Must-Have Equipment for Professional Wedding Photographers

When it comes to taking professional quality wedding images the lens is much more important than the camera body itself. This doesn't mean get the cheapest camera body that you can find, if you're on a tight budget and you can't afford to go full-frame, you should consider getting a semi-professional camera such as the Nikon D300. This article outlines different equipment used in wedding photography and the reasons why they are so important to have in your bag.

When you are responsible for documenting such an important day as someone's wedding day, there is no excuse for cheap equipment, this simply won't get the job done for the level of quality that is required, remember they will look back at these images throughout their entire lives! They're investing a lot of money in your services as a wedding photographer, so don't rip them off by using the cheap amateur equipment.

If you initially can't afford to buy that 24-70mm zoom lens or that professional body outright, then rent it! Most professional photography stores have a rental department. This is a great way to cut back on your outgoings while still providing a high quality service. This will help boost your reputation for the future, and help you save towards that professional camera you have been drooling over. Figure out the best rental arrangement for you. You can save money if you hire it for a few days in a row, this isn't a bad idea to hire it for an extra few days before the wedding day, so that you can master all of its settings, if you are proficient in using your camera this will boost your confidence on the day. Try to practice when there is no- one else is around, don't leave it till the actual day remember you'll be under pressure on the day, and It doesn't look good when you are fiddling with your equipment and the couple is waiting on you, they are paying for your time. Another thing I would recommend is mastering manual use of your camera, this is so you can create images how you intended them to be. If you want to underexpose slightly to shoot a nice silhouette shot you won't be able to if its in auto mode, as it automatically balances out the exposure.

Lenses with a wide apertures of f/2.8 up to as wide as f/1.4 or more are extremely valuable for weddings. These wide apertures enable you to use more available light, think about how dimply lit a church or reception hall can be. You don't want to risk having to boost your ISO so much that you lose too many details. So remember that big apertures are a strong tool for the wedding photographer. Another great benefit of using wide aperture lenses is not having to fire a flash. I wouldn't recommend shooting with a flash in the ceremony itself, its a very special moment for them so show them some respect. A lot of brides specifically request no flash in the ceremony or the location might have restrictions for flash photography. If you must use flash in the ceremony its always polite to ask the venue and bride just to be sure. I also see a lot of photographers firing a flash directly into a someones face which isn't very flattering, there is normally always a surface around that you can bounce your flash from, using a white ceiling or wall to act as a giant soft box which creates a much better quality of diffused light. Although its best to try to use the available light as much as you can.

A lot of photographers prefer to carry only zoom lenses in their bag, this saves a lot of running around to position for their shot. I prefer with work with mostly primes, as prime lenses are available in wider apertures the end result is the subject appears much better separated from the background, this enables you to draw your viewers eye. This method of photography makes it easier for you to tell a story with your images. It creates more powerful images with minimal distractions.

For wedding photography lenses I would recommend covering a focal length from 24-200mm. 24mm is wide enough to provide expansive views of the ceremony and reception, and 200mm has enough reach to get a nice closeup of the bride or groom from the back of the church.

Here are some different types of lenses used in wedding photography.

Wide-Angle lens

The wide-angle length typically covers focal lengths between 10-24mm. This lens is very important when it comes to wedding photography. They are wide enough to show the entire view of the church or ceremony location, wide-angle lenses also make it possible to photograph in confined spaces, such as the bride's dressing room or a packed dance floor. The wide perspective creates a sense of expansiveness and grandeur by showing the entire church or ceremony location. Wide angle lenses on a full frame body provide the best results, if you have a cropped sensor keep in mind that a 10-20mm lens will give a similar view to a 24mm on a full frame body.

Wide-to-Telephoto Zoom

The wide-to-telephoto lens such as the 24-70mm or 17-55mm are considered the most important lenses for wedding photography. They are wide enough to take a group photographs, and also three quarter length portraits, if you had to choose just one lens to shoot an entire wedding this would provide you with the best coverage.

Image-Stabilized Telephoto Zoom

Telephoto zoom lenses have a focal length of 70-200mm. If your style of wedding photography is an unobtrusive, photojournalistic style, then this is the lens for you. Its a great for ceremony's, as you don't want to be in the way of the guests, you can still get a great portrait shot of the bride and groom at the altar from the very back of the church. You can also capture the bridesmaids or groomsmen as a group without having to swap lenses.

