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detailed itinerary - 2010 DLS workshop series

For registered participants, here is the information you need:

January 10, 2010 - it's NOT about the camera

Location: in your email

We'll learn a bit of photography history and by the end of the day you'll know what all the beeps, bells, and whistles on your camera are for, and have a basic understanding of photography lingo. You will understand how every camera on the planet is built on precisely the same technology, then learn what separates SLR cameras from P&S cameras. We'll also go over a comprehensive list of the basic types of lenses on the market, what their benefits and drawbacks are, and what their common applications are. You'll probably go home with the urge to shoot everything that moves, and a rather pricey shopping list. Which is why it's good that you just learned that it's NOT about the camera... and will survive and thrive just fine without the $2700 IS f2.8 70mm-200mm lens...

February 7, 2010 - composition, understanding light

Location: in your email

This is the one that makes your brain ache, folks. While the composition portion is a relative breeze and one of the building blocks of taking great pictures, understanding light is the key to unlocking all the great secrets of photography. Whether you plan to use studio, natural or available light, or a combination of all three, you need to know how your camera's internal meter works. You'll walk away with a headache, and a burning desire to move all the furniture away from your windows.

March 7, 2010 - technical critiquing, photoshop

Location: in your email

I know - it sounds SO dry and boring... BUT - technical critiquing is a huge part of photography. We'll spend the first part of the day going through the process of deconstructing images using proper terminology do that you can develop the diagnostic tools that will be instrumental not only in looking at other photographer's work and being able to draw technical instead of just aesthetic inspiration, but in how YOU will master your OWN style and technique. Following this, we'll begin exploring some of the basics of Photoshop. I will do a brief demonstration of: skin smoothing, using unsharp mask, creating and using layers, tinting (vintage, antique), and more. This portion of the workshop is meant to give you enough basics that you have the confidence to explore and discover more on your own.

April 11, 2010 - portraiture and making the connection

Location: in your email

Get ready for LIVE MODELS! Once we've gone through the fundamentals of how and why portraits are done (the easy part) we're going to hone our skills on making the connections that are so important to separating cold and heartless snapshots from gorgeous, engaging portraits that have as much meaning to you as they do to your client. We will then have a group of models at our disposal for you to work individually and in teams with doing a variety of individual and group portraits. Always a fun workshop, be prepared to be surprised! If you have a flash for your camera, this is a great workshop to bring it to as we'll have a bit of time to play around with them!

May 2, 2010 - breaking the rules, the business end of things

Location: TBD

While we spent the first 4 sessions learning shooting skills, there comes a time when we get to break all the rules and just HAVE FUN! If we decide as a group we'd like to do a final project together, this will also be our opportunity to plan and discuss those details. The last portion of the day will be spent going over the Business End of Things - taxes, copyright, business licenses, professional printing, model releases, contracts, blogs, websites, advertising and promotion, and all other manner of things you need to consider if you intend to charge money for your services, whether as a portrait photographer, stock photographer, or art photographer. Even if you do not intend to shoot for full-time or supplemental income, there is a lot of valuable information to be taken away from this workshop that can help protect your interests even as a straight-up hobby photographer.

May 29, 2010 - all-night field trip with Team Clickin' Cancer's Butt at the Relay for Life

Location: University of Alberta's Foote Field

This has become a highlight of the workshops, where participants are given the opportunity to contribute their skills to an amazing event in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. Their largest single fundraising effort, which spans across Canada in countless cities, the Relay for Life is a powerful experience. If you are able to come and if you are interested in learning what photographilanthropy is from the ground up, slap on some comfy shoes and your camera, and let's go!

June 13, 2010 - controlled lighting, wedding photography

Start time: 10am

Finish time: 4pm

Location: the beautiful Suffolk House Bed & Breakfast

This workshop is great for anyone wishing to set up a collapsible small home and/or portable studio. The lovely and talented Reanna from Blackbird Photography will be the hostess with the mostest, sharing with us her knowledge of lighting styles, her own set-up, and an opportunity to try it out on live models... who may be dressed up in full bridal gear for the mock-wedding! Immediately following the lighting workshop, we'll be going over the finer points of shooting a wedding. From your initial consultation and contract to the 'money shots' to the classic pitfalls of working with weddingpartyzillas and obnoxious guests, you'll have the insider's look at the grit and the glory of shooting weddings. Once we've had an in-class presentation, we'll waste no time in having you shoot a mock wedding during which not only will you have to deal with the other guests (who ALL happen to be photographers) but maybe some personality quirks, too. And of course while we're hoping for good weather, if it decides to rain... you'll be getting your feet wet for real... Registration and payment deadline for this workshop is April 18, 2010.

can of worms: print suppliers

One of the things we, as photographers, need to deal with is finding effective and convenient ways of providing our clients with print services. Of course, the easiest way to keep the time you spend dealing with print orders to a minimum is to just provide the full-res CD. But, if you don't do that, then you need to hook up with a lab and an ordering system. You wouldn't think this would be such a tricky thing to do, but it does in fact become a very complex decision. Let's consider a few factors.

We all want to provide our clients with superior customer service, which ideally includes simple and easy ways of ordering prints, receiving those prints in a timely manner, and of course having those prints adhere to high professional print standards. Whether you sit beside your clients to pick prints in person or have an online ordering system that is not linked to a print company, if you do what is called self-fulfillment orders it means you are personally responsible for making sure the prints are accurately selected, uploaded, tweaked, printed to the right sizes, and delivered. Not only is this time consuming and frustrating, when we hit busy patches or have (heaven forbid) family or personal commitments to tend to, it becomes more and more difficult to ensure we are getting our client orders dealt with in a timely fashion.

There are several print labs who host online albums where clients can direct order, but the photographer does not have the ability to set their own prices. This means that you are giving up 100% of your potential income, and while this provides convenience for your client, is kind of not the point if selling prints. Furthermore, most of the labs that will allow you to upload an album for printing do not allow you to block the general public from downloading or printing the images. There are virtually no administrative options whatsoever.

Now, there ARE companies who specialize in providing professional print services for professional photographers. Their ordering systems, website hosting, etc. are all very slick in design, easy for togs and clients alike to access and order. In addition to regular prints, there are options for everything from printing mugs and magnets to canvasses and flushmount albums, set and directed by the photographer, managed by the company, and chosen by the client. Several companies have even upped the ante by providing nice touches like tissue-wrapped prints in shiny little boxes. Sounds perfect, right?

Well, it is, but there are some things to consider before jumping on the whole print service bandwagon. For starters, these companies are pretty much ALL in the US, and while I have nothing against our southern friends, I *do* have an issue sending my clients to an ordering album when the prices are shown in US dollars. Thus far, none of the US companies providing this type of service offer display of prices in foreign currencies, which drives me bonkers.

The established companies like PicPick, Pictage, MPix, etc. have one major advantage over the Canadian versions like ShowMyphotos and ZoomPhoto, that being, experience. This has allowed them to specialize like nobody's business, providing a client experience replete with little extras like fancy packaging and client-selected images automatically put into slideshows, albums, etc. while our Canadian equivalents are apparently not quite there yet.

Now it gets SUPER tricky, because you have to decide if you want to pay the premium and farm our your print side of things through a US company or a Canadian company, at which point you have to examine some less-tangible points than whether things come in fancy-wrapped boxes or not, like whether you want to support a Canadian business that offers similar quality products but a lower level of service/perks, and whether or not the US-based perks that you feel elevate your perceived value as a photographer to your current and potential clients are more important than having your business 100% Canadian-based. Generally speaking I think many Americans and Canadians genuinely value the ability to spend money on goods and services that are locally or regionally manufactured or provided, and I'm the first to admit that often a 'made in Canada' sticker or tag becomes the final deciding factor when I am investing in something, though I know lots of people don't care.

There are money matters that come into play as well, such as collecting and remitting taxes. Canadian orders coming through US companies get dinged for taxes and duty at the border, whereas GST/PST is collected on your behalf through both Canadian companies. While you do not have to pay US taxes on your US orders, you still have to pay Canadian taxes on the mark-up payouts you receive, which means your GST in is going to be higher than your GST out (read: you will pay more GST.) If you are making the bulk of your income off print or album sales out of the US, this is something you might want to keep in mind.

The other way money matters come into play is that for all the little value-added perks intended to increase your perceived value to clients, you do add a hard cost which invariably gets passed along by your host company to you first in your membership, per-use, or upload fee, which then invariably you need to pass along to your client. Typically this is buried or rolled into the cost of goods so you can't see the breakdown, though I have seen certain services (ie) gift wrapping) and product upgrades (ie) custom album boxes) offered as a paid-for service. Either way, when you are putting your pricing strategy together, you will need to consider these things and work them into your pricing structure.

One thing to consider is using larger, cheaper print companies (I won't mention any names) which you may wonder isn't a good idea. The answer is simply that while the risk is there for potentially inferior products, where they save you pennies is in providing minimal customer service; namely, you are self-fulfilling your orders without the guidance and expertise of people who know about colour and file management, website issues, etc. much less get to know you on a first-name basis. The discount you receive in using open-source services like this is directly reflected in your access to personal support and service.

Shipping across the border often means longer delivery times for Canadian clients, not only because of physical distance, but usually because their order is delayed in customs. This alone is a HUGE detractor for me personally. Few things are more frustrating than waiting for something to clear customs, and while normally it only takes a day or two, that's an extra day or two I could have spent having the order shipped directly to me from a Canadian company, wrapping the prints myself in a scrap of recycled vintage fabric, and meeting with the clients to hand-deliver their finished print products along with a batch of homemade cookies for that all-important final personal touch that to me would mean more than massed-produced generic picture boxes and sheets of tissue paper that'll end up in a landfill anyways.

Being sensitive to what your clients value becomes paramount so that if you make the decision to forego the expertise of an established company that puts your prints in pretty boxes for you in favour of a company that is more interested in being green than providing packaging you aren't inadvertently alienating your client base who has come to expect the pretty box.

Hopefully this is some food for thought. There is no 'wrong' answer. Whatever works best for you is the 'right' choice.

Dates for 2010 Workshops

While I am still arranging venues, I ought to at least post the confirmed dates for the 2010 workshops: January 10, February 7, March 7, April 11, and May 2. The Relay for Life Team Clickin' Cancer's Butt opportunity is on May 29th, and the optional wedding/lighting workshop is on June 13.

I will send out venue confirmation ASAP, promise!!!

www.zoomphoto.ca

OK - all you people out there who have the same issue that I do being a canuck but not having access to a canuck photo processing site like Pictage or SmugMug... the answer to our prayers is here! Go sign up. NOW.

Photographilanthropy

I posted that there were some exciting changes coming in January. One of the projects I have been working on is still in its infancy, but I'm TOO excited to wait another month. I figure if I start putting the word out now, when I do an official launch in January there will be even MORE content than if I went it alone. Without further adieu...

Photographilanthropy

The kids are all grown up

Call it the season, but I always end up feeling really sappy & sentimental this time of year. While I've always been aware that I struggle with the idea of 'empty nest syndrome' regarding my own children, it has recently dawned on me how hard it is seeing the previous years' workshoppers and former apprentices become successful and get too busy and too smart to ask me questions anymore. On the one hand, it's an amazing thing watching businesses grow and successes mount. On the other hand, it's always sad not feeling like I'm needed anymore. So, this is a shout out to the 2010 participants who are just about to begin their journey - I'm very excited to have you on board - and a whisper from the ground to all the former goslings who've taken to the wing and flown off in their own directions - I miss you, and I'm so proud I could pee my pants. Keep flying - the sky's the limit!

2010 workshops

My apologies to anyone waiting for an official 2010 DLS Series workshop announcement - I was sold out before I ever had the chance to make the official announcement! (This is a good thing, really...) I am currently accepting pre-registrations for the 2010 Weekend Warriors on August 21 and 22, 2010. To those of you who managed to get in, congratulations, and looking very much forward to good times in January!!!

creating an image for yourself on the web

The primary observation I've made when surfing blogs and websites is describable by that silly saying, "Everyone is unique, just like you." I read the adjectives people are using to describe their style and their products and while a few years ago, creative, photojournalism and documentary were the hip descriptors, the current buzzwords are: real classic elegant timeless unique fresh sweet artistic casual natural lifestyle connections

So, if everybody's claiming to be doing classic, elegant, timeless, unique, fresh, sweet, artistic, casual, natural, lifestyle, connections, then how do you REALLY set yourself apart from the pack when people are going to be looking at your website online, or viewing your business card?

The whole idea of selling YOU as a photographer, and your presence at a wedding as a photographer, means you have to come up with more adjectives. So now we see words like fun, relaxed, unposed, blah blah blah. But of course, you telling me that you are all these things doesn't really show much of your personality, unless you're personality is really as dry as saying that.

So. There are two parts to your portfolio: your mad photography skills and YOU. Since your first point of contact is going to be your website, if you really want to stand out, you need to give people a flavour instead of just feeding words to potential clients that will supposedly describe your photos and your personality.

As far as the pictures go, if you want people to see you're a fun photographer, put up pictures of your clients doing something fun, not sitting in a tree with stiff smiles plastered on their faces. If you want people to see you're a classic and timeless photographer, put up the best possible examples of your classic and timeless photos, not a picture of the neighbour's dog licking himself. If don't really know what to describe your style, put up an eclectic mix of pictures you happen to like and pray to God someone likes them.

Then you have to sell yourself, and here's where your words become more important than the adjectives you'd use to describe your images. It isn't really what you say, but how you say it, that will truly illustrate to your clientele what it is you're out to accomplish as a photographer. Read the following:

"Hi, I'm So-and-So, and I'm great to hang around with. We're going to have a great time doing informal and fun family portraits."

"Sometimes I like to paint children with mud then put them in trees to take pictures of them. For the bargain basement price of their dignity, you can enjoy the pictures for years to come."

Which do you think really illustrates personality better? Which version makes So-and-So sound like he or she is fun to spend time with? Which version is going to attract the kind of clients that person actually want to spend a day with?

Next, find some common ground. Spend some time sharing a bit about yourself so your clients know whether they are going to connect or not. Again:

"I have two children and have studied photography informally for ten years, I have a great sense of humour, and I love what I do."

"My kids used to drive me nuts, but when I got my first camera ten years ago I started driving them nuts instead. I freakin' LOVE this job."

And:

"I'm easy-going, but still value the the finer things in life, and will strive to provide coverage of all the details of your day."

"I am a sucker for a pair of Louboutin's and really marvel at all the planning that goes into a wedding from the Swarovski gems on the groom's cufflinks to the bamboo centre pieces, but I should probably warn you that if there's someone famous at your wedding I'll probably take a break from all the details to get an autograph..."

When you're doing up a business card, though, obviously you will need to condense the number of words you're going to use, which is where it can get tricky. If you're self-described as a classic, elegant, timeless, unique, fresh, sweet, artistic, casual, natural, lifestyle, connections photographer, your best friend might just be the thesaurus. And if the best words for what you do really are fun, fresh and connected, isn't calling yourself an amusing ripe and juicy human fusion photographer the same thing, only catchier?

My two bits.

another pricing strategy to consider.

Salfrico commented on my last post, citing this other article on pricing as a counterpoint to the preceding post. (You may want to read that one first, just to catch up.)

The main thing that kind of made me giggle about that article was the idea that you are supposed to remove the emotion from it, because wanting to put a number on the value of your time away from your family is based on emotions, too, not just all that fluffy arteest stuff, isn't it? When you remove the emotion from anything, it means you are making a choice to ignore all those little voices that pop up and say, hrmm, maybe - not always but maybe - there's something deep inside me about this whole thing that makes me feel a little uncomfortable. They don't like hearing my perspective because it makes them question their own philosophy. Maybe they talk the talk but don't actually walk the walk. (And yes, I've met both ilks - there are people who have integrity and demand 6 figures a year, and they are totally cool with hearing my perspective and say, "Yeah? That's nice," and others who feel like frauds and then try desperately to justify their income figure to someone like me who says, "Yeah? That's nice.") A 6-figure income doesn't impress me, unless you donate half your money to charity or something lol.

Anyhoo. While she picked a relatively modest income of $50,000 as a nice starting point, she touched on the idea that spending time away from your family for $10 an hour is somehow wrong. I imagine that all those people out there grateful for and dependent on their $10 an hour job are thinkin', "Thanks, lady. Up Yours." She's also missing the fact that if she's charging say $50 for her time and talent and you have to pay another $50 for a single sheet, then as she said, working from the hard cold emotionless facts, I can only afford WalMart, therefore, I'm going to invest in that $50 sheet and call it a day. And, there are those of us who don't give a damn about a surround sound TV so when we say we couldn't afford ourselves while maybe we could, there are also those who don't WANT or need to - in some cases, it's actually a choice not to become elitist in our lifestyles and our shopping choices, right down to the photographer that we choose. Call me a hippy or a tree hugger or whatever you want. Money isn't evil, but it isn't the central focus of my life either.

Because it's a well-known fact that photography has no measurable value - it's really an intangible and subjective thing - and our hard costs after initial investment is so piddly, we are selling is the same damn thing as WalMart - a $50 8x10 sheet. At some point, then, you have to become empathetic to your target market, who values photos of their children equally regardless of income, but who still require that service. So put yourself in the emotional shoes of the person shopping you as a photog. The hard cold fact of life is, the bulk majority of consumers are price shoppers, even when they have $3500 to spend instead of $50; *most* people shop with their hearts, whether the feeling in their heart is a burning desire to have at least one decent picture of their child to hang on their walls (and there's no accounting for taste - there are lots of people out there who still like studio portraits, but no thanks for me) or a burning desire to brag to all their friends on how much they spent on their photographer, to someone else who will care (definitely no thanks.) When you picture someone making 6-figures spending $3,000 on a session, it's not really the same percentage of their disposable income as say someone who is only making $30,000 a year. Go watch My Fair Lady, and pay special attention to the part where Eliza Doolittle's offer is realized as relatively speaking a 'king's ransom' - when viewed from that perspective, it says that someone who makes a meagre income loves their children more, relatively speaking, doesn't it? (And no, of course it doesn't, but when you take the emotion out of it, that's a valuable statistic to consider.)

Some of my clients can afford a more expensive photographer, while others struggle every year to scrape together the pennies they need to pay my fee. They wait 6 months for me not because I'm not the cheapest person out there, but because my philosophy and personality are a good match for them. They tend to be the folks with a strong work ethic, who love their children fiercely, and want to support a local business instead of a chain store. They hire me because they like my work, not because they can brag about who took their pictures. They want me taking their children's pictures because I like kids and kids like me. (I can't tell you how many family photographers say they hate kids... boggles my mind...) I know other photographers out there who kick my ass in talent and skill, so I like to believe that my clients hire me because they respect my integrity.

The point is, price-shoppers don't want me because I'm still WAY more expensive than WalMart, and the elitists don't want me because I have nothing to offer them in terms of superficial value (a label). That makes me feel pretty good about where my prices are set. I'd much rather be respected than liked or admired. I enjoy the basis of her philosophy of working from your desired income up (not a new one, but a popular one that many photographers will sell other photogs for a huge chunk of change, and one that ironically every library on the planet has 68 books geared towards every type of business you can imagine for the low low price of $12 a year) but think she contradicts herself and still treats photography as an elitist service, trying to guilt people into feeling like they are undervaluing their families by working for a mere $10 an hour. Thank you, and screw you.

She doesn't really put her money where her mouth is, because she put in a disclaimer that she aims for 6 figures. I lost respect for her ideology at that point, not because I think she's greedy, but because at that price point I can assure you that we have a very different value system. Having been a single parent and having learned how to have what I need and want what I have, I'm able to pooh-pooh those photogs aiming for a weekly income of 5 figures (resulting in a meagre 6-figure salary of $120,000 a year) and say, knock yourself out. If YOU believe in your pricing strategy, then you have found the right one. If you question your pricing strategy, investigate what's out of integrity in your philosophy. When you can justify your pricing and feel you have a sound balance of emotional and business sense, you're good to go. Every time I hear someone start talking about their pricing and feeling like they can't justify it, saying things like they can't afford themselves, that's usually a better indicator of someone spending more than they make because they want more than they have. They are waiting to have, be, and do more before they are satisfied and find a 6-figure salary really appealing. Me, I admit I completely and totally lack the desire and drive to get there. Too competitive, too much work, too many conferences and competitions to attend, too much travelling, too much overhead, and not enough fun. And, while they are making money hand over fist, they are actually spending as much if not more time away from their family, but feel like they can put a price tag on their absence. There's something fundamentally wrong with saying, I won't leave my kids for $10 an hour, but I will for $100. Your time with your kids is for sale to the highest bidder at that point, so hell yeah - you better avoid feeling any emotion about that whatsoever. Icky. Blech.

Be firm and be true to your own value system and you'll figure it out. If you value labels, become a label photographer. If you value artistic integrity, become an arteest. If you just want to have a creative outlet that is a) enjoyable and b) pays for itself, have at 'er. This is the BEAUTY of photography as a business. There is no correct recipe for it. There is no right or wrong answer, and only YOU will ever know what works for YOU. All the high-priced photogs out there encouraging us to shoot for the stars and feel that we low-priced photographers somehow lower the industry standard can, frankly, bite my ass. When you eliminate having to work away from the house every day and are able to sit at the computer and take frequent breaks to make your kids' lunches, kiss their booboos, and avoid the headache and hassle of commuting to some job that leaves you feeling hollow and empty, $10 an hour sounds pretty damn good, doesn't it?

q: why don't you charge more?

So, it's a popular thing to say to each other, and we photographers often do, "Oh, you should be charging more for your photography!" This past weekend I attended a [b]ecker workshop in the town of cows (Calgary lol) and had some very interesting conversations regarding pricing strategies. We all have very different strategies for coming up with our prices, but they essentially boil down to a consideration of some or all of the following:

How much money do you need to make vs. how much money you want to make?

Would you pay for your services what you are charging?

Volume vs. price ie) several sessions at a lower price vs. a few sessions at a higher price?

Is my work worth the price I'm demanding vs. other peoples' work, and do I care?

Frills or no frills?

What is my target market and can they afford the prices I'm charging?

How much are my overhead expenses including postage, equipment, packaging, materials, etc?

How much training, experience and expertise do I have?

I'm sure I missed about a bazillion things, but when it comes time to come up with a pricing strategy, we have to sit and contemplate a LOT of things before we come up with something that works for us. And the bottom line is, ultimately, that there is NO RIGHT ANSWER. Some photographers (and even clients) will say you you need to raise your prices because they think your work is worth more, but there are often more sinister underpinnings to this compliment. In order to illustrate this, I need to explain what in the workshops I discuss as the "Photographer Pyramid." Somebody send me off and email and I'll try and JPEG up the slide so you have a visual, but it looks a lot like the food or energy pyramid, where the photographers who are charging higher prices compete for a very small percentage of the market, while in the middle there is more to go around, and at the bottom there are department store studios and new, inexperienced photographers looking to break into the market.

What I have learned is that the closer to the top of the pyramid a photographer climbs, the stiffer the competition. Because there isn't much room to stand your ground up there, many are less willing to share their trade secrets, don't refer their clients out, and are terrified of the cheaper photographers in the lower echelons who they somehow feel are a threat to their position up on top. Because there is ALWAYS someone better, hipper, and cooler ready to topple them over, this makes it difficult to trust peers (the competition) and gives an understandable but unjustified fear of the lower priced newcomers.

