A Simple Tip to Improve Your Photography: Change Your Perspective!

This is a quick tutorial on how to improve your photography by simply changing your perspective!! Hope you enjoy and take a look at the photos below to see the results that I got!

 Here is the first Shot!

Here is the shot taken closer to the ground

The Same idea with people. This is a shot of my daughter

I took this shot 5 seconds after the one above. The only thing I did

different is to get down close to the ground and shoot her at eye level!

Here are two other photos using the same process!

hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Comments are appreciated!

-Brian

ISO in a Nutshell.

Have you ever wondered what ISO is?  Well, after reading this post you should have a pretty good idea of how it works.


ISO has been around for a long time.  It is a abreviation for International Standards Organization.  In the old film days it meant the same thing as ASA.  ISO traditionally measures film speed.  The higher the number, the more sensitive the film was to light. So, ISO 400 is a more sensitive film than ISO 100.  Since you are probably not using film anymore,ISO is now how a reference to how sensitive your cameras light sensor is to light. Most cameras have several ISO setting ranging from 100 to 1600.  


Most of the time lower ISO’s are most desirable because they give you less noise in your photograph.  However, choosing a higher ISO allows to you to use a smaller aperture or a faster shutter speed.  There are times when a higher ISO setting is useful. If you are shooting in low light or if you are shooting action shots you might want to raise your ISO settings. Also, If you are using a really long lens, such as a 500mm, it might be wise to raise your ISO setting to help avoid camera shake.  


If this is new to you it might be a good idea to do some tests.  Go out and shoot the same scene in all of the ISO setting your camera offers. This way you can get a feeling for what the different ISO settings produce.

Getting Pie

So, I was thinking about photography the other day (actually, I think about photography everyday), and I thought it would be good to go over how to get photo business.  Marketing can be tough for some of us.  So, here are a few ways to get your piece of the pie.

1.  Word of Mouth.  This is the best way to grow a business, but it also is very slow and takes time to build up.

2. Yellow pages. Depending on the other competition, this could be cheap or expensive. But, every serious photographer should be in the phone book. Thinks about this. lets say it costs you $400 for an ad in the phone book. If you get one wedding per year you could easily pay for this form of advertising!

3. Door hangers.  Yep, get them printed and go out and hang them on doors.  This can be a little costly.

4. Craigslist. A great way to start your biz and in most areas it is free!!!!

5.  Direct mail.  This can get expensive.  First you need to get mailers printed and then you have to purchase a list of clients.

6. Business cards.  Every photographer should have these and hand them out to whoever you meet!

7. Door to Door. Go out and knock on a few doors for an evening. I promise you will live and it really doesn’t hurt that much if you wear comfy shoes!!! This is a very cheap way of drumming up some biz!!!

These are a few ideas. There are a lot of ways to market your biz, but these should get you started.

A few tips to get better photographs

Even in you are a pro photographer, there is always room to improve.  So, pro or not, here are a few tips to get better shots.

1.  Get down to your subject’s level.  This applies to kids, pets, flowers, almost everything.  Try a different angle to see how it looks.

2.  Use flash outdoors. When taking photos of friends or family, use your pop -up flash. Believe me, your photos will look better.  It will get rid of the harsh shadows.

3. Use a plain background when photographing people, pets, etc.  There will be less distraction to take away from the subject.

4.Take a vertical shot.  Most people get used to taking horizontal shots. Mix it up an bit and throw in an odd vertical.

5. Use the rule of thirds (if you don’t know what it is, I did a post on it, so go find it.). Better composition always helps a photo.

6. Shoot down.  It adds a creative angle to the shot!(check out the photo below.)

Hope you enjoyed this.  Let me know if  you have any questions.

Excellent Tips. Check this out!!!!

Yes, I know. I have posted a lot of videos. The reason? I am in the middle of a move. So, to not leave you hanging, I am posting videos. They are great videos though, Enjoy.

An Idea for Christmas

I don’t know about you, but I am pretty happy with some of my photos.  My friends and family like them too. So, Why not give a photograph to them for Christmas?  The only problem I have with this is deciding what type of frame to use.  Does it fit with the other frames on the wall?  Is it always best to go with a basic white matte and black frame? Why not make it something different? I found this site online called Fotoflot . This is pretty cool. It solves the dilemma of which frame to use because there is no frame.  Check it out and let me know if you like it.

Who to Ask for Help and Who to Avoid: Not All Photographers Are Friendly.

Just a quick thought.  Most photographers are very friendly and will share all the info they can with you.  They are happy to share the tricks of the trade. I am one of these photographers.  It makes me feel good to think I can help others become better photographers. But, there are certain times when you don’t want to ask a photographer for advice or information.
Never ask for advice from a local portrait photographer. Some are friendly, most are not. Most of the time, if they think that you might take away business, they will either give you bad advice or they will get upset.
Digital photography has caused a lot of pro photographers to lose business. Digital cameras have made it easier for the masses to learn photography.
A lot of pro photographers get upset when they see novices with digital cameras start shooting weddings and portraits.
I had a run in with a photographer in a group I had joined on stock photography. I asked a simple question and this high and mighty photographer thought it was his responsibility to slam me.  It wasn’t nice and I think the reason he did it is because he sees photographers like me as a threat to his income.
The whole point is that you need to watch where you get your information and who you ask for help. Especially when you might take business away from that photographer. Always err on the side of caution.  In this economy pros are working hard to get all the business they can. They can’t afford to lose any business and will do whatever they can to get as much of the pie they can.
Let me know if you agree with me.