The f/2.8 maximum aperture of these lenses gives you the option of narrowing the depth of field, keeping the viewer's attention on the in-focus subject while blurring the background, and the Image-Stabilization mechanism will give you razor sharp images when taking shots fully zoomed in and taken by hand. The only downside to these great lenses is that they aren't cheap by any means.

Prime Lenses

I love working with wide aperture primes, they give a beautiful depth of field and an advantage when working with available light. You can shoot at f/1.4, which will cover even some of the darkest areas. Here are some popular prime lenses on the market.

24mm f/1.4 This lens was recently released by Nikon. It is an amazing lens, you can take great venue and ceremony shots, even though it is a wide angle lens you can still manage to get subject separation from the background and great quality 'bokeh' out of focus areas at an aperture of 1.4.

50mm f/1.4 An affordable lens. This lens is great for the bridal preparation shots, and detail shots such as bouquet, rings, shoes etc. It also covers closeup portraits, and small group shots.

85mm f/1.4 This is the classic focal length for portraits. It also provides a beautiful and creamy quality of 'Bokeh', which is how the out of focus areas appear.

These lenses perform at their best on a full-frame body, although you can still produce some great images on a small sensor camera. As I said before, the if you had to choose between getting a new camera body or a professional lens of the same value, I would recommend the lens hands down. You will notice a much bigger difference in the quality of your images.

A good combination of lenses for a wedding is a couple of fast primes such as a 24mm and an 85mm, and a 70-200 telephoto-zoom lens. The 24mm covers you for expansive venue and ceremony photos, and group photos. The 85mm produces great quality portraits and couple shots, and the 70-700 will give you the speed and length that you need for great candid photography, and ceremony shots at the altar and coming down the isle.

You might also consider getting a quality macro lens for amazing detail shots like wedding rings etc. 105mm is a good option.

If you carry all of these lenses in your kit you will be able to capture the day at its best. Of course you need to have an eye for photography and many will argue that its not the equipment its the photographer which is true, the reason I express that professional lenses are such a valuable part to carry in your kit, is solely for the image quality. These lenses will make a big difference as to how professional your portfolio appears to viewers.

Camera body

There are many advantages in carrying a professional camera body. Some of the main benefits are high ISO capabilities which will give you a higher shutter speed in low light situations, and some full frame cameras feature incredibly high megapixels such as the Nikon D3x, which is great if you get a lot of orders for larger wedding prints. For wedding photography I would say that a high ISO camera like the Nikon D3s is more beneficial, having this capability means that you will be able to capture every moment in any lighting situation without fail, and without having to constantly work with flash. Carrying a professional body for wedding photography also means higher shutter speeds, enhanced colour replication, quicker menu access using dials instead of buttons, and of course the benefits of a full frame sensor. Other benefits include wider range of view, reduced image noise, reduced lens distortion. Small sensors have a 1.5 ratio crop factor which artificially magnifies an image. The downside is that this magnification brings out all of the flaws in the lens, but there is a also a big advantage in having a 1.5 crop sensor. When you attach a professional full frame lenses you can potentially get the equivalent of a 400mm lens from a 200mm lens. A professional 400mm lens can cost you upwards of 8k.

When photographing a wedding, I cannot express how important it is to carry a backup camera. If you are unable to afford a full frame camera as a backup, a small sensor body will do nicely. Or considering hiring a backup camera.

Flashes and Accessories

Another important thing to consider with wedding photography is carrying an off camera flash. Whether it is on a stand or held by an assistant, you need to be very fast in putting it all together, its a good idea to practice the controls as home, and do plenty of testing so that when it comes the day itself you don't have the bride and groom waiting on you. Speedlights with TTL in combination with wireless remotes such as pocketwizards are a good option. Speedlights are very portable, although don't provide as much output as studio monolights. When using pocketwizard remotes you can attach 3 or more speed lights. They are triggered via a radio transmitter, this means that they don't need to be in line of sight to your on camera transmitter/ reciever, so you can put one inside a building or around a corner for example and it will still fire via the remote. Its a very powerful tool but takes a lot of practice to master well. When considering a speed light you should make sure that it has a rotating the flash head. This is so that you can also use it as an on camera bounce flash, to bounce off ceilings etc.