The reason I say it is unjustified is quite simply because the people who are willing and able to pay elite premiums for photography services (which is really all too similar in form and function for comfort) aren't going to shop based on lowest price. You doubt me, but let's put it this way - a person who shops for Christian Louboutin, dresses their kid head-to-toe in boutique clothing, takes vacations in 5-star hotels, and owns a summer villa in Europe isn't going to buy $500 wedding photography services from a no-name photographer any more than they are going to stock their fridge with generic orange juice. In fact, they often won't even accept free services from up-and-comers who are wanting to break into that market, and would probably sooner die than ever be caught dead in WalMart shopping much less getting portraits of their kids taken. Quite simply, people with that kind of money desire the gratification of dropping a name and eliciting admiration of others when they announce who did their family portraits or who shot their wedding. There is only a small fraction of shooters in the photographer pyramid who have the drive, ambition, and desire to go for a hostile takeover of the photography world and knock you off your spot. You don't need to be worried about the multitudes of cheap photographers at all. Promise.

So how does someone break into the market, then? The truth of it is, usually lucky circumstances. (Read Outliers - it will BLOW YOUR MIND.) They happened to grow up in the right environment, have the right influences and opportunities, then be in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, under the right circumstances to have the opportunity to get their foot in that door - second-shooting a wedding, having a wealthy relative hire you on a lark, whatever. And yes, you can command your destiny and by sheer tenacity probably get into that market if your personality and skills are up to snuff. Go for it. But you certainly have to WANT it, and you have to want all the other stuff that goes along with building a name for yourself. If you're a poor farm kid with a twang in your voice, you better read My Fair lady and study the moves in Catch Me If You Can.

While there are always exceptions to the rule, the elite photographers know that if you want to make it to the top, you're going to have to step on a few heads to get there, and stand on a few shoulders to stay there. The ones who realize it was circumstance that got them there quickly realize it's hard work, integrity, and professionalism that will keep them there. They are the ones who will reach a hand down to help a fellow up, while others will cling desperately to the bricks, kicking the little guys off.

Here's the funny thing. Here's why I always take the comment that I should raise my prices with a grain of salt. Many higher-priced photographers figure the best way to make it fair is to equalize pricing, meaning everyone raise their prices to drive prices up. In theory, equally high pricing is supposed to level the playing field and open the market up by giving people no choice but to pay more, but this makes no sense because increasing our prices isn't going to magically increase a client's incomes. If we all put our prices up where only a few people can afford us, a lot of us will be out of a job because the people who only make enough money to go WalMart or, heaven forbid, support a newbie who is building their portfolio, unless we're willing to move in on the few people who can still afford a photographer. Which means that there would in effect be a thousand times the competition for the same 1% of the population. Beyond that, the ability to get a portrait of your child or have coverage of your wedding done becomes impossible for those who love their children as much as the rich folks but have limited incomes (like single parents or single-income families.) Is that REALLY what you want?

So now, I want to answer that question for anyone who cares to know the answer: why doesn't Yours Truly of Hope Walls Photography charge more for her services? Here's how it adds up:

While I'm admittedly a shoe lover (man, do I ever freakin' love shoes!) I am not a flashy kind of person. I don't care if your shoes cost you $5 or $500 - either way, I will like or dislike them, and won't ever go, "Wow, I admire you because you paid $500 for your shoes." I place no value on that sort of thing and I'm not therefore going to think one baby is better, more loved, smarter, cuter, or better because they got driven to my session in a Lexus and are on the waiting list for Miss BonBon's Pre-playschool University Prep Program. This precipitates to the equivalent of, I am probably not going to do a very good job of showcasing that person's lifestyle because it isn't a lifestyle I lead nor is it one I wish to lead. If I won the lotto, I'd be more likely to give up my day job and be a full-time photographilanthropist than start paying for the ooh-aah designer label on a pair of jeans made in the same factory that pays the same 10-year old kids 18-cents an hour to sew pants for WalMart. This does not mean that I think these people are shallow, dislikable, or greedy - it just means that I don't have the same appreciation or desire for a luxury lifestyle that they do. When they start talking about their investment portfolio, I'm seriously thinking, uh... did I remember to turn off the downstairs bathroom light, and whose turn is it to wash dishes?

As photographers, our personal life experiences will shape the type of photographer we strive to be. If we grew up with parents who always chased money, chances are good we'll chase money, too, and attach our happiness and our feeling of being successful to how much money we make, and how admired we are for that money. In my never-humble opinion, it's a common misconception that money is the ultimate measure of success, and the key to happiness ergo, lack of money is a sign of failure and a reason to be unhappy. This to me is superficial (in the literal sense of the word) because I'm personally in the, "Be happy FIRST," camp. I am free to always have enough, to be genuinely grateful for what I do have every day, weather the storm with a smile, revel in a state of serendipity when the windfalls come, and not be disappointed when they go away or just don't happen. Humility makes it possible to get what I need, and want what I have.

Which leads to my pricing strategy, which is more a philosophy than anything. Photographs give us a visual document of the passage of time that illustrates the unfolding story of our lives - marriage, pregnancy, birth, first day of school, graduation, grandparenthood, death... Therefore, I believe that everyone, regardless of income or social status, should have access to affordable photography services whether that's owning a cheap camera, paying for WalMart pictures once a year, or buying a $35,000 wedding package. None of these is more or less valuable, and price is irrelevant because someone who makes a net income in 6 figures is not going to feel the pinch of a $35,000 price tag as much as someone who makes a net income of $35,000. There is more than enough business to go around. Swear it.

The people who are building their portfolios provide this service to people at the base level, which will hopefully give them a different experience than department store or school portraits. Once they have a positive experience with a photographer, they are unlikely to return to Walmart and will either grow with that photographer as they increase their prices, or will remain at the base level and provide a clientele for the next new photographer in the pyramid. Win-win. I charge enough to cover my expenses and my time, but I don't charge more for my photography services than what I would be a) willing and b) able to pay, because gouging people makes me feel icky. Lastly, as I use free or inexpensive web albums and sites, and don't pay for a studio, provide fancy packaging, give out promotional items, use 3rd party services, have a staff, pay for memberships and/or attend a lot of expensive conventions/conferences/seminars, or invest in hoity-toity frills, I do not have to pass those expenses on to my clients and can therefore keep my prices lower. I then have the ability to serve a huge portion of the general mid-pyramid clientele while still turning enough of a net income to meet my needs.

Heavy, heady stuff. Any questions?

...and to sum up...

I spoke last nice to a wonderful and warm group of women at the WISE seminar, and figured I'd post a little summary of the presentation for their (and subsequently your) use and enjoyment. (Sorry, you don't get the visuals - you have to come to a seminar or workshop to see those MUAH hahahaha!)

DLS Myth Busters

10 of the dirtiest little secrets

(about photography)

#10

Myth: You need fancy expensive equipment to take good pictures.

Fact: Owning fancy expensive equipment doesn’t make you an expert photographer any more than owning a fancy expensive piano makes you a concert pianist.

#9

Myth: Knowing how to compose a good picture takes years of education.

Fact: Any person can compose great pictures using any camera employing one simple tried and true rule, and knowing when, why, and how to break that rule.

(Understand the Rule of 3rds, and whether you’re employing or breaking it. Either way is OK as long as it’s a conscious choice.)

#8

Myth: You have to buy Photoshop.

Fact: Picasa is free software that will allow you to do B&W and sepia conversions, sharpen pictures, adjust saturation, crop, and much, much more; for about $100 you can purchase Adobe Elements which in addition to all of Picasa’s goodies will give you the power to zap zits, make collages, and work with layers.

#7

Myth: Taking pictures is easy – you just point and shoot.

Fact: Taking a great picture requires photographer participation. Changing your perspective is often all it takes to make an average picture more interesting or help you tell your story.

#6

Myth: I don’t know the right way to take pictures.

Fact: Since there’s no accounting for taste, there is no ‘correct’ way to compose, expose, crop, process, or print pictures. What’s underexposed and crooked to one person is merely high-contrast and angular to another.

#5

Myth: Pictures that have blur, grain, and/or lens flare are bad.

Fact: Blur, grain, and flare can often add energy, depth, and feeling to a picture. Learn to love the blur, embrace the grain, and celebrate the flare.

#4

Myth: Horizons should be horizontal.

Fact: Horsepoop.

#3

Myth: My camera takes bad pictures.

Fact: A camera is only as good as its operator. Read your manual and learn what all those knobs, buttons and dials are for. If you need a visual, digital pictures are free – take lots and delete what doesn’t work. Make notes for the next time so your camera will do what you want it to the first time, or at least you’ll know how to change the settings to fix it.

#2

Myth: The best way to make people look like they’re smiling is to make them say CHEESE.

Fact: The best way to make people look like they’re smiling is actually to just make them smile, even if that means you ask them to fake laugh until they crack up, put crab apples up your nose, or pretend to fart. Otherwise, they just look like they are saying CHEESE.

#1

Myth: I look horrible in pictures.

Fact: Someone loves you enough to not give a hoot about your zits, your fat, your grey hair, your wardrobe, your crooked smile, your yellow teeth, or your wrinkles. What we tend to see when we look at ourselves in pictures are the things we hate; when your children, friends, and family look at your picture, they only see what they love: YOU.

Now, go take some good pictures with your OWN camera. (Be sure and jump in at least a couple of them!)

avoiding the urge to photoshop: accentuate the positive...

In light of my adamant stance against giving people new skin and bodies in Photoshop, I've had a few photogs say, then how do you get a client who is self-conscious to LIKE their pictures? Well, that's a great question. Here are a few tried-and-true tricks (VERY dirty little secrets) for photographing people that allow you to take a 'real' picture of your subject without highlighting the things they may feel less than satisfied with and having to rely on Photoshop. Just like in real life, you can't eliminate certain things without cosmetic surgery or an eating disorder, there are ways of disguising or minimizing what your client perceives as their problem areas (99% of the time skin and body, though sometimes I get asked about whitening teeth...) with lighting, clothing, positioning, lenses, and angles. (The added bonus is you save time processing if you get a good shot SOOC...)

Large pores or poor complexion: OK - I admit, I zap zits with Photoshop. All the time. They are temporary annoyances that plague most of us, and there's no way of knowing if one of the little beasts will rear its ugly head the day before your session. Ditto for a small patch of dry skin. But what if the person has chronic acne, severe acne scarring, discoloration or bruising, or large pores? There are a few things you can do to help minimize this. DISGUISE: You can shoot from the side of the face that is least affected, you can partially obscure the person's face. For example, for a family session have the client hold their face close to their child's head in a hug or shoot them from behind looking over their shoulder so that only their profile is showing. If it's a glamour session, have them wear a hat, wrap themselves in filmy fabric, or hold a fan to frame or draw attention to their eyes. LIGHT: High-contrast pictures (the blacks are super black and the whites are super white) can minimize unwanted texture for example sitting your subject close to a window or bouncing your flash off the wall instead of the ceiling. Converting the images to a classic B&W will reduce the appearance of any redness. If you're feeling really creative, you can try using gels (or a piece of tissue paper over your flash) from the yellow-orange family, which will further reduce the appearance of redness if the image is being converted to B&W. Alternately, specifically in the case of large pores, a very well lit subject with light coming from multiple directions (both sides as well as from above) can minimize the appearance of texture as the pores are visible only because they create shadows. Please note that scarring on dark complexions often appears as dark brown or black spots, and your best best may be to go for a high contrast side-lit image. If you're feeling like having some fun, put a piece of gauzy fabric over your lens while shooting or use a texture layer in your post processing. For whatever it's worth, these tricks work to a lesser degree on deeper shadows like laugh lines and cellulite, too. None of these options requires you to perform a Photoshop skin graft on your client.

Rubenesque, stocky, or obese clients: yes, some of us are built like brick outhouses. Some of us aren't particularly fat but we're shorter and therefore look heavier. And yup - there are clients who are just plain clinically obese. In order to help people who are body-conscious to relax in front of the camera there are a number of things you can suggest and employ. DISGUISE: #1 is getting your client to dress in something flattering. A 3XXXL wearing a fluorescent orange and yellow sleeveless Hawaiian print golf muumuu and plaid spandex pants will not photograph well. Wearing a tent is no more flattering to a larger body than wearing clothes that are cutting your circulation off. The key to dressing for a larger body is simple: dark, monochromatic, not-too-tight but not-too-baggy clothing. A tailored suit, wide-leg slacks, an ankle-length pencil skirt, long sleeves, etc. in black, a dark grey, navy, or a warm brown are all flattering options. If someone wants to add a little pizazz, thin vertical (not horizontal) pinstripes create the illusion of height and have a slimming effect. POSITION: Shooting from above will have a slimming effect on a larger body. If used carefully, a wide-angle lens can also have a slimming effect, as long as you are cautious about creating the bobble-head effect. Have them stand with their hips at a 45 degree angle to the camera and one foot in front of the other, get them to lay down on their stomach, or give them something to hold - an umbrella, a newspaper, a bouquet... whatever. If they are seated, shoot them from the side and avoid embarrassing them by trying to make them cross their legs. (I know all you people out there with generous thighs know EXACTLY what I am talking about lol) Get them to cross their feet and lean their knees to the side instead. If there is a group shot, avoid putting the heavy person front OR centre. They will feel more comfortable having their body partially obscured so pack their kids in front of them, get them a stool to stand on in the back row, or seat people in front of them. Have them lean down and put their arms around their spouse/child/parent from behind - it's a great shot and makes everyone feel a bit more comfortable. If you happen to have a location that affords it, put them in an oversized space - a huge doorway, an open field, something with cathedral ceilings. A large space lends itself to making a person look proportionately smaller than their surroundings. (Imagine the difference between putting someone heavy-set next to a skinny poplar you can wrap both hands around vs. a full-grown oak tree you can barely wrap your arms around.) In the case of boudoir or glam photos, a shallow depth-of-field is your best friend. Focus on the eyes, the feet, the cleavage - whatever the person feels are their personal highlights - and leave the rest blissfully out of focus. Stick with highlighting body parts (head, calves, cleavage, eyes, shoulder) as opposed to the whole body. If you're shooting digital, be sure and show your client a few samples on the back of your camera - when they are able to see that they are not being depicted in a manner that makes them feel more self-conscious than they already probably are, then they will be that much more willing to relax and trust your direction. LIGHTING: Again, side-lighting and high contrast is a good way of giving the illusion of someone being half their size. If they have lumpy bits (most of us do) try and camouflage them - a filmy scarf, gauzy over your lens, and (this is a trick from peeler bars) red gel over your lights will all help... but I caution that trying to get a plus-size person well lit to minimize the appearance of lumpy upper arms or thighs will not be as effective as it is for disguising pores...

So, there are my tips for the 2 biggest concerns that (usually) women but (sometimes) men have when getting their picture taken. Emphasizing our best qualities and minimizing the rest is a way better metaphor on how to love yourself than creating an image of ourselves that we can't possibly obtain. It's making seriously tasty lemonade, from our own seriously nasty lemons.

Speaking Engagement

In case anyone is interested, I've been invited for a speaking engagement:

W.I.S.E. stands for Wealth, Inspire, Successful, and Educate

This seminar is meant to do all of the above! We have speakers from all walks of life speaking on issues that matter to us as women. It's a fun and enjoyable evening! Coffee, tea, juice, and yummy sweets will be served and door prizes to be given away. Tickets are only $5.00. Please contact jaimelyn [at] shaw [dot] ca if you'd like to attend or reserve tickets. We only have 100 tickets so act fast! They disappear quickly.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009
6:00 – 9:00pm
Four Points by Sheraton Edmonton South
7230 Argyll Road

Please forward to friends/relatives or bring them with you.

Seminar Topics:

The Zebra Program-Edmonton Police Services
Nutrition for Healthy Living
The Differences Between Male and Female Brains
“Dirty Little Secrets” of Photography

A detailed program will be available at the event.

a rebuttal for the new kids on the block and the old kids who don't agree, too

I think it's really disheartening for both new and established photographers alike to see the articles like the one excerpted below that totally discount a photographer's right to charge whatever they like while they build their portfolio, or set their prices to accommodate the clientele they enjoy working with, further classifying them as 'amateurs to be avoided' based on some pretty personal, superficial and unsubstantiated opinions. Frankly, price doesn't always dictate quality - it's far more important to look at a photographer's portfolio and their personality than how spanky their website is. Since the advent of DSLRs dropping below the $500 mark, emergent photographers are a dime a dozen, which makes it harder and harder to weed out the hacks from everyone else. I think the toughest part for photographers to remember once they are established is that everyone starts somewhere, and that there is no right or wrong way to approach photography. While I appreciate the well-meaning advice and agree with much of it, as I client I would find some of it offensive, and as a photographer I find some of it offensive and even misleading. Let me go through point by point.

(Excerpts - my comments and clarifications are in blue and orange.)

Not all photographers are created equal. (I totally agree.) And, like in any other industry, there are individuals presenting themselves as professionals when in reality, they are not delivering a standard of work that could be considered professional as defined by me. So how can you, the client, tell the difference? Well, here are some things you may want to look for…

1.) The wrinkled sheet backdrop. (Unless, of course, photographer knows to seat the subject far enough away from the backdrop and use a shallow DOF. A wrinkled sheet is really no different than a $400 backdrop in terms of creating a pure white or black or a murky and nondescript background, depending on what the photographer is going for, unless of course the makeshift backdrop was folded and you have creases - that's a no-no. Shooting with natural/available surroundings is fantastic advice - I love shooting on location and HATE when it's time to drag out the dreaded papers, bedsheets, muslin, wrinkled backdrops and stands but that's a "lazy" thing on my part lol... but in the meantime, don't be afraid to scour the fabric stores for some nice fabric - the $1.99 bins are a treasure trove of unique backdrops - you can even find fabric that is SUPPOSED to look wrinkly!)

2.) Selective coloring. You might know this as “the thing where the photo is in black and white, but part of it is in color.” Selective coloring was briefly (hugely) popular in the 80’s (90s and 2000s). As a result, any photo receiving this treatment will maybe automatically look dated. Popular selective coloring subjects include flowers, jewellery, hats, clothing on a baby or young child, which usually makes the baby or child look like they just stepped off the set of the Living Dead, and occasionally, the eyes of the subject. And worse, 99% of the time, it’s very poorly done. (Please, please, please don’t perpetuate selective coloring. In my opinion it doesn’t look good. EVER. Establish your style based on beautiful color photos and crisp black and whites; gimmicky editing doesn’t improve a photo.)

(That last sentence makes me cringe - you can't dictate how someone is going to establish their style, or it's not really their style. While mimicking successful styles or techniques is a classic pitfall for beginners, it's also a necessary part of the learning process. Besides, some photographers out there as making a killing doing gimmicky pictures - Anne Geddes is a great example of someone who took a gimmick and made it work for her, BIG TIME - some might call it 'signature' now. Ditto for Jesh deRox, whose textures and actions are making it possible for this 'gimmick' to be applied by even the most amateur of photographers.

Although I am not personally a fan of selective colouring, there's no accounting for taste which means that someone who DOES like selective colouring has just been told their personal taste is somehow wrong. Furthermore, when learning photoshop, there are few techniques that demand greater patience and skill than doing a great lasso or mask, for which selective colouring is a fantastic exercise as that skill will translate to any number of other digital transformations you may want to tackle. Like it or not, it is still hugely popular with a large portion of the population, ergo, if a photographer happens to have a few of these bad boys in their portfolio don't hold it against them - it doesn't mean they are amateurs. When in doubt, ask if it's something they regularly do...)

3.) Detail in the whites. Perhaps easiest to spot in wedding photos, where the bride is usually swathed in white. You should be able to easily see the details of her dress - the lace, the pleats and gathers, the beading, etc. She shouldn’t look like a white blob. (Meter for the dress. You can always correct the exposure on faces in post-processing, but if you blow the whites, they will not be recoverable.) (While I teach people how to meter for lights and darks, it's a personal and/or creative choice. I personally meter for the skin, as a preference, because I take pictures of the dress details before the bride even puts it on and don't like 'fixing' things in photoshop - by these standards I would be called an "amateur" and I'm not cool with that.)

4.) Detail in the blacks. Similar to above, a photographer who knows what they’re doing will be able to produce work that maintains detail in the black objects in the photo, even when presented with such challenges as a group of men in black suits. You should be able to see the lapels, seams, pockets and the places where the fabric bunches up slightly, like at the elbows. (Fill flash will be your friend in many situations; along with learning how to meter (which is in my opinion THE single most important technical skill to have,) learning how to use fill flash is in my opinion one of the most important techniques in photography if you're into fill flash.) (I'd sooner dig my eyeballs out with a plastic spoon than use fill flash. Generally speaking, I hate flash, period, as a preference. If you're shooting digital and concerned about details in the blacks, set your camera to a lower contrast so that when you meter your camera can compensate.)

5.) Muddy looking “black and white” and “sepia” photos. A black and white photo should be that - crisp blacks and bright whites, not a muddy blob of grey with little detail. Likewise with the sepia (brownish) photos - there should clear deliniation of the tones, with some nearing black and others nearing white. (Invest your money in professional software - Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom - and invest the time to learn how to use them. I also recommend investing in a good set of actions to make your conversions easier. A calibration device - I like the Pantone Huey - will also be a huge help in producing work with accurate color.) (No disagreement here - I get teased by my photog friends for my saying, "I like my whites white and my blacks black." There are tonnes of tutorials available online as well as many affordable beginner level classes that will assist you in learning your new software. A note on copyright - your software is an investment and yes it is going to cost you lots of money. If you are going to be putting copyright notices on your photos, then you should be willing to respect software copyright and avoid using "liberated" copies of the aforementioned - or any - software.)

6.) White vignette. A vignette is most easily described this way: imagine a 4×6 photo. Now, draw an oval inside the photo, reaching all four sides. The vignette will effect the area OUTSIDE of your oval. Now, if the outside of the oval has been turned white, rethink your choice of photographer. This is another effect that was briefly popular in the 80’s, but which should be banned from the current, and all future, decades.

7.) Black vignette. Same as above, but black instead of white. (A vignette should be used to enhance a photo. A black or white vignette draws the attention away from the subject.)

(I was never a fan of the cameo-type vignettes though stylistically they can work for you if used with a purpose other then sprucing up a boring (or bad) picture. For example, if you are recreating vintage-style baby or glam portraits employing a white, black, or even coloured cameo-style vignette can be very effective. Lens-style vignetting (a slight darkening at the long edges of a photo) is a very vogue (gimmicky) thing these days, which someday will make our generation be accused of making 'dated' photos. The biggest mistake people make in vignetting during post-processing these days is making the aforementioned oval instead of a circle, which is the shape that actually causes the vignette (put your round lens over your rectangular sensor and you'll see what I mean.) For whatever it's worth, the reason you don't get a great lens-style vignette anymore is because lenses these days are designed and engineered to not make vignettes. If you want a great "natural" vignette go pick up an old school manual lens for your spanky new dSLR and marvel at the wonders of a true lens vignette.)

8.) Fake blur. When the person taking the photo either doesn’t know what they’re doing, or doesn’t have good equipment (most often, both will apply), they will sometimes attempt to blur the background later when they attempt to fix their mistakes in photoshop. You’ll be able to spot the difference - with real “blur” (known to photographers as bokeh), the subject will be crisp, with the details of the foreground and background fading away. (Opening up your aperture, and placing your subject a good distance from the background, will produce bokeh. When it comes to lenses, you get what you pay for - more expensive lenses will generally produce prettier bokeh, in addition to providing you with a wider range of apertures to choose from.)

(So yes, fake blur is crap. But. Calling a lack of bokeh a 'mistake' is a bit of a misnomer, because some cameras simply don't come equipped with this option. Depth of field isn't erroneous, only something we aesthetically seem to prefer when it's shallow as it can't help but magnify our attention on whatever happens to be inside the DOF. DSLR cameras and lenses are inanimate objects that have been programmed to make assumptions based on the lowest common denominator. They have the creative genius of a baseball bat and are therefore only ever as good as their operators. More expensive lenses don't necessarily mean better bokeh - you need to know a) what your lens can do and b) how to set your people up - I can get some beautiful bokeh at f5.6. And if you're not rich, one of easiest lenses to work with, that gives bokeh fairly consistently, is the el-cheapo f1.8 (f1.4 is the standard for Pentax) 50mm which is available for most cameras for under $200 brand new, and even less if you watch Kijiji - you might even find an old manual focus lens that'll give you great vignettes. Just be careful of how close you are to your subject - it's tough to master that balance between a nice shallow DOF and a DOF that's too shallow to get everything you want in focus. Best advice? Learn the technical aspects of your camera and your lenses before going out and charging people - whether you learn from books, online tutorials, formal classes, mentoring, whatever, you should never be charging people while you're still shooting in Auto because that means your camera is still smarter than you.)

