Photography on radio!

You can listen to interviews with photographers on Inside Digital Photo.

Aperture tutorial

Here is a video that will explain aperture more thoroughly.

Depth of Field tutorial

Here is a great video tutorial on depth of field.

Video about perception of beauty

Here is a cool (freaky) video about beauty.

Know thy Gear

Here’s a great but boring-sounding tip:  Read your camera’s manual!  Read it from cover to cover.  Have your camera in hand so that you can see what the manual is talking about and try it all out as you read it.

It might sound obvious but honestly, how many of you have read through your camera’s manual?  Or your flash’s manual?  (Oops, come to think of it, I haven’t read my flash’s manual… so that’s why up to now I don’t know what GN means and what makes it different from TTL.  I have no idea where that manual is.)

It is pretty boring because you know a lot of the features of your camera already (presumably).  But what about the other parts of your camera that you never use?

Read your manual!  It’s like eating veggies: it’s good for you. 

Photo Album Suppliers

Here is a list of photo album suppliers. 

High end Coffee Table Albums
www.asukabook.com
www.zookbinders.com
www.graphistudio.com

Low cost photo books
www.blurb.com
www.mypublisher.com

www.storybookpages.com
www.artleather.com
www.albumsunlimited.com
www.caprialbum.com
www.cornerstonealbums.com
www.finaoonline.com
www.winkflash.com
www.exclusivealbums.com
www.hhcolorlab.com
www.leathercraftsmen.com
www.picaboo.com
www.pictobooks.com
www.proprints.us
www.proweddingalbums.com
www.queensberry.com
www.topflightalbums.com
www.thebookalbum.com
 www.wgbooks.com

The FIRST thing you need to do: Create a PORTFOLIO

Some people email me to ask if they can second shoot for me and when I ask them if I can see their work, they don’t really have anything prepared.

It is VERY important for a photographer to have a portfolio of your own work because this shows people your photography level and skill.

Make sure your photos are technically decent.  Meaning, no blurry photos, no snapshots, make sure you edit your photos in Photoshop to make them the best photos they can be.

Try to keep only your best photos in your portfolio.  On the other hand, don’t be so paralyzed by not having great photos that you don’t include any photos at all.

ONLINE PORTFOLIO
At first, it doesn’t have to be anything fancy.  You can create an account in the many photography sites for free.   Personally I prefer Flickr.  See my portfolio there at http://www.flickr.com/photos/silvasphoto/. 

Some people use their myspace or facebook account as their portfolio.

You can also use a blog such as WordPress.  Just make sure you can post BIG photos.  See my other blog at http://SilvasPhoto.wordpress.com .

The good thing about this is that you can just give people a link and they can view a lot of photos.  This is better than emailing photos because you are limited by the no. of attachments allowed by your email (which is probably around 3-10 depending on your email provider.)

Note about emailing photos:  if you absolutely have to email photos, make sure they are resized to a smaller size otherwise, when the person opens the photo, it will be too big for the browser and there is no way to view the whole photo unless you save it on the computer, then open it with a photo viewer, which most don’t people don’t like to do.

Eventually your goal is to have your own website that showcases your work.

Things to remember:

• Make sure your online photos have a watermark to prevent other people from using your work as their own.  A watermark is a semi-transparent text or logo on top of your image.  It could be at the center of the image or at the bottom or top.

PRINTED PORTFOLIO
When meeting people in person, you’d want to bring a printed portfolio.  The photos in your portfolio should be in a big size, such as 8×10 or larger. 

You should select a number of your photos to include in your portfolio.  15-20 images is a good number.  The portfolio that you present should be relevant to the job you are applying for.  Example:  if you want to be a portrait photographer, your portfolio should have portraits.  If you want to be a landscape photographer, you should have some landscape photos.

I have different portfolios depending on the client that I am talking to.  I have a wedding portfolio, a portrait portfolio, a landscape portfolio and a boudoir photography portfolio.  Now, I don’t want to show somebody who’s not really interested in landscapes some landscape photos since that is not relevant to them. 

More from PhotographersAcademy

Professional Photography Secrets

Commercial Photography

How to price your Wedding Photography

Pricing your wedding photography is one of the trickiest part of being a wedding photographer.  How much is your time and effort worth?

In the beginning, when you are still trying to build experience and portfolio, you might work some jobs for free or very little money.  This is okay and extremely natural as it would be unethical for you to charge very high when you don’t have the experience.

But as you improve and your business grows, how much should you charge?

It all depends on a lot of factors and each photographer is different.

• Location.  The price of photography is different in a big city such as New York as opposed to a small town.
• Experience.  Are you just starting out or have you been in the business a while?

What most people don’t realize is that photography is a full time job even though they only see us on their wedding day, we are also working the entire week editing the photos, creating the albums, marketing, meeting with clients, etc.  So your wages should be at least what somebody working full time is making.