An important accessory to carry when working with off camera flashes are diffusers such as soft boxes or umbrellas. I find soft boxes to be much better when it comes to location shooting as umbrellas blow over with the slightest gust of wind, you can get sandbags for them but this means its just more weight that you'll be carrying throughout the day which just isn't practical. You want to streamline your equipment as much as you can. Working with a small portable soft box that you can carry off camera is a good solution. Ideally you should have an assistant hold this for you, or use a flash stand. A single properly executed off camera flash with diffuser is more than enough to provide stunning couple portraits with a beautiful quality of light, that softly highlights them and 'pops' the subject from their background which creates a more dynamic image, this is a particular advantage when the weather doesn't cooperate. You can still create great images when its a miserable and dreary day.

You can get great shots using just a single off camera flash, although you need to have perfect placement. Consider using 2 or 3 flashes. You can create so many great effects with off camera flash, including rim lighting, and highlighting different surfaces as well as the subject, there are also flash gels that you put over the flash head to output different colours like red or blue, flash gels are also used to balance the flash with ambient light, such as tungsten or flouresent.

Camera bag/jacket

Consider a bag with wheels. Doing wedding photography is hard work, it doesn't help when you are hauling heavy gear with around with you. You want to make this as easy on you as possible so you can focus on the job at hand. Camera jackets are a great solution, all of your lenses are readily available to you anywhere you go, you can fit up to 4 lenses in a single jacket!

With wedding photography you need to be confident and full of ideas on the day. So you need to make sure you know your equipment like the back of your hand before you take on the job of photographing someones wedding day. Take plenty of time to practice your new equipment and read the instruction manuals carefully beforehand so that on the actual day you are quick and ready to capture all of the special moments as they unfold.

Melissa Fiene is a wedding photographer based in Sydney Australia. She produces high quality images, providing contemporary, and natural style wedding photography. To view her work please visit http://www.melissafiene.com/

Original article

Professional Photography Pricing Considerations

Pricing... you can't work as a professional photographer for very long without becoming caught up in the subject of pricing your work (well, you could, perhaps, but you would never make any money). Then there's the question of, not only what prices to charge, but also how to educate your clients about your price list without them bailing out or thinking you're trying to pressurize them.

In the time that I've been running my studio as a professional photographer, I've explored different methods of presenting my prices to clients and potential clients, with various degrees of success. These include the usual suspects...

* Printed price menus
* Combined price list and brochure
* Web site price page
* By sending out price lists by email

But, the issue I had with these methods was that sales just didn't seem to be where I wanted them to be. I would hand out price lists to prospects who requested them, count the accesses to my price list website page, or email my list to anyone who asked for it - yet the clients disappeared as quickly as they came, like ghosts. This was a complete puzzle to me, and it doesn't take too much of that to imagine that, "my prices must be too high."

Looking at my price list, and considering the lack of returning customers, I really did start to think that my prices were too high - so I made the awful mistake of lowering them. Yes, you guessed it - I got just the same result. The moral is that we can get tangled up in a vicious cycle of always fiddling with the fees.

Is any of this familiar? Are you stuck in that wasteland of trying to second-guess your prospects to find out what you think they would easily pay, rather than what you believe they should pay?

You aren't alone - just about every professional photographer I know has encountered this painful process. But, there is a solution...

Don't Tell - Show

The answer to this problem really requires three distinct things. First, you should decide what your products and services are going to be (i.e. what it is that you're actually selling). Secondly, you should decide on your fees, based on your production costs, level of competition and income requirements. Lastly, produce one price list that is yours, and yours alone.

That's correct, just ONE - no one sees your complete price list unless you personally give it to them - complete with a full sales presentation and in-depth explanation of everything you offer.

I can hear you exclaiming, "that's the dumbest thing I've heard!" but stick with me here for just a moment.

There is a perfectly good explanation why the other methods don't work effectively. When a customer looks at a web site and finds a price list, they can see how much a portrait or a wedding package costs. But how are they going to compare that with what they've seen elsewhere, except by the price?