9.) GST. Sounds simple, right? But you’d be surprised. Anyone running a business should be collecting and remitting GST to the government. So, if you’re not being charged GST, your “photographer” may not be serious about running a successful business. (It’s easy and free to sign up for a GST number, and if your business makes more than $30,000 a year, it’s mandatory. I remit mine quarterly, but you can choose other remittance options. Click here for more information.)

(Remitting GST isn't a necessity until your gross receipts add up to $30K a year or more. My 'day job' is as a bookkeeper. For those of us who work as a "serious" photographer only part time the extra paperwork is really just an extra headache. I don't scrapbook or play canasta and I can't strum guitar to save my life - photography is something I do for pleasure, a creative and social outlet, as much as it is a source of income. For me, the point where I HAVE to pick up my camera is the point where it stops being fun and/or cathartic; therefore, I refuse to grow my business beyond what's enjoyable.

Furthermore, the PPOC hands out the only 'professional photographer' designation that is actually recognized in Canada, which is accomplished by submitting a series of photos for peer review by other so-called pros - you aren't allowed to slap their designations on your website until you've passed a few tests to prove you aren't a hack. Some people are willing to pay for a membership to WPPI, and they can put a logo on their website, but all that signifies is that they paid their membership dues. So in that token, if anyone can get a free and easy GST number, what's to say the "amateurs" aren't going to start slapping GST on their prices to look more pro? So clients - GST as a measuring stick for credibility? It ain't necessarily nothing. Photogs - as long as you are claiming your income (under $30K) on your personal returns so you pay taxes on your earnings, the feds don't care, and neither should your clients. Once you break the $30K mark and HAVE to charge GST then we need to have a whole other conversation, which is more geared towards knowing the definition of "tax evasion" than professionalism ~smirk~)

10.) Website. Your photographer should have a professional-looking website. That means no spelling mistakes (here, here!), plenty of portfolio material (check) and information about their business (definitely). Bonus points for an on-line shopping cart (huh?) A poorly laid out website should be a huge red flag to any consumer. (Most photographers are pretty tech-savvy, but if web design isn’t your thing, you can buy awesome templates from Blu Domain. David Jay also released a website program recently, Showit Web, that is supposed to be pretty good.)

(While generally I agree that if you have a website - ANY website - it should be free of spelling and grammatical errors, easy to navigate, and accurately describe your product or service, for the most part I have to call horsepoop. I know several photographers who do not advertise, don't have a website of any kind, and may or may not use free blogging sites - it has not affected their success at all. Conversely, ANYONE can go sign up for a bludomain or portfoliositez template, or even a fancy freebie blogger or wordpress "blogsite" template, slap their pictures in there, and make it look 'pro.' A schmancy website may get customers in the door but the photographer can't always deliver. Clients are disappointed when the product doesn't match the advertisement, because too many people were impressed by the glitz to look at the meat. It's the very basis of marketing - how do we dupe people into buying our stuff?

Do you remember this scene from Catch Me if You Can?

Frank Abagnale Sr.: You know why the Yankees always win, Frank?
Frank Abagnale, Jr.: 'Cause they have Mickey Mantle?
Frank Abagnale Sr.: No, it's 'cause the other teams can't stop staring at those damn pinstripes.

A damn good photographer can get clients in the door on word-of-mouth alone, regardless of their website, if one even exists. (Think Norwex v. shamWOW) A free blog that showcases your recent work is sufficient if you feel you must have an online presence because your work should speak for itself, and if you aren't computer savvy, then a portfolio with actual hard copy prints in it should do the trick, like back in the old days... The trick to growing your business isn't impressing the pants off your client with parlour tricks - it's exceeding their expectations upon delivery so they will pass your name along to every living, breathing soul they know.)

And last, but definitely not least, the number one thing that will tell you whether or not the photographer is someone worth your time, money and trust …

11.) Pricing. A true professional is worth investing your money in. If someone is charging you $100 and giving you a disc of high-resolution files for no extra charge, you’ll get what you pay for. Low fee=low quality. (Don’t try to compete with Walmart. You can’t, and you’ll hurt yourself and the professional photography industry by undercutting your pricing.)

The more pinstripes a photographer has, the more likely that cost is to be passed along to you, the client. While I agree competing with WalMart prices is silly (as an independent photographer, you can't - don't even try), there is also nothing wrong with choosing to price yourself based on these two things: a) what you feel your skills and experience warrant, and b) what you would pay for photography services. Let's look at those two things separately.

a) the photographer who is just starting out sometimes has massive amounts of talent, or at the very least massive amounts of motivation to learn. In either case, they obviously lack the experience to present a good portfolio and as such, they need to get in on the ground level which often includes providing photography services for cheap or even free. The great thing about this is it opens up a niche for people with lower incomes to access some incredible photography without the incredible price tag. While a person's portfolio and confidence grow, their prices reflect that and these higher prices accommodate things like purchasing new camera equipment, setting up a portable studio, or renting a studio space. The clients who can continue to afford their new prices will follow and gladly pay more, and tell their friends in the same income bracket about their beloved photographer, while those who cannot or will not pay the higher prices will seek their photography services elsewhere, usually another photographer who is just starting out because once you've had a taste of non-studio photography you won't ever hit up WalMart again unless you're desperate or stubborn. Which brings us to point b).

b) if you yourself aren't willing (note I say willing and not able) to pay $25,000 for your own wedding photos, why would you be charging others that much? Likewise, there are those of us who do not wish to make photography something only affordable to the well-heeled and elite - EVERYONE deserves to have beautiful photographs that they can cherish for a lifetime and pricing yourself to be on par with the other photographers is a decision that isn't necessarily an attempt to score more clients because you're cheaper. I personally prefer being on the low end of the spectrum as it allows me to access a more diverse clientele. I've provided services to millionaires and moms on assistance alike - I'm just harder to book with as I only accept a limited number of clients per month. I think the hardest thing about being a photographer is knowing how much work goes into it, and finding people who price themselves outrageously. Like buying a pair of $1000 jeans... so you can what, tell everybody you paid $1000 for your jeans? We all know it didn't cost $1000 for the materials, and that some poor Guatemalans got paid their 18 cents an hour to make the $1000 jeans same as the $100 and the $10 jeans. So while I know there are people out there who will oooh and ahhh over the amount you spent on your photographs from a big name studio, I'm not one of them. I'm far more impressed by things like rhinestones and good jazz. I'm happy to be more a boutique kinda gal - small-business, personalized service, low volume, fast turnaround, affordable... it's just the wait times that suck (or so I've been told.)

You, the client, will need to decide what you are willing and able to pay for a photographer, and if a photographer is talented and provides a reasonable quality of product at a reasonable price, consider yourself lucky. And while I'm not saying there's anything wrong with charging $1000 for a pair of jeans, for me personally, charging exorbitant amounts of money for my services would not feel like I was operating my company with any kind of integrity. If you're in it for fame, wealth, or notoriety, then you will need to take a different approach so you can reach a point where people are willing to pay $25,000 for a service that could reasonably be performed to the same standard for a fifth (or less) of that price. Think Eckhart Tolle vs. Deepak Chopra.

Being a professional photographer has less to do with presentation than products, services, and personality. There is no magic recipe for what will or will not work - you need to find your own style and your own niche of clientele, and follow your intuition on whether it's time to up the ante and get that new website - if you're doing it to showcase your extensive portfolio and provide superior service to your clients, great. But if you're doing it to make yourself look not so amateur in the hopes of attracting more clients then maybe it's time to hang up the camera and leave it to the real pros.

Winter 2010 DLS dates set

OK, OK! Uncle! Dates are set, now taking pre-registrations...

January 10, 2010: it's not about the camera

February 7, 2010: in-camera metering, composition

March 7, 2010: technical critiquing, photoshop demonstration

April 4, 2010: portraiture

May 2, 2010: controlled lighting, wedding photography - A Suffolk House B&B

May 30, 2010: breaking the rules, the business end of things

Send email to h.walls@shaw.ca with "PREREGISTER 2010" in the subject header to be notified of earlybird registration.

DLS Weekend Warrior Announcement

Please join me for the Weekend Warrior version of the Dirty Little Secrets Workshop series!  This condensed version is not for the faint of heart - in two 8-hour sessions we will essentially cram 6 months of information into your brain.  Eat your Wheaties, grab your camera stuff, and let's go!

SATURDAY:

9am - 12pm Hello... camera?  It's me, your operator... How your camera equipment works, what it's for, and why you can't blame your camera/lens/memory card/tripod/flash/subject/neighbour/dog for bad pictures ever again.

12pm - 12:30pm lunch (provided)

12:30pm to 3:15 pm I see the light!  How to master (or fumble your way through) backlighting, low-lighting, in- and on-camera flash, no-flash allowed, lens flare, controlled lighting kits, and more.

3:30pm - 5pm Practice Makes Perfect  Time spent shooting a series of exercises to help you master what you learned, with plenty of time for questions.

*bonus* 6pm - 8pm Loud Whisper dinner discussion Loud Whisper discussion group on business practices, copyright, and more.  Bring a picnic supper and your family along to this casual gather at either a public park or community hall, depending on the weather.

SUNDAY:

9am - 12pm Shooting People We'll cover composition and learn tips and tricks for positioning your subjects (and yourself) for everything from candid portraits to wedding formals.

12pm to 12:30 pm lunch (provided)

12:30 - 1:45pm How do they do that? If you've ever looked at your pictures and been frustrated your camera isn't doing what you want it to, or looked at someone else's pictures and wondered, "I love that!  How do they do that?" you'll LOVE this part.

2pm-3:30pm Photoshop Demo A live demo of quick and simple techniques for smoothing skin, antique and vintage tinting, vignettes and cameos, making a watermark, and resizing images for safe online sharing.

3:30pm - 5pm Practice Makes Perfect Shooting people for real, with actual models

The workshops will run full days August 22nd and 23rd, 2009, with lunch and snacks provided, location to be confirmed.  $500 non-refundable, payable in full upon registration.

There is a waiting list for this Workshop and persons on that waiting list will be given priority registration; general registrations will commence July 5, 2009 on a first come, first served basis.  In order to allow for maximum discussion and one-to-one time, Weekend Warriors is limited to a maximum of 12 participants.

Please note: Former DLS Series participants are invited to attend at no cost provided they assist; those who have taken one or two workshops may qualify for discounted pricing and should contact me for details.

To be added to the registration list or for more information contact h dot walls at shaw dot ca

debriefing the "I am" exercises

You know, I get sidetracked and busy and read everyone's blog and then forget about posting on my own...  better late than never, of course...

The point of the "I am" exercise was quite simple - to start looking inside for whatever it is that drives you to pick up your camera and take pictures.  Knowing HOW to work your camera is the first step.  After that it comes down to you and the relationship you have with whatever is on the other side of your lens.  

There will come times in your photography travels where you feel lackadaisical, uninspired, confused, frustrated, and even depressed.  In my experience and that of many others I've talked o, it is very easy to allow yourself to be completely consumed by photography, so consumed, in fact, you can't remember why you bother.  The first time this happens it's very easy to feel disillusioned.  The crappy part is, it is just as disillusioning every time you come up against that wall.

Art is an eternal journey, a never-ending process of discovery and exploration.  Look at the history of any creative art form and you will see it isn't static - it changes, grows, expands, contracts... evolves...  from music to sculpture and painting to photography, dance, weaving, fashion - these things are all heavily affected by trends and technology, but are most profoundly impacted by the person making the art.  It's as impossible to not feel how deeply misunderstood and confused Vincent van Gogh was as it is to miss the sense of daring and power with which Gaultier approached designing Madonna's infamous Blonde Ambition tour costumes.

Whenever you hit that wall (and I promise, you will hit it) a good place to go is back to the "I am" exercise.  Every time you do it, the answers should change.  If they haven't, you are in a rut.  If they have changed so much you don't recognize yourself anymore then you know you need to find your path again.  And if you just plain don't like your answers, then you know you are on the wrong track and need to shift gears.

So what about the music?  Well, songs are powerful reminders.  I am sure you can all remember the song you danced a special dance to and know exactly which of your favourite Christmas Carols gets you in the mood every time.  My best friend Tannis and I always pick a song for the season.  Over the years we have always identified songs for our lives, and when we acknowledge the place these songs have in our lives, where we're at emotionally, physicaly, spiritually, romantically, financially - we have an ongoing soundtrack to remind of of where we were at at that point in our lives.  We've exchanged these soundtracks on several occasions over the years, on cassette tapes right through to CDs and MP3s.  If you feel like you've lost your way, throw on the piece of music that you felt connected to and just see what happens.  There's no right or wrong way to feel about the music - you may be moved to tears, to dancing, or to boredom - and those are all completely valid reactions.  Understanding your reactions is the key to breaking through the walls.

Your work can and will and SHOULD change over time.  This doesn't mean it will be better or worse - just different.  My images all have a very important element in them: me.  And there have been times in my life when I've noticed a marked difference in my pictures - growth, experimentation, regression -  because of what was going on in my personal life.  When my daughter was born, when my father died, and when I came back from RD all mark important transitions in my life, and if my pictures looked exactly the same now as they did then, I would say I was in a rut.

And, a quick word of caution about stalking blogs.  It's great to look at other photog blogs, but you need to remember that no matter how much you admire their style, you probably cannot replicate their work.  Nor is that something you should aspire to - even if you are able to pull off perfect Geddes-esque baby portraits, how fulfilling is it?  Aspire to be YOU and you will never go wrong.  

This may all sound a bit hippy-touchy-feely, but sock it away for a rainy day.  When you get derailed or stuck, remember who you are, and balance will be restored.

Exercise for week of April 20, 2009

I've been trying to visit everyone's blogs - I'm really enjoying what I'm seeing, even if I don't have a chance to comment!

So, this week's exercise involves harassing your family and friends again. Your first task is to find 3 different photographers whose work you enjoy. (Make sure you post a link back to their site!) Pick one image by each photographer and create an image INSPIRED by that image. That means you take their idea and put your own spin on it. There is no minimum or maximum number of subjects, no good or bad style to select, and no right or wrong photographer to pick. You may want to do a pin-up inspired by Cathy Empey, a baby picture inspired by Anne Geddes, and a headshot inspired by Lisette Model... really, the sky is the limit!

Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Exercise for week of April 13, 2009

Alright!  I've been enjoying last week's 'family' portraits immensely - always a great exercise, and a hoot to boot!  This week's exercise, you FINALLY get to shoot REAL PEOPLE.  Are y'all excited?  Me too!

So this week's exercise is to do some storytelling.  I don't care what you tell a story about, but it should have 3 definite elements: before, during, and after.  I'm hoping for at least 5 to 10 pictures, and invite you to get as creative as you like - baking cookies, mudfight, painting a room, changing a diaper, a make-over - whatever you like, as long as the pictures tell a story without needing a single word to explain what's going on.  Have fun - I look forward to seeing your blogs!

Exercises for the week of April 6th, 2009

Alright, everyone - here goes this week's exercises!

Everyone needs to collect 5 'subjects.' You can use anything you like - little people, teddybears, creepy dolls, Barbies - whatever you happen to get your hands on - and your project is to create a 'family album' that includes the following pictures:

2 unique group photos of the entire 'family.'
2 unique individual portraits of 'individual.'
2 unique portraits of the 'children.'
2 unique portraits of the 'parents.'

Pay special attention to not only how your subjects are put together, but your negative space (gaps in your groupings as well as the space around.) Remember to leave enough negative space for cropping if required! Again, I encourage everyone to post their work on their blog or in an online photo album to share with each other - I think it'll be fun to see what everyone comes up with! (There should be a total of about 14 pictures in your 'collection' when you're all done shooting...)

Here's mine.

Workshop reminder: April 5, 2009

Some people's emails were giving me 'out-of-office' replies and whatnot so I figured I'd better post details here as well.  Portraiture Workshop starts at 1pm sharp, pet demo by Tanya Richens of Candid Canine at about 2:45, live models shortly after 3.  Please come prepared to shoot - charged batteries, empty card, and gloves in case it's nippy outside and that's where you end up shooting.  Venue is the Lazy Zog again, admission is $100 smackers - email me at h dot walls at shaw do ca if you need the address and directions (again.)  See you all Sunday!!!

Exercises: week of March 23, 2009

Ahhh - Wednesday... now THIS is more like me than that whole Monday thing, hey?

First things first: if anyone is interested in getting their hands on CS4 for a cool $300 (regularly $600) plus shipping please let me know. Only one is available so whoever contacts me first and/or puts money in my hand gets it. Now on to the good stuff - the exercies.

Task 1 is part 3 of the same exercise. Now that you have (ideally, if you've done the last 2 exercises) a few self-portraits and an 'I am' list, the next thing you need to do is play a kind of 'word-association' game with yourself. Grab a piece of paper and a pen - this will work best if you write and not type it. For each 'I am' you need to scribble down the FIRST song that pops into your head. Doesn't matter what it is or if it makes any sense at all - just write it down - then email your "I am" and song lists to me h dot walls at shaw dot ca; I will post the final part of this exercise next week!

Task 2 is the first part of a series of exercises that will help you build up what will become your portfolio. This task will help you start seeing your pictures as ways of putting a 'story' together in what the hip cats call photojournalism. You have 2 weeks for this task; there won't be a new exercise next week, only part 4 of the "I am" exercise.

You have been hired by an advertising agency to provide images for a company that specializes in at-your-house catering. Use your imagination to come up with a set of 5 to 10 images that would go on the company's website. You may use images you have already taken but at least 2 should be new and specific to this exercise. Here is some text that might be on our imaginary homepage, which you can modify if you'd prefer to narrow the scope and specialize in, say, romantic dinners or card parties or whatever:

Ambience Catering

At Ambience we are dedicated to providing not only first-class delectables prepared with only the finest ingredients but creating the perfect setting for any occasion in the comfort of your own home for groups of 20 or less. From intimate dinner parties and romantic proposals to children's birthdays and casual games nights, we'll help you plan the perfect menu and arrange for decorations and entertainment. On the day of your event we will arrive in time to do the decorating and set the mood, serve you and your guest(s), then quietly leave after all the cleaning is done so you can simply enjoy your time with family and friends. Whether it's candlelit coq au vin for your elopement, cake and hot dogs for your child's pinata party, or tea and petit-fours (or beer and BBQ wings) over card games, we'll help set the mood (and the table) for a worry-free event.

Examples of inclusions might be: pictures of food, either before or after preparation; things that would help set the 'ambience' like flowers, candles, streamers, table setting, etc.; location - back deck, kitchen table, yard; pictures of people eating or enjoying each other's company in a worry-free catered environment... You get the idea. Humour is welcome. When you have your images shot/selected, post the images on your blog along with the catering description. I will be giving both technical and personal feedback on the individual images (is the focus where it needs to be, is the composition strong, what elements are strong or weak, etc.) as well as how effectively they go together as a set to send a message or set a visual mood. If you aren't blogging please feel free to email it to me if you want feedback.

Exercise s for the week of March 16, 2009

Hello, all!  It's Monday and that means I'm EARLY posting this week's Exercise!!!

First, in preparation for the pet presentation at April's Portraiture workshop, Tanya of Candid Canine has asked me to pass this video clip along to you all (scroll down to the pet photography portion.)  If you don't have Realplayer installed, you can install it free for PC here or for Mac here.

Your next task for this week is not actually a photography task, but a writing exercise.  You can decide if you want to post it along with your self portraits or not.

We spent the last three months talking about very technical stuff.  By this point you should all have a pretty good grasp on what your camera can do for you.  The rest of our time together will be about what you can do for your camera.  As you develop your own style it's a common mistake to look at other people's work and try to aspire to them, rather than look at your own pictures and recognize your own true style.  

The first step we're going to take towards realizing this is spending some time defining ourselves not as photographers but as people.  You are going to spend this week coming up with an "I am..." list of 10 hats that you wear.  If you come up with 25, you need to prioritize that list, and whittle it down to ten.  Sleep on it, revisit it, take some time, and decide which 10 hats are at the top of your list.  The next thing I want you to do is to look at your self-portraits and see which of your top 10 fit with which image.  If they don't fit, then you may want to do re-takes so that your self-portraits accurately reflect who you really are.  Feel free to post them, or keep them to yourself, or email them to me if you want to share but not with everyone.

Have fun, and remember, there is no right or wrong - this is all about YOU.

I posted my 'I am...' list over on the photography blog!

Exercises for the week of March 9, 2009

Late (again) I know.  

Part 1:

This week I'm going to ask you to all stretch yourselves.  If it hasn't happened already, it's only a matter of time before you will almost always be on the wrong side of the camera.  So, it's self-portrait time.  Three of them, actually.  Use reflections, use arm's length, use props, use shadows, use whatever you want.  Three completely unique and totally different self-portraits.  DO NOT post them to your blog yet.  Next week I will give you the other half of the exercise.

Part 2:

Wait for it.

PS - I'm having technical difficulties with getting the images uploaded for critiquing - I promise I will get after it soon!!!  Eeeek!

Critiquing & PS Workshop March 8, 2009

Just a quick update in case anyone missed it.  The workshop has been relocated to Reed's Tea Room at Fort Edmonton.  When you get to the Park take the service road to the right of the parking lot.  Follow the signage to the Selkirk Hotel.  When you get to the access gate let them know you're there for the photography workshop and they will direct you to the Tea House.  

... and a reminder that Fox Drive is closed from the 76 ave access due to contstruction, so you will need to get onto Fox Drive via the Whitemud!

See you all there!

Exercises for the week of March 2, 2009

Late again!  That's OK - this week's ONLY exercise is to get me your 3 to 4 images by no later than last week!!!  Send them, send them ALL to me...  

Have a nice week off - go shoot your kids or your dog or your neighbour or something.  ;)

muchLOVE,

Hope

Exercises for the week of February 23rd, 2009

Why why why don't you guys email or comment when I forget to post on Mondays???

Alright, folks. This week is all about composition.

Here are your tasks.

Photograph an S-curve.
Apply the Rule of Red to create a point of interest.
Create a pair of pictures, one balanced, one unbalanced.
Create a pair of pictures, one symmetrical, one asymmetrical.
Create a pair of pictures, one applying the Rule of Thirds and one completely ignoring the Rule of Thirds.

Challenge: make at least one of the above tasks involve silhouetting and/or backlighting.

Don't forget you only have a few more days to get your images to me for the Technical Critiquing workshop!

would you mind?

Izcariot asks:  hey i was wondering if you could stop by my blog and tell me ur point of view in my photos, thx!!

Well, Izcariot, unfortunately I'd have to quit my day job in order to give feedback to every person who had pictures on their blog.  I offer that level of support to persons taking the workshops as it's a great way to monitor progress and ensure the concepts being discussed are understood.  Otherwise, I'm not sure what you would be looking for in a critique since 'I like' and 'I don't like' are terms I don't really employ.

There are several great critiquing sites out there that are specifically intended for getting direct feedback on your pictures.  Here's one on Facebook:

 http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=5987163866&ref=ts

If anyone else here is interested in critiquing Izcariot's images, please do!

Exercises for the Week of February 16, 2009

In preparation for the Critiquing workshop, your first task for this week (and right up until the class if you like) is to choose 3 images to be Critiqued in class.  (Remember, we aren't critiquing them on 'like' or 'don't like' only deconstructing them on a technical basis - and you get to tear apart my pictures first anyways...)  The 3 images can be any images you like - they can be ones you worked really hard to capture, ones that were total flukes and you don't know how to re-create, or ones that you take just for this purpose.  Please email the images to me by no later than March 1, 2009 so that I have time to prepare the slides.