You should raise your prices whenever:

• when your expenses increase.  As your business grows, your expenses increase too so your prices should cover that.
• Whenever you get a lot of bookings.  This means that you are in demand so you can raise your prices a bit.  At first, the bookings will lessen, but you will be doing less jobs for the same amount of money.
• Whenever people tell you that you are affordable.  This means that you are worth more so you can charge more.
• Raise your prices at least every year consistently.  This ensures that your prices are keeping up with the increasing prices of everyday things. 

View this blog about pricing:  http://photolovecat.blogspot.com/2007/03/pricing.html

The average cost of a wedding

As wedding photographers, it is very important for us to know our market very well.  Do you know how much your bride spends on her wedding?  Do you know how much of that budget she spends on the wedding photography?

According to costofwedding.com, the average couple in Charleston, South Carolina spends $25,340 for their wedding.  (You can also view the cost of wedding in other cities in the USA in their website)

Here is a sample of how the average wedding budget is spent.  Some brides give more priority to certain items, such as a wedding gown or a spectacular venue or a six-string orchestra, and may adjust their budget accordingly.  It all depends on what is most important to the wedding couple.  Also, wedding budgets differ depending on how many guests the bride has.

Rings (Wedding and Engagement) 15% Wedding Gown (including accessories such as veil, tiara, etc.) 5% Wedding Reception and Catering 35% Photography and Videography 10% Music and Entertainment 4% Flowers and Decoration 13% Cake 3% Wedding Party Gifts 2% Wedding Invitation 4% Rehearsal Dinner 2% Officiant/Ceremony Fees 1% Transportation 2% Tuexedos 1% Pre-Wedding Parties 3%

Photography Packaging and Marketing

Image is everything.  That is why branding yourself and your work is so important.

Branding and packaging increases the perceived value of a product.  Compare a stack of 4×6′s to a beautiful album of 4×6′s.  Compare an 8×10 print to the same 8×10 print, matted and framed. 

Your brand has to be consistent across all your products and packaging for it to be effective.  This means everything from your business cards, your letterheads, your photo folders, photo boxes, mailing postcards, brochures, envelopes, etc. have to have your branding.  Use a consistent font and color scheme to reinforce your brand to your clients.

Branding also reinforces to the client your professionalism and your commitment to your work as opposed to some fly-by-night operation.

Check out this great blog about how to market and package the photographs that you give out to clients.

Photo Packaging Blog

You can also view a PDF file about photo packaging.

Presentation Brochure

Writing blogs and blog stalking…

As you all probably don’t know, I have recently moved from other blog sites to my new blog site here at wordpress.  I have two blogs, one is for photographers and one is for my clients.  I love love LOVE wordpress since I can put really BIG photos in this blog compared to my old blogs (see my old blog for photographers and for clients ).

 I’ve also taken to blog stalking. The blogs I’m stalking the most now is:

Jessica Claire’s Blog
I love Jessica Claire and at the same time I hate her and I want to scratch her eyes out cause I’m so jealous!  Just kidding, Jessica Claire is really great, I love her photos cause they’re always fun, fresh and the colors are super punchy!  I learn a lot just looking at her photos and in her blog, she sometimes explains how she does some of the stuff that she does.  It’s a blog for her clients so you kinda have to read between the lines, and imagine a little bit, but she also has a lot of tutorials around the web so if you search for her name on Google, you’ll find out a lot about how she does what she does.  

Here is Jessica Claire’s FAQ about Photography

Here is Jessica Claire’s video tutorial on Simple Photo Minute about how she gets her pictures to be so punchy in Adobe Photoshop. Or if that doesn’t work, try Jessica Claire’s video tutorial

Jessica Claire also has a text version of the video somewhere in the Digital Wedding Forum but you have to be a registered member to view it.   She also has an interview         

Other blogs that I plan to stalk soon when I have the time are:
          Jeff Ascough’s blog for photographers
          Interview on Jeff Ascough.
           Becker’s blog for photographers
          Anne Almasy’s Blog
 
If you find any blogs worth stalking, please post it in the comment below. 

Happy Blog Stalking!

Having fun with Photo reflectors

I just recently acquired a Photo Reflector, the 5 in 1 type with 5 different surfaces.  Cost about $60 and is probably the best $60 I ever spent. 

See samples of my boudoir photoshoot where I used reflectors here http://boudoirsc.com

Here is what all the different sides of the reflector are for:

• White Side – for natural results
• Black Side – to block light and to shade
• Silver Side - add contrast to image
• Gold Side - for warmer but still natural light
• Translucent – to diffuse and soften light

What we did mostly is to point my SB-800 flash towards the reflector instead of the subject and let the light bounce through the reflector creating a softer light with less harsh shadows.  We used mostly gold and silver for this photo shoot although I prefer the silver because the gold introduces a yellow cast to the photo.

Here is a sample boudoir shot with no flash, just natural light.