All of a sudden, your prospect has been turned into a price comparison shopper! In the mind of most clients, all 8x10s are printed equal - but we know that couldn't be more wrong. It's what is printed on the paper that's critical, not the print itself. But how can we clarify this to the prospect when they are a web browser or someone sitting at home reading a price list?

Wedding photography packages are an even better example. Displaying a price for a collection on a web site or in a pamphlet they can take home is only going to make the prospect think, "I get such and such for this price, but that other photographer down the street will give me the same or more for a lower price." You and I both know that the "other" photographer won't put as much time into the wedding day as you will, doesn't have the level of experience you do, won't deliver as fast, or simply isn't as professional. But the prospect is only looking at prices.

The same thing goes when the prospect calls you on the phone. The first question is, "how much?" If you answer that question straight away, they're gone, and we never hear from them after that. Instead, we have to divert our chat away from the price (at least at the beginning of the call) and on to the less logical reasons for the photography they're looking for. Once we've had a chance to educate them about what makes us unique, then we can gently mention pricing, after which we arrange to meet with them personally for a more detailed consultation if the price is within their expectations.

By the time the prospect meets with you for a consultation, they already understand that your prices are affordable.

The Personal Touch

As you might expect, I meet with every prospect before I allow them to book a portrait session or a wedding. This is an opportunity to give my complete sales presentation before showing them my price list. As a salesperson, it is my job to ensure I understand as much about their wants as possible before selling them anything - they won't care what I know until they know I care about them. If making money is the only motivator to you as a professional photographer then you are in the wrong business.

There is one copy of my price list, and I keep it in a leather binder, printed on fine paper. To the prospect, it looks like an official copy, which it is, and nobody has ever asked to take it home.

When I'm meeting with a customer to discuss a wedding or portrait session it can take 45 minutes to an hour before we ever get to the topic of price. The price list is there in front of them, I'm sure they know what it is, but I don't open it until I'm ready. If they ask about the price list, and I don't feel ready for them to see it, I simply say, "I'm so happy you brought that up, and I'll be glad to go over it shortly. But first..." and then I ask them more questions about the wedding or portrait.

By the time we do get to the price list, we've talked about the wedding day, how the couple met, what they like to do together, what's important to them and their family about the wedding, how many bridesmaids & groomsmen they have, the color scheme etc. At that point, they understand that I really care about them, and now the topic of price is no longer the main driving force. Obviously, they will have a plan in mind, and there should be a collection that falls within that range, but they are no longer just comparing our prices to everyone else's. They are making a comparison - but it's to do with things like service, quality, attention to detail, personality etc.

"Selling" - Start At The Top!

When I go through the price list I start with the most expensive choice, even if they've already indicated their budget. Doing it like this, I only have to sell down and not up. Selling up is as hard as climbing a mountain - it's usually much simpler going down than up.

Don't make the awful mistake of confusing this method for pressure sales, because it isn't. The reason for selling down is to help them become involved with a package that's right appropriate for them, even if it does happen to be the cheapest one you offer.

The client doesn't understand as much about creative professional photography as us, so they may not truly understand which considerations they ought to be most concerned about. Instead, they get stuck on the only thing they can relate to, which happens to be the price. At the end of the day, it's our job to get them off the price, and re-connect them with the real elements of what we do.

Summary

I just want to make sure that I do underline this point:

I have only one printed price list to show to prospective clients - there are no prices listed on my web site, no prices emailed out to those who ask for them, no detailed prices given over the telephone and no brochure with a few photographs and my prices for them to take away.

I am not hiding anything from my customers or trying to deceive them - that's not the way to run a solid photography business. But, it does demonstrate to my prospects that I value them above the prices for my photography. It also helps to screen out the types of prospects I don't want to work with - the ones to whom price is the main important factor and to whom family, relationships, memories and emotions are not as valued.

So far, no one has complained about this procedure. My customers now treat my prices with respect and they understand the context in which they're given. This encourages better sales and, in my opinion, an overall better experience for the prospect.

About The Author

Nigel Merrick is a professional photographer, blogger and business coach for other working photographers. Nigel's blog ( Photography Business and Marketing ) helps professional photographers find peace in their business, love from their clients, and happiness in their personal lives by clarifying their focus on business and marketing.