Next, to keep you inspired for this week, here's the exercise.  Find a game in your house - Scrabble, Mousetrap, Jenga, a deck of cards - whatever you happen to have.  Create a scene using the game.  It may or may not have people or creepy dolls in it, and can be lit using either natural or available light (no flash allowed - sorry!)  Although we of course want to strive to make the technical decisions behind the scenes to get the exposure we want, the challenge is to start incorporating more creative elements like telling a story or showing mood.  So you want to create a scene that says something more than 'here is a game' - we want more than a knock-off advertisement for the game.  Try and let the picture tell the story of who's winning and who's losing, show that someone was cheating, or what happens when an important element is missing.  You can make it as serious or as silly as you like.  Have fun!

Exercises for Week of February9th 2009

In case you left early and forgot what the last exercise was in Sunday's workshop, here it is again:

Choose a few objects and COMPOSE a still life. Make it one that you actually like so you can have some FUN with it - you could use a bowl of eggs, a sock, and 6 peacock feathers; a bouquet of flowers; you could use a set of building blocks; you could use your secret stash of creepy dollies (my fave) or whatever floats your boat! It might be Once you have your still-life composed, try and take any 3 or 5 (or more) pictures that are DISTINCTLY different from one another WITHOUT moving the objects. Consider things like: how little or how much negative space you want, depth of field, perspective, exposing for details in the hightlights vs. exposing for details in the shadows. Challenge yourself by trying to take the pictures in Manual and applying the Law of Reciprocity.

THIS WEEK's metering exercise is:

In daylight, a creepy dolly (I swear Goodwill and Value Village have an almost decadent supply!) near a window - use a person if you must... ~smirk~ With your camera in Av mode, create the next 4 images:

A headshot with the face as evenly lit as possible.
A headshot lit from the side - choose whether you prefer the highlights blown out or really deep shadows.
A headshot in silhouette.
A headshot that's backlit.

(Hint - you will need to move your subject in relation to your light source.)

THIS WEEK's composition exercise is:

Choose a landscape to shoot - whatever you feel like shooting whether that's urban, residential, the forest, your backyard is fine as long as you can distinctively identify a horizon. Without moving from the position you've chosen or changing your focal length (read: no zooming in or out once you start), take a series of 4 different pictures. The first one should have the horizon precisely in the middle of the image, the second one should have the horizon in the top third of the image, the third one should have the horizon in the bottom third of the image, and the last one should have the horizon cutting across the image diagonally.

When you post or email me a link to your online album, please comment on which of the images from each set are your favourites, and why. Also, please share any challenges you had and how you resolved or conquered it.

I'm hoping to visit everyone's blogs more this month - if you haven't signed up as a follower, please do (top right corner of this page) as it makes it easier for me to find you all!

Happy shooting!!!

Exercise for Week of February 2, 2009

I'm SUCH a slacker! I've been so busy processing pictures from the DR and prepping for the workshop this Sunday I forgot to post an exercise for you guys!

This week is for FUN. We're going to call it 'learn to love the blur.' With the beautiful weather we've been having, I want you to all go outside for a bit with your kids, your dog, a friend. In "M" I need you to set your camera to ISO 100, f22.0, SS 1/60. Take a few snapshots of people moving around - try stabilizing the camera and having someone run through the frame, point your camera at something colourful and try running with the camera during your exposure, find a park and take pictures of people going down the slide, people swinging, hop on the slide and do an exposure while you're going down... go PLAY! Have FUN! Learn to love the blur!

See you all on Sunday!

Much LOVE,

~H.

Successful exercises!

So, lots of people have been playing along, but I have to share this one blog, because she did such a phenomenal job of tackling the exercises AND got creative about doing it! Megan - these are FANTASTIC! I encourage you al to go have a look, and to post the links to your own exercises if you're feeling it!

~H.

Weeks 2 & 3 exercises DLS 2009

My bad, guys! I'm really sorry I didn't post last week - there was no access to internet in my hotel room and the by-the-minute rate was astronomical!

Week 2 Exercise.

Hint: you may need to use a tripod or a stable surface and your 2-second delay feature. This exercise is also best done in daylight - a kitchen or coffee table near a window would be ideal.

Find any 5 objects and arrange a still life to photograph. Set your camera to M. Put your Aperture to f8.0, ISO100, SS60, and take a shot. Adjust your SS up or down until you get an exposure you like. Put your camera back to SS60 and adjust your ISO until you get an exposure you like. Put your camera back to ISO100 and adjust your aperture until you get an exposure you like.

Compare your 3 successful images. What kinds of things can you note about the quality of the picture? The depth of field? The noise or grain? Which image do you prefer, and why? Were you unable to get a successful exposure (reciprocity failure) in any of the three variations?

Week 3 Exercise:

This exercise involves water and possibly electricity - be careful! Again, you may need to use a tripod or find a way to stabilize your camera (a bathtowel is GREAT and totally moldable!) and use the 2-second delay.

Get a clear glass or small clear bowl and put it in the bottom of your kitchen sink. If you do not have much light coming over to the sink, you may need to get a lamp or flashlight (no flash please!) to shine on your work area. Starting with your camera in M, ISO 400, SS60, your challenge is to take 2 completely differnt pictures of water running into/splilling out of your glass or bowl. The first picture is of the water 'frozen' - you should be able to see droplets and clear crisp edges of the rivulets. (Hint: this is going to require a very fast SS!) The second picture is of the water flowing. The glass or bowl should appear crisp and clear, but the water should be foamy, frothy and white. (Hint: this is going to require a REALLY slow SS)

Hope you guys have fun!

2009 DLS Week 1 exercises

This exercise is to help you experiment with the Law of Reciprocity as well as hone your understanding of DOF while practicing manual focusing. It is also to get you thinking more about making creative choices - what objects will you choose? Where will you choose to shoot? What time of day will you shoot?

All 3 tasks can be completed in a period of an hour or less - make sure you remember to post them somewhere!

TASK 1
Find a nice bright spot to take a picture - a kitchen, bedroom, or living room floor with lots of natural light would be ideal, or this could be done outside. Set up a series of about 5 similar or identical items in a row, each about 3-4" apart from each other. Be as creative as you like - they could be anything from beer bottles to baby bottles, Hotwheels, walnuts... You could make a train of some sort with your kids. You could put pinecones on the snow. Really, the sky is the limit...

Disable your flash, set your camera to MF, Av, f3.5, ISO 200. (Remember, if you're using a zoom, your zoom may need to be at the widest angle to get to f3.5, and if your lens only goes as low as f4.0 consider using a different lens. Otherwise, set your aperture to f4.0)) Standing at one end of the row, focus on the object closest to you. Take one picture. If it's properly exposed, continue. If not, you will need to adjust the settings on your camera until you get a proper exposure before proceeding with the rest of the task.  

Note how many of the objects are in focus at f3.5, and adjust your aperture one f-stop at a time until almost all the objects are in focus. How many f-stops did it take you? Note the light and what the camera set your shutter speeds at - did you have to deal with camera shake at all? If you had trouble getting pictures with higher f-stops, what would your options be for increasing the shutter speed without altering the depth of field? Hint - law of reciprocity only has 3 parts: light intensity (aperture) sensitivity (film speed) and duration (shutter speed). If you're feeling inspired, try it again by setting the camera on the surface your objects are restin on or on a tripod if you have one. Remeber: you should be using the 2-second (10 on some Canons) delay.  See a sample.

Post 3 images - the one at the WIDEST aperture (shallowest depth of field, small f-stop number), one in the middle, and one at the SMALLEST aperture (deepest septh of field, high f-stop number)

TASK 2
Go outside during the day, set your camera to MF, Av, f3.5, ISO200. Find a straight edge - the fence in your backyard, a swing, a bannister, a sidewalk... Standing in the same spot at one end, manually focus so that you have 3 images with distinctly different focal points along that straight edge. If you're still feeling inspired and want to take your shooting to the street, this would be a really fun one to do in a grocery store in the soup aisle or in the library along the bookshelves! If you really want to challenge yourself, find a table or countertop that has a distinct end - something about 6-8 feet long. Try adjusting your aperture so that the entire length of the edge is in focus, but drops off suddenly at the end so everything beyond the table fades off into Bokeh oblivion...

Post a set of three pictures with the three distinct focal points ("sweet spots").  See a sample.

TASK 3
Gather 5 items to make a still life - a vase, an orange, a placemat, a flower, and a feather; a shoebox, a strainer, a rubber dog bone, a roll of toilet paper, and an origami crane... whatever you can find. Set your camera to M, f4.0, ISO 100, ss 1/60. If the picture tunred out perfectly, great. If it's over- or under-exposed, try adjusting the settings manually (according to the Law of Reciprocity) to correct the exposure.

Post 3 successful pictures with distinctly different settings and include what your camera settings were as well as your own written observations of the different qualities those three images have.

BONUS BOKEH BALLS!

If you've still got Christmas lights up, you can try this exercise to get bokeh balls...

Set your camera to Av, f4.0, ISO 400. Set up something close to you to focus on so the lights will be in the background. (You may need a solid surface and the 2-sec delay!)

I'd love to see what you are coming up with! I strongly recommend using Picasa as both a photo organizer and for very basic editing features. It has an easy upload interface to Picasa web albums as well, for both Mac and PC. Mac users can set up iPhoto to upload images directly to Picasa web albums using the 'uploader' application If you are using flickr or Facebook or another site for online sharing already, no worries. Send me a link to wherever you're uploading whatever you're shooting!

it's what you want for Christmas...

I only have 4 spaces left in the DLS workshops. If you haven't signed up yet, now's the time - tell your spouse it's what you want for Christmas!

a dirty little secret about photography associations

"Should I hire a photographer who belongs to a photography association?"

If you look around, you'll see that some photographers sport the logos of various photography associations on their websites, while others don't. There are many - the PPOC, WPPI, APPA and so forth, and the simple truth is, for most part all it means is that some people pay to have memberships while others don't. While some associations require an application and peer review process before you can become a member, many don't require anything more than your dues being paid each year, and often all those dues allow a photographer to do is attend events and enter competitions within the organization. These competitions usually require an additional entrance fee, and placing in or winning the competitions can increase your profile as a photographer. Although becoming a member of high-profile and internationally recognized organizations may show dedication to the art of photography and a desire to become world-renowned, the cost of memberships may do nothing more than drive up the cost of the photographer because their overhead is higher. Unfortunately, it does not guarantee that they are skilled or professional.

For what it's worth, in Canada there is no requirement to have any formal education or training to be a photographer. Unlike most trades and professions there is no standard level of achievement or accreditation such as a bachelor's degree or technical certificate. In Canada the only recognized professional photography association is the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPoC) and its provincial chapters. They endeavor to ensure a standard of excellence by requiring applicants to apply for accreditation through a peer review process for a variety of subjects (portraiture, wedding, animals, landscape, etc.) to become a Master of Photography. In addition to providing accreditation, the PPoC runs contests, presents workshops and conventions, secures industry discounts, and offers a group health and dental plan for accredited members only. They also try to ensure photographers receive fair wages for their work. And, unlike many organizations whose logos you are free to use once you have paid your dues, you are not allowed to sport the PPoC logo until you have achieved a minimum number of credits. If you'd like to read up on the PPoC and how they work, you can visit their site here. Anything else you see is likely a paid membership for the right to attend conventions or workshops and enter photos into contests.

Peer recognition is, of course, extremely important, as is having a network of like-minded folks to bounce ideas off and share knowledge with. It's fun hanging out with people you 'click' with, especially if you can click with them. (get it? click? I slay me. but I digress.) Should it be a consideration when you are hiring a photographer? Not necessarily. As with all things, it is up to the consumer to check out what the association stands for. Is it a paid membership that you are seeing, or has the photographer actually been accredited with something? If it's a paid membership, have they entered and/or placed in any competitions or are they just displaying the logo because they can? And, would you be willing to pay more for that photographer because they have placed in competitions or have passed a peer review of some sort?

At the end of the day, whether a photographer belongs to a paid association or a peer reviewed association, your best measure of whether you should hire them or not is if you like their work and find you 'click' with them. Everything else is simply a logo.

pumpkin photography instructions

Here's your free tip for the day.

HOW TO TAKE GLOWING PUMPKIN PICTURES


Everyone get your pumpkins out on your step or wherever. Put your camera on a tripod or a chair. If you have a dSLR, set your camera to Av and use the 2-second delay timer on your camera. If you have a point and shoot (P&S) find the little candle symbol and set your camera to that one, put it on a tripod or chair. Everyone disable your flash, then light up your pumpkins and take a picture for me! email them to me at h dot walls at shaw dot ca, or post them on your own blog and let me know how they turned out!

DLS workshop FAQs

How much do the workshops cost?

Workshops cost an average of $75 per 4-hour day.  The full series is $500, and there are savings for early registration.

How long are the workshops?

The workshops are from 2 - 4 hours in length.

Do I need a dSLR?

No.  You only need a camera with manually adjustable ISO, aperture, and shutter speed for teh technical workshops, and the creative workshops are suitable for any camera.  If you aren't sure if the model you're using has manual controls, leave a comment with your camera make and model and a reply email (I won't publish it) and I can let you know. 

Can I bring my kids?

Nursing infants up to about 6 months are welcome; however, the workshops are fairly involved and not suitable for children.

Where are the workshops held?

The workshops will be held at a variety of locations in and near Edmonton which are yet to be confirmed.  Confirmation will be sent out prior to the commencement of the workshops.

What will I know when I'm done with the workshops?

Technically you will know how to use the buttons, knobs, and dials on your camera to get the exposure you want; creatively you will have a whole bag of tricks on everything from lighting and composition to how to make grumpy kids smile, and then some.  You will also have an idea of how to get started as a business if you decide to pursue photography as a career.

Are the workshops tax-deductible?

No.  As these workshops are being offered privately and not through a registered educational program, I cannot issue tax receipts.

dates set for 2009 DLS photography workshop series!!!

2009 DLS workshop series announcement!

Below you'll find dates for the workshops.  Registration commences November 1st, 2008 and will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. Unless otherwise noted, a minimum of 8 and a maximum of 12 registrants is required for each workshop, with priority given to those signing up for the series over individual workshops. If you have taken the CRASH COURSE!!! and would like to sign up for the series, a partial credit will be applied to your registration total. 

Workshops are geared towards dSLR cameras, but are suitable for all cameras that have manually adjustable ISO, shutter speed, and aperture unless otherwise noted.

Please visit the webpage or email h dot walls at shaw dot ca for further details or to request a registration form.

January 11, 2009: it's not about the camera

February 8, 2009: in-camera metering, composition

March 8, 2009: technical critiquing & photoshop demonstration  

April 5, 2009: portraiture - making the connection

May 3, 2009: controlled lighting, wedding photography - A Suffolk House B&B

May 31, 2009: breaking the rules and planning for final project, the business end of things

June 14, 2009: FINAL PROJECT

Although the workshops are designed to be stand-alone, they are most beneficial taken as a series.  Visit the DLS webpage for detailed descriptions of each workshop day, as well as pricing and payment options.

candid calculations

Danica said...
I am currently taking a photography course to better learn my camera and in turn take much better pictures. I am trying to use my manual setting as much as possible but question my choices when I am trying to take quick, candid shots. When doing candid photography what settings (ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed) do you like and why?? I am trying to avoid using the "priority" settings available on my camera so I can better my skills and knowledge.

Before I can answer your question, I am going to make some assumptions, as asking someone what they 'usually' have their ISO, shutter, and aperture settings on is a weird question since it changes moment to moment. Most photographers will have a set of preferred settings (whether they shoot RAW or JPEG, prefer Av, Tv or manual, whether they prefer a 1-second review or a 3-second review, where they like their AF spot to be, etc.) but otherwise, it's a question of calculating the Law of Reciprocity to come up with the right combination of duration, film sensitivity, and light to create an 'exposure.'

First I am assuming we are talking about a digital camera and not film. Second, when you are wanting to take 'fast' pictures I am assuming you mean when people are in motion and you need to 'freeze' the action. I'm also assuming the use of available light, not strobe, flash, or any other light source. In priority setting, you would want to use your Tv to ensure your shutter speed was fast enough to 'freeze' the action. To do this manually you simply re-create Tv by setting your shutter speed to 1/125 sec or faster and adjusting your ISO and/or aperture accordingly. (You don't want anything lower than 1/60 sec for a shutter speed though as that's the longest most humans can stand still for and take a picture without getting camera shake.)

Of course in lower-lighting situations, upping your ISO means increased chance of grain, and opening up your aperture means you need to be spot-on with your focussing or your subject will have moved out of your DOF, at which point it becomes more a creative than a technical choice: would you rather have blur, grain, or I'm a big fan of a shallow aperture, pretty much always. And, as much as I'm really OK with grain, I'm even more OK with a little blur in my candids - I prefer blur to noise most of the time, especially for candid shots, because it's a 2-dimnesional medium and the only way of creating a sense of 'movement' or demonstrate the passage of time is to let a little blur happen.

My best suggestion is for you to go outside and 'play' - try a series of different settings. (Lucky for you, digital records all that data for you so you don't need a pen and paper handy like in the old days of film.) Kids on swings close to sunset would be perfect fodder for really exploring your camera settings as you'd have gradually decreasing light over a short period of time. The bottom line is, you'll only discover what your personal preferences are, and why, by experimenting and eventually discovering your own style.

Cheers,

~H.

how do I pick a photographer?

If you're finding a replacement for a photographer who is unavailable for some reason, or this is your first time getting non-studio portraits done, it can be a little overwhelming deciding who to hire.  Your pictures are an investment, and you should shop as wisely for a photographer as you would a home.  This post will help you narrow the field down.

Step 1.) Decide what kind of pictures you want done.  If you are looking for family portraits, obviously hiring a wedding or boudoir specialist isn't your best bet.  You also want to carefully consider the photographer's artistic style - though most photographers have a little of everything thrown in there, most tend towards a specific style.  Review their portfolio of images - are they photoshop-perfect or more natural?  Are they funky colours and textures, or classic and simple?  Are they broody and stylized or are they bright and playful? Are they mostly candid or mostly posed?  Do they have work from a studio or do they shoot on location?  If you like minimal post-processing or a photographer who is into putting humourous cartoon thought-bubbles, make sure the one you hire isn't into creative post-processing or doesn't have a single image sporting a thought bubble, don't hire them because asking a photographer to change an image they've presented to you is no different than asking Picasso to change a painting.

Step 2.) Decide your budget.  I suggest being at least a bit suspicious if they don't list any prices - what are they hiding?  Expect to pay more for established photographers with extensive portfolios and several years of experience, but be cautious of basing your investment solely on price: more expensive doesn't always mean better.  There are often very talented photographers who are early on in their careers and looking to build their portfolios whose prices will be substantially lower than more experienced or established photographers.  You may want to take a risk on an up-and-comer.  Buyer beware - as they are exploring their style, homing their skills, and experimenting with different processing techniques, you may get a mixed bag.  And a word to the wise - expect their prices to go up very quickly as they gain experience and build a clientele!

Something to note:  If the photographer you want is totally out of your price range, don't be afraid to contact them anyways - often if you give them a dollar amount they are able to tell you if there's anything they can provide for that price, or suggest other photographers they know or work with who they feel would be a good option for you. If they outright snub you, chances are you didn't want to work with them anyways.

Step 3.) Get some reviews or feedback about the photographer you are considering.  No photographer ever puts bad reviews of their work on display, so testimonials on websites aren't always the best place to start - talk to former clients if you can.  If you don't know anyone the photographer has already dealt with, blogs not only show the photographer's most current work but often reveal a bit about the photographer's personality as well as their service.  Check for things like turnaround time - are summer weddings popping up as the snow flies and fall leaf pictures being appearing as the trees are budding?  If so, expect a lengthy wait for your pictures.  Check for repeat offenders - if a photographer has regulars and/or repeat customers, it's usually a good sign.  If they are new photographers this may mean nothing, but if they've been around for a couple of years and no one's coming back, there's probably a reason.

Step 4.) Spend some time talking to the photographer before deciding to hire them.  Whether you do this over the phone or via email, the photographer should be friendly, helpful, and open.  You should feel almost immediately comfortable with the person - when you click you will have fun at your session AND get some pictures to boot.  However, if there are inexplicably long lapses in communication, curt unfriendly responses, or you just don't feel comfortable 'chatting' with the person, it's unlikely you are well suited for one another, and this will show up in your pictures.  Especially when you are considering making a large investment such as wedding pictures or large canvas prints of your family, you want to make sure you aren't wasting your time and money, so suggest a meeting.

Step 5.) Go get your pictures done!

Hopefully this gives you a bit of help in choosing a photographer.  If you'd like a more in-depth look at what most customers are unhappy with in a photographer, you may want to read this.  But if you're ready to start shopping (and because we conveniently have a list of our associates handy) we suggest you check out these photographers.  Happy hunting!

sneaky pics - what's the law?

I had a personal incident arise this week and thought I'd re-post a little info on the legalities of strangers taking your picture in public places.

First off, there is NO LAW preventing you from being photographed in a public space or at a public event by anyone. When you hire a photographer, there is usually some kind of binding contract regarding the legal end of things, but if you're walking down the street, going to a festival, playing at the beach or swimming pool, or playing at the park with your kids, if someone came along with their camera and started taking pictures of you with or without your knowledge, without your consent, you really have no legal recourse. Obviously if they were harrassing you, you would be entitled to contact the authorities to have the person removed, and if the person were photographing you in a changeroom or washroom that would be a whole other story, but for the most part, if you're out in public, you're game.

Speaking as a photographer, I tend not to take pictures of people without their permission but sometimes it happens. Typically, it's because you were in the background of my shot - I go to take a picture of my daughter on the slide and yup - you might be in the background chowing down on a burger or picking your nose. I've also taken pictures of the crowd during parades and festivals. And, if I wanted to, I could sell those pictures back to the festival owners, who could then blow it up to a billboard and there would be nothing anyone could do about it.

Part of the reason there is no law preventing people from taking pictures in public is because you're out in public. Whatever you're wearing, whatever expression there might be on your face, whatever you happen to be doing, people are seeing it. A camera is merely recording you as you are, and therefore, if you've gone out in public you've made an unconscious agreement to 'be seen' so a still or even a movie of you is merely a record of what happened. If your facial expression is unflattering, if you're wearing bad clothes, if you're having a bad hair day doesnt' make a picture more or less lawful. They're ALL lawful. But the number one reason there is no law is frankly because it would be impossible to enforce it. Can you imagine taking your kids to the park and having to get a model release from everyone else there (or their parents) in case you got one of their kids in your shot? Can you imagine a news reporter having to go and get permission from 10,000 people at a football game?

So, no law exists against photographing people in public spaces because it's simply not a) logical or b) enforceable.

NOW. Speaking as a Mom, and a woman who personally HATES having her picture taken at any time in any place, there's a big part of me that thinks this really sucks. The butt shots I've been taking are probably a great example of an unflattering picture I'm OK posting, because you'd be hard-pressed to identify the owner, so anonymity is present. (Frankly, if you don't want people taking pictures of the crack of your butt, wear pants that fit... but I digress...) In the case of taking unflattering pictures of people, well - this would be bad business for me since I am a portrait photographer, and who would hire me if I wasn't able to make a person look and feel as beautiful as possible in their photos?

In all honesty as much as I enjoy street shooting I do feel a bit weird taking pictures of people without them knowing, and in the bigger scheme getting verbal or written permission is always the safer route whether you're going to sell the pics to a newspaper, blogging them, or making personal prints to put in your own album.

To you, the general pubic, rest assured that the truly creepy photographers out there are far and few between in relation to those of us who approach shooting in public spaces with some degree of artistic integrity and genuine respect for humankind.

Now you all know.

