be made from teaching photography, than from doing commercial photography assignments, and you need to be ready for that possibility.

The quality of your tutor:. Is there a highly regarded tutor at your college who can help you get started on your journey as a professional?

Another important factor is that drive and determination, combined with some innate creative talent, good business sense, and a willingness to learn are the primary characteristics you need for a successful career in photography. How many of these are taught at college?

Digital Photography School has a fine selection of photography ebooks for you to learn from.

How much will your course cost?

How much will your photography course cost you to study? The answer varies widely because it depends on where you live, and where you’d like to study. Bear in mind that graduating from college with lots of debt is a financial handicap that may hold you back for many years to come. Don’t forget to factor in living costs, and loss of income, as well as the cost of the course itself.

A good exercise is to calculate how much your course is going to cost you each week. Then, once you know how much you will learn during each week, you get a true idea of value.

In my opinion, the only reason that you should get into debt for an education is if you are studying something such as medicine, engineering or law which holds the promise of a lucrative career path at the end of it.

By GotCredit

Photography doesn’t have that lucrative career path. Some photographers make lots of money, some don’t. Lots of photography students (including some from my course) end up in careers other than photography. There are no guarantees in this business, and you need to be aware of that.

In the book The Millionaire Next Door the authors take in-depth look at the characteristics of the typical American millionaire. Most of them leave school early, start a successful business, and build it up. Very few millionaires have a college education. Why? The years spent studying (and therefore not working or building up a business) and the debt built up during that time prevents most people, regardless of qualifications or earning potential, from building up enough income or assets to become millionaires.

The solution

If you have a burning desire to make a living from photography, then look at these learning opportunities first.

Books and ebooks
Video courses provided by photographers and organizations like Lynda.com

DPS has two video courses for photographers. There are countless others available online.
Workshops (half-day and full-day)
Longer workshops (two days to a fortnight)
Part-time courses provided by local schools and colleges
Online courses provided by organizations like the New York Institute of Photography (I have no experience of these courses and no idea whether they are any good, so do your research).

All of these will be significantly less expensive than a photography degree, and can be carried out in your spare time while you have a full-time job.

Another approach is to look for a job in the industry. While you might not immediately be able to get a position that you really want (such as an assistant for a prestigious advertising photographer) you may be able to work in a related position.

For example, you might get a job working for a picture agency, a job as a receptionist in a portrait studio, a position working for a photography magazine, a job as a picture editor somewhere – you get the idea. There are lots of possibilities, and working as closely as you can to the area you want to end up will give you the opportunity to learn from established professionals and make the contacts you need to develop your career.

Given my experiences I would never advise anyone to study photography at college or university. However, I appreciate that there must be courses that are far better than the one I took. If you had a positive experience studying photography at college I’d love to hear about it, please post your comments below and let’s discuss it.

Mastering Photography

Mastering Photography ebook by Andrew S Gibson

My ebook Mastering Photography: A Beginner’s Guide to Using Digital Cameras introduces you to photography and helps you make the most out of your digital camera. It’s aimed at beginners and will teach you how to take your camera off automatic and start creating the photos you see in your mind’s eye. Click the link to learn more or buy.

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Weekly Photography Challenge – Something Shiny

30 Jan

Oooh shiny! Look at these images of shiny things and your eyes may glaze over.

By jenny downing

Weekly photography challenge – something shiny

What can you see near you that’s shiny? Look around, what do you see:

A crystal
Chrome
A watch
Jewelry
The sun

Your job this week is to photograph something shiny, and make it stand out. Make sure it glistens and sparkles in your image. Lighting is key.

By Jennifer Donley

By Marvin Chandra

By William Warby

By Jessica Merz

By Allie_Caulfield

Share your images below:

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer upload them to your favourite photo sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

By Darlene Hildebrandt

By Ville Miettinen

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Fast Flash for Portrait Perfection: 25% Off our New Flash Photography eBook

27 Jan

NewImage Who said flash portraits had to be complicated?

With our brand new ebook, Fast FLASH for Portrait Perfection by Gina Milicia, they don’t have to be!

A five-time dPS ebook author, Gina has been using flash lighting in her portraits for over 25 years – photographing a-list celebrities, heads of state… even royalty.

Now in this practical how-to guide, she’s sharing all her best flash secrets, tips and techniques.

She’s really held nothing back!

Created specifically to take away the guesswork when it comes to flash photography, this practical ebook will give you the skills and confidence you need to create AMAZING portrait images.

Learn more about Fast FLASH here.

Is this flash photography ebook for you?

Yes! If you:

Want to learn all there is to know about flash, from one of the world’s best portrait photographers
Don’t want to get bogged down with technical explanations
Are looking to develop your own unique portrait lighting style
Want to understand what gear to use (and what not to use), no matter your budget
Want to greatly improve the quality of your portrait images, whether you’re a beginner, enthusiast or pro

There are loads of examples included, too. All shot by Gina using mostly budget lighting kits (but with studio-quality results that you can achieve as well!).

Grab a Copy and Save 25% Today

To celebrate the launch of this brand new Flash Photography eBook you can pick it up today for a limited time 25% off discount. Normally $ 19.99 USD today it is yours for just $ 14.99 USD.

Pick up your copy of Fast FLASH here.