Original article

How To Avoid The Top 6 Mistakes In The Professional Photography Business

As something of an interesting experiment, I asked my Twitter followers to answer the question: "What are the top business errors by 'rookie' photographers?" Within just a few minutes I had several great responses, and thought they would make a great article.

It's one thing to be a great photographer, but very much another to be the owner of a successful photography business. In fact, I've seen far too many technically talented photographers suffer through difficult times, while observing others who seem less qualified sail right on by.

The main difference in these two outcomes lies in the photographer's understanding of the importance of business knowledge.

You're A Photography Business Owner - Not A Photographer

As I've said on plenty of previous occasions, it's not the most talented photographer who wins, but the best marketer and business-minded photographer.

What, then, are the 6 most common mistakes, at least according to my Twitter followers?

Here they are, in no particular order:

#1: Undercharging For Their Time And Talent

This is a huge mistake that many newbies make, usually because they join the industry as a serious amateur who's found the potential for earning money practicing what they already like to do. Not that there is anything wrong with amateurs turning professional - far from it.

The trouble is, most of them fail to realize that the moment they charge for their work, they've moved from amateur to professional. That shift also requires a change in thinking, especially when it comes to how they view the value of their photography.

If photographers would just stop at this point to examine the situation, and fully understand the implications of being a professional, I think the industry would have a lot less problems.

All it needs is a simple change in perspective - from amateur photographer to serious studio owner.

As a business owner, one of the 1st responsibilities is to fully realize the cost of keeping the business open, and what it costs just to pick up the camera for a job.

With these factors in mind, together with a realistic valuation of the photographer's time, added to the actual cost of sales of products sold, the photographer can calculate healthy prices that correctly value their work and time.

#2: Mistakes With Paid Advertising

I made the very same mistake when I started in business, much to my disappointment (and an empty bank account)! The advertising in question was the "Yellow Pages", and I believe I watched almost $3,600 disappear into thin air as a result. At the time, I didn't know any better, and thought I needed to be in the Yellow Pages just because that's what was expected. Besides, there were lots of other photographers in there, so it must be the proper thing to do, right?

Nope.

Other mistakes I made with paid advertising included certain internet directories and paid listings, none of which provided any leads, let alone clients.

If you're a recently new photographer, and you're considering paid advertising, then it pays to really take into account the target market of the advertising, how effective the reach is, the experiences of other photographers who have taken part in it etc. If you're in any doubt, don't do it!

#3: Setting Prices Without Knowing Their COGS

This was alluded to in #1, but it's worth mentioning again here. Knowing your COGS (cost of goods sold) is absolutely critical to producing a price list that will sustain a healthy business. COGS includes all the direct costs necessary for making a sale, but not fixed costs such as internet, telephone, rent etc.

The one thing a lot of photographers omit from their COGS is their time, which is a huge mistake. Your time is your second most valuable asset (your attitude being number one), and you need to charge for it, even if it's only a small hourly rate.

Having determined the COGS for any given service, it's good practice to mark that up at least 3 times to produce a final retail price.

This is the point at which so many photographers get scared, and descend into the vicious cycle of constantly tinkering with their price list - especially if they're having a hard time with sales.

#4: Not Following A Business Plan

To begin with rookie photographers don't often spend much time to create a business plan and then work the plan.

Do YOU have a business plan? An actual written plan providing a frame of reference for your studio, defines your goals, and acts as a roadmap for success?

I'm willing to wager that the vast majority of photographers don't possess such a document. Often, this is because they don't like the job, don't know how to write one, are too busy, or lack clearly defined ideas about their goals.

Whatever the reason, if your business was an airplane, it would not have much chance of reaching its destination without a flight plan, would it?

A business plan need not be complicated! It's only for you, to keep you on track, so it doesn't have to be produced as though you're a major corporation.

Simplicity means clarity - and the greater the chance you'll adhere to it!

#5: Working For Free

This is an interesting one, and encompasses a subject I see quite often in the many online photography groups: The idea of photographing for free (or almost free) in the hopes of gaining exposure.

You can't be in the photography business for very long without someone asking you to photograph something (often an event of some kind) for a very low rate on the promise it will give you great exposure or the prospect of more, higher-paid, work down the line.