~H.

I'm SO mad at my photographer!

Something from a client's perspective for a change!

I've scooped up a few clients over the years based on nothing more than the fact they were dissatisfied or disappointed with the services offered by or that they had already received from another photographer. Sometimes it's Walmart or a dept store chain, sometimes it's another boutique photographer, sometimes it's from a larger professional studio. Regardless, the typical kinds of complaints I've heard are:

The prices aren't fair
The services went down
I hated my pictures
The photographer didn't deliver
The photographer wasn't very friendly or accomodating

So I thought I'd address these issues and try to find some middle ground.

The prices aren't fair:
This usually accompanies the photographer raising their prices, or appears when a photographer seems to be charging more than people with the same or greater experience and/or better quality photographs. I'll tackle both.

Inflation: Prices go up. That's the reality of it, everywhere, period. Fuel, clothing, food, and photography alike will see inflation. With shutterbugs it's not usually in relation to gas prices, but to experience. Often the photographer who is just starting out will start out low and creep their prices up gradually, which often leads to unhappiness in former clients who are unwilling or unable to spend the extra money, especially if there's a drastic jump. Reasonably speaking, if you are in good with a great photographer who is just starting out, be prepared to spend more money as they become more successful. And even when you can't afford them any longer, at least be happy that they are experiencing enough success to demand a higher price for the services you've come to appreciate over the years. However, this isn't always the case:

Incongruent prices: Let's use an example of a t-shirt. A t-shirt's a pretty basic thing to buy, and yet you can buy them for anywhere from $2 to $200, depending where you shop. Prices don't necessarily reflect the quality of materials or workmanship, and are oftentimes abitrarily expensive because you are paying for the name, not the product. Let's assume $25 is a fair price to spend on a good quality t-shirt with decent workmanship and fairly nice materials. If you are accustomed to buying that particular $25 t-shirt, any deviation from it will make you question why it's so cheap or so expensive. A $2 t-shirt might be on sale (score!) or might just be crappy materials and shoddy sewing. If certain people put their name in the tag of that exact same crappy t-shirt, there are folks out there who will trip over themselves to pay $20 or $200 or more for it, just so they can say they own a "brand-X" t-shirt. Alternately, there are often times when a t-shirt increases in price for valid reasons, such as a locally made hand-sewn organic cotton t-shirt that doesn't enjoy the benefit of bulk production pricing breaks, in which case you are paying extra money to support local producers and cover the actual expense of more costly materials, so paying $50 for that t-shirt is probably perfectly reasonable. And of course, every now and again, you're going to find that great $2 t-shirt (score!) but at that price, they won't last forever.

At the end of the day, any wise consumer does some comparison shopping. If you have a budget of $50 for t-shirts, it's up to you how you are going to spend those dollars. You can buy 25 crappy t-shirts, two decent t-shirts, one higher-end t-shirt, or hold out and save up for a glitzy t-shirt, and none of those options is wrong or better than the other - it just depends on what your needs are and what you want to accomplish with the end product which might be something to throw in the Christmas cards, or something to impress the Joneses.

So, too, is the case with photography. There are quick cheap trips to department store studios, there are independent upstart photographers who are charging less while they build up their portfolio, there are fantastic photographers with loads of creativity, talent, and skill to offer who charge a fair but slightly higher price, and there are those photographers whose prices seem utterly insane yet people are willing to pay. So my advice is, when you're out shopping for a photographer, think of them as t-shirts and you'll be OK.

The services went down

Often if a photographer isn't wanting to raise their prices, what they will do is decrease the services or package inclusions. Each image a photographer has to take, scan through, process, proof, and print takes time, and time is money. Usually they will include fewer proofs or prints with their packages as a way of increasing their available time and ability to make a greater income. Photographers just starting out often go above and beyond the call of duty - it helps them build their portfolio so that they can eventually raise their prices. But again, just because you found a $2 t-shirt (score!) doesn't mean it's going to last forever, and when the services go down you'll need to do some comparison shopping and decide if you're willing to grow with that photographer or look for one that fits within your budget.

I hated my pictures

There's never been any accounting for taste. What one person sees as a beautiful picture another person may hate. When you hire your photographer, you need to make sure you investigate their portfolio as fully as possible and make sure that their style meshes well with your personal taste. If you want someone who is great at casual candid shots, don't hire a posey photographer, if you prefer funky trendy finishes, dont' hire someone who doesn't use photoshop. If you decide to hire someone who is just starting out, you have to accept the risks that come with being a guinea pig - you may love or hate the finished product, but you were well-warned, and cannot fault the photographer nor are you justified in asking for a refund, reprints, retints, refinishes, or retakes.

As a photographer learns and grows, their style or approach will often evolve. Often this is a pleasant process which adds value and variety for you, the client. It does happen though that whatever new-fangled Photoshop trick your family portraits have been subjected to or the photographer's newfound love for shooting with only a fish-eye lens isn't going to fit within your likes, and it's OK to just say no. Buyer beware - it's important to keep track of your photpgrapher's current work to see what they're up to lately!

Let's talk t-shirts again. If you bought a t-shirt online in a certain style, fabric, and colour, and got something completely different and unrelated, you are entitled to a refund or replacement because you did not get what you paid for. If the company were completely unwilling to accomodate, then I think it's time to shop for another t-shirt, and if it was me, I'd probably complain loudly to anyone who'd listen about the company that screwed me over.

The photographer didn't deliver

There's usually some sort of verbal or written contract when a photographer is hired. When a photographer raises their prices or reduces what's included in their packages after that contract has been entered into, they cannot apply it retroactively. Also, it is the photographer's responsibility to inform cleints if there is going to be any delay in the delivery of their proofs or prints, either up front, or when the delay becomes evident. Reasonably speaking, a family package should have proofs to the client within 3-4 weeks, and a wedding within 6 weeks. Prints require about an additional 10 business days from the time the clients choose them. Anything outside these parameters is unreasonable, and ideally would result in the photographer offering a discount to the price of the overall package or a discounted session for a future date or something of the sort. Anything less than that is simply disrespectful to the client.

The photographer wasn't very friendly or accomodating

You'd be surprised how often this is the sole reason a person leaves one photographer for another. Sometimes personalities don't mesh, and that's OK, but some of the horror stories I've heard give me the hives - snide comments made to or about rambunctious children, feeling rushed or like their session was an inconvenience to the photographer, the photographer just not being very kind.. and, I've even had a complaint that the photographer was flirting too much with the spouse. Any successful person in any profession knows that there's an art to getting people to do business with you. Whether the ultimate goal is getting you to buy a $200 t-shirt or be comfortable in front of the camera, 99% of your success rests on your personality - patience, creativity, understanding, humour, and propriety all add up to whether or not you're going to be successful. For $2 a t-shirt, you might be wiling to put up with shoddy customer service -you get what you apy for, after all - but no one's going to fork out $200 for it. If you've managed to hire a photographer who makes google eyes at your spouse, keeps looking at the clock, and asks if your kids took their Ritalin this morning, then you need to find another photographer.

The important part at the end of all this is if you aren't happy with your photographer, you need to get the right information to the right people.

1.) Tell the photographer. Beyond not paying for them anymore, be honest about why you aren't hiring them again. Some photographers will be offended or arrogant and write you off, but many will take your feedback to heart and reevaluate their business practices. If you're one of those wishy-washy types like me who can't just say it straight, here are some diplomatic ways of firing your photographer.

Instead of saying you can't afford them, try, "The new prices have outgrown my annual photography budget."

Instead of saying you think they're overpriced, try, "I've done some comparisons and I've found a better value for my photography dollar."

Instead of saying you hate your pictures, try, "I think the creative direction your photography is taking doesn't suit my tastes."

If, however, you are firing your photographer for non-delivery of services or for being an unlikable person, you need to come right out and give specifics. Try, "You did not deliver what I paid for, in the timeframe we agreed to, therefore I will be looking for someone else to provide our photography services." Or, "I found the way you spoke to my children condescending, and men have died for less than checking out the cleavage of another man's wife."

2.) Let the photographer know you are going to tell your friends and family. In this business word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool at our disposal. If the photographer is unwilling to help resolve whatever issue is at hand, this may be a way to impress upon them that you are quite seriously unhappy and have no desire to see them succeed. Make a client happy, and they will tell all their friends. Make a client unhappy, and they will tell all their friends, and their friends' friends, and their friends' friends' friends. And unlike those unwritten rules about not talking about exes with new partners, unhappy clients tell their future photographers ALL about their past photographers...

3.) If the photographer did something truly heinous you may want to consider reporting them to the Better Business Bureau or calling one of the TV consumer hotlines to do an expose on them before someone else gets unwittingly sucked into paying a person who should have their camera taken away.

I hope this gives some sound advice to you, the client, and I hope you find a great photographer who is a perfect match! For those of you who have had a negative experience, I promise, there's one out ther for you!

Dirty Little Secrets: The long-awaited 80's shoot

Date: November 16, 2008

Time: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Place: a basement wetbar TBA someplace in the greater Edmonton area

Think Dynasty - big hair, pleated taper pants with high heels, and shoulder pads...

We currently have 3 female models lined up - I would like 4 women, and at least one guy.  I have a hair person tentatively lined up, and am still negotiating a make-up artist.  Currently scouting a great location for the 80's shoot, hoping for a fantastic basement with a tacky wet bar and some nice wooden paneling but would settle for an ugly couch on a white backdrop.  There may be a small investment (we'll try and keep it under $20) involved to anyone shooting to cover the cost of renting a venue and/or paying for miscellaneous props, supplies, or costumes.  Anyone wishing to participate should get in touch with me ASAP - I'm going to need a LOT of help getting this organized!!!

Drop me a line at h dot walls at shaw dot ca with questions and to sign up!

Talking in Loud Whispers: Difficult Clients

As we advance through our careers as photographers, we will encounter any number of difficult client situations.  Sometimes it's a child who we simply cannot manage.   Sometimes it's a person who has their own vision and gives creative direction that is completely foreign to your style or what you set out to accomplish.  Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances such as a recent or pending death that make the session bear a weight unlike others.  And, sometimes you just don't mesh well with the client and it's nearly impossible to connect and make the images you envision happen.

How does one gracefully handle the child (and the parents of the child) who cannot be peeled from the ceiling?  When and how do you steer a client back to your creative vision when you've gone off in some other direction?  How do you lessen the personal emotional burden that comes either before or after a session?  Is it possible to make a creative comeback mid-session and forge ahead or is it sometimes better to just let things play themselves out and take what you get at the end of it?

It's impossible for me to emotionally separate myself from my sessions, before, during or after.  I have too much invested in what I'm doing both as an artist as well as with the service I am providing, so it follows that there are certain conflicts that will only ever arise for a photographer.  Let's explore some of our personal experiences, share how we fared before, during and after, and maybe come up with some strategies for handling both clients and ourselves under the sometimes stressful conditions unique to being a people shooter.

October 19th, 2008, 6 pm to 8pm, my place (email me h dot walls at shaw dot ca) for my address) coffee & cookies provided, bring $2 or something to share!

Talking in Loud Whispers: How much are my services worth?

Setting your prices is a hurdle we all face.  Deciding how much to charge, what to include, and comparing ourselves to other shooters in the market can be a very daunting task.  This open-floor Loud Whisper will be dedicated to sharing how and why we set our prices, as well as how we tackle the issue of raising our prices without losing clientele.  Sunday, September 7th, 2008, 6 pm - 7:30 p.m., Hope's place.  $2 per person in the kitty for coffee and cookies; please bring a snack to share!

Talking in Loud Whispers: Making the Connection

In the Workshops we've often discussed how important it is to make a connection with your subject in order to create the best possible images.  For me, the greatest joy in taking pictures is the process, not the end product - when the pictures I have mean something to me as well as the viewer the process transcends from being a pretty picture to being a shared experience.  

Whether you are photographing people, places, or things, there are ways of making that connection that will make your experience of taking the picture deeper and stronger, lending a sense of power and intensity that allow the people we share our images with to see them on an emotional as well as artistic level.

The first Talking in Loud Whispers discussion group will be taking place from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. immediately following the DLS Crash Course on August 10, 2008.  Everyone is welcome.  As this is a discussion group and not a presentation or lecture, I invite everyone to come with questions and suggestions, and willing to share their own experiences taking connected' pictures.

Cost is $5 per participant.  Coffee and snacks will be provided.  Please email h dot walls at shaw dot ca to sign up.

DLS Crash Course - August 10, 2008

A repeat of the much-requested DLS Crash Course is running on August 10, 2008.  If you are interested in this intensive basic training, please send an email to h dot walls at shaw do ca.  There are only a couple of spaces left, so sign up soon!

What will I know after the DLS workshops?

I got an email inquiry about the DLS workshops and figured that this was a great question, and worthy of a blogging.

Depending on whether you engage in the series, the Weekender, or the Crash Course, what you walk away with will vary.  There are write-ups about each Workshop explaining the subject in detail, but summarily here is what you will walk away from the Workshops:

1) a solid and practical understanding of how your camera works to create an exposure, how the settings on your camera affect the image, and how to manually adjust your camera's settings to achieve the image you want;

2) a detailed understanding of vocabulary usually used when discussing photography such as depth of field, composition, contrast, exposure, saturation, and more, and how to manipulate these things in-camera;

3) a general overview of some tried and true practices for composing pictures, taking group and individual portraits, and self-correcting weakly composed or poorly exposed images.

4) hands-on practice with a variety of metering techniques as well as a demonstration of some artificial or controlled lighting such as flashes, strobes, and continuous lighting;

5) access to field trips, discussion groups, and ongoing live support; and

6) develop a network of fellow shutterbugs who are able to share resources, information, and your passion for shooting.

Other special workshops cover things specific to wedding photography, setting up and operating as a business, common basic Photoshop techniques, and old-fashioned techniques for creating textures and special effects without having to digitally manipulate your images during post-processing.

New or special workshops are added from time to time as well, designed by the people who request them, and private tutoring is also available.

I hope this gives a good outline of what your expectations of the Workshops are all about, and look forward to adding some fresh new faces to our wonderful family of workshoppers!

bereavement photos

T wants to know: Is it ok to take photograph's at a memorial? There is family that will not be able to make it and I think ti would be nice to share photo's of the day with them, also I want it for myself. If it is ok to do so what kind of shots do you or don't you reccomend? Also can you offer any tips for taking photo's during a scattering of the ashes on water?

For what it's worth, people feeling weird or icky about photos taken at memorials or funerals is a North American thing. I know my German relations all make a big deal out of taking pictures of everything from the dead body in the casket to family photos to the party after, then package them up in cards and mail them to all the relatives who were unable to be present.

This is my personal take on it. I took a tonne of pictures when my Daddy died. I took pictures of us planning, hanging out, crying, laughing, driving, playing, sighing, sleeping - you name it. For me it was a coping mechanism - a way to remain productive and focussed - and one which now brings me great peace as I am able to walk through my father's death at a pace I can comfortably deal with. I smile, laugh, and cry when I look back through them, and wouldn't trade them for all the tea in China.

It's different for everyone, though. If YOU want to take pictures, take photos of things you want to remember. The casket, the flowers, any mementos that may be present; family and friends; the location of the ceremony and what the weather was like. I don't take photos during the memorial service itself unless asked, but you may want to, depending on who is speaking. If it was a distant relative's funeral, I would want to take into consideration the feelings of other people there, but since this is your parent, I don't think you should have to ask or care what anyone else thinks.

As far as pictures of the ashes being scattered (which I must point out is actually illegal in some places and I do not advocate this practice without the proper authorities being contacted for local laws) what I would suggest is deciding who is doing the scattering and who is doing the picture taking ahead of time, as you probably won't be able to do both. You will likely want a picture taken from the water beside the dock or boat, as well as one from further away, which might require other people being asked to take pictures, too. Take into consideration things like wind which might need to be factored in - 'scattering' may need to be more of a gentle dunking or people could end up with facefuls of ash. If you can't actually get pictures of the ashes scattering or being dispursed, pictures of the location, the day of travel, local scenery, etc. can be just as important, as they not only illustrate the surroundings of your loved one's final resting place, but also document the events leading up to and following, which can often be an adventure all by themselves. When we buried my Daddy's ashes, we went for lunch at the local greasy spoon before, and out smashing bottles afterwards, and it was a perfect day for us. Since you're making quite a trip, I imagine you could take a whole lot of interesting pictures before and after.

And, just as a side note, if you are taking your camera out on watercraft, you should consider bringing along something watertight or water-resistant and buoyant (a 4L ice cream pail would do in a pinch) to transport your camera.

Workshop July 13, 2007

We had a couple last-minute cancellations and as such have a couple of spots available.  If anyone's interested in attending, please email me at h dot walls at shaw dot ca and I will put your name on the list!

and in the news today...

I like to keep everyone up to date. Here's some stuff you can check out.

Lareina is designing her watermark and needs you to vote here.

Amanda K. shot the grad with me last weeknd and has some pictures up here. (I'll post mine after the weekend!) Our friend Carmen recently started a custom bakery business - we're trying to convince her to let us do some pictures of her baking art (and it is art, believe me) but you can check her out here.

Amy did her first boudoir session and promised to share a few, but hasn't blogged them yet. Go comment and harrass her to hurry up about it here.

Amanda M. has been putting her beer tub to use here. She's been slacking off - comment, and after your comment copy-paste this message: "Hope says you're a slacker."

Heather unveiled her photography business name (AND finally posted pictures from her adorable son's 2nd birthday party) here.

Although Heather said she's just working on a website, Lisa's already got one up and running here.

Rebecca has been busy shooting graduations and an engagement here. She's also got a website up and running here.

Christine is prolific as usual, shooting everything from grads to insurance reps to tattoos here.

Tasha is still taking some time off to get into the groove of being Mama to 4 babes, but Laura is in full production and just not sharing. I invite you to go here and copy-paste this message: "Hope says you're a slacker."

Some of you may remember Drew, whose studio was used by yours truly a few times for workshops as well as for the book. He's become one of us - check him out here.

As for me, I have two very sweet baby boys to blog about - one brand new face, and one familiar face who just turned a year old, plus the amazing-as-always grads from last weekend. After Saturday, a wedding and a fashion shoot, too... stay tuned! (P.S. I'll be posting my exercise tonight!)

exercises, June 25, 2008

Good day, everyone! If you haven't posted your portfolio yet, you should - I'd love to see one!

For this round of practice, I'd like everyone to do 4 pictures. 2 should employ photoshop, and 2 should employ broken rules. The themes:

One picture must look like it was dragged through the dumpster.
One picture must be strangely coloured.
One picture must look soft and/or romantic.
One picture must be vignetted.

Have fun!

dealing with fear

I am turning into a chicken (well not physically) but I have the opportunity to take some photos in a style that I am VERY interested in doing, but I am scared to take them.

Do you have any pointers, tips to get over this initial fear!?! How do I take this leap without freaking!?! I need to do this, but I have stalled.

Signed,

S. Cat

Well, S. Cat, I think if you weren't a big nervous about taking on a new project you'd be weird.  Unfortunately, without knowing exactly what kind of photography you're doing that's scaring you, it's very hard to give you specific tips, so I will answer it in a very general sense.  

When you are taking any kind of pictures for another person, it's perfectly normal for you to be very afraid that you will disappoint the client, or, at the very least, not live up to your own expectations.  After 10+ years I still get a serious case of stage fright before most of my sessions.  Often the trick to getting a handle on things is to just BREATHE.  As long as I remember to breathe, I am able to regain my composure and proceed.  I find that the amount I am charging for the session is in direct correlation with the level of pre-show jitters I get.  Often if I'm not sure how something will turn out but want the experience, I'll offer my services for free.  Practice will help relax you, too - until I've done a particular type of session so many times that it's like second nature I can't avoid feeling a bit giddy and nervous.  So, I research other peoples' work in the same genre, I prepare my props, costumes, equipment, I turn the process into a long extended breathing exercise.

Remember - though there is a right and wrong way to operate a camera, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to take creative pictures.  Whatever your style is, it is.  Embrace that and you can never go wrong because even if the client is dissatisfied, at least you know you shot the session with artistic vision and integrity.  Good luck!

exercises: week of June 8, 2008

Alright everyone - North Country Fair, the Relay for Life, and my Gramma's funeral are all taken care of, so it's time to get back into some exercises and get those creative juices flowing again.

We left off with putting together a set of 5 old and 5 new pictures that demonstrate or sum up what we ultimately see as being our best work, what makes us want to pick up a camera and shoot. Frankly, I have over 100,000 images and picking just 10 was like asking me to pick a favourite child. I did, however, narrow the field down, and am working on putting together a slideshow. I'll share that as soon as it is completed, though I wouldn't hold my breath for that being anytime before the end of July. If YOU have yours ready, I would love to see what you've put together.

The travelling suitcases will be travelling soon. Anyone else wanting in on the train, just let me know and we'll put you on the list!

Since it's been such a busy hectic time for everyone, I came up with a ~wee~ exercise that's fun, too. One of the most popular things in the photography market these days are diptychs, triptychs, and storyboards. In many ways, it's the equivalent of digital scrapbooking. What I'd like you to photograph this week is a set of 2 or 3 images that demonstrate the passage of a very brief period of time. And by little, I mean little - a dandelion being blown off, a child going down a slide, someone jogging down the street, a sneeze, first steps, a bird flying by, the second hand on a clock moving, etc. When you're done, post them to your blog to share! Happy shooting!

Grab a helmet and hang on!

The DLS CRASH COURSE!!! is now officially scheduled for July 13th, 2008, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This workshop will be limited to a maximum of 10 participants, and location will be announced once I know how many seats are required.

Registrations are being accepted now, and payment is required to hold your spot. email h dot walls at shaw dot ca for complete details. See you at the Crash Course!!!

New DLS Discussion Series

Dirty Little Secrets: Talking in Loud Whispers

Participants in the DLS Workshops have said, “So, what happens after the Workshops?” For as much technical information as we have shared in the Workshops, the debates, digressions, and discussions that made EVERY SINGLE WORKSHOP run over are what really cemented not only the concepts covered, but our camaraderie. And so we see now the evolution of the DLS alumni doing field trips into a monthly meeting where we will get together with cameras in hand to do some Talking in Loud Whispers. These gatherings and outings will be open to everyone, and locations will vary depending on group size and the topic. Occasionally we’ll bring in guest speakers with areas of expertise outside our own or arrange to visit places we might not otherwise be able to go, or just get together with our families for a picnic and some picture takin’ and continue to inspire and motivate each other to keep shooting with passion, creativity, and integrity. Alumni are encouraged to suggest and/or host discussion groups. Hosting fees and/or actual costs will apply to most sessions.

Watch soon for dates of these upcoming sessions of Talking in Loud Whispers:

Dirty Little Secrets: Talking in Loud Whispers about Setting up a Home Studio
Dirty Little Secrets: Talking in Loud Whispers about Making the Connection
Dirty Little Secrets: Talking in Loud Whispers about Consistency

More info is available on the DLS Webpage

Announcements on the DLS web page!!!

Please go to the web page to see an exciting new Workshop addition called CRASH COURSE!!! The date is posted as July 13th but this will likely be moved to August 10th, 2008. If you are interested in participating in this workshop, please email h dot walls at shaw dot ca with your preferred date.

Complete details will be posted soon!

housekeeping

#1) This weekend's workshops are postponed until June 22, 2008, location TBA.

#2) The final project on the 15th has been postponed until we have a chance to figure out what that's going to be...

#3) Kathleen Swanson of Heart & Soul Photography has agreed to give us a tour of her home studio.  Date and cost will be announced once we have a few dates chosen.

#4) The 80's glam shoot needs to be scheduled.  I'm thinking mid-July would work?