Here is a boudoir photograph with flash bounced off the silver side of the reflector.  Notice how her skin is glowing with a silver sheen.

 

Photography Resources

Here are some links to digital photography resources.

Photography
http://www.simplephototv.com – videos created by photographers, for photographers
http://www.wedshooter.com – articles on wedding photography by popular wedding photographers
http://www.newschoolphoto.com/blogme – digital photography tools & tutorials
http://www.photolovecat.com – contributions to the world of wedding photography
http://mattantonino.com – Matt Antonino’s site for photographers
http://whattheduck.net – comic relief
http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/index.asp – digital photography
http://www.betterphoto.com/allAbout.asp – everything
Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines – for digital newbies
www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/photography.htm – for luddites who still love 35mm film cameras
PhotoNotes.org – Canon EOS Flash Photography Info & many other articles

Magazines and Newsletters
http://www.ppmag.com – professional photographer magazine
http://www.rangefindermag.com – rangefinder magazine
http://www.wedpix.com – the WPJA’s monthly online magazine
http://www.wppionline.com – WPPI’s monthly newsletter for wedding & portrait photographers 
PDN magazine – great for the latest industry news and their annual wedding issue

Business
http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/cdb/ – cost of doing business calculator

Photography Tips and Techniques
http://www.planetneil.com/faq/index.html – tips
http://weddingphotographyproject.wordpress.com – techniques for getting the images you want
http://www.photoshoptv.com – digital photography tips and tricks from photoshop gurus

Photography Lighting and Flash Tutorials
http://strobist.blogspot.com – lighting tools & tips
http://makelightreal.com/ – lighting tutorials
http://www.planetneil.com/faq/flash-techniques.html great resource on how to make your flash technique better.

Photography Backdrops
http://www.betterphoto.com/exploring/MakingBackDrops.asp – making backdrops

Adobe Photoshop Tips for Digital Photographers
http://www.atncentral.com/ – free actions
http://www.photoshopkillertips.com/ – photoshop tips
http://epaperpress.com/psphoto/index.html – more photoshop
http://www.photoshopsupport.com/ – more photoshop
http://www.radiantvista.com/video_tutorials/ – photoshop tutorials
http://www.photoshoptv.com/ – photoshop tv
http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html – photoshop tips

Websites about Photography Gear
http://www.the-digital-picture.com – a good site for some ‘hands-on’ canon gear reviews.
http://www.conraderb.com/flashrepair  illustrated tutorial on fixing your canon flash shoe

Feel free to add your favorite links in the comments below.

Offering Photo Albums to Clients

One of the ways to increase profit for yourself and enhance the value of your product is by offering photo albums.  For a lot of photographers, album design makes up close to half of their profit. 

Let’s face it:  photos in a photo box just get left behind in a drawer somewhere while photos on a CD never get looked at.  But an album, an actual photo album, is something you place on a coffee table or shelf and that you show to anybody who comes to your home. 

There are many different kinds of albums and if you are new to the world of albums, you might get confused.

• Coffee table-style Photo Book
  These are photo albums that are digitally lay-outed through a software such as Adobe Photoshop or other image or album software and are printed like a book, on book paper, and bound.  The thickness and type of paper depends on the printer that you have.  These books are really impressive and some printers have layout templates so you can simply drag and drop your photos into the designs, making it a breeze to create albums.  They also come in different sizes and it is pretty easy to make a design in one size, then duplicate the same design in a different size, as in the case of wedding and parent albums.Examples of these are AsukaBooks  and Zookbooks .  On the more economical level, you also have the myPublisher  books and Blurb  books. 
• Slip-In Albums
  These could either be digital or non-digital.  For digital albums, if you are making a 10×10 album for example, you layout the photos you have into a 10×10 page and print out all the 10×10 photos.  You then slip these 10×10 photos into the album.For the non-digital type, you simply slip in the photographs into the album. Example of this is the Renaissance “The Book” Slip-in Album.
• Self-Mount Albums 
  These work the same way as slip-in albums except that instead of slipping in the photos, you paste or tape the photos to the page.Example of this is the Renaissance “The Book” Self-Mount Album.
• Flush-Mount Albums
  These are the same as Self-Mount except that instead of you doing the mounting, you send your photos to a printer and they do the mounting for you.
• Matted Photo Albums
  These are albums with mats in them.  The mats come in many different designs.
  You usually have to buy the mats and pages separate from the cover. Example of this is the Elite Album.
• Proof Albums
  These are the most economical albums and they are designed to hold a large number of photos.

If you don’t have the time to design albums, you can actually have it done for you.  

Try out these album suppliers.  You can get a free catalog from them and usually the catalogs and the price list are separate so you can show the catalog to your clients.

Perfection Distributing
Michel Company
DNL photo 
Albums INC
Marathon Press

If you want more information about the photo albums, go to the album manufacturer’s websites.

Renaissance Albums
Tap USA Albums
Kambara Albums
GP Albums
Art Leather