This is an insult to the photographer, and does a lot of damage to the photography industry. The promised "exposure" more often than not turns out to be non-existent, and further work usually entails poor compensation at best.

Consider the concepts presented in items #1 and #3 when making your decision about these types of jobs, and you can't go too far wrong.

My advice to new photographers is to not fall into the trap of imagining that just because you're not experienced in the business that you can't ask for what you and your photography are worth.

#6: Imagining That It's Easy

I expect that most photographers working today will probably admit that they thought it would be easier than it turned out to be! Myself included!

The truth is, running a professional photography studio is not easy. Running any business is difficult, I don't care what it is. There certainly are no "get rich fast" business plans for photographers!

Perhaps the "easy" idea comes more from the photography side of things. After all, that part is a lot of fun, and we can be technically very good at it - it's what we are here to do, right?

Unfortunately, the clicking of the shutter only takes up 20% of our business efforts, and that's being generous! The other 80% is taken up by marketing, selling, social media, accounting, planning, studying, marketing (so exciting it's worth mentioning twice!)... etc.

Those business-related jobs are probably those we became photographers in order to avoid, but get out of them we can't! They are all essential and vital to our success, so we may as well get used to them.

What Would Be Your #7 Top Mistake?

Thank you to the Twitter followers who contributed to this research, and I do plan to try this experiment again sometime.

This is only 6 of the errors that many of us fall into, and I'm quite sure there are many more!

What other blunders would you add to the list? What would be your #7 mistake to warn rookie professional photographers about?

About The Author

Nigel Merrick is a professional photographer, blogger and business coach for other working photographers. Nigel's blog ( http://www.zenologue.com/ ) helps professional photographers find peace in their business, love from their clients, and happiness in their personal lives by clarifying their focus on business and marketing.

Original article

Professional Photographers During Your Pregnancy

Babies grow fast. Pregnancy may seem to last a lifetime, but before you know it...it will be over. Your baby bump is going to continuously change all through the duration of your pregnancy. These are the moments in your and your child's life that you are going to want to record.

You can get pictures of your pregnancy to record your journey the whole way through. Before signs, at first signs and at full blown ready-to-pop stages can be recorded and put into an album for you. You will have documentation of the stages of your growing child before you even met them.

You will be able to show your friends, family and even your child the memories of your pregnancy for the rest of your years. Having photographs of your pregnancy is a blessing because you can send the pictures on baby shower cards, hang them in your house, put them in a scrap book or photo album or even make Christmas cards with them.

Having a professional photographer behind you during your pregnancy will really improve your experience. Just knowing your situation will be permanently recorded has been known to make people that much more excited for the new little family member to arrive. Professional photographers know what they are doing and work hard to get the best shots of you that they can to enhance the excitement and beauty. They can direct creativity for you unless you have something in mind that you would like them to help you perfect.

An idea would to have you in a profile position with strong lighting. Being nude and having your little pot highlighted in just the right way to accentuate your bundle of joy is going to really look superior and create the high-profile image.

Another idea would be to have a silhouette on the beach during the sunset. Your baby will be in the spotlight while you're in paradise. Just imagine the waves behind you. The sun is glistening behind the water as the light fades down behind the horizon. It sounds just like a dream. Just the experience of taking the pictures is enough to want to be involved in it. Anywhere in the great outdoors is going to look beautiful and make your pictures come out the best that they can.

So many maternity sessions are photographed in the studio. Take a step back and think of how you could be original and exuberant rather than safe with your photos. Do you want the same photos that everyone else has? Or do you want something original and breath-taking for your special little one? Just something about being in the outdoors makes a sound gesture and just works in harmony with a pregnant belly.

Of course, photographs at home are amazing too. Having photos taken in the comfort of your own home will show an appealing relaxed vibe of you in your natural surroundings. It will really create natural memories of you with your child in real circumstances.

There are so many things that you can do when capturing those once-in-a-lifetime moments with your special child.

Original article

Professional Studio Photographer Services

Are you planning a wedding? How about a baby shower? Do you need a new modeling portfolio? A professional studio photographer can provide you with shots of your most special moments showing them in the best light possible.

A photography studio has a list of many different services that will ensure you satisfactory in the sense that you will get what you came for. There are many packages available and different levels of photo shoots available.