#5) The Travelling Suitcase needs to be picked up - who wants to go first?

challenge project: the traveling suitcases

Here's the challenge. I have two vintage suitcases I picked up off freecycle. The woman I got them from says they were her mother's and her mother-in-law's, circa late 40s, early 50s. When I told her I was going to use them as photography props, her face lit right up. She seemed genuinely tickled when I told her I'd email her the first pictures I took with them.  

I'd like anyone who is interested to borrow the suitcases, and use them as props in a photo session. You can dedicate a session to using them and make a still life, put your kids in them, use them as decoration in a 'scene' - whatever... When we've passed it around and we have a good body of pictures together I'd love to put together an album or scrapbook of 4x6 prints to give her. Who's in?

I can't stand my client...

Anonymous wants to know how to remove yourself from a client who you don't jive with for some reason or other - the children are orangutans, the husband is a pervert, the wife is too demanding, they live too far for you to travel... Whatever the case may be, it's extremely important to tactfully remove yourself from clients you genuinely don't enjoy working with. Here's why:



#1) the quality of the pictures will suffer. Because most of us shoot with our hearts, if we aren't comehow connected with our subject, even if the picture is technically passable, it will lack that certain *something* that is usually the cause of people deviating from studios to seek a professional or 'boutique' photographer. If the pictures are always less than stellar you won't even want to use them for your portfolio.



#2) you don't want to get into the habit of saying yes to projects you'd rather say no to because eventually it will take a toll on your enjoyment of taking (and processing) any and all pictures. One unpleasant hour-long session can turn into a nightmare of stangnant creativity, stalled processing, and bouts of general frustration and unhappiness. Whatever you are charging for that session I guarantee it isn't worth the lost productivity that can result.



#3) setting precedent can be a bad thing - if you say yes to someone you genuinely don't enjoy a good photographic relationship with, they become loyal to you and it becomes more and more difficult to extricate yourself from the situation. Whether the client is genuinely a nice person who you just don't click with, or a genuinely horrible client you dislike but tolerate because ~insert personal reason here~ it's best to sever the ties before they bind.



You will have to decide what the most tactful approach is for that particular client. You can nicely explain to them that you just don't feel a connection and refer them to other photographers who might better connect. You can be very direct and tell them you don't like the husband looking at your boobs, the wife phoning every day to see if the pictures are done, or the kids destroying your home and personal property. OR. You can choose a passive route and always be unavailable due to other commitments. You can be completely passive and not even answer emails or phonecalls. Hopefully they will get the hint. If not, you will have to just let them know you aren't taking them on as clients any longer.

an exemplary photodiary

Self-pedicure.

patience is a virtue...

We've spent the last few days trying to get into a new groove with Wil and as such I have fallen behind in processing client albums and working on the North Country Fair Programme. You'd never think of the things that become challenging for a left-handed boy who has busted his left arm. So far, we've purchased slip-on shoes, a detachable shower head, a body pillow, and a bulk bottle of Motrin. Dr. appointments abound, mealtimes are an adventure (watching a 13-year old boy gnaw at steak-on-a-fork because he doesn't want you to cut up his food is gross...) and of course the never-ending stream of well-wishing phonecalls and visits. Life interrupted, and so I am asking patience of those who are waiting for albums and other updates. Deadlines and delivery times will be pushed back and I have to admit that in certain circumstances, not only am I not WONDERWOMAN, but have no desire to be. This week, I'm just plain old Mom.

This weekend's field trip has been postponed to sometime in June, specific date TBA. The workshop on June 1st will run as scheduled.

In the meantime, if you have questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at h dot walls at shaw dot ca.

Let me draw your attention to...

Amy's event exercise http://amylalexander.blogspot.com/ - what an AWESOME set of storytelling pictures!

Exercises for week of May 5th, 2008

Alright, folks.  There are TWO parts to this week's exercises - one part is writing, one is taking pictures.  Please do the exercises in the order of writing first, then taking your picture, though I know how very tempting it will be to do it in the reverse...

Task #1. I want you to think really really hard about why you want to take pictures.  I want you to write down in point form on a piece of paper all the reasons photography appeals to you.  You aren't being judged or marked on this, and you don't even have to share your list if you don't want.  Dream big, be brutally honest with yourself about what you consider the benefits of taking pictures are; whatever it is, write it down.  Do you plan to make an income from it and have it as your new career?  Do you plan to enter contests so that you are internationally recognized?  Are you wanting to be a boutique photographer or do you think you see yourself as more the studio type? If you become wildly successful as a photographer, what will that look like for you - a studio, professional designations, and $berzillion gigabuck workshops?  Are you planning to photograph people or things?  Do you fantasize about a small home-based business with just enough income to stabilize your income or offset your mortgage or maybe even just a humble hobby that pays for itself? You would be wise to explore the photography of others already established in the industry - who inspires you?  What is it about those pictures that you admire?  Are they technically perfect?  Are they effective at drawing an emotional response?  Are they breathtaking or mind-boggling?  Are they seriously fun?  Funny?  After all is said and done, you should be able to answer this question for yourself: WHY do you want to take pictures?

Task #2.  Now that you are beginning to understand WHY you personally want to take pictures, I want you to spend some time thinking of a few signature shots for yourself - something that you think epitomizes or defines why you will get out of bed and pick up your camera day after day.  It  might be something as simple as your child's smile or runny egg yolks; it might be something as complex as setting up an impromptu studio session and snapping portraits of your dog wearing a pair of sunglasses, a bonnet and apron, and pretending to bake a cake...  Whatever the picture is, I want you to be able to look at it and say, "THIS is the kind of pictures I want to create."  Are they fun and silly?  Are they serious?  Are they beautiful and artsy?  Are they simple and pleasant?  Are they eery and disturbing?  You should have five NEW pictures in your 'style' portfolio.  Then, you need to pick FIVE photos you've taken in the past to include.  I'd like you all to post your ten photos someplace where we can see them, and ask you questions.  When designing your shots and choosing the images for your portfolio, keep asking yourself, do these reflect, illustrate, or define WHY I take pictures?  If the answer is no, then keep looking.

You have a full TWO WEEKS for this exercise before I start harassing you about it...

In the meantime, I'll be doing my 'event' on Mother's Day... stay tuned!

TTD field trip scheduled

TTD is on for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Mill Creek Ravine. Not entirely kid friendly but such a sweet spot for pictures! Meet at the Mill Creek Pool parking lot at 2:30 p.m. Also, the model is willing to work for free, but I'd really like to give her something, so if you guys would be willing to pitch in $2 or $5 or $10 for her time and her splendid dress that'd be fantastic!

Please RSVP.

can you recommend a camera?

Anonymous wanted to know if I would recommend the D80 or the XTI.

I get asked the "What camera should I buy?" question a lot, and I'm not a technical expert and frankly think there is such a thing as too much of a good thing (google 'camera reviews' and you'll be immediately overwhelmed). You can buy your camera based on reviews, statistics, and performance. You can base your purchase on how much you like the advertising campaign or warranty of the manufacturer. You can base your camera on what it costs or what your friends tell you to do. You can pick a brand based on what camera people you admire shoot with. You can cram your brain with more data than you'll ever need and the second a newer model comes out will have your confidence in that one shattered. If you're desperate to look up the stats I advice www.dpreview.com. As you get into the dSLR world you'll quickly learn that the manufacturers are highly competitive and therefore all have very similar features - dpreview is very helpful when you are torn between two models and just need that one selling feature to push one above the other, like the width of the LCD preview screen or the colour of the writing on the neckstrap... ignore the catty consumer reviews and the companies blowing their own horns and head straight for the technical comparisons - much more impartial and therefore useful.

With any dSLR camera, you will likely replace the body before the lenses. So when you buy your first dSLR and start buying lenses, it's a pretty safe bet that you are marrying that company for a noteworthy amount of time. With this in mind, it's important not what you spend or how many megapixles you have, but how well the camera suits you. Ultimately, it's NOT about the camera - a talented and diligent shooter can shoot with any camera and get stellar results. So, completely unscientific, here's the simple 2-step method I HIGHLY suggest when shopping for a camera:

Step 1) Set your price. How much can you afford to spend? This is going to limit your choices right off the bat, so find the models comfortably within your price range. If you have a limited budget, I recommend going with a lower model of body and invest in a lens you'll love. If the sky is the limit then move on to step two.

Step 2) Manhandle every camera in your price range, even the ones you don't think interest you, and try on a few lenses while you're at it. Do your fingers intuitively know where the buttons and knobs and wheels are? Do you love the way things look through the lens? Is the shape of the camera body right for your hand? Does the weight of it feel too light or too heavy? Does it make you feel 'cool' holding it in your hands? Do you BELIEVE in the camera? If it feels nice, ask a million questions. Go home and read up on the one you think you're in love with. Then go back to the store and manhandle all of them again just to be sure. Whichever one feels like it just belongs to you, THAT is the camera you should take home.

If you are asking for my personal opinion between models, I am a Pentax girl at heart, but would gladly shoot with a Nikon. (I mean come on, there's a song that mentions Nikon... that's as good a reason as any, in my books, to go with a Nikon...)

PS - check out deals on eBay!!!!

Bill on the subject of Watermarking.

(Paraphrased)

"Isn't it kind of like locking up your bike?  Sure, you can leave it unlocked, but by putting a lock on it you make people have to make at least a bit of effort if they're going to steal it..."

exercise for week of April 21, 2008

I think you guys will have fun with this week's exercise - hopefully it'll cheer you up a bit in this abysmal spring blizzard we're being subjected to.  For those of you participating from warmer climes, zippit.

Keeping with the theme of weddings and events, and inspired by last week's story-telling pictures of life on the farm by Christine and the question from Rebecca about her Grandma's visit, this week your challenge is to plan and create an event album.  The purpose of this exercise is to get you into the habit of thinking on your feet, tapping into your ability to intuitively be prepared to catch those splendid candid moments that occur inside the confines of an otherwise well-planned event, whether it's a wedding, a surprise party, or just a trip to the store which anyone with children will attest can, in and of itself, be an event... so that at the end of it, you have a series of (15) FIFTEEN or more pictures that tells a story more or less from beginning to end.

So here's the method.  "Plan" an event and do a series of before-during-and-after pictures.  Some ideas for kids would be finger painting, playing dress-up, or helping with the laundry.  Some ideas for a grown-up would be baking and decorating a cake or cookies or making something over (a room, a friend, your messy closet) or a coffee date with friends.  If you happen to have something coming up that someone else has already planned (baby shower, birthday party, whatever) you can muscle in on that, too.

The before pictures should illustrate preparation or anticipation - setting things up, people arriving, things being set in place, etc.  The main event should include landmark moments as well as show progress towards and through to the 'climax' of the event.  The after pictures should showcase the highlight, and show that the event has somehow finished - people waving goodbye, the sun setting, the dishes sitting in the sink - whatever point you choose as the final moment.

Have fun!  I'll try and get mine up in the next day or two - still cooking up an idea...  lol

snowstorm

I am staying home.  You should too.  Field trip CANCELLED!!!

inspiration

I often tell people the best way to stay inspired and to push yourself creatively is to keep exploring the work of other photographers. I have once more fallen in love with the journey all over again. Enjoy!

do I say something?

PQRS wants to know:

I have a query regarding a person I know who is starting a photography business. Wanting to be supportive I went over and took a look and to be honest the pictures were pretty mediocre looked like lot's of point and shoot shots and lighting was off in quite a few of them. I think he might benefit from a photography course but I didn't know if I should offer any constructive criticism on shots or not because I don't want to offend him. By no means am I am expert. So my question is would you be honest in this situation or just ignore it.

Excellent question.

Easy answer... Here's the beauty of the photography world: everyone starts somewhere and they only get better with experience, whether that's guided experience with formal instruction or mentorship, or the school of self-directed education and hard knocks. For every flashy gem of a photographer who hits the ground running I believe there are a dozen or more diamonds in the rough who simply need a little pressure and polishing to outshine the rest, and not a one of us can ever be sure which is which. Here's the harsh reality of the photography world: if you lack or fail to develop style and/or ability, you will perish.

Hard answer... I've had a piano in my house since I was 6 years old. Owning a camera doesn't make you any more a photographer than opening a piano has made me a concert pianist. After over 20 years of sharing my home with an upright, I can play the opening bars of "chopsticks" and a couple of pieces I learned by thumping them out by ear after my sister played them. Even having a natural (or supernatural) aptitude for something doesn't exempt any person from needing to know how to operate, exploit, and master their equipment, whether that's the voice of a soprano, the tools of a woodworker, or the camera of a photographer. In the day and age of marketing companies (hired by camera manufacturers who want to sell cameras) telling the general public that with the right camera (their camera) anyone can shoot like a pro, we are witnessing an unprecedented number of unskilled but highly motivated folks saturating the market with mediocre and sometimes downright awful photography, many of them with the attitude that it's an easy job, or at least an easy way to make some money on the side. Those of us in the industry know that although it is a very fulfilling job, it is a very demanding job that is anything but easy, or easy money, especially in the beginning. Even after many years in the business, several of my photographer friends have second jobs to supplement their photography income.

A person who has never heard feedback from outside their own sphere of well-meaning and supportive family and friends are usually completely unaware of how they may or may not stack up in the prevailing market. Most family and friends are too nice to ever say, well, these pictures are OK but I wouldn't actually pay you for them... Whenever I encounter a situation where I am asked for an honest opinion, I try and give one without pulling a Simon Cowell. If I am not asked, I have to kind of weigh whether or not I think it's worth saying anything. Like when someone asks if their new banana yellow spandex short-shorts make them look stupid, you need to ask yourself if it's more important to protect a friend from being hurt by your honest input, or to watch a friend probably embarrass him or herself.

In the case of this individual (to protect innocence I have declined to publish the web address as well as the name of the person who asked) I would say it's necessary to say something, as the prices he has set are completely off the grid based on the skill, quality, and creativity the work demonstrates. I see enjoyment but not passion, interest but not dedication, functionality but not creativity. This DOES NOT pre-empt anyone from getting better or being successful... but certainly some time should be spent building a proper portfolio. Generally speaking, the pictures aren't very indicative of much other than camera ownership. Specifically, the limited wedding portfolio includes pictures snuck from the sidelines where the couple is quite obviously looking at the actual photographer and not him. These images not only have nothing particularly strong or noteworthy about them in terms of style or ability - weak or non-existent composition, poor exposure, etc. - but illustrate someone else's posing of the subjects, which may or may not be better or worse than your friend.

Often stylistic differences are confused with good or bad photography. It's entirely possible to dislike someone's style even if the photography is fantastic. It is also possible to like someone's style even if the pictures themselves are horrible. There is no accounting for taste, so to be completely fair, let's assume for a minute that the style of pictures this person is taking is actually what he is going for, his 'schtick' - maybe he's trying to go for a kind of cheesy "80s 'home movie' trailer park peeping tom on the sidelines chic", which, if he knows what he is doing, develops an expert level of creating that sort of 'schtick' with consistency, markets himself to the right demographic, and manages to build up a following, could make him a very successful (if not notorious) man. Without being facetious, with photographers battling one another to be the slickest funkiest shooter and baddest sexiest photoshopper, something really edgy and funky like that actually has a pretty good chance of taking off if 'sold' the right way.

Now let's assume it's a case of weak skills, in which case he will most certainly fail to thrive as the market is far too competitive where he has set his price. Even if he were to cut his fees in half, the competition is pretty stiff. It wouldn't take an expert to see that despite the desire he has expressed, there is a long way to go before he can charge that kind of price for, say, a wedding. Frankly I would worry that if he doesn't hear some honest and gentle constructive criticism from someone who does care, he may hear something from someone who doesn't. I don't know which would be worse: false encouragement (on top of unhappy clients and the potential embarrassment, this may lead to huge monetary investments or incurring debt to acquire equipment that never pays for itself) or cruel comments that could not only destroy his enjoyment of taking pictures (that would be the ultimate shame) but irreversibly damage a person's self esteem, especially if the person is of a particularly sensitive or delicate nature.

If you want to avoid hurting his feelings being completely direct, you can always ask him to come out shooting with you so he can "give you some pointers" or share some insider secrets. Once there, ask questions that you already know the answers to in the hopes he will perhaps a) demonstrate that he actually does know what he is doing and just needs the chance to build a portfolio or b) recognize how little he knows and how much room there is for improvement. (For example, ask him how he would meter a light subject on a dark background to get the best possible overall exposure.) You could also suggest he attend a class or workshop WITH you, as moral support FOR you. (Find an inexpensive course at a local community league or whatever and pretend you're painfully shy and just couldn't bear to go without someone by your side.) The funny thing about that is people who honestly think they already know everything they need won't be the least bit interested in finding out how much they don't know because they are genuinely intimidated by the idea of having their bubble burst, and the people who know they don't know much are too embarrassed to expose themselves.

Bottom line is, if you care about the person and think they are making a fool of themselves, you should say something. If the friend is not anyone particularly important to you, you may prefer to let the photography industry take care of its own and on his own steam become hugely successful or shown the proverbial door. Ultimately, only you know the answer to that, and only you will have to answer to whatever course of action you choose.

to give you an idea of what you are up against...

UPDATED!!!!

Before you read the rant below, you need to know that not only did the owner of the website clarify that she was kind of unclear how copyright law worked, but was also grateful for the sound advice. I've invited her over to join ticdesign... maybe she knows some design tricks, or for those of you who aren't up to designing fancy custom cards but want to offer it as a service, maybe you can form a partnership with her - her cards are actually pretty durn cute!

So the morality police showed up today when I stumbled upon an advertisement on Facebook for custom-made photo cards. ~rant on~

The 'faq' page irked me something fierce, and the owner tried to pass the buck on recognition of international copyright laws. I imagine she figures she might lose some business by not working with professinal photos, and that by saying in a wishy washy way she asks for a copyright release but will work with them anyways figures she is saving her own butt from prosecution.

It says: I will complete your order before receiving this document, however, I cannot be held liable if I do not receive it, or if the Photographer is unwilling to provide it.

It sounds like: I don't actually care if you provide copyright or not - I will take your money and deliver your order like anyone else's and if I find out later I wasn't actually allowed to use the picture I'll just say it was your fault.

I am waiting to see if hear back from this email (condensed version here):

"Hi, L.

I followed your ad link on Facebook. I'm a photographer and though I initially stopped by for a completely different reason, I am now looking for some clarification in regards to the use of professional photos on your FAQ page where it reads: I will complete your order before receiving this document, however, I cannot be held liable if I do not receive it, or if the Photographer is unwilling to provide it.

For your own protection, regardless of whether your client is providing their own photo for you to use or one that someone else took, I would strongly advise you to revisit your policy, and start providing your clients with a copyright or license release form that they or their photographer must complete BEFORE you even commence working that reads something like, "I, (insert name), own the copyright to the image identified as (insert file name or names and description) and do hereby give permission to (your name) to use this/these images in the design of a custom card specifically for the purpose of (insert reason.) The following limitations will apply: (this is a place where photographers like me may limit the number of copies or prints you may make, or prohibit you from using the image as a display item without proper photo cred.) In signing this document, I hold harmless (the name of your company) from any and all legal proceedings that may arise from the use of this picture.

This should help prevent people from providing illegal images for you to use and putting you at risk, too. In the meantime, good luck with your design company - very cute cards!

Regards,

~H."

As much as I wanted to tear a strip off of her I figured it was better to be diplomatic and helpful. Unfortunately this kind of blase attitude towards copyright runs rampant. Turning a blind eye isn't the same thing as refusing to work when a copyright release or license has not been provided, and rest assured, if she were to use one of the images my client provided in a design without seeking a proper release I would, in a heartbeat, sue her as well as my own client. Not only does it show a lack of professionalism, but it's kinda disrespectful... Wonder how she would feel if someone used one of her designs and used it without asking...

~rant off~

Trash the Dress!!!!

Alright peoples - it looks like it is going to be a high of only zip zilch zero with 'snow showers' on Sunday April 20th, which is WAY too cold for a TTD session outdoors, and they aren't much fun indoors... so0000 I'm putting it on a rain check for April 26th when the weather is (hopefully) more cooperative, and inviting you all to bring your kids and meet me instead from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the John Walter Museum where they're teaching how to hook rugs from old clothes!  (Admission is FREE!)

lighting guru

I've often consulted with the archives of the Strobist when in need of guidance on something I really have very little knowledge of, being a natural/available light photographer. I was cruising over there today looking for something I need for an upcoming shoot and found this great little video series. Here's the first one - I encourage you to watch LOTS of his little videos - he's very knowledgeable about controlled lighting and he's got a sense of humour to boot (always a selling point in the world of photorgaphy where far too many take themselves far too seriously... lol)

a special family session

Attention! Attention!

I think Lisa deserves a HUGE round of applause for being the first one to post her 'family portrait exercises' on her blog. Not only are the well done, but they are humourous and have a great running dialogue. I think Lisa had been holding out on us a bit - I am so glad she's finally decided to strut her stuff - WOW is all I have to say!

planning an album

Although we briefly touched on the pre-planning part of creating a special album, I got a question from Rebecca regarding this so I thought I'd expand a bit.

Whenever you are covering an event, regardless of whether it's a birth, birthday, wedding, special get together, anniversary, whatever, there are certain things that can make the album tell more of a story than just the 'money shots.' Of course, it's important to get the 'money shots' and being aware of when they are going to come is extremely crucial - missing the winner cross the finish line or the birthday girl blowing out the candles on her cake would be just plain silly. But with any event there is a substantial amount of planning that went into it as well as all the random things that occur in the course of the day that really differentiate one event from another. The traditional idea of he wedding photographer being hired only to get the 'money shots' has become passe, and people are more and more interested in seeing something that tells a story.

This practice of capturing a story is commonly called 'photojournalism' and was once upon a time primarily relegated to National Geographic photographers heading to a third-world country with the task of painting the whole picture to us; the culture, people, traditions, landscape, weather, costumes all formed an important part of conveying the social, economic, and political nature of their location. Modern photographers have adopted the spirit of photojournalism, present company included. In fact, aside of a few headshots and special projects, pretty much every session I do could be classified as a form of photojournalism.

Planning the album, whether simple or complex, always begins with identifying the money shots. For example, when doing a family session, I always keep in the back of my mind that the objective is to get one or two 'framers' of each person and/or grouping. (Not unlike this week's assignment.) With input from the subject, we choose a location and setting that is suitable, which might mean we're baking cookies or visiting the zoo or just showing off our new duds. While the 'event' happens, although I keep in the back of my mind that at some point I will have to intrude on the proceedings to get people seated in relative proximity of one another, I kind of just let the hour unfold, and watch for details - little things that happen or become apparent within the event - that make it unique to that particular family.

Be aware, be alert. Did Mom buy special shoes just for the occasion? Is there a favourite blanket nearby? Did one of the kids get distracted by the cat? Did Dad put his glasses on the counter so he could wrestle with the children? Simply put, these are the things that turn a portrait session into an 'event' requiring a photojournalistic approach, things you don't necessarily look for, but things that make themselves apparent to you. The only dirty little secret you need to know in order to succeed at photojournalism is stay in the moment, to be aware, be alert. Please remember: This DOES NOT speak to the style or quality of the pictures, only the ability to make them tell a story - all the icky boring technical stuff we've been learning is what will make the pictures stand alone instead of only having context or value as part of the bigger collection. (One of my favourite recent pictures that doesn't stand alone, though, was actually a shot taken during Jen's labour on April 2nd of a prenatal card showing an appointment scheduled for a couple of days later... despite the fact that outside the birth album it has no context, it nevertheless makes me giggle every time I see it lol)

Rebecca has bought her Grandmother, with whom she shares a very special relationship, tickets to a concert of a country and western singer that Grandma loves. Everyone is very excited about this event, and she has decided she really wants to put together an album for Grandma afterwards. If I were covering this 'event' I would start by taking pictures of the tickets. If Grandma doesn't know about the tickets, getting a picture of her reaction to the tickets definitely needed. If Grandma is getting picked up at the airport, I would take pictures of the drive to the airport, the terminals with the flight info, Grandma's face as she walked into the luggage area. If everyone is getting dressed up special, I would snap a few shots of that process, and I would make a point of getting a group picture done with all of us in our finery heading out the door. There would be pictures of the venue, maybe a picture of Grandma handing the ticket to the vendor, and probably some pictures inside of Grandma waiting with anticipation. The empty stage, Grandma's face when the lights came up, and whatever pictures of the concert I could manage to get. (This is of course providing cameras are allowed.) If Grandma had a favourite song (I would have asked before we left for the venue so I knew which one it was) I would make a point of taking extra pictures of both her reaction and the performer singing during that particular song. When the concert was over, I would try and get a picture of Grandma clapping, then a few pictures of leaving - walking out the double doors, getting back in the car - and hopefully there will be a huge, grateful grin on her face. And when we got home, I'd try and take a picture of satisfied happy Grandma relaxing with her feet up on the ottoman before bed, or maybe a moonlit picture of her slippers on the floor beside the bed where she's snoring happily. The. End.