The post Fast Flash for Portrait Perfection: 25% Off our New Flash Photography eBook by Darren Rowse appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Top Photography Accessories to Have in 2016

26 Jan

Photography is an expensive hobby, without a doubt. Some lenses or speedlights may costs even more than a camera body itself. After buying a DSLR camera you may need a few accessories to improve your workflow, keep your gear safe and secure. Thus, we decided to put together 30 extremely valuable photography accessories you may need while shooting. This collection Continue Reading

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5 Things to Consider Before Deciding to Specialize or Not in Your Photography

25 Jan

There comes a point in every photographer’s career where they ask themselves the proverbial question, “Should I specialize in a specific genre of photography? Or should I just keep photographing anything and everything that comes my way?” There are several schools of thought on this dilemma, depending on who you ask, and what you read. Ultimately the answer is very personal, and specific to each photographer. The point of this article is not to convince you, the reader, of one way verses the other. The objective here is to simply state my personal reasons for how I would answer that question, and leave the final decision making up to you.

Memorable Jaunts DPS Article on Specializing in your photography

#1 Jack of all trades, master of none

I really believe in this age-old motto. I find that when you focus on multiple genres of photography, your photographic style and creative voice takes that much longer to develop. Different genres of photography require different strategies. What works well for family portraits, may not work well for still life. What works great for food photography, may not work for pet photos. Yes, the basic concepts of lighting rules, composition techniques, and technical camera knowledge, are mostly similar, but the style of photography varies depending on the subject. When you focus on multiple genres, there tends to be a mishmash of imagery in your portfolio, which may not be what you want in the long run.

Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Specializing in your photography Wedding Images 01

I love capturing weddings and bridal portraits, some of my favorite genres of photography!

#2 Attracting your ideal client

In my mind, an ideal client is one who loves your work, and is willing to pay the right value for your services, no questions asked! Clients always demand and expect the best value for their money. When a client inquires for a particular job, they expect to find someone who is the best at what they are looking for.

For example, a family looking for beautiful, timeless, annual family photos, will expect the photographer they hire to know what he or she is doing, not just from a photography standpoint but also in terms of posing, lighting, post-processing, and delivery. So, when they inquire about family photos, they are expecting to hire someone who has enough experience under their belt so as to make the client’s experience an enjoyable one. Imagine for a moment, they hire a photographer who has limited experience photographing families, but is great with still life or product photography. Now suddenly, halfway through the shoot, the kids decide enough is enough and start acting up. Will the still life photographer, who does not expect his subject to simply get up and walk away, really know how to handle the situation? It’s more than likely that photographer is going to panic, making the client extremely upset, and they will expect to be offered a full refund, no matter how the final images turn out. Remember a positive client experience is the number one priority of any professional photographer!

Memorable Jaunts DPS Article Specializing in your photography Family Portraiture Images 02

This family session was a highlight of 2014 that got me several clients who wanted extended family photoshoots!

Another family that loved the images from past sessions and moved schedules to accommodate me! – It felt awesome to be appreciated.

#3 Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses

I feel like this one is not just relevant for photographers, but for everyone in general. When I get asked what I like to photograph, I immediately know what to say. I love photographing people and travel (preferable with people in the images). I specialize in portraiture because I feel one of my key strengths lies in interacting with people, and getting natural emotions and expressions through my imagery. As an extension to this genre, I love photographing weddings, because it is such an emotional day for all concerned. Being able to document a couple’s special day, surrounded by family and friends, has been a wonderful experience for me.

Now, if you ask me what I don’t like photographing, I have an even faster response ready! Traditional newborn photography is something I absolutely run away from. Don’t get me wrong, I love kids, but there’s just something about hanging baskets, swaddled blankets, and twisted limbs that freaks me out. The only two newborn photo sessions I have done in my five year career, have been newborn lifestyle photoshoot which may not have been exactly what my clients wanted.

My only attempts at newborn photography.

I love the emotions captured here and it is one of my favorite genres of photography!

#4 Paying the bills verses having a career

Now you may question this one. Are they not the same? On the surface these two may be the same thing for most people, and I have to admit for a while this was true for me as well. When I was just starting off, while family portraiture was what I gravitated towards, I did take jobs like real estate photography and birthday events because they helped pay my bills. But over time, I realized that the time and effort that I was putting into these so called “bill paying jobs” was not really worth it. The time to get to the event, hire a baby sitter, rent or borrow event specific equipment like light stands and extra flashes, as well image processing time, all added up and when I factored in time-to-money ratio. It just was not bringing in the money I thought it was. Often times we don’t realize that time is more money than money itself.

#5 Doing what you love

This one falls in line with point #3 above. Most of us get into photography because we love taking photos. It is a field where creativity and motivation run high, when we do the things that we really enjoy. However, the moment photography becomes a chore, it looses its charm. We start to feel burdened, and lack motivation and creativity. We all know that photography is a field where a mediocre job is very apparent in the images we produce. Bad lighting, loose composition, and bad editing, very quickly become very apparent to all. But when we photograph things that we really enjoy, we tend to produce stellar imagery that we love.

A blogpost about Film and feeling vulnerable as a photographer when using a film camera got me two wedding inquiries because the brides appreciated my honesty and loved the emotional appeal of the images!!

A blogpost about shooting film, and feeling vulnerable as a photographer when using a film camera, got me two wedding inquiries because the brides appreciated my honesty and loved the emotional appeal of the images!!

With all this being said, I don’t mean to imply that you should say no to jobs that are outside your expertise, especially if you are just starting out in this field. But don’t promote yourself as being the person who says “yes” to everything.

Specializing also doesn’t mean you have to give up photographing all those other things out there. Go ahead and photograph those apples sitting on the counter with the warm mid-day sun streaming through your window, or get the action shot of your kids playing soccer, but those should not make their way to your portfolio. Don’t suddenly start marketing yourself as a sports photographer. It might just repeal that client who is looking for a fashion photographer, which is exactly how you want to be known.

So, what is your speciality?

The post 5 Things to Consider Before Deciding to Specialize or Not in Your Photography by Karthika Gupta appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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