On-site photography is when a photographer will come to your house and photograph you in your natural setting. You can have a full shoot done complete with set shots that are lit and make you look the best of your abilities. You will be lit professionally, helped with posing, wardrobe and hair and make-up. They will take a series of shots and decide with you which ones you would like retouched and added to the shots in your package.

Location shooting is a way to get shots with a lot of movement. Location shooting means that you and the photographer go to places like the beach, a park, the woods, a lake and more places like that. They are either naturally lit with the sun and light bounce screen, or a photographer will bring studio lighting along and flashes accompanied by different lenses and digital camera settings.

In-studio shots are shot with a backdrop where you will be given a set or a plain color backdrop. There you will be lit to perfection and helped with posing. You will be able to see all the shots on a digital screen, computer or the photographer will give them to you for looking over and choosing which ones you would like their company to edit and print for you.

Photographers' purpose is to make you look and feel great. They provide a product that you can't get on your own. Of course, you CAN get your own digital camera but the quality won't be as great. Photographers take time to edit their photos with editing programs and bring out the best qualities with their skills. They also have beautiful lighting equipment and camera lenses to use. They know how to light you just right to bring out the best.

With professional photographers you will be gaining the ability to look and feel great. Having a good photo shoot might be what you need to boost your self esteem. Find a photographer in your area and check out their portfolio.

Original article

Three simple changes to stem as a professional photographer

In my stock library job I look at about 25 new photographer applications every month and I've been doing that for almost 10 years now... that's about 3000 photographers and 36,000 + photos. I also spend a lot of time each month monitoring the new images being added to the library. Again this amounts to thousands of images each and every year.

I can tell you, in all those pictures there have been tens of thousands of photos that could have been great stock photos with real sales potential, if only the photographer had done their job right. The frustrating part is, in all those cases, the damage was done by a few fairly simple mistakes that could have been easily avoided.

Now I'll freely admit that I'm no. master photographer but I do know what separates an OK photo from a stock image with real sales potential.

So here are three areas where I believe any photographer can easily step their work up to the next level with little more than a basic awareness and change of mind-set.

Lighting

If I could only make one suggestion, this would be it. issue.

Most fans only really think about lighting after the sun has gone down. Year even then, all they usually do is pop up the flash. Some 'outdoor' photographers might try to time their work for early morning or late afternoon light, but even then they tend to look at lighting as a separate element of from the image.

The pros on the other hand, consider the lighting of their subject, with every single shot. Their focus isn't just on the light, but how the light affects their subject and whether that works for the message they're trying to capture.

The pros will consider additional lighting or shading, on every single shot. It is as much part of their routine as removing the lens cap.

So make it part of your pre shot routine to stop and ask yourself how your subject is read.

Are the key features properly reads? Is there anything you can do to make it better? Flash might be an option, but so might a reflector, a different camera position, turning on a light... coming back in a few hours time.

Make the lighting of your subject your main concern and your photos will improve dramatically in both quality and commercial potential. Nothing kills the commercial prospects for an image as quickly as uneven lighting... buyers take one look as deep shadows and/or washed out highlights and walk away every time.

Patience

If all you do is capture a visual representation of what's there at the time, you're taking snapshots, and they are a dime a dozen. If you want to capture images that are going to stand out from the crowd - and sell - you have to convey a message or a story about that subject to your viewers.

So make it a habit to study the subject in detail before you even look through the viewfinder. Work out what it is exactly that you want to convey?

Conversely, what might your viewer want to know about the subject? What can you capture and convey that the viewer might not already know?

Once you're clear on the key elements of your subject, you can start thinking about the effect different angles, distances, lighting and camera settings might have on the final image.

Then you'll find you're really creating new and unique images with real potential.

A lot of amateur images come across as indecisive. You get the feeling the photographer 'knew' there was a photo-op there, but rather than dig around a bit and find it, they just kept pressing the shutter hoping to get something.

Sometimes they might get lucky, but more often than not, the end result is vague images with a subject lost in the middle-ground, lots of clutter in the background and no clear point of interest in the foreground... and zero commercial potential.

Work out EXACTLY what it is you're trying to say before you start. Then consider your lighting. Then use your technical skills and creativity to make sure you say it.