This approach applies to all events. Especially with weddings, any details that the bride and groom had to look after, you sould probably snap - the centre pieces, the cake, the favours, the place settings, the colour scheme, the buffet... you name it. When you plan something like a wedding or even just a kids' birthday party, you plan right down to the cutlery and candles, and there's only one day it's ever going to be on display - may as well have a picture to remember it by.

Rebecca also had some technical questions about shooting in low light with a weak or no flash, to which the answer is simple: increase your film speed to 1600 or 3200, shoot with a wide aperture, and hold your breath while you shoot. Most of the pictures will have weird colour casts from the concert lights - you can decide if you'd prefer to convert your images to B&W or leave them with the funky colours. There will be grain (noise) - get over it lol. Unless you're in the first several rows, using a flash is useless, so save the room in your bag.

exercises for Week of April 7th, 2008

Alright, everyone - here goes this week's exercises!

Everyone needs to collect 5 'subjects.'  You can use anything you like - people, teddybears, creepy dolls, Barbies - whatever you happen to get your hands on - and your project is to create a 'family album' that includes the following pictures:

2 unique group photos of the entire 'family.'

2 unique individual portraits of 'individual.'

2 unique portraits of the 'children.'

2 unique portraits of the 'parents.'

Pay special attention to not only how your subjects are put together, but your negative space (gaps in your groupings as well as the space around.)  Remember to leave enough negative space for cropping if required!  Again, I encourage everyone to post their work on their blog or in their online photo albums to share with each other - I think it'll be fun to see what everyone comes up with! (There should be a total of about 14 pictures in your 'collection' when you're all done shooting...)

Photoshop Demonstration Scheduled!

I am pleased to announce that the Photoshop Demonstration will be held immediately following the Breaking All the Rules Workshop on June 1st, 2008 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.  If anyone is interested in bringing their own computer to work on, please let me know when you register as I will have to book a venue suitable for space and electrical requirements. The cost will be $40.

The topics we will cover include:

Basic skin smoothing - minimizing and removing blemishes and bruises

Colour corrections - eliminating colour cast and/or adjusting inaccurate white balance from tungsten or fluorescent lighting

B&W conversions

Dodging, burning, and vignetting

Levels and curves to correct or enhance lighting and contrast

Spot colouring - layers method and lasso method

Creation of a watermark brush

Cropping and resizing images for print and web

I have to remind everyone that this will be primarily a demonstration, and in order to ensure we get through all the material I will be providing the same images for everyone to work on.  Time for questions will be limited during the demonstration, but you are of course always welcome to ask questions afterwards!

Please email h dot walls at shaw dot ca to register - spaces will be limited!

sweet venue!!!!

Alright, folks - it's official!

~drumroll please~

We will be holding this weekend's workshop in the Ukrainian Bookstore at Fort Edmonton Park! Woot woot!

When you arrive at the park, follow the road that goes off to the right of the main parking lot and stop at the booth. They will give you instructions on where to park. Please leave yourself enough time to find your way to the Bookstore!

Here is a map. See you all there!

Venue for this Sunday's workshop

I am *just* waiting on the call from the venue.  It has been a harrowing week trying to track down a space that is a) large enough and b) suitable for the subject!  ACK!  I will be sending out the confirmation email the second I know...  hang tight, folks!

some stuff... and some other stuff...

Hello, all! I have an announcement, a change, and an invitation to extend to you all. Here goes:

I am pleased to announce that I will indeed be adding the photoshop demonstration. I'll let you know the date in a few days when I confirm a couple of outstanding items on my schedule when and where it will be held.

I had originally planned on doing a Spring Fling Photobooth for April's field trip. However, due to the sudden increase in the number of participants in the Portraiture and Wedding workshops on the 6th, I have changed it to be a TRASH THE DRESS session. You'll all get to try your hand at doing some glam and wedding portraiture on a real live model - how fun is THAT? This is going to be a WAY fun field trip!!! I will have to wait until closer to the date to announce the location. So - if anyone knows of someone wanting a FREE trash the dress session, send them my way. If not, I'll be hunting for an unwitting victim at will...

I am even REALLY pleased to announce that ticdesign has been offered the honour of doing the official Team Photography for this year's Canadian Cancer Society Relay for Life. I am extending an open invitation to anyone wanting some field experience doing event coverage and willing to donate a couple of hours on the evening of May 24th, 2008 to come out and join us at Foote Field; please drop me a line to h dot walls at shaw dot ca and I will fill you in on the details.

I am still investigating how/when/where to have a studio lighting field trip. When I know, you'll know... and if it just isn't meant to happen, then so be it...

In the meantime, whatchoo all been up to? How was your Easter?

Photoshop demonstration?

So I've been asked Photoshop questions about a bazillion times...  but before making anything official I'd like a show of hands if anyone would be interested in a Photoshop demonstration.  I can't do a full-out workshop as I don't have enough computers for everyone to do hands-on, but I do have a desktop and a laptop people could take a swing on, and anyone wanting to bring their own computer or laptop would of course be more than welcome - we'd figure out how to get everyone plugged in...

I would walk you through the basics of:

Adjusting curves, levels, contrast, and colour saturation

B&W colour conversions

Spot colouring
Basic skin corrections

Proper resizing for print and web

Using layers

Making and applying a signature (watermark) brush

The demonstration would run about 2 hours, and the cost would be $40.  If you are interested, please let me know ASAP and I will see about slotting it in somewhere.

FIELD TRIP RAIN CHECK

Due to the long weekend and family commitments, several people are unable to participate in this weeks' field trip.  

Everyone have a fantastic Easter, enjoy the first days of spring with your family, and we will reschedule for a later date!!!

Best regards,

~H.

exercises for the week of March 16 - 22, 2008

available light

task 1: Set up a still life somewhere you are able to photograph it from many sides - a dining room table with a cahndelier overhead or a coffee table near lamps would be perfect. Once it is too dark to use natural light, turn on your house lights and take sets of 3 pictures, from at least 3 different perspectives, for a total of 9 images. The first photo in each set should expose for detail in the shadows, the second for detail in the whites, and the third for best overall lighting. I encourage you to post the entire set to an album or your blog, but I need you to choose ONE favourite and email it to me.

task 2: again, using the available light in your home once it is too dark to use natural light, take a portrait. It does not have to be exposed in any particular way, and can be as creative as you like.

tips:
~Check your white balance and set it to tungsten or fluorescent if you are concerned about the yellow or green tinge.
~You will probably want to set your ISO to 400 or 800 if you do not have a tripod to use.
~If you use a tripod and do not have a cable release, remember to use the 2-second delay so you don't get camera shake.

to watermark, or not to watermark...

MamaBear asks:  

I notice you have a watermark on all your pictures. Should a person who is learning photography and posting pics be concerened about adding a mark to their photos too? Even if they are not "professional"?

Up until January of this year, I never bothered watermarking my pictures.  However, after discovering a number of people posting pictures a) without giving photocred or b) TAKING photocred, and one incident involving an image that was used for promoting some music which I have no desire to be associated with, I decided I ought to take some precautions, namely, putting a watermark on and changing the end-user licensing.

Theft of images runs rampant on the internet, and it isn't special to the pros.  Even images that have been posted in unlisted personal albums are subject to being swiped without your knowledge.  Using precautions like limited size and resolution and barring download privileges aren't always enough to protect your work.  I know of one individual who had problems because someone had scooped an image off his personal Flickr account using a screen capture and published it!  Gall!  lol

I now advise people to use due caution when posting their pictures.  Here are some suggestions:

#1) watermarking.  I personally don't really like having my watermark splashed all over my images if it looks sloppy.  I take pains to make sure the size and placement of the watermarks don't interfere with the viewer's ability to enjoy the picture in its entirety; I am experimenting with colours right now and really enjoying the subtlety.  Placement of he watermark should ideally be someplace where it is difficult to digitally remove it, like over a complex pattern, wrinkles in the shirt, etc. or in simple pictures, partially obscuring an important aspect of the picture.  

#2) I'm a sucker for aesthetics and more often than not end up putting the watermark someplace off to the side so it doesn't overtake the impact of the image.  Because I put them in wide open spaces, my watermarks are often what you could say are 'easily removable' and so the second precaution I take is ensuring that the images I permit online either by myself or by clients are so small that digital removal of the watermark would look obvious.  I resize all my web images to 7" long edge with a resolution of 72dpi.  The quality is high enough for most people to 'get the idea' of the picture, but attempting to digitally alter them would very likely result in conspicuous blotches.  Again, not a 100% solution or guarantee against theft, but a reasonable precaution to take.

#3) I advertise well that there are legal repercussions for not abiding by the terms set out in the license.  Not only are copyright notices slathered all over the place, I have made a point of sealing CDs with a sticker that, by the act of breaking the seal, determines that the end user has agreed to the terms and conditions set out on the sticker as well as on the website.  By including watermarked images that people are allowed to post online, not only have I protected myself to some degree, but I have also given people the freedom they need to NOT get their butts sued by me when they want to email Auntie Jean and Uncle Henry in Australia or share their cute kid pics on the Facebook account or in one of the million and a half parenting forums out there.  (And yes, I did sue once, so don't think I won't do I again... lol)  The added bonus is that if someone sees my work they can google me and ask for my services - free advertising is good lol

So - amateur or professional, watermarking is not a bad habit to get into.  If anyone would like a digital watermark and to know how to use it, send me a comment and I'll see if I can find a good tutorial on how to create one in Photoshop.  I could probably be convinced for cheap to design and email you one if you asked nicely (I'll consider what to charge if anyone is actually interested.)  The watermarking brushes will work in PS and PS elements.  (Anyone lacking the cash to buy Photoshop should seriously consider purchasing PS Elements - for under 100 bucks it has all the bells and whistles you need to do a TONNE of edits, plus a whole bunch of really cool digital templates suitable for making prints of cards and scrapbook pages, and I've been assured that if you're a bit of a hack, you can even use most of the actions and brushes available for free or purchase off the internet.  But I digress...)

Now.  For those people who do not have PS or PS elements, rest assured - there is one saving grace, and that's something called 'meta data.'  Embedded in each and every single picture you take is meta data, which includes data unique and specific to your camera, and your camera alone.  I believe there are programs where you can customize your meta data to include extras, but there are certain basic bits of info that are specific to your pictures and your pictures alone that can never be altered, meaning, at the end of the day no matter who tries to take your picture, so long as you can prove that the camera YOU own took THOSE pictures by presenting the original image with the original meta data, you will be able to sue the pants of anyone ignorant and talentless enough to try and take credit for your work.

Thanks for the great question, Mamabear!

samples of this week's natural light exercises

You'll remember the spool on the table from our workshop - I thought I'd post them as a reminder of what we were metering for.  If you cannot find a willing or unwilling volunteer for the light face on a dark background part, you can recreate a similar light subject on dark surface using props instead of people.

light object on dark surface, exposed for dark side of object

light object on dark surface, exposed for best overall lighting

light object on dark surface, exposed for light side of object

light on light, exposed for even overall lighting

dark on light, exposed for light side of object

dark on light, exposed for detail on light surface

dark on light, exposed for dark side of object

light face against dark background, exposed for lit side of face

light face against dark background, exposed for side of face in shadow

light face against dark backdrop, exposed for best overall lighting

dark object on dark surface, exposed for dark side of object

dark object on dark surface, exposed for light side of object

dark object on dark surface, exposed for best overall lighting

Easter Sunday

In my stupidity, I scheduled the DLS field trip for Easter Sunday.  I would like to move the field trip to 10:00 a.m. on Saturday the 22nd.  I am still trying to figure out the venue - we need adequate space to set up for artificial lighting.  I will keep you all posted!

Exercises for Week of March 11/2008

These exercises are intended for NATURAL light. Next week we'll do AVAILABLE light.  Fake "controlled" artificial light is after the field trip... 

If you want to challenge yourself on these exercises even more, try using manual focus. You should all know enough about DOF by now to make conscious decisions about what artistic effect you'd like to see, so be as creative and adventurous as you like with this exercise! I strongly suggest shooting in Av or M for these exercises, with an ISO of either 100 or 200.

Good luck!

FOR THOSE PLAYING ALONG AT HOME WHO CAN METER AND CAN SET THEIR CAMERA TO MANUAL BUT CANNOT DO METERING LOCK: Whatcha gotta do is meter in the correct mode as you normally would, and write down the settings on your camera. After you've metered, when you step back to compose the picture, put the camera in M and manually set the aperture, ISO, and shutter speed to whatever the meter said.

Task #1 Light on Light

Take a light coloured object and set it on a light coloured surface - an egg on a tea towel, a feather on a piece of white paper, a white cat on top of a white shirt (because I know everyone has a white cat just laying around...) Take a picture showing the maximum amount of detail possible - textures in fabric, shadows in creases, etc. Use indirect or diffused lighting - ie) near a window but not in the sunbeam. HINT: evaluative (matrix) metering is a good place to start. Remember your ev+/- will allow you to tweak your exposure a bit *and* you can rearrange your objects in relation to the light. The idea is to have a very nice sorta low contrast high key kinda picture.

Task #2 Dark on Light

Find a darker object and set it on a light coloured, textured surface - a red apple on a pale wood table, a black stapler on a piece of crumpled white paper, a black cat on a white shirt (paint the white cat if you need) or if you are or have access to a person with dark skin, ask them to stand or lay in front of a light backdrop - your wall, a hanging piece of fabric, your carpet. If you choose to have your dark-skinned subject lay in the snowbank you better be able to work fast... Take a picture exposed for detail on each the light side and then the dark side of the dark object. Although direct light (in the sunbeam) will work easiest, you may use either direct or indirect lighting; for this assignment please make sure that if you are using indirect light, you set your subject up perpendicular to the light source. Next, take a picture of the surface so you can still see those details. HINT: spot metering will work best, and don't forget to lock your exposure before moving away to compose and shoot your picture!

Task #3 Light on Dark

Find a light-skinned volunteer (willing or unwilling, either will work if you have enough rope and duct tape) and place them in front of a dark backdrop (standing in front of a dark bedsheet or swath of fabric, laying on a dark cushion, couch, or carpet, wearing a dark hood. (If you can't find a volunteer, give the black cat a bath so it's white again and put it on a black shirt...) Have your volunteer stand perpendicular to the light source, which may be direct or indirect lighting. Expose for the shadowed side of the face, then for the light side of the face. Last, take one picture that is as evenly exposed as possible. HINT: You may want to use a combination of spot- and centre-weighted metering. Remember to move close enough to your subject to get an accurate metering as well.

Task #4 Dark on Dark

Find a dark object and place it on a similarly-toned dark textured surface - a black stapler on a black towel, a dried up pomegranite on a piece of dark red fabric - paint the white cat navy blue and put it on a navy blue shirt... Using direct light (remember - stay perpendicular to the light source!) take a picture metering for the light side of the object, and then one for the dark side. Move your object to indirect light and try to get as much detail as possible. HINT: black on black may meter very slow shutter speeds - be prepared to use a tripod or set your camera on a stable surface!

big ass wedding party!

JT asked: Hey everyone I just booked a wedding and there is going to be 20 people including the bride and groom in the wedding party so 9 on each side PLUS the bride and groom, has anyone ever done a wedding party this big? if so any suggestions on picture poses?

J~ Here are my tips on how I would personally handle such a large wedding party.

First, you need to make sure you find a venue with ample space for all those peeps. Outdoor is obviously ideal, but if the weather is icky you'll need to find a big indoor space. If they are bent on strict proper formal pictures, you could check and see about an indoor space like a botanical conservatory or large greenhouse, or even a swanky hotel lobby. I'd personally see if the bridal party would be interested in shooting the pics indoors at a shopping mall if the weather was crap - how fun would THAT be? lol. Line 'em all up on the escalators with the groomsmen going up and the bridesmaids coming down, while the bride and groom stand at the bottom (or top) smootching - whee!!! Get them playing in the glass elevators. Have them all playing video games or sitting at booths in the food court. Make them all hold hands and run down the hallway or pack them all into and around those goofy photo booths. Buy them all cotton candy. lol.

Once you have your venues chosen, you can start planning possible poses. There is, of course, a very standard 'line' where everyone is in a 'line' of some sort along the horizon, maybe doing the conga line, maybe standing very pretty, maybe all wearing sunglasses or holding the corresponding groomsman's tuxedo jacket... (very standard shots) In order to get a line of 20 people along a horizon, you will need a) a wide enough space to fit them (see above - venue advice) and b) to be able to move far enough back, depending on what lens you are using.

You could try shooting them from overhead - if there is a way for you to get up above them, you could have the bridal party surrounding the bride and groom. You could have the people waving or winking, or get all artsy and have them all crouch from the waist with their backs up so it looks like the bride and groom are standing in a bunch of coloured bumps. If you could get to a platform of the correct height and get overhead, you could have the bride and groom do a mosh-pit body fall and surf with that many people... If you have staircases it's easy to arrange people - of course the downside is always having to use a teeny aperture, indoors. Ooooh! I just had a vision of shooting this on a farm - country roads, hayloft, wooden fences, train tracks - sweet! Or how about a theatre? You could have the entire bridal party sitting in the 'audience' while the bride and groom dance on the stage?

Try for only YOU and the BRIDAL PARTY at the formals - with that many people the only way you will ever get them all looking at the camera is to completely eliminate distractions, namely the gawkers and stalkers who bring their cameras and shoot over your shoulder. Family are usually the worst for this. If it's possible to relocate the entire bridal party to a remote location, great. If not, you will need to do some crowd control and let all the gawkers and stalkers know that they are not to take pictures or distract the bridal party. Since the advent of the camera phone it's gotten worse and worse. And since even the bridemaids and groomsmen are guilty of whipping out their cameras or phones and causing a ruckus, it's always a good idea to establish a 'my camera only' rule and inform the wedding party that no one is allowed to bring a camera. Not only does it save you the agony of someone 'beating you to the punch' and posting YOUR great composition before you get a chance, but if you are charging for additional prints, it potentially eliminates your ability to sell that particular print since the bride and groom can get a reasonable facsimile free somewhere else.

Have a master plan - with that many people you will need to be very very organized or you'll be shooting formals for a very very long time. Consulting with the bride and groom and confirming which group shots you need to set up would help greatly, as would attending the rehearsal and giving the bridal party your own instructions for the formals (no outside cameras, everyone looking at you when you ask for it, etc.) if at all possible. On the day, obviously if you get done early then there is time to deviate and play a bit, but choreographing that large of a group is going to be a real challenge, to be certain, so once your list is made it's best to stick with.

You would want to shoot using prime lenses as much as possible - with that many people you'll need the pictures to be as crisp as possible. You will have to be very aware of your lighting, considering the number of people involved. You may want to consider renting or investing in some large reflectors. (Hint: though not what the 'pros' use, and you might look a little silly, those silver-metallic car shades will work just fine in a pinch...)

I will try and find some successful pictures of 'large' weddings and post them. Later.

DLS Exercise: emotional photography

It's very easy to take a picture of someone smiling or laughing that conveys happiness, or snap a pic of someone crying or sullen and convey a feeling of sadness. Below are 4 different emotions that I would like you to try and convey emotionally using still life instead of live people.

Loneliness
Frustration
Serenity
Exhaustion

announcements, announcements!

Well, as some of you may or may not know, we are no longer able to use Drew's studio for the workshops. I am currently shopping for an alternate venue, and will announce shortly where that will be.

I have elimintaed the basic lighting workshop due to insufficient enrollment (you pretty much all have DSLRs) and have merged the basics with the advanced. Start time will be the same, but please allow an additional half an hour. Eliminating the Basic lighting workshop will allow me to accomodate a make-up session for the Technical Critiquing workshop. So please note in your calendars:

March 9, 2008

Basic Lighting: cancelled
Technical Critiquing: 1:00 p.m.
Advanced lighting: 2:30 - 4:30

Thanks everyone! I apologize for being lazy posting exercises. New one is coming at you RIGHT NOW!!!

DLS Muttart Field Trip

My pictures of the field trip!

My bad for being tardy! This week since it's a little warmer out, especially today and tomorrow, I'd like to get everyone outside for a little bit. I would like you to look for and create the following 3 images.

Task #1) Silhouette. Find anything backlit, and photograph it so that the subject is pitch black. Fence, people, buildings - whatever floats your boat. (Hint: anything shot against the snow during daylight will give you a GREAT silhouette - set your camera on Tv mode and increase or decrease the shutter speed until you get the right effect!)

Task #2) Architecture. Pretend you are selling some building or other and photograph it in the most flattering way you can. Your building could be your house, the mall, something downtown, or even your kids' play houses... Pay attention to lines and cropping, and try to include some interesting foreground!

Task #4 if it's warm enough outside) Shoot a landscape near your home. You could shoot the city's skyline, the local park, the mall parking lot - whatever floats your boat!

Task #3 if it's cold outside) Miniature Landscape. Set up a 'landscape' on floor or table. It can be urban-looking with tall buildings made from cracker boxes and wine glasses, or you could try for a snowy scene using a white shirt and twist-tie people. Make contrcution paper cut outs or big up the kids' train-set. Have fun! Just remember to get level with your landscape so you can shoot with the horizon.

Week 3 task - Tanya

Miss Tanya is a keener and got her first mood pictures up today.  I have to share this, because it's an absolutely prime example of what I wanted you guys to accomplish: a picture that conveys emotion.  Well, not only did the picture convey emotion, but it evoked it.  I literally burst out laughing at this picture, very aptly titled: Canine Bliss

You can keep an eye out for Tanya's stuff over at her blog here.

what are the basics?

I've had a few people ask me what the minimum is to start taking pictures. The smart-ass reply is, "...a camera..." The actual answer is, to set up a very basic portrait/wedding photography business, with minimal investment to provide the best possible results in the most number of circumstances, here is what I suggest; please note that because lenses and equipment vary from manufacturere to manufacturer, this guideline is as generic as possible.

~camera body
~31mm or 50mm 1.4 lens
~1 memory card, 2 if you plan to do weddings, capable of holding 500 maximum quality jpegs each
~external hot-shoe compatible flash with swivel and/or pivot capabilities
~a piece of neutrally-coloured fabric (white, light beige, light grey) that is a) wrinkle-free or b) wrinkles nicely (muslin works well and is relatively cheap...) that is about 8ft - 10ft wide by 10ft or more long for draping ugly stuff or tacking up on the wall (tab-style curtains from your local dept store work well, too)

****the extras****

These are things that you can collect over time, adding to your versatility as a photographer.