I always try to find a photo that goes along with the post, but I could not find one that fit with this post so I have included a photo of my family’s jack-o-lanterns.

How to Light People, Golf Balls, and Books With the Same Set Up.

O.k. So here is a really easy way to do a portrait. It’s called a window light portrait.  The reason it is called a window light portrait is because you use a window to do it.  It works best if it is cloudy outside. Direct sunlight should not be on the subject. Here is the diagram below.

Basically, put the subject a few inches to a few feet from the window and the light from the window should do the trick.

Here is an example of a window light portrait.

Nice Huh?

The fun part about a window light portait is that it does not have to be a person. Look below…

Or this…

All of these shots were lit with window light.

One note to remember is that when doing window light shots, position the subject near the back 1/3rd of the length of the window, so 2/3 of the glass is in front of the subject. Remember we are lighting the front of the subject, not the back. Other than that, window lights are extremely easy to do. Now that you know how to do one all you need to do is try it. So make a promise that you are going to try it. Have some fun. Get a friend to pose for you!

If you have any questions, let me know.

Thanks:)

p.s.  I know pros who use this set up.

How to Price Your Wonderful Photographs

I have been asked to give some information on how much to charge for photographs.  This lesson is for Teri. Enjoy:)

There are several aspects to look at when figuring out pricing for photographs.

1.  Look at your competition.  If there is an excellent photographer in town and he is charging $35 for an 8×10, it makes no sense to charge $55. Usually you want to stay in the in same range. If you are just getting started, charge less. The problem is when you decide to raise your prices later on, it might alienate your customers. The way to combat this is to charge the same amount as the other photographers in your area and then give a discount.  Here is how it works: Bob’s photo studio down the road from you is charging $35 for an 8×10. You need to be lower than he is because you are just starting out. So, what you do is charge $35  for an 8×10 and give a $10 off discount. Now your prints are selling for $25. As you move along in your business, you can take away the discount and you don’t have to raise prices.  This way you don’t upset your customers.

2. The second way to price your photos is to consider your costs and time. Take into consideration the cost of your camera, money for gas, printing, studio costs (utilities, rent), part time employees, and all the other expenses that you will accrue over a year. Divide that by how many jobs you plan to have and this should give you the average amount you need to charge per job. Remember that you still need to be in the same ball park as your competition, but you should never be in a situation where you don’t make enough to live on.

These are the two best ways of figuring out prices that I have found.  There are probably others, but these seem to always work.  It is very hard to figure out pricing and sometimes it is trial and error until you find the groove.  Remember to always take into consideration the quality of the work you do.

Another interesting tidbit:  I’ve found that the higher the price, the easier the customers are to work with.  If you are charging $300 to do a wedding (this is way too low from my point of view) you will get a $300 wedding. I you charge $2,000, you will get a $2,000 wedding.  Not to pick on the poor ( hey, I’m poor right now) but that is just what I have found.

Thanks for checking out my site and if you have questions, let me know!

The photo below is for sale for 5 grand if anyone is interested. LOL!

How Do I Begin and What is the Best Way to Start a Photography Business?

Recently I have been asked what is the best way to start a photography business?  Well, there are several ways. 
Here is the thing: you need to know what you are doing to a certain extent before you to out and get paid for a job. 
So, read this blog and practice. I am serious when I say I will answer questions that I am given. So if you have a question let me know.
After you are comfortable with your camera, go out and get some experience. Build up a portfolio. Go to a wedding as a guest and just shoot away, and give the newlyweds the photos as a present (but don’t get in the way of the pro photographer there).
Take photos of your kids or hubby, or the families in the neighborhood.  Do it for free and use the photos to build your portfolio.  
Start to shoot stock photography (if you don’t know what this is, ask me).
Take photos of the local businesses around town. Then take them to the owner and offer to sell them the photo of their business. Go out and shoot soccer games just to get experience.  Sell the photos to the parents if you like.
Doing these things will not only build the portfolio, but will also give you more confidence.  
After you have learned how to use your camera and are more confident, go out and find some business. Put an ad on craigslist, or hand out cards. Go to bridal shops and florists. Put up posters around town, or put an ad in the high school newspaper. If you live near a college, go to the drama department and offer to do head shots for the students. 
There are lots of ways to start a photography business (I started a blog)  People are always saying they would love to own a photo business but never get around to doing it. Are you afraid of failing? If you are, that’s o.k. Most people are. Remember, the first step in succeeding is to start.  


Here is a photo of a future photographer, my daughter!