Technique

For all the convenience of automatic-everything camera, I sometimes wish they were somehow only available after the photographers had passed a manual photography course. Unfortunately, it is so easy and so convenient that most photographers who start out on automatic never go back and learn how to control those settings themselves.

And that means there are a huge number of photographers out there producing images that are almost great... but because they have absolutely no. theory and only very basic technical skills, they will never know what's holding them back and more importantly, how to correct the problems and make great images.

I see this every week with the photographer submissions.

Shots that could have been perfect if the photographer had only turned off the center weighted auto-focus and paid more attention to their point of interest.Shots that could have been perfect if they'd turned off the preset mode, and thought about their depth-of-field exposure.Shots that could have been perfect if only they'd thought about the effects of shutter speed...

The other frustration is those photographers who don't even bother to read the manual that came with their camera so they never take full advantage of the features available to them. Here are just a few problems... and the photographer's explanations... that I've seen just recently:

Great submission of images, but they all had a serious colour cast: "Yes, I saw something about setting white balance, but figured the factory settings would have it covered..." Fantastic subjects & strong compositions, but grainy beyond belief... "That's probably because I keep the ISO set to 1600 so I don' t have to worry about using up my battery flash..." "Fantastic submission... technically spot - on & subject matter that's perfect for stock, except they were captured as medium jpgs..." "I didn't want to run out of space on my memory stick..." "

The last one might sound totally ridiculous but it's a familiar story around here... the photographer had a $2000 + camera and was shooting hundreds of images every week with real stock potential, if only he'd splurged another $50 on a couple of extra memory cards.

The average point-and-shoot captures a bit quality file than the one this guy was saving!

So the final suggestion here is, if your entire experience is automatic-digital photography, every chance you can switch off the auto-everything and learn to do it yourself.

Even better, call into the local second hand shop, pick up an old manual camera and put a few rolls of film through it. They're practically giving them away these days and you'll learn more from those 100 shots than a whole year's shooting with digital your auto-everything!

OK, that's just a few general ideas to get you started. Next time around I'll cover a few more specific elements we see in the best-selling photos and a simple trick to make sure you get them right every time.

Matt Brading

Matt has published a complete stock photography marketing kit that interested photographers can download at: http://www.GlobalEyeImages.com/SellStockPhotos

For more tips & suggestions on the business of selling your photography, be sure to check out our Stock Photography Marketing blog: http://www.GlobalEyeImages.com/Blog

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Why choose a professional photographer?

Why choose a professional photographer?

Today, it seems as if everyone with a digital SLR camera can take a picture and he POPs in Facebook. What follows is a procession of family and friends added that the photographs of the person and suddenly they're photographer.

Why you would then pay a professional photographer to take pictures portrait yourself rather than relying on their camera and your friend? After all, their major watched photographs on their Facebook profile.

There are several reasons why a professional photographer is a better option.

When you commission a professional photographer, you are not only pay for the final product, the photographs. You pay for their time - and not only the time they spend with you on the day, but by the time they invested in themselves for the level that they are. You pay for their training, their equipment, their expertise and their ability to take not only an image, but make you look your best in this image. To compose and to expose correctly - not only illuminated by the Sun, but the edge light or backlight. You pay for their experience, their ability to make you feel comfortable, relax and just be yourself.

They advise you on what porter for you ensure that you look your best, and perhaps more importantly, you will tell what not to wear.

It is also true to say that a picture is taken the day of the shoot, which is not where it ends. Before a professional photographer will give you the final product, they were reviewed, sorted, edited and enhanced these photos to ensure that every detail is perfect. And I do not mean "red eyes correction" - a professional photographer would have made this error in the first place. Part of the cost you pay is payable to the photographer in post-production time, creating a product for you is not just a photo, but a timeless memory and experience.

Yes, there are probably less expensive – even free - methods of taking these pictures. But the odd adage "you get what you pay for" true rings in photography. Not everyone knows what makes a great photograph, but everyone can recognize a poor photograph.

Therefore before you asked the boyfriend of your sister to take a picture of you in the front garden of his mom, what a professional photographer may be able to offer you. And you may be surprised at the cost too!

Mike McLean is a professional photographer and owns and operates Mike Mac photography in London.
You can find more information by visiting http://www.mikemacphotography.com/

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