~zoom lens, 70mm - 200mm range, preferably f2.8 or smaller though f3.5 will work
~wide angle lens
~release, wired or wireless - the magicalest-est tool EVER for getting difficult kids (and parents) to have their picture taken...
~tripod - nice for doing a series of portraits that all need to be similar (like headshots for your kids' soccer team) and for playing with in the dark
~backdrop stand - sew a tube at the top of any kind of fabric you have and voila
~dark or black backdrop for doing those low-key high contrast photos
~strobe kit (you can pick up an inexpensive but effective set of 2 multi-purpose strobes with up to 4 umbrellas for under $200 including shipping and duty on eBay - just make sure you get ones that say 'shoot-through' umbrellas and wireless sync)

A note about using the same location: if you are going to be doing photos in one location (including a permanent or makeshift studio in your home) you *may* want to mix things up with some fun props; these can be anything from a little sheepskin Ikea rug or a nice wicker basket and fluffy white towel for photographing newborns, to a miniature park bench, table and chairs, or rocking chair for younger children; tall stools or a funky wooden chair or two for seating variety; a set of blocks or juggling balls that spell 'boy' and 'girl' for maternity sessions (dry-erase markers write on skin and flake off easily, too). For glamour portraits you may want to look into buying some gauzy or sheer fabric, some peacock feathers, or some long gloves and beads. Any second-hand store is a treasure trove of inexpensive props, often yeilding the most amazing fun stuff for a song! And even if you normally wouldn't shop there, I have to tell you that my favourite place to look for fabric is in the $1.97 bin at WalMart. I've found everything from fun fur and oriental brocades to sassy stripes and polka dots, from shiny satins to gossamer organzas... all for $1.97 a metre - LURVE IT!!!

Week 3 Tasks

I do apologize - I have not had a chance to post my examples from last week.  They are coming - I need to get them off the stupid memory card still..

At any rate, this week's project is simple and fun: I want you all to take 3 images that portray distinctly different mood or emotion - joy, sadness, claustrophobia, excitement, peace, frustration...  They can be portraits of people, landscapes of these lovely snow-dunes, still life that you create - whatever you choose.  Pay close attention to your selective focussing and DOF, to help enhance the feeling or mood you want to imply with your images.  Give your images a title - it can be as simple or as clever as you like.

Have fun!  I really look forward to seeing what you all come up with!  Id' like to post the 3 images you each make on the blog, so once you have shot and saved your images, please let me now where I can find them and I will add them to an album!

what brand of camera is best?

Murrayville Mom says:

Hi again!

I was out camera looking last night. I was leaning towards the Canon Rebel XTi, but then a lil Nikon caught my eye. It was the Nikon D80. I am also a leftie and have a learning curve with all of the buttons and dials being on the right side.

What should I be thinking about in terms of a camera/body/lenses etc. I think for what I want to do, would mostly be indoor photography and some outdoor I would think...

Can you help me figure this out?! I don't want to purchase the WRONG camera as it will be a HUGE purchase for me!!! EEEK!! So exciting.

At the end of the day, you could sit and split hairs over everything from MP to the colour of the neckstrap and there will be discrepancies across the board in terms of features and functions.  As I always say, it isn't about the camera anyways - it's about the photographer.  I did a random read up on the Nikon D80 and on two of the sites I visited it scored higher user satisfaction than the Canon XTi, while on two other sites it scored lower (Pentax scored the highest customer satisfaction rating on 3 of hose 4  -YAY Pentax!!!  lol); there were several comments from users who crossed platforms lamenting that their new Canon certainly wasn't their old Nikon.  However, the Canon XTi is currently the #1 selling entry-level dSLR on the market, and internet reviews aren't really the best measure (how do we know Canon users aren't just thet ype to hate .  Having seen a couple of them in the workshops, they are fine little machines in terms of what they will take a picture of, but the Canon set-up just is not comfortable for me - the buttons don't feel like they are where they 'should' be to me.  I seriously debated going to Nikon when I upgraded this time but after going to the store and manhandling a few cameras, ended up remaining a loyal Pentax customer.

So, for me this question is easy to answer: whichever one you put in your hand, that feels like you own it the second you are touching it - THAT is your camera.  The important thing is to love your camera, and not be swayed by popular opinion, what's in vogue, or what brand people tell you THEY would buy or think YOU should buy.  You are ultimately the one who will be lugging it around like a 5th appendage, so you better like it.  

The only thing I caution you about is that before making that first purchase you should seriously contemplate if you're ready to marry that brand.  Here's why: you will upgrade the body of the camera over the course of your career, but your lenses will probably carry forward.  The lenses are the real investment, and once you start acquiring additional glass it can become a fairly large investment, one that would cost much more if you were to decide three years from now that you want to switch to Canon or Olympus.

It sounds like you have your heart set on that Nikon, Miss Murrayville.  Does it feel good in your hand?  Do your fingers intuitively find the buttons, dials and knobs where it feels like they 'should' be?  Do you like the look of it?  Does it feel like it's 'yours'?  If the answer is 'yes' then go ahead and buy it, and you will never regret it.

I'm going to do a separate post about setting up for a very basic 'beginner' studio, one that can grow with you and be expanded over time.

Hope that helps,

~H.

about the lens on the Olympus

I have searched and searched for a decent picture to examine the kit lens on taht camera, and cannot find one to look at. I will be making a trek to the camera store this weekend, so while I am there I will check into it... honestly, why they would manufacture a lens and not put the foussing distances on there is beyond me. The only reason I can I think it maybe it has something to do with the whole idea of it being an entry level dSLR, and the manufacturer therefore doesn't find it necessary to provide such high-tech info to an entry-level user... ~shrugs~ I will find an answer for you, promise!

about the flash on that Rebel XT/XTi

Alright - I have searched and searched about a way to disable the flash, to no avail. According to the Canon website, it is disabled by default in creative modes (M, Av, Tv, etc) - can anyone confirm this for me?

Exercise 2 - still life

Task 4

Choose any 5 objects; try and choose objects that work well together, and of varying size, shape, and texture - a vase, an apple, a hairbrush, a picture frame, a feather, some beads, etc.    Set up wherever you think you'll get the best lighting from. Mark a spot on the floor (a piece of masking tape,  specific floor tile, whatever) where you will shoot the next 5 images from.  Arrange the objects into some sort of still life.  Take as many pictures as you need on whatever settings you like until you have an image you are satisfied with the DOF and lighting, as long as you stay in that SAME SPOT.  Rearrange the SAME objects into another still life.  Again, shooting from the SAME SPOT, take as many pictures as you need until you have one you think you like.  Repeat.  Repeat.  Repeat.  When you are done, you should have 5 images of the same objects in 5 different arrangements.

Task 5

Choose your favourite arrangement from Task 4, and set it up again.  This time, you will be taking 5 pictures from any position you like - above, behind, beside, under, up high, down low, close up, far away.  Keep shooting on whatever settings you like until you have 5 pictures of the same arrangement that are as different from one another as possible.

Upload your 10 images from tasks 4 and 5 to an album so I can see them!  I will post a sample set tomorrow or Wednesday.

Happy shooting!

debrief - first exercises

Task #1 was to introduce you first-hand to the effect of aperture.  When you are out shooting, you need to be conscious of your aperture, as too shallow a DOF may result in not enough being in focus (a group of people 2 or 3 layers deep, the eyes being in focus but not the tip of the nose, etc.)

Task #2 was to introduce you to the plane of focus - how close or how far away from you is the area in focus?  When you are out shooting, you will be making creative choices constantly. Here is an example of a shallow DOF, with the plane of focus very close to the camera.  If I had used a deep enough DOF to get the parents in focus, how would that have affected the impact of the image?

Task #3 was to get you to practice focusing in the dark.  That's all.   Well, OK - it was to demonstrate and reinforce manual focusing, and how the plane of focus is a specific distance from the camera.  Remember when you were a kid, and the school photographer held that string tied to the camera up to everyone's nose before taking the picture?  He was making sure the kids were the correct distance from the camera.  Neat, huh?

With experience, you will learn to select the best DOF for the task at hand, whether that's taking a group picture with everything in front and behind them in bokeh, a beautiful sunset landscape with everything in focus, or a close-up of baby's hand with just the fingertips in focus.

I encourage you to scroll through other photographers' pictures and see if you can identify the creative intent behind the DOF used.

portrait settings

Murrayville Mom asks:

What is the best setting for taking a b/w photograph of a person (not moving)on a DSLR?

Any tips? Probably using natural light (if there is enough light) or the built in flash on my camera.

I want the photos to look fabulous!! Can you help me?! I am thinking full body shots, or waist up type shots.

Well, MM, I wish there was a simple answer for the settings, but there isn't.  Whether it's in B&W or colour.  I personally prefer shooting in Av mode, which is aperture priority, meaning, I like to make the depth of field (DOF) shallow enough that I can use bokeh (the blur in front of and behind whatever is in focus ) to my advantage.  I prefer bouts of diarrhea to using artificial lighting (strobe, flash, continual, whatever) for anything but creative purposes and curse people who don't get their picture taken at a decent time of day.  On my old manual cameras, I'd have to adjust the shutter speed accordingly and deal with whatever ISO I had loaded in the camera, usually ISO200; DSLR cameras will do the work for you in Av.  The camera will also adjust the ISO in the auto-range you have it set to; the higher the ISO, the more noise you will get in the final image.

Here's where Av can get tricky, though - when you have Av set, the camera will adjust the shutter speed below 1/60 of a second.  This is problematic because the longest a person can stand still and take a picture without getting camera shake is 1/60 of a second.  A tripod will allow you to not get camera shake, but also limits the positions you can be in while taking the picture.  Some cameras come with a setting called 'TAv' which will allow you to set your camera up to warn you that you're about to dip below whatever shutter speed you've selected.  Also, if you have a flash that cannot be manually turned off, then you will end up fighting with the flash popping up when you don't want it up.

The available aperture will vary from lens to lens.  An aperture setting of f3.5 is a safe place to start - will give you pretty good front and back bokeh (I like to call it the good blur) without risking having too shallow a DOF to get the whole person in pretty good focus.  With too shallow a DOF, you may end up with the person's nose out of focus; if the focus is accidentally set on the part of the person close to you (their chest, their forehead) you may end up with the person's eyes out of focus.  A good rule is to always focus on the person's eyes - a blurry nose isn't nearly as bad as blurry eyes.

If you want to learn how to guestimate this, put your DSLR on manual, set the shutter speed to 1/60, and play around with the film speed and aperture to get the exposure you like best.  Another tip is to use spot or centre-weighted metering instead of matrix or multi-point meering, and your EV lock, so just your subject is being metered, and not the background which may be lighter or darker than your subject.  It also helps keep your whites white and your blacks black.

I hope this helps!  Happy shooting!

what's in the bag, lady?

Murrayville Mom asks: Can you tell us about your equipment? I mean your photography equipment! I would love to see a list on your side bar!!

I have too much equipment to list. I'll list what often or usually accompanies me on shoots instead.

Right now I'm shooting with a Pentax K10D. I use my 50mm Pentax f1.4 ad nauseum. I hope to be buried with the f1.4 lenses, from this camera and the K1000s. I also have a Pentax f4.0 12mm-24mm wide angle lens, and a Tamron f3.5 - f5.6 24mm - 300mm macro lens that I use as sparingly as possible. I have 4 other lenses that I use occasionally from the manual camera, as well as the original f3.5 18mm - 55mm kit lens from my old D*ist which is notorious for vignetting, and which is why I love using it. I have the Pentax AF400FTZ flash. I collect vintage everything, and one of my prized possessions is actually an old Berkey Canada (circa 1967-ish) professional strobe that I've retrofitted with a wireless outfit to operate with my fancy schmancy digital camera. It works with my old manual cameras great, too. It also handily doubled as a stand for my mannequin bodies when I was photographing the dresses for the blows my hair back blog... uploading in the very near future... I have a corded cable release and a $40 tripod, a 2GB and a 4GB memory card (150x write speed), a macro kit, a couple of filters and lens hoods, some lens wipes, a few q-tips, spare batteries, spare camera lens/back covers, and spare card reader, business cards, one-step hand sanitizer, and some HEPA masks in case I have the sniffles when I'm photographing infants or people with weak immune systems.

Task 2 sample

I promise, all this wax-on, wax-off stuff has a purpose.  I will sum up the point of the exercises in a separate post.  In the meantime, here is the side of a crib I use for climbing plants in my garden.  Note that I chose 3 very different spots to focus.  Which one do you like best?  Which one doesn't work for you?  Do the different focal points create a different kind of impact or mood?

Task 1 sample

OK - I admit some of the pics have camera shake - it was COLD outside this morning! However, if you scroll through from the beginning to end you will notice that the early ones, just the pine cone at the front is in focus; gradually, all of he pine comes are in focus. I started at f3.5 and went all the way to f22.0. Because I was focussed on he object at the front, I could not get a clear focus on he object at the back. Had I chosen the object in the midde, I would have seen my DOF increase both forwards and backwards.

Click on the slideshow to view the images larger; when you get into the album, open the 'more info' tab to the right - it will show you the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. (I didn't include one f-stop because it was REALLY motion-blurry lol)

pictures from the workshop

Anybody get any really great shots (or horrible or funny or silly) from the workshop? I'd love to post a couple - email me what you got!

how come...

No one has shared their pictures with me!!!  What are y'all shootin' at?!?!?!

DLS Exercise 1 - DOF, MF

This exercise is to help you hone your understanding of DOF while practicing manual focusing.

TASK 1

Find a nice bright spot to take a picture - a kitchen, bedroom, or living room floor with lots of natural light would be ideal, or this could be done outside.  Set up a series of 7 similar or identical items in a row, each about 12 - 18" apart from each other.  Be as creative as you like - they could be anything from beer bottles to baby bottles, Hotwheels, Barbie shoes.  You could make a train of some sort with your kids.  You could put pinecones on the snow.  You could ask 7 friends to stand in a row.  Really, the sky is the limit...

Disable your flash, set your camera to MF, AV f3.5, ISO 200.  (Remember, your zoom may need to be at the widest angle to get to f3.5!)  Standing at one end of the row, focus on the object closest to you.  Take one picture.  Note how many of the objects are in focus at f3.5, and adjust your aperture one f-stop at a time until ALL the objects are in focus, WITHOUT readjusting your focus.  How many f-stops did it take you?  Note the light and what the camera set your shutter speeds at - did you have to deal with camera shake at all?  If you had trouble getting pictures with higher f-stops, what would your options be for increasing the shutter speed without altering the depth of field?  Hint - law of reciprocity only has 3 parts: light intensity (aperture) sensitivity (film speed) and duration (shutter speed).

TASK 2

Disable your flash, set your camera to MF, AV f3.5, ISO200.  Find a long edge - your table, a countertop, the fence in your backyard, a bannister, a windowsill.  Standing in the same spot at one end, manually focus so that you have 3 images with distinctly different focal points along that straight edge.  If you're feeling adventurous and want to take your shooting to the street, this would be a really fun one to do in a grocery store in the soup aisle or in the library along the bookshelves!  If you really want to challenge yourself, find a table or countertop that has a distinct end - something about 6-8 feet long.  Try adjusting your aperture so that the entire length of the edge is in focus, but drops off suddenly at the end so everything beyond he table fades off into Bokeh oblivion...

TASK 3

Get a tape measure.  This exercise needs to be done in a dark but not black room - your child's room at night with a night light, a windowless bathroom with the door partially opened, a room with the lights off and he TV on, the kitchen at night the lights off and the fridge open half an inch... if you want to know if it's dark enough, put it on AF.  If it can't focus, then it's dark enough.  Place a shiny object (glass, metal, plastic, no mirrors though) in the darkened space.

Set your camera on a stable surface - chair, table, tripod if you have one - and disable the flash.  WITHOUT looking through your lens, set your camera to MF and place it on the chair or tripod or wherever you are going to be taking the picture from.  Measure the distance between the object and your camera.  Without looking through your lens, turn the manual focussing ring on your lens to that distance.  Using the 2sec delay timer to avoid camera shake, take a picture.  Move the object, and guesstimate the distance.  If the image isn't clear, adjust your aperture until you are able to get the object in focus.

I'd love to see what you are coming up with!  I strongly recommend using Picasa as both a photo organizer and for very basic editing features.  It has an easy upload interface to Picasa web albums as well.  Mac users can set up iPhoto to upload images directly to Picasa web albums as well.  If you are using flickr or Facebook or another site for online sharing already, no worries.  Send me a link to wherever you're uploading whatever you're shooting!  (Or you could start a blog...)

cropped or chopped?

Hi Hope!!
I was wondering... how do you feel about chopped limbs/hands/feet in portraits? Do you think it ruins the image? Or is it something that doesn't bother you too much?

I only ask because on one of the forums I'm on, it's like committing a deadly sin. But when I browse through many very professional photographers that I LOVE, they all seem to chop. What do you think?
Thanks!
Jill

Honestly, that kind of mob mentality is what turns me right off a lot of so-called semi-pro and pro organizations. There are technical and design elements that any person can be taught. Any monkey who knows the Rule of Thirds and the Rule of Red, never chops off a hand or a foot, who knows how to turn their camera onto auto can call themselves a photographer. If they can run a few actions they downloaded for Photoshop, they're considered genius. They create the vast majority of homogenized work I see out there. Formulaic bores me to death.

Now - because I do a fair bit of technical critiquing, I am often able to tell people what is formulaically wrong with their pictures. There was one fellow that I noticed in his body of work a tendency for every subject to be centred, only he was just slightly off centre by about the same amount in pretty much every picture. I suggested he shot crooked like I do, to which he replied it was intentional. He was covering his ass for his sloppy shooting, of course, but I can guarantee that the next time he notices it, it will be intentional. At that point, he KNOWS the rule, and is CHOOSING to break it.

It's the people who know the rules and disobey them that make waves, that make it difficult to pigeon hole them, especially if they disobey admirably or in a striking way. There have been times when I have accidentally shot a little too tight and I've lost just the fingers or the toes - that looks weird to me - but if the rest of the image is balanced, the lighting is great, everyone is smiling and looking at the camera, etc. and so forth, I'm not going to fret over some missing toes. I would, if anything, chop off MORE hands and feet (so it looks intentional) before passing it off as 'unusable.' Honestly, when is the last time you ever heard of any client saying, "Gee, I really like this shot. Too bad you can't see my husband's other foot though." I put far more value on what the client has to say about it. If the client hates it, then there's a problem. If another photographer hates it, well - they aren't the ones paying me. I don't care for a lot of work done by a lot of photographers - does it matter?  Nope.  I'm not the client.  A lot of photographers don't care for my work - does it matter?  Nope. They're not the client.

Luckily for us photographer types, there is no wrong or right. What I think is bad photography is dreamy to others and what I find stunning probably scares other people a little bit lol. Technically I am sure people would rip a lot of my work right apart - I'm not a technical photographer at all lol

I don't do beef

I got this question today from a Miss T:

some neighbors have invited us for dinner, we haven't been there before or socialized much with them before.

i only eat chicken/turkey, my family will eat other meats.

what is proper etiquette for my "chicken only" situation? do i mention it? or do i just eat the side dishes only if they serve beef or pork or something? i don't plan to mention it as i'm used to eating the things i choose and i don't mind not having meat for dinner, however then it can be all awkward if they notice why i'm not eating the beef? LOL

i've never really had to worry about this before, as we don't get invited anywhere except by people we know well.

what to do?

Well, Miss T, I feel the same way about bacon.  Nothing is more disgusting to me than waking up at someone's house with a pungent noseful of greasy frying pork.  A baking ham isn't much better *urp*  

Anyhow.  I happen to collect etiquette books.  I have consulted them and here's the verdict:

Caroline Tiger apparently didn't think it was noteworthy enough to mention food preferences in her 2003 book, "How to Behave: a Guide to Modern Manners for the Socially Challenged," which is, quite frankly, about the worst, more incomplete etiquette book I have ever read.  But I digress...

In Chapter One of Etiquette Etc. published in 1967, Sheila Ostrander assures us it isn't impolite to politely decline a dish you won' t eat.  However, she notes in Chapter 2 that the alert hostess will make inquiries and keep on file guests' preferences in the pre-planning stage of the gathering.

The 1934 edition of "The New Book of Etiquette" by Lillian Eicher, while concurring with the idea of the well-organized host or hostess taking note of the guests' preferences clearly sates on page 219 that it is at the discretion of the dinner party providers to set the menu.  This might be somewhat misleading, as the suggested menu suggests one chicken or fish dish and one pork or beef dish, including tongue - yum!  She contradicts herself yet again on page 212 where she suggests that it is only proper to refuse a dish at a large dinner party where it will probably go unnoticed.  She suggests it is better to accept a serving even if you have no intention of eating it.

I consulted Amy Vanderbilt's  Complete Book of Ettiquette to try and settle it by majority rules.  There is an entire section on page 284 of the 'Home Entertaining' chapter dedicated to the topic of 'token portions.'  It says quite explicitly that as a courtesy for the hostess, you must accept a small portion of everything offered to you, even if it is only with the pretense of actually eating it.  Her menu suggestions include fish as an appetizer but rarely as an entree, naming 'meat' somewhat ambiguously as the preferred entree.

Rubbish.  All of it.  The 1967 etiquette etc. was at least moving in the right direction by realizing that it's wasteful and foolish to put something you won't eat on your plate in the first place.  What a waste of time and energy putting on such pretenses.  I'm from the school of common sensiquette etc.  Here's my two bits:

I would personally think it rude and tactless if someone told me what they will or won't eat without being asked, unless they have allergies.  Vegans are particularly good at being dramatic about their need for a special menu.  I, however, as a hostess, normally suggest what we're thinking of having and ask if here are any allergies or preferences or vegetarian issues to consider.  On occasion I have been known to ask for suggestions as well.  If there is no opportunity to ask, I tend to prepare chicken, as it is more universally accepted than beef, pork, or fish, and try to ensure some sort of substantial vegan dish is served as well - pasta tossed with pesto or beans with rice - perhaps not the most nutritious meal, but at least they aren't left spooning up on nothing but peas...

If I am asked, I tend to give an honest answer, as I expect the same from my guests.  If you hate lasagna or won't eat poached salmon, then I'd hate to go through the effort of preparing it and having a guest a) go hungry, b) waste a portion by taking it but not eating it and go hungry anyways, or c) gag down whatever was on the menu simply because there was nothing else to eat.  I would never go to someone's house and take a serving of beef or pork dish that I didn't intend to eat.  If it was served to me, I would leave it on the side of the plate and explain later, if asked, that I don't care for beef.  Or I may quip, "I don't dig on swine," later on in the evening, depending on my familiarity with the hostess as an explanation for my untouched porcine portion.  If I don't finish something that was served to me because it wasn't tasty to me, I try and mask the uneaten portion so as not to offend the hostess.  If I am unfamiliar with a dish, I tend to take a very small portion to sample it, and if I like it, wait until everyone else has served themselves and take a second small helping when and if the opportunity for seconds arises.  If the host/hostess apologize, I ensure them that everything else was extra delicious and that I am indeed full, even if I'm not.

In your shoes, I would do one of two things.  1) Fish for details by asking what you can bring - a red or a white wine to go with the fish/chicken/beef.  Often this prompts the person to say, "Oh, we're having pheasant - I hope you like pheasant?"  At which point you can say, "I've never tried pheasant - is it gamey like duck?"  A smart hostess will pick up that you aren't into pheasant.  2) Wait it out - you don't even know what she is serving yet - and when you serve up for dinner, politely and apologetically, without being condescending, decline the offending 'meat.'  If it is served on your plate instead of taking a bite and turning your nose up at it, leave it untouched on your plate.  When and if they ask why you aren't eating it, just say you don't usually eat beef.  Tell them it doesn't agree with your tummy - people are always understanding of that.

However.  If they keep looking at you and eyeballing your untouched meat, wait until no one is looking, stick it on the kids' plates, pass it over to your husband, accidentally drop it on your lap and have it drop to the floor as you stand in horror at your clumsiness, slip it under the table to Mr. Muffles the Shih Tzu or excuse yourself to the bathroom and feign diarrhea.  Surely you won't be expected to eat anything else after that, no questions asked.  It is not impolite to refuse Pepto Bismol and antacids.  Just remember that if you're too sick to finish supper, dessert is off limits, too...